| Author | Message | ||
     Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 78 Registered: 04-2005 |
Well as its a new year and the other one way getting a bit of a pain...I'll start a new one. Last night I went to see Jesse Malin at the Barfly in Liverpool. The support was some American ..... Daze I think, he was quite good, mainly acoustic. Jesse seemed in a bit of a mood, I'm not sure the venue helped on that score. He did about 1hr 40mins which isn't too bad. Oh and it was a full band rather than the tour before Christmas. More gigs lined up so stay tuned! Cheers Jon | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 90 Registered: 10-2006 |
Saw Jarvis Cocker on Saturday, found him quite amusing. But he only played songs from his solo album, though, no Pulp stuff at all. So - with "Space Oddity" as an encore - the whole thing lasted just 70 minutes or so. That's not good enough for 35 euros! | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 76 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jarvis has made the same trick in Brussel I've heard... | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 79 Registered: 04-2005 |
I went to see Roy Moller at The Gardens Hotel in Manchester, it was FREE! That wasn't my main factor in going by the way, but consider it a bit of a bonus. Roy Moller writes (I think) a few songs with Stevie from Belle & Sebastian. We had about four or five bands on mostly local, but a couple of scots (including Roy). An excellent night and Stevie was there....I'm ashamed to say I was stage struck at the age of 35, B&S are one of my favourate bands of all time. On the subject of Jarvis, I would have thought that's a fair price per minute (well its what I would have expected in the UK), but your the locals and probably know more about things than me. I'm missing him in the UK as it clashed with someone else, who I can't think of at the moment. Cheers Jon | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1158 Registered: 05-2005 |
35 euro seems damned expensive alright. At least bands have the excuse of travelling to the other side of the world when they charge those kind of prices in Australia. | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 91 Registered: 10-2006 |
Yes, Padraig, exactly. Living in Paris he could have simply taken the train to Hamburg, six hours or so. Well, the Decemberists are playing here for 13 euros in a fortnight. I bet they will be on stage longer than JC. | ||
| Paul N Member Username: Pauln Post Number: 10 Registered: 10-2006 |
Went to see Dr Feelgood at the Springhead in Hull. Great R 'n' B. First time I've seen the new vocalist, pretty good he is too. Very good night, very impressed with them. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1215 Registered: 05-2005 |
Paul, I am v. envious that you went to Dr Feelgood without me! What a group!!!!! Am looking forward to Massive Attack in Birmingham next week, am on the guest list so it'll be a special evening. I last saw them in 2003, open air festival in Bristol, one of the best gigs I have ever been to, period. To hear Unfinished Sympathy in front thousands was quite something. On a muso level, the guy who controls the electronice Neil, Angelo's guitaring and the drummer blew me away with their sounds and musicianship. The bass blows your head off too, its like sticking your head in the bass bin of sly and robbie, awesome! | ||
| Paul N Member Username: Pauln Post Number: 11 Registered: 10-2006 |
Sorry Spence. I'll let you know next time. I'd forgotten how good live they are. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 222 Registered: 04-2005 |
The annual highlight of my musical year (for the past 2 years and hard to imagine I will see better this year): the jazz (?) group “Third World Love”. And this year it was two nights running. Firstly, in comparison with Jarvis, much less selfish: 10 euros for 2 hours of music, with 3 quarters of the band having made their way from NY to rural France and half the entrance money going to a school in Sénégal. The reason for playing in the depths of the Périgord region is that the pianist (Yonathan Avishai) lives here and usually they are on their way to play elsewhere in Europe/Israel. There is a trumpeter (Avishai Cohen), drummer (Daniel Freedman) and bassist (Omer Avital) and what they magic up between them is life-affirming music that knows no boundaries. It can go from a lurching Brechtian/Tom Waits drunken march to a traditional Yemeni song, while passing by Latin America on the way. And possibly even in the same piece. And yet it is never simply an exercise in technique. The pleasure comes from seeing 4 young musicians bouncing ideas off each other and enjoying it so much. Saturday evening was in one of the most beautiful spaces you could imagine seeing music performed in: in the ‘bastide’ (fortified) village of Villefranche-du-Périgord, a medieval tapestry gallery that is actually a family home too. This meant that after the music some 60 people tried to get into the kitchen for a ‘vin chaud’! The group played as a trio (piano/drums and trumpet) as the bassist’s travel pans had gone astray, which meant a different slant on things entirely: in such a space they were playing completely acoustically anyway but the drummer used his hands rather than sticks for a substantial part of the set. And what a drummer: I have never seen a drummer/percussionist get so many varied sounds out of a kit. Sunday night was in Trémolat in the village hall, where around 200 people watched the quartet play 2 sets. Once again, unbelievable rhythms, unrestrained energy and impossible to keep your feet still. There is something ‘spiritual’ about the playing: the pianist goes into his own world completely at times, almost trance-like, producing ferocious waves of sound one minute and minimal repeating patterns the next. We are privileged. Toulouse tomorrow night, Paris Wednesday and Israel afterwards. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 223 Registered: 04-2005 |
Sorry that should read 'the bassist's travel pLans' in case anyone was scratching their head trying to figure out why he would be travelling with a full set of casseroles. | ||
| Wolfgang Steinhardt Member Username: Berbatov Post Number: 52 Registered: 09-2006 |
Andrew, your description makes me think of the Uzčste festival, I saw Hermeto Pascoal there in '89 in front of the ruins and it was a beautiful ambiance too. Does it still exist? It's probably a "big thing" nowadays... Yes, you're privileged... | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 225 Registered: 04-2005 |
Wolfgang, Thanks for your words, which had me off searching: I had never heard of that festival or of Bernard Lubat (the organiser) or of Hermeto Pascoal either. It still seems to exist (although I couldn't find a program for 2007). It is a couple of hours from where we live so I will keep an eye on their site. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1242 Registered: 05-2005 |
I saw massive Attack last night. They were really really awesome. Ther's something about the thing you can't put into words. Kev, I was hanging around with Daddy G and I met Horace Andy!!!! What a lovely bloke, he clasped my hands in such a warm way and made our greeting an experience! I won't go on, but you shoulda been there... | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1243 Registered: 05-2005 |
Oh and Liz Fraser was singing with them too, about time, she looked over awed by the crowd, she's still beautiful. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 985 Registered: 03-2005 |
Ok, Spence, I stopped paying attention to the Cocteau Twins a long time ago so I don't know what happened afterward. How does Liz Fraser end up with Massive Attack? Are you saying you had Liz Fraser on top of riddim? | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1395 Registered: 05-2005 |
Spence, you're lucky to have met one of Jamaica's greatest ever vocalists - have you ever heard the original reggae versions he did back in the 70s of tracks he also did for Massive Attack like You Are My Angel? - awesome. Randy, if you have ever heard the song Teardrop by Massive Attack, Liz sings on it. She sings a few on that album (Mezzanine) I think, not heard it in ages | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 80 Registered: 04-2005 |
I watched The Decemberists a couple of nights back in Manchester (Academy 2). Support was from lavender diamond. The Decemberists did a fine set, really got the crowd going and the seem friendly. I suppose they did about an hour and a half. Its a good start to 2007. I was supposed to be off to Wigan tonight, but I've bailed out due to it being a 'school night' and works too busy. The shocking weather that might be on the way also had something to do with it. Cheers Jon | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1244 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hi Randy, Massive have always looked to 'buy in' vocal expertise. I think they buy in the people they most admire actually. 3D and Daddy G are great at what they do, but their real greatness comes from the people who they get in. Obviously Shara nelson on the first album, sings on the greatness that is Unfinished Sympathy, then Tracey thorn, on the next album, then Liz was drafted in on as Kev says, mezzanine. I definately recommend mezzanine Randy, just buy it, lie down with a glass of beer and marvel at its hypnotic ambience!! Liz works so well with MA live. Sinead o conner was brought in for 100th window, which is a great album, but Mezzanine is the best in my opinion. The sound became more defined and guitar based with the introduction of Angelo Bruschini. He was a Blue Aeroplane, in fact him and Caroline Trettine, who plays with me formed The Blue Aeroplanes along with Gerard Langley the singer. The first album though has some wonderful tunes, driven largely by Horace Andy. Kev, I am very lucky to have met horace, I have some of his stuff, but on vinyl, need to get downloading. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1398 Registered: 05-2005 |
My order 1. Mezzanine - dark and dubby 2. Blue Lines - Has Tricky and Horace Andy heavily featured, and as everybody should know that is a very good thing 3.Protection - The most accessible, but still a few genius tracks Dont like the other one | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1534 Registered: 03-2006 |
I don't really much care about the Cocteau Twins one way or the other, but that Massive Track with what's-er-doodle on it is tremendous. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1230 Registered: 04-2005 |
Oh, Liz Fraser is on "Mezzanine"? I have a CD-R copy of that with no credits, so I had no idea who's involved. I have to admit I know nothing about Cocteau Twins. I suppose I've heard them on the radio, but I have more of an idea of what they must sound like rather than real knowledge. This might be a good thread idea: great singers who are in the wrong bands. | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 21 Registered: 06-2005 |
Saw Micah P Hinson last night in Crawdaddy, Dublin. Just him on guitar and a drummer, who also played a lap steel guitar (not at the same time!) His banjo got lost in transit which limited his set but it was a brilliant show finishing with a couple of covers of a Richard Hawley song and a wild version of NARC by Interpol though his songs aren't anything like either of these artists. I'd recommend him if he's in your town. | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 95 Registered: 10-2006 |
Jon, now I envy you. I toyed so long with the idea instead of buying a ticket until the Decemberists gig was sold out. So I am spending tonight at home. Argh. And if I listen to Massive Attack later at home, my order would be the same as Kev's....but 100 windows has its moments as well, so does Danny The Dog | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 81 Registered: 04-2005 |
John B They seem to tour quite a bit, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long before they return. Having said that, who knows. I've been struck down with this cold/flu/lurgy that seems to be all around (The UK anyway), luckily its only cost me a couple of days off work rather than a couple of gigs! Cheers Jon | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 97 Registered: 10-2006 |
Jon, hope you get well soon. According to today's paper the flu is now heading straight to Hamburg, so we are next. Thank god I am on assignment for a fortnight from Monday on. And re gigs, yeah, I hope they return at some stage. | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 86 Registered: 04-2005 |
Last night it was Kid Carpet at The Barfly in Liverpool. Support was from The At-ems and The Delta Fiasco. I arrived half way though The At-ems, they sounded decent though, Delta Fiasco tried to be placebo, interpol and other 2nd generation New Wave no-hopers.... Kid Carpet is a bit of a nutter, who plays kids guitars and is very lo-fi. Probably not anyone's cup of tea on here, but there you go. I've got a few coming up, and I'm trying up get a mate to come and see Luke Haines in Liverpool with me.....time will tell. Cheers Jon | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 125 Registered: 07-2006 |
i struggle with blue lines in that some of it still sounds brilliant now, whilst other tracks sound truly dated (that "one love" thing) and a bit cringeworthy. i never bothered with their last one. had no idea it featured sinead. must check it out in that case! | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 88 Registered: 04-2005 |
Kid Carpet in Manchester.....2nd gig of the tour, and not worth me writing anything else. Last night was Tilly & The Wall in the NIght & Day in Manchester. The support was from a band called the little ones, who are from America. They were quite good, but not brilliant. Tilly & The Wall did about an hour, and I'll have to admit I didn't know too much about them, and they impressed me. A little bit strange with a tapdancer on stage, but well worth a look...I think they've got a new album coming out soon which might be worth a listen (Check them on MySpace). I've got a couple coming up next week (including the arcade fire), so I'll keep you all informed. Cheers Jon | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1296 Registered: 05-2005 |
XY, Wilco are in the England in May, Shephards Bush, I'll be there. Also, Kristin hersh, on Sunday in Birmingham, and Midlake in April. If you get a chance to look at Kristen hersh's latest promo photos, she looks fu*king amazing!!!! http://www.throwingmusic.com/press.html | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1275 Registered: 04-2005 |
She cleans up well. I saw her live probably around the time those were taken, and believe me, in real life, she dresses nothing like that--more like a working mom of four kids who doesn't spend a lot on makeup. Spence, that's a pretty nice lineup of gigs you've got coming up. Here in Seattle, after a dull period, gigs in the next couple of months include Midlake, Dean & Britta, Jarvis Cocker, and LCD Soundsystem. Oh, and two shows by everybody's favorites, the Police.  | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1300 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kurt yep, its an all american line up too!! ms hersh does seem to be a real kinda loving as you say working mum doesn't she!? saw them live 20 years ago same bill as the pixies in a small room in birmingham, drummer had no cymbals! (no, he did have balls!) | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1041 Registered: 03-2005 |
The Police?!?!? Are they opening for the Stooges? I'm still waiting for Kristin Hersh' appeal to reach me. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1429 Registered: 05-2005 |
Unbelievably, I have two tales to tell involving the bland singer songwriter David Gray. Firstly, at todays Celtic vs Dunfermline football match he bounded on to the pitch at half time punching his fists in the air to make the half time prize draw. I resisted the urge to boo him, while around me there was disenterested half hearted polite applause. The 2nd one tickled me. At a solo accoustic show in Paisley (The UKs largest populated town, just outside Glasgow)last night some fans were arguing and fighting bringing the gig to a temporary halt as Gray, without irony no doubt, shouted "F*** off. I'm trying to go deep with this song." Fantastic! http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainme nt/features/tm_method=full%26objectid=18 700434%26siteid=66633-name_page.html | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 442 Registered: 08-2006 |
Hey, Kev: I'm interested - what does that mean, "the UK's largest populated town"? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1250 Registered: 05-2005 |
Rob, it means it's not officially a city. It's still just a town. And it's populated. I've spent a few nights there... the world would not lose much if it was no longer populated. | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 89 Registered: 04-2005 |
Kevin Sorry to go so off topic, but I noticed Adam Hamill (on loan from Liverpool) scored for Dunfermline, how did he play? He's a very talented lad, but sometimes 'shows off' rather than playing the situation. Hopefully, He'll come back a much better player. I'll stay on topic next weeks, with the Arcade Fire who I'm really looking forward to seeing again. Cheers Jon | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1430 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jon. To be honest I never even noticed him till he scored the goal. from his point of view it was a cracker, chipping Boruc from about 25 yards but Boruc will look at it as a bad goal to lose. this was one of the strangest games I have been at for years and years, if Celtic had won this game 8 or 9 nil nobody would have batted an eyelid, lets just say Kenny Miller is no Henrik Larsson. It actaually ended 2-1 to Celtic which means that if Hibs defeat Rangers tomorrow then Celtic can win the Championship by beating Rangers at Celtic Park next week. Arcade Fire - oh dear. Sorry, just cant see the attraction. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1044 Registered: 03-2005 |
Kevin, AF is a great live spectacle attraction. Don't think of them as music. Think of them as putting on a big long live wind-swept video. They're very good at that. Their music? If you've heard one song you've heard them all. | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 22 Registered: 06-2005 |
Saw the Junior boys a few weeks ago in Whelans in Dublin, but it had been a long weekend in Killarney and this was Sunday night so I almost fell asleep standing up, the four or five best songs live were the best on their two albums that I've heard, "Double Shadow" and "In the morning" in particular but the body was tired and I didn't really engage with the music as a result. On the other hand I saw The Hold Steady last Tuesday in the Temple Bar Music Centre and they were fantastic live. The songs came across better than the recordings, with Finn's lyrics delivered more clearly. He has lots of charisma and the band was tighter than a camels ass in a snowstorm! They could be huge if people can get their heads round his vocal style which can be offputting at first, he said in an interview with the Dublin Event Guide that they're doing well with the people who buy 100 records a year but haven't crossed over to the people who listen to four. Their songs of the down and out of it were unusually uplifting live. I would be going to Arcade fire but they sold out their two shows here in a few minutes with their tickets on e-bay a few minutes later again. Face value was 45 euro for a band on their third album?! What are people paying to see them elsewhere or is it just rip off Ireland again? Neon Bible is better than Funeral on initial listens and I approve of their new Springsteen leanings, any live footage I've seen of them looked really good which is why I was rearing to see them. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1304 Registered: 05-2005 |
If The Arcade Fire were around 20 years ago, they's be as huge as The Band of Holy Joy. Off to buy Wilco tickets fpr London and ATP. They will be awesome, but nothing is gonna top massive attack, I don't think I will ever experience a live show like it, ever. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 183 Registered: 01-2006 |
Sounds good Spence, unfortunately Wilco ain't playing Ireland so it's a good excuse to round up a possee and head over to Europe, probably going to go to the Berlin show in May.. | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 90 Registered: 04-2005 |
This week I've senn a couple of bands..... 1st up was Euros Childs at the Late Room in Manchester. The support came from Radio Luxembourg, not too impressive and quite retro. Euros Childs is basically the lead singer with (and apologies for the spelling if its wrong) Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. He played for about an hour, with a lot of songs in Welsh, but nice harmonies. And cheap bottles of beer, fine unless you have to drive!!! The next night was the 1st night of Arcade fire at the Apollo in Manchester. The support was Patrick Wolf (or something like that), I don't think I'll be seaching anything out by him/them! The arcade fire was okay, but it disappointed me in a few ways. Firstly, it was quiet and the sound wasn't very good. Secondly, they only played for about 70-75 minutes. Finally, I didn't think the setlist was too clever, they played most of the new album followed by a few off the 1st album. I watched them in 2005 (which was probably my favourate that year) and I don't think they filled it out to play bigger venues. Anyway, nothing until next Saturday which is the aliens (who are 3/5 of the beta band)... updates to follow. Cheers Jon | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 236 Registered: 04-2005 |
Not exactly your average rock'n'roll event, but... An afternoon concert that my partner organised for primary school children as part of the French 'Printemps des Počtes' festival. Featuring the extremely talented Yonathan Avishai (see my post for Feb 5th in this thread) and the equally talented Maurice Moncozet on various medieval instruments. The latter is an expert in the music of the Troubadours from the middle ages and explained to the children how some of the songs that they were hearing dated from the 12C. And that the lyrics were written in the "Langue d'Oc" (or occitan) that was the language of our area in SW France certainly up to the Revolution. Some beautiful and haunting melodies and all based around this year's theme of "L'Amour'. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 519 Registered: 01-2005 |
of montreal next Sunday!!! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1689 Registered: 03-2006 |
Richard Thompson, last night at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano...totally awesome - the guy really is the baddest ass on the planet when it comes to guitar (he should have that wallet Samuel L. Jackson had in Pulp Fiction). Even on acoustic, he totally shreds...Totally worth the money I blew on $5.50 Coronas... And yeah, the milkmaids were a courtin', but they were some damn sexy milkmaids...You know, the kind with frilly white shirts and unlaced bodices... | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1325 Registered: 05-2005 |
pork is good!! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1292 Registered: 05-2005 |
But were they a churnin' LK? | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 465 Registered: 08-2006 |
I'm jealous, LK. There was stretch where it seemed like Thompson was in Chicago every freakin' week but I haven't seen him advertised in a while. Have you ever heard the CD "Celtschmerz"? I think he put it out himself (I bought it at one of his shows), and it's him on a solo acoustic tour in '98. Top-flight song choices and great sound. I like it better than "Small Town Romance." | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1692 Registered: 03-2006 |
I have that disc and think it's great. The show the other night was not unlike the sound of it, minus the gtr. and vocals of Teddy Thompson. You probably would really have enjoyed the song selections - lotsa chestnuts deep from the back catalog: "Down Where the Drunkards Roll", "Bright Lights", "Walking On a Wire", "Heart Needs a Home" and "Dimming of the Day". I haven't really heard him pull those out all that much solo, and even rarer, he performed Sandy Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes". What a f-ing beautiful song. He has a new album coming out, too, called "Sweet Warrior" and he played some stuff from that, too, including one great one about a soldier in Iraq, called "Dad's Gonna Kill Me", based on soldier slang he'd read (Dad = Baghdad). You can download it for free on his website, if you're interested. It's also been written about on the Huff Po. There was also a new one of his jokey songs, called "(I've got the) Hots for the Smarts", about his thing for women with "IQs off the charts". I think he's already done the Midwest, but yeah, if he comes anywhere near, jump on it. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 186 Registered: 01-2006 |
LK, that line "(I've got the) Hots for the Smarts", about his thing for women with "IQs off the charts" is as bad as anything Luna have come up with.....!! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1695 Registered: 03-2006 |
XY, if I struck some kind of nerve with the Luna comments, forgive me. I am a fan... | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 468 Registered: 08-2006 |
Sounds like a great show, LK. I actually go to the RT site sometimes - they seem to keep it well updated - but I didn't know of the new song, so thanks. I'm on my way now... | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 188 Registered: 01-2006 |
LK, no not at all, I was thinking I better stop with the Luna flag waving, good fun though! My friends slag me bout the Luna 'thing'...and some of their lyrical content, no messin'.. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1699 Registered: 03-2006 |
If you only knew how much I listen to Luna, particularly in the car, you'd be assured of my admiration for them...I don't think there's any better music in the world for driving up PCH on a sunny day... And, as for lyrics, Wareham just as frequently astonishes and delights. I love the line that goes something like, "If you're going to read your poetry aloud to me, I'm going to have to show you the door"...that's LOL funny. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1300 Registered: 05-2005 |
That's in California All The Way LK. It also features the gem line: "Please stop quotin' Rod McKewen in your postcards, I can't stand it anymore". Oh how I adore that line. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1064 Registered: 03-2005 |
Ok, ok. I've ordered the best of Luna, or whatever it's called! Because I don't think I've ever heard them and I noted the multiple comments about their albums all being more or less the same. (Kind of like the Bats). But the Rod McKuen line reminds me of something I'd rather forget. Do any of you remember the story about the verse Grant kept with him in his last days? | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1331 Registered: 05-2005 |
Not heard any Kuna, seem like an unlucky bunch. Galaxie were cool, I suppose its not that easy to be BIG twice...looks like they have to leave it to the new generation. unless you are Pavarotti... | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1279 Registered: 04-2005 |
And don't forget this even-worse couplet from "California (All the Way)": I realize I'm living like a trucker does/Although I haven't got the belly... Despite these lyrical gaffes, it's one of my favorites of theirs. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1700 Registered: 03-2006 |
Despite all the funny, jokey lines that's kind of a moving song...according to the highly amusing liner notes in the "Best of", it was inspired by the guitar player's meeting a girl in Houston, that followed them to their gig in Baton Rouge (humorously enough)...after the show, the guitarist thought he was in for some major love action, but the girl passed out and slept for 24 hours... I think the "Best of" comp is tremendous, Randy, and a perfect way to dip your toe into the water if you don't want to buy all of their somewhat samey albums... It has a great new discovery for me, since I quit buying their albums, the supremely rockin' song, "Astronaut", which gives me that "let's ditch school, take Ludes and chase slutty girls" feeling... It also has, I think, unqualifiedly cool lyrics, with great non-sequitur lines, like "I want to send you a pentagram, feed you diazapan (sp?)".... | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 95 Registered: 05-2005 |
Went to see Kirstin Hersh on Monday night in Dublin. I'm not a huge fan but I was curious. Kirstin is a small but tough cookie with the most gravelly voice I heard from the female form. She wasn't all that well (some kind of a cold) so it was a short set (about an hour). It wasn't bad but I'm still not a huge fan. Support band - The McGarrigles (or something like that) are worth a look - a duo comprising of Cello, and Violin or Viola (I think the latter) some backing tracks and audio visual stuff. After the gig had supposedly ended and half the crowd had left the hall, Kirstin returned for a final encore which was somewhat bizzare but good fun. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1068 Registered: 03-2005 |
fsh, where The McGarrigles two middle-age (hell, probably elderly by now) women? If so, they would have far outclassed Hersh. | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 96 Registered: 05-2005 |
No - it looked like a husband and wife team to me. Early to mid thirties. They also played backing to Kirstin on her set. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1334 Registered: 05-2005 |
The McGarrigles adorned the tunes on Nick Cave's No more shall we part, they were - hate this word but 'class' Kristin is highly original. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 524 Registered: 01-2005 |
Is the jury still out on Kristen's voice being shot? To tell you the truth, I am much more of a fan of Kristen's half-sister and ex-Throwing Museses bandmate Tanya Donelly anyway since Tanya left Throwing Muses. I only bought one TM album after Tanya left, although I have a couple of the earlier solo Kristen albums which are fine. fsh - for prime Kristen and Tanya, get Throwing Muses "In a Doghouse [ENHANCED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]" It consists of their debut album (one of THE great debut albums of all time) and their excellent ep follow-up Chains Chained plus some demo's and earlier songs not released. Throwing Muses was one of my favorite late 80's bands. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1285 Registered: 04-2005 |
Kristin's voice isn't "shot"--but it is rougher after years and years of constant touring and, honestly, screaming...especially with 50 Foot Wave. I'm with Spence--she is a tremendously original, uncompromising, and admirable artist. And I'm using restraint not to dissect the "far outclassed" comment about her since different opinions are the spice of life and all. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 527 Registered: 01-2005 |
Kurt, I'm glad her voice isn't shot, because a few people have commented that it was on Robyn's email list. I would love to see a full tour of the original TM line-up! Tanya needs to rock out again with Kristen, Leslie and David. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1307 Registered: 05-2005 |
Going to see Augie March tomorrow night. Haven't seen them live before so I'm a bit excited about that! Taking my daughter to a farm in Fairfield first tomorrow though! | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1337 Registered: 05-2005 |
You know what? I'd love to be going to see, say, Television, Ramones, Patti and Suicide tonight, and all at CBGB's., that's if it was 1977 that is...  | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1448 Registered: 05-2005 |
And I'd love to be going to see Wire, Gang Of 4, PIL, Joy Division and Scritti Polltti at The Futurama Festival in Leeds. thats if it was 1979 that is. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1339 Registered: 05-2005 |
See you there Kev, then we'll pop to valentino' to Josef k, The Associates and The Scars!!!! A pint will be only 40p too ????? | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1342 Registered: 05-2005 |
U r fucki* kidding me, Shepherds Bush has sold out for Wilco, its a real fucki* joke man, I couldn't find anyojne selling them anywhere, there had been no communication as to when they were going on sale too, I'm really pissed at this. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 199 Registered: 01-2006 |
Jaysus Spence that's a real bummer, maybe chunnell it/ryanair it to the Paris gig?? | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1343 Registered: 05-2005 |
I have just emailed Tony 'the' Margherita, Wilco's manager (he looks like my recently deceased (God rest his soul) - Uncle Daey from Penicuik, south of Edinburgh, so I instantly liked him when I saw the Wilco DVD!!) to tell him how pissed I am at the lack of Wilco dates in the UK, and at the lack of details and info regarding the sale of the tickets. One gig, and a bloody festival! Its a joke, they don't deserve the fanbase over here if that's the way he manages them, let em stay in th US if that's the way he plays this management style of his. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1344 Registered: 05-2005 |
I have just emailed Tony 'the' Margherita, Wilco's manager (he looks like my recently deceased (God rest his soul) - Uncle Davey from Penicuik, south of Edinburgh, so I instantly liked him when I saw the Wilco DVD!!) to tell him how pissed I am at the lack of Wilco dates in the UK, and at the lack of details and info regarding the sale of the tickets. One gig, and a bloody festival! Its a joke, they don't deserve the fanbase over here if that's the way he manages them, let em stay in th US if that's the way he plays this management style of his. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1345 Registered: 05-2005 |
XY, Paris sounds good but its so expensive over there, a coffee costa a million euro's!!!!! And it'll be crap! | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 200 Registered: 01-2006 |
Well they haven't played Ireland in years so we're in a worse situation over here. Good excuse for the Berlin gig though!! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1072 Registered: 03-2005 |
Spence, there is NO WAY Paris costs as much as London! Go. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1074 Registered: 03-2005 |
Padraig, I am so jealous of you getting to see Augie March. "Strange Bird" is currently on the changer in my car and, by god, I think this band is heading into the heights of my esteem. I'm sure it'll even pull "Bloody Choir" up just like BSD pulled "Calenture" up for me. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 201 Registered: 01-2006 |
depends where in paris you are spence...I and Ms XY765 got totally burned a few years ago on the Champs Elysee as we were very hungover after an Irish wedding there and buying lots of cokes and waters....depends on where you are in the city... On the otherhand I've booked flights and tickets for the gig in berlin and it has cost me less than €120 in total.. (about UKŁ75)... | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1347 Registered: 05-2005 |
TM's Ben levin has just contacted me: Spencer. Hang tight man and keep checking wilcoworld.Ę There's much more to come... Best. Ę Ben Levin Tony Margherita Management http://tmmchi.com/ | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 202 Registered: 01-2006 |
sounds interesting spence, good luck.... | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1348 Registered: 05-2005 |
Randy Xy, think i will go paris! | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 203 Registered: 01-2006 |
that's the way spence, do a cheap n cheerful run and it won't break the bank, you will certainly not regret it.. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1310 Registered: 05-2005 |
Randy, I knew you'd be interested ... but now you're going to be pissed. I didn't go. I was absolutely wrecked from the day at the farm/kids zoo. We spent about four hours in the car, four hours at the zoo and an hour in an Iraqi restaurant. The farm was great with snake handling, koala petting, wallaby hugging, goat feeding (my Pet Sounds moment!) etc, but also completely exhausting. My child's friend being along for the trip too no doubt contributed to how tiring it all was. It had been a heck of a week at work too. Excuses, excuses. I didn't go. I'll try to have a more relaxing lead in next time they play. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1081 Registered: 03-2005 |
Bummer Padraig! But four hours in a car would do me in too. Meanwhile I've ordered a copy of the first album. The EPs seem to be hard to get. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 532 Registered: 01-2005 |
of montreal last night! Intersting mix of early Bowie, Gary Neuman and T-Rex. They have been selling out a lot of their shows on their current tour. Highly energetic band and the crowd was hopping too! They even did a cover of "Raspberry Beret". | ||
| Svein Inge Saether Member Username: Springrain Post Number: 17 Registered: 08-2006 |
This year has been dry as a desert gig wise, but at least I have something to look forward to. Of Montreal will play a festival in my neck of the woods in late July, hopefully digging out the odd Prince cover again! First up though is Pere Ubu down in the Norwegian capital. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1352 Registered: 05-2005 |
XY thanks for the Wilco info, they put another gig on at the Empire, just for me! No, seriously, thanks mate, I woe you one! Spence | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 205 Registered: 01-2006 |
Spence, no problem, glad it worked out for you. | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 102 Registered: 10-2006 |
Ah, Wilco on May 25 in Hamburg. I originally wanted to go to the last ever concernt of German band Blumfeld on that day, but it was sold out and now I am seeing them on the 24th. Thank god, I may say now. Question to the board: is it worth seeing The Who? I am not really a fan, but like some of their stuff and the venue is a nice little open-air place. They will be here in June. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1333 Registered: 05-2005 |
John, I saw The Who in Sydney a couple of years ago. It was very emotional for me as it transported me back to being a teenager in a small village in south west Ireland in the early 80s, listening to The Who and thinking no-one understood me. Those records spoke to my tortured, teenage soul. They still did as a 30-something in Sydney. Don't know if this is much use to you though, I love The Who. | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 103 Registered: 10-2006 |
thanks Padraig, I am 46 so I remember a lot of their stuff from the radio. The only record I have, though, is Live at Leeds and I rarely listen to it. But its the journey back in time you mention that I have in mind as well. Plus seeing a famous band I have never seen before. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1472 Registered: 05-2005 |
Dont know if this is good news or not, but The Only Ones appear to have reformed. No doubt this is because Another Girl Another Planet was heavily featured on a saturation TV advert for mobile phones in the UK. Presumably Perrett has got his act together but I wouldnt risk going to one of the gigs in case he relapsed or didnt turn up. 27 Aprl. 2007 10:00 ATP ; Minehead; 1 June 2007 8:00 Academy 2 Manchester 2 June 2007 8:00 Glasgow ABC Glasgow 6 June 2007 8:00 Rock City Nottingham 8 June 2007 8:00 Wulfrun Wolverhampton 9 June 2007 8:00 Shepherds Bush Empire London 1 sept. 2007 11:00 Connect Fest Inverary Castle | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 29 Registered: 02-2007 |
John, my fav live album, Live At Leeds. Never saw em, but Quadrophenia played over n over till turntable broke once! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1092 Registered: 03-2005 |
The Who were over by 1967. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 540 Registered: 01-2005 |
And the Pretty Things beat out The Who in making the first "Rock Opera". SF Sorrow came out before Tommy did. Maybe it was being overexposed to The Who and Led Zeppelin on the radio in the 70's, but I don't need to hear them at all these days. I still will listen to Jethro Tull's "Stand Up" or "Benefit" though, as those never age for me for some reason. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 338 Registered: 09-2006 |
Quadrophenia's my fave, too, Dave. Takes it right up to the edge of pretentious and self-important at times, but never goes over. | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 31 Registered: 02-2007 |
Allen, guy from Teenage Fan Club (I think) said that once about GBs too. To open yourself to the threat of being labelled pretentious, without actually being it. Or some shit like that! | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 104 Registered: 10-2006 |
David, yep, it's one of my favourite live albums as well. A workmate wants to go see them as well so we are going. concert springtime so far: May 24 - Blumfeld (German band) May 25 - Wilco June 18 - The Who | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1344 Registered: 05-2005 |
Saw Irish comedian Dylan Moran tonight. Very good gig. Much better than I'd anticipated. | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 95 Registered: 04-2005 |
Last night it was Get Cape, Wear Cape Fly in Liverpool (At the Carling Academy). The support came from Pull Tiger Tail, who were good, I might have a troll around to find out a little bit more. GCWCF did about an hour, and played a couple of new songs and all (I think) of the album. I bit different to what I was expecting (probably a little better than I'd hoped for). Nothing now for a couple of weeks before Midlake in Liverpool. Cheers Jon | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 35 Registered: 01-2007 |
Dylan Moran is great Padraig, why did you not expect it to be good.Anybody like Black Books? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1349 Registered: 05-2005 |
You almost keep this thread going single-handedly Jonathan! Good on you. Frank, I really liked Black Books, though every time I see it it seems to be repeats of the first series. What I'd seen of Dylan Moran's stand up before on TV didn't really appeal to me though. Plus about eight or nine years ago he had a humour column in The Irish Times which wasn't funny at all. It got canned pretty quickly. But he really was great last night. The review of the night before the gig I saw is here http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/dylan-mo ran-enmore-theatre-march-26/2007/03/27/1 174761471687.html | ||
| Wolfgang Steinhardt Member Username: Berbatov Post Number: 60 Registered: 09-2006 |
...not very many interesting gigs in my corner of the world, but soon comes Joan as Police Woman, supported by Mr. Mark Eitzel. I love the latters AMC and would like to see him, but what about Joan - anybody seen her live? Three days later the Skatalites, guess I won't miss that by all means. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 440 Registered: 04-2006 |
Wolfgang, I saw here in 2005 as a support to Rufus Wainwright. She was also in Rufus' band and did there an incredible job (violin and guitar). Her Support-gig seemed bit strange at the first moment. Voice and piano. But it was a great performance, too (o.k. to outperform Rufus -who is the perfect showman- is a bit hard to do). I never listened to her latest release, so I am not the perfect guide, but I think you have to go. If not I wait for your next report about the Scorcese Box.... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1766 Registered: 03-2006 |
Wow! Mark Eitzel is supporting Joan the Police Woman? Wo wo wee wo...how far he's fallen. He used to be somebody. Nothing against her - I'm sure she's talented and good and everything, but not exactly a household name...Who's he gonna be supporting next? Jessica Simpson? | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 100 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Pixies - Sydney Luna Park, Friday 31 March. Wow. Never saw them live in their heyday - so didn't know what to expect from the reformed band. But they delivered big-time. The dynamics of their sound is extraordinary - makes all the other soft-then-loud exponents that came after them like Nirvana and Radiohead seem pedestrian. Frank Black still possesses the best controlled scream in rock. Kim Deal in particularly fine form on both bass and vocals. Didn't detect any of the legendary tension between the band members on stage. They seemed genuinely happy to be playing together, and a bit overwhelmed by the ecstatic reception they got from the sell-out crowd. The audience went off in a way I haven't seen for years What a great concert. Anyone else in Aus seen them on the current tour? | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 157 Registered: 07-2006 |
v festival in syd. jarvis was wonderful....still don't care a whole lot for the songs, but he's an exceptional performer. pet shop boys put on one of the best festival sets....no, the best festival set i've ever witnessed. can't wait to see them tomorrow night for the melbourne reader's digest version. ALL DAY ALL DAY.... last bit i saw of the pixies was terrific as well. they looked positively chuffed! | ||
| abigail law Member Username: Abigail Post Number: 116 Registered: 06-2005 |
Saw the fall at the hammersmith palais last night – last ever gig at the palais before they bulldoze it down for some much needed luxury flats. Mark e smith was in typically belligerent mood but the new US band were a bit too rock for my taste. Gig was cut short when people started climbing on stage which smith didn’t take kindly to. There was a mini-riot at the end with people trying to rip the place up for souvenirs. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 240 Registered: 04-2005 |
There were no riots Friday night in the small village of Saint Mayme de Péreyrol (Dordogne), but some great mint tea at the interval! The duo of Asrafil, which comprises the pianist Yonathan Avishai and the percussionist Bachir Mouhali played to a packed village hall. I suppose you call it 'world music', but whatever the label it was a wonderful evening. A completely attentive audience (aged from 7 to 70) were treated to 2 hours of beautiful and varied sounds and rhythms. The last piece before the encore was a stunning version of Coltrane's 'The Promise'. If anyone happens to be passing through the SW of France in May, on the 12th I am helping organise a concert in Belvčs featuring Yonathan playing with Solorazaf. The latter is an excellent Madagascan musician, who for many years was Miriam Makeba's guitarist. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 241 Registered: 04-2005 |
Only Ones interview for anyone that is interested http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/alexisp etridis/story/0,,2050446,00.html Remove the space between 'alexisp' and 'etridis'. It is just Guardian url's that never work with cut + paste? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1806 Registered: 03-2006 |
Dean and Britta, this past Friday night. I think, karmically speaking, I was due a nice concert experience and this one was indeed a nice one. Maybe gigs in museums are the wave of the future... We, basically just from arriving early, got the choicest tickets - the seats were on the front row, and it was a beautiful, practically brand new theater. They sold wine and beer in the lobby, but you couldn't take it in. Though I almost had a bad case of the DTs, it turned out to be a great thing, keeping the knuckleheadism down and keeping the crowd attentive and polite. But anyway, they started off with "Singer Sing That Song", which sounded like a gazillion bucks and things just got better from there, as they worked through most of the new album with some choice side detours thrown in for good measure. The seats were so unbelievably close, I swear I could see Britta's lovely uvula as she broke into the "baby" chorus of "You Turn My Head Around". Dean did indeed have a bewildering assortment of new flashy guitars, which he even got down and dirty on, once or twice. He played a couple of great, fuzz-toney solos on "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Bewitched". He was, it seemed, incredibly pedal happy. Almost every song seemed to require several different effects - which was fine - it all sounded so great, like the records, only better. The only other Luna-associated song they performed was "Moon Palace", which sounded wonderful. They had, performing with them, a very good drummer and a keyboard player that rocked all the different burbling synth effects so prevalent on their newest stuff. An extended "Bonnie and Clyde" was the last song of their set, before they came back for a couple of encores, which included "Ginger Snaps". Overall, it was a phenomenally great show and I recommend seeing them if you get a chance. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 222 Registered: 01-2006 |
That sounds like a great gig LK, unfortunately they're only touring the US. I think Back Numbers has some great tracks, would love to see them playte live. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1334 Registered: 04-2005 |
Andrew, many thanks for the Only Ones article. I had no idea they were reforming. I assumed Mr. Perrett had gone away for good. Ironically, my copy of the bio on Perrett that I ordered from Amazon months ago (I think it's print-on-demand) is due to arrive this week. LK, thanks for the preview...can't wait to see Dean & Britta this Wednesday in Seattle! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1510 Registered: 05-2005 |
ahem... And to think I read every one of your posts as well Kurt Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2007 - 12:19 pm: ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- Dont know if this is good news or not, but The Only Ones appear to have reformed. No doubt this is because Another Girl Another Planet was heavily featured on a saturation TV advert for mobile phones in the UK. Presumably Perrett has got his act together but I wouldnt risk going to one of the gigs in case he relapsed or didnt turn up. 27 Aprl. 2007 10:00 ATP ; Minehead; 1 June 2007 8:00 Academy 2 Manchester 2 June 2007 8:00 Glasgow ABC Glasgow 6 June 2007 8:00 Rock City Nottingham 8 June 2007 8:00 Wulfrun Wolverhampton 9 June 2007 8:00 Shepherds Bush Empire London 1 sept. 2007 11:00 Connect Fest Inverary Castle | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1335 Registered: 04-2005 |
Oops. Sorry, Kev...never saw that one. I don't check this thread that often and I didn't scroll back far enough. Can I make it up to you by saying you're totally right about the new Low album? | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1342 Registered: 04-2005 |
I saw Dean & Britta at the Triple Door in Seattle last night. Excellent show, and their last on the tour. Their set was so close to what LK described that I don't have much new to report, but they threw in a Galaxie 500 song (name escapes me) and "Tiger Lily." I'm embarrassed by it now, but after the show I did the fanboy thing and went to the front of the stage where they were talking and signing autographs. Both signed my "Back Numbers" CD insert and I chatted with Britta for a minute or two. Dean didn't give my pen back and was in a slightly haughty mood, so I let him keep it. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1820 Registered: 03-2006 |
It would've been cool if you could have somehow anticipated that and had the pen inscribed beforehand with something like, "This belongs to Kurt Stephan, you pen-stealin' hipster fuck!"... Glad you had as good an experience with their show... | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1344 Registered: 04-2005 |
Considering it was a pen I'd pilfered from the Red Lion Inn, it wasn't a great loss...I should have asked Britta to tell him to give me the pen back, though. | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 98 Registered: 04-2005 |
Last Sunday I went to see Midlake in Liverpool at the Academy. Two support bands can't remember the names, but I'll update next week. Midlake were excellent, they played for about 70minutes, most of the new album plus a few older tracks - A good night out. Last night (14/04/07) I watched a band called Fields at the night&day in Manchester. Again, 2 support bands, but I can remember these 2 - Suitcase, who sounded like they had a bit of a scouse sound, a bit noisy for me but I've heard worse (much worse). The second support band was the one I went to see, they're called Hush the many (heed the few). They've got their 1st single coming out in a couple of weeks and are excellent. Finally, the main band Fields played just under an hour, and have an album just out. First listen I was impressed, but the longer the set went on I worse they sounded. Too much of what I call guitar w*nking, you know the thing, just play your songs!!! Good night out for a fiver. Plenty coming up so keep tuned. Cheers Jon | ||
| david sigston Member Username: Futuretarded Post Number: 9 Registered: 04-2006 |
A rather good few days for me. I saw the vines at the tivoli on saturday night. Obviously being a fan helps me and I really enjoyed the show. I can certainly agree that in the past their shows have been ordinary, but in my opinion (slightly biased of course) it was just a really awesome rock and roll show. Fab from the strokes made a cameo. Plus I got to meet the guys and they were incredibly nice and humble. Just returned home from the tivoli once again, after seeing Wilco. Yes it was amazing. The new songs are brilliant. I don't usually condone the guitar noodling of some bands, but they just make it work so well. So many highlights from the night, but probably heavy metal drummer was the moment for me. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1422 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jon I really wanted to get to see Midlake, at L'pool but ended up not doing so. I have seen clips on Youtube from other gigs, they really look good. David, glad you enjoyed Wilco, i agree their geetar noodling is fantastic. Mr Cline works well with Mr tweedy, by the way in the UK the Mr Men are on their way back! I went to see a pal of mine called Jules Gray at Moseley Buddhist Centre on Saturday, acoustic singer, really excellent stuff, he's a bit of a Neil Young fan, and he opened with some nice covers, Clarke and Hilldale - Love amongst others by Gene Clarke. Also at a party afterwards a guy wcalled Micky Greany, who I've knwon for years was jamming his songs in the kitchen, really good night. Take a listen to Mikey if you want. http://www.myspace.com/mickeygreaneyandt heamericans | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 99 Registered: 04-2005 |
Spence Yeah Midlake were excellent, I'd recommend them. It was Easter Sunday and England v the aussies at the cricket....I think I made the right decision. Well I've seen a couple in the last week or so. The Loungs played Warrington, it was only Ł2 to get in so you can't go wrong. A few bands on, but didn't get any names..A local one from Warrington played well. The Loungs are a strange bands to describe, but the play some good music. Last night it was Jack Penate in Manchester at the Night&Day, two support bands one called Adele who I just missed (Thanks to the roadworks at the end of the M62). Another band from Nottingham(ish) called Late of the pier, synthy rock ish stuff, not too good for me, but they looked so, so, so young! Jack Penate's difficult one to describe, but a few good songs and excellent to listen to. I've got a few more coming in the next week or so....I've said I'll go to the Loungs in Manchester (Its only Ł4), Camera Obscura in Manchester, The Beep Seals in Manchester and Gruff Rhys in Liverpool...I'll keep you posted. Cheers Jon | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 224 Registered: 01-2006 |
Peter Bjorn and John in Dublin last saturday, minus John who was stuck in an airport in Stockholm. They played for just an hour, pretty disappointing gig. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1136 Registered: 03-2005 |
Ron Sexsmith in Hollywood at the Hotel Cafe. This is a small space and one of my favorites. The band is wedged into about 70 square feet in an alcove at one end of the room. Sexsmith was accompanied by an electric guitarist, bass and drums. The man sweats songs and he just pulled things at random from his albums, except to make sure that he did about four songs from the current one. While his voice can become a little monotonous on record, it's an excellent live voice because it carries over the microphone very well and he is much more successful in putting across his lyrics through sub-ideal sound conditions than the less experienced people who came before him (Tim Myers, Rie Sinclair--both worthy). The set was short and sweet, probably only about 50 minutes but my 50 year old lower back was ready to go home since I'd been standing for two and a half hours. The cover to see this songwriting legend? Fifteen bucks. And no drink purchase required. Not everything in Hollywood is expensive. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 567 Registered: 01-2005 |
Jon, Was the panther mask repaired and on stage? When I saw Midlake in February in Detroit we didn't get to see the mask as some doofuss stole the nose off the mask in Montreal! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1836 Registered: 03-2006 |
XY, they should've refunded one third of the ticket price. | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 100 Registered: 04-2005 |
Michael No the panther mask wasn't on stage (well I couldn't see it...), it was a good night though. Last night was The Loungs (and about three others) in Manchester, a couple of new songs by the loungs, and a trombone player who I'd never seen before. Can't remember the other bands, but they certainly weren't anything special. I've got Camera Obscura tonight, The Beeps Seals on Sunday and Gruff Rhys next Wednesday (the same night as Chelsea v Liverpool in the CL semi 1st leg). Cheers Jon | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 225 Registered: 01-2006 |
Little keith, they did offer a refund but i declined. | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 102 Registered: 05-2005 |
Been to a couple of great gigs here in Sydney in the last week. Wilco at the Enmore theatre on Saturday. I think these guys are really peaking as a live band at the moment. It was a phenomenal show. Started good and just got better and better. Standard of musicianship was incredible, particularly Nels Cline on guitar and Glen Kotche on drums. Lots of stuff of the new album which on this evidence will surely be one of the albums of the year. Glenn Tilbrook at The Vanguard last wednesday. Such an engaging performer. In very fine voice. Hadn't realised what an excellent guitarist he is. Just acoustic - but such great technique. Even did a cover of Jimi Hendrix's Vodoo Chile - which was actually superb. Lots of funny stories. And of course all those classic Squeeze stories/songs. A lovely suprise. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1438 Registered: 05-2005 |
Randy I'd like to see Ron Sexssmith, haven't heard much but sounds grand! Saw a group called The Low Miffs in Edinburgh, they played at a function for Malcolm Ross (ex Josef K, Orange Juice, Aztec Camera) and his wife in Edinburgh at the Chambers. They were great, a bit like Josef K, they did a cover of Jackie by Scott Walker/Brel. Then Buckley's Chance, Malcolm's country tinged band, blew everything away! Great night. | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 101 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yann Tiersen - Dublin, Sat. 21st January. Three and half years since he last played in Dublin. One of the few contemporary musicians I enjoy. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1396 Registered: 05-2005 |
That gig sounds great Randy. I went to a union protest gig at Sydney Cricket Ground last Sunday but spent most of the time with my daughter in the kid's play area. There was no list of who was playing when and each artist only did two or three songs. So I ended up missing Kev Carmody, whom I really wanted to see, but I saw saw great sets by Beasts Of Bourbon and You Am I. Anyone else at that gig? Mark? | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 48 Registered: 01-2007 |
Seen Ron Sexsmith twice in Preston upstairs in a small pun called the adelphi, usually a student dive but a few years ago put on some good music, includind The Handsome Family nad Willard Grant Conspiracy.Can relate to Randy's gig as it sounds a similar place and size of venue | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 89 Registered: 05-2005 |
Last week-end, I went to the Bella Union night at the Botanique in Brussels. Three acts of the texan new wave for a friendly price in the belgian finest venue… no need to say it was something not to be missed. Stephanie Dosen was a good surprise with her moving music. I waited a lot from Robert Gomez. This guy has released my best album of the first part of the year. The concert didn’t deceived me despite it was a short set. Midlake were also on top form. I think they’ve played the whole Trial album + some older songs. So, a nice evening. After the concerts, we could easily shake everyone’s hands. And learn that the singer of Midlake (at least) didn’t knew the existence of the Go-Betweens…Shame on him! Hope he‘ll remember the day after all the chimays. Three noisy pictures of the event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34242081@N00/?saved=1 And a free ep (with Roscoe remixes)to download at: www.cooperativemusic.com/sampler | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 102 Registered: 04-2005 |
Well its been a busy week for me.... Saturday was Camera Obscura at Jabez Clegg in Manchester. I don't know about the support band because CO were on at about 8.30 because of some club in the place afterwards - a disgrace! The gig was a bit hit and miss, they didn't have a guitar tech with them and it seemed a bit of a mess really. Having said that the band were good and made a few jokes about the time they were on. Sunday was The Beep Seals at the Roadhouse in Manchester - it was a single launch party (The singles been out for a couple of weeks, but that's the way they do things). 2 support bands don't know the name of the first one, so I'll leave it at that. the 2nd support was from The Travelling Band, who played a very americana sound, but were quite good. The beep seals did probably 45minutes, but for Ł3 it was a good night out. Last night was Gruff Rhys at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool - very strange. He came on stage as an airline pilot (even going through the emergency routine). Played a good mix of songs off his candylion album. All good stuff, and better than watching Liverpool getting beat. I've got a week off now...I think I'm going to sleep. Cheers Jon | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 103 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hi Pádraig - no I didn't make the union protest gig at the cricket ground. Would have liked to have - but it clashed with my daughter's first soccer game. Heard some of it drifing across on the wind to Queens Park. I did see Beasts of Bourbon a couple of months back at the Gaelic Club and they were great. Tex Perkins still delivers... | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 65 Registered: 05-2005 |
Saw The Church last night in Brighton. Played 2hrs 15 mins. Not that familiar with them but enjoyed it a lot. Nice tribute to Grant in their final song - several lines from Bye Bye Pride | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 249 Registered: 04-2005 |
Local singer/songwriter and general performance artist Thomas Michel is playing 4 nights to record a live CD + DVD under the name of 'Lachlagrapatom' So on a balmy spring night my 10 year old son and I went off to the village of Carves (SW France), (previously most notable for the award winning goats' cheese of Monsieur Bortolin) to see him play with Colin Dessaive (guitar/percussion). And a fine evenings' entertainment was had by all. For me, firmly in the French chanson tradition of fairly minimal instrumentation and with the emphasis firmly on the lyrics, but he is a performer with conviction, emotion and charisma. | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 107 Registered: 10-2006 |
Has anyone here seen Magnolia Electric Co. lately? They are playing next week. I preferred Jason Molina as Songs: Ohia, but may give them another chance... | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 454 Registered: 04-2006 |
No, John B. but I saw Joanna Newsom playing at the Volksbühne in Berlin. She was King! Her Ys Street Band complements the whole thing. Van Dyke Parks' arrangement was reduced to elemantary barnyard playing (Banjo, Violin and spare kind of drumming). You maybe guess that the harp doesn't sounded otherwordly but it doesn't. To me it is just pure POP. Perfect POP! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1159 Registered: 03-2005 |
Last night, Roseanne Cash at the swanky Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. She did a show centered around her 2006 album "Black Cadillac" about you know what. It was a nice stripped presentation with just her, her husband John Leventhal (guitar and occasional piano) and a bassist and drummer. Often she didn't bother to play guitar herself. Being a Roseanne Cash thing, it was touchy-feely but she put on an excellent show. Highlight for me: her cover of "Ode to Billie Joe" which really is a great song. I remember how ominous the original was to my largely uncomprehending 12 year old ears. She also did "What We Really Want" from "Interiors" and--of course--some other Johnny Cash-related songs like "September When It's Gone" (wisely and thankfully without the verses from her father) and "Tennessee Flat-Top Box" with Leventhal doing a very hot electric version. The Disney is a symphony hall so it was a bit like seeing the Go Betweens at the Barbican except that the Disney is smaller (so are the seats!) and the sound is more "live" there. The drums were reverberating all over the place; I'll bet it drove him crazy. I didn't decide to go until that afternoon and I was pretty happy with the seat I got and very glad I went. She's a good writer and she does a good show. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1428 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sounds great Randy. | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 109 Registered: 10-2006 |
Thanks, Andreas, but I try to avoide the harp ever since I had to sit through Andreas Vollenweider 25 years ago before Tom Tom Club and then Talking Heads came on stage. It's a trauma, I guess. The Magnolia concert was last night, I enjoyed it, but shamefully less than 100 people showed up. I had a brief chat with Jason Molina ahead of the gig and somehow we got talking about the Go-Betweens. He said he got to know their music only after the reunion and loves their songs and song-writing. He would have liked to have seen them live but never made it. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 591 Registered: 01-2005 |
Are the Artic Monkeys worth seeing? They are in town tonight but the ticket is $25.00 | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 254 Registered: 04-2005 |
Last Saturday’s concert in our village (Belvčs, Dordogne) featuring the Madagascan guitarist Solorazaf (http://www.solorazaf.com/) and pianist Yonathan Avishai (originally from Israel but now a local). The concert was part of the ‘Printemps des Bastides’; a festival that runs every spring in our area to further inter-cultural exchanges and music seems the ideal art form to bring people together. The hall in our village was packed out and apart from the musicians there were (at least) the following nationalities: French, Italian, English, Scottish, Irish, Dutch and Danish. And 7 Australians, on holiday here. I confess to having been pretty nervous about the whole event; I was primarily responsible for the organisation and the musicians had never met before; they managed a few rehearsals in the days leading up to the concert. And 15 minutes before the concert was due to begin there were only about 10 people in the hall, but the usual ‘périgourdine 15 minutes’ means that hardly anyone ever turns up on time round here. Solorazaf played for 15 years with Miriam Makeba and her band, touring the globe and even playing just with Makeba as a duo in front of Nelson Mandela. He plays the complex rhythms from his island, which are punctuated and emphasized by his singing and ‘clicking’. A completely captivating performer. As I have mentioned before in this thread, Yonathan is an extremely gifted pianist and someone who I have now seen play in around half a dozen different musical settings and he never fails to inspire and amaze. The concert featured them both playing separate songs and then joining together on 5 pieces: they opened with a version of Abdullah Ibrahim’s ‘African Market’, an artist that they discovered that they both admired. It perfectly set the musical tone: fluid, melodic and the musicians bouncing ideas off one another. The concert was a joyous celebration of the power of music, and clearly delighted with the experience of this evening both musicians are both looking at how the partnership might be continued. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1509 Registered: 05-2005 |
Wilco - London Shepherds Bush Empire. Gobsmacked. They are really f*ckin awesome live. No egos, just great music. Won't go on (sigh!), you just have to go and see them. Easily the best thing I have ever seen live (along with massive Attack, and The GoBetweens at Wolverhampton poly in '87) | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 238 Registered: 01-2006 |
Sounds great Spence, seeing them myself this Thursday... | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 239 Registered: 01-2006 |
Wilco in Berlin last Thursday, best gig I've seen and my mates (who ain't as biased) also agreed. Started with Shake It Of and finished over 2 hours later with a thundering Spiders-Kidsmoke. Only about 3/4 SBS tracks with a healthy sprinklng from all albums except AM. They easily surpassed all expectations, I should really have got the train to Hamburg to catch them the next night! | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1539 Registered: 05-2005 |
Glad you enjoyed XY! They really are all about seeing them live. Did you notice Jeff doing his robotic stlye movements during SPiders guitar work?!!!! Glad you enjoyed them mate. Next day, I was kinda sad I couldn;t just go and watch em down the Youth centre or something!!! | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 240 Registered: 01-2006 |
Hi Spence, didn't notice Tweedy doing robotics, Nels Cline was on his back on the stage for the last flourish of Spiders! | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 113 Registered: 05-2005 |
Spence and XY - so glad you enjoyed them. I'm still hyped from seeing them in Sydney last month. Most people I've met who were there also rate it as one of the best gigs they've been to. I went with a couple of Wilco agnostics - who are now busy rediscovering their whole back catalogue. And I'm LOVING Blue Sky Blue. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 241 Registered: 01-2006 |
Mark, a friend of mine recommended them to another friend in Sydney, he went along knowing never heard any of their stuff and was blown away. Went out the next day and picked up a few albums... This was the set at the Berlin gig... 1. Shake It Off 2. You are my face 3. IATTBYH 4. Handshake Drugs 5. Shot in the Arm 6. Side with the Seeds 7. Pot Kettle Black 8. Sky Blue Sky 9. Impossible Germany 10. War on War 11. Via Chicago 12. Jesus, Etc. 13. Walken 14. Hummingbird 15. I'm the man who loves you Encore 1 16. Misunderstood 17. Poor Places 18. Reservations 19. Spiders/Kidsmoke Encore 2 20. Heavy Metal Drummer 21. Late Greats 22. I'm a Wheel 23. Kingpin | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1541 Registered: 05-2005 |
XY there was no Heavy netal Drummer at Sheps Bush!! You lucky thing! They really do have something live. Only dissappointment for me was, growing up in the 80's, most of the gigs I was fortunate to see at small clubs. All my faves played small clubs, polytechnics, university eetc and you could get real colse. The bigger venues, whilst exciting, ususally you get 10 six foot eight guys standing right in front of you! I was forever battling to see the group. Hiowever, Wilco muyst have played their smallest gog I think 3 years ago in Birmingham when I saw them and they were again, totally awesome, there must have been 250 peopls max upstaitrs at the Academy. That was more like it! | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 242 Registered: 01-2006 |
Spence, will stick those CDs in the post today, you should get them in time for the bank Holiday (it is in the UK right?). There's a few extra tracks from the SBS era along with live versions of a lot of the album. | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 112 Registered: 10-2006 |
Wilco setlist from Hamburg, definitely one of the best gigs I have ever seen, absolutely fantastic. You Are my Face I Am Trying To Break Your Heart Handshake Drugs Shot In The Arm At Least That's What You Said Side With The Seeds War On War Via Chicago Pot Kettle Black Hummingbird Jesus Etc. Walken Theologians I'm The Man Who Loves You --------------- Impossible Germany Sky Blue Sky Poor Places Spiders (Kidsmoke) --------------- What Light The Late Greats I'm A Wheel My only personal favourite missing was "Ashes of American Flags." I went on holiday the next day and only returned last Saturday. The only thing I played all those three weeks on my Ipod was Wilco, mainly a playlist from "Kicking Television." You can feel the intensity there, but the the concert still blew me away. ---- Last night it was "The Who" at a nice open-air venue. Daltrey, Townsend and the rest of the band were in fine form and can still teach many youngsters (and the Rolling Stones as well) what a good rock concert is all about. Bst songs IMO "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again." | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 76 Registered: 02-2007 |
Just saw The Apartments at the Troubadour here in Brisvegas. Great show. Very raggedy and rough around the edges, the songs were impressive. Well received by audience of about 100 or so, lots of musicians, guys from the 70's scene in attendance, music officianados and fans, and people like me who just wanted to find out what all the fuss was about. Peter Milton Walsh seemed up-beat and engaging. Apologized for being a bit atonal at one point but no-one seemed to mind. Quite a rivetting set, which reaffirmed the glory of live perfromance rather than say just reproducing a sound from a record. Spent the day in the city trying to find any of their CDs but alas none available. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1267 Registered: 03-2005 |
So he did it. He actually played. I hope this is a step toward an album. Are you new to him David? Do you know whether he played any new songs? Donat? | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 77 Registered: 02-2007 |
Yes Randy I'm fairly new to the whole Apartments story so can't tell what songs etc were played or whether any were new. The songs were great though, well constructed, often starting off quite slow and building momentum, can't wait to find the albums. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1556 Registered: 05-2005 |
Bargain bins David. That's where you'll find them. If they can only get 100 at their first hometown show in about a million years that's an indication of how many CDs they sell. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 736 Registered: 08-2006 |
On a lark, I went with a couple friends to see the P. Furs last night. I'd seen 'em back in '82, and "Talk, Talk, Talk" is one of my all-time faves, so I figured what the hey. They were actually really good depsite the strong stench of nostalgia surrounding the show. They played the hits, natch, but closed with two off the first record, "Sister Europe" and "India." Oddly, Richard Butler was dressed like a lawyer on casual day - white shirt, sweater, slacks - but his voice sounded great. I always thought the Furs were a damn sight better than the '80s novelty acts they're always lumped in with, but they seem to be playing that up so maybe they deserve what they get. All in all, though, they give good concert. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1638 Registered: 05-2005 |
I am fortunate to be in posession of tickets to see the reformed Stephen Duffy led Lilac Time in Hereford in August this year. | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 41 Registered: 06-2005 |
REM-Olympia Theatre, Dublin. I saw the band last night in the middle of a 5 night residency that is being billed as a "Live Rehearsal" for their new album, projected behind the stage was the legend "This Is Not A Show" So it was no Monster, only element of Monster were the toy plastic dinosaurs on top of Buck's Vox monitors. Stipe announced at the beginning, "We are REM and this is what we do when you are not looking," he sipped on a pint of stout, Buck a couple of glasses of red wine, Mills a coffee, it was all very relaxed as Stipe read/sang/wrote notes/searched for lyrics on a laptop (emblazoned with the word "Impeach" on it)perched on a monitor, centrestage. We were thanked for "participating" in the rehearsal with "Olive Branches" in the form of some beautiful raw versions of Million from Chronic Town, Feeling Gravity's Pull, Little America,Kohoutek, Driver 8,Secong Guessing, Auctioneer and my favourite, So. Central Rain. This was REM as I thought I'd never see them and though I'm far from their biggest fan, this was fantastic. The new stuff, about a dozen of which were played are very promising too which bodes well for the new record. It was a lot more Rickenbecker, a lot less casio than the their last three releases, certain songs stood out straight away "I'm Gonna DJ" and "Man Sized Wreath" will be all over the radio next Summer. Another two acoustic lead songs with pump organ,were reminisent of Out of time, Country Feedbackish, there were rockers in the Monster mode also and there were a few REM by numbers too, but Hey, this was only a rehearsal! One song was written three days ago, Stipe was funny, when speaking about one song that was up for a new draft of lyrics, when he asked the lads what they thought of one of the new lyrics he performed the previous night in the studio, thay had to sit him down and break it to him that it was the middle part from the "Friends" theme tune...Ouch! So they ripped the piss out of themselves a bit too. Mills harmonies were great and a lean Peter Buck, energised no doubt from his recent tour with fellow guitarist Scott Mc Caughey as part of Robyn Hitchcock's Venus Three band, was on top form and looked to be enjoying himself. Hitchcock was sitting in one of the boxes right of the stage and is supporting REM tonight with Viarosa. If Garret Lee, the producer of the new record can nail the guitar sound and energy that was on view last night then this could be a real return to form. I was a fan of his band Compulsion, formerly Thee Amazing Collossel Men (Padraig on here will probably know them) they had a great guitar sound and energy (their "Mall Monarchy" could make the great intros thread) So he may bring out the best in the band, I'm certainly a lot more optimistic now and will look forward to the new one, which makes a change. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 672 Registered: 08-2004 |
Excellent, Peter. All the reviews I've read of the Dublin rehearsals have been positive. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1642 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks Peter, nicely written. Look forward to seeing REm one day and I now look forward to hearing their next album. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 744 Registered: 08-2006 |
There are actually a few (pretty bad quality) clips of the Dublin shows floating around on YouTube. Because they're recorded from cell phones, the sound is even worse than the picture, but the new songs I heard did, indeed, sound pretty damn good. Maybe that great set they played at the RnR Hall of Fame reminded them they used to be a rock band. | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 110 Registered: 05-2005 |
Made it in to see REM on Sunday nite. Was in the upper circle of the theatre from where you can see the beginnings of bald patches on performers like Nick Cave (don't shoot the messenger) but REM's collective hair (Stipe doesn't have much .. on his head anyway) still looks intact. I find occasions like this poignant now - I first saw REM go down like a lead ballon supporting U2 circa 'Fables' a full 21 years ago when I'd just turned 17. Then with the Go-betweens as support 4 years later on the Green tour, and 6 years after that I was among 80,000 others for the Monster tour at Slane Castle (worst album, but the best gig for me - I sneaked in over the wall with my brother). I think REM have remained faithful to themselves musically with more integrity than their genre hoping 'post-modern' comtemporaries - U2, who ended up pretty much going back to basics for their last two albums anyway. REM haven't maintained anything like the same level of commercial success as U2 but it's not a horse race and U2 are so bloody competitive they're hard to keep up with anyway. They do tend share a lot of personnel though - Jack knife Lee, O'Herlihy, McCarthy doing production, sound engineering etc. And speaking of Thee Amazing Collossel Men (Jack knife Lee reference in Pete's posting above) - they had a track called 'Let's talk about girls' on The Weird Weird World of Guru Weirdbrain - a nuggets style compilation of mostly Irish bands circa 1986 (the year the go-betweens played the Trinity Ball). In fact I think it might have been a cover of a track from the original Nuggets compilation - surprise, surprise ... Ah, I knew someone on one of those crazy records would go somewhere sometime. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 63 Registered: 05-2005 |
Fsh/Peter, thanks for the reports on the gigs. I would have liked to get there myself, but by the time I heard about it, it was sold out. From the sounds of things, I'm almost allowing myself to hope that the next album might just be a return to form for them. I also saw them in Croke Park Supporting U2 in '85. How come I have no recollection of their being "bottled off" in Croke Park, despite everyone telling me it happened? Was it because I was too busy actually enjoying the set, or maybe it has something to do with the fact that this 13-year old idiot had been pulled out of the crowd 3 times before they got on stage, and was probably delerious with dehydration? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1573 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks for the report lads. Great reviews. I might just buy the next R.E.M. record afterall. I was also at that Croke Park gig in 1985. No, they didn't go down well. I couldn't take the crush at the front anymore (it was my first outdoor gig) and had gone to the back before they came on. My mate Paul stayed at the front and said they were awesome though. | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 42 Registered: 06-2005 |
Hey fsh, Garret's pal from the band is responsible for Underground Ernie on BBCTV so I guess two of those guys made good! | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 114 Registered: 05-2005 |
Peter - ok, ok - don't rub it in to those of us for whom talent and success walked one another by! Your bitterly fsh | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 277 Registered: 01-2006 |
Saw Daniel Johnston last night at Vicar St, Dublin. Surprisingly full attendance, I’d say the film The Devil and Daniel Johnston certainly swelled the crowd. Daniel started off with a few songs unaccompanied on electric guitar and organ. He was a bit shaky when he was playing solo with a few bum notes here and had folders in front of him with the lyrics. After a 15 minute break he returned with a really tight 3 piece band of local musicians. He was in great form, talking to the crowd and making a few jokes. He played for a little over an hour in total and songs included Grievances, Living Life, Fish, Mountain Top, Hey Joe, Walking The Cow, Love Enchanted, Speeding Motorcycle and he finished with True Love Will Find You In The End. I don’t think I’ve been to a gig before expecting so little and enjoying it so much, thrilled to have caught him live and such a great gig too…. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1597 Registered: 05-2005 |
Who were the local musos XYZ? | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 280 Registered: 01-2006 |
Not sure Padraig.... Eoin, Ronan and a third guy, it was hard to hear Daniel sometimes as he's lost all his front teeth. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 771 Registered: 08-2006 |
Day 1 of the Pitchfork Music Festival and it was a corker. Slint playing "Spiderland," GZA doing "Liquid Swords" and - oh, baby - Sonic Youth doing "Daydream Nation." It was all terrific stuff (although Slint got a little overblown as they went along) but Sonic Youth tore the roof off the place (speaking metaphorically). Really. I've seen them maybe five, six times and I don't think they've ever been better, and not just because of the choice material. Interestingly, their encore - which consisted of three songs from "Rather Ripped" - was received as warmly as the "Daydream" stuff. And it sounded just as strong, actually. With my press pass, I was right at the edge of the stage, risking hearing damage and not giving a damn. The kids behind me were packed so tight against the barricade you'd think someone had used a showhorn to get them in. They, too, couldn't have cared less. If I survive this weekend, I'll remember it as a highlight for a long time. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 772 Registered: 08-2006 |
A "showhorn"? Make that "shoehorn." | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2114 Registered: 03-2006 |
A showhorn - I like it, maybe you should patent that, Rob. They could use it whenever venues get too crowded: "Aw Christ, Lou. They're packed like sardines in the ballroom tonight. Better get out the showhorn..." It reminds me of those guys they hire to jam more people into the subway cars in Tokyo... Oooh, what a lucky man he is. That sounds fantastic. How'd you land such a sweet gig, if it's not prying?... I looked at the schedule of the Pitchfork fest and wondered if Fridays worked like they did at the N.O. Jazz Fest, which was that they typically ended up being less crowded than the weekend proper, affording a chance to enjoy a similarly stellar lineup without it being such a madhouse. I think you answered that question... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1603 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sounds amazing Rob. Did you get to interview Thurston? | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 773 Registered: 08-2006 |
I interviewed Lee Renaldo, Padraig, but yesterday (Saturday) Thurston was hanging around all day because he was playing with Yoko Ono last night (more about that later). I was chatting with SY's tour manager and Thurston walked up and we talked for maybe 20 minutes about records, the other performers, other stuff. This sounds like a cliche, but he couldn't have been more... regular. He was walking around the festival - backstage and out in the crowd - all day, and I didn't once see anyone mob him or even stare as he walked by. He's very tall, and yet he didn't seem to attract attention when he wasn't on stage. Part of it is the backstage vibe of the fest. Everyone seems either oblivious to or very respectful of the artists. Iron & Wine (what's his real name?) was sitting in the grass with his family, Britt Daniel from Spoon (who was in town for an unrelated show) was chatting with some folks over by the beer tent, the guys from Deerhunter were giving each other backrubs by the field house - it was just a very pleasant environment. My favorite guy of the fest so far has to be Barry Hogan of All Tomorrow's Parties. Just a peach of a guy - about my age, totally approachable, completely gracious. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 776 Registered: 08-2006 |
I'm back from the war. A great weekend all around. Very fine performances, nice people and - rare for Chicago in the summer - mild weather. Yesterday's highlight for me was a solo set from the great Malkmus (who I got to interview and who was quite nice) and a blistering set from the New Pornographers. De La Soul closed the night, bringing out the venerable Prince Paul, and their set was a corker. But it was a long weekend, editing the podcast from nine a.m. 'til two p.m., then wandering the festival grounds 'til 11 p.m. or so. I've discovered that, at 40, adreneline isn't enough to sustain you over the course of a long weekend with little sleep. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2118 Registered: 03-2006 |
Rob, batten down the hatches and lock up the womenfolk! Loudie's coming to town. He's going to be in the OC, as well as Chi-town, and the Emerald City, so Mistah Kurtz and the Belz can see him, too. Rest up them 40 year old feets! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2119 Registered: 03-2006 |
Semi-thoughtfully, LK deigns to post a schedule: http://www.lwiii.com/itinerary.php | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 777 Registered: 08-2006 |
Hey, cool! And he's playing the Old Town School of Folk Music here, which is a small room with really great sound. And it has seats, so my 40-year-old feets get night off. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2121 Registered: 03-2006 |
Lucky you, Rob. The club he's playing in here is for shit. It's basically a big box, with a lot of pillars, and with mediocre, indifferent sound. But it's the management that really chaps me - you have to make a dinner reservation to get a decent seat (if that's not illegal, it should be) and are really treated like cattle once you get in. You might think, well maybe the dinner might be decent, after all the folderol, but nooo...It's, basically, a $20 plate of rubber chicken. I guess, on the plus side, eating it builds up great jaw strength, not to mention the considerable wrist and forearm workout you get sawing through it with the prison-issue, dull knife they give you. Btw, based on your warning, I'm not taking my girlfriend - I'm making her sit at home wearing a chastity belt. | ||
| Matt Ellis Member Username: Matt_ellis Post Number: 154 Registered: 11-2004 |
I went to see Frank Black last night in London for the first time. I've waited about 5 years for him to play here. I'm a moderate Pixies fan - I'm a much bigger Frank Black Fan. Anyways, the gig started with Frank playing a few solo acoustic songs - mainly Pixies songs. After the first one it became apparent that he was fairly wasted. He then played the Pixies standard 'Veloria' (for the umpteenth time) and aborted half way through stopping it dead with an explitive. He told the crowd that he thought he had 'overdone it at the bar' beforehand! at least he was being honest. The rest of the set was fully electric - with Frank opting not to play any guitar. At first I thought it was cos he was sozzled but apparently he's been doing it on most of this tour. He played a lot of stuff from his new record 'Bluefinger' which is out in September - will record labels never get the touring/releasing thing in sink!? so many blank expressions in the audience for the new songs - I was only in the know because I had managed to 'accidentally' download an advance. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1654 Registered: 05-2005 |
Poor old Charles, I love the man though, he's astonishing, he's truly legendary! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1733 Registered: 05-2005 |
Off the new record, Threshold Apprehension is the only song that lives up to Pixies standards. Wouldnt have sounded out of place on Trompe Le Monde. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 778 Registered: 08-2006 |
If anyone's interested, here's the (thank god!) completed podcast from the Pitchfork Music Festival. Mine is the second voice you hear in the piece, the scratchy, kinda nasal one. http://downloads.pitchforkmedia.com/PMF0 7-Backline05.mp3 | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1735 Registered: 05-2005 |
That line by Brian McMahon from Slint about his balls deflating was a cracker Rob. I see one of your pics of Steven Malkmus also made it onto Pitchforks website. Do you work for them or are you freelance or something? | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 104 Registered: 04-2005 |
Sorry I've been AWOL for a while. I've forgot woh I've seen, except last Friday was Angus & Julia Stone in Manchester. 2 'very average' support bands and they played for about 75 minutes. Angus seems very shy (Julia's not too much better), but the music's good. Did a fair set including a cover of tub thumping... Cheers Jon | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 781 Registered: 08-2006 |
An old friend of mine is the promoter of the Picthfork Music Festival, Kevin. It started out under the name Intonation, then took on the name it has now and became kind of a 50/50 effort between my friend's production company and Pitchfork Media. So I work for the festival, not the site. The photo was kind of an accident. They had, like, six pro photographers working, but when Malkmus got up there, they took a few snaps and left, figuring there weren't any more photo opportunities with just a guy and a guitar. Then Stephen introduced the old Pavement drummer, who came up and joined him for a few tunes. I was stageside taking some shots with my crappy point-and-shoot digital, and one of the guys with the fest asked me if I could e-mail them to him. I had no idea I was the only person caturing the moment and I was quite surprised to see my personal pic on Pitchfork. That and $3.50 will get me a cup of coffee, but it's still kind of cool. That Brian McMahon thing was very funny. I also thought it was cool running into that Italian guy stageside after interviewing him earlier in the day. It was fun project all around. I'm a print journalist by training, so it was very interesting to how people respond when you shove a microphone into their faces. It's kind of a different response than you get in print reporting. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1736 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sounds like a cracking festival Rob and seems like you had a good time. Oh to have seen Sonic Youth perform Daydream Nation from start to finish. Now how did they do Providence? | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 785 Registered: 08-2006 |
I've been gushing about Sonic Youth's set to everyone I've encountered since Friday, so I might as well continue the gush here. They were simply amazing. A fellow Sonic Youth fanatic friend of mine flew in from San Fran for the show and we both agreed it was, bar none, the best performance we'd ever seen them give. I saw them on the "Daydream" tour, and this was even better than that. They did "Providence" with tape loops, which was cooler than it sounded. Thurston was up there manipulating the playback. I think I mentioned this earlier, but I was really impressed by the audience's reaction to their encore, which was all stuff from "Rather Ripped." They were every bit as enthusiastic for it as they were the "Daydream" stuff. Mighty awesome. If they come anywhere near you on this tour, go, go, go. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1483 Registered: 04-2005 |
Remember when Sonic Youth had the truck full of its equipment stolen a number of years back? I remember Moore and Ranaldo saying that a number of older songs (maybe most of them) were "lost forever" because they had a lot of one-of-kind manipulated or weirdly tuned guitars that they didn't think they could recreate. Do you know, Rob, if they ever recovered the equipment? Or did they figure out how to tune and tweak new equipment to play "Daydream Nation" again? Sounds like an amazing show. I've only seen SY once and it was a short set. I need to see the DN concert. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 787 Registered: 08-2006 |
You know, I asked that question of Lee Renaldo, because I remember the instruments getting stolen and their comments about not being to revisit some old songs. Lee basically dismissed the question (not in a rude way, I should say), saying it wasn't a factor, so we edited it out of the podcast. I don't know if that whole instrument thing got overblown or what, but he didn't seem inclined to dwell on it. Whether or not they ever got the stolen equipment back, they had a hell of a lot of guitars onstage. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 279 Registered: 04-2005 |
Last Thursday I helped out with an excellent gig by a French guitarist Seb Martel, which took place in the tiny commune of Orliac (around 60 people in it) in the Dordogne. Seb, who plays as an side-man for a bewildering number of French ‘big names’ (-M-, Camille, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Keren Ann being amongst them) also has a solo career and released an excellent CD ‘Coitry?’ last year. Quite what he sounds like I can’t quite begin to describe. He plays a beautiful Gretch semi-acoustic (often playing over a loop of himself) and is a huge fan of blues + rockabilly, but those reference points don’t actually help. For this evening he is accompanied by his brother Nicolas on vocals + percussion (and looking handsome) and a bass-clarinettist Fabrice. The latter is an instrument that I have never seen before and produces a unique noise. The music was very quirky and often quite “sparse”, but the songs were wonderful and compelling. As did the charismatic performances (both brothers have alternatives careers in acting). The audience (small children to 80 year old farmers) went wild. Check out www.sebmartel.com | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1682 Registered: 05-2005 |
sounds good andrew, will check him out. ta | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 712 Registered: 01-2005 |
Andrew, have you checked out Coralie Clement? I have her two cd's, and she is one of my current favorites. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 280 Registered: 04-2005 |
Michael, Thanks for that tip! I see that Coralie Clément is actually the sister of Benjamin Biolay, whose stuff I quite like... | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 281 Registered: 04-2005 |
Back to Orliac (see post from Monday) for an evening of baroque music in the company of "L'Orfeo di Cracovia". This ensemble tours France every summer (led by Jean-Pierre Menuge) and my partner had seen them last year and raved about it. I cannot claim to know much about classical music, but this was an amazing experience. A trio with recorder, harpsichord (actually made by M.Menuge) and 'viola da gamba' playing in a stunning medieval church. Seeing the music actually being performed with such joy brought it totally 'alive' and in the present. Which made me reflect on how 'spoilt' we are now, in terms of the possiblities of recorded music. When these pieces were written, seeing them performed was the only way of experiencing them obviously. Where we live, for the two months of July/August (the tourist season) there is almost too much to see + do, in terms of culture. But last night was a true gem. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1620 Registered: 05-2005 |
Saw four gigs by this bloke called Robert Forster last week. Not bad. Not bad at all. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 132 Registered: 01-2007 |
Never heard of him. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 725 Registered: 01-2005 |
Frank, he was in that Quentin Tarantino movie "Jackie Brown". He played the bail bondsman Max Cherry. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 133 Registered: 01-2007 |
Oh didn't know he could sing | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 97 Registered: 05-2005 |
So, is he any good? Is it worth travelling any distance to a gig I wonder??? | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1728 Registered: 05-2005 |
Saw The lilac Time, fronted by the genius that is Mr Stephen Duffy. It was at this small college in a place called Hereford, England. Very cosy, limted tickets, so only about 200 people there. They were amazing. Mr Duffy is an incredible songwriter and singer. The band were tight and played wonderfully, the weather was beautiful outside and all in all, it was a very 'English'evening. Highlights were the wonderful, Black Velvet and the brand new songs, Mr Duffy was very entertaining with his totally chilled, laid back inbetween banter chit chat. And, they had an awesome pedal steel guitarist, that blew me away. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1667 Registered: 05-2005 |
Bob Dylan last night in the cavernous barn that is the Entertainment Centre. We had good seats though and I taunted the people in the cheap seats. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1668 Registered: 05-2005 |
Oh, and Irish band The Frames supported and were very good too. I'm not much of a fan of theirs at all but I enjoyed their 30 minute set last night. | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 108 Registered: 04-2005 |
Spence...Wow I didn't know the lilac time were still going. I used to love them the girl who waves at trains is one of my favourates. I'll have to check on myspace to see if he's heading up north. Padraig...I can't believe you'd taunt people in the cheap seats - otherwise come the revolution! Things are really quiet with me, but October's looking better with the wedding present, Ian Brown, The Police all lined up. Cheers Jon | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 149 Registered: 01-2007 |
Jonathon--are you going to the Manchester gig? Which night we've got rear view only on the first night!! | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 109 Registered: 04-2005 |
Frank Yeah I'm going to the Mcr gig. I think we're in a similar spot to you, but I didn't get the tickets for this one. I'm looking forward to hearing the songs from my youth, I might even get some spacedust and coke to make me feel at home!!!! Cheers Jon | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1672 Registered: 05-2005 |
"Spacedust and coke" Jonathan? Are you meeting Sean Ryder and Bez before the gig then? | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 110 Registered: 04-2005 |
Padraig....It was a much more innocent time back then. Spacedust was the thing you put into your mouth and it crackled, and coke is coca cola. The thing is if you had a mouthful of spacedust and added some coca cola, it almost blow your head off. Is it the right messageboard to bring up the fact that curly wurly's and wagon wheels are so much smaller these days (Apologies in advance if people haven't got a clue what I'm talking about). Also on the subject of Sean Ryder did you read his tribute to Tony Wilson....."I was f***ing gutted when I heard the news. I loved Tony. RIP mate"......He should be writing professionally!! Cheers Jon Cheers Jon | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 128 Registered: 05-2005 |
Regardless of whether we're talking about legal or illegal sweeties, it seems that there's the same end result either way!!! Curly Wurlys and Wagon Wheels seemed so much bigger because we were all so much smaller, Jonathan. | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 111 Registered: 04-2005 |
Catherine...I'm not having it, both Wagon Wheels and Curly Wurly's have been made smaller depite the change in perspective. Its a corporate money making thing blah blah blah blah. Another thing did anyone even shake a can of coke and pierce the side and drink it through that....that got you high as well when your 13. I've going to leave it at that and say I'm a good boy. Cheers Jon | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1676 Registered: 05-2005 |
You've had too much "spacedust and coke" I think Jonathan. (No Curly Wurly in Oz, but last time I looked in Ireland they were most definitely smaller. We do have Wagon Wheels in Oz. Also smaller.) | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1731 Registered: 05-2005 |
Well changing Marathon to Snickers never made sense, you can't beat flumps, found one in my air vent in my Mini Metro many moonds ago, they get everywhere!!! LOL | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1677 Registered: 05-2005 |
My review of Bob Dylan in Sydney is now up at www.myspace.com/padraigcollins I can't manage to get rid of those arrow things in the text! | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 130 Registered: 05-2005 |
Were you tempted to scoff the flump, Spence? I'd say it'd have been quite safe, as they're probably made of nothing but sugar and petrochemicals!! Jonathan, what kind of a mis-spent youth did you have?? Shotgunning cans of coke? Whatever next? Snorting fizz-bombs? | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 131 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks for the blog about the Bob Dylan gig, Pádraig. I can relate to what you said about Blowing in the Wind. Saw BD six years ago outdoors in Kilkenny, and it seemed that every song was unrecognisable. It got funny, watching people strain their ears to hear the lyrics and figure out each song, then desperately try to sing along!! I suppose its understandable - he's been singing the same songs for 40 years, he's going to want to mix it up a bit. Thing is, he didn't just mix it up, he seemed to change it entirely. Put me right off going again, even when I was offered a press pass for last year's show in the same venue. I really didn't fancy more of the same, as much as I love the man. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1335 Registered: 03-2005 |
What is a flump? | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 142 Registered: 05-2005 |
It is/was a marshmallow-like piece of crap fed to kids in order to shut them up, but invariably has the opposite effect, as they contain so much chemicals to hold the sugar together! There are a few different types, if I remember correctly. In Ireland, there were ones called Flogs, which were yellow/pink sausage shaped. Flumps as I remember them were a bit bigger? |