Saw X at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA last night. The Birchmere is a great venue that has two separate stages -- the Music Hall, which is a big room with tables for all-seated shows, and the Bandstand, which is a much smaller room with a bar and no tables that is typically used for more rock-oriented shows. Most acts that play the Birchmere play the Music Hall, and there are a lot of singer-songwriter types (next week's shows include Bonnie Prince Billy and Mary Chapin Carpenter, for example). That's not really my thing, so I don't go as often as I should, given that it's all of five minutes from my house. Before last night, the last show I saw there was probably Fountains of Wayne in the Music Hall last year (good show, by the way).
X was awesome. For this tour, they're starting each show with a movie called "The Unheard Music" which is roughly 80 minutes of interview and concert footage of the band in its early days, now 30 years ago (gulp). Man, they looked young, but I guess they were. Same era as the stuff in The Decline of Western Civilization Part 1. The movie was apparently on the shelf for years, until the rights recently reverted back to the director, who is a good friend of the band. Very entertaining, and it's out on DVD if you're interested. Some great interviews with a major label A&R guy trying to explain why he wasn't interested in X (too regional, no Top 40 potential) intercut with the founder of Slash Records explaining why he was thrilled to have them, and how happy he was that Los Angeles sold 50,000 copies. The punch line came when the major label guy contrasts X with a band his label was very high on, that was getting ready to release its third album, and he was sure the album and the band were going to be huge, "like Journey." Anybody remember Point Blank? Me neither.
When X came out, they started by playing the entire Los Angeles album, all nine songs, in order. For my money, that one's up there with the Clash and Never Mind the Bollocks on the short list of greatest punk debut albums. They played for close to an hour and a half, pretty much everything I wanted to hear. Instrumentally, they were great back in the day but they're better now, tighter and obviously enjoying themselves. John Doe has to be one of the coolest bass players ever, DJ Bonebrake is a kick-ass drummer and Billy Zoom is a criminally underrated guitarist. Exene and John's vocal harmonies are still there, though her voice isn't as powerful as it was. She announced a couple of years ago that she had been diagnosed with MS, but I saw no signs of it during the show. My father in law has MS, so I know what a horrible disease it can be, but I hope for the best for her. The crowd was totally into the show, and for a change I was probably younger than at least half of the people there (I'm 48, so that doesn't happen too often for me these days). Good to see that some former punks have grown up to be productive -- or at least functional -- members of society. Seriously, I saw people there who looked like they were out for a night at the symphony, but they were rocking out with everybody else.
If you have any interest, and they're coming to a town near you, go!
Forget to mention that the weekend before last, we drove into Louisville to catch Sebadoh at Headliner's (over in the Butchertown neighborhood).
I don't recall ever really liking them much as a teen, but my wife had a bunch of memories tied up in their music, so off we went. Besides, I'm really enjoying having rediscovered how much fun it is to go see a show on a Friday night.
Headliners is a neat little space. If you live in Denver, I would compare it to the Bluebird Theater. Chicago, hm, not sure, actually, what it would be compared to. It's a small space, but wide open and vaulted ceilings and a balcony off to the side. Definitely the kind of place I like seeing shows; small enough for a sense of intimacy, large enough to not feel like a sardine.
The crowd wasn't too large, a fact which made me feel bad for the musicians, but it meant it took me less than a minute to get a beer.
The opening act, Deer Meet, were some local guys who've been around for a while. One of the guitar players used to be in a band that would do club shows with my wife's band back in the day. They were good.
The next act, some UK band called Mazes was actually really good. They didn't sound that different from a lot of Indie stuff on the scene, but they were a solid outfit and some very catchy tunes.
Sebadoh was interesting. I enjoyed the stuff that sounded like Dinosaur Jr., not so much the stuff that sounded like music that is played as loud as you can play it and maybe there's music in there and maybe not. Considering that it wasn't a great turnout, they sure played their asses off and a long set, to boot.
It was a nice cool autumn evening. Staff was very friendly. You can always judge a bar by the kindness & pragmatism of its doormen. Headliners, apparently, has been around for a long time. There's a small engine airplane that's planted in the trees and soil just behind the venue.
Sunday, David Bromberg Quartet at the Old Town School of Folk Music. I've been a fan for just a few decades now, but never seen David live before...also very excited. Great place to see a show.
We actually had theater tickets for Saturday night too, but decided we should change the date.
Well, all of the shows were great, thank you very much. The CJE show was fantastic and well-attended despite a snowstorm...I think this concert was particularly great because drummer/CJE director Dana Hall is a Mingus Big Band alum and knows the catalog inside and out. Miguel Zenon is in town for a Bird tribute in a few weeks.
The Bromberg show was also a lot of fun, of course. The opening act was Eric Noden a blues guy who is an absolutely kickass guitarist. Some free DLs are to be found on his website, above. BDB in particular may want to check it out! Will definitely keep an eye open for him around town.
Had an absolute blast at The Current's 7th Birthday Party on Friday. Saw Low, Tapes 'n Tapes, Night Moves, and Dead Man Winter. It had been far too long since I'd gotten to a show, so it was very needed.
I totally understand what you mean about needing to see a show. It had been so long since I'd seen a show, that when I went to the above two that I posted about, it was a profoundly emotional experience for me to go to the shows. It made me feel young again and hopeful for the future (though I don't want to give the impression that I view myself as old or that I possess a bleak outlook on life. I don't. I'm just speaking to the rejuvenation effect of live music).
On a different note, Branford Marsalis played in Frankfort, KY at this historical theater about a week ago. Frankfort is about an hour north of us and the town we're moving to in a couple weeks. There was no way I could go see it, but it's encouraging to know that even though I'm moving to another small town, it's one of the jazz radar.
There's some great artists coming to the Green Mill in Feb and March. Matt Wilson is gonna be there, and, hm, crap. Lemme look to see who else was gonna be in Chicago this spring. There were a couple I just noticed and thought about how much I miss the access to music in Chicago.
That's exactly what a live show does for me jonahpwll. Very well said. Even though my body is exhausted after standing for 4-5 hours and I'm up later than I usually am, I can't help but be happy for a few days after a concert. Especially a performance as wonderful as Low's was.
I assume Frankfort has a bit of a pull as the capital?
Yes, I think they might. Plus, they apparently have strong Art organizations, so there's real value put on the societal benefit of having an environment of creativity.
I'm thinking of starting a 501c3 that focuses on jazz.
josh bell. yesterday. kinda out of the usual because it was at orchestra hall and its a sit down and shoosh kind of affair. music has taken on a whole new pair of skates since 1) the boys are 2+ years (and 6 months) into playing stringed instruments and 2) quitting emu.
on quitting emu i am going to qualify the event...before leaving a few things sank in and i managed to take them to heart. bissie's thread re: essential classical is the one which i think many of us gravitated to and incorporated into life. to that end i've been listening to one song about 4 - 5x a day for a good year running. spiegel im spiegel - an arvo part composition. i still listen to other music but, trust me, if it all gets taken away i would only miss the one song.
now, seeing josh bell was half obligation and half curiosity. it turns out his teacher is our teacher. i can't begin to tell you how humbling this fact is...the size of the crowd, the ornate auditorium, on and on - to see one person attract such interest and to know its roots - to be so connected to its roots - is something like an affirmation. we're doing something right as parent to these two great boys.
i'll digress, because i think music - to each of us - is an undefinable reason for living, for expressing, for growing. later, before going to bed i told our oldest how much mom and dad had enjoyed the experience - it brought something to us we could never do on our own. but more importantly we would never have gone to see it if not for a decision he made at the start of 5th grade > to play an instrument.
so, it might not always be "see the hip act in town" which is important, but rather to make music important to your life.
Something that I miss dearly about Chicago was turning the corner and running into some dude playing bari sax on Milwaukee & North Avenue, or the tenor guy that hung near the Jackson entrance to Union Station or the rhythm dudes that played over on State & Monroe, or all the other random times I'd run into music in an unlikely place.
And then just the simple act of having so many different places to see music and choosing one at random just because it would be fun to go out to a show, go have a beer and hope that the music is interesting, but even if it's not, the spirit of adventurism is what defines the evening; that, and the company of friends and loved ones.
Josh Bell is a remarkable violist, 68. I'm sure it was a fantastic evening, and has given you dreams (pipe or not) that your boys might end up in the same place someday.
The last Chicago Jazz Ensemble concert of the season is tomorrow night, with Miguel Zenon in town to play a Charlie Parker program. I hear they are going to be focusing on "Charlie Parker with Strings"...an unconventional choice, it would seem.
Preceded today by a lunchtime "listening session" with Miguel and CJE director Dana Hall. These are the days when it's good to be a freelancer who makes his own hours...!
This review by the Trib's Howard Reich says it all, or most of it. Really memorable and sometimes thrilling concert. Very striking to see and hear those old and rather outdated arrangements played live...as the reviewer points out, a highlight was 3 arrangements that didn't make it onto the Bird with Strings album. He also correctly points out that the oboe player, who was part of the guest "string section," worked as hard as anybody on stage.
Also, not that this is news to anybody, but Miguel Zenon is the real deal and then some. On stage the whole night and putting it all out there, even w/in a highly arranged program. Would love to see him with his full band sometime, though you'd have to go to PR for that! He's coming to the Jazz Showcase with a quartet in April, will make plans to be there.
Well I was up way past my bedtime last night enjoying a four-band show in Grand Rapids at the recently established Pyramid Scheme venue (capacity a little over 400). The show started with Metavari who were young, eager, winsome, engaging, and keen to let us know how excited they were to be opening for Tortoise. I had had a listen to their debut album before the show; they played new material which was not much like that album. They are a three piece, with a bass player, guitarist, and Macbook/keyboard guy. The new material is heavier on electronic rhythms and synth sounds and uses the guitar more for textures - see the kickstarter video on the linked page. (ETA: first time I've seen a kickstarter reward that involves tattooing the donor's name on a band member's body!) It was all very enjoyable and well done, and with a nice spirit despite the small audience early in the evening - I'd be happy to see them play again and wish them well.
Next up were Paucity, who have a few more records behind them, and a few more folk around me seemed to have heard of them. The pieces they played were mostly classic guitar post-rock pieces - some gentle guitar motifs building into a drum-driven crescendo and then fading wistfully away again. Again, I did some advanced listening and actually found their studio stuff a little more evocative than the live show (am considering buying one of their albums), though the live performance was played with gusto and certainly added power and passion. Another enjoyable set.
Third came Miracle Condition, who I have to say after listening online and hearing the live set remain a mystery to me. Don't let my reaction put you off necessarily, as I might just have brought the wrong ears for them, but I couldn't get any of their pieces to hang together in my head. They were going for something more experimental, which could have been great, but for me it didn't captivate or cohere, and the singer/lead guitarist looked kind of bored doing it most of the time. Was a bit mystified why this was the third band, not the first.
Then, finally, some time around 11:30, Tortoise took the stage and played for a little over an hour. This was the first time I had seem them live, though I had been fascinated by some of the live footage online. It was already a small venue, and only about 200-250 people turned out, so getting close to the action was no problem. Watching them live from a good vantage point (standing on a raised section to one side of the stage about 15 feet back) was just as fascinating - watching Tortoise for me is as much watching in wonder at how they actually make the music as listening to the music. And marveling at the virtuosity and how it is distributed. How many five-piece bands have three members who are excellent drummers, four people who play keyboards, four people who play xylophone and similar instruments, and two guitarists who play both bass and lead (plus a third bass guitarist who also drums), and all of whom freely switch instruments (not just a change of guitar, but maybe drums to guitar to xylophone to keyboards) from song to song and sometimes in the middle of songs? (If you don't know the band, you can get a little sense of what was going on by watching the song that starts at 24:10 on this live video and its successive transformations and rearrangements of personnel.) Watching them play a couple of their more rhythmically challenging pieces mid-set (in which it seems each band member is playing a totally different rhythm) was remarkable. My one complaint would be that the very high volume reduced the distinctness of some of the sounds making up some of the pieces, making certain stretches more of a wall of noise and losing some of the sense of precision that I enjoy in their work. They ranged across the last several albums - I was glad they threw in Salt the Skies as the first encore - love that track.
Am a bit groggy at work today, but it was worth it. They have created something very distinctive and are very, very good at doing it.
This past weekend my brother-in-law and I headed up to Montreal for our annual "break from reality". We hadn't necessarily intended to catch any shows, most of the either happened the night before, like Lee Fields, or were coming with the Jazz fest some weeks later in the month. We did however stumble into The Mus
I saw on the emu page for Alabama Shakes that they were going to be at Red Rocks this summer, so I thought I'd look into ticket prices. They're going on ebay for $100, more or less. I was amazed--they're good, but that good? Then a little more looking revealed that A. S. is opening for a band called Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Now I understand. I sure would like to see that show.
Actually, this makes me want to mention Bonawho? There's this guy who has a house with a largish plot of land in the countryside just outside town who for the last few years has decided to throw a day-long music festival in his back yard, calling it Bona-Who? (a tribute to Bonamassa). His motivation as I understand it was to have a party/pig roast that would create a venue for the teens he knew who were in bands to play for an audience, and to invite one or two slightly more established local bands into the mix. Very cool idea. My wife's band, Audio Blue, played at it the last two years, and we were there last weekend for her set and the teenage bands before and after - both of whom were remarkably good. Crowd dynamics were a little odd - older folk sitting in lawn chairs in the background, sometimes just an empty space in front of the "stage" unless it was a band/number that got the teens present dancing. But apart from that, it was a perfect day and a great time was had by all. Here's a picture of Audio Blue from the show:
For anyone in Grand Rapids, Audio Blue are playing the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Bad time slot for actually having people show up (right at the start of the festival), so tell your friends.
GP - I've actually been meaning to write a profile on I Self Devine. He's a fascinating guy, and I actually deleted some stuff from my review to hold back for a profile.
Wife's band looks good! Are you sure it isn't a play on Bonnaroo, though?
I thought it was Bonnaroo, and that might actually be the truth, but at the latest iteration the guy who hosts it explained it as Bonamassa in between bands. There's a bass player and keyboard player missing off the ends of that pic.
Saw the reunited dB's last night at a tiny club in Arlington, VA. They have a new album out, which I knew nothing about until last weekend, when a friend of mine who lives in Durham, NC sent me a text that she was going to see the dB's that night. I did some quick research and saw that they were going to be in my area a few days later. I loved that band back in the day, and saw them open for Lone Justice in Chapel Hill probably 25 years ago.
Chris Stamey looks the same. Peter Holsapple looks totally different -- he's got a shaved head and goatee and reminded me of Bruce Willis. Their voices haven't changed much, though, and that's a good thing. They sounded great and the new songs were pretty good, though I expect they'll take a few plays to really sink in because their old records always hit me that way. And they closed the last encore with Amplifier, probably my favorite dB's song. It was a good time.
If I could I would love to go to the Electric Picnic in Stradbally, Co. Laois. The lineup looks really good, all the way down to the last group, which includes Alabama Shakes, the Antlers, and Staff Benda Bilili.
Saw Zappa Plays Zappa at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA last night. Great show. Dweezil is a tremendous guitarist and everybody in the six-piece band was a monster player. I'm not the biggest Zappa fan in the world, in terms of familiarity with his records -- I have most of the early stuff, pretty much up to Hot Rats, but not much after that. That said, I knew at least half of the songs they played in the 2.5 hour set, and even the ones I didn't know were enjoyable. Still, the highlight for me was Dweezil's story of being 12 years old and star-struck when Eddie Van Halen came to his house because he wanted to meet Frank, followed by a note-perfect cover of Eruption, followed by a David Lee Roth impersonator jumping on stage in a blond wig and spandex bodysuit as the band launched into "Somebody Get Me A Doctor." You probably had to be there.
Comments
X was awesome. For this tour, they're starting each show with a movie called "The Unheard Music" which is roughly 80 minutes of interview and concert footage of the band in its early days, now 30 years ago (gulp). Man, they looked young, but I guess they were. Same era as the stuff in The Decline of Western Civilization Part 1. The movie was apparently on the shelf for years, until the rights recently reverted back to the director, who is a good friend of the band. Very entertaining, and it's out on DVD if you're interested. Some great interviews with a major label A&R guy trying to explain why he wasn't interested in X (too regional, no Top 40 potential) intercut with the founder of Slash Records explaining why he was thrilled to have them, and how happy he was that Los Angeles sold 50,000 copies. The punch line came when the major label guy contrasts X with a band his label was very high on, that was getting ready to release its third album, and he was sure the album and the band were going to be huge, "like Journey." Anybody remember Point Blank? Me neither.
When X came out, they started by playing the entire Los Angeles album, all nine songs, in order. For my money, that one's up there with the Clash and Never Mind the Bollocks on the short list of greatest punk debut albums. They played for close to an hour and a half, pretty much everything I wanted to hear. Instrumentally, they were great back in the day but they're better now, tighter and obviously enjoying themselves. John Doe has to be one of the coolest bass players ever, DJ Bonebrake is a kick-ass drummer and Billy Zoom is a criminally underrated guitarist. Exene and John's vocal harmonies are still there, though her voice isn't as powerful as it was. She announced a couple of years ago that she had been diagnosed with MS, but I saw no signs of it during the show. My father in law has MS, so I know what a horrible disease it can be, but I hope for the best for her. The crowd was totally into the show, and for a change I was probably younger than at least half of the people there (I'm 48, so that doesn't happen too often for me these days). Good to see that some former punks have grown up to be productive -- or at least functional -- members of society. Seriously, I saw people there who looked like they were out for a night at the symphony, but they were rocking out with everybody else.
If you have any interest, and they're coming to a town near you, go!
Tour dates
http://www.chicagojazzensemble.com/season/Performances/2011-12/Etienne_Charles.php In fact, subscribed.
http://www.congresschicago.com/event/62963/
I don't recall ever really liking them much as a teen, but my wife had a bunch of memories tied up in their music, so off we went. Besides, I'm really enjoying having rediscovered how much fun it is to go see a show on a Friday night.
Headliners is a neat little space. If you live in Denver, I would compare it to the Bluebird Theater. Chicago, hm, not sure, actually, what it would be compared to. It's a small space, but wide open and vaulted ceilings and a balcony off to the side. Definitely the kind of place I like seeing shows; small enough for a sense of intimacy, large enough to not feel like a sardine.
The crowd wasn't too large, a fact which made me feel bad for the musicians, but it meant it took me less than a minute to get a beer.
The opening act, Deer Meet, were some local guys who've been around for a while. One of the guitar players used to be in a band that would do club shows with my wife's band back in the day. They were good.
The next act, some UK band called Mazes was actually really good. They didn't sound that different from a lot of Indie stuff on the scene, but they were a solid outfit and some very catchy tunes.
Sebadoh was interesting. I enjoyed the stuff that sounded like Dinosaur Jr., not so much the stuff that sounded like music that is played as loud as you can play it and maybe there's music in there and maybe not. Considering that it wasn't a great turnout, they sure played their asses off and a long set, to boot.
It was a nice cool autumn evening. Staff was very friendly. You can always judge a bar by the kindness & pragmatism of its doormen. Headliners, apparently, has been around for a long time. There's a small engine airplane that's planted in the trees and soil just behind the venue.
It was a fun night out on the town.
Tonight, Guitar Circle of Chicago. An old friend of the family is a member of this ensemble.
Tomorrow, Chicago Jazz Ensemble with special guests Christian McBride and Meshell Ndegeocello in a Mingus birthday tribute. Really excited about this one...Meshell is going to sing some of the Joni Mitchell "Mingus" stuff.
Sunday, David Bromberg Quartet at the Old Town School of Folk Music. I've been a fan for just a few decades now, but never seen David live before...also very excited. Great place to see a show.
We actually had theater tickets for Saturday night too, but decided we should change the date.
The Bromberg show was also a lot of fun, of course. The opening act was Eric Noden a blues guy who is an absolutely kickass guitarist. Some free DLs are to be found on his website, above. BDB in particular may want to check it out! Will definitely keep an eye open for him around town.
Full review here.
Craig
I totally understand what you mean about needing to see a show. It had been so long since I'd seen a show, that when I went to the above two that I posted about, it was a profoundly emotional experience for me to go to the shows. It made me feel young again and hopeful for the future (though I don't want to give the impression that I view myself as old or that I possess a bleak outlook on life. I don't. I'm just speaking to the rejuvenation effect of live music).
On a different note, Branford Marsalis played in Frankfort, KY at this historical theater about a week ago. Frankfort is about an hour north of us and the town we're moving to in a couple weeks. There was no way I could go see it, but it's encouraging to know that even though I'm moving to another small town, it's one of the jazz radar.
Cheers.
There's some great artists coming to the Green Mill in Feb and March. Matt Wilson is gonna be there, and, hm, crap. Lemme look to see who else was gonna be in Chicago this spring. There were a couple I just noticed and thought about how much I miss the access to music in Chicago.
I assume Frankfort has a bit of a pull as the capital?
Craig
Yes, I think they might. Plus, they apparently have strong Art organizations, so there's real value put on the societal benefit of having an environment of creativity.
I'm thinking of starting a 501c3 that focuses on jazz.
Craig
on quitting emu i am going to qualify the event...before leaving a few things sank in and i managed to take them to heart. bissie's thread re: essential classical is the one which i think many of us gravitated to and incorporated into life. to that end i've been listening to one song about 4 - 5x a day for a good year running. spiegel im spiegel - an arvo part composition. i still listen to other music but, trust me, if it all gets taken away i would only miss the one song.
now, seeing josh bell was half obligation and half curiosity. it turns out his teacher is our teacher. i can't begin to tell you how humbling this fact is...the size of the crowd, the ornate auditorium, on and on - to see one person attract such interest and to know its roots - to be so connected to its roots - is something like an affirmation. we're doing something right as parent to these two great boys.
i'll digress, because i think music - to each of us - is an undefinable reason for living, for expressing, for growing. later, before going to bed i told our oldest how much mom and dad had enjoyed the experience - it brought something to us we could never do on our own. but more importantly we would never have gone to see it if not for a decision he made at the start of 5th grade > to play an instrument.
so, it might not always be "see the hip act in town" which is important, but rather to make music important to your life.
clink.
And then just the simple act of having so many different places to see music and choosing one at random just because it would be fun to go out to a show, go have a beer and hope that the music is interesting, but even if it's not, the spirit of adventurism is what defines the evening; that, and the company of friends and loved ones.
Josh Bell is a remarkable violist, 68. I'm sure it was a fantastic evening, and has given you dreams (pipe or not) that your boys might end up in the same place someday.
Craig
Preceded today by a lunchtime "listening session" with Miguel and CJE director Dana Hall. These are the days when it's good to be a freelancer who makes his own hours...!
Also, not that this is news to anybody, but Miguel Zenon is the real deal and then some. On stage the whole night and putting it all out there, even w/in a highly arranged program. Would love to see him with his full band sometime, though you'd have to go to PR for that! He's coming to the Jazz Showcase with a quartet in April, will make plans to be there.
Next up were Paucity, who have a few more records behind them, and a few more folk around me seemed to have heard of them. The pieces they played were mostly classic guitar post-rock pieces - some gentle guitar motifs building into a drum-driven crescendo and then fading wistfully away again. Again, I did some advanced listening and actually found their studio stuff a little more evocative than the live show (am considering buying one of their albums), though the live performance was played with gusto and certainly added power and passion. Another enjoyable set.
Third came Miracle Condition, who I have to say after listening online and hearing the live set remain a mystery to me. Don't let my reaction put you off necessarily, as I might just have brought the wrong ears for them, but I couldn't get any of their pieces to hang together in my head. They were going for something more experimental, which could have been great, but for me it didn't captivate or cohere, and the singer/lead guitarist looked kind of bored doing it most of the time. Was a bit mystified why this was the third band, not the first.
Then, finally, some time around 11:30, Tortoise took the stage and played for a little over an hour. This was the first time I had seem them live, though I had been fascinated by some of the live footage online. It was already a small venue, and only about 200-250 people turned out, so getting close to the action was no problem. Watching them live from a good vantage point (standing on a raised section to one side of the stage about 15 feet back) was just as fascinating - watching Tortoise for me is as much watching in wonder at how they actually make the music as listening to the music. And marveling at the virtuosity and how it is distributed. How many five-piece bands have three members who are excellent drummers, four people who play keyboards, four people who play xylophone and similar instruments, and two guitarists who play both bass and lead (plus a third bass guitarist who also drums), and all of whom freely switch instruments (not just a change of guitar, but maybe drums to guitar to xylophone to keyboards) from song to song and sometimes in the middle of songs? (If you don't know the band, you can get a little sense of what was going on by watching the song that starts at 24:10 on this live video and its successive transformations and rearrangements of personnel.) Watching them play a couple of their more rhythmically challenging pieces mid-set (in which it seems each band member is playing a totally different rhythm) was remarkable. My one complaint would be that the very high volume reduced the distinctness of some of the sounds making up some of the pieces, making certain stretches more of a wall of noise and losing some of the sense of precision that I enjoy in their work. They ranged across the last several albums - I was glad they threw in Salt the Skies as the first encore - love that track.
Am a bit groggy at work today, but it was worth it. They have created something very distinctive and are very, very good at doing it.
Link.
Check it.
Craig
For anyone in Grand Rapids, Audio Blue are playing the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Bad time slot for actually having people show up (right at the start of the festival), so tell your friends.
Wife's band looks good! Are you sure it isn't a play on Bonnaroo, though?
Craig
Chris Stamey looks the same. Peter Holsapple looks totally different -- he's got a shaved head and goatee and reminded me of Bruce Willis. Their voices haven't changed much, though, and that's a good thing. They sounded great and the new songs were pretty good, though I expect they'll take a few plays to really sink in because their old records always hit me that way. And they closed the last encore with Amplifier, probably my favorite dB's song. It was a good time.
Craig