Marshall Crenshaw and the Bottle Rockets. Rockets open, then back up Marshall, leaving him the 3rd best guitarist on stage. But still best songwriter...what a treat to see him play his stuff with a full band. We went to the early show last night, enjoyed it so much we bought tickets for the late show.
Photos didn't work out, so I can't share! They're on the road in the Midwest right now, so think about going if they come to your town.
Just finished a 10 day, 6 show, 3 state odyssey following Springsteen around Australia. It was pretty incredible. Plan to write a longish blog post about it. Back to work and the real world tomorrow ;-(
Next gig I think is Booker T and Valerie June then James Cotton in April.
The Sonics were great. If they come near you, you need to go. Guys in their 60s shouldn't be able to rock that hard. Made me sheepish at how little I rock.
Friday night I saw St. Vincent in Philly. First I'll mention that Holly Herndon opened and she was awesome. Like a cross between Tri Repetae-era Autechre, Download, and Juliana Barwick. Haven't felt bass that strong since Aphex Twin in the 90s. I wanted to pick up her album and EP, but had to leave in a hurry. Also, if you're in the Philly area, Union Transfer is a great place to see a show.
As for St. Vincent... HOLY F@#$! One of my biggest concert regrets is not driving down to Philly back was she was virtually unknown, especially because all of her tours since then have conflicted with something else for me. But, regardless, it was worth the wait. The woman puts on a wonderful, strange, and exhilarating performance. Watching her shred on stage just blew me away, and I loved her backing band (especially the woman playing guitar and synths next to her). The show focused on her 2 most recent albums and I would guess that has a lot to do with the digital/futuristic style of her performance. But the one song from her first that she played, "Your Lips Are Red" was a tour de force.
Seriously, go see her live.
Also, I totally forgot to mention the Neutral Milk Hotel shows I went to in January. What can I say? They were amazing.
I'm so ready for the next few months. Spring/summer is such a great time for seeing live music. So far I have tickets to: Perfect Pussy, Phantogram, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Mogwai, HAIM (Tennis is opening!), Tegan & Sara, and tUnE-yArDs.
Got a ticket to Bobby Keys and the Suffering Bastards show on Sunday in Sydney which are going ahead despite the overall Stones tour being postponed. I hear Mick Taylor is still in the country so might get a cameo...
Also have a big 6 weeks coming up as a lot of acts will be stopping by before or after the Byron Bay Bluesfest - Valerie June, Booker T, Jason Isbell, Lindi Ortega (not at Bluesfest) ...
@craig - Tennis is fantastic live. I'm trying to decide if I can make it to Philly for Mogwai and figure out which tUnE-yArDs show to go to. Already have my ticket for Tycho next month and also considering Swans and... oh there's too many...
Also, forgot to mention the Avett Brothers. Holy hell do they put on an amazing live show. So much talent there. I loved how they really mixed it up having the brothers come out and play a solo song each, gave Crawford and Kwon chances to really show off theirs skills. Had a blast. Brought a friend who doesn't normally go to live shows but liked their music. He was seriously impressed and wants me to take him to more shows.
Saw Perfect Pussy last night and am having a really hard time deciding how the show was. Here is my thought process:
1) Holy crap, they're insanely great on stage!
2) Wait, they were the headliners and only played for 15 minutes?
3) Well that is a pretty punk rock move.
4) Calling something punk rock is really just a nice way to call someone a dick.
5) I guess the ticket was only $8 and both openers were enjoyable in their own way.
6) But what is the point of traveling the country and playing 15 minute sets?
7) Are they just pretending to be a real band so they can travel the country?
8) If so that is also pretty punk rock.
9) Very few people will ever be willing to see them twice, though.
10) Why am I trying to psychoanalyze the motives of a bunch of strangers?
11) Oh right, because I'm ticked off at the ridiculous 15 minute set.
12) But holy crap, they're insanely great on stage!
13) etc.
14) etc.
15) etc.
I'd be totally disappointed if I went to see a band and they only played for 15 minutes. Back in the 60s a band would only be warming up on their first song after 15 minutes! But Bruce Springsteen, for example, plays for around 10 times that length but charges more than 10 times $8 so it was value for money if the quality was as good!!
Greg: I am pretty disappointed, even though I was expecting a short set (hardcore punk bands are known for having short riotous sets). This was just sooooo short. Even 25 minutes probably would have been enough.
Really, though, they were awesome when they were playing. I'm utterly perplexed as to how to grade this set (I've given a letter grade to every set I've ever seen). It was a complete set so I can't give it an 'incomplete' as I have two other shows, but the performance itself and its length are complete opposites. I'll probably end up averaging an 'A' performance with an 'F' length for a gentleman's 'C'.
That's actually not too far off, GP. Their debut album has 12 tracks (with two tracks appearing both in studio version and live, so really only 10 different songs) and it's just over a half hour long. That's partly why I was expecting a short set.
I'd be totally disappointed if I went to see a band and they only played for 15 minutes. Back in the 60s . . .
Yup ! - Some of the Jethro Tull concerts started with the band playing for about an hour non stop . . . and then announced that they would continue with the second song.
(the Thick as a Brick and Aqualung tours)
- And there were usually 2 sets, as at the first Zappa concert in Copenhagen in 1968.
In the break, Zappa was in the lobby answering questions from the audience.
Craig, if you knew beforehand that it would only be 15 minutes, but a great 15 minutes, would you still have gone? Maybe that's how you should grade it.
The City Pages reviewer is much less conflicted than I am, despite his apparently not being a huge fan.
I've been thinking about amc's question, and I think there are two answers: 1) In this instance I would not have gone, but that's because I was already a little torn between going to this and Dum Dum Girls on Wednesday. Knowing the length ahead of time I likely would have chosen DDG; but 2) If it weren't for that particular issue that arises outside the purview of this one concert, I likely would have still gone. I just would have done some thrashing earlier on rather than waiting for more show that never came.
As I just did the maths for the blog post I'm writing about it, I can tell you exactly how long Bruce Springsteen plays -at least the six shows I saw in February: 3hr 24m, 3hr 48m, 2hr 59m, 2hr 58m, 3hr 06m, 3hr 43m.
ANYWAY, I'm intrigued cafreema. I'm gonna have to look these people up ....
Am I such a square you don't think I can handle hardcore punk? ;-P
Two albums or EPs or singles or whatever they are on eMusic can be had for $2.45 which is coincidentally what I have in my balance so I'm going to buy them without listening just to prove I am cool enough. ;-)
Ooh, the best kind of music purchase is when you buy something just because you have a feeling about it based on the art or the band name or what you just ate and it turns out to be awesome....
Wow. Flaming Lips just announced a show in the 1,500 capacity First Avenue Mainroom for the same night the MLB All Star Game will be played at Target Field just a block away. Downtown Minneapolis is going to be crazy on July 15!
Comments
Photos didn't work out, so I can't share! They're on the road in the Midwest right now, so think about going if they come to your town.
Next gig I think is Booker T and Valerie June then James Cotton in April.
Craig
As for St. Vincent... HOLY F@#$! One of my biggest concert regrets is not driving down to Philly back was she was virtually unknown, especially because all of her tours since then have conflicted with something else for me. But, regardless, it was worth the wait. The woman puts on a wonderful, strange, and exhilarating performance. Watching her shred on stage just blew me away, and I loved her backing band (especially the woman playing guitar and synths next to her). The show focused on her 2 most recent albums and I would guess that has a lot to do with the digital/futuristic style of her performance. But the one song from her first that she played, "Your Lips Are Red" was a tour de force.
Seriously, go see her live.
Also, I totally forgot to mention the Neutral Milk Hotel shows I went to in January. What can I say? They were amazing.
Going to be fun!
Craig
Also have a big 6 weeks coming up as a lot of acts will be stopping by before or after the Byron Bay Bluesfest - Valerie June, Booker T, Jason Isbell, Lindi Ortega (not at Bluesfest) ...
Also, forgot to mention the Avett Brothers. Holy hell do they put on an amazing live show. So much talent there. I loved how they really mixed it up having the brothers come out and play a solo song each, gave Crawford and Kwon chances to really show off theirs skills. Had a blast. Brought a friend who doesn't normally go to live shows but liked their music. He was seriously impressed and wants me to take him to more shows.
I'm trying to convince myself to head to Chicago for P4K. The lineup is fantastic.
Craig
Craig
1) Holy crap, they're insanely great on stage!
2) Wait, they were the headliners and only played for 15 minutes?
3) Well that is a pretty punk rock move.
4) Calling something punk rock is really just a nice way to call someone a dick.
5) I guess the ticket was only $8 and both openers were enjoyable in their own way.
6) But what is the point of traveling the country and playing 15 minute sets?
7) Are they just pretending to be a real band so they can travel the country?
8) If so that is also pretty punk rock.
9) Very few people will ever be willing to see them twice, though.
10) Why am I trying to psychoanalyze the motives of a bunch of strangers?
11) Oh right, because I'm ticked off at the ridiculous 15 minute set.
12) But holy crap, they're insanely great on stage!
13) etc.
14) etc.
15) etc.
Craig
Really, though, they were awesome when they were playing. I'm utterly perplexed as to how to grade this set (I've given a letter grade to every set I've ever seen). It was a complete set so I can't give it an 'incomplete' as I have two other shows, but the performance itself and its length are complete opposites. I'll probably end up averaging an 'A' performance with an 'F' length for a gentleman's 'C'.
Craig
Craig
(the Thick as a Brick and Aqualung tours)
- And there were usually 2 sets, as at the first Zappa concert in Copenhagen in 1968.
In the break, Zappa was in the lobby answering questions from the audience.
Oh yes ! - those were the days . . .
Tull was into what could be called symphonies in those days, thus the length.
Craig
I've been thinking about amc's question, and I think there are two answers: 1) In this instance I would not have gone, but that's because I was already a little torn between going to this and Dum Dum Girls on Wednesday. Knowing the length ahead of time I likely would have chosen DDG; but 2) If it weren't for that particular issue that arises outside the purview of this one concert, I likely would have still gone. I just would have done some thrashing earlier on rather than waiting for more show that never came.
Craig
ANYWAY, I'm intrigued cafreema. I'm gonna have to look these people up ....
I went with a B, because amc was right.
Craig
Two albums or EPs or singles or whatever they are on eMusic can be had for $2.45 which is coincidentally what I have in my balance so I'm going to buy them without listening just to prove I am cool enough. ;-)
Craig
Craig