Couldn't find the original, so I started a new one. Just got back from seeing British Sea Power at the Crocodile in Seattle. Wow. What a great band, and what a great show. And for 7 bucks, what a great value! Complex, melodic, deep pop/rock. It's amazing to me that the band members are all so young (I doubt any of them are 25 yet). Very polished, professional, intense show. Didn't engage the audience at all -- just focused on playing, which is fine with me, particularly given the band's style. If you have a chance to see them, do it. Can't praise them enough.
Yeah British Sea Power are pretty great. I figured I'd add since I just saw one of the better concerts I've seen in years (not saying a lot considering where I live). Anyway The Dears put on a great show Thursday night. Beautiful pop hooks, soulful vocals and live they make a great wall of noise with their two (and sometimes three) organ/synthesizers wailing. The vocals actually sounded better live and the harmonies were just as good. I don't think I've ever been able to say that about a show. Opening act Pilate didn't live up to the hype for me. Their single is really great and deservedly has gotten them some 'Canada's answer to Coldplay' hype, but the rest of it didn't live up to my hopes. Singing the chorus in a falsetto can't replace great songwriting. cheers, hobbes
I was at Winterparty '03 last night. Simply amazig. Mauro Picotto was the best DJ, but Justin Robeertson was also great. I drank about 10 pints and 3 double vodka & red bulls (rocket fuel!), ands got in with quite a few girls. Only problem was the amount of yolks (extacy) going around led to some aggro at time - I don't take them, btw.
Thanks to you guys for putting me on to British Sea Power. Based pretty much solely on your recommendations I dragged three guys to Black Cat in DC last night to see them for $10. They were fantastic. Shades of old Cure, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, even some Violent Femmes... I suspect we'll be hearing lots more from these guys. Great show! Middle act Phaser wasn't bad. Sort of a Coldplay/Verve/Oasis thing (but not British). Decent music, but not great vocals. Perhaps they sound better when produced -- don't know. We skipped opening act Cassettes.
Last week I saw Electrelane / Broadcast at Bimbo's on Tuesday, then returned the next night to see The Tyde open up for Mojave 3. I can't believe how much I don't like Mojave 3 live now. I can listen to the albums while I'm lying in bed, preferably post-coital, but live they just suck. This week I'm seeing the Rapture one night and Spiritualized another. The week after I'm dj'ing both Polyphonic Spree shows at Slim's. Say hi if you're there.
After the game on Sat night I drove back to Lawrence to see Pansy Division, door was only $2. I hadn't seen them since '97, and while they were good, they played essentially the same show.
I've been broke and without the proper transportation to see a show in a long time. I was supposed to see The Sounds a few weeks ago, but my ride fell asleep. I did see the Motorhead, Dio, Ironmaiden show a few months ago. I had a great time. total drunken mayhem. My only complaint was Motorhead going on before sunset. that's just not a band you should see during the day, or only half drunk... I'm also disappointed i wasn't dragged behind the port-a-potties and chain-whipped by a bunch of Hell's Angels while Lemmy sang "overkill". It just seems like the sort of thing that SHOULD happen at a Motor head show...
I was looking for a thread like this last week, but I guess it wasn't on the 1st page. On Halloween night, I went the the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge, Mass to see Scissorfight with the Dukes of Nothing. I guess you would call Scissorfight thrash metal or something like that, with more than a touch of HP Lovecraft's yankee paranoia. Dukes of Nothing are an English band in roughly the same vein (but with the Lovecraftian touches, obviously). Considering the style, I was surprised to find that there were plenty of people in my age range. Maybe the newly instituted smoking ban had something to do with that. All the smokers were ducking out every few minutes (it seemed), and my clothes didn't reek the next morning. There is even a soccer link. I was there because I know Scissorfight's drummer. I know him because we were in a German class together a couple years ago. I was taking German because I wanted to be able to read Der Kicker.
What's Broadcast like? They're playing with Manitoba next week here in DC and I was thinking of checking it out.
Good indie stuff. If they're playing with Manitoba, then I'd definitely go see that. I saw them a month or so ago, and it was outstanding.
Belle & Sebastian at Town Hall, NYC last night. First time seeing them, and they were better than expected. They have a reputation for unfocused (some might say shambolic) shows, but they were very professional while still maintaining a relaxed off-the-cuff feel to a lot of what they were doing. I adore Dear Catastrophe Waitress and there was a healthy helping of that, but few songs from Tigermilk or Fold Your Hands Child... Midset they tried to play "Day In The Life" with audience members shouting out the chord changes. Show ended abruptly after about 1:40 with no encore (despite there being one the night before in the same venue). Other than that, an enjoyable evening. I'll look around to see if I can find the setlist.
I saw Eels last week at Higher Ground just north of Burlington. Very disappointing show. I've love Eels' albums for a long time but had never seen them live. So, I was very eager to see what they do with their beautifully crafted layered songs when they play live. It turns out that they convert everything into 2 minute power pop numbers with all the craftsmanship of a Thursday night bar band. They played the set like they were double-parked outside the club. I think they blew through about 15 tunes in the first 30 minutes. One crushed mangled song would end and they would immediately launch into another. The only good things I can say about the show was that "Souljacker" is a better song live than on the album and "I Like Birds" does work well as a punk tune (but the other ones don't). Despite their poor showing, I still bought a copy of a 1998 live album from them on the way out. I was curious if they always sucked live or just when they are playing in the middle of nowhere. It turns out that the live album sounded like what I had hoped they would sound like. So, now I'm wondering if they have changed their live shows in general or did they just suck in VT. Murf
c'mon, somewhere on this board is somebody who just saw justin timberlake but is afraid to admit it. show yourself! also bigsoccer's favorite band is playing up here in a week or so ... the darkness for $12. sounds like a good deal. gonna go see that one methinks.
Deftones, Poison the Well, & Denali at the Tabernacle here in Atlanta. Totally amazing show. Denali was great. I love that band so much more now. The Well was so much better than the first time I saw them, and they played "The Realist" this time. I got a fat lip and a black eye while throwin' down, but at least the real fans got to break it down hardcore-style before the meats & frats showed up. Deftones were good, but I've seen them do better.
Spiritualized f'ing rocked on Wednesday. I've seen them many times before, but never this good. It was just insane. Cop Shoot Cop even seemed shorter. Brilliant. I ended up missing the Rapture last night. I was too tired, so I threw away $38 in advance tickets.
Caught Broken Social Scene and Stars last night. Holy freakin' hell were Stars good. I wasn't sure how either of these bands would be live -- both sound like studio creations on their albums. BSS didn't translate so well to stage (how could they, really? There are like 21 people that play on their album!). Stars, on the other hand, brought it. Fewer "beats" and more guitars, tons of energy, sound levels were perfect. They rocked me hard.
Verdi's Rigoletto by the Boston Lyric Opera Company. No, it's not rock & roll, but I like it, and the thread title just says concert. Besides, a lot of Verdi's music has the emotional impact of rock and is nearly as loud, especially when you consider that there's no amplification. This one is the dark side of those Shakespearean comedies of mistaken identity combined with the traditional Italian tragic clown figure in the title character. As grand opera goes the body count is low, but this true tragedy, not just bad things happening to good people, so one is all it takes. Years ago, I read a review (of Graham Parker & the Rumour) that used the phrase, "R&B belligerance of near operatic intensity". Well that guy must have something like the performance I saw yesterday.
I just saw Godsmack, Adema and Ill Nino tonight. Ill Nino were nothing special, they were so loud that you couldn't understand anything. Adema were pretty good and put on a nice show. Godsmack put on a GREAT show, I saw then once back in 1999 and they were good. They outdid themselves this time.
Bossman Lucky Boys Confusion at Peabody's Down Under. Getta see 'em two more time this month, cept in a larger venue, and they'll only be the opening act to Zebrahead.
Rasputina/Belle & Sebastian I've been curious to check out Rasputina for a while now. Their style, fashion and image were always intriguing to me. I've owned only two of their cd's but am pretty much lukewarm towards them. I thought they had good ideas musically but weren't able to piece them together; that something was missing. A lot of that impression changed when I saw them live at the Tower, last Friday night, in Philly. They opened for Belle & Sebastian. Belle & Sebastian shows command a "certain" crowd that allowed the opening band to perform their music in a very quiet enviroment. As a result, Melora Creager's voice and cello filled the auditorium with a dramatic display of confidence and strength that was not evident on disc. They must be seen live to be appreciated. Then the Glasweigan outfit came out. As we soon found out, this was the last leg of their N.American tour, so it was befitting that they played with more emotion and spirit than I've read of their other shows. They performed over two hours. As the band played on the audience participation increased. By the time the encores were on, there were probably over a hundred people gathered towards the front. I was surprised that the (normally strict) security at the Tower allowed this group to block off the aisles and cramped up front. The highlight of the show - Rasputina's surprise encore, doing their rendition of Fox on the Hill, midway during B&S's set ;-)
!Hero & Hagfish. !Hero; Christian rock-opera. If I hadn’t been so distracted by the Jesus Crispy Youth, I really would’ve rated this one of the better dance musicals I’ve ever seen live. It was free, OK. Hagfish vs Feds; my soul needed more tainting so we did a little moshing. I don’t know what moron said the Feds deserved to be on the radio because they suck. Hagfish was almost back to their mid-nineties form, but the crowd didn’t understand it’s appropriate to flip them the bird after every song. I got to meet Donnie and Zack( bassist & lead guitar) afterwards.