Monday, July 30
Big Business @ Larimer Lounge
Patty Griffin @ Chautauqua Auditorium
Silversun Pickups @ Ogden Theater
Snow Patrol @ Red Rocks
Tuesday, July 31
Aqueduct/Smoosh/Blitzen Trapper @ Hi-Dive
Daft Punk/The Rapture @ Red Rocks
Hank Williams III @ Gothic Theatre
High On Fire @ Larimer Lounge
The Lovemakers @ Marquis Theatre
Patty Griffin @ Denver Botanic Gardens
Wednesday, August 1
Green Carpeted Stairs @ Larimer Lounge
Modest Mouse/Band Of Horses @ Red Rocks
The Subdudes/Matt Nathanson @ Fox Theatre
Willy Mason/Fionn Regan @ LuLu's Kitchen
Thursday, August 2
Jeremy Fisher/Sea Wolf @ The Hill
John Hiatt/Shawn Colvin @ Denver Botanic Gardens
Kris Kristofferson @ Boulder Theatre
Paula Cole/Ryan Adams @ Fox Theatre
Slidelle @ Larimer Lounge
Friday, August 3
Augie March @ Larimer Lounge
Ryan Adams/Old 97's/DeVotchka @ Red Rocks
Steve Earle/Rodrigo y Gabriela/Lori McKenna @ Fox Theatre
Reservoir Dogs @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
Saturday, August 4
After Eden @ Larimer Lounge
Colin Hay @ Soiled Dove
Eisley @ Marquis Theatre
The Fray/Meese @ Red Rocks
Marc Broussard @ Fox Theatre
Happy Feet @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
Sunday, August 5
The Fray/Born In The Flood/Dualistics @ Red Rocks
Hot IQ's BBQ Show @ Larimer Lounge
John Hiatt/Shawn Colvin @ Chautauqua Auditorium
Sunday, July 29, 2007
cruel, cruel fate
Some sure-to-be awesome shows that I just found out about:
Augie March - August 3 (this Friday) at Larimer Lounge. I have to miss this because I'll be at Red Rocks with Ryan, Lucinda, & The Old 97's.
Ben Kweller - August 31 at Club 156. Oh, wretched luck! The Apples In Stereo are playing the Bluebird that same night, and I did make a proclamation earlier this year that I would never again set foot in Club 156. But Ben Kweller on a small club tour - what is a girl to do?!?
Dr. Dog - October 12 at Larimer Lounge!!! Happy, happy. I'm a bit surprised that these guys are playing the Larimer again. I figured next time I saw them would at least be at the Bluebird. No complaint from me. Don't miss this!
And also, it seems that the Of Montreal show on November 17 is at the Ogden and not the Bluebird. Boo.
Augie March - August 3 (this Friday) at Larimer Lounge. I have to miss this because I'll be at Red Rocks with Ryan, Lucinda, & The Old 97's.
Ben Kweller - August 31 at Club 156. Oh, wretched luck! The Apples In Stereo are playing the Bluebird that same night, and I did make a proclamation earlier this year that I would never again set foot in Club 156. But Ben Kweller on a small club tour - what is a girl to do?!?
Dr. Dog - October 12 at Larimer Lounge!!! Happy, happy. I'm a bit surprised that these guys are playing the Larimer again. I figured next time I saw them would at least be at the Bluebird. No complaint from me. Don't miss this!
And also, it seems that the Of Montreal show on November 17 is at the Ogden and not the Bluebird. Boo.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
october is the new september...
So, September(ish) in the Denver/Boulder area is absolutely incredible, right? I mean:
08/31 Apples In Stereo @ Bluebird TheaterWow. Slated for October: Voxtrot, Midlake, Lucero, Interpol, The Tragically Hip, Josh Ritter, Caribou, Menomena & Mum. And now Deerhoof has announced more dates:
09/01-02 Wilco @ Fillmore Auditorium
09/02 Yonder Mountain String Band @ Red Rocks
09/03 P.O.S. @ Bluebird Theater
09/04 Dirty Projectors/YACHT @ Hi-Dive
09/10 Devendra Banhart @ Ogden Theatre
09/11 Rilo Kiley @ Ogden Theatre
09/13 Okkervil River @ Marquis Theatre
09/14-15 Monolith Festival @ Red Rocks
09/17 Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem @ Red Rocks
09/18 The National @ Ogden Theatre
09/20 Guster @ Fillmore Auditorium
09/22 Two Gallants @ Hi-Dive
09/24 New Pornographers @ Boulder Theatre
07-28 Yuzawa-machi, Japan - Fuji Rock FestivalAwesome.
07-29 Yuzawa-machi, Japan - Fuji Rock Festival
07-31 Yamagata, Japan - TBA
09-01 Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic Festival
09-21 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live #^
09-22 Dallas, TX - House of Blues #^
09-23 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom *#
09-25 Nashville, TN - City Hall *#
09-26 Covington, KY - Madison Theatre *#
09-28 Toronto, Ontario - Ricoh Coliseum *#
09-29 London, Ontario - John Labatt Centre *#
09-30 Pontiac, MI - Eagle Theater
10-01 Madison, WI - Rathskeller (University of Wisconsin Memorial Union)
10-02 Minneapolis, MN - McGuire Theater at Walker Art Center
10-04 Denver, CO - Bluebird
10-06 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue
10-19 Reykjavik, Iceland - Iceland Airwaves
# with Bloc Party
^ with J Versus K
* with Smoosh
Sunday, July 22, 2007
shows of interest for 7/23-29/2007
Monday, July 23
Dustin Reid @ Larimer Lounge
High Ceiling/The Special Purpose @ Dulcinea's 100th Monkey
Tuesday, July 24
The Silver Cord @ Larimer Lounge
Trampled By Turtles @ Fox Theatre
You Am I @ Hi-Dive
Wednesday, July 25
New Ancient Astronauts @ Larimer Lounge
Vampire Weekend @ Hi-Dive
Thursday, July 26
Gifts From Enola @ Larimer Lounge
Todd Ayers @ Hi-Dive
Trampled By Turtles @ Bluebird Theater
Friday, July 27
Mondo Generator @ Larimer Lounge
St. Vincent @ Hi-Dive
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
Saturday, July 28
The Icarus Line @ Larimer Lounge
Theo And The Skyscrapers @ Hi-Dive
Edward Scissorhands @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
Sunday, July 29
Magic Bullets @ Hi-Dive
Signature Music Festival @ Larimer Lounge
Dustin Reid @ Larimer Lounge
High Ceiling/The Special Purpose @ Dulcinea's 100th Monkey
Tuesday, July 24
The Silver Cord @ Larimer Lounge
Trampled By Turtles @ Fox Theatre
You Am I @ Hi-Dive
Wednesday, July 25
New Ancient Astronauts @ Larimer Lounge
Vampire Weekend @ Hi-Dive
Thursday, July 26
Gifts From Enola @ Larimer Lounge
Todd Ayers @ Hi-Dive
Trampled By Turtles @ Bluebird Theater
Friday, July 27
Mondo Generator @ Larimer Lounge
St. Vincent @ Hi-Dive
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
Saturday, July 28
The Icarus Line @ Larimer Lounge
Theo And The Skyscrapers @ Hi-Dive
Edward Scissorhands @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
Sunday, July 29
Magic Bullets @ Hi-Dive
Signature Music Festival @ Larimer Lounge
Friday, July 20, 2007
menomena coming back through colorado
^Boyscout'n.
Still touring behind their magnificent album Friend And Foe, Menomena has been upgraded from the Hi-Dive to the Fox Theatre! Quite a promotion. I wish we were getting Illinois too... sigh.
07-22 Portland, OR - Edgefield Amphitheater !
09-01 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot
10-26 Boise, ID - Neurolux
10-27 Salt Lake City. UT - Kilby Court
10-28 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
10-30 St. Louis, MO - Billiken Club
10-31 Nashville, TN - Exit/In *
11-02 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder *
11-03 Orlando, FL - Social *
11-04 Jacksonville, FL - Jack Rabbit's*
11-06 Washington, DC - Black Cat *
11-07 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
11-08 Hanover, NH - Dartmouth *
11-09 Boston, MA - Paradise *
11-10 New York, NY - Webster Hall *
11-12 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa *
11-13 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club *
11-14 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig *
11-15 Chicago, IL - Metro *
11-16 Grinnell, IA - Grinnell College *
11-17 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater *
! with the Decemberists
* with Illinois
making very very very very minor history tonight
To me, the mark of a great live band is when I, after a show, listen to said band incessantly for a few days (or until my next great show, whichever comes first).
Tonight at the Larimer Lounge was Maxïmo Park's first time in Denver (hence the minor history), and it was glorious. In fact, I had been wondering before the show if they'd ever been here, so it was a pleasure to know that I was there for the virginal CO experience. So, I'm an equal-opportunity attentive fan, you know? I like to take in the whole band, all the instruments, all the players, etc. Tonight, however, I found it exceptionally challenging to tear my eyes from the charismatic, expressive, magnetizing bundle of energy that is Paul Smith. In Colorado, we hear all the time about the difficulties of breathing in the high altitude, and I admit it can get old. Maxïmo Park didn't complain about the thin air, but I found myself wondering how Paul didn't just pass out. The guy is a total rock star, abounding in showmanship. The hour long set was a perfect mix of banter and expertly-executed music. If memory serves (not bloody likely), they played everything from Our Earthly Pleasures except for Russian Literature, Nosebleed, and Sandblasted And Set Free. From A Certain Trigger they played Apply Some Pressure, Graffiti, Postcard Of A Painting, Going Missing. There were probably a couple more - I was having too much fun to try and keep up with the setlist...
Opening up were first, The Oolahs from Los Angeles. The Oolahs came highly recommended from my friend Mark, but as I didn't anticipate an on-time start (I never get these things right...) I arrived in time only to catch their last 1 1/2 songs. I liked what I did see, though. After The Oolahs was Monsters Are Waiting also from CA (Echo Park?). I liked them a lot, their singer/keyboardist was very... theatrical - for lack of a better word. Lots of dancing and emoting and attitude. Their set ended quite oddly and abruptly though when they were faced with technical problems halfway through their last song. They couldn't get the guitar to work so the singer told a (really lame) joke and then rapped a little bit of Too $hort's Don't Fight The Feeling. She actually wasn't too bad... but she did get embarrassed and moved away from the mike for all the "bad" words... lol.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I am currently listening to Our Earthly Pleasures, only after finishing A Certain Trigger. That's a great live band for ya.
Oh and by the way, MP's reportedly playing the Jimmy Kimmel show tomorrow - Friday, July 20. Check it out if you know what's good for you.
Tonight at the Larimer Lounge was Maxïmo Park's first time in Denver (hence the minor history), and it was glorious. In fact, I had been wondering before the show if they'd ever been here, so it was a pleasure to know that I was there for the virginal CO experience. So, I'm an equal-opportunity attentive fan, you know? I like to take in the whole band, all the instruments, all the players, etc. Tonight, however, I found it exceptionally challenging to tear my eyes from the charismatic, expressive, magnetizing bundle of energy that is Paul Smith. In Colorado, we hear all the time about the difficulties of breathing in the high altitude, and I admit it can get old. Maxïmo Park didn't complain about the thin air, but I found myself wondering how Paul didn't just pass out. The guy is a total rock star, abounding in showmanship. The hour long set was a perfect mix of banter and expertly-executed music. If memory serves (not bloody likely), they played everything from Our Earthly Pleasures except for Russian Literature, Nosebleed, and Sandblasted And Set Free. From A Certain Trigger they played Apply Some Pressure, Graffiti, Postcard Of A Painting, Going Missing. There were probably a couple more - I was having too much fun to try and keep up with the setlist...Opening up were first, The Oolahs from Los Angeles. The Oolahs came highly recommended from my friend Mark, but as I didn't anticipate an on-time start (I never get these things right...) I arrived in time only to catch their last 1 1/2 songs. I liked what I did see, though. After The Oolahs was Monsters Are Waiting also from CA (Echo Park?). I liked them a lot, their singer/keyboardist was very... theatrical - for lack of a better word. Lots of dancing and emoting and attitude. Their set ended quite oddly and abruptly though when they were faced with technical problems halfway through their last song. They couldn't get the guitar to work so the singer told a (really lame) joke and then rapped a little bit of Too $hort's Don't Fight The Feeling. She actually wasn't too bad... but she did get embarrassed and moved away from the mike for all the "bad" words... lol.Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I am currently listening to Our Earthly Pleasures, only after finishing A Certain Trigger. That's a great live band for ya.
Oh and by the way, MP's reportedly playing the Jimmy Kimmel show tomorrow - Friday, July 20. Check it out if you know what's good for you.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
under the stagelight
Rilo Kiley's got a new album, Under The Blacklight, due out August 21. You can check out the video for The Moneymaker here. I haven't yet been patient enough to sit through the intro. After a couple of listens, I'm not much of a fan of the song, which is disappointing as I'm a huge fan of the band. The video is weird too, but Jenny is smokin' hot... :) Still looking forward to the album though!
Tour dates:
08-15 Hamburg, Germany - TBASeptember just keeps getting crazier and crazier...
08-16 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop Festival
08-18 Stafford, England - V Festival
08-19 Chelmsford, England - V Festival
08-20 London, England - Islington Academy
08-21 Manchester, England - Academy 3
08-22 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms
08-24 Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli
08-26 Cologne, Germany - Prime Club
08-27 Berlin, Germany - Lido
08-28 Munich, Germany - Ampere
08-30 Paris, France - Noveau Casino
08-31 Birmingham, England - Academy 2
09-01 Argyll, Scotland - Connect Festival
09-02 Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic
09-06 San Francisco, CA - The Warfield
09-07 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
09-08 Seattle, WA - Showbox
09-10 Orem, UT - McKay Events Center
09-11 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
09-12 Columbia, MO - Jesse Auditorium at University of Missouri
09-13 Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium
09-14 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
09-15 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
09-17 Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
09-18 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Theatre
09-19 Montreal, Quebec - La Tulipe
09-21 Boston, MA - Avalon
09-22 New York, NY - Webster Hall
09-23 New York, NY - Webster Hall
09-25 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
09-26 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
09-27 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
09-28 Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
09-29 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
10-01 Fort Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
10-02 Orlando, FL - House of Blues
10-04 New Orleans, LA - The Republic
10-05 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
10-06 Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
10-07 Austin, TX - Stubb's Bar-B-Q
10-09 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
10-10 Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
10-12 San Diego, CA - SOMA
10-13 Las Vegas, NV - The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel
10-15 Santa Monica, CA - Civic Auditorium
the best band you've never heard of
Really.
These are some bands/artists that my friend Tualla and I both listen to. A lot: The National, The New Pornographers, M. Ward, Centro-Matic, Sufjan Stevens, Calexico, Augie March, Josh Ritter, Elliott Smith, Okkervil River, Rock Plaza Central, Brakes, The Arcade Fire, Andrew Bird, The Hold Steady.
And these are some bands that Tualla has introduced me to: The Wrens, You Am I, Reigning Sound, OX, Great Lake Swimmers. Tualla is awesome.
But one of the most recent (and most notable, outside of perhaps OX), Tualla-recommended bands is The Broken Family Band. These guys are fucking amazing. Do you love indie rock? Do you love americana? How about americana done British style with all the wit and candor you'd expect from a British americana band? If you love these things do yourself a favor and check out TBFB. Sadly, their albums can be kinda hard to track down, but I'm all for these guys being able to quit their day jobs and do a tour outside of the goddamn UK, ya know? So buy their shit. There's always Amazon.co.uk. The albums I've listened to and loved the most are Welcome Home, Loser and Hello, Love. Though no doubt the whole catalogue is worth checking out. Do it. Do it now.
These are some bands/artists that my friend Tualla and I both listen to. A lot: The National, The New Pornographers, M. Ward, Centro-Matic, Sufjan Stevens, Calexico, Augie March, Josh Ritter, Elliott Smith, Okkervil River, Rock Plaza Central, Brakes, The Arcade Fire, Andrew Bird, The Hold Steady.
And these are some bands that Tualla has introduced me to: The Wrens, You Am I, Reigning Sound, OX, Great Lake Swimmers. Tualla is awesome.
But one of the most recent (and most notable, outside of perhaps OX), Tualla-recommended bands is The Broken Family Band. These guys are fucking amazing. Do you love indie rock? Do you love americana? How about americana done British style with all the wit and candor you'd expect from a British americana band? If you love these things do yourself a favor and check out TBFB. Sadly, their albums can be kinda hard to track down, but I'm all for these guys being able to quit their day jobs and do a tour outside of the goddamn UK, ya know? So buy their shit. There's always Amazon.co.uk. The albums I've listened to and loved the most are Welcome Home, Loser and Hello, Love. Though no doubt the whole catalogue is worth checking out. Do it. Do it now.
I don't feel like John Belushi tonight
Poor little me I'm switching out my lights
I've had a busy week and I'd like to ease my brain
You can take drugs if you want but I'm taking a rain check made out
I'm not wired at all tonight
I'm not wired at all tonight
I'm not wired at all tonight
I don't feel like freaking out with your friends
They're nice enough people but the good times have to end
And I warned you that the slow time was coming soon
Tonight I'm laying down in a smoky darkened room
Well looky here
I'm not wired at all tonight
I'm not wired at all tonight
I'm not wired at all tonight
Don't feel like getting high this time
You go ahead I just need to rest my mind
I don't need that buzzing in my ear
I listen to my heart and baby it's bringing a tear to my eye
I'm not wired at all tonight
I'm not wired at all tonight
I'm not wired at all tonight
I'm not wired at all tonight
I'm not wired at all tonight
I'm not wired at all tonight
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
voxtrot on my birthday!
Happy, happy!
07-17 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
07-20 New York, NY - Trash @ Rififi (Ramesh DJ set)
07-21 Brooklyn, NY - Coney Island (Siren Festival)
08-21 Brighton, England - TBA
08-22 Nottingham, England - Social
08-23 Bristol, England - Thekla
08-26 Birmingham, England - Bar Academy
08-27 London, England - Durr @ The E (Single Launch Party)
09-04 Cardiff, Wales - Barfly
09-05 Manchester, England - Night & Day
09-06 Liverpool, England - Academy
09-07 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tuts
09-08 Belfast, Northern Ireland - The Basement
09-10 London, England - Hoxton Bar & Grill
09-19 Santa Fe, NM - College of Santa Fe Sub
09-20 Tuscon, AZ - Plush
09-21 Pomona, CA - Glass House
09-22 San Diego, CA - Casbah
09-23 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
09-25 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's 365 Club
09-27 Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
09-28 Seattle, WA - Neumos
09-29 Bellingham, WA - Nightlight Lounge
10-01 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
10-03 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
10-04 Chicago, IL - Metro
10-06 Washington, DC - Black Cat
10-07 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
10-09 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
10-10 Ottawa, Ontario - Zaphod Beeblebrox
10-11 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
10-12 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street
10-13 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Downstairs
10-14 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
10-15 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
Sunday, July 15, 2007
shows of interest for 7/16 - 7/22/2007
Monday, July 16
...and explode @ Larimer Lounge
BOAT @ Appaloosa Grill
Page McConnell @ Fox Theatre
Tuesday, July 17
Dolores O'Riordan @ Gothic Theatre
The Gaslight Anthem @ Marquis Theater
KT Tunstall @ Boulder Theatre (E-Town)
Missing DuFrenes @ Larimer Lounge
Oh My God! @ Hi-Dive
Rusted Root @ Fox Theatre
Wednesday, July 18
Green Fuse @ Larimer Lounge
Magicyclops Benefit @ Hi-Dive
Thursday, July 19
Bob Dylan @ Red Rocks
Jimmy Eat World/Maria Taylor @ Gothic Theatre
Lomita @ Hi-Dive
Maximo Park @ Larimer Lounge
Unwritten Law @ Bluebird Theater
Friday, July 20
Bob Dylan @ Red Rocks
Built To Spill @ Ogden Theater
Ice-T @ Gothic Theatre
The Knew/Lion Sized @ Larimer Lounge
Loudon Wainwright III @ Denver Botanic Gardens
Yerkish/Vonnegut @ The Walnut Room
You In Series @ Hi-Dive (according to band's myspace, they're in Brooklyn this night???)
Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
Saturday, July 21
Candy @ Hi-Dive
Cary Brothers/Stars Of Track And Field @ Soiled Dove
Tokyo Police Club @ Larimer Lounge
Madagascar @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
Sunday, July 22
Ani DiFranco @ Denver Botanic Gardens
Houseguest @ Hi-Dive
The Polyphonic Spree @ Gothic Theatre
...and explode @ Larimer Lounge
BOAT @ Appaloosa Grill
Page McConnell @ Fox Theatre
Tuesday, July 17
Dolores O'Riordan @ Gothic Theatre
The Gaslight Anthem @ Marquis Theater
KT Tunstall @ Boulder Theatre (E-Town)
Missing DuFrenes @ Larimer Lounge
Oh My God! @ Hi-Dive
Rusted Root @ Fox Theatre
Wednesday, July 18
Green Fuse @ Larimer Lounge
Magicyclops Benefit @ Hi-Dive
Thursday, July 19
Bob Dylan @ Red Rocks
Jimmy Eat World/Maria Taylor @ Gothic Theatre
Lomita @ Hi-Dive
Maximo Park @ Larimer Lounge
Unwritten Law @ Bluebird Theater
Friday, July 20
Bob Dylan @ Red Rocks
Built To Spill @ Ogden Theater
Ice-T @ Gothic Theatre
The Knew/Lion Sized @ Larimer Lounge
Loudon Wainwright III @ Denver Botanic Gardens
Yerkish/Vonnegut @ The Walnut Room
You In Series @ Hi-Dive (according to band's myspace, they're in Brooklyn this night???)
Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
Saturday, July 21
Candy @ Hi-Dive
Cary Brothers/Stars Of Track And Field @ Soiled Dove
Tokyo Police Club @ Larimer Lounge
Madagascar @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
Sunday, July 22
Ani DiFranco @ Denver Botanic Gardens
Houseguest @ Hi-Dive
The Polyphonic Spree @ Gothic Theatre
Saturday, July 14, 2007
i love okkervil river
There, I said it. Okkervil River was one of the first bands I got into when I finally "discovered" indie music just a bit over a year and a half ago. Black Sheep Boy appeared on several "best of 2005" lists, and so I bought it. Admittedly it took me a couple of listens for the album to sink in, but once it did... I found myself hunting down everything the band has ever recorded.I realize the picture up there is pretty dated (that's Jonathan Meiburg on accordian), but I couldn't resist... It's just... so... great.
Since it's leak (a mere 3 weeks ago), I believe I have listened to this year's upcoming release, The Stage Names, about 30 times. I have preordered it both on vinyl and CD. It is incredible - and for a band to follow up a superb album with an equally superb album is rare. As I sit here and listen to The Stage Names yet again, I can't help but wonder how the music industry ever ended up in such a state... where the world's most no-talent hacks get all the press while the world's most ingenius bands are still playing 300-capacity clubs nearly 10 years after they are born. While the band started in NH, they are currently based in Austin, which is what, like 900 miles from Denver? OK, it seems like a ways, but our states out here are pretty fucking big. There is no way this amazing band should still be playing in 300-seat venues at this point in their musical career.
Not that I'm complaining... today I bought my ticket to see Okkervil in September at Denver's Marquis Theatre. But each time I get to see a brilliant band at a small venue with (too often) a small crowd there's a part of me that can't get past the injustice of it all. I guess in the meantime I will go ahead and enjoy everything I know that the rest of the world doesn't. Yes, I have indeed turned into just a bit of an indie music snob... :)And so ends this rambling, maybe slightly gin-induced, proclamation of love to what is likely my favorite band at the moment. If you are not familiar with Okkervil River, check out their catalogue post-haste, and proceed to NOT be disappointed. And PLEASE buy The Stage Names on August 7... if you are a fan of brilliant lyrics, superior musicianship, and a vocalist who may not be the most "talented" singer in the world (but who belts out his tunes with passion and a unique voice), you will love it.
Now for a sampling of those brilliant Will Sheff lyrics (it's a Stage Names spoiler, so don't read if you don't want to know...):
Okkervil River - Plus OnesThose are the most clever lyrics I've heard for quite some time...
No one wants to hear about your 97th tear
So dry your eyes or let it go uncried, my dear
I am all out of love to mouth into your ear
And not above letting a love song disappear before it's written
And no one wants a tune about the 100th luftballoon
That was seen shooting from the window of your room
To be a spot against the sky's colossal gloom
And land deflated in some neighbor's state that's strewn with 99 others
8 chinese brothers
Well, there's a reason why the last is smiling wider, sitting higher than the others
Swinging his arms
You would probably die before you shot up 9 miles high
Your eyes dilated as light played upon the sight
Of TVC16 as it sings you goodnight
Relaxed as hell and locked up in cell 45
I hope you're feeling better
The 51st way to leave your lover
Admittedly, it doesn't seem to be as gentle or as clean as all the others
Leaving a scar
All in the after hours of some Greenpoint bar
I told you, I can't listen, baby, 'bout the 4th time you were a lady
And how your forthrightness betrayed a secret shyness
Stripped away by days of being hailed as "your highness"
And what's new pussycat, as you were once a lionness
They cut your claws out
Kitten, not everyone's keen on lighting candle 17
The party's done, the cake's all gone, the plates are clean
The chauffeur's leering from the cheerless mezzanine
And in just one year, this straight world could pay to see
What they have been missing
But you were caught kissing 8 chinese brothers
Well, there's a reason why the last is smiling wider sitting higher than the others
Stinking with charm
And he says, "Lets get lost, let them send out alarms"
He says, "Let's get crossed out and come to harm
Let's make the world's stupidest stand and truly mean it
Let's hit the limit of loss over lover's arms
No, lets exceed it."
I couldn't be more excited for September 13... I've only been waiting a year and a half. <8
Friday, July 13, 2007
the new soiled dove
Tonight was another one of those decision-making nights. Up until a few days ago, I'd been planning to see Rasputina at the Bluebird. I have never heard their music, but cello rock intrigues me, and I thought it could be fun. Then Leah e-mailed me to see if I was going to the Gary Jules show at the Soiled Dove. I freely admit that, before tonight, the most I'd heard of Gary Jules was his Mad World cover for Donnie Darko, and maybe his songs from Scrubs and Grey's Anatomy. But I had been wanting to check out the Soiled Dove since they moved from downtown, plus the cover charge for Gary was $6 less than for Rasputina. Yup, I'm a cheap bastard.
I couldn't be happier with the choice I made tonight. I picked Leah up and we headed out to the Dove. It is a beautiful venue - very intimate with nary a bad seat in the house. We arrived mid- Jim Bianco set. We caught the last 4 songs: one about stalking, one about a break-up, a beautiful tune called Sing, and finally an unabashed love song. I didn't even realize it was Gary Jules playing with Jim (with some very nice harmonizing!!!) until Leah pointed it out to me. Told you I knew nothing about the guy. Jim Bianco is a funny, funny man. There were times when I forgot whether I was at a stand up comedy show or a music show. I know that banter annoys a lot of concert-goers, but to me it's one of the things that distinguishes a live show from a record. I love banter, and when it it as funny as tonight's, well - there's nothing better. We got a good stalking story, saw Jim deal with the guy next to me sneezing quite unnecessarily LOUDLY in the middle of a song AND asking an inane question (where did you first start playing music?) between songs. He was a treat, and I was a bit disappointed that we missed the first part of his set.
Then Gary Jules. Wow. From my limited experience of Mad World I didn't really know what to expect. I think he spent nearly as much time telling stories as he did playing music. So many stories that I would love to retell, but I have to advise you to just go see Gary for yourself. Some of the highlights include Gary talking a lot about his mom, then admitting that he's a total mama's boy, that the tattoos are just "wussoflage". Wussoflage is my new favorite word. Another great story was about how the Scrubs cast were among the first to see Gary play live, and how Zach Braff included all his friends from that time on the Garden State soundtrack... except for Gary. But he did eventually get into a Scrubs episode - the one with the "sensie" surgeon. You know those sensies - the ones that have tattoos and look like bikers, but talk about their mothers all the time.... Waaaaaait a minute... OK, so you had to be there. So go see Gary already.
The only disappointment to an amazing evening was the drunken couple to my left. Leah and I have decided that we are just magnets to the annoying. They arrived shortly after we did, and proceeded to talk to each other during every song and to make comments to the artists between every song (this is the guy who sneezed mid-song and asked Jim where he first started playing music). Other highlights include trying to sing along to every song without knowing the words and absolutely begging for Mad World - which was when I realized that they were probably there to hear THAT song. Now, I totally admitted that Mad World was pretty much the extent of my Gary Jules knowledge before tonight, but after seeing him play, you kinda forget about that overexposed cover song and appreciate the guy for his real singing and songwriting talents. That is, unless you're the annoying couple to my left.
The real corker was when Gary introduced a song as the one that finally stopped the 8000 e-mails he got every day from teenagers in black eyeliner telling him what Donnie Darko meant to them. The woman of the couple actually yelled out "Fuck you, asshole!". Seriously. I honestly don't think she was being particularly mean spirited, just that perhaps she had been one of the 8000 kids with black eyeliner... but still. Here's a guy who spends a night with a crowd where you can (otherwise) hear a pin drop, telling entertaining stories and singing heartfelt songs that HE wrote... how can you insult a guy like that for perhaps loathing, just a little bit, the fact that what he's best known for is a COVER song?!?!? I love Donnie Darko as much as anyone, but still I can see how Gary Jules would not want a cover song for a cult movie to be the thing that he's remembered for.
As I refuse to let assholes ruin great shows for me, I am taking nothing but good memories from tonight. I hope Gary Jules comes back real soon. If you EVER have a chance to see him, and like to really be entertained, take it. That is all. :)
I couldn't be happier with the choice I made tonight. I picked Leah up and we headed out to the Dove. It is a beautiful venue - very intimate with nary a bad seat in the house. We arrived mid- Jim Bianco set. We caught the last 4 songs: one about stalking, one about a break-up, a beautiful tune called Sing, and finally an unabashed love song. I didn't even realize it was Gary Jules playing with Jim (with some very nice harmonizing!!!) until Leah pointed it out to me. Told you I knew nothing about the guy. Jim Bianco is a funny, funny man. There were times when I forgot whether I was at a stand up comedy show or a music show. I know that banter annoys a lot of concert-goers, but to me it's one of the things that distinguishes a live show from a record. I love banter, and when it it as funny as tonight's, well - there's nothing better. We got a good stalking story, saw Jim deal with the guy next to me sneezing quite unnecessarily LOUDLY in the middle of a song AND asking an inane question (where did you first start playing music?) between songs. He was a treat, and I was a bit disappointed that we missed the first part of his set.Then Gary Jules. Wow. From my limited experience of Mad World I didn't really know what to expect. I think he spent nearly as much time telling stories as he did playing music. So many stories that I would love to retell, but I have to advise you to just go see Gary for yourself. Some of the highlights include Gary talking a lot about his mom, then admitting that he's a total mama's boy, that the tattoos are just "wussoflage". Wussoflage is my new favorite word. Another great story was about how the Scrubs cast were among the first to see Gary play live, and how Zach Braff included all his friends from that time on the Garden State soundtrack... except for Gary. But he did eventually get into a Scrubs episode - the one with the "sensie" surgeon. You know those sensies - the ones that have tattoos and look like bikers, but talk about their mothers all the time.... Waaaaaait a minute... OK, so you had to be there. So go see Gary already.The only disappointment to an amazing evening was the drunken couple to my left. Leah and I have decided that we are just magnets to the annoying. They arrived shortly after we did, and proceeded to talk to each other during every song and to make comments to the artists between every song (this is the guy who sneezed mid-song and asked Jim where he first started playing music). Other highlights include trying to sing along to every song without knowing the words and absolutely begging for Mad World - which was when I realized that they were probably there to hear THAT song. Now, I totally admitted that Mad World was pretty much the extent of my Gary Jules knowledge before tonight, but after seeing him play, you kinda forget about that overexposed cover song and appreciate the guy for his real singing and songwriting talents. That is, unless you're the annoying couple to my left.
The real corker was when Gary introduced a song as the one that finally stopped the 8000 e-mails he got every day from teenagers in black eyeliner telling him what Donnie Darko meant to them. The woman of the couple actually yelled out "Fuck you, asshole!". Seriously. I honestly don't think she was being particularly mean spirited, just that perhaps she had been one of the 8000 kids with black eyeliner... but still. Here's a guy who spends a night with a crowd where you can (otherwise) hear a pin drop, telling entertaining stories and singing heartfelt songs that HE wrote... how can you insult a guy like that for perhaps loathing, just a little bit, the fact that what he's best known for is a COVER song?!?!? I love Donnie Darko as much as anyone, but still I can see how Gary Jules would not want a cover song for a cult movie to be the thing that he's remembered for.
As I refuse to let assholes ruin great shows for me, I am taking nothing but good memories from tonight. I hope Gary Jules comes back real soon. If you EVER have a chance to see him, and like to really be entertained, take it. That is all. :)
Thursday, July 12, 2007
more 2007 live show revelry
The National is coming to town! And with this pile of tour dates, chances are they're coming to your town too.
07-13 Dour, Belgium - Dour Festival
07-14 Herk, Belgium - Rock Herk Festival
07-15 Southwold, England - Latitude Festival
08-05 Zambujeira do Mar, Portgal - Sudoeste Festival
08-15 St. Malo, France - La Route du Rock
08-17 New York, NY - South Street Seaport *
09-04 Philadelphia, PA - Theater of Living Arts
09-05 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
09-06 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
09-07 Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle
09-08 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
09-10 Orlando, FL - The Club @ Firestone
09-11 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder
09-12 Birmingham, AL - The Bottletree
09-14 Dallas, TX - Grenada Theater
09-16 Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Festival)
09-18 Denver, CO - Ogden Theater
09-19 Omaha, NE - Slowdown
09-20 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line
09-21 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
09-22 Chicago, IL - The Vic
09-23 Cincinnati, OH - Madison Theater
09-27 San Diego, CA - Casbah
09-28 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
09-29 San Francisco, CA - Ballroom
10-01 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
10-02 Seattle, WA - Showbox
10-03 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
10-06 Boston, MA - Roxy
10-07 Montreal, Quebec - Le National
10-08 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Hall
11-01 Dublin, Ireland - Village
11-02 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
11-03 Sheffield, England - Leadmill
11-04 Manchester, England - Academy 2
11-06 Birmingham, England - Irish Centre
11-07 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire
11-09 Bristol, England - Anson Rooms
11-10 Portsmouth, England - Pyramids
11-13 Reims, France - La Cartonnerie
11-14 Paris, France - Elysée Montmartre
11-15 Rennes, France - Ubu Club
11-16 Toulouse, France - Le Phare
11-17 Barcelona, Spain - La del Apolo
11-19 Clermont, France - Ferrand
11-20 Lausanne, Switzerland - Le Romandie
11-21 Milan, Italy - Transilvania
11-22 Zurich, Switzerland - Abart
11-23 Zagreb, Croatia - TBA
11-24 Vienna, Austria - Szene Wien
11-26 Stuttgart, Germany - Schocken 12
11-27 Cologne, Germany - Prime Club
11-28 Amsterdam, Holland - Melkweg
11-30 Copenhagen, Denmark - Lille Vega
12-01 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser
12-02 Oslo, Norway - John Dee
12-03 Malmo, Sweden - KB
12-05 Hamburg, Germany - Knust
12-06 Berlin, Germany - Postbahnhof
* with Takka Takka, the Forms
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
stars new album + tour
What I am listening to right now:
In Our Bedroom After The War was scheduled to be released (and still will be, physically) on September 25. But in an effort to combat yesterday's leak the band has made it available in digital format. I like what I hear so far.
In Our Bedroom After The War was scheduled to be released (and still will be, physically) on September 25. But in an effort to combat yesterday's leak the band has made it available in digital format. I like what I hear so far.
Stars dates:
09-06 Grand Rapids, MI - Calvin College Fine Arts Center
09-08 Montreal, Quebec - Parc Jean-Drapeau (Osheaga Festival)
09-09 Toronto, Ontario - Virgin Festival
10-17 South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
10-18 New York, NY - Town Hall
10-19 Boston, MA - Berklee Performance Centre
10-20 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
10-24 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom
10-26 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
10-27 Atlanta, GA - The Variety Playhouse
10-28 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder
10-30 Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ
10-31 Dallas, TX - House of Blues
11-02 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
11-03 Minneapolis, MN - Pantages Theatre
11-04 Omaha, NE - Slowdown
11-06 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
11-08 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
11-09 San Diego, CA - House of Blues
11-10 Los Angeles, CA - The Orpheum
11-13 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's 365 Club
11-14 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's 365 Club
11-15 Portland, OR - The Crystal Ballroom
11-16 Seattle, WA - The Showbox
Amy Millan dates:
07-20 Dawson City, Yukon - Dawson City Music Festival
07-27 Prince George, British Columbia - Prince George Folk Festival
08-10 Edmonton, Alberta - Edmonton Folk Music Festival
08-12 Regina, Saskatchewan - Regina Folk Festival
Monday, July 09, 2007
vandervelde battles battles
For quite some time I'd been pondering tonight's show choice... David Vandervelde at the Hi-Dive or Battles at the Larimer Lounge? Dilemma, dilemma. Truthfully, I'd been leaning toward Vandervelde for a while. While the new Battles album has been receiving rave reviews from both critics and online friends of mine, I've only listened to it a couple of times and have apparently just not "gotten" it yet. Which is not to say that Vandervelde made me sit up and take notice immediately... It took me several listens to start appreciating The Moonstation House Band. When the moment of truth arrived, I had to go Vandervelde.
I had a good night tonight. First was dinner at Laura & Leah's. Laura had taken a Thai cooking class and invited a bunch of us wine night girls over to test out her new skills. The menu went like this:
It was delicious. Leave it to the Asians to have plenty of vegetarian options!! The party timing couldn't have been better either, as everyone started heading out around 9:00. I hung out just long enough to put my Hi-Dive arrival time at just after 9:30 and just in time to catch (most of) the opening act. Oh, and also tonight I met up with Mark, a last.fm friend of mine. It's not the first time I've met an internet buddy at a show, but it's been a while. And I have to say it was really nice to have someone to talk to. Since I've got all of one friend in town who has my taste in music (well, OK, maybe one and a half - I have been to several shows with Laura... lol), I've just grown accustomed to attending shows by myself. And to his credit, Mark is the one who definitively convinced to me to see Vandy instead of Battles... But anyway... when I got to the venue there was one dude on stage with an acoustic guitar. I was confused. I had been under the impression that local band Mothership was opening, then Jonathan Byerley, then Vandervelde. I was mistaken as it was Jonathan Byerley (also local, which I found out just now) playing when I arrived. He didn't leave much of an impression, though I did like him. Pretty mellow.
Then Mothership. Here is, verbatim, what I wrote about them after I saw them open for The Besnard Lakes and Dirty On Purpose a few months back:
Finally, David Vandervelde. He played 4 new songs, solo, before his bass player joined him onstage. He apologized for not having the whole band with him, but it seems Richie is in Tennessee... "He got rich without me. He invented deep fried ranch balls for TGI Fridays". I spent a few moments trying to imagine what, exactly, a deep fried ranch ball is. It sounds really gross, but then, so did deep fried mac n' cheese at one point in my life. But I know now that deep fried mac n' cheese is the shit... especially after several hours of St. Patty's Day drinking.... mmm hmm. I was impressed with Vandervelde. It was a very short set - after his 4 solo songs they played a Phil Ochs cover, then Murder In Michigan and Feet Of A Liar. Very short, but very very very good. The biggest hurdle I encountered with The Moonstation House Band was David's voice. It grated on me for quite a while, but seeing him live... I enjoy his singing SO much more in the live setting than on the disc.
One last note - and something I seem to be dealing with a lot lately - the crowd tonight was extraordinarily sparse. I don't like to think of myself as a complainer, but I may have to rethink that... :) I complain about sold out shows, I complain about tiny crowds... No pleasing me I guess. I just hate to see an artist that I really like and respect have to play to a handful of people... that's when sets get shortened and bands don't want to come back to Denver. On the plus side, though, Vandervelde is all of, what - 22, 23? So when the rest of the world catches on to his talent, I'll be all "Yeah, I remember when I saw Vandy at the Hi-Dive back in '07 with, oh... about 30 other people. It was fantastic."
I had a good night tonight. First was dinner at Laura & Leah's. Laura had taken a Thai cooking class and invited a bunch of us wine night girls over to test out her new skills. The menu went like this:
Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Kai) (vegetarian)
Green Papaya Salad (vegetarian)
Shrimp with Green Curry
Vegetables with Red Curry (vegetarian)
Coconut Lime Sorbet with Mangos (vegetarian)
It was delicious. Leave it to the Asians to have plenty of vegetarian options!! The party timing couldn't have been better either, as everyone started heading out around 9:00. I hung out just long enough to put my Hi-Dive arrival time at just after 9:30 and just in time to catch (most of) the opening act. Oh, and also tonight I met up with Mark, a last.fm friend of mine. It's not the first time I've met an internet buddy at a show, but it's been a while. And I have to say it was really nice to have someone to talk to. Since I've got all of one friend in town who has my taste in music (well, OK, maybe one and a half - I have been to several shows with Laura... lol), I've just grown accustomed to attending shows by myself. And to his credit, Mark is the one who definitively convinced to me to see Vandy instead of Battles... But anyway... when I got to the venue there was one dude on stage with an acoustic guitar. I was confused. I had been under the impression that local band Mothership was opening, then Jonathan Byerley, then Vandervelde. I was mistaken as it was Jonathan Byerley (also local, which I found out just now) playing when I arrived. He didn't leave much of an impression, though I did like him. Pretty mellow.Then Mothership. Here is, verbatim, what I wrote about them after I saw them open for The Besnard Lakes and Dirty On Purpose a few months back:
Yup, that's pretty much how it went tonight, except that they DIDN'T play Ida Lee, making tonight's set pretty damn disappointing. I still can't understand how a band who plays harmonica, trumpet, theremin (found out what this was in the meantime... lol), bongos, and sleigh bells can bore me so much. It's a mystery.Opening up the whole evening was local band Mothership. They were... adept. The crowd loved them, but they were just too "jammy" for my tastes, and all the songs started to sound the same. Which is not to say they were without bells and whistles (literally). Adam alternated guitar, whistling, baritone sax and this odd black box with an antenna that made noises when he moved his hands near it. Noises that kind of sounded like a... mothership. Those are all technical terms, too, I swear! Brian had a cool Star Wars guitar. Brendon alternated guitar and trumpet. It sounds like it should all add up to something spectacular, but it just didn't hit me the right way I guess. I did enjoy the last song of the set, though - called Ida Lee - about leaving earth in a homemade spaceship in 2012 (or 2013, I can't remember the exact date...). Awesome.
Finally, David Vandervelde. He played 4 new songs, solo, before his bass player joined him onstage. He apologized for not having the whole band with him, but it seems Richie is in Tennessee... "He got rich without me. He invented deep fried ranch balls for TGI Fridays". I spent a few moments trying to imagine what, exactly, a deep fried ranch ball is. It sounds really gross, but then, so did deep fried mac n' cheese at one point in my life. But I know now that deep fried mac n' cheese is the shit... especially after several hours of St. Patty's Day drinking.... mmm hmm. I was impressed with Vandervelde. It was a very short set - after his 4 solo songs they played a Phil Ochs cover, then Murder In Michigan and Feet Of A Liar. Very short, but very very very good. The biggest hurdle I encountered with The Moonstation House Band was David's voice. It grated on me for quite a while, but seeing him live... I enjoy his singing SO much more in the live setting than on the disc.One last note - and something I seem to be dealing with a lot lately - the crowd tonight was extraordinarily sparse. I don't like to think of myself as a complainer, but I may have to rethink that... :) I complain about sold out shows, I complain about tiny crowds... No pleasing me I guess. I just hate to see an artist that I really like and respect have to play to a handful of people... that's when sets get shortened and bands don't want to come back to Denver. On the plus side, though, Vandervelde is all of, what - 22, 23? So when the rest of the world catches on to his talent, I'll be all "Yeah, I remember when I saw Vandy at the Hi-Dive back in '07 with, oh... about 30 other people. It was fantastic."
Sunday, July 08, 2007
shows of interest for 7/9 - 7/15/2007
Not a WHOLE lot goin' on...
Monday, July 9
Decemberists on Jay Leno!!
Wednesday, July 11
(die) PILOT/Mothership @ Bluebird Theater
Thursday, July 12
Rasputina/Jana Hunter @ Bluebird Theater
Gary Jules @ Soiled Dove
Friday, July 13
Lyle Lovett @ Red Rocks
Ponytail @ Rhinoceropolis*
Pan's Labryinth @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
Saturday, July 14
Radio Birdman @ Bluebird Theater
Cowboy Junkies @ Chautauqua Auditorium
Labryinth @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
*Haha, cool venue name. Never heard of it before, and it's actually on my end of town. I may have to check this out...
Monday, July 9
Decemberists on Jay Leno!!
Wednesday, July 11
(die) PILOT/Mothership @ Bluebird Theater
Thursday, July 12
Rasputina/Jana Hunter @ Bluebird Theater
Gary Jules @ Soiled Dove
Friday, July 13
Lyle Lovett @ Red Rocks
Ponytail @ Rhinoceropolis*
Pan's Labryinth @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
Saturday, July 14
Radio Birdman @ Bluebird Theater
Cowboy Junkies @ Chautauqua Auditorium
Labryinth @ Boulder Outdoor Cinema
*Haha, cool venue name. Never heard of it before, and it's actually on my end of town. I may have to check this out...
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
what the fuck, denver?!?
I almost didn't go out tonight. The recent heat wave is killing me, and when I got home from work all I really wanted to do was sit on the couch, watch Friends reruns and eat popsicles. But seeing as how I included Get Him Eat Him on my most recent "best of 2007" comp, I could hardly miss seeing them at the Hi-Dive.
Because Mondays are notoriously early shows at the Hi-Dive, and because I didn't want to repeat last Thursday's debacle of showing up partway into the headlining set, I left home just after 9:00. I arrived at the Hi-Dive shortly after the second band, Blue Million Miles, had taken the stage. At best, they were forgettable. But in all honesty, they bored me to tears. If I learned anything from the My Morning Jacket show early this year it's that I really don't care for jammy rock bands. At all. I'm still scratching my head about who thought it would be a good idea to have this band open for the indie pop brilliance that is Get Him Eat Him. I survived, though... with a little help from $1 PBR night... :)
So, either my musical taste is getting more obscure, or I still just haven't figured out how to successfully predict what bands will make a good showing in Denver. I rarely hear a lot of the music that I like on the radio, even on a great station like radio 1190. And apparently I also rarely pay attention to what's big on the scene... So on nights like tonight I just don't know what to expect. Get Him Eat Him's new album got a 7.2 from Pitchfork. Not bad at all. And certain folks over at Via Chicago have been touting the album. Normally I would assume a decent turnout, but there were probably about 40 people at tonight's show. Their loss, IMO.
I was immediately turned on by the band's humor when they were setting up and the keyboards were obviously WAY too loud in the house and the bass player stepped up to the mike - "We're Get Him Eat Him and we're here to kill you. Accidentally, we promise." They got all the kinks worked out momentarily and played a great, energetic set (I'm like... 90% sure about this setlist):
The critic in me wants to say that this young band has a ways to go. I got the sense that they weren't quite as tight as they could have been, and while perhaps it was a venue issue, the vocals were muddy and the bass was a bit too heavy. However, the music fan in me had a blast and was very happy with the performance from these guys. Tonight I was left with a feeling that I've been experiencing all too often lately - I'm really glad I got to see this band at a small venue with a handful of other people, but at the same time I want them to come back, which gets sketchy when nobody comes out to the shows. Still, I'm glad I gave up my popsicles and headed out to the Hi-Dive tonight. As one last sign that I'd done the right thing, the house music came up after the show - and it was Band Of Horses' Everything All The Time... <3
Because Mondays are notoriously early shows at the Hi-Dive, and because I didn't want to repeat last Thursday's debacle of showing up partway into the headlining set, I left home just after 9:00. I arrived at the Hi-Dive shortly after the second band, Blue Million Miles, had taken the stage. At best, they were forgettable. But in all honesty, they bored me to tears. If I learned anything from the My Morning Jacket show early this year it's that I really don't care for jammy rock bands. At all. I'm still scratching my head about who thought it would be a good idea to have this band open for the indie pop brilliance that is Get Him Eat Him. I survived, though... with a little help from $1 PBR night... :)So, either my musical taste is getting more obscure, or I still just haven't figured out how to successfully predict what bands will make a good showing in Denver. I rarely hear a lot of the music that I like on the radio, even on a great station like radio 1190. And apparently I also rarely pay attention to what's big on the scene... So on nights like tonight I just don't know what to expect. Get Him Eat Him's new album got a 7.2 from Pitchfork. Not bad at all. And certain folks over at Via Chicago have been touting the album. Normally I would assume a decent turnout, but there were probably about 40 people at tonight's show. Their loss, IMO.I was immediately turned on by the band's humor when they were setting up and the keyboards were obviously WAY too loud in the house and the bass player stepped up to the mike - "We're Get Him Eat Him and we're here to kill you. Accidentally, we promise." They got all the kinks worked out momentarily and played a great, energetic set (I'm like... 90% sure about this setlist):
2X2Unfortunately Get Him Eat Him suffered from a "small crowd killer" after the third song when a bass string broke. It took a couple of minutes to fix, and many people in the crowd migrated over to the bar. By the time the set ended, I think there were actually only about a dozen people in the stage area. Too bad.
Just 50
There's A Guy
~bass string change~
What We Do
Get Down!
Present Tenses
The Coronation Show
Push And Pull
CBT
Hand In Hand (Elvis Costello cover)
Murphy Bed
Diminutive
The critic in me wants to say that this young band has a ways to go. I got the sense that they weren't quite as tight as they could have been, and while perhaps it was a venue issue, the vocals were muddy and the bass was a bit too heavy. However, the music fan in me had a blast and was very happy with the performance from these guys. Tonight I was left with a feeling that I've been experiencing all too often lately - I'm really glad I got to see this band at a small venue with a handful of other people, but at the same time I want them to come back, which gets sketchy when nobody comes out to the shows. Still, I'm glad I gave up my popsicles and headed out to the Hi-Dive tonight. As one last sign that I'd done the right thing, the house music came up after the show - and it was Band Of Horses' Everything All The Time... <3
Monday, July 02, 2007
shows of interest for 7/2 - 7/8/2007
Monday, July 2
Get Him Eat Him @ Hi-Dive
Wednesday, July 4
Johnny And The Moon @ Larimer Lounge*
Nathan And Stephen @ Hi-Dive
Friday, July 6
Cat-A-Tac @ Hi-Dive
Sunday, July 8
David Vandervelde @ Hi-Dive
Battles @ Larimer Lounge
*this one is still showing up on the Johnny And The Moon MySpace page, but not on the Larimer Lounge site... so I am not too sure what is up. I was really looking forward to seeing them.
Get Him Eat Him @ Hi-Dive
Wednesday, July 4
Johnny And The Moon @ Larimer Lounge*
Nathan And Stephen @ Hi-Dive
Friday, July 6
Cat-A-Tac @ Hi-Dive
Sunday, July 8
David Vandervelde @ Hi-Dive
Battles @ Larimer Lounge
*this one is still showing up on the Johnny And The Moon MySpace page, but not on the Larimer Lounge site... so I am not too sure what is up. I was really looking forward to seeing them.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
the best of 2007... part 2
Are we halfway through 2007 already??? I should believe it, what with all the new releases this year that I can't seem to keep up with. I have done the best I can, and would like to share the fruits of my "labor" with you - part 2 of 2007's best new music tracklist:
And I've re-posted my tracklist from January-March at sendspace, in case you missed it the first time around:
And again, my favorite albums, take two. These are the ones I listened to the most from April - June... some released during those months, some released earlier that I didn't hear about or have a chance to get to (no order here other than good ol' alphabetical...). I tried to limit myself to 10 again, I really did. But to no avail:
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare:
I gotta say that nobody is more surprised than me at how much I am loving this album. Last year's overhyped Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not didn't really do a whole lot for me. The sophomore effort from these kids is a completely different story. It's fabulous.
Favorite tracks: Brianstorm; Teddy Picker; Fluorescent Adolescent; 505
Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated:
The UK isn't holding anything back this year; Art Brut has delivered another highly enjoyable sophomore album from across the pond.
Favorite tracks: Direct Hit; People In Love; I Will Survive; Post Soothing Out
Bright Eyes - Cassadaga:
I wasn't expecting a lot from this album, especially after the mediocre showing of the Four Winds EP. But Conor yet again turns in a very nice effort.
Favorite tracks: Clairaudients (Kill Or Be Killed); Four Winds; If The Brakeman Turns My Way; Classic Cars
Cloud Cult - The Meaning Of 8:
Cloud Cult has been, hands down, my find of the year so far. I'd never heard of them until about 4-5 months ago, but they've consumed much of my time during those months. They are incredibly talented both live and on record, they are environmentally sound, they are amazing. If you haven't heard them, do it now.
Favorite tracks: Chain Reaction; Chemicals Collide; Pretty Voice; Your 8th Birthday; The Deaf Girl's Song
Dan Deacon - Spiderman Of The Rings:
I never thought I liked the so-called "electronica" music. This year is seeing LCD Soundsystem and Dan Deacon unequivocally change my mind.
Favorite tracks: The Crystal Cat; Wham City; Pink Batman
Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday:
It's hard not to feel guilty sometimes by gleaning so much enjoyment from someone else's suffering. In the case of Elvis Perkins, his father (Anthony Perkins) died of AIDS when Elvis was just a teenager. And if that wasn't enough, his mother was aboard one of the planes flown into the World Trade Center on September 11. If only we could all take our tragedies and craft something so lovely as Ash Wednesday...
Favorite tracks: While You Were Sleeping; May Day!; Emile's Vietnam In The Sky; Ash Wednesday
Good Shoes - Think Before You Speak:
Even more from the 2007 UK invasion. This is not a deep album, but it sure is a helluva a lot of fun.
Favorite tracks: The Photos On My Wall; Never Meant To Hurt You; Small Town Girl; Ice Age
Narrator - All That To The Wall:
Bouncy, spazzy, catchy, and wonderful.
Favorite tracks: August 32nd; Speeding Up The Gang; All The Tired Horses; A Decade In Kentucky
The National - Boxer:
Good fucking lord. I'm not too keen on giving away my secrets before the end of the year, but this one and Andrew Bird's Armchair Apocrypha are (at this early stage) duking it out for album of the year. This one is like auditory crack, it is.
Favorite tracks: Fake Empire; Slow Show; Apartment Story; Gospel
Page France - ...And The Family Telephone:
Since the first time I heard Page France, I felt that Michael Nau's voice should be terribly annoying to me. But it isn't... In fact, it's rather endearing. Even more endearing is this album filled to the brim with incredible melodies, lyrics, and musicianship. Brilliant.
Favorite tracks: Wet Dog Afternoon; Be My Pianist; Pigeons; Here's A Telephone
Pela - Anytown Graffiti:
Seeing these Brooklynites live a few weeks ago no doubt has a lot to do with their album appearing here. They are incredible live, and my enjoyment of Anytown Graffiti has increased exponentially since the show. Really really great stuff.
Favorite tracks: Waiting On The Stairs; Drop Me Off; Trouble With River Cities; Song Writes Itself
Revival - Horses Of War:
I guess when you consider how I've taken to all things horses the past couple of years, it should come as no surprise that I fell in love with album immedately. Another great new find.
Favorite tracks: OK, honestly? This is one of those rare albums where every track is just as strong as the next. I have tried to choose favorites, but every time I listen to this album, the conclusion is always the same. I can't choose. You should have seen me trying to pick a song for my playlist! And I'm sure I'll change my mind on that tomorrow... lol.
Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger:
I'm admitting it now - I was afraid to have high hopes for this album. Ryan hasn't released anything "officially" since 2005, which was hit or miss for me. I loved Cold Roses, I liked Jacksonville City Nights, and I likely listened to 29 about 3 times before deleting it from the iPod. But apparently I needn't have worried at all... with Easy Tiger Ryan has released a masterpiece, critics be damned. I love this album, it's a very healthy mix of all the styles Ryan's adopted over the years. And like many of his fans, I've harbored some concerns about him in the past few years... I gotta say that nobody is more thrilled than me to know that he's working clean and sober these days. xoxo.
Favorite tracks: Goodnight Rose; Two; Tears Of Gold; Pearls On A String
Voxtrot - Voxtrot:
Poor Voxtrot. Over the past couple of years they've released 3 EP's to some very critical acclaim. Come their first full-length, though, they've had to really take one on the chin. Personally, I don't get all the negativism about this album. I think it's amazing.
Favorite tracks: Introduction; Firecracker; Easy; Every Day
White Rabbits - Fort Nightly:
My goodness, where did this band come from? I love this album, and I'm proud to say that I heard of them before I read about them on Pitchfork OR NME... yeah, that's right.
Favorite tracks: Kid On My Shoulders; Navy Wives; While We Go Dancing; Tourist Trap
And of course, some more albums that are certainly worth a listen:
Aereogramme - My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go
Au Revoir Simone - The Bird Of Music
Battles - Mirrored
Bear Colony - We Came Here To Die
Ben + Vesper - All This Could Kill You
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81
Blackstrap - Steal My Horses And Run
Blonde Redhead - 23
Cary Brothers - Who You Are
The Clientele - God Save The Clientele
The Comas - Spells
Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
Dntel - Dumb Luck
Dungen - Tio Bitar
Electric Soft Parade - No Need To Be Downhearted
Elliott Smith - New Moon
Feist - The Reminder
The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
Fields - Everything Last Winter
Frog Eyes - Tears Of The Valedictorian
Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things
Get Him Eat Him - Arms Down
Grant-Lee Phillips - Strangelet
Grinderman - Grinderman
Guster - Satellite EP
Handsome Furs - Plague Park
Idlewild - Make Another World
Joanna Newsom - Joanna Newsom & The Ys Street Band
The Kissaway Trail - The Kissaway Trail
Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future
Land Of Talk - Applause Cheer Boo Hiss
Maximo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures
Moonbabies - Moonbabies At The Ballroom
Mouthful Of Bees - The End
Neko Case - Live At ACL
Odawas - Raven And The White Night
Ola Podrida - Ola Podrida
Palomar - All Things, Forests
Peel - Peel
Pelican - City Of Echoes
The Photo Atlas - No, Not Me, Ever
Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers - No More Beautiful World
The Rosebuds - Night Of The Furies
The Sea And Cake - Everybody
The Shaky Hands - The Shaky Hands
Shapes And Sizes - Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner
The Tailors - Wakey Wakey
The Teeth - You're My Lover Now
Travis - The Boy With No Name
Tupelo Honeys - Tupelo Honeys Salute You
The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns, Fifteen Winters
The Veils - Nux Vomica
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Yacht - I Believe In You. Your Magic Is Real
Crazy to think that some albums I love won't even make it into the top 50 for this year.
Another yay for 2007!
01 Elvis Perkins - While You Were Sleeping
02 Cloud Cult - Pretty Voice
03 Revival - Favorite One
04 Get Him Eat Him - The Coronation Show
05 White Rabbits - While We Go Dancing
06 Good Shoes - Never Meant To Hurt You
07 Arctic Monkeys - Fluorescent Adolescent
08 The Veils - One Night On Earth
09 Dan Deacon - Pink Batman
10 Handsome Furs - Dead + Rural
11 Art Brut - People In Love
12 The Teeth - Shoulderblade
13 Pela - Trouble With River Cities
14 Voxtrot - Firecracker
15 The National - Apartment Story
16 Elliott Smith - Looking Over My Shoulder
17 Ryan Adams - Pearls On A String
18 Bright Eyes - If The Brakeman Turns My Way
19 Page France - Pigeons
20 Blonde Redhead - Spring And By Summer Fall
21 Narrator - A Decade In Kentucky
download it!
And I've re-posted my tracklist from January-March at sendspace, in case you missed it the first time around:
01 - The Apples In Stereo - Can You Feel It?
02 - Deerhoof - +81
03 - LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
04 - The Broken West - Down In The Valley
05 - Apostle Of Hustle - Chances Are
06 - Of Montreal - A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger
07 - Menomena - Air Aid
08 - CYHSY - Mama, Won't You Keep Them Castles In The Air...
09 - Illinois - Nosebleed
10 - Modest Mouse - Spitting Venom
11 - The Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running
12 - The Besnard Lakes - Devastation
13 - Panda Bear - Take Pills
14 - Beirut - Scenic World (Version)
15 - Andrew Bird - Dark Matter
16 - Jamie T - Calm Down Dearest
17 - Dr. Dog - Worst Trip
18 - The Shins - Girl Sailor
19 - Papercuts - Take The 227th Exit
20 - A Sunny Day In Glasgow - 5:15 Train
21 - Do Make Say Think - A Tender History In Rust
download it!
And again, my favorite albums, take two. These are the ones I listened to the most from April - June... some released during those months, some released earlier that I didn't hear about or have a chance to get to (no order here other than good ol' alphabetical...). I tried to limit myself to 10 again, I really did. But to no avail:
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare:I gotta say that nobody is more surprised than me at how much I am loving this album. Last year's overhyped Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not didn't really do a whole lot for me. The sophomore effort from these kids is a completely different story. It's fabulous.
Favorite tracks: Brianstorm; Teddy Picker; Fluorescent Adolescent; 505
Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated:The UK isn't holding anything back this year; Art Brut has delivered another highly enjoyable sophomore album from across the pond.
Favorite tracks: Direct Hit; People In Love; I Will Survive; Post Soothing Out
Bright Eyes - Cassadaga:I wasn't expecting a lot from this album, especially after the mediocre showing of the Four Winds EP. But Conor yet again turns in a very nice effort.
Favorite tracks: Clairaudients (Kill Or Be Killed); Four Winds; If The Brakeman Turns My Way; Classic Cars
Cloud Cult - The Meaning Of 8:Cloud Cult has been, hands down, my find of the year so far. I'd never heard of them until about 4-5 months ago, but they've consumed much of my time during those months. They are incredibly talented both live and on record, they are environmentally sound, they are amazing. If you haven't heard them, do it now.
Favorite tracks: Chain Reaction; Chemicals Collide; Pretty Voice; Your 8th Birthday; The Deaf Girl's Song
Dan Deacon - Spiderman Of The Rings:
I never thought I liked the so-called "electronica" music. This year is seeing LCD Soundsystem and Dan Deacon unequivocally change my mind.
Favorite tracks: The Crystal Cat; Wham City; Pink Batman
Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday:It's hard not to feel guilty sometimes by gleaning so much enjoyment from someone else's suffering. In the case of Elvis Perkins, his father (Anthony Perkins) died of AIDS when Elvis was just a teenager. And if that wasn't enough, his mother was aboard one of the planes flown into the World Trade Center on September 11. If only we could all take our tragedies and craft something so lovely as Ash Wednesday...
Favorite tracks: While You Were Sleeping; May Day!; Emile's Vietnam In The Sky; Ash Wednesday
Good Shoes - Think Before You Speak:Even more from the 2007 UK invasion. This is not a deep album, but it sure is a helluva a lot of fun.
Favorite tracks: The Photos On My Wall; Never Meant To Hurt You; Small Town Girl; Ice Age
Narrator - All That To The Wall:Bouncy, spazzy, catchy, and wonderful.
Favorite tracks: August 32nd; Speeding Up The Gang; All The Tired Horses; A Decade In Kentucky
The National - Boxer:Good fucking lord. I'm not too keen on giving away my secrets before the end of the year, but this one and Andrew Bird's Armchair Apocrypha are (at this early stage) duking it out for album of the year. This one is like auditory crack, it is.
Favorite tracks: Fake Empire; Slow Show; Apartment Story; Gospel
Page France - ...And The Family Telephone:Since the first time I heard Page France, I felt that Michael Nau's voice should be terribly annoying to me. But it isn't... In fact, it's rather endearing. Even more endearing is this album filled to the brim with incredible melodies, lyrics, and musicianship. Brilliant.
Favorite tracks: Wet Dog Afternoon; Be My Pianist; Pigeons; Here's A Telephone
Pela - Anytown Graffiti:Seeing these Brooklynites live a few weeks ago no doubt has a lot to do with their album appearing here. They are incredible live, and my enjoyment of Anytown Graffiti has increased exponentially since the show. Really really great stuff.
Favorite tracks: Waiting On The Stairs; Drop Me Off; Trouble With River Cities; Song Writes Itself
Revival - Horses Of War:I guess when you consider how I've taken to all things horses the past couple of years, it should come as no surprise that I fell in love with album immedately. Another great new find.
Favorite tracks: OK, honestly? This is one of those rare albums where every track is just as strong as the next. I have tried to choose favorites, but every time I listen to this album, the conclusion is always the same. I can't choose. You should have seen me trying to pick a song for my playlist! And I'm sure I'll change my mind on that tomorrow... lol.
Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger:I'm admitting it now - I was afraid to have high hopes for this album. Ryan hasn't released anything "officially" since 2005, which was hit or miss for me. I loved Cold Roses, I liked Jacksonville City Nights, and I likely listened to 29 about 3 times before deleting it from the iPod. But apparently I needn't have worried at all... with Easy Tiger Ryan has released a masterpiece, critics be damned. I love this album, it's a very healthy mix of all the styles Ryan's adopted over the years. And like many of his fans, I've harbored some concerns about him in the past few years... I gotta say that nobody is more thrilled than me to know that he's working clean and sober these days. xoxo.
Favorite tracks: Goodnight Rose; Two; Tears Of Gold; Pearls On A String
Voxtrot - Voxtrot:Poor Voxtrot. Over the past couple of years they've released 3 EP's to some very critical acclaim. Come their first full-length, though, they've had to really take one on the chin. Personally, I don't get all the negativism about this album. I think it's amazing.
Favorite tracks: Introduction; Firecracker; Easy; Every Day
White Rabbits - Fort Nightly:
My goodness, where did this band come from? I love this album, and I'm proud to say that I heard of them before I read about them on Pitchfork OR NME... yeah, that's right.
Favorite tracks: Kid On My Shoulders; Navy Wives; While We Go Dancing; Tourist Trap
And of course, some more albums that are certainly worth a listen:
Aereogramme - My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go
Au Revoir Simone - The Bird Of Music
Battles - Mirrored
Bear Colony - We Came Here To Die
Ben + Vesper - All This Could Kill You
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81
Blackstrap - Steal My Horses And Run
Blonde Redhead - 23
Cary Brothers - Who You Are
The Clientele - God Save The Clientele
The Comas - Spells
Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
Dntel - Dumb Luck
Dungen - Tio Bitar
Electric Soft Parade - No Need To Be Downhearted
Elliott Smith - New Moon
Feist - The Reminder
The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
Fields - Everything Last Winter
Frog Eyes - Tears Of The Valedictorian
Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things
Get Him Eat Him - Arms Down
Grant-Lee Phillips - Strangelet
Grinderman - Grinderman
Guster - Satellite EP
Handsome Furs - Plague Park
Idlewild - Make Another World
Joanna Newsom - Joanna Newsom & The Ys Street Band
The Kissaway Trail - The Kissaway Trail
Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future
Land Of Talk - Applause Cheer Boo Hiss
Maximo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures
Moonbabies - Moonbabies At The Ballroom
Mouthful Of Bees - The End
Neko Case - Live At ACL
Odawas - Raven And The White Night
Ola Podrida - Ola Podrida
Palomar - All Things, Forests
Peel - Peel
Pelican - City Of Echoes
The Photo Atlas - No, Not Me, Ever
Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers - No More Beautiful World
The Rosebuds - Night Of The Furies
The Sea And Cake - Everybody
The Shaky Hands - The Shaky Hands
Shapes And Sizes - Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner
The Tailors - Wakey Wakey
The Teeth - You're My Lover Now
Travis - The Boy With No Name
Tupelo Honeys - Tupelo Honeys Salute You
The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns, Fifteen Winters
The Veils - Nux Vomica
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Yacht - I Believe In You. Your Magic Is Real
Crazy to think that some albums I love won't even make it into the top 50 for this year.
Another yay for 2007!
tonight, a detour
So, here's what happened... I had every intention of going to the Richmond Fontaine show tonight at the Bluebird. But then Wednesday afternoon I was driving to the big farmer's market in Boulder. My friends Amy & Andy have shares in the local CSA, and those lucky bastards are on vacation in Kenya for the next month, so I am getting their fruits & veggies. Yum. Of course, I'd rather be in Africa again...
But I digress... While searching for parking anywhere near the market (difficult) I was listening to Radio 1190, pretty much the best indie radio station in the area. The DJ started talking about having tickets to give away for the Shearwater show on Saturday. Now, I'd heard of Shearwater, but didn't really know too much about them. The DJ went on to explain that Shearwater started out as a collaboration between Okkervil River's Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiburg. If you know me, you probably know that I am just slightly more than a HUGE Okkervil River fan. Needless to say I was intrigued.
So when I got home I solicited the opinions of my fellow music lovers over at Via Chicago... and was told in no uncertain terms to go to that Shearwater show. And I did.
I decided to head out early to see a couple of local bands open up. First was Hello Kavita. They were good, but apparently missing the Wurlitzer and their drummer. We (that would be me and the, oh, about 7 other people who attended their set) were told that although they wanted to rock out, it just wasn't gonna happen tonight. But they did play a Tom Waits cover (I'll Shoot The Moon) and a Townes Van Zandt cover (Colorado Girl). They also had the most awkward ending to a set that I think I've ever seen...
singer: "Are we done?"
violinist: "Wanna rock paper scissors to see if we're done?"
singer: "Yeah, we're done."
Actually, I would love to see one of those rocking sets from these guys one of these days...
Next up was (die) Pilot. There was a bit of discussion about how to lay the cinder block in front of the kick drum and some issues in working out the keyboard problems they were having. But once the kinks were worked out, this band fucking rocked!! They have a left-handed guitar player, always endearing to ol' southpaw me... I sense he's the newest member, because when the band launched into one (particularly great) song he stated he'd just sit there and "look pretty".
The bass player seemed to exude a certian cockiness, which I loved. But as it turned out, he was just a "little bit drunk". lol. OK, so maybe you had to be there, but the banter from these guys was great. The bassist dedicated one of their last songs to his brother "so you can dance and punch someone in the face." "Sometimes he does both at the same time. Just know that he's out there." Classic. Really great, really fun band. And they're playing at the Bluebird on July 11. I am SO there.
And in what may seem like a bit of an anti-climatic ending to the evening, was the Shearwater set. But anti-climatic? No. Fucking awesome is more like it. Jonathan Meiburg has an amazing stage presence... He commanded people's attention straight away by opening the set with some a cappella singing. From that moment on, you could have heard a pin drop at the ol' Larimer Lounge. Of course, there were probably around 60 people in attendance, but still.
It takes little in a live show to make me happy, and tonight I was a complete pushover. Why? Just a few words... Banjo. Trumpet. Stand-up bass. Yes, I'm easy, I just admitted it. But Shearwater managed to throw in some extras... such as Kim playing a xylophone with her bass bow. Such as a talented drummer playing lots of percussion... I love percussion. Such as a bit of witty banter. Meiburg mentioned that they had driven through "the national park" on their way here today and saw lots of things - a marmot, several chipmunks, a hummer. Whatever he meant by it I was amused... as I always am when I see some jackass driving a hummer around town. I fucking hate hummers.
It was an interesting set. I didn't really know what to expect as I'm not overly familiar with the band. It was certainly low-key, but the crowd was enthralled. Personally, I don't know that I've ever seen an artist more intense on stage than Jonathan Meiburg. It would have been difficult not to be impressed with the performance.
Shearwater played for about an hour then retreated to the patio for all of about 5 seconds before returning for an encore. Meiburg questioned whether they had time, to which we responded with a resounding YES. "One more or two?". A guy near me said "four more!". Haha, rock on. They played two more, ending with an incredible rendition of Baby's On Fire. Great night, great fun, you should see Shearwater if you ever get the chance.
But I digress... While searching for parking anywhere near the market (difficult) I was listening to Radio 1190, pretty much the best indie radio station in the area. The DJ started talking about having tickets to give away for the Shearwater show on Saturday. Now, I'd heard of Shearwater, but didn't really know too much about them. The DJ went on to explain that Shearwater started out as a collaboration between Okkervil River's Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiburg. If you know me, you probably know that I am just slightly more than a HUGE Okkervil River fan. Needless to say I was intrigued.
So when I got home I solicited the opinions of my fellow music lovers over at Via Chicago... and was told in no uncertain terms to go to that Shearwater show. And I did.
I decided to head out early to see a couple of local bands open up. First was Hello Kavita. They were good, but apparently missing the Wurlitzer and their drummer. We (that would be me and the, oh, about 7 other people who attended their set) were told that although they wanted to rock out, it just wasn't gonna happen tonight. But they did play a Tom Waits cover (I'll Shoot The Moon) and a Townes Van Zandt cover (Colorado Girl). They also had the most awkward ending to a set that I think I've ever seen...singer: "Are we done?"
violinist: "Wanna rock paper scissors to see if we're done?"
singer: "Yeah, we're done."
Actually, I would love to see one of those rocking sets from these guys one of these days...
Next up was (die) Pilot. There was a bit of discussion about how to lay the cinder block in front of the kick drum and some issues in working out the keyboard problems they were having. But once the kinks were worked out, this band fucking rocked!! They have a left-handed guitar player, always endearing to ol' southpaw me... I sense he's the newest member, because when the band launched into one (particularly great) song he stated he'd just sit there and "look pretty".The bass player seemed to exude a certian cockiness, which I loved. But as it turned out, he was just a "little bit drunk". lol. OK, so maybe you had to be there, but the banter from these guys was great. The bassist dedicated one of their last songs to his brother "so you can dance and punch someone in the face." "Sometimes he does both at the same time. Just know that he's out there." Classic. Really great, really fun band. And they're playing at the Bluebird on July 11. I am SO there.
And in what may seem like a bit of an anti-climatic ending to the evening, was the Shearwater set. But anti-climatic? No. Fucking awesome is more like it. Jonathan Meiburg has an amazing stage presence... He commanded people's attention straight away by opening the set with some a cappella singing. From that moment on, you could have heard a pin drop at the ol' Larimer Lounge. Of course, there were probably around 60 people in attendance, but still.It takes little in a live show to make me happy, and tonight I was a complete pushover. Why? Just a few words... Banjo. Trumpet. Stand-up bass. Yes, I'm easy, I just admitted it. But Shearwater managed to throw in some extras... such as Kim playing a xylophone with her bass bow. Such as a talented drummer playing lots of percussion... I love percussion. Such as a bit of witty banter. Meiburg mentioned that they had driven through "the national park" on their way here today and saw lots of things - a marmot, several chipmunks, a hummer. Whatever he meant by it I was amused... as I always am when I see some jackass driving a hummer around town. I fucking hate hummers.
It was an interesting set. I didn't really know what to expect as I'm not overly familiar with the band. It was certainly low-key, but the crowd was enthralled. Personally, I don't know that I've ever seen an artist more intense on stage than Jonathan Meiburg. It would have been difficult not to be impressed with the performance.
Shearwater played for about an hour then retreated to the patio for all of about 5 seconds before returning for an encore. Meiburg questioned whether they had time, to which we responded with a resounding YES. "One more or two?". A guy near me said "four more!". Haha, rock on. They played two more, ending with an incredible rendition of Baby's On Fire. Great night, great fun, you should see Shearwater if you ever get the chance.
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