Marathon (and on and on)
I am in the middle of a live music marathon. Since last Monday I have seen more bands than I can count, in more venues than I can remember, and it continues this week...a brief recap, yes?
Tuesday May 8 - LCD Soundsystem w/YACHT @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
I had been excited about this show for MONTHS. LCD has crawled their way up the list as one of my favorite bands, perhaps ever. The new record, Sound Of Silver IS the best record of 2007 so far, and the second single, All My Friends IS the best summer jam of 2007 so far. Check these totally deadly covers of the song that are B-siding the single. SO. RAD.
The show itself didn't disappoint. YACHT (AKA one 1/2 of The Blow) was super funny and entertaining, flailing about the stage with Napoleon Dynamite-esque dance moves and jittery broken beat pop melodies. When he broke for a question period, the audience shouted random things like, 'Whats your favorite color?' (answer: "teal!") and my personal fave, 'What drives you to create?' (answer: "you, m'am"). His set was short and sweet and then it was dancing time.
And dance we did. LCD played all the hits and then some, before their bass amp blew and they left the stage for 20 mins, leaving us all wondering if they were coming back - they did, briefly, to perform a Joy Division cover ("No Love Lost") and closing with "New York I Love You", the brilliant finish to the new album. Al Doyle of Hot Chip was on guitar and Mr. Murphy was in fine form as his 'semi-grumpy frontman' character, saying little more than "thanks very much" after every song. Modesty is something this band wears on their sleeve, and I couldn't be happier about it. This video kinda proves my point:
Love it.
Wednesday May 9 - Justin Rutledge w/Eleni Mandell @ The Mod Club
Now, I used to work in the management team for Justin, so I'd seen him many times before...but I was especially looking forward to seeing Eleni Mandell, whose voice and songwriting style has intrigued me since I got into her last fall. She's very...Strummer-esque in her delivery, both as a musician and vocalist - punk rock at heart, twangy songstress by voice - not unlike the Nekos and Jennies of the world. Fourteen thumbs up.
Thursday May 10 - Choke - Mod Club / Bovine Sex Club
The night started early as I went to Mod Club to see my homies from Edmo, Choke. That band means more to my past than any other band today, hands down...I should say, they informed my interests and passion about punk rock for years and years. After first seeing them in 1997 in a crammed rugby hall in Leduc, Alberta, I knew that I wanted to work with them - 10 years later I'd produced almost a dozen shows for the band, and so when it came time for the 'last tour ever', my heart cramped up a little. It really was the end of an era, as blogTO points out. The show at the Bovine was, in a word, phenomenal. EVERY album's hits, EVERY amazing sing-along, lots of pumped fists and sweating shoving. The band closed with the last song from the last record, the refrain of which is, "When I fall / When I break / These friends will carry me through..."
The band stopped singing and let the fans flood the stage, shouting the line over and over. Tears started to flow, gigantic sweaty hugs commenced and when it was all said and done, the band stood triumphant among friends, there in support and celebration of 13 years of music. Thanks to them, for everything.
Friday May 11 - Blonde Redhead w/Fields - Opera House
I was pretty stoked about this show, but without dissing the bands, after a week of non-stop rockin, a mellow post-rock show was fairly anticlimactic. Fields were really good - they reminded me of My Bloody Valentine kinda, very wall-of-sound style with droney vocals and intricate melodies, which should have set the stage for an amazing Blonde Redhead show, but something was missing - the band's performance felt really dialed in, like it was just another show for them, nothing special requiring no great effort...which is too bad, but it wasn't a mutual feeling with the rest of the crowd, who went as bonkers as one can go to music of that tempo...aggressive toe tapping? I dunno.
The weekend was kind of a blur - I seem to remember an army of hammered drag queens, tons of bike riding, yummy breakfasts and hot hot weather. It was grand...but the music marathon continues this week. I'll get to reporting on that when the week is up. Take what you've got, discover some new tunes and have a fantastic rest of the week!
Tuesday May 8 - LCD Soundsystem w/YACHT @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
I had been excited about this show for MONTHS. LCD has crawled their way up the list as one of my favorite bands, perhaps ever. The new record, Sound Of Silver IS the best record of 2007 so far, and the second single, All My Friends IS the best summer jam of 2007 so far. Check these totally deadly covers of the song that are B-siding the single. SO. RAD.
The show itself didn't disappoint. YACHT (AKA one 1/2 of The Blow) was super funny and entertaining, flailing about the stage with Napoleon Dynamite-esque dance moves and jittery broken beat pop melodies. When he broke for a question period, the audience shouted random things like, 'Whats your favorite color?' (answer: "teal!") and my personal fave, 'What drives you to create?' (answer: "you, m'am"). His set was short and sweet and then it was dancing time.
And dance we did. LCD played all the hits and then some, before their bass amp blew and they left the stage for 20 mins, leaving us all wondering if they were coming back - they did, briefly, to perform a Joy Division cover ("No Love Lost") and closing with "New York I Love You", the brilliant finish to the new album. Al Doyle of Hot Chip was on guitar and Mr. Murphy was in fine form as his 'semi-grumpy frontman' character, saying little more than "thanks very much" after every song. Modesty is something this band wears on their sleeve, and I couldn't be happier about it. This video kinda proves my point:
Love it.
Wednesday May 9 - Justin Rutledge w/Eleni Mandell @ The Mod Club
Now, I used to work in the management team for Justin, so I'd seen him many times before...but I was especially looking forward to seeing Eleni Mandell, whose voice and songwriting style has intrigued me since I got into her last fall. She's very...Strummer-esque in her delivery, both as a musician and vocalist - punk rock at heart, twangy songstress by voice - not unlike the Nekos and Jennies of the world. Fourteen thumbs up.
Thursday May 10 - Choke - Mod Club / Bovine Sex Club
The night started early as I went to Mod Club to see my homies from Edmo, Choke. That band means more to my past than any other band today, hands down...I should say, they informed my interests and passion about punk rock for years and years. After first seeing them in 1997 in a crammed rugby hall in Leduc, Alberta, I knew that I wanted to work with them - 10 years later I'd produced almost a dozen shows for the band, and so when it came time for the 'last tour ever', my heart cramped up a little. It really was the end of an era, as blogTO points out. The show at the Bovine was, in a word, phenomenal. EVERY album's hits, EVERY amazing sing-along, lots of pumped fists and sweating shoving. The band closed with the last song from the last record, the refrain of which is, "When I fall / When I break / These friends will carry me through..."
The band stopped singing and let the fans flood the stage, shouting the line over and over. Tears started to flow, gigantic sweaty hugs commenced and when it was all said and done, the band stood triumphant among friends, there in support and celebration of 13 years of music. Thanks to them, for everything.
Friday May 11 - Blonde Redhead w/Fields - Opera House
I was pretty stoked about this show, but without dissing the bands, after a week of non-stop rockin, a mellow post-rock show was fairly anticlimactic. Fields were really good - they reminded me of My Bloody Valentine kinda, very wall-of-sound style with droney vocals and intricate melodies, which should have set the stage for an amazing Blonde Redhead show, but something was missing - the band's performance felt really dialed in, like it was just another show for them, nothing special requiring no great effort...which is too bad, but it wasn't a mutual feeling with the rest of the crowd, who went as bonkers as one can go to music of that tempo...aggressive toe tapping? I dunno.
The weekend was kind of a blur - I seem to remember an army of hammered drag queens, tons of bike riding, yummy breakfasts and hot hot weather. It was grand...but the music marathon continues this week. I'll get to reporting on that when the week is up. Take what you've got, discover some new tunes and have a fantastic rest of the week!
posted by Eli at 10:07 AM
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