January 2008 Archives
Page of 4I'm a bit late on this but I would be remiss if I failed to go on record about how fucking awesome Buffalo Tom was last Friday night. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give the show a 15. Seriously. They destroyed my low expectations and put on what will definitely end up being one of the best shows I will see in 2008.
I can't for the life of me remember the last time I saw them play. I'm guessing 1997ish, which put Friday night's show at about 10 years overdue. But it was like they never left. Everything from Let Me Come Over and Big Red Letter Day sounded as vibrant and fresh as the first time I heard those songs. And the newer songs sounded right at home besides these "classics."
The best part of the show was how much fun the band was having on stage. Yes, to an extent this show was a trip down memory lane, but it was a welcome one. It was clear Bill, Chris and Tom were playing these songs because they love them and were happy to be performing them again. Their energy was infectious and the crowd more than reciprocated. They even took requests. The only (minor) downer was Chris's sore throat, which kept the band performing "Three Easy Pieces," one of the songs I was most looking forward to hearing. But he sucked it up for "Late At Night," so it's hard to complain about that.
Setlist: [via the BTMB]
Staples / CC and Callas / Sodajerk / Thrown / Summer / Treehouse / Mineral / You'll Never Catch Him / Kitchen Door / Scottish Windows / Tangerine / Velvet Roof / I'm Allowed / Bottom of the Rain / Late at Night / Taillights Fade
Encore:
Late At Night / Frozen Lake / Birdbrain / Wiser
I have serious doubts if I will see a better show this year. It was that good.
[mp3] Buffalo Tom | Larry (live)
Also, I finally saw Cloverfield last night. I liked it, but it felt like I was watching someone play a video game. I have some serious issues with the last 20 minutes of the movie, but overal...thumbs up.
**UPDATE** - Pygs In a Blanket nails one of my complaints.
Finally, Robbers on High Street have canceled their show at DC9 tonight.
The R.E.M., Modest Mouse & The National tour hits the greater D.C. area on June 11th. I might have to cough up some cash for that one.
Facing the Music - Record-label woes, lineup changes, trouble at home, and an alluring new bass player on the road: a diary of a rock 'n' roll divorce from the founder of Luna. {via}
PS - Dean and Britta have a blog.
"A single newspaper photograph has triggered a debate over logging practices in the Northwest. The photo shows a clear-cut hillside that slid into a creek during last month’s Pineapple Express storms. Mud and debris in streams and rivers helped contribute to devastating record floods in Southwest Washington."
British Sea Power keyboard player in stage diving accident.
Ghostface to downloaders: 'I thought y'all motherfuckers loved me!'
One weekend. Two cities. Three incredible shows. And not a whole lot of sleep. I'll take it.
Friday's Buffalo Tom gig was so good it deserves it's own post, so that will be forthcoming as soon as I get around to editing the photos.
The Furry portion of my weekend was just as incredible. The venue in Philly, The Starlight Ballroom, was really weird. It was like a big dance club that had been converted to a roller-rink. It reminded me of an extra wide version of the 40-Watt Club with a huge dance floor in the middle of the room. The show was all ages, so they cordoned the drinkers off in the back of the room, which kinda sucked. The show was superb though, the highlight being the third ever performance of "Mrs. Spector," a b-side on the "Fire In My Heart" single from Guerilla. It has long been one of my favorite Furry selections so to finally hear it live was quite a treat.
But the highlight of the weekend came last night during the band's 9:30 Club performance. On the tour bus after the gig in Philly I had begun lobbying the band to play "Torra Fy Ngwallt Yn Hir" from Radiator, and Gruff seemed to think that sounded like a good idea. Then, about 30 minutes into last night's set, Gruff started talking about voting irregularities for their online widget and the possibility that the band was going to switch to the caucus system instead. He followed that up by saying "This next song is a request from our good friend Kyle."
Best.
That was the second Super Furry shout out I've ever gotten, the first being in Dublin in 2001 when after literally begging them for two straight days the band played "Citizens Band" for "our friend Kyle who traveled a very long way to see us play." It was just the third time they had ever played that song. Gruff didn't even know the words, he faked his way through the second verse. It was awesome.
Unfortunately the and are playing pretty much in the dark on this tour, so my photos reflect that. But hey, no complaints from me.
Time permitting I will try and elaborate on everything tomorrow or later in the week.
The Super Furries started their US tour on Wednesday in Hoboken, a show I was sadly unable to attend. Totally gutted, obvs. Still, I'm going to see them twice this weekend, so there's that to look forward to.
Here's the set list from last night, via punkphoto:
The Gateway Song / Run-Away / Golden Retriever / Ice Hockey Hair / Into the Night / Battersea Odyssey / Down a Dif’rent River / Carbon Dating / Zoom! / The Gift That Keeps Giving / Juxtaposed With U (cut short due to equipment konking out)/ Show Your Hand / Receptacle / Slow Life / (Drawing) Rings Around the World / Baby Ate My Eightball / Hello Sunshine / The Man Don’t Give a F**k / Cosmic Trigger
Not too shabby. The band is letting fans request songs at each gig on the tour, all you have to do is scroll and click.
My suggestions: Nothern Lights, Torra Fy Ngwallt Yn Hir, Mrs. Spector, Hot Nutz, or She's Got Spies
During the last tour, the band evaded my continuos post-soundcheck interview requests, so this time around, I went through their PR rep.
The result?
Leaf v. Guto, the interview!
See you in Philly on Saturday.
Pre-game at DC9 on Sunday.
In the meantime, I'll be at the Black Cat tonight reliving my college years by taking in Buffalo Tom in all their glory.
Best. Weekend. Ever.
[mp3] Super Furry Animals | Ice Hockey Hair (live)
[mp3] Super Furry Animals | She's Got Spies (live)
I Fixed That Copyright Problem On The Internet - "I decided to take it upon myself to address the raging debate about copyright on the internet. I created an alternate internet for people who want to give their content away without attribution or payment. I’m calling it the shitternet. Just direct your browser to shit://www.yourblog.com and start grabbing stories and photos and video to make a page everyone will want to visit. This is going to be so AWESOME. It will be a place where people can mash-up and repurpose everything thats posted and consumers can go and look at the same photographs and stories and videos over and over and over again only reposted on millions of blogs. And, everyone can link everyone else until the internet resembles a giant donut."
Photographers Copyright on the Internet - "We can stand around and whine as all the little bitches who have nothing worth copyrighting tell everyone who’s listening that the law is outdated and oppressive or we can go out and defend it."
Making A Living As A Photographer - "Robert Wright delivers a couple smart posts on the business of photography and that oh so important part, many photographers overlook, making sure you treat it like a business."
70-200mm Zoom Lens Reviews - "The beauty of this type of lens is that it gives you a fast lens, wide enough focal length to be useful in many everyday applications, yet the reach to really zoom in on your subject at the 200mm end of the spectrum. They are also useful for getting some nice blur in the background when shooting a subject - leaving them as the clear focal point."
36 Hours in New York - "Photography-focused NYC trip: The city is the world's media capital, so photography not only attracts artists and shutterbugs alike, but it's also a big business, fueling everything from advertising and modeling agencies to retouching labs and frame shops."
Camerapedia - "This site is a free-content encyclopedia of camera information, a repository of information about all still camera brands and models."
*Yawn*
Wake me when MMJ, The Verve, Portishead and Spiritualized all do proper tours.
Otherwise...meh.
[mp3] The Big Sleep | Bad Blood
New Record, Sleep Forever, out February 19th.
[mp3] Say Hi | Northwestern Girls
Hitting D.C. on March 4th at the Black Cat. New album The Wishes And The Glitch, in stores February 5th.
[mp3] The Whigs | Right Hand on My Heart
Their album, Mission Control, is out January 22nd.
[mp3] Headlights | Cherry Tulips
New album Some Racing, Some Stopping out on Polyvinyl on Feb. 19th.
[mp3] Del the Funky Homosapien | Bubble Pop
Eleventh Hour to be released on March 11th via Definitive Jux.
[mp3] Bodies of Water | I Guess I'll Forget The Sound, I Guess, I Guess
U.S. tour With Sons & Daughters starts in February.
Also, about that Yeasayer/MGMT show...Yeasayer is totally not my thing. I like music with, you know, actual hooks, which were not exactly in plentiful supply when they were on the stage. MGMT, on the other hand, were fabulous. They're a total anachronism, an indie band from Brooklyn straight out of the 70's mixing Mercury Rev with Spinal Tap (seriously), CSN, Christopher Cross and Hall and Oates. I don't know if I would sit around and listen to their CD, but they were great live. I would definitely go see them again.
Also, big ups to the Black Cat for putting on a great show. Everyone was making this big fuss about getting the show upstairs in the main room, but Yeasayer went so far as to say they like playing small rooms more right now and it was actually a really smart move on their part. Instead of a barely half-filled bigger room, we got an intimate and cozy performance that left people wanting more. And for the record, there were plenty of people there just to see MGMT.
The show was not oversold (which pleasantly surprised me given the ticket demand) and there was plenty of room to move about near the back of the room. The sound in the Backstage has also improved by leaps and bounds. Other than maybe the Beck show from last year, that was the best sounding show I've ever heard in the Backstage. It's easy to tell the club has made some major improvements to that room.
Real quick...Editors were totally on point last night. When they came through town a few months ago they seemed a bit off. Maybe it was them, maybe it was me (Sky high expectations), I can't say. What I can say is they played an amazing set last night. Their collective energy level was much higher, and it showed through in their set. Ed Lay was straight-up attacking his drum set. I was up front for most of the night and had planned to go in the back and stand with Natalya and her friend when there was a lull in the show. Well, that didn't happen until around song # 9 or so. Great, great show. And a good way to start out the 2008 concert year.
Can't say the same for the openers. I detest Louis XIV, who have yet to write a decent song. And about 30 seconds into Hot Hot Heat's set, their tour manager came up to me and scolded me that my photo pass was only good for Editors and not his band. Oh really? If my band just released and was touring behind their third album, which was greeting with universally lukewarm reviews, and was in the process of playing a nine song set, seven of which were old tunes, I'd be begging people to pay attention to my band before they fall off the face of the fucking planet. But hey, you got it. I won't talk about or pay attention to them no more.
If you haven't read it yet, don't forget to check out my interview with Editors lead singer Tom Smith.
While we're semi-on-the-subject, there is an embarrassing amount of great shows in D.C. tonight. The 9:30 has Blonde Redhead, who I have yet to see (the 2 songs I saw them do at ACL Festival last year don't count). The Black Cat is hosting Yeasayer and MGMT in the backstage (locals read all about the brouhaha regarding the small venue yesterday) and The Red and The Black has my boys from GreenVegas, NC, the one and only Future Islands. I saw them last year at Whartscape and they were teh awesome. Normally I would be front and center at the Future Islands show, but I threw my hat into the Yeasayer ring last week. So if you're one of the "lucky" few with tickets, see you tonight.
Let's hope it comes off better than Field Day or Across the Narrows did.
My full interview with Tom Smith of Editors is online now over on DCist.
I had to work most of the weekend (a trend that's going to continue for most of the month) so other than the Wizards / Celtics game, not much to report. DCist also has my game recap. It was a rugged affair, not exactly easy on the eyes. Going into the Celtic locker room after the game was a treat though. Kevin Garnett has the biggest set of earrings I've ever seen. Calling them obnoxious doesn't do them justice. Paul Pierce was rocking a sweet pin-striped suit. Due to the loss, the collective mood was quite somber, so I didn't ask any questions. Maybe next time.
At least, so says Editors lead singer Tom Smith. Here's a snippet of the interview I conducted with him yesterday.
I've also read that you personally are a big R.E.M. fan and last year the band recorded a great cover of "Orange Crush." How do rate their more recent records? I used to be a huge fan but they've lost me with the last few albums.
The first records are the records that I continue to listen to. I'm still intrigued by new R.E.M. material. I still think there are moments of greatness on all of their records, but I was disappointed by the last record. But I still listen to New Adventures In Hi-Fi quite a bit.
That is by far their most underrated record.
It's too long and there are too many songs on it but as far as ideas go, there are some great songs on there. It's a record they wrote and recorded on the road, which is quite an accomplishment. But yeah, they've had a bit of a shake up and now their recording with Jacknife Lee.
I think they needed things turned on its head. I've heard half of the record and it sounds like they're having fun. A lot of fun. And it sounds loud as well. I've only heard it once and it hasn't really sunk in yet, but yeah, I think they're doing the right thing.
-----------------------------
Head over to DCist early next week for the entire interview.
Editors are on currently on tour here in the States. They hit the 9:30 Club next Tuesday.
[mp3] Editors | Orange Crush
As you may have noticed, content has been rather lite thus far in 2008. I am super busy at work trying furiously to finish a HUGE project by the end of the month, so posting will be a bit sporadic until February.
But that doesn't mean I'm going away or anything. I'll still be doing the occasional Wizards write up for DCist and there are a bunch of shows coming up starting next week -- Editors, Yeaysayer, MGMT, Buffalo Tom and, of course, the start of the great Super Furry road trip of '08 that will take me up and down the East Coast.
And in the next 48 hours I'll be interviewing Tom Smith, Guto Pryce and Bill Janovitz. Whew.
So stay tuned.
Dates and venues still TBA.
"The tour will take place in two segments, one prior to and one following the recently announced summer tour of the UK and Europe.
The cities IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER are:
Atlanta
Boston
Charlotte
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Houston
Indianapolis
Los Angeles
Miami
Montreal
New York
Philadelphia
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
Seattle
St Louis
Tampa
Toronto
Vancouver
Washington DC
Exact dates and venues will be announced at a later date."
Hey, look at that! It's the first annual Mr. Pink Calendar!
This stylish date-saving device features 12 life-size photos of everyone's favorite internet kitty and is available for purchase for the low, low price of $25 (includes shipping!).
I'm placing an order next Monday, January 14th. If you want one, contact me before then and I'll give you more details.
Wedding Crashers: The Perfect Girl in Typography.
What If John Edwards and Mitt Romney Worked For the University Of Virginia Sports Information Desk? Genius.
If, like me, you missed the Radiohead New Year's Webcast, here it is.
EAR FARM's Top Ten Bands To Emerge in 2007 & Ten To Watch Out For in 2008.
2007 - The Year In Pictures from the NY Times. Do yrself a favor and check this out. Some amazing stuff here.
Kottke's Best Links 2007. I'm still digging my way through this treasure trove of goodness.
I, for one, loved the Lakers "short shorts" look against the Celtics over the New year's break. What I liked less was Lamar Odom attempting his best Sean Taylor impersonation. For those watching at home, the C's try and avenge their last loss (way back on 12/19) tonight in Detroit.
Liam Gallagher and Ian Brown to front Supergroup.
The KNDD site has some great live material available for downloading:
[mp3] The Kooks | Naive (live at the Crocodile)
[mp3] The Kooks | She Moves In Her Own Way (live at the Crocodile)
[mp3] Regina Spektor | Fidelity (live at Glenn Sound)
[mp3] Placebo | Meds (live at The Fenix)
D.C.-area peeps, Beggars Banquet is looking for street teamers to help promote their upcoming shows in the area. Here are the details:
Beggars Group USA / Matador Records is looking for some folks to join their street team. Assistance would be helpful anywhere across the states though if you're in the DC area, even better!
Beggars Group and Matador Records are home to artists such as Yo La Tengo, St. Vincent, Film School, Voxtrot, Super Furry Animals, Vampire Weekend, Devendra Banhart, Cat Power, The New Pornographers and many more.
All it takes is a little bit of free time each week and a love of music. Perks include free entry into Beggars/Matador shows, free records and other goodies.
If interested or for further information please send an email along to ClaireTaylor@Beggars.com with "Street Team" in the subject line.
For a list of all Beggars/Matador artists check out www.beggarsgroupsusa.com & www.matadorrecords.com.
My Xmas pretty much sucked (family member in the hospital - but they're doing better now) but my New Year's trip was much better. Ms. Smith and I made our way out to sunny Southern California and proceeded to eat, drink and be merry. And even though it pretty much forced us to celebrate New Year's on East Coast time, the highlight of the trip was taking in the Rose Parade in Pasadena. I can't remember the last time I saw so many people at a particular event. It was a bit overwhelming. But the floats and marching bands were pretty awesome.
And while I was taking it all in, this song was playing on the iPod in my mind:
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