January 28, 2008

The Turning Tide

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.

[mp3] Super Furry Animals | Mrs. Spector

[mp3] Super Furry Animals | Torra Fy Ngwallt Yn Hir

Posted by Kyle at 12:44 PM | Comments (1)

January 25, 2008

Cabin Fever

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)

[mp3] Super Furry Animals | God! Show Me Magic (live)

[mp3] Buffalo Tom | Summer (acoustic)

Posted by Kyle at 2:17 PM | Comments (0)