I came home with the forthcoming Purity Ring LP (it's as good as hoped), and a Dirty Projectors' tour only 7" (limited to 1000) that cannot be purchased but can only be gotten for free when you tell the merch booth the secret Twitter word for that show (this time it was "Fuel Vapour Hose"). It has the unreleased tracks "Buckle Up" and "Desire to Love". So now I need to get the record player hooked back up so I can hear it. I passed on the "Gun Has No Trigger" square 7" that comes in a hard case with the lyrics to the song etched into the case in cuneiform. My wife already rolls her eyes at me enough so I passed on spending $15 for that. It was seriously cool looking though.
Purity Ring
Holy crap. I feel like opening acts often get a bit of an inflated grade from me because I go in with lesser expectations. That wasn't the case here, though. I have all the tracks Purity Ring has already released and have been eagerly waiting for the LP next Tuesday, so I was highly anticipating seeing them. Despite that fact, the band blew me away. The due sets up with a simple backdrop of three fabric color panels (pink, green, and orange), a bass drum on a head high stand played occasionally by vocalist Megan James, and synth table for Corin Roddick. It was no ordinary synth table, though, as it is set with 8 lights that vary in color and were clearly wired to trigger some of the synth sound when struck with a drum stick. Most interesting, is the lighting. Other than the lights on the synth table, the only lighting was an occassional spot behind the fabric backdrop, a light inside the bass drum that went off when the drum was struck and at a few other times, and a small almost warehouse-like light that sat on the floor or was held by Megan. None of the house lighting was used, so the band was primarily in darkness. Couple this with the throbbing bass synths, and a complete lack of stage banter until a few sentences prior to the last two songs, and the whole show took on a heavier feel than comes through on record.
The show started with a brooding track I was unfamiliar with, but it did the job of hooking the audience immediately. Following that up immediately with "Belispeak" and "Lofticries" while holding "Ungirthed" to end of the set guaranteed that everyone was with them for the entirety of the set, and they certainly were. I've never seen a First Avenue crowd as enraptured by an opening act (especially one without an LP to their name). It was absolutely phenomenal. This is a band that if you have any interest in synth/electronic music you must see, and soon. They are still young enough that after their set Megan was at the merch table interacting with folks, but she won't be able to do that much longer.
Purity Ring gets the highest grade I have ever given an opening act: an A.
Dirty Projectors
After Purity Ring, I was concerned Dirty Projectors might suffer by comparison, but those concerns were unfounded. The band came out in a much more traditional look of drums, bass, guitars, and synths, with a plain white backdrop and standard lighting, but that is of course where tradition ended for the band. The band opened with the questionable choice of "Dance For You", which I question only because of its tempo and lack of excitement. It is a beautiful song and would have fit perfectly later in the set. They quickly ramped up and I was enthralled watching them create their harmonies and syncopated beats in a live setting. "Just From Chevron" was particularly impressive as the three ladies clapped out different rhythms while simultaneously blending the three part harmonies for which the band is known. The set was dominate by Swing Lo Magellan of course, with "Gun Has No Trigger" being dedicated properly (and as a huge Twins fan, painfully) to the Minnesota Twins, and "Offspring Are Blank" and "The Socialites" being other highlights. (Between Megan James and Amber Coffman there was no shortage of beautiful lead female vocals last night.) After "Cannibal Resource" was played third, Bitte Orca was absent until the penultimate song of the main set when they pulled out an absolutely fantastic version of "Useful Chamber". The bass was ramped up, the guitar was shredding, and the song became truly heavy (a word I never thought I'd use to describe Dirty Projectors). That was followed by "Unto Caesar", fast becoming my favorite track on Magellan, which is even better without the album's hilarious aside from Amber that Dave Longstreth's lyrics make no sense.
After a brief break the band returned, but had to change course when Amber's amp gave out before the encore started. They quickly moved to a song with Amber only on vocals and then closed with "Stillness is the Move" (still fantastic) and a lovely rendition of "Impregnable Question". It was the type of set that ended far too soon, and those are fairly rare. Dirty Projector's also gets an A.
Pretty much spot-on review of the last night of the Chicago Jazz Fest. Great performances, not great listening experience. Next year I may go to Detroit - much bigger line-up, thought that setup has its own drawbacks.
We saw Steve Coleman and Allen Toussaint.
Allen is a national treasure, so if he ever comes to your town, go see him! He was playing the Bright Mississippi stuff, which should have won the Pulitzer that year, IMO. Nic Payton wasn't there, but Don Byron was, and they interplay between him and Allen was delightful. A special surprise (to me), Marc Ribot was there playing Django-eque acoustic guitar.
Friday we saw most of Roy Haynes, which was good, but a lot of "Look How Old I Am" chatter. Best thing that night was the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, hot stuff. Before that, Chico Freeman played as part of a tribute to his dad, which was great but all too short.
Went to see The Album Leaf and Tycho last night at Trees in Dallas. My wife saw The Album Leaf many years ago as a UNT student in Denton. We wondered why The Album Leaf was opening up, but it is supposed to be a double billing. Album Leaf had four members, playing guitar, drums, violin, and keyboard with images projected behind them as well as LCD light towers that changed colors with the music. The show was running an hour and a half behind, so we only heard three or four songs by Tycho before leaving. I know a few of you on here have listened to Tycho, but he was new to me, though I listened to his most recent album on Spotify. Many similarities between the two bands. The Album Leaf have a new EP.
Was Tycho a 1 man show? I really love his new album and wish I could have gone to see him when he was in NYC. I saw The Album Leaf years ago opening for Sigur Ros. "One Day I'll Be on Time" is still such an awesome album.
I forgot to mention that I saw Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group a month or so ago. Really incredible show - great mixture of old and new songs as well as a few covers and plenty of fun banter with the audience. His responses to requests were great. If you ever get a chance, go see him. I'd love to catch him again when he tours with his Large Band. I'll try to remember to write about some of the other shows I've got coming up as I've got like 5 or 6 through October - including the Fresh Beat Band on Sunday! My daughter is definitely more excited about that one than me...
Hip hop show last night. Outdoors on a b-freakin'-eautiful night.
Carnage the Executioner - I didn't know anything about him, even though he's been around forever, and he only performed for about 20 minutes, but he was awesome. It was only him on stage and he didn't have any music. Instead he beatboxed himself a loop (adding several parts to the beat) and rhymed over his manufactured on the spot beat. Very cool. He gets a B.
I Self Devine - He was better than he was at Soundset, but still just didn't really do it for me. B-.
Atmosphere - FINALLY saw Atmosphere and it was worth the wait. They played for nearly 2 solid hours, hit songs from the early days to new stuff and everywhere in between, and rocked the house. It was an absolute joy. A.
Here's a video of them performing "Who" the night before I saw them. I had probably the best seats I've ever had for a show that big (8th row) and... forgot my camera. But aside from kicking myself everytime I glanced at Annie Clarke and remembered how hot she is, the performance was incredible. The mix of material from "Love This Giant" along with their own songs was great - they didn't bunch it up like "Okay, now we're doing Talking Heads stuff" but instead alternated them all. Listening to how some of them sounded with a brass band backing them was very cool - none of it sounded forced. Speaking of the brass band, they were carrying records from pretty much all of them as everybody involved had their own thing going on (one guy was from Yellow Ostrich). The choreography was really fun and vintage David Byrne - you should click on some of the other songs that people taped as "Who" probably had the least going on. Great show if you have a chance to see them. Did I mention how ridiculously hot Annie Clarke is?
Before that show I had also caught Maps & Atlases at Maxwell's. They were more jammy in person, which I kind of expected and really fit their style. Dave Davison has such a cool voice and a bitchin' beard. Sadly I missed Wye Oak (I got sick that day) but managed to battle through a second cold to go see Tennis at Maxwell's last night. Very glad to make it as they were awesome. If Annie Clarke wasn't already my primary indie crush, Alaina Moore would take that position. She is so ^$%@&ing cute (as one person screamed out at the show) and also really sweet (spent a lot of time at the end of the show talking to everyone). Her voice sounded so much more powerful live and Patrick is all over the place with his guitar.
Sounds cool Thom. They're coming through Dallas soon, but am out of concert funds for awhile. I saw Clark last fall? or so at the Kessler in town. She was great. Also saw her with Andrew Bird in New Orleans a few years ago.
I did see Beach House two weeks ago. They were good, though it was large concert hall. I will say though that if the comments between songs were removed, I didn't feel like they performed any of their songs differently from their album versions. I find that a little frustrating.
@choiceweb0pen0 - I heard a rumor that one of the shows will be released on DVD, which is really cool for those who missed it because the visual element was very cool.
Thursday night was M83 right by me in Montclair. Wow. Seriously, I love their/his music, but live they blew some of it so far out of the water I'm not sure I can listen to the studio version anymore. The closing version of "Couleurs" was so much more intense than studio version. I would go again in a heartbeat. My only complaint was the length - probably about 1:45 - which wasn't exactly short, but it felt like they could have gone on for another hour. I'll also say that the audience was pretty funny - a lot of dressed up couples on dates and yuppy types. But to their credit, they still got into the more electronic material and the floor remained packed until the end. My friends in the balcony said that about a third of the crowd up there bailed after "Midnight City". Oh, and using a live saxophonist who went nuts on "Midnight City" was frickin' great.
As mentioned in the fb thread, I had a run of concert attendance in the DC area recently:
9/16 - Ned Rothenberg's Sync (Ned Rothenberg - reeds, shakuhachi, Jerome Harris - guitar/bass, and Samir Chatterjee - tabla)
A Transparent production (the group I presented with 10+ years ago), a pleasant, melodic world-jazz kinda thing. Enjoyable, though without much surprise.
9/21 - Metric
Very enjoyable, but Emily's voice sounded a bit tired in the beginning, and the show started off very album-oriented (tracks 1,2,3,5 from Synthetica right off the bat), an approach I'm not fond of. But plenty glad my wife and I went.
9/23 - Stars
Same weekend, the 4th time I've seen Stars. They're always magic, an incredible band, with deep chemistry between Torquil and Amy, and an always very heartfelt relationship with the audience. A really uplifting show. Setlist
9/30 - Sonic Circuits experimental music festival
I went Saturday night, caught three nice and disparate performances:
- Ergo - a gentle, electro-acoustic improv trio coming from a harmonically-oriented jazz angle
- Otomo Yoshihide, solo guitar - the well known Japanese improviser with a loud, droney, noisy electric guitar set. Glad for my earplugs.
- Chris Cutler and David Thomas - an amusing, quirky set from two old representatives of avant-garde rock (Cutler from RIO: Henry Cow, etc) and Thomas from Pere Ubu
10/5 - The Dismemberment Plan, with mewithoutYou
- a favorite indie rock band of mine from DC, who broke up in 2003 and has recently gotten back together to play around and start a new album in the studio. mewithoutYou, from whom I own a couple records I like, gave a very good performance, powered by an awesome, crazy drummer who was a blast to watch. DPlan was great as expected, and performed a solid mix of older stuff and a number of their new tunes they're working on.
10/6 - Michael Formanek Quartet (Formanek - bass, Tim Berne - alto sax, Craig Taborn - piano, Gerald Cleaver - bass)
- Huge fan of Berne, so couldn't miss this. An excellent concert of Formanek's music from his new release Small Places on ECM. A very together band, Taborn particularly amazed.
Quite an unusual concert run for me, given my situation as father of 5 & 8 year olds. My wife wasn't so happy with them all (though she saw Metric and Stars), so I've used up a bit of credit. Unfortunately, the DC fall schedule is still hopping!
Wife's out of town for the weekend, so bought me a cheap seat for this show tomorrow night:
JACK DEJOHNETTE 70TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
Celebrate the 70th birthday of one of the greatest jazz drummers of all time, Jack DeJohnette. Gateway, the trio featuring DeJohnette, John Abercrombie and Dave Holland, reunites to pay tribute to this dynamic and influential Chicago native, who has worked with legends like Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, to name only a few.
I actually like being up high at Orchestra Hall - such clear and beautiful "sound lines," if there is such a thing.
That Robyn Hitchcock show was a kick, by the way. I love artists (musical or otherwise) who seem to have that direct link to the weird subconscious that accompanies us all of our days. Also a very funny guy.
Saw the Old 97's at the 9:30 Club in DC last Friday night. They're doing a run of shows to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Too Far To Care album, so they played the entire album in order at the beginning of the show. One of my favorite bands, playing my favorite album of theirs and one of my favorite albums, period, so it was a no-brainer for me. Always a great live band, and this show was no exception. Funny, but the first song on the album (Time Bomb) has become their standard concert closer over the years, so they played it twice!
Rhett Miller did a short solo set to open, which was good but not too exciting. Next was Salim Nourallah and his band (The Travoltas) -- I was unfamiliar with him going in, and I didn't hear anything that is likely to spark further investigation. Not bad, just didn't grab me.
Kargatron is right, the DC fall concert schedule is looking good. I was going to see Heartless Bastards and Wussy at the Black Cat on Tuesday night, but we lost power Monday night from the storm, and it didn't come back on until around 8 pm Tuesday, so I wasn't really in the mood to go out right then. Trying to get motivated to see the Meter Men (Meters minus Art Neville) tomorrow night at the Howard Theater. I've got tickets for Graham Parker and the Rumour at the Birchmere later this month, which is already sold out.
"Gateway" Trio - Interesting concert. All great players, of course, but Holland was the most fun to watch. It's as if the bass is a smaller instrument in his hands. Would have liked to see Abercrombie turned loose more - after all, he was the only person on stage playing a melody instrument! I imagine they were striving to keep the voices equal. They did indeed play largely the old Gateway stuff, and you realize how simple those tunes actually are.
You also realize Orchestra Hall is an awfully big space for 3 instruments! Next concert in the jazz series is the "Ninety Miles" Trio, although with Nicholas Payton instead of Christian Scott.
Finally after more than 10 years Bruce and the E Street band have announced Australian shows for 2013. I was living overseas their last tour and before that too young to care so it's my first chance to see them. I realise not everyone's cup of tea but I am SUPER EXCITED. Also excited there is a general admission standing pit up the front, which saves me the all night camp out I would have done to get front row if it was seated up there. It's a Monday (presumably a 2nd show will be announced Tuesday too) and the previous Fri/Sat/Sun I will at the Blue Mountains Music Festival a few hours out of Sydney so March is shaping up very excellent and diverse live music wise.
The best ever live show I have seen was Bruce and the E Street Band, just a total experience, almost religious in nature, as we, the audience knew our parts in the 'liturgy' off by heart, responding in exactly the right place. Just superb... you will enjoy!
I'll get a longer thing up tomorrow, but saw Doomtree last night, and it was bananas. I recently became a member of First Avenue and was the first member there, so I got the sweet table reserved for members. Then I watched Doomtree perform for 3 hours.
Here's a picture from my baller table:
The DJs behind the decks are (l to r): Paper Tiger and Lazerbeak.
The MCs (also l to r): Mike Mictlan, Dessa, Cecil Otter, Sims, and P.O.S.
Okay, so I didn't get the longer post up yesterday, and I don't think it's going to really happen, but here's a few notes. First, I wanted to send best wishes to P.O.S. As I mentioned in another thread he is awaiting a kidney transplant next month, and apparently a three hour concert for a guy on dialysis was a bit much. (Shocking, I know.) He's doing okay, but has nonetheless been in the hospital since Saturday (missing the Sat and Sun shows).
This show was so freaking awesome. As I said, they performed for 3 hours (with one 15 minute intermission), and it was constant. With 5 MCs they were able to mix up the group's collective work and each members solo work to allow for barely a moment's pause between songs. Meanwhile members were leaving the stage on some songs to get a drink/sit down for a minute before jumping back into the fray. It was crazy.
The best part, though, was after the break they came out with about 10 musicians. Both Dessa's backing band and P.O.S.'s mates from Marijuana Death Squads joined them and made a crap ton of glorious noise.
Highlights included "Bumper", "They Can't Come", and "All of It" off P.O.S.'s recent solo album We Don't Even Live Here, Sims' killer "Burn it Down" from Bad Time Zoo, and "Bolt Cutter", "Bangarang", and "The Grand Experiment" from the crew's 2011 No Kings release. And of course the craziness of everything Mike Mictlan does. Dessa's stuff was a little out of place mixed in with the other members' bangers, but "Children's Work" was still a little gem.
Oh, and sitting at the table, which my wife called "a life long dream I didn't know I had", was absolutely awesome. Made the whole year's membership worth it.
Ethel and Todd Rundgren: Tell Me Something Good
When: Tue, Apr 2, 2013 - 7:30 pm
Where: Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
The adventurous, brilliant, and highly acclaimed string quartet Ethel teams up with rock icon Todd Rundgren for an exciting evening of great music and music making.
Had an absolute blast last night at the First Avenue Best New Bands of 2012 show. Every year local music experts pick the best bands that formed in the prior year and they play a showcase in January. It's great because for a lot of the bands it's their first time playing in the First Avenue main room and you can feel their excitement. Plus, it's a really good way to see some of the up and comers all at once.
Bomba De Luz - This is a group of 4 kids that are still in high school, but play well beyond their years. They play a female fronted bluesy folk rock and the lead singer is going to be a star. For a high school senior her voice is amazingly developed. It's smoky/bluesy and just fantastic. The guitarist is similarly talented. Kez - You really need to find their album What a Heavy Weight, I think you'd love it. It's on Bandcamp, so you can stream it there. They get a B-.
Strange Names - A slightly synth pop group, you can tell there is some talent there, but they just haven't harnessed it yet. The last track they played though, "Potential Wife", is absolutely phenomenal. If they can expand on that song they may have a future. Also available on Bancamp. They get a C basically because of the one song.
Eleganza! - This is a new, but not a young band. It's made up of a bunch of southern style honky tonk rockers that have been in local bands for years (there was even some gray in a few of the beards). There was some serious chooglin' going on during the set and it was enjoyable, but one of the guitarists was so manic it was distracting. Even with 6 guys on stage, he got half the stage to himself but still kept coming over to the cramped other side. He repeatedly did 3/4 splits and other random things that really kept me from paying attention to the music. So they get a C.
Actual Wolf - The alias of Steve Garrington (bassist in Low and Retribution Gospel Choir), he uses his solo work to play what feels like 'outlaw folk'. It isn't really country, but it gets real close. It's not a style of music I really like, but he does it quite well. The band was tight and his song writing is excellent. So even though it's not really my thing he gets a B-.
John Mark Nelson - Released his first album while still in high school and his second shortly after graduating. He is going to be a big star. Style wise he's an absolute hipster and his music has the off kilter feel of Sufjan Stevens, especially with the use of instruments like an accordion, mandolin, string quartet, glockenspiel, and trombone. His talent as an arranger is ridiculous for an 18/19 year old and his lyrics stand up to the music. I can't recommend him more highly. Last night's performance gets a B.
Wiping Out Thousands - A synth pop duo with an EDM flair, following John Mark Nelson was about the weirdest shift in music and style I've ever seen. They did an excellent job, though, even if their live vocals didn't really come through. They come through much better on the album which I recommend any electronic fans check out. It's free/NYOP on Bandcamp. They get a C+.
The Chalice - Female hip hop (3 MCs and 1 DJ), they bring serious sass and girl power, but are clearly not a gimmick. 2 of the 3 MCs in particular have real talent and stage presence and I think they'll be around for awhile. I'm not sure the group has the talent to break nationally, but they'll make a good living in the Twin Cities area. They get a B-.
Great week for Mali music, as we saw Vieux Farka Toure last Friday. Then last night, Habib Koite together with blues guy Eric Bibb, supporting their album "Brothers in Bamako." Really fun performance - May sound corny, but they show a lot of love and respect for each other, and had a great time and put on a great show.
They're touring, so recommend you see them if they come to your town. I found some good video by Dutch Radio 6 here
The performance was taped for a new world music series put on by the venue and a local public TV station, so you may be able to see it for yourself before long. We're actually kind of excited about the concert series, happening pretty much in the neighborhood - List of upcoming artists and shows at http://www.oldtownschool.org/musicology/ !!!
Alright, I now get to add The Flaming Lips to my schedule this year - and only 10 minutes from home! Finally! Already have tickets for The Postal Service and round 2 of Byrne + St. Vincent (this time with my wife).
Nice, thom! I'm probably going to skip The Postal Service (tickets aren't on sale here until tomorrow). They're playing an absolutely terrible venue for sound, so it just isn't worth it.
I'm seeing The Men next month at the tiny 7th Street Entry, though, so that will rule. I may well lose all hearing. Also hitting Soundset again, this year with Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Tech N9ne, Juicy J, Atmosphere, Brother Ali, P.O.S., Aesop Rock, Schoolboy Q, Joey Bada$$, etc. etc.
Plus, I still have my free First Avenue membership tickets to use sometime this summer. Maybe when The National comes through (surely they'll tour the new album).
I'm looking forward to The National touring again, too. Especially considering I missed them during their Alligator tour even though I had a ticket because... get this... I had vertigo. Still pisses me off to this day.
I've seen them twice. Once as an opening act for R.E.M. post Boxer (Modest Mouse was also on the bill. Good show), and once as a headliner a couple months before High Violet came out. They put on a fantastic show.
Can't say I've ever had vertigo, but I can see where it would make going to a loud concert rather difficult.
Comments
I came home with the forthcoming Purity Ring LP (it's as good as hoped), and a Dirty Projectors' tour only 7" (limited to 1000) that cannot be purchased but can only be gotten for free when you tell the merch booth the secret Twitter word for that show (this time it was "Fuel Vapour Hose"). It has the unreleased tracks "Buckle Up" and "Desire to Love". So now I need to get the record player hooked back up so I can hear it. I passed on the "Gun Has No Trigger" square 7" that comes in a hard case with the lyrics to the song etched into the case in cuneiform. My wife already rolls her eyes at me enough so I passed on spending $15 for that. It was seriously cool looking though.
Purity Ring
Holy crap. I feel like opening acts often get a bit of an inflated grade from me because I go in with lesser expectations. That wasn't the case here, though. I have all the tracks Purity Ring has already released and have been eagerly waiting for the LP next Tuesday, so I was highly anticipating seeing them. Despite that fact, the band blew me away. The due sets up with a simple backdrop of three fabric color panels (pink, green, and orange), a bass drum on a head high stand played occasionally by vocalist Megan James, and synth table for Corin Roddick. It was no ordinary synth table, though, as it is set with 8 lights that vary in color and were clearly wired to trigger some of the synth sound when struck with a drum stick. Most interesting, is the lighting. Other than the lights on the synth table, the only lighting was an occassional spot behind the fabric backdrop, a light inside the bass drum that went off when the drum was struck and at a few other times, and a small almost warehouse-like light that sat on the floor or was held by Megan. None of the house lighting was used, so the band was primarily in darkness. Couple this with the throbbing bass synths, and a complete lack of stage banter until a few sentences prior to the last two songs, and the whole show took on a heavier feel than comes through on record.
The show started with a brooding track I was unfamiliar with, but it did the job of hooking the audience immediately. Following that up immediately with "Belispeak" and "Lofticries" while holding "Ungirthed" to end of the set guaranteed that everyone was with them for the entirety of the set, and they certainly were. I've never seen a First Avenue crowd as enraptured by an opening act (especially one without an LP to their name). It was absolutely phenomenal. This is a band that if you have any interest in synth/electronic music you must see, and soon. They are still young enough that after their set Megan was at the merch table interacting with folks, but she won't be able to do that much longer.
Purity Ring gets the highest grade I have ever given an opening act: an A.
Dirty Projectors
After Purity Ring, I was concerned Dirty Projectors might suffer by comparison, but those concerns were unfounded. The band came out in a much more traditional look of drums, bass, guitars, and synths, with a plain white backdrop and standard lighting, but that is of course where tradition ended for the band. The band opened with the questionable choice of "Dance For You", which I question only because of its tempo and lack of excitement. It is a beautiful song and would have fit perfectly later in the set. They quickly ramped up and I was enthralled watching them create their harmonies and syncopated beats in a live setting. "Just From Chevron" was particularly impressive as the three ladies clapped out different rhythms while simultaneously blending the three part harmonies for which the band is known. The set was dominate by Swing Lo Magellan of course, with "Gun Has No Trigger" being dedicated properly (and as a huge Twins fan, painfully) to the Minnesota Twins, and "Offspring Are Blank" and "The Socialites" being other highlights. (Between Megan James and Amber Coffman there was no shortage of beautiful lead female vocals last night.) After "Cannibal Resource" was played third, Bitte Orca was absent until the penultimate song of the main set when they pulled out an absolutely fantastic version of "Useful Chamber". The bass was ramped up, the guitar was shredding, and the song became truly heavy (a word I never thought I'd use to describe Dirty Projectors). That was followed by "Unto Caesar", fast becoming my favorite track on Magellan, which is even better without the album's hilarious aside from Amber that Dave Longstreth's lyrics make no sense.
After a brief break the band returned, but had to change course when Amber's amp gave out before the encore started. They quickly moved to a song with Amber only on vocals and then closed with "Stillness is the Move" (still fantastic) and a lovely rendition of "Impregnable Question". It was the type of set that ended far too soon, and those are fairly rare. Dirty Projector's also gets an A.
Craig
We saw Steve Coleman and Allen Toussaint.
Allen is a national treasure, so if he ever comes to your town, go see him! He was playing the Bright Mississippi stuff, which should have won the Pulitzer that year, IMO. Nic Payton wasn't there, but Don Byron was, and they interplay between him and Allen was delightful. A special surprise (to me), Marc Ribot was there playing Django-eque acoustic guitar.
Friday we saw most of Roy Haynes, which was good, but a lot of "Look How Old I Am" chatter. Best thing that night was the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, hot stuff. Before that, Chico Freeman played as part of a tribute to his dad, which was great but all too short.
I forgot to mention that I saw Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group a month or so ago. Really incredible show - great mixture of old and new songs as well as a few covers and plenty of fun banter with the audience. His responses to requests were great. If you ever get a chance, go see him. I'd love to catch him again when he tours with his Large Band. I'll try to remember to write about some of the other shows I've got coming up as I've got like 5 or 6 through October - including the Fresh Beat Band on Sunday! My daughter is definitely more excited about that one than me...
Carnage the Executioner - I didn't know anything about him, even though he's been around forever, and he only performed for about 20 minutes, but he was awesome. It was only him on stage and he didn't have any music. Instead he beatboxed himself a loop (adding several parts to the beat) and rhymed over his manufactured on the spot beat. Very cool. He gets a B.
I Self Devine - He was better than he was at Soundset, but still just didn't really do it for me. B-.
Atmosphere - FINALLY saw Atmosphere and it was worth the wait. They played for nearly 2 solid hours, hit songs from the early days to new stuff and everywhere in between, and rocked the house. It was an absolute joy. A.
Craig
Before that show I had also caught Maps & Atlases at Maxwell's. They were more jammy in person, which I kind of expected and really fit their style. Dave Davison has such a cool voice and a bitchin' beard. Sadly I missed Wye Oak (I got sick that day) but managed to battle through a second cold to go see Tennis at Maxwell's last night. Very glad to make it as they were awesome. If Annie Clarke wasn't already my primary indie crush, Alaina Moore would take that position. She is so ^$%@&ing cute (as one person screamed out at the show) and also really sweet (spent a lot of time at the end of the show talking to everyone). Her voice sounded so much more powerful live and Patrick is all over the place with his guitar.
I did see Beach House two weeks ago. They were good, though it was large concert hall. I will say though that if the comments between songs were removed, I didn't feel like they performed any of their songs differently from their album versions. I find that a little frustrating.
Thursday night was M83 right by me in Montclair. Wow. Seriously, I love their/his music, but live they blew some of it so far out of the water I'm not sure I can listen to the studio version anymore. The closing version of "Couleurs" was so much more intense than studio version. I would go again in a heartbeat. My only complaint was the length - probably about 1:45 - which wasn't exactly short, but it felt like they could have gone on for another hour. I'll also say that the audience was pretty funny - a lot of dressed up couples on dates and yuppy types. But to their credit, they still got into the more electronic material and the floor remained packed until the end. My friends in the balcony said that about a third of the crowd up there bailed after "Midnight City". Oh, and using a live saxophonist who went nuts on "Midnight City" was frickin' great.
9/16 - Ned Rothenberg's Sync (Ned Rothenberg - reeds, shakuhachi, Jerome Harris - guitar/bass, and Samir Chatterjee - tabla)
A Transparent production (the group I presented with 10+ years ago), a pleasant, melodic world-jazz kinda thing. Enjoyable, though without much surprise.
9/21 - Metric
Very enjoyable, but Emily's voice sounded a bit tired in the beginning, and the show started off very album-oriented (tracks 1,2,3,5 from Synthetica right off the bat), an approach I'm not fond of. But plenty glad my wife and I went.
9/23 - Stars
Same weekend, the 4th time I've seen Stars. They're always magic, an incredible band, with deep chemistry between Torquil and Amy, and an always very heartfelt relationship with the audience. A really uplifting show. Setlist
9/30 - Sonic Circuits experimental music festival
I went Saturday night, caught three nice and disparate performances:
- Ergo - a gentle, electro-acoustic improv trio coming from a harmonically-oriented jazz angle
- Otomo Yoshihide, solo guitar - the well known Japanese improviser with a loud, droney, noisy electric guitar set. Glad for my earplugs.
- Chris Cutler and David Thomas - an amusing, quirky set from two old representatives of avant-garde rock (Cutler from RIO: Henry Cow, etc) and Thomas from Pere Ubu
10/5 - The Dismemberment Plan, with mewithoutYou
- a favorite indie rock band of mine from DC, who broke up in 2003 and has recently gotten back together to play around and start a new album in the studio. mewithoutYou, from whom I own a couple records I like, gave a very good performance, powered by an awesome, crazy drummer who was a blast to watch. DPlan was great as expected, and performed a solid mix of older stuff and a number of their new tunes they're working on.
10/6 - Michael Formanek Quartet (Formanek - bass, Tim Berne - alto sax, Craig Taborn - piano, Gerald Cleaver - bass)
- Huge fan of Berne, so couldn't miss this. An excellent concert of Formanek's music from his new release Small Places on ECM. A very together band, Taborn particularly amazed.
Quite an unusual concert run for me, given my situation as father of 5 & 8 year olds. My wife wasn't so happy with them all (though she saw Metric and Stars), so I've used up a bit of credit. Unfortunately, the DC fall schedule is still hopping!
I actually like being up high at Orchestra Hall - such clear and beautiful "sound lines," if there is such a thing.
That Robyn Hitchcock show was a kick, by the way. I love artists (musical or otherwise) who seem to have that direct link to the weird subconscious that accompanies us all of our days. Also a very funny guy.
Rhett Miller did a short solo set to open, which was good but not too exciting. Next was Salim Nourallah and his band (The Travoltas) -- I was unfamiliar with him going in, and I didn't hear anything that is likely to spark further investigation. Not bad, just didn't grab me.
Kargatron is right, the DC fall concert schedule is looking good. I was going to see Heartless Bastards and Wussy at the Black Cat on Tuesday night, but we lost power Monday night from the storm, and it didn't come back on until around 8 pm Tuesday, so I wasn't really in the mood to go out right then. Trying to get motivated to see the Meter Men (Meters minus Art Neville) tomorrow night at the Howard Theater. I've got tickets for Graham Parker and the Rumour at the Birchmere later this month, which is already sold out.
You also realize Orchestra Hall is an awfully big space for 3 instruments! Next concert in the jazz series is the "Ninety Miles" Trio, although with Nicholas Payton instead of Christian Scott.
Here's a picture from my baller table:
The DJs behind the decks are (l to r): Paper Tiger and Lazerbeak.
The MCs (also l to r): Mike Mictlan, Dessa, Cecil Otter, Sims, and P.O.S.
Craig
This show was so freaking awesome. As I said, they performed for 3 hours (with one 15 minute intermission), and it was constant. With 5 MCs they were able to mix up the group's collective work and each members solo work to allow for barely a moment's pause between songs. Meanwhile members were leaving the stage on some songs to get a drink/sit down for a minute before jumping back into the fray. It was crazy.
The best part, though, was after the break they came out with about 10 musicians. Both Dessa's backing band and P.O.S.'s mates from Marijuana Death Squads joined them and made a crap ton of glorious noise.
Highlights included "Bumper", "They Can't Come", and "All of It" off P.O.S.'s recent solo album We Don't Even Live Here, Sims' killer "Burn it Down" from Bad Time Zoo, and "Bolt Cutter", "Bangarang", and "The Grand Experiment" from the crew's 2011 No Kings release. And of course the craziness of everything Mike Mictlan does. Dessa's stuff was a little out of place mixed in with the other members' bangers, but "Children's Work" was still a little gem.
Oh, and sitting at the table, which my wife called "a life long dream I didn't know I had", was absolutely awesome. Made the whole year's membership worth it.
Craig
Bomba De Luz - This is a group of 4 kids that are still in high school, but play well beyond their years. They play a female fronted bluesy folk rock and the lead singer is going to be a star. For a high school senior her voice is amazingly developed. It's smoky/bluesy and just fantastic. The guitarist is similarly talented. Kez - You really need to find their album What a Heavy Weight, I think you'd love it. It's on Bandcamp, so you can stream it there. They get a B-.
Strange Names - A slightly synth pop group, you can tell there is some talent there, but they just haven't harnessed it yet. The last track they played though, "Potential Wife", is absolutely phenomenal. If they can expand on that song they may have a future. Also available on Bancamp. They get a C basically because of the one song.
Eleganza! - This is a new, but not a young band. It's made up of a bunch of southern style honky tonk rockers that have been in local bands for years (there was even some gray in a few of the beards). There was some serious chooglin' going on during the set and it was enjoyable, but one of the guitarists was so manic it was distracting. Even with 6 guys on stage, he got half the stage to himself but still kept coming over to the cramped other side. He repeatedly did 3/4 splits and other random things that really kept me from paying attention to the music. So they get a C.
Actual Wolf - The alias of Steve Garrington (bassist in Low and Retribution Gospel Choir), he uses his solo work to play what feels like 'outlaw folk'. It isn't really country, but it gets real close. It's not a style of music I really like, but he does it quite well. The band was tight and his song writing is excellent. So even though it's not really my thing he gets a B-.
John Mark Nelson - Released his first album while still in high school and his second shortly after graduating. He is going to be a big star. Style wise he's an absolute hipster and his music has the off kilter feel of Sufjan Stevens, especially with the use of instruments like an accordion, mandolin, string quartet, glockenspiel, and trombone. His talent as an arranger is ridiculous for an 18/19 year old and his lyrics stand up to the music. I can't recommend him more highly. Last night's performance gets a B.
Wiping Out Thousands - A synth pop duo with an EDM flair, following John Mark Nelson was about the weirdest shift in music and style I've ever seen. They did an excellent job, though, even if their live vocals didn't really come through. They come through much better on the album which I recommend any electronic fans check out. It's free/NYOP on Bandcamp. They get a C+.
The Chalice - Female hip hop (3 MCs and 1 DJ), they bring serious sass and girl power, but are clearly not a gimmick. 2 of the 3 MCs in particular have real talent and stage presence and I think they'll be around for awhile. I'm not sure the group has the talent to break nationally, but they'll make a good living in the Twin Cities area. They get a B-.
Craig
They're touring, so recommend you see them if they come to your town. I found some good video by Dutch Radio 6 here
The performance was taped for a new world music series put on by the venue and a local public TV station, so you may be able to see it for yourself before long. We're actually kind of excited about the concert series, happening pretty much in the neighborhood - List of upcoming artists and shows at http://www.oldtownschool.org/musicology/ !!!
I'm going to see Aimee Mann in April.
I'm seeing The Men next month at the tiny 7th Street Entry, though, so that will rule. I may well lose all hearing. Also hitting Soundset again, this year with Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Tech N9ne, Juicy J, Atmosphere, Brother Ali, P.O.S., Aesop Rock, Schoolboy Q, Joey Bada$$, etc. etc.
Plus, I still have my free First Avenue membership tickets to use sometime this summer. Maybe when The National comes through (surely they'll tour the new album).
Craig
Can't say I've ever had vertigo, but I can see where it would make going to a loud concert rather difficult.
Craig