Last night I went to see Modest Mouse play a show at the Williamsburg Waterfront here in Brooklyn. The show was originally scheduled for July, but three songs into their set that day, a massive lightning storm blew in and the NYC Parks Service cancelled the rest of the show. Luckily, Ticketmaster rescheduled for September 14. This ended up being better anyways, because it was sickeningly hot in July and the show started later. Last night, the temperature was a comfortable low-70s with a little breeze and the show began relatively early (doors at 5 p.m.), so I was able to get home and go to sleep at a reasonable hour.
As for the show itself, it was my favorite time I've seen them yet. The first time I saw Modest Mouse was summer 2003 as part of the free Siren Music Fest at Coney Island. I don't honestly remember that much about the show or what songs they played. The next time I saw them was at Irving Plaza in NYC about a year later, right before the album "Good News For People Who Love Bad News" was released. This was actually one of the best shows I'd ever seen at that point. As the new album was being promoted but not yet available for sale at the time, it was all new music to me. And they played so well that night! Everything was super tight and singer Isaac Brock was really on top of his game. Plus they played an encore that was almost as long as the set, so it turned out to be a pretty long show. When I finally bought the new album, I instantly recognized the songs they had played at the show, but it was actually almost a bit of a letdown because they'd sounded so good in person that the studio album paled in comparison. It stuck with me so much that I can still hear the live act in my head when I listen to the album today.
Last night's show was actually a bit of a departure from that Irving Plaza set I loved so much. I thought everything last night sounded much more loose. It wasn't messy, but it had an element of improvisation. All the songs sounded a bit off, a little more experimental than the album versions. It was also very loud, and the "big" parts of certain songs were played louder and louder. I wouldn't go so far as to call the show "epic," but it was pretty close. They had six musicians on stage and really took advantage of the instruments besides guitar, bass, and drums. An electric upright bass, banjo, pump organ, glockenspiel, accordion, and trumpet all made appearances throughout the night. I especially appreciated the trumpet, which was literally front and center on the stage, and stood out much more so than it does in the studio tracks. Also, the sound quality was surprisingly good for an outdoor show. Everything sounded very clean and you could pick out the details. As for the set list, they played a wide range of songs, a pretty even amount of stuff from all their full-length albums, plus a few appearances from some EP's. Since they don't currently have a new album to promote, I guess they had as much freedom in their song choices as they felt like taking.
I also need to point out how great I thought the lighting was. It being a rock show, there was of course fake smoke pumping out all night. But since it was so breezy, the smoke would immediately blow away if it wasn't constantly pouring out of the machines. This made it look like the band was playing in a storm--it was a really cool effect. Then you had a lot of backlighting, which made the bandmembers look like silhouettes in a cloud half the time. Bright colors were the lighting choice for most of the night, so the swirling smoke was colored, the silhouettes were colored, and the front of the stage would be another color. I saw tons of people taking sweet photos all around me, and it made me wish my cell phone took better shots (real cameras weren't allowed, natch). This added to the "epic" feeling I got from the whole shebang.
So, yeah, definitely my favorite Modest Mouse show I've seen to date. Here's the set list:
1. Gravity Rides Everything
2. Black Cadillacs
3. Satin in a Coffin
4. Here It Comes
5. Float On
6. Cowboy Dan
7. Dashboard
8. Blame It On The Tetons
9. King Rat
10. 3rd Planet
11. Tiny Cities Made of Ashes
12. Bury Me With It
13. Autumn Beds
14. Here's to Now (Ugly Casanova cover)
15. The Whale Song
16. The View
Encore:
17. Guilty Cocker Spaniels
18. Dramamine / Life Like Weeds
19. Baby Blue Sedan
20. Spitting Venom / I Came As A Rat
21. Alone Down There
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
NY Phil in Prospect Park
Monday night, I went to Prospect Park to watch the New York Philharmonic for free. It was fantastic! Susan, Patrick, and I rode our bikes there, first of all. Of course, this once again proved to me that New York City is the most bicyclist-unfriendly city in existence. There are barely any bike lanes anywhere. You're taking your life into your hands every time you want to go for even a short ride. I was, however, pleased to discover that Prospect Park, my second favorite park in New York (after the Brooklyn Bridge Park), is completely car-free! I just never realized before, but then Patrick told me such was the case. I'll have to go riding there more often now.
Anyways, the three of us brought blankets and picnic food, and met up with some other people who'd done the same and had already staked out a good seating area behind the center speaker. We couldn't see the stage very well from there, but we could hear it really well, which I think is more the point. The place was packed, too, so we may have had trouble hearing the music elsewhere, with all the chit-chat going on throughout the crowd.
I didn't pick up a program, so I don't know the names of the music the Phil played, but before starting, they did offer audience members the opportunity to text in (as in on a cell phone) their choice for the encore song (Do I detect an attempt to engage the young'uns here?). The choices were a theme from "Carmen" and an apparently less well-known French song (in honor of Bastille Day!). Unsurprisingly, the audience chose the "Carmen" song.
The performance was absolutely magical. Possessing little knowledge of classical music, I can't really critique the performance much (though it sounded just lovely to me). I can, however, describe the atmosphere. First of all, the sunset was brilliant. It was partly cloudy, which made for some really nice sky formations. The clouds maintained a dusky blue shade, and as the sun set, a bright pink and orange slowly overtook their undersides until the sun completely set. There's too much light pollution in NYC to ever see stars, but the moon was close to full and brighter than I'm used to seeing around here. Then once it was dark, fireflies came out! As I understand it, fireflies tend to prefer long grass and foliage, so it was a real treat to see so many of them mingling among the crowd. The temperature was also perfect: It was just cool enough to get away with long pants (which means no mosquito bites!), and not terribly humid. Now imagine all this with the NY Philharmonic playing in the backdrop. At one point, I said, "I feel like we're in a poem."
And then...
FIREWORKS!! YAY!!! These were really good ones, too (though they seemed unusually low to the ground...). The best was the very end, when firework after firework after firework just kept coming. These weren't the giant, loud, round ones. They were smaller clusters that fanned out when they exploded in the air; and it went on for what seemed like even longer than a usual finale. What a fantastically perfect end to the night. Yay summer! There's so much free stuff to do! Go here for a schedule of other Prospect Park activities (I especially recommend catching indie-rock band Deerhoof this Friday night).
Anyways, the three of us brought blankets and picnic food, and met up with some other people who'd done the same and had already staked out a good seating area behind the center speaker. We couldn't see the stage very well from there, but we could hear it really well, which I think is more the point. The place was packed, too, so we may have had trouble hearing the music elsewhere, with all the chit-chat going on throughout the crowd.
I didn't pick up a program, so I don't know the names of the music the Phil played, but before starting, they did offer audience members the opportunity to text in (as in on a cell phone) their choice for the encore song (Do I detect an attempt to engage the young'uns here?). The choices were a theme from "Carmen" and an apparently less well-known French song (in honor of Bastille Day!). Unsurprisingly, the audience chose the "Carmen" song.
The performance was absolutely magical. Possessing little knowledge of classical music, I can't really critique the performance much (though it sounded just lovely to me). I can, however, describe the atmosphere. First of all, the sunset was brilliant. It was partly cloudy, which made for some really nice sky formations. The clouds maintained a dusky blue shade, and as the sun set, a bright pink and orange slowly overtook their undersides until the sun completely set. There's too much light pollution in NYC to ever see stars, but the moon was close to full and brighter than I'm used to seeing around here. Then once it was dark, fireflies came out! As I understand it, fireflies tend to prefer long grass and foliage, so it was a real treat to see so many of them mingling among the crowd. The temperature was also perfect: It was just cool enough to get away with long pants (which means no mosquito bites!), and not terribly humid. Now imagine all this with the NY Philharmonic playing in the backdrop. At one point, I said, "I feel like we're in a poem."
And then...
FIREWORKS!! YAY!!! These were really good ones, too (though they seemed unusually low to the ground...). The best was the very end, when firework after firework after firework just kept coming. These weren't the giant, loud, round ones. They were smaller clusters that fanned out when they exploded in the air; and it went on for what seemed like even longer than a usual finale. What a fantastically perfect end to the night. Yay summer! There's so much free stuff to do! Go here for a schedule of other Prospect Park activities (I especially recommend catching indie-rock band Deerhoof this Friday night).
Saturday, December 29, 2007
more stuff found on the Drawn! blog
Los Campesinos music videos:
It sort of bothers me how the animation in the one above only seems to match the music during the chorus, but it's still cool nonetheless.
I like this one even MORE:
Disco war!
The colors are so bright and fun! And obviously I'm a fan of the anti-war sentiment, but I also just really like the animation. The illustration is childlike, but still moves so fluidly. Love it!
It sort of bothers me how the animation in the one above only seems to match the music during the chorus, but it's still cool nonetheless.
I like this one even MORE:
Disco war!
The colors are so bright and fun! And obviously I'm a fan of the anti-war sentiment, but I also just really like the animation. The illustration is childlike, but still moves so fluidly. Love it!
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
wha-huh?
I just saw a commercial for a new show on Court TV called "Till Death Do Us Part." It's about marriages that end badly, like with one spouse murdering the other. And it's hosted by John Waters.
wtf?! Who comes up with this stuff?
Anyhoo, I saw The Thermals at Studio B in Brooklyn last night. I was introduced to them about a week ago, so I'd only listened to three or four songs before the show. They're pretty much your standard indie-punk, but are really catchy and fun. Plus they were so good live. People in the crowd were really into it, with singing along and stage diving even though it was a small indoor place and the audience was really only thick enough for diving in a radius of ten feet from the stage. The band was all smiles; they seemed really happy to be there, which makes concerts so much more enjoyable. Also the bassist was totally darling. She was wearing a white eyelet babydoll dress and her curly hair was all flopping in her eyes. So cute.
Here are their websites:
http://myspace.com/thethermals
http://www.subpop.com/artists/the_thermals
wtf?! Who comes up with this stuff?
Anyhoo, I saw The Thermals at Studio B in Brooklyn last night. I was introduced to them about a week ago, so I'd only listened to three or four songs before the show. They're pretty much your standard indie-punk, but are really catchy and fun. Plus they were so good live. People in the crowd were really into it, with singing along and stage diving even though it was a small indoor place and the audience was really only thick enough for diving in a radius of ten feet from the stage. The band was all smiles; they seemed really happy to be there, which makes concerts so much more enjoyable. Also the bassist was totally darling. She was wearing a white eyelet babydoll dress and her curly hair was all flopping in her eyes. So cute.
Here are their websites:
http://myspace.com/thethermals
http://www.subpop.com/artists/the_thermals
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
a new love
I bought the new Be Good Tanyas CD, Hello Love, after listening to NPR feature them on "All Things Considered" the other day, and it is such a good record. The Be Good Tanyas are a Canadian female folk trio who I was introduced to through their song "The littlest birds," which is the theme song to the show "Weeds." They have this pretty, melancholy sound that I can't get enough of. One of my favorite songs off the new CD is "Nobody Cares For Me." It's very self-deprecating (or emo, if you will), but it's just so damn pretty and soothing. I was sitting on the floor of my room listening to it over and over last night. Here are the lyrics:
Lonesome is I, I wished I could die
Nobody cares for me
Lonesome is I, I wished I could die
Nobody cares for me
It was a bright moon light night, the moon shining bright,
when you and I made love
Your heart wasn't true, I'll say unto you,
I moaned like a turtle dove
Lonesome is I, wished I could die
Nobody cares for me
Lonesome is I, wished I could die
Nobody cares for me
I'm coming home, no more to roam,
darling I'm coming home
I'm coming home, no more to roam,
darling I'm coming home
Down in the pasture, where the birds are singing
You can’t hear nothing but what the birds are saying
Down in the pasture, where the birds are singing
You can’t hear nothing but what the birds are saying
It was a bright moon light night, the moon shining bright,
when you and I made love
Your heart wasn't true, I'll say unto you,
I moaned like a turtle dove
Lonesome is I, wished I could die
Nobody cares for me
Lonesome is I, wished I could die
Nobody cares for me
The other song that I looooooove is a cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry." They played it on NPR, and I thought it was really cool and different, but then I missed it the first couple times I listened to the CD because there's a minute of dead air before it starts and I apparently thought the CD was over before the song started. So then last night when I finally waited long enough to hear it, I absolutely fell in love with the song. I don't know which of the girls does the singing on this one, because it doesn't say in the liner notes, but her voice is husky and quiet, sort of like a whisper. She has a subtle vulnerability that works really with these lyrics. Plus the song overall sounds wildly different from the original. The only thing it has in common is the lyrics and the basic tune. I hate when a band covers a song and it ends up sounding exactly like the first version. I mean, what's the point? But this sounds distinctly like The Be Good Tanyas, not like a Prince song sung by a girl.
The point is, go buy this CD. It's fantastic.
Lonesome is I, I wished I could die
Nobody cares for me
Lonesome is I, I wished I could die
Nobody cares for me
It was a bright moon light night, the moon shining bright,
when you and I made love
Your heart wasn't true, I'll say unto you,
I moaned like a turtle dove
Lonesome is I, wished I could die
Nobody cares for me
Lonesome is I, wished I could die
Nobody cares for me
I'm coming home, no more to roam,
darling I'm coming home
I'm coming home, no more to roam,
darling I'm coming home
Down in the pasture, where the birds are singing
You can’t hear nothing but what the birds are saying
Down in the pasture, where the birds are singing
You can’t hear nothing but what the birds are saying
It was a bright moon light night, the moon shining bright,
when you and I made love
Your heart wasn't true, I'll say unto you,
I moaned like a turtle dove
Lonesome is I, wished I could die
Nobody cares for me
Lonesome is I, wished I could die
Nobody cares for me
The other song that I looooooove is a cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry." They played it on NPR, and I thought it was really cool and different, but then I missed it the first couple times I listened to the CD because there's a minute of dead air before it starts and I apparently thought the CD was over before the song started. So then last night when I finally waited long enough to hear it, I absolutely fell in love with the song. I don't know which of the girls does the singing on this one, because it doesn't say in the liner notes, but her voice is husky and quiet, sort of like a whisper. She has a subtle vulnerability that works really with these lyrics. Plus the song overall sounds wildly different from the original. The only thing it has in common is the lyrics and the basic tune. I hate when a band covers a song and it ends up sounding exactly like the first version. I mean, what's the point? But this sounds distinctly like The Be Good Tanyas, not like a Prince song sung by a girl.
The point is, go buy this CD. It's fantastic.
Sunday, October 8, 2006
oh well
I'm supposed to be treating this "blog" more seriously, posting my opinions on art and whatnot and less on my personal life... and write professionally with no cursing, but...
LOU REED IS A FUCKING GENIUS.
The polite police can stuff it. I finally started listening to the Velvet Underground boxed set tonight (which I received for my birthday almost two months ago). I started with the CD that's a bunch of demos of some of their most popular songs. The songs were basically screwups from when they were recording in the studio. Hearing Lou's unadulterated gravelly, scratchy voice was awsome. And then listening to him curse or laugh when they messed up was really entertaining. And as much as I adore Nico, and love her in "All Tomorrow's Parties," sorry, but Lou just does it better. It was his song, after all. Nico was just put in place by Andy Warhol. Him singing it is so much more genuine. I'm so glad I have these CDs. In fact, I think I'm gonna put one on and do some homework now.
LOU REED IS A FUCKING GENIUS.
The polite police can stuff it. I finally started listening to the Velvet Underground boxed set tonight (which I received for my birthday almost two months ago). I started with the CD that's a bunch of demos of some of their most popular songs. The songs were basically screwups from when they were recording in the studio. Hearing Lou's unadulterated gravelly, scratchy voice was awsome. And then listening to him curse or laugh when they messed up was really entertaining. And as much as I adore Nico, and love her in "All Tomorrow's Parties," sorry, but Lou just does it better. It was his song, after all. Nico was just put in place by Andy Warhol. Him singing it is so much more genuine. I'm so glad I have these CDs. In fact, I think I'm gonna put one on and do some homework now.
Monday, September 18, 2006
wasted weekend
I went to the Inner Harbor today with Jon Ross to see a Dave Matthews cover band and a Sublime cover band to review for the Newtimes. I'm not really much of a Dave Matthews fan, and the Sublime band basically sucked. Here is my review:
Title: Just Plain Bad
Sunday was an ideal day to spend at Syracuse’s Inner Harbor. The sun was shining, the temperature was pleasant, and any native would recognize it as possibly the last nice day of the year. You would think it would be the perfect day to see a couple of bands covering songs by two popular and relatively summery-sounding acts.
You would be wrong.
Well, halfway wrong, that is, as the opening band, “One Sweet World,” a Dave Matthews cover band, actually wasn’t too bad. One Sweet World was extremely faithful to the original songs, and even included a saxophone player (who had four different types of sax to choose from) and a violinist.
Lead singer Anthony Iglesias did an admirable job evoking Dave Matthews’ gentle voice, but couldn’t quite reach the high-pitched plateaus Matthews manages. His voice was also a bit scratchier than Matthews, and the signature syllabic emphasis was a bit off at times, but overall it was a valiant try that mostly succeeded.
The best thing about One Sweet World was undoubtedly its violinist. Though all the musicians were clearly talented, the mere existence of the violin gave this band something extra. Because so many of the Dave Matthews Band’s songs include unique and conspicuous violin parts, it is essential that a cover band have a decent fiddler.
If you are a fan of the Dave Matthews Band, One Sweet World will not disappoint. Their set, though, was nearly two hours long, which is highly unusual for an opener. And after One Sweet World’s last song, a Dave Matthews-esque rape of Jimi Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower, it felt like the show should have simply ended.
The headliner, Sublime cover band “Badfish,” started out with Garden Grove, an appropriate start, as it’s the first track off of Sublime’s self-titled album. There were no turntables, though, so it sounded decidedly different than the original. In addition, unlike Sublime’s Brad Nowell, the vocalist didn’t enunciate enough, making it unnecessarily difficult to understand the lyrics.
The singer continued this near-slurring of words throughout most of the songs, which just worsened the slow speed at which they were played. The short, quick Same in the End wasn’t played nearly as fast and enthusiastically as the original, completely losing the frenetic, fun sound it’s supposed to have.
Perhaps the worst offense was their version of the immensely popular Wrong Way. The original includes a trombone, but Badfish instead incorporated a mediocre alto saxophone. The trombone’s speedy and lively solo was completely lost, being replaced by a sub-par saxophone attempt.
Somehow Badfish has become a nationally known group, and the audience was certainly enjoying themselves, with plenty of people dancing and singing along (though by then, it could have simply been the influence of copious beer). But to this Sublime fan, they were truly nothing special. You’d be better off popping in one of their CDs with the volume turned up.
Title: Just Plain Bad
Sunday was an ideal day to spend at Syracuse’s Inner Harbor. The sun was shining, the temperature was pleasant, and any native would recognize it as possibly the last nice day of the year. You would think it would be the perfect day to see a couple of bands covering songs by two popular and relatively summery-sounding acts.
You would be wrong.
Well, halfway wrong, that is, as the opening band, “One Sweet World,” a Dave Matthews cover band, actually wasn’t too bad. One Sweet World was extremely faithful to the original songs, and even included a saxophone player (who had four different types of sax to choose from) and a violinist.
Lead singer Anthony Iglesias did an admirable job evoking Dave Matthews’ gentle voice, but couldn’t quite reach the high-pitched plateaus Matthews manages. His voice was also a bit scratchier than Matthews, and the signature syllabic emphasis was a bit off at times, but overall it was a valiant try that mostly succeeded.
The best thing about One Sweet World was undoubtedly its violinist. Though all the musicians were clearly talented, the mere existence of the violin gave this band something extra. Because so many of the Dave Matthews Band’s songs include unique and conspicuous violin parts, it is essential that a cover band have a decent fiddler.
If you are a fan of the Dave Matthews Band, One Sweet World will not disappoint. Their set, though, was nearly two hours long, which is highly unusual for an opener. And after One Sweet World’s last song, a Dave Matthews-esque rape of Jimi Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower, it felt like the show should have simply ended.
The headliner, Sublime cover band “Badfish,” started out with Garden Grove, an appropriate start, as it’s the first track off of Sublime’s self-titled album. There were no turntables, though, so it sounded decidedly different than the original. In addition, unlike Sublime’s Brad Nowell, the vocalist didn’t enunciate enough, making it unnecessarily difficult to understand the lyrics.
The singer continued this near-slurring of words throughout most of the songs, which just worsened the slow speed at which they were played. The short, quick Same in the End wasn’t played nearly as fast and enthusiastically as the original, completely losing the frenetic, fun sound it’s supposed to have.
Perhaps the worst offense was their version of the immensely popular Wrong Way. The original includes a trombone, but Badfish instead incorporated a mediocre alto saxophone. The trombone’s speedy and lively solo was completely lost, being replaced by a sub-par saxophone attempt.
Somehow Badfish has become a nationally known group, and the audience was certainly enjoying themselves, with plenty of people dancing and singing along (though by then, it could have simply been the influence of copious beer). But to this Sublime fan, they were truly nothing special. You’d be better off popping in one of their CDs with the volume turned up.
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