Fun Stuff > BAND

Gigs you've been to and your thoughts.

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valley_parade:
Not so far, but I think $20 just for Against Me! and the Street Dogs is a pretty fair price. I got my money's worth (and free shoes) out of 07 and 06.

Cire27:
Are there any other good bands going to be there?  I skimmed over the punknews list, but it was pretty unimpressive.

a pack of wolves:

--- Quote from: thedavo on 01 Feb 2008, 16:09 ---Other bands that stood out were Abandon Ship, as it was their second to last show, and their last show outside their hometown,  and Shipwreck, who were the best band of the weekend (they're from Boston, MA and a hardcore band, so they were about as thuggish as expected). Blacklisted finished things of with a pretty solid set aswell.

--- End quote ---

Bugger, I'd always fancied seeing Abandon Ship and I guess I won't get to now.

Tonight I saw Pixel Pixel Pixel, Red Stars Parade, Gentleman's Pistols, Bilge Pump and DJ Scotch Egg. I thought Pixel Pixel Pixel might be fun, a nice bit of video game music to start things off. He comes out in a rabbit suit and proceeds to load up Street Fighter II on his laptop. And plays it. I thought he'd go into actually playing some music but no, he just keeps playing Street Fighter II. Toss. Thankfully Red Stars Parade were on afterwards and were as good as they always are with their Will Haven reminiscent riffing. The only pity was that there weren't enough people there. It got packed out for Gentleman's Pistols though, who I thought were decent enough in a cabaret sort of way. I admire their studious recreation of 70s rock but I wouldn't ever want to sit down and listen to it, and I did pop outside for a fag while they were playing so I wasn't exactly gripped. It is pretty funny to see a guy who used to be in Voorhees playing in a band like that though. Then there was Bilge Pump, who are so effortlessly better than most bands it makes you feel bad about being a musician. I'm just glad I'm not a drummer, I don't think I'd ever feel comfortable hitting things with sticks if there was a possibility Neil Turpin might hear me doing it. I'd just be embarrassed. DJ Scotch Egg was just as much fun as he usually is, with lots of daft sounds, crowd surfing and yelling unintelligibly into the mic. His insistence on it being an 80s disco party was particularly entertaining.

Tomorrow, Spy Versus Spy. Excellent.

valley_parade:

--- Quote from: Cire27 on 01 Feb 2008, 18:13 ---Are there any other good bands going to be there?  I skimmed over the punknews list, but it was pretty unimpressive.

--- End quote ---

The Briggs, I guess. There's a ton more yet to be added, though.

RedLion:
More than I can count, but these are the ones that stand out:

The Decemberists W/ My Brightest Diamond - I was invited to go up with a group of friends at the last moment, and it was well worth it. The show was great; The Decemberists are by no means my favorite band, but the mood was energetic and they put on a good performance. But I almost enjoyed My Brightest Diamond more. I had never heard of them before, and was extremely surprised in a pleasant way. I very much dug their noise-rock sound. For their last song they played a cover of 'Kashmir,' which sounded absolutely amazing with female vocals.

Gogol Bordello - Quite possibly the best show I've ever been to. 2 1/2 hours of pure, unadulterated energy, dancing, Grade-A music. Near the end of the gig, Eugene went backstage and got an old Bass drum, which he then stood and crowdsurfed around on while singing. The strange Asian midget hype man was kind of unnecessary, but he was easy to ignore. There's simply no words to put to the raw, kinetic sense of life that pulsed in every beat of every song. There wasn't one still body in the entire theater.

The Hold Steady W / The Heartless Bastards - I've always been a fan of The Hold Steady, if not a rabid one. The venue for this was perfect: a small, crowded, claustrophobic side-entrance of an old abandoned theater. Sweat and beer were everywhere. It was nothing profound or life-changing, but it was fun and intense in a paradoxically laid-back way. The opening act, The Heartless Bastards, were another pleasant surprise a la My Brightest Diamond, though the two bands sound nothing Alike. The Bastards are grungy, heavy folkish-rock with a female singer who has just the right amount of gravel in her voice to be compelling.

Dream Theater - Say what you will, but Dream Theater know how to play. A 4 hour, nonstop sonic onslaught of some of the most complex time signatures and rhythms you'll ever hear, topped with mind-bindingly technical solos, followed by a 45-minute medley encore. It was just great to watch and hear them in person. The best part of the show was their improv piece, which they made up off the top of their head on-stage and went on for around 10 minutes. Amazing.

Bruce Springsteen - I hate "Born In The USA," and most of Bruce's 80's work for that matter. But his first 4 albums are classics, as are his recent ones, from the late 90's onward. Luckily for me, he did mostly work from those two periods, including "Rosalita," "Born to Run" "Jungleland" "Blinded By the Light" and others. Dumb as it may sound, this was the happiest time I've had at a show. I think Jon Stewart summed up the experience of a Springsteen concert best: "Do you like joy? Bliss? Go see Bruce Springsteen."

Bob Dylan - I love Dylan, always have, always will. Sadly, this was a little underwhelming. His voice (as should be expected) is no longer what it was, and he spent the whole concert hunched over a piano..not sitting, not standing, but kind of crouched there, barely moving. He said nothing in between the songs, in fact said nothing the entire night except at the end a curt "Thanks. 'night." It was still great to hear his stuff life, though.

The Stooges - Saw them at Lollapalooza in Chicago last summer during their reunion. Absolutely mind-blowing. Iggy urged the crowd to come up on stage. So, of course, everyone who could did. Wisely, they played all their older stuff, and not much off of their new (pretty shitty) album. "Raw Power" indeed.

Rage Against The Machine - Can you say "Mass Hysteria"? This was the day after an absolute deluge at an outdoor venue, with the stage at the bottom of a large, steep hill that was nothing but purely liquid mud. Throughout the entire night, dozens of people came sliding involuntarily down the hill, falling into the pit between the end of the stage and the crowd area. I can't imagine what it must have been like for the security officers; with the band behind them and a seething mass of, well, raging fans ahead of them, both of them possessed of an utter contempt, hatred even, for authority, even if it was just for that moment. This was easily the hardest moshing I've ever seen.

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