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Gigs you've been to and your thoughts.

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ViolentDove:
Ok, so the Brian Jonestown Massacre gig was pretty good!

They're really uh... "relaxed" on stage, though. So much so that they spent about 5-10 minutes talking complete shit in between songs. Also, it was Anton's birthday, so the crowd sang happy birthday. He seemed moderately pleased by this.

The supports were pretty damn awesome, also. The Black Ryder is a band consisting of two members of the Morning After Girls, and a bunch of guest people from other bands, like the Laurels and Brian Jonestown. They play kinda shoegazey stuff, I guess.

Go see them! 

imagist42:
I just got back from the ACL aftershow with Crooked Fingers. And Man Man. AND OKKERVIL ODKJAWODKJAWIJD RIVER.

I'm not going to talk about You-Know-Who tonight. All the lights around me are kind of oscillating between dim and bright and various tunes to nearly every song from Black Sheep Boy through The Stand Ins are swirling in my head to form the most perfect composition ever. So I'll talk about them tomorrow.

BUT, before I devote all tonight's memory cells to the one band, I'd like to talk about the openers.

Okay, so here's the scoop on Crooked Fingers: I had no idea who they were. They played some really weird songs to begin with involving really awful megaphones with enormous feedback problems, and lots of other random noise and static. If I was smiling, it was only to laugh at them (and possible at their two chicks, the bass player and the violinist/multi-instrumentalist, who were both pretty cute). But then they cut that crap out, gave the blonde her violin and started playing some slightly more straightforward, accessible and overall dance-able rock songs, with sensible vocals. They almost fully redeemed themselves by the end. Side note: I have been listening to their Myspace attempting to identify some of the songs I heard, but I can only assume that most of them were off their upcoming album (to be released in two weeks, although they were breaking the release date by selling it at the merch stand), because I only recognize "Crowned in Crime."

Re: Man Man. I have heard of them, and heard their songs, but never listened to a full album. And now that I have seen them live, I never want to, because I can imagine nothing on record that could compare and live up to the show I experienced tonight. It was, to the fullest (and most positive) sense of the word, a ridiculous display. They began setting up their instruments themselves (no roadies) while "The Hey Song" (that's right, the one played at stadiums during sports events) blared from the speakers. The members were enjoying themselves already, pumping their fists to each "Hey!" of the song, and tossing things back and forth between (or at) themselves. Then the song faded out, and... it came back again. And again. And again. Throughout their entire set-up and final sound check, the song must have repeated a dozen times. It began to get hilarious about the third song, and the crowd was really into it the fourth through seventh times around, but by then I think the members of the band realized it was beginning to grate. Perhaps they hadn't planned on taking so long to adjust volumes, because some of them were beginning to sound a little agitated. But then they went away, and a few minutes later, came back on stage with all white clothing and war paint.

All the agitation faded away.

They were set up facing each other (except for Chang Wang, who was off to the side a little but still joined in on others' mics when he didn't need to be playing his keys), with drummer Pow Pow across from vocalist fontman Honus Honus, in plain view (a refreshing contrast from most bands' philosophy of "hide-the-drummer"). They barely stopped playing throughout the whole set (I think Pow Pow might have been still all of ten seconds during the whole hour or so), and collectively they were the most energetic, playful musicians I could ever imagine. Honus Honus would be rocking back and forth at his keys, or standing up on his seat shouting into the mic, or running back and forth singing with his arms flailing about like a soul singer, or pulling away one of Pow Pow's tom toms and banging on it himself... it was all just, incredible. On that stage, those four men are one, both audibly and visibly.

In short, all five of my senses orgasmed tonight, before Okkervil River ever came on.

valley_parade:
Ashers: Well..you've got the guy from The Unseen on vocals...and really, all street punk these days kinda sounds exactly alike. But I liked them more than when I saw the Unseen.

Flatfoot 56: I'd never even heard of them until they took the stage. They're a great Celtic punk band and I fucking enjoyed the shit out of their set. I am legitimately buying two or three of their shirts when I get some cash. Also, I managed to run into the frontman in a circle pit during Street Dogs, and he's a pretty rad guy.

Time Again: Wow, don't you guys sound like generic Rancid rip-offs. So glad they played a short set.

Street Dogs: I love Street Dogs, they're one of the better Boston punk bands, great on record..but dude. I was bored by their set. I left mid-way through. *sigh*

Chesire Cat:
I went to Hot Chip in Monreal at Metropolis last night and it was amazing.  One of the best shows Ive ever been too, the place was packed and they put on an amazing show.  I couldnt get enough.  I danced hard enough for two regular people and had a grand time, it peaked at Over and Over, where everyone lost their shit.  And they closed out the set with an earnest rendition of Nothing Compares 2 U, it was beautiful.

spoon_of_grimbo:
i saw a wilhelm scream at the birmingham barfly back in january, and despite the place being over half-empty, it was easily one the best gigs i've ever experienced in my life.  the poor turnout didn't affect the band's performance in the slightest - i'm obviously slightly biased as they're one of my favourite bands, but in all seriousness, i've never seen a band so visibly enjoying themselves as much as those guys - constantly smiling, cracking jokes, and really down to earth guys (they came and chatted to everyone right after the set).  it's also worth mentioning that despite the ridiculously fast and technical stuff they're playing (and the fact that pretty much all of them contribute vocal-wise and so have to stay fairly near to a mic at almost all times) they were amazingly energetic.  it also helped that they their setlist was only a coupla songs away from being the absolute perfect setlist i'd been imagining.

seriously, anyone who's into punk or metal of any kind should check these guys out.

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