Live Music

[Sky]

Not in this thread, plzthx. If you go see them live, post it here.

I'd describe it as pop tripe ;) But that's just my opinion! Going from Tom Waits to that was jarring.

[Slayerik]

Got to see the Police last night at the Palace of Auburn Hills (near Detroit), the show was fuckin great. Sting is still hitting the notes and I am just thankful we got hooked up with a free Suite...

If you can catch them, do it.

[UD_Delt]

A buddy of mine just got to sit in on keys and sax with the band Particle and apparently they're playing a festival headlined by Sonic Youth sometime this summer.

Here's a short clip of his band Toast (he's on keys):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN0RT8MPMrI

I'm digging the dude about 2/3 of the way through in the full on broken neck head gear.

If anyone's in the Austin, TX area they should check em out and send me a report since I haven't had a chance to see them live yet (being in Cleveland and all.)

[Sky]

Can't afford to see the Police. Had a chance to get in on some Madison Square Garden tickets, but it would have been about half our concert budget for the year!

I knew guys in a band called Toast here in upstate NY in the early 90s. Your buddy's Toast is pretty good, and I noticed the neckbrace guy, too.  With the lights, it looks like a fun show if you're baked :)

[Fraeg]

hmm for those that might know em:

i saw Necrophagist and Arsis (and tons of other openers) recently in sactown.

mind blowing tech death... seeing people pull this stuff off live is simply amazing.

[Sky]

The Egg may be the best acoustic environment I've ever experienced, it's amazingly crystal clear. They also have very talented sound guys. I talked to Buddy's guitarist after the show and he swore I lent him a guitar at the Poughkeepsie show. I laughed and said "Sure, and now I want it back!"

This is a good week, getting to see the living legend Buddy Guy twice in one week.

[Slayerik]

Can't afford to see the Police. Had a chance to get in on some Madison Square Garden tickets, but it would have been about half our concert budget for the year!

I knew guys in a band called Toast here in upstate NY in the early 90s. Your buddy's Toast is pretty good, and I noticed the neckbrace guy, too.  With the lights, it looks like a fun show if you're baked :)

If it wasn't for the $3000 suite we got for FREE I would have never made the show either! Gonna be hard to go back to the chump seats now! ;)

[trotski]

Got to see the Police last night at the Palace of Auburn Hills (near Detroit), the show was fuckin great. Sting is still hitting the notes and I am just thankful we got hooked up with a free Suite...

If you can catch them, do it.

I caught them in Seattle,  fantastic show.  It was just fucking awesome to see those guys on stage together.

[Tale]

Not in this thread, plzthx. If you go see them live, post it here.

I'd describe it as pop tripe ;) But that's just my opinion! Going from Tom Waits to that was jarring.

I find it more jarring watching people who've never lived in the UK discuss live music ;) But Hard-Fi do suck live.

So I'll drop some use of Tom Waits in videos by someone I think is cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrDKHrDH3zM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X988EY0mjsM

And I'll get back on topic by trying to prove the spirit of live music can survive tabloid hype, Kate Moss and truckloads of illegal drugs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3vIMYwVDf8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtR-SmId_Fc

Oh well. This is what I really like though - I just missed them when I was in England in May:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O9WgFEevzA

I can't stop now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NwqN-xj9Xs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aG789_n_HQ

The last live gig I was at personally (two weeks ago) was Paul Kelly, something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mpczZfyWj4

If I could pick only one band to see live in Australia, it would be The Cat Empire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SmtVUbfPAo

Secret bonus track
youtube.com/watch?v=6-JfIduytVs

[Righ]

As far as I know, there are still plans for Porcupine Tree to play their first Australian dates this year. Probably near the end, since they are doing a second US tour in October and second UK tour in November.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2916248155071637531

Last gig I was at was Rush. Better than their last two tours even.

[Furiously]

I'm so much more peaceful now, my old self should time travel to now and kick my ass :P

He'd kick your ass old man! Then laugh at you.

[Sky]

Eh, I deserved it, probably!

[Righ]

Just saw Dream Theater at the Tower in Philly - the last date of their US tour. Some of the time they were brilliant, but all to often they went off in soulless wankery, presumably forgetting that they were supposed to be playing for our benefit rather than their own. Part of it presumably comes down to their monstrous egos, part of it comes down to their audience who applauds every flash wank they do and claps through the quieter passages. High points included Scarred & Lines In The Sand... low point was a frankly embarrassing cover of Marillion's Sugar Mice which for some reason included the Gilmore guitar solo from Mother.

[Sky]

A sad waste of talent, that band. I really don't like them at all, it's the kind of music I've rebelled against most of my guitar playing life. I'll take a simple John Lee Hooker song that never wavers from E and uses every blues cliche in the book, but boogie woogies like a mofo over that kind of artsy fartsy stuff. And musicians with egos? Fuck that shit. I've got a friend who's been trying to get a jam together for ages...but he's from the dream theater set and I'm pretty sure it'll never work out. At least he doesn't have the ego.

We saw Skynyrd on thursday, what a great show. Good crowd, singing along, lots of drunken rednecks though apparently they're having some kind of comeback and lots of younger kids (well, teens and twenties, heh) were there getting into it. Not a huge fan of the hollywood mercenary they've got at third guitar, but the core is still there and kicking ass. Really, it's worth the price of admission just to see the collosal chops of Billy Powell live, maybe the best rock pianist evar.

[Selby]

I saw Bowling For Soup do an acoustic show after getting hosed out of a rock show at the House of Blues.  It was fun to see musicians just like me screwing around onstage and chatting with the 45 or so fans who bothered to show up.  They haven't changed at all since their bar-house days in Texas when I first saw them before they "made it big."

[Nonentity]

All the shows I've been to recently have all been my friend's bands... mostly LA music scene stuff.

Two of them have managed to get themselves signed, though, so good for them. That show I went to was an Escape The Fate/Lovehatehero show.

Also, I'm now seeing that my elementary/junior high friends are getting record deal - my friend Allison was the iTunes pick of the week with her band A Fine Frenzy a week or two back.

[Sky]

Ahh...first row for ZZ Top. We were a bit to the left side, but there were a bunch of PGA goofballs (boat shoes, no socks) that left early so we took their seats. Then the other four left before the end of the show so we were center for the last four or five songs. Wicked deal.

Good mix of fan favorites and crowd favorites. Only one weak song in the entire set, a ballad. They opened with some early stuff and then took a few requests. Me and another guy were both shouting for songs. He yelled Just Got Paid, they played it. I yelled Blue Jean Blues, and everyone was yelling songs because he just played the last one. He looked at me and said "What?", I repeated and they played that. Billy forgot the lyrics halfway through and did a nice improv, which is really what the blues is about anyway. Covered Foxy Lady in the middle of the set. Closed out the set with the big crowd favorites, Legs, Sharp Dressed Man, Cheap Sunglasses. So overplayed when I was younger, but still great songs and of course the crowd went nuts for them. Then they encored with La Grange and Tush.

Got to see a bunch of solos right in front of me which was amazing. Billy's not a technical player, but he exudes groove and has a lot of fun playing. Seeing a couple folks right in front interested he got a little back and forth going with us, doing silly guitar stuff and laughing like we had some kind of injoke going. Probably gets that going at each show, but it's cool to be the couple of people out of thousands that he does it with. The other guy near me was a bass player and early on remarked to his girlfriend how good Dusty was...the cool thing about being that close is if you say something in a lull...they hear it. Dusty came over, pointed at the guy, and started doing more fills for us. Like I said, having folks interested in your playing beyond just hearing a few songs from the radio twenty years ago can light a fire. And the Top was on fire.

I figured being up front, I was a cinch for a pick. I haven't gotten a pick in so long (I did get one from the guy playing guitar in Buddy Guy's band, who was cool). No pick. Earlier, during a guitar change, Billy announced his tech, Elwood. The crowd went nuts, yelling "Elwood". During the next guitar change we started chanting "El-Wood-El-Wood!", became a fun little riff. So everyone clears out and I sees ol' Elwood cleaning up the gear..."Hey Elwood!" No good. Move over to the side of the stage and yell again when he comes out "Hey Elwood, can I get a pick?" He comes over and tosses one, and of course I miss it. Three young guys come over, he tosses them one, then tosses me one, which I catch. I thank him and ask another roadie to pick up the one I dropped, he does and says "Man, you lucked out...Billy /never/ throws picks!" So I got two picks from the guy who doesn't throw them! Nice cap to a great night. ZZ Top is as good now as they've ever been, and they're playing a solid set.

[penfold]

I'm seeing Killswitch Engage next week and Machine Head, Arch Enemy, Dragonforce, Trivium and Shadows Fall in Nov. Only problem is it's at the Brixton Academy and the sound levels when I saw LOG, COB and Slayer sucked. It was all drum and bass, and I could barely make out some of the guitars.

There's also a one a million chance I'll be going (or gouging at) the Led Zep reunion too. The odds are incredibly low though.

[trotski]

I went to Endfest in Seattle over the weekend. It's a day long festival of mostly crappy commercial alt rock bands, but i was excited this year, because Social Distortion was playing. They are one of my most favorite punk bands ever, and I've never gotten to see them live. Smashing Pumpkins was headlining. I was more curious to see them, than anything. I'll probably get flamed for this but-- I was a fan of theirs in the '90s, but after Mellon Collie, they just got weird. But I was stoked to see them play.

Social D was just awesome, definitely the highlight of the 10 hours i was there. (had to go by myself, the wife is...well...short. So she doesn't do so well in festival-type situations where she can't see very well.) They played for about an hour, and just ripped through their hits, which was fun. I'd like to have heard some really early Social D, but awesome nonetheless.

The Pumpkins were....interesting. They played 11 songs in the hour they played. 2 of the songs were 10+ minutes. They played Bullet w/ Butterfly Wings, Tonight Tonight, and closed with Today. I wish they would have played more old stuff, but they were mostly playing songs from the new album. And btw: Billy Corgan is freakishly tall in person. He opened by playing the Star Spangled Banner--Jimi-style, obv--I think the significance of playing it in Jimi's hometown was lost on the mostly 16-20 year olds in attendance.

I'd mention some of the other bands that played, but they were largely unremarkable. The only exception was Satellite Party (Perry Farrell's new band) which played, I think, one SP song and the rest were all Jane's Addiction songs. That was really cool, and the crowd really got into it. Although I could have done without Perry being almost naked by the end of their set.

All in all a great day, the beer garden helped get through the shittier bands! As a side note, it was rather funny the eclectic mix of people there. Mostly teenagers and then all these middle aged punkers there to see SD, i was laughing all day. And a nice selection of boobies found their way out of some shirts, so that was a definite upside.

[Selby]

Smashing Pumpkins was headlining. I was more curious to see them, than anything. I'll probably get flamed for this but-- I was a fan of theirs in the '90s, but after Mellon Collie, they just got weird. But I was stoked to see them play.

No flaming here.  I was a big Pumpkins fan back when Mellon Collie came out, but once I heard "Eye" and Billy talking about how it would be their new direction, all I could think of was "oh shit, they're going to suck from here on out" and I was pretty much right.  Adore just... sucked.  The only reason I know Machina didn't completely blow is because of the handful of tracks they put on their Greatest Hits album that didn't actually suck (the limited second disc was pretty nice to have 18 different B-sides on it too).  They were one band that I enjoyed hunting their B-sides to more than the albums.  They really did record some great music, even if most of it was almost impossible to find once it had been out for a year or so (the Siamese Dream box set, the Aeroplane Flies High box set, etc).

They played for about an hour, and just ripped through their hits, which was fun. I'd like to have heard some really early Social D, but awesome nonetheless.

If you see them again chances are they will play early stuff.  They tour so often they change the setlist all the time.  The first time I saw them in 2004 they played 1945 and Another State of Mind.  The second time they played Mass Hysteria (at a festival too!).  Most recently I saw them they played all of the Mommy's Little Monster album from start to finish and THEN played for another hour.  Definitely one of the more fun bands to go see.  I've seen them 4 times in 3 years and it's been a great show with different crowd banter and songlists each time.  Sure, the hits get played but they always throw in at least 1-2 more obscure songs.  Maybe it's a SoCal thing since they are local.

[Sky]

Heart, 5th row. Good lord Ann has some of the greatest pipes ever gifted to humanity. And sexy little Nancy kicking and jumping through the entire set, both of them laughing and having a great time like a couple of kids. Fun show.

They only played two of the big 80s songs, which I knew I was going to have to endure, but surprisingly, they made it enjoyable by changing up instrumentation (Nancy on mandolin, stand-up bass) and Ann's voice is just so much better live. And when they get into their rocking 70s stuff, it's simply amazing. They had some friends in the audience and Nancy was really belting, at a few points Nancy just looked at her, eyes wide after some particularly amazing passage, and smiled. Always love it when the band is having a good time and letting it all hang out.

They ran through a small set of Zep covers, as usual. Ann has the voice Plant wishes he still had. No effort at all, no buildup, she can just hit every note she wants to. I'd rather see Page and Jones play with her singing at that big Zep concert coming up. Double encore.

Security were being pricks and trying to get everyone out literally minutes after the show, before the roadies even hit the stage. A few of us lingered in hopes of getting a pick, and it was looking grim...I started trying to get the attention of the roadies off to the side of the stage, and that was ably taken up by a few women that had been in the front row, one guy turned and came over, so I got a pick from Nancy now, too. Good couple weeks for that!

[Mrbloodworth]

Just went to the GWAR show last night, i'm biased as they are my favorite band, but it was a most excellent show. If you have never seen them, i highly recommended it.. You will never look at other shows the same way again, in fact, you will be bored at any other show.

GWAR. Obey.

[Selby]

Did you get jizzed on by the giant phallus at your GWAR show? ;-)

[Mrbloodworth]

Did you get jizzed on by the giant phallus at your GWAR show? ;-)

I have paid my dues ,Having said that, no, i did not this time. (unless your talking about the cuddle fish, they didn't have the giant Phallus they used to have)

The nights casualties were, "Jitler"( Jesus and Hitler combined), "Jewsafier" (SP?, Jewish Lucifer), The Demon of metal, George bush (Who came out to monkey noises), Nazi pope (Crosstaka pope), Uncle veto (Thats his name right?) from "viva la bam".

I have seen everything from the OG "gor gor", to the Regionator and the worlrd maggot. I never miss a show i can reach. Even hang out with them from time to time... was once dubbed by odurus urungus himself as "Little odurus" due to my ability to recant the lore of GWAR.

I love the music, i love the social and political commentary, and i love the slapstick audacity of it, And they are local to me...

[Righ]

They ran through a small set of Zep covers, as usual. Ann has the voice Plant wishes he still had. No effort at all, no buildup, she can just hit every note she wants to. I'd rather see Page and Jones play with her singing at that big Zep concert coming up. Double encore.

Well, since Percy is the only former Led Zep member actually saying no to the idea of a reunion tour after the London concert, I suppose it could happen. She probably wouldn't be their first choice though.

[Sky]

She probably wouldn't be their first choice though.

I would concur. It would reflect the ex-Zeps complete inability to make any good musical decisions since Bonham died. They burned out AND faded away...except they won't go away.

Sortof live...Rev Horton Heat is going to be on HDNet sunday, check your local listings etc. DVR ftw.

[stray]

The Plant and Page albums from several years back weren't bad at all.

[stray]

Sortof live...Rev Horton Heat is going to be on HDNet sunday, check your local listings etc. DVR ftw.

Tiger Army is on tour. Check em out :) Not shredders like the Rev, but their singer kicks ass.

[Righ]

I saw Damo Suzuki (formerly singer with Can, the greatest rock band of all time) at two concerts last night. His thing these days is to invite musicians to give them their details over the Internet, and then he arranges unrehearsed concerts with them the next time he plays in their cities. He played concerts last night with two Philly area bands - Bardo Pond at The Rotunda in the early evening, and Stinking Lizaveta in a bar down the road later in the evening. Bardo Pond played one long psych jam, while Stinking Lizaveta were entirely different with shorter numbers - quite an innovative sound. Damo was superb fronting both bands with his improvised and passionate vocals. The bands were great too.

The last couple of weekends I saw Porcupine Tree in NYC & Atlantic City. They're on the last few nights of their US tour now - if you feel like seeing their live show, the set they're playing this evening at New Orleans' Voodoo Music Festival is being streamed:

http://www.iclips.net/

They're on in around an hour after Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Not all the bands are being streamed (I suppose Rage Against The Machine & Spoon among others declined based on label wishes) - but many of the bands are. So there's some good music for free on the net this weekend.

[Phred]

One cool thing about the show is that it was one of those "Instant Live" shows, where you pony up a few bucks before the show and get a voucher. After the show, you turn in the voucher for a cd of the show (actually, 3 cds in this case). That blows my mind, though it's something I've been thinking of offering local bars (just running the PA lineouts to a laptop with a burner). Very cool listening to the show you just saw on the ride home.
/quote

Not sure the output from the PA is gonna be worth much. The mix is usually filled with things that are quiet on stage, unless the room is big enough or the band quiet enough that everything is there. I'm guessing they run a separate mix for that instant live cd.

[Sky]

Brian Setzer is the greatest guitarist alive.

Saw him at a sold-out show Sat night. I'm still nearly speechless, processing what I saw.

[voodoolily]

MC Frontalot is playing in Portland on Friday, and Buck 65 is playing the following Friday. Busy month!

[Sky]

Tickets for next year starting to crop up. Got decent seats to see Taj Mahal at the Egg, and just now scored front row tickets to see Dickey Betts and Great Southern at the Bardavon. I hope Andy Aledort is still playing with him, that will be an amazing show.

Still, Brian Setzer has kinda set the bar. That cat is beyond words, pure entertainment and living guitar legend.

Also got a couple alerts for Buddy Guy, who I will go see every time he's within a couple hundred miles and BB King, who is one of the last blues legends left on the list to see. Going to be another amazing year.

[penfold]

Brian Setzer is so cool, would love to see him play. Was it the Big Band thing he does?

I saw "The Black Crusade" a few weeks ago. After a huge queue, I walked in to Shadows Fall playing the last few bars of their last song. Oh well. Arch Enemy were on next, one of my favourite bands and I wasn't disappointed. Michael and Chris Amott were flawless and they played a mix of songs from the new album and the previous two (Nemesis!), and this great extended slower piece with a great melodic arpeggio I've not heard before.

Next up were Dragonforce. I've seen some youtube clips of some really ropey performances but this time they were spot on. That South African dude can actually sing, despite him leaping round the stage whilst looking just like Captain Jack Sparrow. Herman and Sam were on top form, with a particulary crazy extended sweep-tapping riff (it even stood out from their million BPM playing and more tricks than a cheap Vegas hooker) and continual use of the trem bar guitar raise thingy from Herman. Excellent trampoline use and synchronised leaps to.

Trivium were on next, and another good set from them. Mix of songs from the latest album, with a couple from their first. Coreys taken over growling duties now, with Mat concentrating on singing. Musically they were tight, excellent performance from the lads.

Machine Head headlined. They played their usual crowd pleasers and my fave from The Blackening, Halo. Imperium, Take My Scars,  Descend The Shades of Night and Davidian also went down well. It was the first time I saw them and I wasn't disappointed although by the time they were on I was drunk and could have done with a seat. I guess it's confirmed I'm old. The venue went crazy for them too, it was obvious who everyone was there to see.

This weekend I took my girlfriend to see Crowded House. Apparently it was really good. I kinda dug the professionalism of the band though, and the production values and video setup were of high standard and I recognised 2 songs. 

[stray]

Brian Setzer is so cool, would love to see him play. Was it the Big Band thing he does?

It's just called the Brian Setzer Orchestra