CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Lobby => Music and Recordings => Topic started by: shipsupt on June 08, 2013, 05:07:44 PM
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From rock shows to opera, from the coffee shop to a stadium, let's talk about concerts and shows!
Summer is here in the UK which means that festival season is kicking off and the choice of shows to catch is mind numbing.
So far I've only booked my tickets to the Forum to catch Clutch, but I've got my eye on a few other tickets around London.
Who's seen a good show lately?
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One for after the Summer:
London 25th October at the Shpongle premier of "Museum of consciousness
www.facebook.com/events/174487909383482/?ref=22
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I like the looks of the venue... looks like a posh Forum! I don't know Shpongle, but a quick listen tells me I should check 'em out. And there would still be time to grab a ticket!!
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There may be tickets left. They are superb. Raja Rams is a genius (eccentric though) and the other guy, Simon Posford formed 'Younger Brother, another superb group.
All of the Shpongle albums so far are absolutely stunning.
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Pity it'll be impossible for me to reach it at that time, I'm a fan of their sound.
Maybe at least there will be a new album...
Anyway, an album can't capture the vibe completely, no matter how well it is done - the feel of the live set is made of much more than just sound.
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Sphongle is quite the experience. I saw them a couple of years ago at the Fox in Oakland. We all walked out of there wondering "what the FUCK did we just watch". It reminded me of that Cirque Du Soleil scene in Knocked Up when Paul Rudd and Seth Rogan are on shrooms.
It's been a while since I've been to a show around here. I saw the Brad Mehldau Trio about 3 weeks ago at Yerba Buena, which was enjoyable as always.
Shows I have lined up so far:
Father John Misty and White Fence at The Fillmore
Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake at Candlestick
Postal Service and Divine Fits at the Greek
Bob Dylan / Wilco / My Morning Jacket at the Shoreline
Ty Segall at Great American Music Hall
Godspeed You! Black Emporer at Great American Music Hall
Local Natives and Wild Nothing at The Fox
Vampire Weekend and Beirut at the Hollywood Bowl
Pitchfork Festival in Chicago
Outside Lands Festival at Golden Gate Park
Treasure Island Festival at Treasure Island
Was thinking about checking out that First City Festival in Monterey in August, but they just announced a My Bloody Valentine show that weekend.
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Just flew to Seoul this weekend to catch SNSD's Girls & Peace Tour. The Korean pop scene, or at least the concerts under SM Entertainment, have explosive and interactive live shows. Absolutely met my expectations, well worth the trip for me.
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I just booked for Motörhead in November. Who knows how long Lemmy will be around!?
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Looks like Savages has joined the QOTSA tour as support in the fall. Should be a great show.
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Queens are playing the iTunes festival here, but I figure the chances of me getting the tickets are pretty slim. I'll give it a shot though! They are also playing a little record store gig, but that sold out in like 1 minute.
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Q- when are Postal Service and Divine Fits at the Greek? :wheel:
EDIT: NVM. BTW, this pic always makes me think that Luis is 1/2 of the Postal Service.
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Danzig and Black Spiders on Monday night! headbang
I'll report back on the show next week!
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Snarky Puppy in Toronto tonight, hell yeah
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CT - let me know if you want me to pick you up tickets at the box office to save on processing fees. I'm always in that area anyway.
Here's a piece about live shows that Sachu posted yesterday in the shoutbox that I'll post here to archive: http://blog.thecurrent.org/2013/06/the-audacity-of-low-what-does-a-band-owe-us-when-we-pay-to-see-them-perform/
Any Bay Area guys here catching any of the free Stern Grove shows? Some nice dates this year like Ramsey Lewis/Dee Dee Bridgewater this weekend, Deltron 3030 (with an orchestra) on June 30th and Shuggie Otis on August 4th. http://www.sterngrove.org/home/2013-season/season-calendar
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I've booked a ticket to see the London Symphony Orchestra perform at St Paul's Cathedral in July.
The programme for the evening is...
6 Metamorphoses after Ovid Op 49 - Benjamin Britten
Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten - Arvo Pärt
Missa L'homme armé sexti toni - Josquin des Prés
Metamorphosen - Richard Strauss
Adagio for strings - Samuel Barber
I'm really looking forward to hearing Pärt and Barber live.
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Rocked to Danzig last night at the Roundhouse in London. headbang It was an excellent show. Evil Elvis didn't disappoint bringing his powerful vocals. I've never seen anyone able to overpower a proper metal band on stage with vocals alone and sound good doing it. Seriously, this guy sings with a confidence that is captivating.
Glenn ran through a long set list of up tempo songs that started with just a couple of new songs and followed with all of the old hits. The band was tight and the energy was high, always with a feeling of pushing things a little faster than you'd hear from the studio recordings. He could have easily moved into some of his slower stuff to take a break, but it's just not the way this guy performs. At close to 60 he hasn't lost much.
Steve Zing's bass was literally shaking the building but it didn't stop Tommy Victor's incredible clean riffs and solos from stealing the show in more than a few songs. John Kelly kept a strong beat that constantly pushed with an energy that kept the whole set moving. I also dig that he was playing a pretty plain rig, but made the most of it. You could see just how much fun the three were having, including taking time to pull out their own cell phones and turning them towards the crowd gone wild!
I knew that a Misfits set was planned and had read about Doyle's performance at previous shows on this tour. That however did little to prepare me for the absolute pandemonium that ensued when for the first time, for most anyone in the UK, Danzig summoned his monster man on stage. Stomping out while smashing chords on his guitar Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein crashed on to the stage and they took things to whole new level belting out some of the greats like Skulls and Die Die Die my Darling. It was one of those rock show moments you just have to experience. Doyle really is a monster man who's presence on stage is truly larger than life.
(http://images.onset.freedom.com/ocregister/blogs/soundcheck.ocregister.com/danziglead.jpg)
Glenn's voice did start to waiver late in the show when Doyle took a break and Danzig pushed on with a few more hits like Mother. Don't take that the wrong way. He took no prisoners and left nothing on stage. His heavy breathing between sets and soaked with sweat hair were clear indications of just how hard he pushed.
He managed to keep enough in the tanks to belt out two encores, one with Doyle back on point, that left a satisfied audience in awe.
A few non-band related notes that made my night enjoyable; I was pleasantly surprised at what a really cool crowd was there. in spite of the wide spread of ages, no shortage of alcohol, and some proper looking punks everyone seemed to just be having a great time and stayed friendly. Sorry to stereotype, but it's one of the few shows like this I've been to in the recent past where someone didn't end up acting like an asshole and pissing people off or fighting. At least I didn't witness anything like that.
I also used my UE custom ear plugs for the first time. They were outstanding. They knock things down just enough to keep a volume similar to what I'd consider slightly loud listening on headphones. I popped them out a few times to get an idea of what the sound was like without the damping, and it was friggn' loud. With the plugs in I left with no ringing or fatigue in my ears and I honestly don't feel like it had any negative impact on hearing the band.
As Danzig celebrates 25 years he showed that the old man is still a friggn' rock star. Well done.
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Great review. I wish I had gone.
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Awesome read, Ship! Sounds like a fun show.
Kinda cool set that you don't see every day, in that Wilco did a whole set of covers only for the first night of their Solid Sound festival:
http://www.spin.com/articles/wilco-daft-punk-pavement-replacements-solid-sound-festival-download-video/
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Went to my first gig in about 15 years last night ( life after kids or something to that effect ) . It was the first leg of the FUN. us tour and day 2 of SummerFest - http://summerfest.com/ (I don't recall what we last went to - possibly blur at the royal albert )
They were absolutely brilliant - tons of energy, great timing and clearly enjoying the crowd ( about 23,000 ) . The thing that struck me was how the sound improved from opening act, through second act and finally to the main performance by FUN. I don't even know the name of the first band but I was ready to leave when I heard the quality of the music - upper mid distortion, flabby overbearing bass - and they were an acoustic folksy/blues band along the lines of Mumford. Second band was unknown too ( to me ) iirc "Walk the Moon" , more pop rock but gave a good show and were clearly more attuned to performing in front of crowds. BUT their sound was much tighter , and it was a HUGE improvement. FUN. was like going from DT70 to HD800. Do they do this on purpose or does each band have its own sound engineer controlling the board. I assumed the venue controlled the PA and sound; if so, it took the sound guy quite a while to figure out his console.
It was a great night nonetheless. I went primarily because this is my wifes favourite band and surprised her with tickets. It was also surprising at how close their live sound is to their recorded music.
..dB
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Sounds like a good show dB!
I too always wonder about the sound engineers. Thy twiddle and tweak around throughout the show and I wonder how much impact they are having.
For sure the headliners get treated to a better sound system, they typically are not sharing all the same speakers etc... This was really clear at a recent show when a small Irish band opened for Drop Kick Murphys. The openers used some pretty basic gear just propped on stage. The Murphys had a massive professional hanging sound system that could have been used in a stadium. Besides the obvious difference in power, the quality was noticebly better for the Murphys as well. I guess you don't want the openers to overshadow the headliners!
I am thinking about two shows that are on the same night, Blondie and Beck... need to pick one!?
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NIN in AZ in Noviembre. Friend is going, but he paid $125 for admission. Kinda spendy in my book! I just started getting into NIN in the past year or so. Anyone have experiences seeing Reznor live?
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Sounds great Don. My brother (not the one you met) was actually signed by the same agent who discovered Fun but they're giving him a year to build up a rep as he's doing Israeli idol this year. I'm meh on most of the summerfest lineup this year, but a couple bands stick out for me:
Guster (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA3WB3xUiVo) is playing Thursday 7/4 at 10. They have a nice combo of soaring melodies, basic but enjoyable harmonies, and atmospheric interludes.
Roster Mccabe (https://soundcloud.com/rostermccabe/drift) is playing two sets on 7/6, 7/7, 7/8. Mix of rock/pop funk, soul, hints of jazz during jams, and more recently electronica. They are really creative and have great shows.
Dr John is also in town but he hasn't been the same the last few years.
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I'm late to the Guster bandwagon only "discovering" them this year myself, but I really dig 'em. I think they'd be good live.
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NIN in AZ in Noviembre. Friend is going, but he paid $125 for admission. Kinda spendy in my book! I just started getting into NIN in the past year or so. Anyone have experiences seeing Reznor live?
I haven't seen NIN since I was in high school when they were touring The Fragile album around 2000 or 2001. It was all sorts of awesome, but I idolized Trent Reznor back then. I caught half of the How To Destroy Angels set at Coachella in April, and didn't find it very engaging, but then again I'm not a fan of the HTDA material really. The stage setup was very cool though, as they had a see-thru curtain type thing that they performed behind with a lot of different lighting. Trent Reznor shows are going to have awesome visuals.
I'm seeing them in August this year, so I'll report back. But my feeling is, NIN has gotten to the point where $125 is sorta the going rate for their shows.
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Pixies! On tour with new music. No Kim Deal! I never miss a chance to see them.
We grabbed tickets this morning for the London show in November, just before it sold out! This will be towards the end of the European leg of the tour so they should be in full stride by the time they get here.
"Along with everyone's favorites, we'll be playing songs that we haven't played in ages or never played live before," said Black Francis. "Songs like 'Brick is Red,' 'Havalina,' 'Tony's Theme.' and 'Sad Punk.' We've probably rehearsed some 80 songs, so we'll be able to change up the set at the last minute if we feel like it. We're all really looking forward to this tour." headbang
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Excellent news, ship. They haven't announced any shows in my area yet, but the LA tickets go on sale tomorrow. I may have to just get those tickets and make a weekend out of it.
Just saw Kim Deal play with the Breeders last week playing all of Last Splash, plus other material (like Oh!).
Also saw Belle & Sebastian, who were beyond awesome. Stuart Murdoch has such infectious charisma on stage and knows how to keep the crowd engaged with jokes, stories, crowd participation, etc. It started thunderstorming mid-way through the set, and turned out to be a nice little dance party in the rain. They really needed a 3 hour set though, there were tons of songs that I wanted to hear that they didn't play (We Are the Sleepyheads, Funny Little Frog, Step Into my Office, Like Dylan in the Movies, nothing off Write About Love at all).
Surprisingly the funnest set of the weekend was R. Kelly! I went from being so disappointed with him being billed to being absolutely blown away by how fun his set was. If anyone has seen the Aziz Ansari bit on going to an R. Kelly show, it's EXACTLY like the way he describes R. Kelly talking to the crowd in singing mode. Good times.
Anyway, pretty excited about this weekend. Seeing Jay-Z tonight, and then Postal Service and Divine Fits tomorrow. And then Run The Jewels (who killed it in Chicago) on Tuesday.
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Not sure if this belongs here, but why the hell not.
Just saw the musical The Book of Mormon last week as well. Effin hilarious. Anyone who can tolerate the humor in South Park even a little bit should go see it (and I'm not the biggest South Park fan at all).
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I keep seeing posters for it on my commute! Would you think my teenage boys would like it?
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Just saw Kim Deal play with the Breeders last week playing all of Last Splash, plus other material (like Oh!).
Ah fuck me man. I can't do this kind of stuff anymore with young kids.
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I keep seeing posters for it on my commute! Would you think my teenage boys would like it?
Yep -- I think teenagers would especially like it. Lots of politically incorrect potty humor in there. I probably wouldn't take an 11-year old because of the explicit content (jokes about maggots in my scrotum, sex acts with frogs, Adolf Hitler getting fellatio in a hell dream) but it's nothing that a 14-year-old hasn't seen or heard before.
Just saw Kim Deal play with the Breeders last week playing all of Last Splash, plus other material (like Oh!).
Ah fuck me man. I can't do this kind of stuff anymore with young kids.
Ahh, wait a few years until they're in their early teens and they make you take them to dub step concerts.
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Thanks! They are coming back from the US soon, I'm gonna grab some tix and make it a family day. I took them to STOMP last time, so I they trust me on picking shows.
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Not sure if this belongs here, but why the hell not.
Just saw the musical The Book of Mormon last week as well. Effin hilarious. Anyone who can tolerate the humor in South Park even a little bit should go see it (and I'm not the biggest South Park fan at all).
Nice!
Going on vacation in September and I'm planning to catch a show!
I will also be attending the whole 3 days of the Riot Fest!
Blink 182, Taking Back Sunday, The Replacements, Bad Religion, The Pixies, etc. etc. should be fun!!!!
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Not sure if mini performances count but I had the fortune lately to pass by a mini-band playing in the mall. I have only been to a few orchestra/band performances in my life but this was a pretty nice experience for me. The only other time I remember seeing a performance like this in the open was in Switzerland, rarely happens here(or I don't notice). I dropped my bags to hear them play 4-5 pieces.
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/v/1091401_10201370773926926_1006552935_o.jpg?oh=7476d7923099d0d1da7753cb22b34d50&oe=51F7BC4A&__gda__=1375281720_0d6cef272966a51f91d333f7fdda9237)
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Always fun to catch free entertainment! :)p1
How were the acoustics? I've found that sometimes little thought is given to where they set up in malls/stores and it's really bad, but other times it's been pretty good.
Last Christmas I couldn't figure out why the small orchestra was crammed into the entrance to our local supermaket instead of just inside where they would have more room. Turns out that from that location they were naturally amplified throughout the store, and it sounded pretty good!
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The space is pretty open all round except for an escalator on 1 side so they are definitely not squeezed in tight space. Not many walls at all for a while excluding the odd escalator. Sounded pretty glorious as I'm in front too!
The little performance suggested to me that I should really be paying more attention to the local orchestras.
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So... I finally got to cross "see Paul McCartney" off my bucket list over the weekend. One of the most amazing 3 hours of my life. During his ~50 years of performing live, he's obviously honed his craft, as he was a ridiculously charismatic presence on stage. He'd tell cool stories about some of his rock star friends, or the context of the songs he was going to play, and was able to hit all the right notes to keep the crowd hanging on every word. The setlist was great, and the crowd was totally into it. Sing-a-long after sing-a-long after sing-a-long.
Other great acts I saw over the weekend:
Nine Inch Nails -- AWESOME setlist from Trent & co. The visuals of this show he put together were so good as well. The crowd thinned out as most of them went to see Phoenix, so it was mainly true NIN fans in attendance. I was near the front, where a group of folks did an impromptu soul train line that my friends and I joined in on. Mr. Sneis -- go see them when they come to your town.
Vampire Weekend -- They're pretty good live performers, but the thing that puts their shows on another level is the crowd. Their songs are all very catchy and dance-y, so the crowd usually goes bonkers during almost every song. I must've given out 2 dozen high-fives during their set.
CHIC -- Biggest surprise of the weekend for me. They were a fill-in for D'angelo, who canceled due to medical issues. This turned out to be the biggest, rowdiest dance party I've ever been to.
The National -- They had Kronos Quartet come out to do the entire set with them, and then Bob Weir came out to play with them on Terrible Love. The performance was great, but the crowd in my area were chatty and disinterested. It was obvious most of them were there just camping out for Paul McCartney.
Foals -- I'm blown away by how fun they are at every show I've been to (this is my third time seeing them). Their sound and live performance was MADE for stadiums and arenas. Just big and powerful all around.
Grizzly Bear -- Enjoyed their set immensely. Ed Droste had funny stage banter the entire set, from sarcastically thanking someone for bringing a pool noodle, to commenting that Outside Lands "had the bougie-est food stands ever".
Jessie Ware -- I'm not a fan of her music AT ALL, but she was quite an engaging live performer. She had great banter with the crowd the whole time and seemed like a genuine, down-to-earth personality.
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Ok, Quest is easily on his way to having the most epic live music summer! Awesome line up!
Did McCartney play his Fireman stuff? CEE TEE just turned me on to it, I'm digging it.
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damn quest.. i wanna see national and foals live too...missed out on national though already in portland.
Probably going to see Stick Figure and Passafire tonight to get some reggae love
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Agree with Quest regarding Sir Paul.
Amazing performer. Saw him live at the Hollywood Bowl. Took my dad with me. We enjoyed that 3 hour concert immensely.
Max Raabe & Das Palast Orchester - Saw them at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Amazing experience. The musician's skill was amazing as was the sound quality and overall content of the show. Best concert I have ever been to, excluding Sir Paul. All could play and sing very well. The music being played also happens to be among my favorite genres. :)p1
Chucho Valdez - Saw him at a small dine and wine restaurant in Hollywood. Awesome piano player and very welcoming person as well. Got to hang out with him backstage. He even signed some of my stuff.
Chano Dominguez - Saw him at a UCLA concert. Fantastic improv skills and his flamenco players were a total pleasure to listen to and watch. Great synergy between them all.
George Benson - Saw him at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Tries too hard to sound like Nat King Cole. Horrible sound quality but a mostly enjoyable experience.
Diana Krall - Saw her twice. She seemed like she would rather be napping than playing the piano. Total lack of energy...bland.
Michael Buble - Saw him twice. Extremely enjoyable with witty/funny banter. I always brushed him off as a Sinatra wanna-be until I saw him live and noticed that the man can actually sing live...and quite well. Hoping to see him again.
Har Mar Superstar - Awesome. 'nuff said.
Fischerspooner - O. M. G. :-00 What a show! Would love to see them live again.
A few others but I can't think of them at the moment....
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(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/998958_10201601363491521_430823351_n.jpg)
Last weekend, violinist TAM came down to do a live performance! It was not a paid concert(though in Japan his concerts/lives are pretty damn packed) and the acoustics and micing are terribad but it was great nevertheless. Got the front row center seat so I was positioned away from the sibliant speakers that they used and thoroughly enjoyed my experience!
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_Bx6Wk4RT6rziVAbY8m2PQ
Here is his youtube channel, he plays a lot of derivative songs from Anime, J-rpgs and games. He is also a pretty awesome guy to talk to!
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Got to hit up Lollapalooza this August. As proof here's an awful picture of a Trent Reznor in mid-spasm:
(http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/909/qo3m.jpg)
Love being in Chicago: great food, great music, great people. For the NIN show I managed to make it through the moshpit up to the front fence, whereupon some enthusiastic fans helped throw me over it, wheelchair and all. The security guys weren't in much of a mood to toss me back, so I got to enjoy an interesting vantage point for the show.
Finally caught a glimpse of Crystal Castles, a bit of QotSA, The National. Though the best part of the fest, by far, was the Postal Service.
On the final day I was steered away from Tegan and Sarah to check out Two Door Cinema Club, their performance was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately I had to leave late afternoon after incurring the effects of a previous night's concussion. Apparently enjoying wine and rolling through the concert wasn't the best course of action while I was experiencing intermittent vertigo.
Definitely encouraged to go again next year. With slightly less drinking and getting knocked out.
& a couple of slightly less crappy pics:
(http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/1994/8x49.jpg)
(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/2954/rt1x.jpg)
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Nice anetode.
Postal Service was a huge/pleasant surprise for me at Coachella too. I thought they'd just be going through the motions and give a sleepy performance, but they were very upbeat and engaging. They drew a huge crowd too, which was surprising considering most of the people at Coachella are younger EDM fans.
I saw them again at the Greek in Berkeley, and they weren't so good the second time around. Ben Gibbard was just super awkward with his weirdo whiteboy dancing and his enthusiasm seemed way forced. The crowd was much more on the mellow side, so probably just not as much energy for him to feed off of.
Next year come to Outside Lands and you'll be rolling like this:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/1271671_10151595330386148_282385907_o.jpg)
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Surprisingly the funnest set of the weekend was R. Kelly! I went from being so disappointed with him being billed to being absolutely blown away by how fun his set was. If anyone has seen the Aziz Ansari bit on going to an R. Kelly show, it's EXACTLY like the way he describes R. Kelly talking to the crowd in singing mode. Good times.
One of my best friends completely digs R. Kelly. I think is R. Kelly is underrated even though I hardly listen to his music.
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Next year come to Outside Lands and you'll be rolling like this:
I'm a bit of a heavy cripple to hoist. Closest I've come to that is literally rolling over people's heads and shoulders at Ozzfest.
I knew that a Misfits set was planned and had read about Doyle's performance at previous shows on this tour. That however did little to prepare me for the absolute pandemonium that ensued when for the first time, for most anyone in the UK, Danzig summoned his monster man on stage. Stomping out while smashing chords on his guitar Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein crashed on to the stage and they took things to whole new level belting out some of the greats like Skulls and Die Die Die my Darling. It was one of those rock show moments you just have to experience. Doyle really is a monster man who's presence on stage is truly larger than life.
You lucky bastard.
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Steven Wilson visited Finland a week ago. Was a pretty good gig. Some of the better modern prog you hear..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3MpGBwGdVk
In drums we heard Chad Wackerman instead (ex Zappa drummer, though much better for this style of music). Listening to ^, I'm happy that they had Wackerman who wasn't nearly as timid as Minnemann. Was never a Wackerman fan, but he really pulled it off this time.
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Nice!
My concert going has taken a real hit to work as of late. I missed Pixies and Clutch, two of my absolute favorites!
I did see that Seasick Steve tickets went on sale today, so I think I'll grab them to make myself feel better about missing those shows.
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How long you staying for the Bay Area meet, ship? The Pixies are in Oakland the Friday after the meet. It's been sold out for a while now, but there's always stubhub/craigslist.
Some pics from some of the shows I've been to recently (that I remember to actually take pics). Sorry they're all terrible blurry phone pics.
Local Natives at The Fox Oakland. This is like my 8th time seeing them between all the venues and festivals. My first show with them was a small club of maybe 200 people, and now they're selling out The Fox which is like 3K capacity. They've really upped the stage production on this last go-around with lots of strobes and flood lighting behind them. I didn't know how the new album, with its slow-building songs and expansive harmonies, would translate live but the live renditions are more propulsive. The crowd does go crazy when old burners like Slow Hands comes on though.
(http://i41.tinypic.com/2qsoyki.jpg)
(http://i41.tinypic.com/34finsw.jpg)
This wasn't a concert really, but a speaking panel on songwriting with Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner from The National. They did do acoustic renditions of three songs (I Should Live In Salt, Pink Rabbits, Vanderlyle Crybaby Cry). I'm a huge fan of this band, so it was awesome getting to hear about their songwriting process and what a struggle it is to get a group of guys on the same page.
(http://i42.tinypic.com/rr01vc.jpg)
Kanye West at Oracle. This man really does have a flair for drama. He did the entire new album, with selected songs from his back catalog. There was a big mountain in the background with a huge screen on top of it. At different points, there was about a dozen dancers in skin-tight pantyhose material suits, a red-eyed demon lurking on the mountain, and a white Jesus appearance after the mountain split in half. All in all, it was entertaining. Oh, and Kendrick Lamar opened for him and killed it.
(http://i41.tinypic.com/14czgax.jpg)
(http://i43.tinypic.com/2qw0s9s.jpg)
(http://i40.tinypic.com/2yy7ev9.jpg)
Vampire Weekend & Beirut at The Hollywood Bowl. This was my first time at this venue, and I must say it is fantastic. A big amphitheater with four big screens (two on each side of the stage). And they let you bring in your own alcohol. My only gripes are that the seats are a bit tight so there's not much dancing room and the parking situation is terrible. Both bands were great, as expected since they're two of my favorite live bands and I've seen them each probably a dozen times over the years. Just one picture taken of the screens:
(http://i43.tinypic.com/29dtlvp.jpg)
Polica at The Fillmore. They were ok live -- not bad but not amazing. I enjoyed them more in the half set I caught at Coachella, but the crowd there was much livelier (drug-induced I'm sure).
(http://i43.tinypic.com/wh1lwo.jpg)
Cut Copy at The Fox. They were fun as hell live as usual. This show was only a few days after the new album was released so I wasn't that familiar with the newer songs, but luckily they played a lot of songs from Zonoscope and In Ghost Colours. Not a huge fan of the newer material, frankly. The crowd was obnoxious as hell though (my friend actually got kicked out by security for getting in a confrontation) and reminds me that I may be getting too old/intolerant for general admission these days.
(http://i42.tinypic.com/2e1zwgi.jpg)
One show I realized I didn't get any pics was Deafheaven when they were here a few months ago. Saw them at Bottle of the Hill (capacity of 350) with an absolutely horrible sound system, but it was one of the best shows I've been to this year. My ears were ringing for like three days afterward though...
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How long you staying for the Bay Area meet, ship? The Pixies are in Oakland the Friday after the meet. It's been sold out for a while now, but there's always stubhub/craigslist.
Not likely to in town that long, but it's not a for sure yet. I could probably convince someone that I need to spend a week in the SFO office.
My buddy rubbed it in and said the Pixies show was epic. :'(
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Wow, just got back from taking the family to see We Will Rock You in London. What a fantastic show!
The band was super tight, simply brilliant. They have been doing the show in the Dominion Theatre since 2002, so they have the sound set up perfectly!! All of the leads had amazing pipes. Some great nods to Freddy and the band, full respect paid to Queen. We were singing, clapping, and stomping along. Part rock show, part broadway!
Be on the lookout, they are doing a US tour in 2014! I'd put it on the must see list!
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TdWJtn8-y_g/TO-lqfMXTlI/AAAAAAAAAHo/C6lRvfiN-dg/s1600/principles-1024x768.jpg)
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Awesome, ship. I've had my eye on that show, but they're not coming to SF on their US tour (that they've announced). Glad you got to catch it.
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Starting this year off with Skindred this weekend. I'm just checking the new album out, so I'll also post up something in the new music thread. I have to say it's coming across a little "soft" for me right now, but I'll give it a chance.
Also the unfortunate news that the Motorhead show is once again canceled, and no postponement this time! I'm really worried that Lemmy may just not be up for major touring hard anymore... :'(
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Looking forward to seeing Dream Theater on Tour this year, they just started their U.S. tour for their new self-titled album
(http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/loudwire.com/files/2013/07/dtdt.jpg)
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(http://leadmill.co.uk/_assets/img/uploads/events/skindred_banner.jpg)
I caught one of my favorites Saturday night in London, Skindred. Opening acts SOiL and VIZA did a pretty good job of getting things pumped up for the big show, but Skindred is a hard act to open for, or follow! Props to SOiL's lead singer for singing his last song from the pit! Now that is metal.
I hope you're familiar with lead singer Benji Webbe. After getting his start with Dub War, who is worth checking out as well, Benji is certainly best known for his work with Skindred. In spite of looking a little out of shape, Benji brought massive energy to the Forum keeping the place on it's feet and jumping for over 2 hours. His huge voice was spot on from opening to the huge encore. It was clear that a few carefully scripted breaks left a little time for Benji to grab a breather, but never for long enough that the show lost its momentum. Benji is a showman and a pleasure to watch perform.
(http://tbfmonline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/600x700-skindred.jpg)
One such break was a wicked cool duet between drummer Arya Goggin and the now full time touring DJ Dan Sturgess. Dan mixed up some classic riffs and beats while Arya lit it up on a pretty basic kit. It was a lot of fun.
Mikeydemus was ripping out his classic and instantly recognizable riffs all night long. It's too bad the band was little let down by the Forums typical horrible acoustics. I just can't believe that band like this can be happy with the sound they get there... and it's show after show I see at the Forum that continues to be a let down on sound.
(http://www.rocksound.tv/images/uploads/skindredbrix1.jpg)
This show was special as I took my oldest son there for his first rock concert. Skindred live, no brainer, these guys always bring it hard. He had a blast.
Of course, after I had to tell him not to get "too used" to night we had. Why? Bear with me, this is going to take a little explaining. I last saw Skindred in about 2007 in San Jose California. They were opening for Disturbed. Honestly, I was there for Skindred more than Disturbed, so I snuck out to grab a beer during the big show. Who's hanging at the bar? Benji Webbe. My buddy Rob and I grabbed a few beers and sat down with Benji to tell stories and enjoy some drinks. I don't think we saw much more of the main show that night.
Fast forward to last Saturday night. After the show we're grabbing T-shirts for my son and I see Benji's girl friend talking with the sales girls. I tell her to make sure she thanks Benji for a great night. She stops to talk with me and Rob (the same guy I saw them with in San Jose is here in London too!) and we remind her about that night in 2007... Finally she says she has to run and as ask if we want to come up to the guest room for the after show party and chill with Benji again. We head outside, around the side of the Forum, past security, and head up to hang out with the boys from Skindred. So yeah, my sons first rock concert ends up with us drinking Jack and Cokes with Benji Webbe and Mikeydemus back stage. Benji didn't remember us, of course, but he didn't give a sh_t either... we just hung out and told some new stories and had a few drinks. Another epic rock night out for sure.
On our way out I walked my son onto the stage, the roadies were still breaking down gear. I could see his mind racing at what it must be like to be up there during show... priceless stuff.
As for the Kill the Power tour... The album is sort of 3 of 5 stars for me. It's got some moments, but it's not great. A few of the songs really rocked live. Someone either needs to figure out how to capture the Skindred sound in a studio or how to record these guys live when they are blowing the roof off any place they decide to play.
Skip the new record and grab some tickets when these guys roll into your town, you won't regret it.
(http://www.skindred.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ktppackshot.jpg)
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I went to see Swan Lake tonight. Since I am a Tchaikovsky fan I thought the worst case scenario is I would enjoy listening to the music. The Canadian National Ballet sells any remaining tickets to people under 35 for $33 24 hours before the show. I got $170 tickets for $33...not bad. I have never been to a ballet before and I don`t know I will necessarily go again. It was fun for 45 minutes but I kind of got bored after 2 hours.
I really enjoyed listening to the orchestra even though the pit takes away from the sound. The precision in the imaging was incredible. It has given me a new reference for what imaging should be in HiFi. The only thing that bugged me was how quite the orchestra was. Especially with Tchaikovsky, I feel there are crescendo`s that should blow you away. I am probably expecting too much from a ballet recital, but it did take away from the experience. On the other hand it was so quite in the theater that you could hear the dancer`s feet hitting the ground.
All in all a pretty good night. Unfortunately it has also raised my expectations for my system.
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Wow, it's been a while since I caught some live music! No better way to make up for lost time than to hit a proper rock show. And that's what Clutch brings to the stage, a no-nonsense rock and roll party.
(http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2013-01-25-band2550.jpg)
Clutch has been on tour more or less full time since the Earth Rocker tour kicked off last year, so as you can imagine they have this show down. The good news is that with their extensive library they still mix up the set list, so every show gets a little different flavor. It was a great mix of old and new, and as a big fan I was singing and dancing along to every song. These guys are pros, tight, and rocking form the first to the last. Tim Sult may not be a ball of energy on stage, but what he can do with a guitar is mind numbing. Nick Fallon of course makes up for it with his never ending energy and almost preacher like performance. It never ceases to amaze me what Gaster can do with an absolute minimal kit, and for a big dude his hands are super quick.
The show was at the Forum in Kentishtown (London), which is notorious for getting great bands and having horrible acoustics. Unfortunately the same was pretty much true for Clutch, but I have to say they did better than anyone else I've seen there to get it right. I hung out right behind the boards because I find it fascinating to watch these guys work, because it means no one is standing in front of me so I have a good view, and because I've convinced myself that if the sound is going to be good anywhere, it's right next to the guy trying to make it sound right. The engineer's iPad app reveled we were getting a steady dose of 110dB, making me pretty happy that I was wearing plugs.
It's always great to catch a band that I really dig, and Clutch is close to the top of my all time list.
(http://zumic.zumicentertainme.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/clutch-earth-rocker-guitar-interview-tim-sult.jpg)
I should mention Lionize was the opening act, and a great choice by clutch. Their new album Jetpack Soundtrack is worth checking out. They come across as still getting used to each other, a bit immature overall, but talent packed and writing some great stuff. Chris Brooks stole the show in my eyes, killing it on the keyboard. He even came back on stage for a few songs with Clutch later in the night. "Watch this space" for more good music from Lionize.
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I saw Arcade Fire last night. It was awesome.
It's funny how much their shows have changed since they won their Grammy. It used to be a pretty simple ordeal. Now it's a light show extravaganza with confetti and streamers shot into the crowd.
Regardless of how you feel about the spectacle, the music still rocked. You should see them if you have the chance...
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Just saw Deafheaven live and they were amazing. They played in a small venue (a studio) but I think that made the experience even better. The entire band was really into the performance and the vocalist really went up close to us. I can't listen to Sunbather without headbanging anymore headbang
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Saw Ton Koopman at the Davis Symphony hall the other day perform Bach's Orchestral Suite No.4 for the first time, live . It was very enjoyable for the wife and I to see Ton conducting . Our baby loved it too :)
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Saw Ton Koopman at the Davis Symphony hall the other day perform Bach's Orchestral Suite No.4 for the first time live . It was very enjoyable for the wife and I to see a Ton conducting . Our baby loved it too :)
Lucky you. Ton Koopman's renditions are quite famous. He has a thing for Bach.
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Saw Ton Koopman at the Davis Symphony hall the other day perform Bach's Orchestral Suite No.4 for the first time, live . It was very enjoyable for the wife and I to see Ton conducting . Our baby loved it too :)
Lucky you. Ton Koopman's renditions are quite famous. He has a thing for Bach.
Taken from The Examiner - "" However, last night’s performance was yet another demonstration of the sort of experience that no recording can ever capture. Most evident was that Koopman is a very dynamic composer, who clearly wanted his audience to rejoice in the grand sound of BWV 1068. That joy emerged not only from the dazzling sonorities of an appropriately reduced ensemble but also from an ongoing attention to little things that tend to be overlooked by the grandeur. We know this work for many reasons, but the three trumpets and timpani tend to provide the most memorable ones. Koopman encouraged the timpanist to emphasize the end of each major section with a little flourish, not conspicuous but evident enough to keep the listener paying attention. He also had a clear sense that the final movements were all dance forms. He thus communicated the extent to which the music was “about” bodies in motion, even offering a slight hint of inertia through a smooth segue from the Bourrée to the concluding Gigue. This was music for the sake of social pleasures, and those pleasures were infectious throughout Davies Symphony Hall. "
Yes very lucky indeed ! :)
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Tonight's the night for the best yearly concert series in Canada!
Next Music From Tokyo Vol. 6
Pretty hyped up for it since last year's show was freakin' awesome.
EDIT: GODDAMN THAT WAS THE GREATEST
Man this year's bands were amazing, this show outdoes itself every year.
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I'm going to to NY Philharmonic's Biennial next week; if any of you guys are in NYC you should definitely go! Its going to be amazing.
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S1, Regarding Ton Koopman.
His live recording of Bach's organ works are pretty much sacred in my collection. That music might be pompous but I would go to church to hear that. Organists and Gothic architecture can bring heavenly sounds to this dusty planet.
And yes I am not religious...
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Swans live at the Electric Brixton Tuesday 27th May. Jenny Eval supporting.
Well, first off, thank god for custom ear-plugs with 15db attenuation. It was loud for me, I didn’t realise how loud it was until the guy next to me was occasionally wincing in pain and putting his fingers in his ears.
I know some bang on about recreating the live experience…really? Listening to off-axis sound with rattling pa’s, whilst sucking up someone’s cigarette smoke in a no-smoking venue. Then being jostled from behind by the same guys over and over going off to the lav, either due to a weak bladder or a bad charlie habit.
I digress from these minor irritations. Swans, I can joyfully tick you off my bucket list.
Michael Gira was very much the captain of the performance and he ran a tight ship. With six musicians all going for it on stage, much can go awry. For those who noticed would see Mr Gira catching the attention of the band, signalling to change their performance and either reining them in or getting them to let rip.
That attention to detail meant that their trademark long intros and songs didn’t meander and lose their intensity. They managed to pull off a sound which was both a wild cacophony and a tight groove.
I suppose I should mention the support, Jenny Eval. If her drummer hadn’t lost the locking nuts for both his crash cymbal and high-hat, which both unsurprisingly fell off during the performance I may have paid more attention.
Not my photo, but pretty much how I saw them.
(http://i58.tinypic.com/66lwjp.jpg)
Greg Cristman
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I'm not sure I would have expected Swans to be so loud! Did the venue size play into it?
It really seems like everyone is overdoing it these days with volume. I mean, I expect it from the heavy guys, but others are surprising me. Other than Van Morrison, the only rock show I've seen in a while that had decent sound was Pixies. Actually, it was really good. They seem to care how they sound live.
Sounds like it was a great show!
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I'm not sure I would have expected Swans to be so loud! Did the venue size play into it?
It really seems like everyone is overdoing it these days with volume. I mean, I expect it from the heavy guys, but others are surprising me. Other than Van Morrison, the only rock show I've seen in a while that had decent sound was Pixies. Actually, it was really good. They seem to care how they sound live.
Sounds like it was a great show!
Yeah, it was a great show. You must forgive an old curmudgeon who has been spoilt on half-decent fidelity and a comfy sofa.
I was up in the circle (standing) section. So one would think there would be a db drop-off. I hadn't been to the Electric before, it's at least half the size of the Ace. If I didn't have the custom plugs I would have definitely left or retreated to the bar.
The thing that gets me are the sound guys. A level check has been done, it should be set it and forget it. So why were they coming back, running around re-patching shit just before the headliner. I've played in crappier venues where you're playing back to back with four other acts. There's really no excuse.
Am I going to blame the mp3 generation audience who wouldn't know what a properly amplified Fender Telecaster sounds like, or a sabian cymbal, who put up with this crap? No, 'cause I'm not doing anything about it either except going out less and moaning on a forum.
I don't know. A lot of bands earn their keep from live gigs. Maybe we should be demanding more?
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King Crimson @ Warfield SF. October 3rd and 4th. I'm going on the 3rd.
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So, like a moth returning to the flame I have tickets for this...
(http://i57.tinypic.com/2hs3yte.png)
It will be my birthday two days afterwards. How could I resist? headbang
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So... Again this year I'm going to Chicago's Riot Fest!!
Last year was a blast, saw a bunch of bands I like and others I just plain LOVE!
I had planned to actually attend either Toronto's line up (or Denver) but then... Face to Face and The Get Up Kids happened... NEED TO SEE THEM LIVE AT LEAST ONCE IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!
So that's my plan again this year.
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NEED TO SEE THEM LIVE AT LEAST ONCE IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!
This. If I don't do this now I would regret it.
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I really try to avoid the big venues now, but Sabbath and Motörhead... I'll be checking on tickets when I get home!
So, like a moth returning to the flame I have tickets for this...
(http://i57.tinypic.com/2hs3yte.png)
It will be my birthday two days afterwards. How could I resist? headbang
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I really try to avoid the big venues now, but Sabbath and Motörhead... I'll be checking on tickets when I get home!
Big venues are really not my cup of tea either. So I anted up and got a ticket for the Summer Garden area.
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Good tip. It will probably be sold out by the time I get home. I'd check now but the internet here is worse than dial up! How can a 4 star hotel in Hamburg Germany get away with a stone age internet connection?
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Going to see Primus and Fishbone today. Should be awesome
http://youtu.be/lO7iXFHDUf0
http://youtu.be/F2bBVtzmBGM
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Some impressive bucket drumming outside the State Theater after the NicK Cave concert last night.
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/fishski13/IMAG0112_zps806002ab.jpg)] (http://[URL=http://s23.photobucket.com/user/fishski13/media/IMAG0112_zps806002ab.jpg.html)
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BST Hyde Park 4th July Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Faith No More, Soundgarden & Soulfly
"Ozzzzzzzzzyyyyy!!! Leeemmmmyyyy!!!..." *coughs, throws devil horns, nods head vigorously and repeat.
Well I'm all metal'd out. That was a good day. The weather was nigh on perfect, clear blue skies with a good breeze. There was something for everyone and the sets were pretty tight. By the time one wondered off for more beer and a toilet break it was time for the next act.
Highlights for me were watching Mike Patton live, that bloke can sing and Tommy Iommi...riffs of the gods. Poor Lemmy's voice was all but gone, but it didn't really matter. Once they cranked out Ace of Spades all was forgiven.
The atmosphere was good and the people really friendly. By the end of the evening though, one just wants to get home. It will be interesting to see how they will match this line up next year. I will add thank goodness for custom ear-plugs. Those rigs are deceptively loud.
Would I go again, sure. Even for an old metal-head like me it was quite civilised.
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Oops, should have posted the Mayhem lineup here. It was okay, everyone had one or two hits but only Korn could really hold my attention consistently as performers and musicians both. Always a good chance for a Mosh and a sunburn though. San Manuel is not too bad if you know what you are doing with the venue. The acoustics are multiple times better than Verizon Amphitheater but that's not saying much.
http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,89.msg44192.html#msg44192
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6, I ended up not grabbing tickets because I had an event to photograph, sounds like I missed a good one.
Anax, how was Body Count live?
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Went to see Colin Stetson who did a concert for like 140 people in a tiny lutheran church in the smallest city of Latvia. Here's how the church looks -
(http://kurdoties.lv/foto/dur5.jpg)
This was the single most powerful musical experience I've ever had. The audience left shell shocked with spaced out looks in their eyes. Met with Stetson who basically had a meet and greet with everyone after the concert. One of the most humble of men I've ever met, a complete contrast to his playing style. They were selling LP's for like 40 bucks a pop and I mentioned him that I don't like listening to his music from a vinyl record because the intense subsonic content induces feedback on the turntable. We both had a bit of a laugh about that.
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Anax, how was Body Count live?
I have to confess we started walking back to the main stage to get ready for the headliners and forgot they were at the gig. Heard ICE-T come on in the background and was like, "oh yeah, forgot about them." So can't really answer that unfortunately.
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Bummer. It's one of those odd acts I'd like to catch!
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Went to see Colin Stetson who did a concert for like 140 people in a tiny lutheran church in the smallest city of Latvia. Here's how the church looks -
(http://kurdoties.lv/foto/dur5.jpg)
This was the single most powerful musical experience I've ever had. The audience left shell shocked with spaced out looks in their eyes. Met with Stetson who basically had a meet and greet with everyone after the concert. One of the most humble of men I've ever met, a complete contrast to his playing style. They were selling LP's for like 40 bucks a pop and I mentioned him that I don't like listening to his music from a vinyl record because the intense subsonic content induces feedback on the turntable. We both had a bit of a laugh about that.
Church acoustics and live instruments complement each other. Just imagine what a harp or an organ can do. Before Metal was invented, the church organ produced and still produces a sound and experience so imposing that silence feels different and slow.
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Samantha Fish
I saw her last night. Don't let the mini-dress fool you, she can play. Seems like she's been touring constantly for the last few years getting some essential road wear and seasoning. Actually what you have here is a sleeper power trio. You gotta love closing out a blues show with a War Pigs encore. They brought down the house.
http://youtu.be/-M-VxlRBbcc
Go-Go Ray is a great drummer. Scot Sutherland is one the best bass players I've seen live. He was nominated by the Blues Foundation for a 2013 Blues Music Award for Bassist of the year.
http://youtu.be/f2MS7YD7tGo
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Karma To Burn at the Underworld Camden Town London
https://www.youtube.com/v/De-zrgA3o0g
supporting...
- SONS OF MERRICK
– DESERT STORM
– SONS OF ALPHA CENTAURI
Karma To Burn are one of theses rare beasts in contemporary rock. First, they don't have a lead singer, despite record labels trying to force them to fit in. There are about a couple of track in their entire canon that has vocals and one of those features John Garcia.
Despite that their sound doesn't sound like a rock track sans vocal. They develop these great grooves and licks that would almost be spoilt with a vocal tagged on.
Although I've been a fan for a while this was my first opportunity to see them live and boy did they not disappoint. The Underworld is what you would call 'intimate'. I was about twenty feet from the stage and later I got a chance to say thanks to the band. The bassist said "Yeah, I saw you enjoying yourself". I'm not difficult to spot in a rock gig, but they were interacting with the audience and obviously enjoying themselves which added to the vibe.
I don't know if it's rare, but it's a really nice feeling to leave a gig thinking if they were playing next week I'd go again.
A special mention to one of the supports Desert Storm. For a group from Oxford they held their own.
https://www.youtube.com/v/Xt0lDlEEW2c
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Underworld is such a classic rock spot in London. My buddy who lives in Camden seems to live there!!
Great line up. headbang
I've got my eyes on the "Lords of the Riff" tour. I really dug Lionize when I saw them earlier this year. They'll play with Kyng and Anti-Mortem. I think the London show is at the Garage. 10 pounds... so cheap night out!
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Yesterday I was at Eindbaas Amsterdam. 8-bit music and chip-tune artists with laptops, sources and modified game-boys. The pre-party was great. There was also a main party.
There are some very talented artists out there. Think of Popsicle Theory, Carf Darko and Bit Shifter.
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Where I have been? Just discovered LA's own Orgone. I saw them last Wednesday opening for The New Mastersounds. I do like the Mastersounds, but I think Orgone should have headlined the show.
They've had multiple changes in their line-up, but seem pretty damn consistent regardless.
http://youtu.be/GEehYsL6zpY
http://youtu.be/hm3t3DPBU6o
I saw them featuring Adryon DeLeon
http://youtu.be/7Y8pq7wFQbs
All in all, it was a fantastic show.
http://youtu.be/HIayeSLUoK0
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Just got back from Englebert Humperdink's concert. Took him 3-4 songs to loosen up but he can still belt it out at 78 years old. The last clip gives you an idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=128LI6_4L-s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahLZ7hFlUMg&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ag0UCPIcVo&index=6&list=PLMATWUx3t7L8T229XFSzeh5DwjRsF2FFu
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Saw a memorial concert last night in memory of the South Indian musical genius U. Srinivas, who single-handedly elevated mandolin to a classical carnatic instrument. He died at 45 from liver failure due to an infection, something that really shouldn't have happened.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewnCY6eEJKs
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Yes, that was a very big loss and a great shock to us all --- and I wasn't even a great fan. I think he actually died from a lung infection; he had just had a liver transplant.
Was the concert by Chitraveena Ravikiran?
Yesterday evening I attended a Jalatharangam concert by this artist. I think he is the only one playing Carnatic music on this instrument, which is basically ceramic bowls filled with water to give the required pitch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e7XI60FIwo
I've seen him three or four times. I might even have been at the above featured performance, not sure.
I went to a carnatic vocal concert this afternoon too, but I could not empty my head of clutter and concentrate on the music. I hate it when that happens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq6U8lnz14U
It was a live webcast, I don't know how long it is going to remain on YouTube. You can even see my feet in the video!
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Wow, those concerts seem pretty awesome. I've only heard jalathrangam in recording.
The concert I went to was in NYC with Samir Chatterjee on tabla and a student of U. Srinivas on electric mandolin playing Srinivas' own compositions and favorite kirtis. It was moving, they would stop to reminisce about srinivas after a few pieces, then return to the music.
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Wow, those concerts seem pretty awesome. I've only heard jalathrangam in recording.
In fact I missed the first hour because I wanted to see somebody I know sing. When I apologised that I wouldn't be staying for her whole concert, both she and her mother said that they had never seen jalatharangam in the flesh
I first heard it as background music in a shop, when I was a tourist, from UK, in Kerala. I had to just listen. I recognised violin and mridangam, I recognised a couple of the songs, and from general knowledge I worked out what I was probably listening to. It was very frustrating that none of the shop staff seemed to have a clue where the CD player was and couldn't help at all.
The concert I went to was in NYC with Samir Chatterjee on tabla and a student of U. Srinivas on electric mandolin playing Srinivas' own compositions and favorite kirtis. It was moving, they would stop to reminisce about srinivas after a few pieces, then return to the music.
That must have been a very moving experience. Probably not many dry eyes.
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Saw a memorial concert last night in memory of the South Indian musical genius U. Srinivas, who single-handedly elevated mandolin to a classical carnatic instrument. He died at 45 from liver failure due to an infection, something that really shouldn't have happened.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewnCY6eEJKs
Sad stuff...knew the guy before I left Chennai to go the US 30 years ago... he was a very bright and unassuming kid then. He had a bout of jaundice and never fully recovered is what I'm told.
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Tonight I went to see Brinda Manickavasagam sing. I first noticed her playing tambura for her guru Suguna Varadachary and was amazed by her total absorption in the music, punctuated, from time to time, by a radiant smile.
This is the third or fourth time I have seen her giving her own concert.
Here's a sample
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcYBf0-QJjo
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A house concert, no amplifier, no speakers...
Bharat Sundar...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOM5v0P4JgI
You see mics: they were used for recording, there is only acoustic music in the room. Actually, I wish they would not even have those, as I think they affect the artists.
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My queen of music, my goddess, she's just wonderful. I have even stolen the Grateful Dead saying: There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that is anything like an R Vedavalli concert...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_MXrTJaAd4&list=UUGh3q3IDZF00QqLTxrbYs1A
(This was a live webcast. According to whatever arrangements were made with the organisers and artists, it may or may not remain available on Youtube)
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A wonderful concert by one of the most brilliant of the not-quite-youngsters, R Hemalatha.
There was another concert following, but I loved this so much I could not stay for more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-klmulzGEqU
The video does not capture the full beauty of the tone of her violin (well, hey, its youtube, I suppose.)
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I've attended two of the four Women's Voices Indian Classical concert series here in NYC. http://harmonyom.org/concerts__events
I might see the last one as well.
The opening concert, which I attended was the young london-based sitarist, Roopa Panesar.
Here's a little clip from a london concert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jju3y9SO8HM
She's a fine sitar player in the stylistic lineage of Ustad Vilayat Khan. Her alap in rag jog was lovely and she pulled off a few rhythmically challenging improvisations in the following composition. I think she will continue to improve and be a truly excellent sitarist.
She's also drop dead gorgeous in person.
(http://www.roopapanesar.com/index_htm_files/324.png)
I'll just steal this image from her website.
I also attended the concert of one of my favorite sitarist, Anupama Bhagwat. She also plays in the stylistic lineage of Ustad Vilayat Khan. Anupama is pretty great now and since the younger son of the late Vilayat Khan was at the concert, along with a senior vocalist and a few other Indian classical musicians, she really brought it for the concert. It was among the best concerts I've attended. Just a series of, "wow, that was beautiful". There was a sustained intensity of continuous inspired improvisation that really makes an Indian classical concert superlative.
Here's a clip of her playing in the jor-jhalla section of a performance from a concert in the Bahamas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mogvlbcai_k
(http://rehmatrayatt.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/anupamaedit.jpg)
I wrote her on facebook, politely encouraging her to record more CDs.
I hope to see Debashish Bhattacharya this saturday.
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Very nice. You almost certainly have more sitar concerts, and Hindustani music in general, than I do in mine. Still, things are looking up: Chennai's December music season had several Northern concerts, but that against a background of thousands of Carnatic concerts.
I admit that I have to mentally "retune" for a Hindustani concert, but its worth the effort.
This last Saturday evening I attended a veena concert by a young man, Ashwin Annand. He is a student of R Vedavalli, and, somehow, seems to capture the subtlety of her vocal style on the veena.
On Sunday afternoon, I attended a house concert of Ashwath Narayanan. It was in a small home on the IIT-Madras (Indian Institute of Technology) campus. I often complain about the lack of voice power, and the inability to project, and the absence of teaching these things, in Carnatic vocal music, but none of that applied to this young guy who sang with great power and projection --- and very beautifully. Actually, in a small room, it was a little overpowering! There were mics; they had a small speaker for feedback; would have been better without it!
I don't know what the sound quality is on this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry9aJsVovuM
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I definitely would like to get more into carnatic music. I'll give some of the youtube links you've postrd a listen when I have some time. You're right, it requires a mental retune from one to the other. There are lots of parallels, and the hindustani musicians I've talked to have a lot of respect for carnatic musicians. Plus, carnatic ragas have been coming into hindustani music quite a bit in the 20th century, with really important musicians such as Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Vilayat Khan and Z. M. Dagar all playing south indian ragas.
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Somehow, I fell off the fence ---and when I picked myself up I found myself on the carnatic side. That fall shaped the future direction of my life, because, when it happened, I would have found moving house tough enough, let alone emigrating and moving continent! It was the seed that determined what I was to do fifteen or twenty years later
Still, though, despite what must be over a thousand concerts now, I am not a real rasika. I can't name ragas, write song lists, and all that :-[.
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Thad,
I hear you. Fortunately for me, my mother and aunt were professionally trained Carnatic singers. My mom would sing Carnatic songs to put me to sleep ! I was once very proficient in naming ragas and thalams. Went to the US for 22 years and everything has been erased from the memory bank; replaced with rock. I'm not complaining but I am very choosy about the concerts I want to attend due to sheer lack of knowledge and style of the singer.
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Luckily for me, not even a thousand carnatic concerts have erased The Grateful Dead from my memory banks!
:)p6 :)p1 :)p4
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It's been quiet here lately!
My buddy just slipped me two tickets to the Smashing Pumpkins show at KOKO's in London next week. Super stoked... headbang
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Saw Slayer/Suicidal Tendencies/Exodus this past weekend. All three acts were outstanding. Been listening to ST since I was a kid, but have never seen them live, they really put on a great show. This was my third Slayer show and they always deliver.
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ST! I'm jelly!
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My buddy just slipped me two tickets to the Smashing Pumpkins show at KOKO's in London next week. Super stoked...
Oh man. Very jealous. I saw SP back in the 90's, and it changed me. I avoided shows during the whole zwan/zeitgeist cycle, but the new stuff is back to being weird and not a piece of shit, which is nice.
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A number of carnatic concerts this past week or two, but two of them were absolutely outstanding. No video, I'm afraid!
Suguna Varadachary, in a scruffy hall with bad acoustics. awful not-even-stereo PA, and a sparse audience, sang a neraval (a form of improvisation that might be vaguely and probably inaccurately compared to scat in jazz) that was just mind, heart and soul blowing.
R Vedavalli, after a rather long memorial function, squeezed so much into the hour and a half that was left that, again, I was knocked off my feet and left glowing.
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My son backed out at the last minute due to a school commitment and I actually considered giving my Smashing Pumpkins tickets away. That would be silly, right... I found a buddy who was up for it and we grabbed the tube to Camden Town.
When Billy Corgan pulls together Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk and The Killers’ bassist Mark Stoermer with regular guitarist Jeff Schroeder you know you've got potential for a good show. Make the venue Koko's in London,read very intimate, and there is potential for great.
Billy and crew put out a rather upbeat set of 15 or so hits and new stuff, including a cool cover of Bowie's Fame. Great show.
Then Marilyn Manson shows up for the encore!! This sh_t just got real.
(http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03130/manson_3130107b.jpg)
I'm putting this show in my once in a lifetime bag! headbang
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Wall-to-wall music in my home city of Chennai, India.
It's called The December Music Season, starting vaguely in December and ending sometime in ...January.
There are dozens of organisations presenting concerts, lecture demonstrations, dance, mostly of the Southern Indian classical persuasion. 9.00am to 9pm. Some even earlier.
It is completely unco-ordinated; there is no central "authority," so nobody can be really sure, but 3,000 has been mentioned as the possible number of events. Is there anything this big anywhere else in the world?
Hey-Ho, hanging up the headphones, turning off the net, and getting out there on the street and into the concert halls
:)p7
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C'Mon old chap! Use the local jargon. Concerts always begin in the month of Marghazhi (pronounced Mar-ga-yee) roughly mid December and wrap up during the month of Thai (pronounced thigh). The names of the months are in the Tamil language.
Yes, this is the period of heavenly Carnatic music and Chennai will come to life. Enjoy!
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Sounds like a great time of year! Here in the States we have endless performances of the Nutcracker. headbang
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My son backed out at the last minute due to a school commitment and I actually considered giving my Smashing Pumpkins tickets away. That would be silly, right... I found a buddy who was up for it and we grabbed the tube to Camden Town.
Damn responsible teenagers, leaving all the fun for their parents to have!
Sounded like a great show.
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Attended 3 days of concerts over here in Singapore at an anime festival. Outstanding performances from the artiste LiSA, GARNiDELiA, fripSide, Root 5, Angela, iDOLM@STER, Eir Aoi, Yanaginagi, May'n, Kitamura Eri and DJ Kazu. Needless to say, I really enjoyed myself, so much that it hurts today! :)p1
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Attended these concerts in the last month
Possessed by Paul james - friggin madman..awesomeness
Rachel Yamagata - beautiful and funny show as ever
The Generationals - Not as brilliant as I expected in the beginning but they finished strong
Odesza - huge crowds, sold out show, no light show during openers was a damper..but the main event lived up to the expetations
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.
Concerts always begin in the month of Marghazhi (pronounced Mar-ga-yee) roughly mid December and wrap up during the month of Thai (pronounced thigh).
If you count early December, and even late November, as Marghazhi, then yes!
Anarchy rules ... so I suppose we might as well call it December as anything else.
I had to take the day off today, and sit around in a hospital while I was having a grandson. I'm looking forward to telling one artist, "I couldn't come to your concert because I was having a baby!" :)p4
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Thad, ROFL. Knowing the local folk, they will ensure their wives, daughters and grand daughters stay away from you. :)p3
And congratulations are in order. Grand daughter, grand son? Calls for idli and sambar celebrations.
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I told one singer today, "I'll definitely come to your concert on 15th, unless anyone else in the family has any more babies, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed." :)p17
And... It's a boy! :)p2
Calls for idli and sambar celebrations.
I'm staying in Royapettah for two weeks, roughly coinciding with the MA "Season."
Speaking of seasons... What I'm listening to now... is rain. Heavy rain! too heavy for Chennai mid-december p:0
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I told one singer today, "I'll definitely come to your concert on 15th, unless anyone else in the family has any more babies, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed." :)p17
...........
Do you know that the "poor" singer will have you on his/her mind when he/she sings which will screw up the ragam, thalam and pallavi not to mention the thani ? :)p13. I hope you have not tortured Smt. Vedavalli thus.
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Nope. The last time I saw Smt Vedavalli, I did tell her that baby was on the way, so if she saw me running away, that would be the reason. It was Sumithra, Vedavalli's student.
Tonight, I left behind the impossible choice of emminent carnatic artists, including Sumithra, TVG and Suguna Varadachary, and went to a really wonderful Dhrupad performance by Uday Bhalwalkar.
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Saw Front Line Assembly & Skinny Puppy last night, first show I've been to since being laid up. Worth it, even with the wheelchair area three feet away from the speaker. Love me some cheezy politically charged industrial.
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The Chennai December Music Season is steaming ahead (and my feverish cold is streaming ahead) very nicely, and doing a great job of keeping me away from the internet (Is this what they mean when they say, "get a life?" Whoa! Might be a good idea!)
My idea of staying in a guest house right in the midst of it, cutting down the travel, is working well. The tablet is not really great for anything but basic browsing, and I don't have much time for that anyway (Hmmm... Maybe I did get a life!)
Average day: two concerts. Crazy day: six concerts!
I'm back home visiting the washing machine, and thought I'd drop by. See you all in 2015.
Steaming on now
:wheel:
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Holiday over, and I'm back home, although there is still plenty of music going on the city and I'm out most evenings.
I took my small camera with me when I went away on 15th, and it tells me that I attended over 40 concerts between 15 Dec and now. Some I would have forgotten to photograph, and I forgot to even write down all the stuff from late November to mid-December.
The Music Academy Canteen became my favourite place to sit when I didn't have a concert to watch. I squeezed a whole year of international social life into a fortnight.
:)p4 :)p7 :)p4
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DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist Renegades of Rhythm at the Forum London Wednesday 4th Feb.
(http://i58.tinypic.com/29b0mtc.jpg)
Wow, what a way to kick off 2015. I'm going to have a hard time beating this gig. The Forum has a 2300 capacity and the place was full. With six turntables DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist to us on a chronological history of breaks and beats from the cream of Africa Bambaataa's 40,000 record collection.
They went from African beats, to latin grooves, to funk, to rare disco and everything in-between. On the way they would explain what era they were playing and it's significance. It was the funkiest lecture I had ever been to with people dancing in the isles. The second half kicked off with Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express then they mixed Yes's Owner Of A Lonely Heart over Kraftwerk's Tour De France. These guy's balanced a reverence for the music with having fun, never taking themselves too seriously.
At the end they played a selection of Africa Bambaataa's records including the only original acetate of Looking for the Perfect Beat before having a freestyle jam, cutting up breaks and inviting the audience to breakdance. Well it beat moshing. I have often left gigs early. This time I stayed until the very last break. For those who were into the B'Boy scene in whatever country you were in back in the day, you owe it to yourself to see this performance.
10/10
(http://i60.tinypic.com/sbkcd2.jpg)
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^ Wish I were there :)p2
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Very nice 6, a great way to start the year for sure!
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^ Wish I were there :)p2
Very nice 6, a great way to start the year for sure!
Yeah, it was fun. I just bought myself a vip ticket to see Run The Jewels in June at the Forum again. I've got a feeling they're going to tear the roof off.
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Very nice 6, a great way to start the year for sure!
I finished 2015 with a Dhrupad veena recital in the evening, and started 2015 with a carnatic flute performance in the morning.
:wheel:
After the concert, I finished my December music holiday and went back home to wife, house and cat. Of course, there are still concerts. This one, two days ago, was a stunner:
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h285/Thad-E-Ginathom/ravikiran-and-tavil_zpsb0f134db.jpg) (http://s67.photobucket.com/user/Thad-E-Ginathom/media/ravikiran-and-tavil_zpsb0f134db.jpg.html)
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DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist Renegades of Rhythm at the Forum London Wednesday 4th Feb.
(http://i58.tinypic.com/29b0mtc.jpg)
Wow, what a way to kick off 2015. I'm going to have a hard time beating this gig. The Forum has a 2300 capacity and the place was full. With six turntables DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist to us on a chronological history of breaks and beats from the cream of Africa Bambaataa's 40,000 record collection.
They went from African beats, to latin grooves, to funk, to rare disco and everything in-between. On the way they would explain what era they were playing and it's significance. It was the funkiest lecture I had ever been to with people dancing in the isles. The second half kicked off with Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express then they mixed Yes's Owner Of A Lonely Heart over Kraftwerk's Tour De France. These guy's balanced a reverence for the music with having fun, never taking themselves too seriously.
At the end they played a selection of Africa Bambaataa's records including the only original acetate of Looking for the Perfect Beat before having a freestyle jam, cutting up breaks and inviting the audience to breakdance. Well it beat moshing. I have often left gigs early. This time I stayed until the very last break. For those who were into the B'Boy scene in whatever country you were in back in the day, you owe it to yourself to see this performance.
10/10
(http://i60.tinypic.com/sbkcd2.jpg)
Thanks, I might look this up. I have a soft spot for the experimental Hip Hop movement of the early 80ties and the B-Boy culture. "Jam On It!"
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I finished 2015 with a Dhrupad veena recital in the evening, and started 2015 with a carnatic flute performance in the morning.
Who was the Dhrupad veena player? Who played pakhawaj accompaniment?
Inquiring minds want to know!
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I just checked back on the Music Academy's schedule, having a sieve for a memory. It was Bahauddin Dagar, but they only say "party." Sadly, it looks as if I didn't even get a snap with the camera and google hasn't helped at all. Sorry.
It was an astonishing concert. About as far away from our usual carnatic as it is possible to be whilst still staying on the same continent. Which explains the very dismal attendance. Sad.
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Ah, the son of the late, incredible master Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. Hopefully Bahauddin's coming along in his playing. Did he hold your attention? If done right, instrumental dhrupad on the rudra bin is an amazing journey into rich, subtle, iridescent microtones. You really experience a raga. I'm sorry they didn't identify the pakhawaji, that's really not respectful.
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I suspect that they did not know when the schedule was published, which would have been a couple of months previously. What is a t fault is my memory, that I do not remember if it was announced or added to the sign at the venue.
Nor can I tell you what he played. I'm not a "proper" rasika at all.
Yes, he certainly held my attention, but I find that, with my head attuned to carnatic and the carnatic presentation, it is difficult to retune to the North. Once upon a time it was the other way around!
Although I am an ignorant rasika, I am so used to the carnatic form. I was mentioning to a friend I met at that concert (Chennai Music Season: impossible to be alone!) that with both the pieces that he played, I had no idea when they were about to end, whereas with carnatic, even if I can't annouce, "Pallavi, Anapallavi, Charanum..." My brain knows the pattern. The percussion cadences, thiermanums and korvais, are also [usually] obvious to me.
It is the simple result of one thing. During my past decade: Carnatic concerts, probably over a thousand: Hindustani concerts, probably not much more than dozen.
I strongly felt the impact of being dropped in at the very-deep end with this rudra veena concert. Absolutely no warmup or winding up, but straight into long, deep, contemplative exploration of low, low notes.
I also attended a Dhrupad vocal concert a couple of weeks earlier, at a small, semi-open venue that was ideal for the purpose. This was Pandit Uday Bhawalkar, accompanied by Pratap Awad. The pakhawaj accompaniment was very beautiful. I found it more akin to the mridangam than the tabla, not only because of its deeper tone, but because of the way that he followed the phrasing of the singer.
Hoping for more Dhrupad here! (more Hindustani generally, in fact --- especially as my wife prefers it). The friend who roganised the vocal concert told me that I completely missed a whole Dhrupad festival at Kalakshetra a year or three ago :'( .
The photo above is from a special Ragam Tanum Pallavi concert given by N Ravikiran on the Chitra veena. This concert, with a 1-hour-plus RTP was as close to Dhrupad as it gets
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Going to see the San Francisco Symphony this week doing Bruckner 8.
Originally Semyon Bychkov was to conduct, but he had to bow out due to health reasons. Now there is some young kid named James Feddeck to replace him. Don't know anything about this guy, but watched an interview with him on youtube. Watching him talk is like watching paint dry. Bruckner already requires a long attention span, this could be good or bad.
edit: Just came back from this concert. Holy shit, it was amazing, Feddeck can do Bruckner. It was so good I went straight to the box office afterwards and bought tix for Friday night's concert.
Any Bay Area pyrates who like Bruckner should see this, luckily most casual concert goers don't like Bruckner so there are a lot of tickets left. I think there were 4-5 trumpet, 3 trombones, bass tuba, 8 fucking horns, the brass was in top form and the tutti were incredible. And if you're in the mood for a good laugh there is a triangle player and a cymbal player who sit through the entire symphony just to play their instruments twice in the slow mvt. They were on their feet for a total of 20 seconds.
Anyone not familiar with the piece, the 1st movement opening motif is rhythmically identical to the opening tutti of Beethoven's 9th 1st mvt. The whole symphony in a ways is a 90 minute buildup to the coda which is the same motif in C-major, this is the greatest climax in symphonic music.
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Went to Star Vista Performing Arts Centre last Saturday for Lantis' 15th Anniversary tour here in Singapore. So worth the money spend on getting the front seats. Acoustics was pretty awesome for such a genre and a welcome change from convention halls/warehouse turned to stages. Did not feel the need to wear earplugs and left with my hearing intact.
Artistes were off course, amazeballs though one of them was kinda jittered or nervous(Choucho) in a foreign stage so she kinda held back with her voice. Lineup was kinda all over the place as they are from the same label so I get a lot of exposure to genres that I'm less used to(mostly boybands and Jrock). They reserved the best for the last in the form of JAM Project though, god damn they put on performance with energy way beyond their age. Glad they had a tour band for the concert as well, gives the performers a lot of freedom to play with the audience. :D
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For the people in southern California...Das Palast Orchester is playing at UCLA's Royce Hall on Saturday April 4th!!! GO!! You won't egret it. I'll see you there.
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Holy shit. Excellent price to performance ratio.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHJr1Y3WflI
I better see a few of you SoCal Changstar so called "music lover" fuckers at Royce Hall this Saturday!
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Seems like this thread has been dormant for several months, but I have to share. Saw Jonatha Brooke (folk rock, singer sonwriter, former member of Story) last night in Denver. She was solo and superb. Excellent musician, freaking great voice and fun between the songs.
One of the great things was the venue, Swallow Hill Music in Denver which seats about 300. About 200 showed and dead center 5th row was great for the event. Sound was perfect and very enjoyable. Try to catch her at one of the many smaller venues she is playing tonight in Seattle thru the next few weeks down the west coast.
If you are a bit tired of big venues, horrible blasting sound, then this might be right up your alley, it was for me. Then again I am a HUGE fan.
Let me know how you like if you decide to go. Oh, and I dare you not to shed a tear when she sings "time".
cheers
http://jonathabrooke.com/ (http://jonathabrooke.com/)
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I saw TTB the other night. Really great live band. Truthfully though, I'm a little sick of guitar solos in general. Susan has a such a strong voice and her only solo that night was the highlight for me. Her singing and playing simply put are just plain raw.
http://youtu.be/iWPntKAWvHs