The Triumph of Tired Eyes

I was definitely in the mood to see Langhorne sing his fun yet bittersweet tunes again. He seemed to be more at home playing at Mercury Lounge than at Joe’s Pub. A lot of his fans came out for this show to add to the lively environment. It was also the birthday of Langhorne, the bassist AND drummer!

After a grueling wait for Richard Buckner to take the stage (about 35 minutes) he took the stage armed only with a guitar and various effect pedals all linked to another. The musician was quite a presence brooding onstage with his eyes closed singing his heavy songs. I was most impressed with the way he transitioned into the next song without ever stopping. Unfortunately I had to leave early in fear of the transit strike. Got lucky getting the F train at 11:50.

A few pictures from the show

Laura Veirs is an alt-folkster who comes from Seattle (I think). She sings upbeat country folk with flowing and catchy lyrics and her nerdish demeanor just adds to her charm as a musician. She has the range of singing whispery lullabyes to electric indie pop. Many of her songs reflect on human experiences and travelling. She was able to capture the sentimental qualities on her album live as well as rock out the heavier songs. When she played the catchy song “Galaxies” she passed around a bottle of body glitter and asked the audience to put some on their face. The show was really fun and she was just adorable on stage. After the show I was still humming her songs to the subway with a bit of glitter make-up on me.

some pictures of the show here.

http://www.lauraveirs.com/

I would have never thought about putting Sam Beam of Iron & Wine and Calexico together in the same room, but if you think about it, it makes all the sense in the world. I don’t know too much about the new EP “In the Reins” other than Beam wrote the majority of the songs and had always wanted Calexico to play the songs with him. He originally wanted them to assist on his debut “The Creek Drank the Cradle”. The EP is a great collaboraive effort taking Beam’s whispery vocals and addind Calexico’s lively musical arrangements. The album helps take Beam further away from dreamy bedroom folk music to more energetic songs.

Although I would have preferred to see the performance in any other venue than Webster Hall, the sound didn’t seem to destroy the energy in the room. The show was sold out and the crowd was way more subdued than the previous time he came by. If anything, the crowd was TOO mellow. Nevertheless, the show rocked, having Calexico play first, then followed with a solo performance of Iron & Wine. Afterwards the 2 bands met up together to play the songs of “In the Reigns”. I enjoyed the songs better live than on disk. A treat was having a guest vocalst (don’t know his name) from Mexico to add more vocal punch to the set. They show was over 2 hours and worth every second.

The place was really crowded so I only got these few crappy pictures of the show.

I was excited that Mazarin was finally playing a big venue like Bowery. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of a turnout and very few fans in the crowd. Moreover, they seem to be always plagued with a poor live sound setting. Quentin’s voice always seems to get muffled and inundated with the rest of the bands instruments. It’s unfortunate that the band is so hit or miss live because they are one of my top 10 favorite bands. Nevertheless, the proceeded to play songs mostly from their new album which kinda grew on me big time these past few months. It’s winding out to be one of the best albums of 05. The band had zero stage presence even during the incredibly energtic song “My Favorite Green Hill”. They did do a great performance of “New American Apathy” off their new record.

Rogue Wave was up next and there’s no avoiding the buzz that’s around this band. The new album is a great collection of atmospheric chill songs and downright good indie pop. There’s some really good production on the album and it carried through to their live set. Many of their songs have interesting arrangements and progressions which make this band more intersting than the rest of the pack. It’s that sense of unpredictability that I like but sadly nothing too crazy. Nevertheless, they played a very tight show to a sold out crowd of adoring fans. I was very impressed and look forward to seeing them again in February/March. DEFINITELY, a band to watch in 2006.

http://www.mazarinband.com/

http://www.roguewavemusic.com/

See some pictures of the night here.