Music, Music and more Music
Mountain Goats played a great sold out show at the Bowery Ballroom. The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers opened up and and they were quite good. They came back on for the Mountain Goats encore to give their songs an extra kick. Mountain Goats played a selection from all their albums but mainly from The Susnet Tree. I’ve seen John Darnielle quite a number of times now and this was by far the most solid show I’ve seen him play. Here are some pictures from the show.
OK, first off I was VERY VERY drunk for this show, (as I usually am for JV shows). But this time I was drunk by the time I showed up. Earlier in the day I hosted my annual Whiskey Ball game which involves wiffle ball and a whole lot of whiskey drinking. 😉
I only caught the last 2 songs from openers Portastaic, but I liked what I heard. A PBR later, John Vanderslice took the stage. He had some new band members with him for this latest Pixel Revolt tour (which unfortunately is not that good) and I was surprised he didn’t have his album producer with him. Regardless, the show was actually dead on. They played one song after the next with exactness and played a bit from each of their albums. They were much tighter live this time around but I hope his next album mathches his live show. When I wasn’t screaming out requests I took some photos. He did play my favorite song “Keep the Dream Alive” for my birthday. 🙂
Yes yes, the hype around this band is so crazy. During CMJ they were dubbed “The Next Arcade Fire”, so it’s no surprise that I came to this show very apprehensive. Although they played several songs from Apologies to the Queen Mary, they played a bunch of brand new songs that were actually good. The crowd was alive and roudy and although the band seemed a bit nervous, they played a killer show. The pulled off the rich blend of sounds live and I loved the songs performed live. I was very impressed and they deserve all the hype. One of the best live shows of 2005. Photos from the show. Can’t wait for what’s to come from this band.
After many failed attempts, I finally got to see Big Bear live. Didn’t know what to expect from this Boston band but by the end, I was converted. Despite their tepid appearance, they exploded with an avalanche of noise. Blasting beats, screaming vocals, cracking tambourines. They were intense. People ask me what they sound like and it’s hard to say. They just ROCK!
Oneida finally took the stage after a very long break. The show was quite erratic with some dull points and good highlights. They played a few songs from their latest one, The Wedding and nailed the song “Did I Die”. However, their show lacked energy and didn’t even play an encore, but then again, no one really wanted one anyway. Some photos here.
I was very happy to catch Juana Molina one last time before she went back to Buenos Aires to record her new album. I love her blend of quirky electronic soundscapes, skillful guitar work, and imaginative lyrics. Her latest album Tres Cosas is very mature with very complex song structures. She had the same set up as before. Alone with 2 keyboards and her assortment of electronic toys and samplers. This show was also sold out but this time she played my favorite song as an encore!
Check out a song “Zamba Corta” from Tres Cosas.
and a crappy video I shot.
Webster Hall sucks. Ok, I got that out of the way. This is my 3rd time seeing this band for each of their album releases and this was one of the more lively shows of the bunch, despite having a terrible sound system. They had Neko Case with them this time which makes a huge difference. They are pushing their new album Twin Cimema which is just great and makes up for the mess Electric Version was. They were very lively onstage and every song had the same energy. They brought out their oldies which was nice, but gave their new songs a breath of live juice. I took some pictures, but Dan Harvey took better ones, which the band wound up using for their site.