The Triumph of Tired Eyes

Around my birthday there is always a great show to be seen. Last year was the Patti Smith‘s CBGB’s finale show. This year I was treated to a sold-out intimate performance by PJ Harvey. She is easily one of the best female performers of our day and she verified that tonight. Without the support of a band she played about 24 songs and seemed very relaxed and jovial, sometimes engaging with banter from the audience. I am amazed at her range of music from the quiet songs found on her new album White Chalk to the distortion rock songs of “Man-Size” and “Snake”. She jumped from instrument to instrument and sometimes playing and looping several at the same time. The lighting and set stage made her seem like an angel and the set was a mix of new, old, hits, and unreleased songs. A memorable and brilliant performance.

Jimmi’s pictures from the show. (coming soon….)
http://www.pjharvey.net/

Bowerbirds have been popping up on my radar for quite some time as they have been touring a lot and releasing some really nice music. Coming from North Carolina this trio plays simple but enjoyable tunes and their live set is faithful to the recordings. They swing by again for CMJ.

It’s always a guaranteed good time when the Mountain Goats come to town. I especially enjoy his “in between albums” shows where he tends to play a lot more older and obscure tunes from his large repertoire. John and Peter seemed a bit more animated this time around and felt this was one the best shows yet. They played some songs never played before and even one that Peter took for his own band. Although I didn’t recognize many of the songs, his lyrics are so poignant and heart felt that you can’t help be swept away in its narrative. John was on fire as he danced around the stage and even head butted Peter at one point. He broke a string and reminded the old fans on how back in the day that would be the end of the show. Luckily he had another guitar handy and delivered a bunch more tunes and 2 incredible encores.

Pictures from the show.

http://www.bowerbirds.org/
http://www.mountain-goats.com/

Intrigued to see Arthur & Yu. from Seattle, they found each other on craigslist. Craigslist is awesome and these guys are sorta awesome.

How the hell did Sam Beam’s sleepy music get so popular? I don’t entirely blame his rendition of that annoying Postal Service song. It may have to do with the gentleness he puts on his folk ballads and lyrical confessions. I was very happy to see him again in a better setting tonight than at the cavernous and enormous Webster Hall. However, having so many people around me listening to his secretive songs is always weird, but luckily I was in the front row. Regardless, he’s promoting his new album The Shepherd’s Dog which isn’t really worth mentioning and unfortunately played too many new ones. Although the sound was perfect and the songs beautiful, his lack of energy and stage presence made this one of the most boring and forgettable shows of the year. I’ll wait ’til he teams up with Calexico again.
Pictures from the show.

http://www.myspace.com/arthurandyu
http://www.ironandwine.com/

I mainly showed up to experience the dreamy shoe gaze rock of Brooklyn’s own Dirty on Purpose again. Their songs have a more intense sound live bordering on a more powerful version of Bedhead. This band is quite underrated considering they have released some pretty addicting songs since 2002. They didn’t play “Mind Blindness” but they played a bunch of new ones including “Your Summer Dress” which is one of my favorite songs of the year. Despite losing their female band member over a year ago, they’ve gone on to forge crashing waves of distortion and reverberation into fuzzy songs.

Fujiya & Miyagi is band from Brighton England which has no Japanese members in the band. Although they repeat the name of their band over and over again in one of their songs, these guys are pretty forgettable. The crowd seemed to enjoy the Krautrockish sounds but it sounded just like the record, so I decided to leave halfway through the set so I could just listen to the album at home with much cheaper drinks.

Pictures from the show.

Links:
Mind Blindness: video
http://www.dirtyonpurpose.com/
http://www.fujiya-miyagi.co.uk/

This is the 3rd time I’ve seen Bishop Allen in the last 2 months and felt they were much looser and relaxed this time around. The songs weren’t as perfect or polished, but they were still upbeat and fun. And they finally played “Eve of Destruction”, albeit a much slower and lackluster version of it.

John Vanderslice has been pretty consistent for putting out an album every year and following up with a successful tour. Although his last album was a terrible mess, his new one “Emerald City” is solid and filled with much more personal songs. Tonight’s live set was great as usual as he is one of the best live acts touring these days. The highlight for me was when Matthew Caws of Nada Surf took the stage to sing a duet with John. No one in the crowd seemed to know who he was. He ended his set in the crowd with an acoustic version of “Keep the Dream Alive” which has become standard close. Afterwords, he stayed around and practically hugged everyone in the crowd.

Pictures from the show.

http://www.johnvanderslice.com/