One Last Push
Almost at Chrissie now. One last little run. Just gotta get through the last minute shopping and end-of-year parties and over-indulgence and constant, wearying best-of lists. How much more feteing does J Newsom need?
(Not that I'm not impressed and not going to see her in January at the Forum, mind.)
So, went to Meredith, saw some gigs. In order:
Thursday: My Latest Novel and Home Video at the Corner
MLN were really good, played basically everything on Wolves, with Sister Sneaker Sister Soul a real highlight. And such cute Scottish accents. Home Video a little less impressive, their stuff doesn't really do it for me and they seemed a bit underwhelmed. (Possibly it was the crowd, shame it was so poorly attended.)
Firday, Saturday: Meredith:
Augie March great.
Dallas Crane great (except for no Marsanne - bastards!).
Midlake very good.
New Pornos pretty good.
Drones pretty good.
Tapes 'n' Tapes OK.
And that was about all I saw, cause it was so damn hot. Mostly sat up the back and wilted. Or in the tent. But still a great weekend. Imagine if it had've been 10 degrees cooler.
Sunday: Midlake w/ Art of Fighting at the Corner
Art of Fighting are really playing well at the moment, another good set from them. I still love Eastbound, not to mention the old stuff. And some of the other new songs sound like corkers.
Midlake were even better than at Meredith. At the festival they played a short set because setup took forever - legacy of their kilos of keyboards. This set was full-length and included everything good. My highlights were Head Home, Kingfish Pies and We Gathered in Spring, which popped up in the encore. But everything was perfectly played.
(And how emo is the drummer? He looks like he wandered in accidentally from Behind Crimson Eyes.)
Monday: A night off!
Tuesday: The New Pornographers w/ Crayon Fields at the Prince
Missed Crayon Fields but was reliably informed that they weren't that good. Their album's popping up in lots of best-of lists, but I don't love it, though it is pretty accomplished. Plenty of time for them, though.
New Pornos were good. Everyone was there except Bejar, and Kathryn Calder is really cute, and they played Jackie when I screamed out for it. In fact, they actively solicited requests, something you can do when all your songs are great, but it turned out that they couldn't play most of the things requested. (The New Face of Zero and One, The Bones of an Idol and The Mary Martin Show most notably.) It's fun to hear people do Bejar impressions, though.
But they weren't great. The sound was a bit muddy, with the vocals buried, and Neko's voice especially often overwhelmed by the guitars. And, we decided later, it seemed like they weren't really playing as a band, more as a collection of individuals. There was some part of the vibe missing, and the actual playing itself was a little sloppy, though maybe not sloppy enough. Or something. I think it was mainly the sound.
Here's the setlist from that, anyway:
Sing Me Spanish Techno [TC]
The Laws Have Changed [EV]
Jackie, Dressed in Cobras [TC]
The Bleeding Heart Show [TC]
Mass Romantic [MR]
Testament to Youth in Verse [EV]
Miss Teen Wordpower [EV]
These Are the Fables [TC]
Streets of Fire [TC]
Jackie [MR]
The Jessica Numbers [TC]
All for Swinging You Around [EV]
Twin Cinema [TC]
From Blown Speakers [EV]
It's Only Divine Right [EV]
Use It [TC]
The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism [MR]
ENCORE
Execution Day [MR]
Letter From an Occupant [MR]
(Not that I'm not impressed and not going to see her in January at the Forum, mind.)
So, went to Meredith, saw some gigs. In order:
Thursday: My Latest Novel and Home Video at the Corner
MLN were really good, played basically everything on Wolves, with Sister Sneaker Sister Soul a real highlight. And such cute Scottish accents. Home Video a little less impressive, their stuff doesn't really do it for me and they seemed a bit underwhelmed. (Possibly it was the crowd, shame it was so poorly attended.)
Firday, Saturday: Meredith:
Augie March great.
Dallas Crane great (except for no Marsanne - bastards!).
Midlake very good.
New Pornos pretty good.
Drones pretty good.
Tapes 'n' Tapes OK.
And that was about all I saw, cause it was so damn hot. Mostly sat up the back and wilted. Or in the tent. But still a great weekend. Imagine if it had've been 10 degrees cooler.
Sunday: Midlake w/ Art of Fighting at the Corner
Art of Fighting are really playing well at the moment, another good set from them. I still love Eastbound, not to mention the old stuff. And some of the other new songs sound like corkers.
Midlake were even better than at Meredith. At the festival they played a short set because setup took forever - legacy of their kilos of keyboards. This set was full-length and included everything good. My highlights were Head Home, Kingfish Pies and We Gathered in Spring, which popped up in the encore. But everything was perfectly played.
(And how emo is the drummer? He looks like he wandered in accidentally from Behind Crimson Eyes.)
Monday: A night off!
Tuesday: The New Pornographers w/ Crayon Fields at the Prince
Missed Crayon Fields but was reliably informed that they weren't that good. Their album's popping up in lots of best-of lists, but I don't love it, though it is pretty accomplished. Plenty of time for them, though.
New Pornos were good. Everyone was there except Bejar, and Kathryn Calder is really cute, and they played Jackie when I screamed out for it. In fact, they actively solicited requests, something you can do when all your songs are great, but it turned out that they couldn't play most of the things requested. (The New Face of Zero and One, The Bones of an Idol and The Mary Martin Show most notably.) It's fun to hear people do Bejar impressions, though.
But they weren't great. The sound was a bit muddy, with the vocals buried, and Neko's voice especially often overwhelmed by the guitars. And, we decided later, it seemed like they weren't really playing as a band, more as a collection of individuals. There was some part of the vibe missing, and the actual playing itself was a little sloppy, though maybe not sloppy enough. Or something. I think it was mainly the sound.
Here's the setlist from that, anyway:
Sing Me Spanish Techno [TC]
The Laws Have Changed [EV]
Jackie, Dressed in Cobras [TC]
The Bleeding Heart Show [TC]
Mass Romantic [MR]
Testament to Youth in Verse [EV]
Miss Teen Wordpower [EV]
These Are the Fables [TC]
Streets of Fire [TC]
Jackie [MR]
The Jessica Numbers [TC]
All for Swinging You Around [EV]
Twin Cinema [TC]
From Blown Speakers [EV]
It's Only Divine Right [EV]
Use It [TC]
The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism [MR]
ENCORE
Execution Day [MR]
Letter From an Occupant [MR]
