So, the RX Bandits show was pretty okay.◊
You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!That's good to hear :3
Not gonna lie, that was pretty much my face through the entire show of theirs that I went to, too.
AGALLOCH GRACING ISRAEL WITH THEIR PRESENCE IN NOVEMBER
ヽ( ยด ▽ ` )ノ
edited 26th Jul '11 1:14:23 PM by Litis
I've seen Riders in the Sky a few times, U2 twice, and Rush live. I also saw The Black Eyed Peas and The Fray open for U2.
Riders in the Sky and Rush were awesome.
"My brain used to be a little bitch, so I mugged it's ass." -kegisakLucky bastard.
As for me haven't seen any big acts in about a year. Only local jazz bands and stuff like that.
Imagine Rakan applying Calling Your Attacks to doing paperwork.~Anarchy Rakan for the hell of it COMMISSION THIS BRIDGE!~EHKI am going to see Eels tomorrow - I didn't really like the past couple of albums that much, but hopefully it'll be a good show.
Earth is the only planet inhabitable by Nicolas Cage.The Eels were pretty great. Given how slow and solo-album-ish the past couple albums were, I was kinda pleasantly surprised to see them in more of a "rock show" mode; even some of the songs that were originally ballads got sped up a bit. The line up this time around was drums, bass, two guitars (plus E usually playing guitar himself too) and a couple of horns. I'm pretty sure they played at least one track from each album, and in fact right now I'm going to pull a Mark Prindle and attempt a list of what was played from each one:
Beautiful Freak: Novacaine For The Soul, My Beloved Monster
Electroshock Blues: Last Stop: This Town, PS You Rock My World
Daisies Of The Galaxy: Grace Kelly Blues, Packing Blankets, I Like Birds, Flyswatter
Souljacker: Souljacker Part I, That's Not Really Funny, That Fresh Feeling
Shootenanny: Love Of The Loveless
Blinking Lights and Other Revelations: I'm Going To Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart
Hombre Lobo: Fresh Blood, That Look You Give That Guy, Tremendous Dynamite, Beginner's Luck
End Times: Actually, I don't think anything was played from this album. I'm not as familiar with it as most of the rest though, and there was something I didn't recognize that could have either been from this or Tomorrow Morning.
Tomorrow Morning: This Is Where It Gets Good, I Like The Way This Is Going, Looking Up
Other: Hot Fun In The Summertime (Sly And The Family Stone cover), Knuckles (theme song/showcase for their drummer).
The openers were a pretty good male/female indie pop duo called The Submarines... and some guy who did a Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin tribute set with canned backing music. Yes, really - I don't know if it was just for the sake of audience confusion or if E just happens to be into Sinatra. Out of place as it might seem though, he was a pretty good singer, and people seemed to enjoy it.
edited 30th Jul '11 6:04:51 PM by MikeK
Earth is the only planet inhabitable by Nicolas Cage.So yeah, I went to High Voltage Festival last weekend. To cut a long story short:
James May made a brief but amusing appearance at the beginning, to be replaced by an atrocious punk band who were the lowest point of the day. Heaven's Basement came on afterwards and rocked hard; their lead singer's charisma was phenomenal, belying his unassuming scene-kid-meets-Devil-May-Cry-character aesthetic. Saint Jude were also surprisingly enjoyable.
Michael Schenker Group was a definite highlight; the dude (who can still shred despite a very advanced age, so props to him) had a veritable army of guests, including his brother and fellow Scorpions guitarist Rudolf, more axemen, another bassist and not one but two epic vocalists. This made their rendition of UFO and Scorpions hits (as well as original MSG material) like Doctor Doctor and especially Rock You like A Hurricane awesome, to say the least.
Thunder were a bit of a lull in the show, they seemed to me the very definition of that oft-used slur 'dad rock'. Had some unexpected rapport with their lead singer when he out of the blue decided that I had been enthusiastically singing along during a part where only the women were supposed to have been singing along (I was in fact standing there in disdainful silence while several males around me stole the ladies' thunder, so to speak). Said rapport consisted of him telling one of the guys I was there with to pat me down as a 'man-check' and me furiously shaking my head and arms as if to say 'HOW ABOUT NO'.
Black Country Communion made everything better, great tunes and the first band to have audible keyboards. Derek Sherinian, Jason Bonham, Joe Bonasama and some dude from Deep Purple; all brilliant at their instruments, a real supergroup. Lots of fun to watch.
Finally, it was time for the reason I had been there in the front row since the morning. It was time for Dream Theater.
To describe what followed as 'godlike' would frankly be an insult. It was the single most incredible event I have ever witnessed. Following an orchestral intro tape that almost made me crap myself in awe and excitement, the opening notes of Under A Glass Moon soon reduced me and everyone nearby to frenzied screaming and horn-throwing as DT plowed into a truly fantastic set.
The band were on fire. James LaBrie, a near-50-year-old with ruptured vocal chords, stood there belting out 5th-octave screams that would shred far less damaged vocal chords with apparent ease - his perfomance on the older material was shockingly good. John Petrucci's solos and expressions drew exultation from the crowd at every moment. New drummer Mike Mangini, aside from nailing every single part in a two-hour-plus set of fiendishly complex tunes, made his deific ability clear with an extended drum solo in which he cheerfully shat on almost every other drummer on the planet - polyrhythms, ostinati, odd-time grooves, weird tuplet combinations, blast beats, one-handed rolls, he had it all, culminating in a jaw-dropping accelerating fill that seemed to involve his arms switching tom on every semiquaver beat. Even the typically reserved John Myung got in a word or two with a mindblowing bass solo in Ytse Jam and some sweet unison moments with Petrucci. Jordan Rudess stole the show with way more audibility and stage presence than you'd every expect from a keyboard player in a metal band; from choral layers to soothing piano work to frankly ridiculous leads (one which had him take centre stage with a keytar), like Petrucci, he never failed to make the crowd cheer.
The whole affair seemingly culminated in an emotional, climactic rendition of twenty-minuter The Count Of Tuscany. As the stage went dark, I asked myself how that show could ever be topped.
As if in answer, Jordan began playing the intro to Learning To Live.
Having played a show that seemed more fitting for Olympus than central London and encored with one of the best songs ever written, Dream Theater capped off the night with a promise to return soon and left me and my friends to nurse our hoarse throats and accept that our entire lives were going to seem very unexciting now that we had borne witness to such majesty.
TL;DR - I saw Dream Theater live and it was the best fucking two hours of my entire life.
edited 29th Jul '11 5:14:45 PM by AsTheAnointed
Because I choose to.Just came back from Slayer and Rob Zombie with Exodus opening, floor seat.
What more can I say? My arms hurt like hell from being used as mosh-shields along with too much fist-pumping and I can barely use my voice from too much singing along. I can't tell if it's my neck or ears that're causing my headache and I nearly passed out a few times from dehydration.
Long story short, it was amazing.
PS: It may have just been my floor-placement at the time, but the Zombie moshpit was the most violent of the night.
Last show I was at was yesterday, it was all Boston bands: Count Zero, Pray For Polanski, Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, and Mistle Thrush (I had to leave before Mistle Thrush started). The neat thing about the Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling set was that they're normally a duo, but because it was one member's birthday, they decided to rearrange their songs and play about half of their set as a 10 piece (including people on ukulele, singing saw, viola, etc).
Oh yeah, now there's video of this, if you care:
The band is normally just the girl singing (who usually is also on drums) and the crazily mustached guy with the bass behind her (which is actually a bass with some guitar strings on it). And yeah, I guess they essentially made uniforms for the other 8 people just for that one day.
Shows in the months to come that I'm thinking of attending: Deerhoof, Yuck, Melt-Banana.
edited 10th Sep '11 5:40:34 PM by MikeK
Earth is the only planet inhabitable by Nicolas Cage.Decided to post this question here rather than starting a new thread for it: Who do you reckon has the best on-stage, between-song 'banter' (ugh, God I hate that word)?
I was just listening to some live recordings of The Mountain Goats, when I came across this absolute gem from John Darnielle:
And from the same gig, after coming back on for a second encore to play Going To Georgia:
Random audience member: "I would do it, I would do it!"
John: "I know! Dude to me down here is proudly proclaiming he would steal my shit. So I had to come back out, and these people in the front made some noise, and I thought, that's not sporting, to come out to get your notebook unless you, you know, play a little jam... but if you steal my notebook, I will cut you."
One more... a pretty short but awesome quip from Win Butler when I went to see Arcade Fire at the LG Arena in Birmingham:
edited 22nd Aug '11 4:53:31 PM by Saeglopur
Listen to Music with Tropers at The Troper Turntable!There was a folk musician named Sam Amidon. He opened for Anathallo when they played in Athens back in 2009. His stage banter was amazing.
In one song, after a first verse he said "Take it away, guitar!" Then after the next verse he said "Take it away, claps!" and he stopped playing guitar and just clapped and sang for a bit. Then after the next verse he said "Take it away, pushups!" and he put down his guitar, walked off the stage, and did 20 pushups. He then climbed back on the stage, picked up his guitar, and finished his song.
During one song, he stopped abruptly in the middle of the chorus and started telling about a dream he had once. He dreamed he was in the house he grew up in, but it was completely empty and silent. He began searching every room for his family, and eventually, in the last room of the house, found his mom. Except for some reason she was a midget. And when she saw him, she shrieked "Eeeeeeeeeeeee!" and ran away. And he chased after her, all the while she was shrieking "Eeeeeeeeeeeee-" And then, even more abruptly, he resumed playing that song right where he left off in the middle of the chorus. He never finished the story about the dream.
Near the end of the show, he insisted that Anathallo's drummer and trombone player accompany him for a song. Partway through, he stopped playing and said he wasn't going to finish the song until they played loud enough.
The best part though, was when he decided to tell the story behind one of the songs:
This is a song about trains. The rest of that is the subtext.
I've heard of Sam Amidon before... maybe I'll have to check his stuff out. He sounds completely mental though. How likely was it that he was high when he did that set?
Speaking of which, Arcade Fire were supported by Devendra Banhart. He was, shall we say, probably not on the same mental plane as the majority of the audience. By which I mean he was high as a fuckin' kite.
edited 22nd Aug '11 5:49:08 PM by Saeglopur
Listen to Music with Tropers at The Troper Turntable!He didn't sound high or anything to me. Came across like he was just creative and had a taste for the absurd.
I didn't write any of that.Let's see, all that I can remember:
- First gig I ever went to was Muse at Wembley Stadium back in 2007, when they were pretty much all I listened to.
- Later that year I saw Dream Theater supported by Symphony X.
- In June 2008 I saw Radiohead play at Victoria Park in London.
- In October 2009 I saw Porcupine Tree in Leeds and a couple of days after that I saw UnexpecT, Bigelf, Opeth and Dream Theater on Dream Theater's Progressive Nation tour.
- In November 2009 I saw Gary Numan in Sheffield.
- In April 2010 I saw Opeth's 20th anniversary gig at the Royal Albert Hall. Remains the best gig I have ever been to.
- In July 2010 I went to the first High Voltage festival. It was a bit meh, to be honest.
- In August 2010 I went to Bloodstock Open Air metal festival. Highlights: Cathedral, Meshuggah, Opeth, Amorphis, Devin Townsend, GWAR, and Gojira.
- In March of this year I saw Devin Townsend in Manchester.
edited 23rd Aug '11 5:05:19 AM by pagad
With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.The corniest (and maybe also best) joke I've seen made on stage in person was from John Powhida of John Powhida International Airport: His band had a keyboardist who bore a notable resemblance to Gregg Allman. At one point between songs, John Powhida announced he was hungry and pulled out a can of nuts. Then he said "I feel kind of bad not sharing" and turned to the keyboardist and offered "Almond, brother?".
Earth is the only planet inhabitable by Nicolas Cage.Less than two weeks left until BTBAM; I don't remember a single song by them that isn't off the self-titled and I don't have a single band shirt to wear and fit in with the crowd. wat do
See if you can find a hipster t-shirt.
Those always work.
go ahead and do every stupid thing you can imaginewhat's a hipster
do you eat it
With chopsticks, yea.
go ahead and do every stupid thing you can imagineListen to Colours lots. Also, I think they're playing their new EP in its entirety (which is kinda sucky IMO, since the EP is their worst release since Alaska), so get that in your head too.
edited 29th Aug '11 5:00:38 AM by AsTheAnointed
Because I choose to.Gonna see Deerhoof in a couple weeks, which I guess means I ought to re-familiarize myself with what I already know (Friend Opportunity and The Runners Four) and maybe check out their latest album.
Earth is the only planet inhabitable by Nicolas Cage.I almost saw Deerhoof five years ago. But...
*resigned sigh*
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.This week I am going to see the Montreal Symphony Orchestra live!
- feels a bit out of place in this thread*
@Wicked - again, allow me to express my endless barren tundra of envy for what you will be experiencing tomorrow;
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
also AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
that will be quite all.
And regarding what you said about not being at the front in the Trash Heap - it is the best place. really. Being right in front of the stage is preferable to being in the first 6-7 rows in my experience, and is also way better than being stuck at the back. DO EEEEEEEET
I'm still upset that RXB are breaking up. Although Matt Embree's next project looks tasty too;