Saturday, June 27, 2009
die slow
We took it easy for a couple of hours before heading to the mainstage (at the Olympic Plaza instead of the sprawling Mewata Field this year) in time to see Liars. I thought they were a little ill-suited to the venue the last time I saw them on a big stage (opening for Radiohead), but they were pretty great last night in a place that, while smaller, was still pretty huge.
The Breeders were up next on the mainstage. I felt the same way about last night as I did about their performance at Sasquatch a year or so ago. The old material was awesome, but it sort of made the newer stuff they played seem boring by comparison. They were once again worth seeing though, if only for "Divine Hammer."
After a quick stop at our hotel, we made it down the block to the Marquee Room(a great little venue in the same building as an arthouse theatre) and caught Puberty's last few songs. The female fronted group played pretty straight up garage punk pretty well. Keith from Sex Negatives lent his sax skills to their last track.
Twin Crystals repped Vancouver and repped it well next. I'm a fan of Jesse's keyboard playing, but he rocked a guitar for their entire set, which meant they were even more intense than usual.
HEALTH headlined the Marquee and were absolutely awesome. They tore through a set that balanced out stuff from their s/t debut and new songs, presumably from the forthcoming Get Color. If you were into the first record, you'll be stoked on the next one, by the sounds of things
Thursday, August 21, 2008
from a great height
Weather aside, Oxford's favourite sons were in pretty fine form, as usual on Tuesday night, although Jonny seemed a bit sloppy at a few points, sort of chucking part of the solo to "Just."
The setlist, predictably, leaned heavily on In Rainbows, but there was also a healthy dose of "classics" and "Bangers and Mash" (Thom: "this is a nasty little song...") from the In Rainbows bonus disc.
Some of the crowd was sort of douchey, as evidenced by Thom quipping "this isn't a Rage Against the Machine show" at one point and interrupting "Faust Arp" to tell a heckler (who pays $70 and then heckles the headliners?) to "fuck off. You're not funny you just don't get out much." At least not out and off of Granville. Close though.
Liars were sort of lost on most people, which was unfortunate, despite the fact that they really weren't suited for the huge stage. At least, they weren't suited to such a big stage at such a relatively low volume. All the bang and clatter didn't quite have the power that it probably needed to. Angus Andrew does get bonus points for joking, "see those guys playing hacky sack over there? Beat them up."
Gang Violence are at Blastramp! at the Bourbon on September 4th. It's their first show since Music Waste (I think) and they've got a new singer: Sara from Ice Cream/Channels 3+4.
On September 11th, Old Time Relijun is at the Biltmore with Shearing Pinx and Role Mach. (thanks to Tom for the reminder - what a day to forget, I know)
The next evening, also at the Biltmore, the Grand Archives play.
Speaking of the Biltmore, what exactly happened there last Friday?
Speaking again of the Biltmore, the Mohawk Lodge show that was supposed to take place there tonight (that I forgot to list - sorry, Ryder) is off. As far as I know, things are supposed to be resolved before this weekend.
On September 13th, Kellarissa is celebrating the release of her Mint Records LP, Flamingo at Video-In. Hello, Blue Roses and Les Beyond (Erin from Shearing Pinx) open.
Fond of Tigers and Secret Mommy are teaming up on September 19th for a pretty interesting endeavour at Open Studios as part of the New Forms Festival. Each band will compose a new piece of music using a song already recorded by the other band as source material. Rad.
Jolie Holland is at Richard's October 19th.
now playing: the Abramson Singers - Take a Camera
die slow
I started off yesterday by catching (or I guess "attempting to catch" is more correct) Monotonix at Tubby Dog (aka the best hot dog place, this side of Japadog). It took us a little longer than expected to saunter our way down there, so unsurprisingly, the rather tiny "venue" was packed to overflowing when we arrived. One thing about hearing Monotonix while not being able to see them is that you quickly notice that they're much better performers than they are a band. Speaking to the former though, they made sure all the people stuck outside didn't go home disappointed by dragging all their gear out onto the sidewalk to hammer out a few riffs. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've seen anyone dive off of a mailbox to crowd surf.
We took it easy for a couple of hours before heading to the mainstage (at the Olympic Plaza instead of the sprawling Mewata Field this year) in time to see Liars. I thought they were a little ill-suited to the venue the last time I saw them on a big stage (opening for Radiohead), but they were pretty great last night in a place that, while smaller, was still pretty huge.
The Breeders were up next on the mainstage. I felt the same way about last night as I did about their performance at Sasquatch a year or so ago. The old material was awesome, but it sort of made the newer stuff they played seem boring by comparison. They were once again worth seeing though, if only for "Divine Hammer."
After a quick stop at our hotel, we made it down the block to the Marquee Room(a great little venue in the same building as an arthouse theatre) and caught Puberty's last few songs. The female fronted group played pretty straight up garage punk pretty well. Keith from Sex Negatives lent his sax skills to their last track.
Twin Crystals repped Vancouver and repped it well next. I'm a fan of Jesse's keyboard playing, but he rocked a guitar for their entire set, which meant they were even more intense than usual.
HEALTH headlined the Marquee and were absolutely awesome. They tore through a set that balanced out stuff from their s/t debut and new songs, presumably from the forthcoming Get Color. If you were into the first record, you'll be stoked on the next one, by the sounds of things
Labels: breeders, health, liars, monotonix, puberty, show recaps, sled island, twin crystals
Thursday, August 21, 2008
from a great height
Were you at Radiohead? Are you dry yet?
Weather aside, Oxford's favourite sons were in pretty fine form, as usual on Tuesday night, although Jonny seemed a bit sloppy at a few points, sort of chucking part of the solo to "Just."
The setlist, predictably, leaned heavily on In Rainbows, but there was also a healthy dose of "classics" and "Bangers and Mash" (Thom: "this is a nasty little song...") from the In Rainbows bonus disc.
Some of the crowd was sort of douchey, as evidenced by Thom quipping "this isn't a Rage Against the Machine show" at one point and interrupting "Faust Arp" to tell a heckler (who pays $70 and then heckles the headliners?) to "fuck off. You're not funny you just don't get out much." At least not out and off of Granville. Close though.
Liars were sort of lost on most people, which was unfortunate, despite the fact that they really weren't suited for the huge stage. At least, they weren't suited to such a big stage at such a relatively low volume. All the bang and clatter didn't quite have the power that it probably needed to. Angus Andrew does get bonus points for joking, "see those guys playing hacky sack over there? Beat them up."
Gang Violence are at Blastramp! at the Bourbon on September 4th. It's their first show since Music Waste (I think) and they've got a new singer: Sara from Ice Cream/Channels 3+4.
On September 11th, Old Time Relijun is at the Biltmore with Shearing Pinx and Role Mach. (thanks to Tom for the reminder - what a day to forget, I know)
The next evening, also at the Biltmore, the Grand Archives play.
Speaking of the Biltmore, what exactly happened there last Friday?
Speaking again of the Biltmore, the Mohawk Lodge show that was supposed to take place there tonight (that I forgot to list - sorry, Ryder) is off. As far as I know, things are supposed to be resolved before this weekend.
On September 13th, Kellarissa is celebrating the release of her Mint Records LP, Flamingo at Video-In. Hello, Blue Roses and Les Beyond (Erin from Shearing Pinx) open.
Fond of Tigers and Secret Mommy are teaming up on September 19th for a pretty interesting endeavour at Open Studios as part of the New Forms Festival. Each band will compose a new piece of music using a song already recorded by the other band as source material. Rad.
Jolie Holland is at Richard's October 19th.
now playing: the Abramson Singers - Take a Camera
Labels: liars, radiohead, show announcements, show recaps
