Sunday, June 29, 2008
you all want the lovely music to save your lives
Drive By-Truckers followed. I've heard a ton of good things about their live show. They didn't blow my mind, but I can see where they got the rep.
We took an ill-advised midday C-train trip and got lost when attempting to find a restaurant that no longer existed, so we didn't make it back to the field until Of Montreal. They were their usually entertaining selves, but mostly stuck to pretty new stuff, which was a touch disappointing.
Wire wasn't as good yesterday as they were on Friday night at the Legion. The crowd wasn't as amped, which might have been part of it, and they didn't seem to have as much energy either. Still great though.
Mogwai finished things up on the big stage. Honestly, the soundsystem didn't really do them justice. Mogwai shows are all about making your insides rattle, and they couldn't really reach that level of volume... though they tried.
From Mogwai I booked it over to Broken City to give Bend Sinister some hometown support, not that the guys needed it, as the crowd was pretty into them.
And from Broken City it was back to the Legion for the BSS/Spiral Stairs' collaboration entitled Human Milk. Honestly, the new songs they played weren't all that special, and Stephen Malkmus' former right hand man was a bit disappointing, but the set closing take on "It's All Gonna Break" was phenomenal. Great end to a great weekend.
Show announcements and photos and other catch up when I get back to Vancouver.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
12XU
Caught Yo La Tengo fully plugged in last night, they were way more Sonic Youth-like than I expected, but that's a good thing.
I really like Tegan and Sara, so I'm always down with seeing them. Actually, I should re-phrase. I really like If It Was You, but I'm still down to see them, even if they only rock "Living Room." They're Calgarians, so it was a homecoming show of sorts.
Chixdiggit played the sidestage. I didnt' know they still existed.
I had, perhaps, the best hot dog ever.
BSS were woman-less, which is always kind of a downer, they also played some songs from their various solo joints, which, frankly, was also kind of a downer. But we had to take off early anyhow, to catch...
The RZA! He was in a tiny room packed with, as one would expect, hardcore Wu fans. And, while I'm the first to admit that when I'm jonesing for a Wu solo record, his aren't the first that come to mind, his live show was awesome.
Caught the tail end of Secret Machines, who I loved instrumentally, but could take or leave when the vocals kick in, but we were at the Legion for one reason only: Wire.
When I saw the Cure last month, all I wanted to hear were old songs. When they did play new songs, I hoped they would change my mind, but all I could think about was how fast they would end the stuff from the latter half of their catalogue and get to "Killing an Arab" (and etc). But while Pink Flag and Chairs Missing are two of my absolute favourite records, Wire's new material stands up well alongside their "classics." They look their age, for sure, but they sound incredible, and they're still making songs that are better than what 99.9% of "young" bands are putting out.
CL from the National Shield/Octoberman was hanging around after the show, and while neither of his outfits are particularly Wire-esque, you get a bit of a sense of just how influential the group was by his admission that "everything I try to do on guitar is from that band."
I don't think tonight can top yesterday, but we're sure as hell going to try.
Hope the weekend's going strong in Vancouver. Between the Cons/amillionthingsonfriday/the ER, it's a great few days for shows.
you all want the lovely music to save your lives
Started the last day of Sled Island with Still Flyin' at the mainstage. I'm not huge on the uber-happy giant pop groups, but they were pretty good.
Drive By-Truckers followed. I've heard a ton of good things about their live show. They didn't blow my mind, but I can see where they got the rep.
We took an ill-advised midday C-train trip and got lost when attempting to find a restaurant that no longer existed, so we didn't make it back to the field until Of Montreal. They were their usually entertaining selves, but mostly stuck to pretty new stuff, which was a touch disappointing.
Wire wasn't as good yesterday as they were on Friday night at the Legion. The crowd wasn't as amped, which might have been part of it, and they didn't seem to have as much energy either. Still great though.
Mogwai finished things up on the big stage. Honestly, the soundsystem didn't really do them justice. Mogwai shows are all about making your insides rattle, and they couldn't really reach that level of volume... though they tried.
From Mogwai I booked it over to Broken City to give Bend Sinister some hometown support, not that the guys needed it, as the crowd was pretty into them.
And from Broken City it was back to the Legion for the BSS/Spiral Stairs' collaboration entitled Human Milk. Honestly, the new songs they played weren't all that special, and Stephen Malkmus' former right hand man was a bit disappointing, but the set closing take on "It's All Gonna Break" was phenomenal. Great end to a great weekend.
Show announcements and photos and other catch up when I get back to Vancouver.
Labels: bend sinister, broken social scene, drive by truckers, mogwai, sled island, spiral stairs, still flyin, wire
Saturday, June 28, 2008
12XU
I'm running late, and I have to book it to the mainstage to interview Women, so I'll keep it brief (PS: Jon, that's where I'll be all day... my phone is out of juice though).
Caught Yo La Tengo fully plugged in last night, they were way more Sonic Youth-like than I expected, but that's a good thing.
I really like Tegan and Sara, so I'm always down with seeing them. Actually, I should re-phrase. I really like If It Was You, but I'm still down to see them, even if they only rock "Living Room." They're Calgarians, so it was a homecoming show of sorts.
Chixdiggit played the sidestage. I didnt' know they still existed.
I had, perhaps, the best hot dog ever.
BSS were woman-less, which is always kind of a downer, they also played some songs from their various solo joints, which, frankly, was also kind of a downer. But we had to take off early anyhow, to catch...
The RZA! He was in a tiny room packed with, as one would expect, hardcore Wu fans. And, while I'm the first to admit that when I'm jonesing for a Wu solo record, his aren't the first that come to mind, his live show was awesome.
Caught the tail end of Secret Machines, who I loved instrumentally, but could take or leave when the vocals kick in, but we were at the Legion for one reason only: Wire.
When I saw the Cure last month, all I wanted to hear were old songs. When they did play new songs, I hoped they would change my mind, but all I could think about was how fast they would end the stuff from the latter half of their catalogue and get to "Killing an Arab" (and etc). But while Pink Flag and Chairs Missing are two of my absolute favourite records, Wire's new material stands up well alongside their "classics." They look their age, for sure, but they sound incredible, and they're still making songs that are better than what 99.9% of "young" bands are putting out.
CL from the National Shield/Octoberman was hanging around after the show, and while neither of his outfits are particularly Wire-esque, you get a bit of a sense of just how influential the group was by his admission that "everything I try to do on guitar is from that band."
I don't think tonight can top yesterday, but we're sure as hell going to try.
Hope the weekend's going strong in Vancouver. Between the Cons/amillionthingsonfriday/the ER, it's a great few days for shows.
Labels: broken social scene, chixdiggit, secret machines, sled island, tegan and sara, the rza, wire, yo la tengo
