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.
Friday, June 27, 2008
the damage is done
I decided that I'm going to do all the recap stuff for Sled Island on the fly, and I'll just upload some photos when I get home, so if you're killing time at work today (*high five, Neil), this one is for you.
After 11 hours of driving and zero sleep the night before, we picked up our passes, checked in, and ripped back to the Pumphouse Theatre as fast as we could for the Yo La Tengo "Freewheelin' Retrospective Q&A."
I like YLT quite a bit, but I'm not a die hard fan. Last night's show (that they've been doing on and off for awhile), was a treat though. The band took questions from the crowd (and even turned the rather boring ones into entertaining anecdotes) and then performed songs that tied in to their answers.
Highlights included a wild version of "For the Turnstiles" where Ira laid some echo-y distortion on his acoustic and whipped out a noisy solo that would've made Neil proud, "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House," "Mr. Tough," and also an awesome version of "Damage" ("we don't play this one very often").
I also can't stress how fun the Q&A part of the evening was, and I'm usually a bit lukewarm on those types of things.
If you have the slightest interest in the band and can see them do this show, definitely do it.
From YLT, we headed over to Broken City and caught Women. Maybe it was the hometown audience, but they were even better than at Hoko's. I can't say enough good things about this band. Check out their album as soon as you can.
We stuck around at Broken City and gave Basketball a little hometown love. Cam (ex-Hot Loins, Music Waste, Vic Square) lent them a hand on percussion. I know I rave about them all the time, but the Calgary crowd was loving them, and when we were leaving I overheard a guy say "see, that's why Vancouver's music scene is so much better than ours."
We tried to see Crookers at Hi-Fi, but it was slammed, so I caught Elliot Brood (who was ok) and then a bit of Okkervil River at the Legion before completely crashing.
Not a bad first night.
Today: mystery bands>BSS>Deerhunter>the RZA>WIRE(!!!)
Oh, and while I usually don't list Seattle shows (other than festival), Matt won't let me get away without letting you know that the Jesus and fuckin' Mary Chain are in Seattle (at the Showbox) on July 16th.
If I can somehow swing MBV this summer, it'll make all my post-punk dreams come true.
I have to go drink some rye or eat beef or something Albertan now.
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
Friday, June 27, 2008
the damage is done
Hello from Calgary.
I decided that I'm going to do all the recap stuff for Sled Island on the fly, and I'll just upload some photos when I get home, so if you're killing time at work today (*high five, Neil), this one is for you.
After 11 hours of driving and zero sleep the night before, we picked up our passes, checked in, and ripped back to the Pumphouse Theatre as fast as we could for the Yo La Tengo "Freewheelin' Retrospective Q&A."
I like YLT quite a bit, but I'm not a die hard fan. Last night's show (that they've been doing on and off for awhile), was a treat though. The band took questions from the crowd (and even turned the rather boring ones into entertaining anecdotes) and then performed songs that tied in to their answers.
Highlights included a wild version of "For the Turnstiles" where Ira laid some echo-y distortion on his acoustic and whipped out a noisy solo that would've made Neil proud, "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House," "Mr. Tough," and also an awesome version of "Damage" ("we don't play this one very often").
I also can't stress how fun the Q&A part of the evening was, and I'm usually a bit lukewarm on those types of things.
If you have the slightest interest in the band and can see them do this show, definitely do it.
From YLT, we headed over to Broken City and caught Women. Maybe it was the hometown audience, but they were even better than at Hoko's. I can't say enough good things about this band. Check out their album as soon as you can.
We stuck around at Broken City and gave Basketball a little hometown love. Cam (ex-Hot Loins, Music Waste, Vic Square) lent them a hand on percussion. I know I rave about them all the time, but the Calgary crowd was loving them, and when we were leaving I overheard a guy say "see, that's why Vancouver's music scene is so much better than ours."
We tried to see Crookers at Hi-Fi, but it was slammed, so I caught Elliot Brood (who was ok) and then a bit of Okkervil River at the Legion before completely crashing.
Not a bad first night.
Today: mystery bands>BSS>Deerhunter>the RZA>WIRE(!!!)
Oh, and while I usually don't list Seattle shows (other than festival), Matt won't let me get away without letting you know that the Jesus and fuckin' Mary Chain are in Seattle (at the Showbox) on July 16th.
If I can somehow swing MBV this summer, it'll make all my post-punk dreams come true.
I have to go drink some rye or eat beef or something Albertan now.
Labels: basketball, elliott brood, okkervil river, sled island, women, yo la tengo
