Concerts

[prodigalgodson]

I worked first aid at a Smokey Robinson concert the other day. We only had one call before the show started so I got to watch pretty much the whole thing. I don't usually like concerts too much, but it was amazing to hear such a distinctive voice in person. It was mostly the hits and some stuff he'd written for The Temptations and Stevie Wonder, but I was really glad he did Quiet Storm. Ooo Baby Baby was probably the highlight. Tracks of My Tears was great too. He had some funny stories. The only thing I missed was my favorite song of his Happy. Kinda sad it was at the small-ish YouTube theater and tickets were going for about $20 day of cuz they hadn't sold enough, but great crowd nonetheless.

[blocho]

I worked first aid at a Smokey Robinson concert the other day. We only had one call before the show started so I got to watch pretty much the whole thing. I don't usually like concerts too much, but it was amazing to hear such a distinctive voice in person. It was mostly the hits and some stuff he'd written for The Temptations and Stevie Wonder, but I was really glad he did Quiet Storm. Ooo Baby Baby was probably the highlight. Tracks of My Tears was great too. He had some funny stories. The only thing I missed was my favorite song of his Happy. Kinda sad it was at the small-ish YouTube theater and tickets were going for about $20 day of cuz they hadn't sold enough, but great crowd nonetheless.

Did you like it when he changed the course of American music two or three times?

I hope Paul Anka wasn't the opener.

[prodigalgodson]

I worked first aid at a Smokey Robinson concert the other day. We only had one call before the show started so I got to watch pretty much the whole thing. I don't usually like concerts too much, but it was amazing to hear such a distinctive voice in person. It was mostly the hits and some stuff he'd written for The Temptations and Stevie Wonder, but I was really glad he did Quiet Storm. Ooo Baby Baby was probably the highlight. Tracks of My Tears was great too. He had some funny stories. The only thing I missed was my favorite song of his Happy. Kinda sad it was at the small-ish YouTube theater and tickets were going for about $20 day of cuz they hadn't sold enough, but great crowd nonetheless.

Did you like it when he changed the course of American music two or three times?

I hope Paul Anka wasn't the opener.

Haha ahh you got me, I was just trying to prove how deep I am about music!

There was no opener but he did play Tears of a Clown.

[blocho]

I just bought tickets to see Springsteen in April. Yes, it was too expensive, but I'm employed again and I've never seen him live. And given that he's getting old, I'm not sure how many more opportunities there will be. So it felt like something I had to do, and I'm pretty pumped about it.

[Torgo]

Define "too expensive". Sigur Rós are coming for a super-exclusive gig to my hometown (which sold out in a second), only a few minutes on foot from here, but good tickets were like 60 or 75 Euros, so of course I was hesitant if to support such end-capitalistic scam ..
Metallica are coming, too - also very exclusive actually - and cheap tickets are about 250 Euros, which is more than I ever paid for festivals back in my (active) day.

[kongs_speech]

I'm jealous, I'd love to see The Boss.

[OldAle1]

I just bought tickets to see Springsteen in April. Yes, it was too expensive, but I'm employed again and I've never seen him live. And given that he's getting old, I'm not sure how many more opportunities there will be. So it felt like something I had to do, and I'm pretty pumped about it.

My brother saw him while he was out here with me, after my surgery; in fact it kept him here a bit longer than he would have otherwise stayed. I was very jealous - I'm a bigger Springsteen fan than him - but there was no way I felt like going, and I didn't have a sugar mamma like he did - he's been seeing this woman off and on for a few months who lives in the area, more or less, who, shall we say, isn't much concerned with things like money. So last minute they got good tickets to the show in Milwaukee - for $1000 apiece. He said it was awesome and I believe it - I've seen him 7-8 times and he's never disappointed. I envy you your first experience.

[flavo5000]

I forgot to mention in here but last week I saw Flogging Molly with Anti-Flag and Skinny Lister. Really great show!

[GruesomeTwosome]

I forgot to mention in here but last week I saw Flogging Molly with Anti-Flag and Skinny Lister. Really great show!

Damn, that’s bringing me back to the Warped Tour circa 2005 or 2006! I recall Flogging Molly and Anti-Flag putting on a good show.

[flavo5000]

I forgot to mention in here but last week I saw Flogging Molly with Anti-Flag and Skinny Lister. Really great show!

Damn, that’s bringing me back to the Warped Tour circa 2005 or 2006! I recall Flogging Molly and Anti-Flag putting on a good show.

Yea, I used to go to tons of shows back then but somehow never saw either of these bands, and I love Flogging Molly especially.

[Carmel1379]

There's a relatively eclectic three day indoors festival at Brussels' AB happening in two weeks; I've got tickets for the Saturday, where Kode9 , Tim Hecker (wonder if he'll play anything from his 'Infinity Pool' soundtrack, since that's just out), DJ Marcelle, Sarathy Korwar, Tom Skinner, & Ill Considered, among others, were announced to perform.

[Torgo]

Oh mang Hecker

[blocho]

I just bought tickets to see Springsteen in April. Yes, it was too expensive, but I'm employed again and I've never seen him live. And given that he's getting old, I'm not sure how many more opportunities there will be. So it felt like something I had to do, and I'm pretty pumped about it.

Holy shit. Bruce & the E Street Band were utterly fucking awesome.

[OldAle1]

I just bought tickets to see Springsteen in April. Yes, it was too expensive, but I'm employed again and I've never seen him live. And given that he's getting old, I'm not sure how many more opportunities there will be. So it felt like something I had to do, and I'm pretty pumped about it.

Holy shit. Bruce & the E Street Band were utterly fucking awesome.

The Rangers had a homecoming
In Harlem late last night

[blocho]

The Rangers had a homecoming
In Harlem late last night

For a time around 2005-2007, Jungleland was my favorite Bruce song. It's been played a few times on this current tour, though it didn't make the set list tonight. To my pleasant surprise, Backstreets did. Backstreets might be my current favorite Bruce song, and I remember thinking earlier in the day that if there was one song I hoped he would play, it was Backstreets.

I could write so much about the show I saw. After seeing them live, I realized that I had never truly appreciated things like Nils Lofgren's virtuosity or how ably Jake Clemons has stepped into Clarence's shoes, something which I felt was a bit of a put-on for years but now seems very genuine. Bruce & and the E Streeters are famously durable, but it's one thing reading about it and another seeing it. Most of them are in their 70s, but they played a full three-hour show. I think the biggest physical burden falls on Bruce and Max Weinberg, neither of whom got a break for more than a couple of minutes.

The most surprising thing was how every song became a rock anthem. The E Street Shuffle, which is a funky boogie in its original recorded version, became a rock anthem. Johnny 99, a kind of twisted take on a rockabilly tune, became a rock anthem featuring dueling drum solos. There were only two soft songs in the entire set. Most rock bands want to lead their audiences through a series of peaks and valleys: Get people excited and then, after they've gotten worn out by twenty minutes of intensity, play some slow numbers to let them catch their breath before speeding things back up again. Springsteen doesn't seem to care about anyone catching their breaths. He's gonna work hard for three hours straight, and he hopes the audience will rock just as hard. The emotional peaks and valleys, instead of existing across the set, are sometimes crammed into the same song. There were some numbers that could inspire dancing, screaming, or tears at different moments.

[OldAle1]

Nice little review. Last time I saw him was almost 20 years ago - I saw 3 of the shows he did with REM in support of John Kerry's campaign; they were great but I remember just as much the whole micro-tour aspect of going to all of them with my brother, drinking, seeing old friends (in Philly) and relatives (in Cleveland), drinking... And it's been nearly 40 years since the first show I saw, in 1984 at Alpine Valley about 1/2 hour east of where I am now. But he seems ageless.

Gosh, naming favorite songs is tough. I wish I knew the post-2000 stuff better, or rather post-"The Rising", which has some contenders. I guess off the top of my head I'd probably pick as a top 10, sort of in order -

Stolen Car (original version on "Tracks")
My City of Ruins
Born to Run
Incident on 57th Street>Rosalita>New York City Serenade (yes, it's all one track on the original album)
For You
Thundercrack
Santa Ana
Thunder Road
Jungleland
The Promised Land

Hell I can't stop at 10

Prove it All Night
Wreck on the Highway
Badlands
Growin' Up
My Hometown
Reason to Believe
Brilliant Disguise
Mary's Place
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
Be True

[blocho]

Magic is my favorite post-Rising album. Actually, it's my favorite Springsteen album. I know that's a highly unconventional choice. I wonder whether most people's favorite album is the one that was released when they were in their early 20s.

As for top 10 songs, I don't think I could come up with a list. Maybe a top 40.

[blocho]

I went to another show tonight that, in terms of style and enjoyment, was the near polar opposite of the Springsteen concert. Although, as I sadly learned, it wasn't really a concert at all.

As I've mentioned before in this forum, I greatly enjoy the work of Philip Glass. Four years ago, I saw a production of Glass' opera Akhnaten at the Met, and I liked it so much that I saw it again when the production returned last year. So I was excited when I heard that the director of that opera, an Englishman named Phelim McDermott, was bringing a show called The Tao of Glass to New York. I assumed it would be a concert with the sort of fanciful and creative staging that has characterized McDermott's work in the past (juggling, massive puppets, absurd costuming, and so on).

Well, there were four musicians on stage, but this was not a concert. It was rather a theatrical work that mainly featured McDermott telling random life stories and occasionally musing about Taoism. There were a few other people on stage who manipulated some props to provide visual accompaniment, but this was basically a middle-aged man telling boring stories with some music in the background. After a torturously boring first half, I left at intermission.

My favorite part of the whole evening was that two Chinese women left the auditorium at the same time as me. And as soon as we got to the street, one of them started yelling in Chinese at the other. People yelling at each other in the street is not entirely uncommon in New York, but the volume of this screeching was truly amazing. Everyone in the street was giving the two some bewildered glances. And then, the screaming woman switched to English suddenly and her intentions became clear: "That was shit. That show was fucking shit."

On a related note, it is clear that I have developed a strange but steady aversion to theater. With the singular exception of Akhnaten (which is very far from traditional opera), it has been 12 years since I last enjoyed a work of theater. And though I haven't seen many plays in that timespan, the ones I saw and disliked were all highly praised critically.

[Good_Will_Harding]

This past Saturday night, at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, two friends from college and I went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens: In Concert, with The Philadelphia Orchestra. What that means is that they screened the entire film in their outdoor pavilion, but had the dialogue and sound effects turned down (but not entirely off, with subtitles provided) and had a live orchestra performing the score the entire way through the film, with an intermission at the halfway mark. This is a series the Mann Center has been putting on for years, but this was my first time attending one of these.

Showtime was at 8 pm, but we decided to get there a bit early as to avoid any possible traffic jams. That gave us plenty of time to walk around, enjoy the arena, and suffer in the humidity like hogs until sunset. Our seats were positioned towards the middle of the stage, almost directly behind the sound booth, where someone was altering the audio levels of the dialogue, sound effects, etc throughout the show. Since we were among the first 200 people to arrive at the venue, we were given vouchers for free popcorn, which two of us utilized. Unfortunately, the popcorn offered to us was rather stale and my guess is that it was just leftover from a previous show that they didn't want to go to waste. Luckily we all brought our own snacks in with us.

Of course, John Williams personally was not there to lead the orchestra for this event. But in his place was Anthony Parnther, a bassoonist and the music director and conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra in California. He shared some brief remarks before the program began, mainly about how he actually was a part of the recording sessions with Williams for the score the appears in the finished version of the film itself. He most recently was a participant in the scores for Nope, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Creed III, among many others. It goes without saying that it was a terrific experience to be sure, and the conclusion of the show wasn't unreasonably late either (around 11 pm). Traffic leaving the Mann Center was expectedly crowded, but it didn't cause us too much of a headache, since we were all back home and showered before midnight.

Pics or it didn't happen (the first one isn't mine, it's from the Mann's official Facebook page):



The three of us who went, taking advantage of some of the costumed players wandering around (that's me third in from the right, in the jeans).



We also had a very nice view of the Philly skyline near the top of the venue.



Next month they're screening Jurassic Park also with a live orchestra and while at this point I cannot seem to find anyone else available to go, I'm strongly considering just going myself anyway.

[Torgo]

Spoiler

--- 2022 ---

I was extremely lucky with my 2022 year in live music. While festivals still aren't happening for me for a while now and probably won't return after the (FINAL) end of Covid and I've stopped travelling abroad to see bands play live .. I still caught plenty. Most of these took place only a 10-minute-ride on the bike away from my place, that's always chill.

Celeste (7/10) + Conjurer (6/10)
Oranssi Pazuzu (7/10) + Deafkids (6/10)
Wiegedood (8/10)
Melt-Banana (8/10)
Tenue (5/10)
Tocotronic (7/10)
Die Nerven (6/10) + Sophia Kennedy (7/10) + Dehd (4/10)
Fjørt (8/10) + Fjørt (8/10) (again, the same day )
Imperial Triumphant (7/10)
Soul Glo (6/10)
VR Sex (8/10)
BDRMM (7/10)
Tricot (7/10)
Watain (8/10) + Tribulation (7/10) + Bölzer (7/10)
Panopticon (9/10) + Grift (7/10)
Wolves in the Throne Room (6/10) + Bell Witch (8/10) + Incantation (5/10)
Gaahl's Wyrd (6/10) + Winterfylleth (4/10) + Gaerea (9/10)
Elder (7/10) + Pallbearer (7/10) + Irist (6/10)

Bolded bands are bolded because I can.

After a really nice 2022 autumn, my first half of 2023 included even more cool live shows. Bands catching up with their postponed Covid tour schedules and fans somehow trying to keep up was insane. (Notice that I managed to catch two concerts on June 10th! )

04.02. Rolo Tomassi (8/10) + Heriot (7/10) + Holy Fawn (6/10)
07.02. Wormrot (8/10) + Wojczech (6/10)
10.02. Year of No Light (6/10)
25.02. Erra + Invent Animate + Sentinels + Silent Planet (7/10 for all of them lol)
09.04. Boneflower (5/10) + Neska Lagun (6/10)
10.04. Igorrr (5/10) + Amenra (10/10) + Der Weg einer Freiheit (7/10)
22.04. Downfall of Gaia (6/10) + Deathrite (5/10)
26.04. Rotten Sound (6/10)
04.05. Team Scheisse (6/10)
11.05. Ne Obliviscaris (7/10) + Persefone (8/10)
12.05. Boris (5/10) + Pupil Slicer (7/10)
23.05. Esben And The Witch (6/10) + Fågelle (6/10)
29.05. Ditz (7/10)
31.05. Turbostaat (6/10)
10.06. Melvins (6/10)
10.06. Duesenjaeger (6/10) + Tião (6/10)
12.06. Primitive Man (7/10)
14.06. Brutus (5/10)
18.06. Sigur Rós (7/10) (with Orchestra!)
20.06. Imperial Triumphant (9/10) + Author & Punisher (6/10)
21.06. Nuvolascura (7/10)
28.06. Uniform (8/10) + Psywarfare (N/A lol)
30.06. Catharsis (8/10) + Druma (7/10)
20.07. Jeromes Dream (8/10) + Soastaphrenas (7/10)

Missed because of many reasons:
GY!BE, Leprous (please forgive me Joachim!), VMO , Celeste, Grima + Kanonenfieber, Napalm Death + Dropdead, Between the Buried and Me + Haken, Katatonia + Sólstafir, Dying Fetus, Plini, The Comet is Coming, Alex G, Uada, Big Brave, La Dispute, Touché Amoré, Cloud Nothings, ...

Coming up:
Ostraca - Humanity's Last Breath - Hexis - Codeine - Squid - Sparta - Oxbow - Vomitarix - Heretoir - Alcest - Xiu Xiu - Birds in Row - Swans - High Vis - Stormo - Cult of Luna - Elder - Animals as Leaders - Batushka - Predatory Void - Ufomammut

Let's see how many of those I'll regret to not have visited

[Pretentious Hipster]

The Oxbow vocalist is honestly one of the all time greats

[flavo5000]

Man... so much good music there. The area I live in just rarely ever gets metal and more experimental bands. Jam bands and folk seem to be a lot bigger around here, and I can't say I'm the biggest fan of jam bands...

Of those you saw, I've only seen the Melvins (they opened for Tool back in the early '00s) and of the ones you missed I saw The Comet is Coming last year (really good show!) and Between the Buried and Me a LONG time ago. Also while I haven't seen GY!BE, I did see A Silver Mount Zion which was excellent.

Of the upcoming ones, I'd love to see Oxbow and Swans (that'd make a hell of a double header actually).

[Knaldskalle]

On the day after I turn 50, I'm taking the family to Albuquerque to see Royal Blood. They have a new album coming out in September and for some reason decided to deign New Mexico with a visit, so I almost felt obliged to get tickets. Haven't been to a concert in ages and it'll be a first for the kids (who're both nuts about Royal Blood). They're stoked and I'm looking forward to it as well.

[flavo5000]

So I saw Pantera, Lamb of God and Flesh Hoarder on Tuesday. Now here I sit three days later watching Beck, Phoenix, Weyes Blood , and Sir Chloe in the same venue. Good times.

[Knaldskalle]

Pantera? Half the band is dead, did they dig up the corpses?

[Torgo]

It's like Phil Anselmo only revived Pantera to get them cancelled lol

[flavo5000]

Pantera? Half the band is dead, did they dig up the corpses?

It's basically Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown from the original band with Charlie Benante from Anthrax on drums and Zakk Wylde on guitar.

[flavo5000]

It's like Phil Anselmo only revived Pantera to get them cancelled lol

Actually Phil was surprisingly well-behaved. He didn't seem completely plastered. He seemed genuinely grateful for the chance to tour Pantera songs again and offered multiple tributes to Dimebag and Vinnie Paul throughout the night.

[flavo5000]

So I'm planning to go to Format Festival again next month. Any bands I should make it a point to see?


LCD Soundsystem and Modest Mouse are definites. The Pharcyde and Digable Planets should be cool for some old school hip hop.

[Coryn]

So I'm planning to go to Format Festival again next month. Any bands I should make it a point to see?


LCD Soundsystem and Modest Mouse are definites. The Pharcyde and Digable Planets should be cool for some old school hip hop.

Modest Mouse

[flavo5000]

The first day of Format Festival was yesterday, and it was awesome as expected (although my legs are killin' me...)! Here's a quick break down of everybody I saw:
The Misdemeanors: Local band, had a '90s Sleater-Kinney indie rock vibe to them. They were ok but felt a little unpolished.

Kari Faux: Female rapper who had a lot of stage charisma but the beats were a little on the bland side. I will say despite it being earlier in the day and not much of a crowd she still put on a high-energy show.

Madeline Edwards: A country-R&B hybrid artist that's been gaining steam lately in popularity. She has a fantastic voice and some great hooks. Also put on a good show and seemed genuinely appreciative of the crowd despite the anemic early audience.

Digable Planets: I mean, these guys are hip hop legends and they played with a full live band. Really great live set and the first show of the day where people seemed to crawl out of the woodwork and decide to actually watch a band.

Little Simz: UK rapper playing one of her first shows in the US and she brought a ton of energy. I was a little concerned when early in the show she mentioned she had a sore throat but was gonna try to soldier on, but you wouldn't even know it if she hadn't mentioned it. The first half of the set was just her on the stage with backing tracks piped in but then she brought out her guitarist and bassist for the second half. The set climaxed early about halfway in with the one-two punch of "Venom" and "Introvert" but it was all good.

Jamie xx: UK electronic solo project of Jamie Smith of The xx, this one was a high energy DJ set with a very cool light show. But honestly I'm not the biggest dancer so found it a little hard to get really into it.

LCD Soundsystem: OK, I know I said I wasn't a big dancer but holy shit it's impossible to see these guys without dancing. I was really excited about seeing them anyway and they met and exceeded my expectations. They played for 1.5 hours and I don't think I (or really the majority of the sizable crowd) stopped moving the whole time. I've always liked them but somehow their songs take on a whole new dimension live with insanely catchy rhythms and crashing crescendos. LCD Soundsystem is absolutely fantastic live!

Can't wait to see what day two brings (hopefully not too much rain....)!

[joachimt]

Went to two concerts the past week.

First was Ayreon last Saturday. 3000 excited fans (a total of 15000, because they did five shows in three days), amazing show with an amazing cast. On vocals:
- Tom Englund (Evergrey)
- Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation)
- Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian)
- Jonas Renkse (Katatonia)
- Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering, solo career, often working with Devin Townsend)
- Simone Simons (Epica)
- Wudstik (Dutch singer-songwriter with lots of electronics in his music, who grew up with prog and often pops up here and there in that scene, I actually knew this guy when he was about 12)
- Marjan Welman (Autumn)
- Liselotte Hegt
- Maggy Luyten
- Arjen Lucassen (the guy behind Ayreon who wrote all the music)
- Damian Wilson (Headspace, ex-Threshold, solo)
- Brittney Slayes (Unleash the Archers)
- Micheal Mills (Toehider)
- John Jaycee Cuijpers
- Marcela Bovio (Stream of Passion)
- Irene Jansen (sister of Floor Jansen)
- Jan Willem Ketelaers

Here is an audience recording. Better quality will be available in a few months.



Second show this week was last Thursday in a small venue in my hometown. The venue has two rooms for concerts and this was the smallest. I estimate there were about 200 people. The band was a Dutch rock band called Hallo Venray who've been around since the early nineties and never really got popular. That's not really surprising, because their rock is pretty silly. Couldn't find anyone to come with me. Everyone I asked was like "Hallo who...?" So I went by myself. Had a great time though.

A silly clip of a silly song of their last album "Coffee and Cake".

[Torgo]

So I set a personal record (maybe?): Going to two different concerts (disparate venues) on the same evening TWICE within a week!
Many variables have to end up in my favor for that: First and second show leaving enough time for me to travel, by bike no less; which means being in the same part of town; two artists actually tempting me enough to go to a live show (and not for the 4th time); the prices being realistic enough for me to pay, so no Tool + Bruce Springsteen back to back either (good example lol).
No surprise, of these 4 shows Oxbow turned out the best. (It's been a while; 16 years in my case.)

[flavo5000]

Went to two concerts the past week.

First was Ayreon last Saturday. 3000 excited fans (a total of 15000, because they did five shows in three days), amazing show with an amazing cast. On vocals:

Ayreon looks like it'd be a pretty epic show.

[flavo5000]

Day two of Format Festival is a wrap (a little on the early side due to a lightning storm unfortunately). Here's everyone I checked out throughout the day:

Nikki Lane: Cool alt-country/outlaw country singer with a nice old school vocal style. I expect to hear more from her in the future. She's slated to go on tour with Lana Del Rey soon.

The Pharcyde: After the country stylings of Nikki Lane, I took a Bizarre Ride II Tha Pharcyde. This is classic '90s hip hop at its finest. They were so tight and full of energy, it was a really fun show.

Hermanos Gutiérrez: Very cool, very chill instrumental guitar duo that plays the kind of music you'd want to her late at night cruising down a desert highway. I really dug it.

Poolside: Very laid back, '70s AM radio rock style band. The name is very fitting. It's definitely the kind of music I'd expect to hear while swimming at the city pool in the middle of summer. It was fine but not something I'd listen to often.

Big Wild: Pretty good hybrid of electronic party music and indie rock in the style of MGMT or Passion Pit. Lot of energy and seemed almost custom designed to play festivals. Didn't totally blow me away but I might find myself listening to it again at some point.

Museum of Love: This is a side project of the drummer of LCD Soundsystem and especially live gave me very strong Suicide vibes (oddly I don't get that as clearly from their studio recordings of the same songs). Cool stuff and good opportunity to chill on a bean bag and stare at the weird images on the domed ceiling of the secret venue that looks like a porta-potty.

Modest Mouse: I mean, of course Modest Mouse is great. Loud, crazy, catchy, abrasive, exciting. I love that they played both big hits like Float On as well as really deep cuts for the fans.

Alanis Morissette: Frankly I'm not her biggest fan but I thought I'd just hang out and let the '90s wash over me for a while. I was honestly a little disappointed in her stage show given her years of touring experience and deep catalog of songs. The vocal mix was way too low and the show just didn't flow very well. She had to cut it short by about ten minutes due to impending lightning but honestly I wasn't too broken up about it.

Overall, a really good day that just happened to end with a fizzle rather than a bang.

[joachimt]

Went to two concerts the past week.

First was Ayreon last Saturday. 3000 excited fans (a total of 15000, because they did five shows in three days), amazing show with an amazing cast. On vocals:

Ayreon looks like it'd be a pretty epic show.

Indeed. Epic is the right word.

[flavo5000]

And Format Festival 2023 is a wrap! Yesterday didn't have a big standout band like LCD Soundsystem or Modest Mouse but I still had a good time. Did more wandering around sampling different stuff.

Sir Woman: Very cool neo-soul singer with a smokin' live band.

Modeling: This was actually a local band from Fayetteville, AR. They put on a really good show, like a hybrid of art rock and synth pop. I may have to check them out again the next time they play around here.

Franc Moody: This is a UK nu-disco band. They were definitely designed to party live and the crowd seemed to be digging it. It was alright but I was tired, man...

Pedrito Martinez: Really good afro-cuban jazz band. They played in the secret porta-potty stage and were deafeningly loud.

François K: Kevorkian played what he termed a "disco" set and it definitely gave those Giorgio Moroder vibes. Cool set and very cool visuals.

Tash Sultana: I gotta say, while I'm not the biggest fan of Sultana's Sublime meets Alicia Keyes style of music, she's puts on a really good show. About half the show features her solo using a series of loop pedals and playing upwards of about a dozen different instruments including guitar, bass, drums, sax, trumpet, flute, synthesizer, drum machine and whatever else was laying around on the stage for her to pick up. Eventually she has her full band come out while she mostly sticks to guitar. The music is very chill and druggy.

Arushi Jain: I really dug this spacey Indian experimental electronic artist. I just kinda sat there in the disco barn and let the music wash over me.

Bob Moses: If Depeche Mode did House music and had Bono as a singer, it'd sound something like these guys. Not my favorite style of music but they did put on a really good show.

Leon Bridges: Pretty solid classic R&B sound from Bridges. His stage show was fine but nothing extraordinary.

Dombrance: French electronic guy that produced some cool, clever, fun music and definitely leaned into a quirky aesthetic, dressed to the nines like he jumped straight out the '70s. This is the face of someone to trust in electronic music:


Digitalism: I actually have a Digitalism album and tend to dig their indie synth pop sound. Unfortunately this live set in the disco barn basically was tailored to dance to so the actual melodies were too low in the mix to hear very well, drowned out by the overwhelming base thumping.

The Past Lives: Very cool blend of neo-soul and psychedelic garage rock. I was digging it a lot but it was so damned loud I feared my hearing might have been permanently damaged if I stayed for the whole show. Still, I enjoyed what I heard.

[flavo5000]

So earlier this month I went to a Death Grips show. Very intense and rowdy. Zach Hill is an absolutely AMAZING drummer. Some dickheads hit the band with glowsticks toward the end and caused them to end the show a couple songs early. Still, an awesome show though.

This past Friday, I got to see Wilco, a band I've been wanting to see live forever, and they did not disappoint. Their live show captures the sense of controlled chaos on their albums really well with songs like "Via Chicago" and "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" being some of the best showcases for it. It was the last show of their tour and they went a little longer than they usually do from what I've read despite the cold, drizzly rainy weather. Really great show!

[Torgo]

So earlier this month I went to a Death Grips show. Very intense and rowdy. Zach Hill is an absolutely AMAZING drummer. Some dickheads hit the band with glowsticks toward the end and caused them to end the show a couple songs early. Still, an awesome show though.

This past Friday, I got to see Wilco, a band I've been wanting to see live forever, and they did not disappoint. Their live show captures the sense of controlled chaos on their albums really well with songs like "Via Chicago" and "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" being some of the best showcases for it. It was the last show of their tour and they went a little longer than they usually do from what I've read despite the cold, drizzly rainy weather. Really great show!

DG are nuts, mang