New Gig Thread

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 5:26 pm

It's a well-worn cliche, but why are they always referred to in terms of poshness? I'm not sure they're any posher than, say, Radiohead, but they're saddled with this image, not helped by having a cherubic choir boy as lead singer. I wouldn't spend time listening to them, but things like Somewhere Only We Know are perfectly decent chart fodder, and Everyone's Changing better still. Nice tunes. I prefer them over Coldplay, who seem more vacuous. I suspect their second LP is just more of the same though. Why am I even bothering to write about this?

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:01 am

Otis Westinghouse wrote:Why am I even bothering to write about this?

To maintain your position in the poster's list

You've really managed to sell it to me Otis! I'm going home to tell Mrs VG that I retract my statement that I would rather eat somebody else's ear wax and indeed, would love to accompany her to see Keane

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 9:25 pm

We drove to Milwaukee yesterday to see Elvis at Summerfest. Strange as it may seem I was almost a reluctant participant in the journey. The last time I saw Elvis was Chicago in 2002, where I was disappointed. Elvis let that shrill tone in his voice dominate the performance. Last year I had tickets for his Minneapolis show which he cancelled due to illness.

After 10 or so Elvis concerts, from 1982 to 2002, I thought I had no reason to see another.

I start with all these disclaimers because I fear there may be other board members with the same opinion.

So if you want a message here it is.

If you love Elvis - SEE THIS SHOW!
If you love music - SEE THIS SHOW!
If you love life - SEE THIS SHOW!

The 10 musicians on stage are all playing at the peak of their powers.

If you watch The Last Waltz or Stop Making Sense & wish you could have been there. Or pine for all the classic concerts you have missed, then you want to see this tour. This is one that is going to replay in your fading mind as you sink into dotage many years from now.

Chrille · Post by **Chrille** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 8:28 pm

The european athletics championships are being held in Gothenburg (Sweden) this year, which is where I live. Several interesting bands (mostly Swedish) are playing. I just noticed Echo & The Bunnymen are playing too

No idea if they're any good live. I think the concert's free but shall not miss it either way.

Between Aug. 4-12, the bands playing (so far) are:
Sture AllÃ©ns Dansorkester
Iâ€™m from Barcelona
Hello Saferide
The Soundtrack of Our Lives
TÃ¤ltscenen
The Slaves
C.AarmÃ©
The Hellacopters
Backyard Babies
Millencolin
TÃ¤ltscenen
Molotov Jive
The Animal Five
Tiger Lou
The Embassy
Eskobar
TÃ¤ltscenen
Firefox AK
SlagsmÃ¥lsklubben
Asta Kask
No Fun At All
CKY (us)
TÃ¤ltscenen
Blindside
Satanic Surfers
Stora Scenen
Bloodbound
Burst
Arch Enemy (s/uk)
TÃ¤ltscenen
Avatar
Nine
SLS
Snook
Petter
TÃ¤ltscenen
Technics Swedish DJ Championship (DJ-SM)
GBG Grime Bash:
Max Peezay
Jammer & Ears (uk)
Wiley & Scratchy (uk),
Slix & Tinchy Stryder (uk)
DJ Karnage (uk)
NFL Kru - Slim, D-Chi och Double K
Henrik Berggren
The Twilight Singers feat. Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan (us)
Echo & the Bunnymen (uk)
TÃ¤ltscenen
Howe Gelb (Giant Sand) (us)
Field Music (uk)
SÃ©bastien Tellier (fr)
The Dears (can)
Lisa Miskovsky
TÃ¤ltscenen
Scissors for Lefty (us)
The Rogers Sisters (uk)
Whyte Seeds
Timo RÃ¤isÃ¤nen
Looptroop
TÃ¤ltscenen
Montys Loco
Hets

Ok, so it's not very interesting... But if anyone will be in Gothenburg by then let me know and we can meet up and have a few drinks or something.

Post by **BlueChair** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 9:34 pm

Just got in from seeing Solomon Burke. Not a late night by any means; Burke's band started playing promptly at 8 and by 10 PM the show was done.

Even at 70 (or at least around that), Burke remains a great showman with an extremely powerful voice. He is HUGE... even larger than I had thought he would be. So large in fact, that the lights were turned out as he was wheeled onto stage in a wheelchair and transfered into a throne, where he sat and sang for most of the show. A good mix of old hits ("Down In The Valley," "Cry To Me," "Got To Get You Off Of My Mind"), new ("Don't Give Up On Me," "Diamond In Your Mind") and covers ("What A Wonderful World," "Proud Mary," "etc.

At one point, he invited "dancers" from the audience onto the stage. About fifty audience members ended up on stage, dancing. At one point he had one of them call his wife on his cell phone.. haha.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 2:47 am

verbal gymnastics wrote:To maintain your position in the poster's list

You've really managed to sell it to me Otis! I'm going home to tell Mrs VG that I retract my statement that I would rather eat somebody else's ear wax and indeed, would love to accompany her to see Keane

As if I'd do that, but look, 4k beckons! I defy you not to enjoy the two singles I refer to, to not come out afterwards with those songs in your head and say 'Otis had a point'!

Richard wrote:If you watch The Last Waltz or Stop Making Sense & wish you could have been there. Or pine for all the classic concerts you have missed, then you want to see this tour. This is one that is going to replay in your fading mind as you sink into dotage many years from now.

He is coming to Britain with this tour, isn't he?

Chrille wrote:I just noticed Echo & The Bunnymen are playing too. No idea if they're any good live.

Saw them 4 years back at an open air event. Loved them in 1980, got bored with them after a while, but enjoyed them life. It's what you'd expect. Mac in a long coat, chain-smoking. Voice sounds powerful live. All their classics, though sadly no Pictures On My Wall. Worth seeing if you like them at all.

Chrille · Post by **Chrille** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 5:17 am

Otis, I'd be happy to hear just the highlights from Heaven Up Here, especially Show Of Strength

.

I have only heard Heaven... and Ocean Rain. I must say I didn't care that much for the latter in the end despite a few very nice songs. Perhaps I will check out Crocodiles instead.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:24 am

Can't tell you what they played from HUH, or Crocodiles for that matter, which was a pretty decent debut, though as a post-punk indie purist I have to say they shouldn't have lost the lower-fi edge of the original single Pictures On My wall, featuring Echo, the drum machine, as per their name. They went for too much of abrash, clean, hard sound, nothing like as interesting as Martin Hannett's approach with Joy Div et al. I think HUH is their finest moment. They didn't play All My Colours/Zimbo, sadly. That I would have enjoyed.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:19 am

SEU JORGE

Just got a ticket to see him perform in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts on July 5th.

In an amazing bit of luck, Seu Jorge had to cancel the July 5th appearance "because he was in Canada" (um, okay) which was great for me, as I was 'at the Jersey Shore'. I got a delayed voicemail message saying it had been rescheduled for last night, and so I went.

Great show, outdoors in the lovely courtyard of the Museum. Amazing percussion (3 guys) as one would expect of a Brazilian outfit. The bassist was fantastic, and of course Mr. Jorge himself was mesmerizing on his guitar.

About 2/3 of the show was hot samba stuff, and he also did some of the David Bowie covers he's become known for (though not, sadly, Queen Bitch) and did some inspired speaking (some in English!) and singing about poverty in Brazil. He spent most of the show speaking in Portuguese to the many Brazilian-Bostonians in he audience. Despite some painfully embarrassing dancing by a lot of over-confident white college students, I really enjoyed it, and wished I'd been able to bring my 7-yr-old.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings play the same deal next month.

Post by **BlueChair** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:24 am

Mechanical Grace wrote:Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings play the same deal next month.

Go! They put on one of the best live performances you will ever see. I have seen 'em twice and they always leave me wanting more. Bring your dancing shoes.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:25 am

I'm hoping to, and bring the boy this time, cause he knows some of the songs already and likes 'em.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:33 pm

I love Seu. South Bank Show docu made a big impression. Must get the Bowie covers CD.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:50 pm

Otis Westinghouse wrote:South Bank Show docu

What/when/who was this? Wonder if I can get it from Netflix??

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:05 pm

To quote me from June 5 on this thread: 'Fantastic South Bank Show (long-running UK arts TV prog) on Seu Jorge last night. What a man. Charted his favela roots through to homelessness (he took to the streets after his brother was shot in a meaningless attack) and on to participation in theatre and a theatrical musical act to solo stardom with Carolina and then the Aquatic Life (with him performing Life on Mars at night on a balcony looking down over Rio. He was playing lovely songs with three others just sitting in the middle of a favela. Great voice, great words, great songs. He said he's no good at football, and his guitar is his ball!'

Fuck! Go here for spine-tingling 'E Isso Ai', with Ana Carolina. Portuguese for 'And so it is'. See if you can guess what song it is (we know it by another title!). Seu on bass. Lovely. Words aren't a straight translation. A couple of SBS clips there too.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:14 pm

Wow-- hello, synergy. I woulda plotzed if he'd played that.

My Lord her voice is low and mannish! She must be ten feet tall. Beautiful voice in any case.

Thanks for repeating yourself.

Post by **BlueChair** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:38 pm

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young last night.

Living With War is not Young's best album by any stretch, but I knew seeing him take these songs on the road would be an experience.

And it was. The general tone of the evening was very political... Young played all but two of the songs from his new album and it was paired with CSN songs sharing similar themes, like Nash's "Military Madness" and Stills' "For What It's Worth." Young was by far in the best form - clearly fully recovered from his brush with a brain aneurism last year. He pretty much tore the house down with "Rockin' In The Free World" and "Ohio." Nash was good too.. did "Our House" and "Teach Your Children." Even Crosby was surprisingly solid on "Guinevere" and "Long Time Gone." Stills, unfortunately, was sounding pretty awful.

The setlist:

1. Flags Of Freedom
2. Wooden Ships
3. Long Time Gone
4. Military Madness
5. Wounded World
6. After The Garden
7. Living With War
8. The Restless Consumer
9. Shock And Awe
10. They Want It All
11. Feed The People
12. Immigration Man
13. Families

Intermission

14. Helplessly Hoping
15. Our House
16. Only Love Can Break Your Heart
17. Milky Way Tonight
18. Guinnevere
19. Carry Me
20. Treetop Flyer
21. Roger And Out
22. Southbound Train
23. Old Man Trouble
24. Teach Your Children
25. Southern Cross
26. Find The Cost Of Freedom
27. Let's Impeach The President
28. For What It's Worth
29. Chicago
30. Ohio
31. What Are Their Names
32. Rockin' In The Free World

Encore:

33. Woodstock

pophead2k · Post by **pophead2k** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 1:58 pm

That's a pretty generous selection of tunes from a band with a collective age of about 250!

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 8:04 pm

Scritti Politti were fabulous. I still can hardly believe I've seen him in the flesh at last. Exhaustive account to follow on the Green thread, which is getting rather lonely (and there's no Scrit message board as such, jusst a Yahoo group, not as much fun).

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 12:54 pm

I made a last minute decision yesterday to go see Bo Diddley. The old guy still has it, and he and the audience had a great time. One idiot behind me (an American

) wouldn't shut up - otherwise fantastic night - 2 hours plus - Bo Diddley, Roadrunner, Mona, I'm a Man etc....plus a rap song that was sort of amusing - his backing band of men and women in their 50's and 60's were having a great time as well - glad I went.

ReadyToHearTheWorst · Post by **ReadyToHearTheWorst** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 8:23 pm

Randy Newman @ The Sage, Gateshead

Awesome!

Must have been 2 hours in his presence. Funny, moving, old songs, new songs (2)!

He made a point of mentioning Alan Price (local boy who 1st brought Newman to the mainstream, in the UK at least). He seemed to enjoy himself, and there were 2 sing a longs so we did too.

Lyrics to one of the new songs, which apparently isn't finished yet, go along the lines
These may not be the best leaders we ever had
But they're not the worst the world's ever seen.
Take the Caesars for instance
One of them made a horse vice president of the whole empire
Oh, bad example, we've done that.

It got a good laugh.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 6:30 am

Have booked tickets for

Franz Ferdinand - London 23rd August
Paul Weller - Brighton 2nd December
Richard Ashcroft - London 5th December
Kylie (for Mrs VG natch) - London 8th January.

Post by **BlueChair** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:18 am

All I've got on my schedule is M. Ward on Sept. 11 and Randy Newman on Oct. 14, but that's more than enough to get me excited.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:37 pm

verbal gymnastics wrote:Have booked tickets for

Franz Ferdinand - London 23rd August
Paul Weller - Brighton 2nd December
Richard Ashcroft - London 5th December
Kylie (for Mrs VG natch) - London 8th January.

And how were Keane. Full report, please! I know you loved it really.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:45 am

Keane is in October *shudders*.

Actually I'll see them at V in a few weeks time. Even if there is a band on that I want to see Mrs VG will insist that I watch them with her. She needs to know where I am at all times and dreads hearing an announcment over the tannoy for a lost 42 year old who is crying and wants an ice cream!

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:47 am

Booked tickets for M. Ward in September at Webster Hall.