The Show You Saw Last Night: An Investigative Report

[TheNames]

last night i saw "mt. eerie" play in someone's house. It was pretty much just phil with another guy joining in on guitar for 3 songs.  since he could only see like 5 faces, he stood on his amp for the performance and only got down to switch his pedals on and off. It was all new material and most of it was great. He's really becoming a great lyricist and i cant wait for the next album.  Unfortunately, i don't think he had a very good time, since drunken girls broke out laughing in the middle of one of his songs and some asshole kept heckling him.  i hope this doesn't stop him from playing here in the future, but i would totally understand if it did.  I felt way bad for him.
what shows did you go to last night? and i want juicy details. Who kissed who backstage? Was there any coke on the rider? etc.

[John]

Guided by Voices. Five cases of beer on the rider. It was awesome.

[jebreject]

I didn't go to a show last night, but I'm probably going to one tonight.

[justinh]

i can't afford to go to shows.  the only show i saw last night was george bush on the o'reilly factor and bill maher on hardball.

[Lalitree]

Last night I also saw Guided by Voices. As far as I know, there was no coke on the rider, though someone did throw some up onto the stage at one point. It was an awesome show--they played for 2.5 hours at least, cranking out a steady stream of old songs and new. As you might be able to imagine, "Game of Pricks" and "A Salty Salute" were highlights.

[TheNames]

Last night was a friend's 21st birthday, so we went out to this bar called the Bengal where every wednesday night the Topcats (see http://www.thetopcats.com/front2.html) play.  got a little tipsy and did some dancing. me and my friend D cut a fucking rug to their "play that funky music white boy/brickhouse/YMCA" medley. afterwards we kept getting hit on by middle-aged women and i got this odd pickup line:
"If you're going to be retro, you should be open to everything."
i didn't understand it, since i wasn't dressed retro, and i wasn't dancing retro. and the vodka made it seem even more confusing because im not used to people that i don't know talking to me. overall it was a great night. There's nothing quite like seeing men in their 40s doing lewd covers of "back that azz up"  "shake your tailfeather" and "tootsie roll"

[stephanie]

Last night, I saw TV on the Radio.  They were opening for The Faint at Metro in Chicago (home of the muddiest-sounding room mix in America).

Beep Beep opened and they made me want to puncture my eardrums with hot metal skewers.
The Faint put on a lovely show (par for the course), but I haven't seen them in a couple of years, and I found it difficult to enjoy, as it was played to a sold-out venue crammed with approx. 2,000 finely-coiffed, white-belted dudes and mulleted chicks in high heels yelling into their cell phones.  People talking on the phone!  In the audience!  During a show!  Acting really annoyed, like the deafeningly loud performance -- to which tickets were nearly $30, after TM charges -- was interrupting their conversation!  Even during "Call Call"!  Even during "Glass Danse"!  Seriously!

TV on the Radio, on the other hand?  Probably the most sincere, powerful band in rock music today.
Not only do they put on a life-altering live performance while maintaining their stronghold as the second-best givers of hugs in the world (after the inimitable Messr. Vanderslice, of course), but Tunde busts out new, increasingly crazy dance moves as the number of audience members who stare at him blankly as he does so skyrockets.  And the songs!  Kyp's voice, pure gold.  Dave's screaming, as hoarse and triumphant as ever.  I love them to tiny, glowing pieces, and last night was one of the best nights I've ever had.  Still so, so happy.  SIGH.

Nothing naughty or uncouth to report, (un?)fortunately.  There was no kissing backstage, though the G-rated forms of affection were plentiful and fervent.  As for the rider:  the boys enjoy the simpler things in life -- namely, Jameson!  (Ew!)  Please buy them a round for me if they come through your town.

[filthy lucrative]

Last night, I saw TV on the Radio. They were opening for The Faint at Metro in Chicago (home of the muddiest-sounding room mix in America).

Hey, where do you live? I'm going to see Mt. Eerie tomorrow. I'm at UCSD.

Anyway, I saw the Blood Brothers last night. they were fucking great. They put on one of the best live shows I've ever seen. It was beautiful. This tour is to promote their new cd, Crimes (a copy of which I purchased at the show). Simply wonderful. The singer climbed up into the rafters during "Trash Flavored Trash" and it was completely awesome and I loved it.

Against Me were pretty good but were completely and totally overshadowed by the Blood Brothers, and the opening band, True North, wasn't even really worth mentioning.

[missy]

last night i saw the Mountain Goats and John Vanderslice.

good show. John wore a Sabbath T-shirt. There were no juicy details, except for a photo that John Strange and i Took with JD as an internet gift to Erin McW...

mysterious, no?

[filthy lucrative]

I LOVED Mt. Eerie.

Absolutely loved it. I didn't have enough money to buy a cd and it was very embarrassing.

There was a French-Canadian girl who played with him and she was probably the most beautiful girl I have ever seen ever, and I tried to buy a Microphones CD (with the elephant) from her and then I didn't have enough money and I was really sad and told her that I really enjoyed her set.

She was very beautiful.

[Keith from TTIKTDA]

1) Saw two John/John shows on thursday. Have now heard 7 new songs. All of them are very very very very very excellent. Especially some of the "first time ever" ones played @ the instore.

2) Saw Blondie/Strokes/Sonic Youth lasty night, with a set in the middle of CJ Ramone & Daniel Rey playing Ramones songs with a rotating cast of vocalists -  Andrew WK, Joan Jett, Josh Homme, Tommy Ramone, a few others. Most awesome. Glad I didn't pay though. Julian Casablancas fell on me, stepped on my bad foot. That hurt. Not as much as the teenyboppers who charged through me right after that though.

[sedita]

I LOVED Mt. Eerie.

Absolutely loved it. I didn't have enough money to buy a cd and it was very embarrassing.

There was a French-Canadian girl who played with him and she was probably the most beautiful girl I have ever seen ever, and I tried to buy a Microphones CD (with the elephant) from her and then I didn't have enough money and I was really sad and told her that I really enjoyed her set.

She was very beautiful.

tha'ts phil's new wife.
she is an amazing painter.

[Salkin Red]

just saw the fall play here in cologne.
it was way strange. mark. . smith fronting a bunch of halfway young nerds and a huge crowd of pretty old, apparently settled in well paying jobs, people in the audience. after 45 minutes i gave up on trying to like it.

[dieblucasdie]

just saw the fall play here in cologne.
it was way strange. mark. . smith fronting a bunch of halfway young nerds and a huge crowd of pretty old, apparently settled in well paying jobs, people in the audience. after 45 minutes i gave up on trying to like it.

I had precisely the same experience when I saw The Fall fairly recently.  Except that I think the band did better than MES himself.  Did he end up firing Ben Pritchard, or is he still in the band?

[justinh]

i tried to see the fall once but we spent too much time getting high before the show and just sort of stood outside when they were playing the last song inside.  i remember it being really awesome though.  





then some guy tried converting me religiously or something, but i wasn't interested.

[normalcarpetride]

I saw the fall in NY earlier this year and I thought they were great but Mr. Smith changes the line up often so the performances vary wildly from show to show.

[Lalitree]

Saw the Fall earlier this year; my first time seeing them and I thought it sounded amazing. MES had a broken leg or something, and so sat behind a small desk and just occasionally tossed the mic around or banged it into stuff. They sorta looked bored, but the music was great, I really enjoyed it.

[SPACERACE]

Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Nothing else needs to be said.

[haav]

I just got home from attending a live interview/reading with Tony Kushner.

It was great.  Even when talking about literature, the whole performance was permeated with a sense of outrage at the current administration.  Kushner was funny, clear-headed, and articulate.

It's a big warm fuzzy to know that there are people like that on our side.


I wasn't privy to any of the backstage stuff, but I'd be willing to bet that there was coke on the rider.  That public radio interviewer seemed a bit twitchy...

[TheNames]

this wasn't quite last night, but it was the last business day, which means forum day for me. Friday night I saw blonde redhead play (sans liars   ). they were tight and rocking, but they only played 1 song that wasn't from the new album. I like the new album and all, but i was hoping for some more stuff from melody of certain damaged lemons. plus the opening band, mackrosick, was teh crap. i had a fun time drunkenly calling them mackrosuck. All in all, it was awesome to see BR live, but not worth the 25 bucks i ended up paying to see them (post ticketmaster reaming).

[El_Josharino]

I saw the Helio Sequence last night, and the only word I can come up with to describe it is "massive."  They're tons o' fun to watch and they rock out like crazy.

[Chuck]

Last night (well sunday) I saw Japanther, an improv-punk set featuring alden from the unicorns on drums and a local noise band called who's the ghost? play a loft party. It made me wonder why I listen to so much "stand and nod at shows" music. No coke on the rider though...probably no rider either but those guys have more energy than 10 coked up bands anyways so it doesn't matter....all in all best show in a while

[Keith from TTIKTDA]

Last night (well sunday) I saw Japanther, an improv-punk set featuring alden from the unicorns on drums and a local noise band called who's the ghost? play a loft party. It made me wonder why I listen to so much "stand and nod at shows" music. No coke on the rider though...probably no rider either but those guys have more energy than 10 coked up bands anyways so it doesn't matter....all in all best show in a while

Japanthers microphone is the coolest thing ever.

[Chuck]

Japanthers microphone is the coolest thing ever.

Very true...now next time someonw asks me if I've seen anyone perform through a telephone into a PA I'll finally be able to answer "Yes I have!"

What's also surprising is that they manage to be that good even though alot of their set is pre-recorded. Those guys are just full of surprises.

[Kitty Empire]

Well, I ended up becoming deathly ill last week, and missed all three Mountain Goats shows in New York.  Horrible, horrible disappointment, although I heard that the crowd at Southpaw was extra shitty and talked loudly throughout the set.

I did, however, manage to drag myself to both Morrissey shows at Radio City Music Hall over the weekend.  As expected, they were incredible.  Morrissey is undoubtably a god among men.