The hardest you ever saw someone rock in a onesie: new 'live shows' thread

[mixed cats]

I saw Office of Future Plans on Sunday and guess what they were awesome

[fishjim]

Just scored a free ticket to Blitzen Trapper at the Fillmore tonight!

[Killdozersnakeboy]

Highlight of the night was seeing a band made up of a couple of friends on bass and drums, David Saunders (3D's) and Spiral Stairs work their way through a few a few Flying Nun classics together. Amazing!

[davy]

Whoa, awesome! What show was that?!

[narlus]

sounds like one of the Flying Nun anniversary celebration shows. very cool. what covers did they play?

[Johnp]

Excuse the following spew, mixed metaphors and unnecessary floridity. Just back from seeing the Necks in Dublin. Three days of lower lumbar pain was hardly my best preparation for their first rock club, i.e. standing, show here. More timbrally limited than before due to the rig and close-mics, instead they played with volume and attack, befitting the venue.

First piece was piano-intro'd, rolled along for a bit but was kinda treading water until the half-way point, when another gear kicked in and, as the piano and bass threw off ever-denser plumes and the drums boomeranged around the room, they found the sweet spot in the glazed, vaulted roof. With Montgolfian precision, they fueled and released the intensity to the point of near-combustion, but still managed to pilot a soft landing with a look that said "that was just for starters".

The second set was bass-led and initially pulse-centric, but while the bass and micro-percussion eddied inside an unsteady throb, the elastic piano clusters smeared any sense of tempo. As the volume and density grew, the arrhythmia evoked the sound of heavy industry until the elements congealed into a lurching, swirling, viscous flow that waxed and waned at the will of the band. They could have left it there, but gave us an extended coda of arco bass, concentric piano and cymbal shimmer that I can still hear as I type. Stunning show.

[Killdozersnakeboy]

Whoa, awesome! What show was that?!

sounds like one of the Flying Nun anniversary celebration shows. very cool. what covers did they play?

Yeah it was the FN 30th in Melbourne. Mostly local bands. David Saunders and co mostly played 3d's stuff but threw in an Alpaca Bros track, I forget which, maybe The Lie and another classic FN song. It's all a bit vague now. Spiral Stairs seemed to have a blast and the crowd was pretty excited as it was all kept a bit hush hush til the end of the night.

[G.C.R]

So broke I was having a quiet night at my mother's for dinner, arguing with my sister, as you do, when our father phoned up and would we like some tickets to The Clean, as he has spares? YES PLEASE! And they were great, as they have been every time I've seen them. 

[narlus]

So broke I was having a quiet night at my mother's for dinner, arguing with my sister, as you do, when our father phoned up and would we like some tickets to The Clean, as he has spares? YES PLEASE! And they were great, as they have been every time I've seen them. 

if my dad ever called me and said he had tickets to The Clean, I really wouldn't know what to say.

[coldforge]

'Who are The Clean?'
'But you've been dead for 10 years!'

[Maaik]

I saw Office of Future Plans on Sunday and guess what they were awesome

OMG yes they are. So getting that album as soon as I can.

[edison]

I bet Polwechsel felt under serious pressure when they played tonight, because if the audience had been disappointed in their performance, we could have easily kicked their asses. Or at least have a good shot. All seven of us.

Luckily, they were excellent and no ass-kicking was needed.

[Nick Ink]

Whenever I see that band name, which to be fair is not often, I think it says 'Power Chisel'.

I saw one concert this year, and it was the same concert as the one I saw last year, and also the year before that - Robyn Hitchcock. I also saw Stewart Lee, but that doesn't count. Next year, I will go and see Robyn Hitchcock again. And Stewart Lee. I think this is what people refer to as a 'rut'.

[alex]

There are worse ruts to be stuck in than that, I reckon.

Glad to hear that you made it to Polwechsel, JY, and that your attendance made such a noticable difference to the size of the audience. And of course that Polwechsel are still excellent!

[Em]

Saw the Weakerthans play Left and Leaving plus a few other songs last night. It was pretty rockin'.

[YojimboMonkey]

Last night's Fishbone show was the best show I've seen in I don't know how long. My fat ass jumping up and down like an idiot. Holy hell.

[mountmccabe]

Saw the Weakerthans play Left and Leaving plus a few other songs last night. It was pretty rockin'.

Nice!

We went to the Reconstruction Site show; it was pretty amazing to hear "Plea from a Cat Named Virtute" and "Our Retired Explorer (Dines with Michel Foucault in Paris, 1961)" and the rest of it was pretty great, too.

[davy]

Last night's Fishbone show was the best show I've seen in I don't know how long. My fat ass jumping up and down like an idiot. Holy hell.

Aw man, sweet. I'm jealous but totally happy for you. That sounds like loads of fun.

[Em]

Nice!

We went to the Reconstruction Site show; it was pretty amazing to hear "Plea from a Cat Named Virtute" and "Our Retired Explorer (Dines with Michel Foucault in Paris, 1961)" and the rest of it was pretty great, too.

Aw, I had a ticket to that one, too, but sold it at the last minute because a friend came into town unexpectedly, and now I kinda regret it. I did get to hear both of those songs at the Left and Leaving show, though, so yay.

[YojimboMonkey]

It's really hard to take good pictures at a concert, especially when you are jumping up and down like an idiot, and so is everybody else in the joint. Gives me a new appreciation for the dudes who post some excellent concert photos here, like narlus. props guys. And these aren't really worth sharing but I uploaded them so here are a couple

Here, Angelo has hauled a bunch of girls up on stage to dance during the song Cholly


This is not Nude Descending a Staircase, this is Saxophone Hanging From Angelo's Back


By steadying my hand on the corner of the stage, I managed to get a few pics that were only mildly fuzzy


But only when Angelo was dicking around with the theremin did he register as anything more substantial than a blur


So I said fuck it, pocketed my camera, and dove into the pit

[Antero]

If the best live show you saw this year wasn't G-Side, you fucked up.  Goddamn.

[narlus]

If the best live show you saw this year wasn't G-Side, you fucked up.  Goddamn.

goddamn i fucked up. i don't even know who G-Side is, nevermind not seeing them live.

[narlus]

this thread's been idle.

Veronica Falls were really excellent last night.

[alistarr*]

I saw Circle Takes The Square last night and they were amazing :-)

[mountmccabe]

Last night Parts & Labor played their 10th anniversary and final show, and made a big production of it. The stage was set up to be reminiscent of their videos; such as the colorful backgrounds of The Gold We're Digging and Echo Chamber. I am not sure where the adver poster papier mache stalactites are from but they were fun, too.

They started with Fake Names, complete with trombone, trumpet and sax. The first part of their set focused on the last two albums. Then they brought up, in succession, ALL OF THE DRUMMERS. Jim Sykes played the real early material - a bagpipe made an appearance! - then Jim Saladino and finally Christopher R. Weingarten for the Stay Afraid/Mapmaker songs. Throughout all this Joe continued to play, too, on with everybody.

They also had their additional guitarist out for the appropriate songs (Sarah Lipstate did not play, though.)

It was all pretty thrilling. It was at 285 Kent, near the East River. This is a well proportioned, tall empty venue. "Stay Afraid" may have been the most exciting song for me - though the open with the horns was amazing too - and it was also fun to get a bit of "Don't Come Around Here No More" near the end.

They played for something like an hour and a half; I think the last song of the main set was "The Gold We're Digging" but after that - when all the drummers came out to play percussion at the same time - my memory gets a little hazy. There was lots of squalls and drumming and jumping.

So glad I went!