Post by Jack on Apr 5, 2010 10:37:47 GMT -5
In the past few days:
Thurs, 4/1 - Vampire Weekend, The Orpheum, Boston - I have definitely been enjoying their new album, but was a bit suspect of their live show heading in to the concert, likely because my only experience seeing them "live" to date was their appearances on SNL, and those were unimpressive, if fairly faithful album renditions. Suffice to say, their performance last week put any real doubts to rest. These kids played with great energy, Ezra Koenig had real rapport with the audience, their fairly minimal visual show was effective, and they got everyone moving and dancing in what I think is a pretty crappy venue (all seats, theater style, beer tough to access, and we were under the swaying balcony).
The crowd skewed fairly young - apparently there are still some high schoolers with decent taste - but I did not feel completely out of place in my earlyish 30s, and saw folks into their 50s at the show too (not as parents). Given their limited discography, they played almost their entire catalog, which was cool, but made things a bit predictable - I knew exactly which 3 songs they would play as their encore as they were basically the only 3 songs they had not played yet. I was hoping they might throw in a cool cover - I have heard some live versions of Ruby Soho and would have liked to see that, for example.
4/3 - The Oranges Band and The Hold Steady at Toad's Place, New Haven, CT - The Hold Steady are my favorite band right now. The Oranges Band were one of the first bands I saw that got me into more "indie" choices that eventually led to my enjoyment of The Hold Steady. When I saw they were playing together, I was excited. When I saw they were not coming within 2 hours of Boston, I was disappointed (side note, what up with that?). Then I realized, "New Haven isn't too far away, they have some great pizza, and my girlfriend's family doesn't live too far from there. What if I disguise a trip to see this concert as a visit to her parents?"
Brilliant, right? So I bought the tickets back in February, realizing it was a Saturday night, but in my excitement totally forgetting that it was 1. Easter weekend and 2. The Final 4. That led to a moderately tense conversation about what might happen should I have more pressing obligations that weekend, and how disappointed her 22 relatives would be should I bail on the family celebration. Fortunately for no one other than my relationship (and I definitely would have taken the consequences), the Ohio Bobcats made short work of my concerns and I managed to pick up some sweet grass stains in the family touch football game Sunday afternoon (and an excellent sausage pie at Modern Apizza - ridiculous lines at Pepe's and Sally's).
As for the concert, TOB was about how I remembered them, but playing as opener to a quarter full club who did not really know who they were was not inspiring. So we took up a position by the bar at the back, with a view of basketball and easy access to cold beer, and waited for Craig Finn and the newly reconstituted (more on this in a moment) The Hold Steady to take the stage and rock our faces off. Which they did, in the way that only a nerdy looking-dude with limp wristed spazzy dance moves and lyrics about drugs, booze, religion, gambling, and the power of rock and roll can do. They flew through about 23 songs in an hour and half (had to be off stage by 10 to make way for some disco party). They played almost equally from each of their 4 previously released albums and the 5th album coming out in a month or so, including almost all of my favorites. The 5 or 6 songs they played from the new album were a bit disappointing - I feel like I will like them better on the album, and there are a few winners live (Weekenders was good), but they may be reaching a bit on Craig's singing abilities in the live setting.
For those who care, as mentioned, it is a new lineup for this tour as well - the original 4 remain and Kuebler is still shredding the guitar, but Franz Nicolay has moved on to other projects (amicably, by all accounts) and his presence is missed. Nicolay played the keyboards and occasionally the accordion or banjo and stood right next to Finn at stage left in the prior setup. He was weird-looking (handlebar mustache and all), and perhaps a bit distracting at time, but he really led a few songs from the keys and was a fun personality on stage. He has been replaced with a keyboardist sent to the back of the stage and turned down in the mix and a third guitar who made no lasting impression on me. The result is more guitar-driven sound, and some more focus on great songs from the first two (pre-Franz) albums, but I don't think it is necessarily an improvement. I still loved the show, but did not think it was as good as their sound with Franz up front.
The crowd was pretty into it and packed the house (totally blocking out my 5'5" companion's view), though a later show might have been more fun. I did see one kid who could not stand up get escorted out before The Hold Steady even took the stage - perhaps the can of Natural Light (surprisingly not served at this bar) was a giveaway that he might be better off elsewhere.
Still hoping they add some dates in late summer/early fall and hit Boston proper (as well as NYC, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Chicago, Twin Cities, none of which are on this tour). And hope the new album is more impressive when I can hear it as a whole.
Coming in the next few weeks and months: Ted Leo, Pearl Jam, The National, Phish, My Morning Jacket/Tom Petty. Still thinking about/in search of tickets for: Atoms for Peace, Florence and the Machine, Dr. Dog, Los Campesinos, Frightened Rabbit, Wilco - anyone there on your "must see" list?
Thurs, 4/1 - Vampire Weekend, The Orpheum, Boston - I have definitely been enjoying their new album, but was a bit suspect of their live show heading in to the concert, likely because my only experience seeing them "live" to date was their appearances on SNL, and those were unimpressive, if fairly faithful album renditions. Suffice to say, their performance last week put any real doubts to rest. These kids played with great energy, Ezra Koenig had real rapport with the audience, their fairly minimal visual show was effective, and they got everyone moving and dancing in what I think is a pretty crappy venue (all seats, theater style, beer tough to access, and we were under the swaying balcony).
The crowd skewed fairly young - apparently there are still some high schoolers with decent taste - but I did not feel completely out of place in my earlyish 30s, and saw folks into their 50s at the show too (not as parents). Given their limited discography, they played almost their entire catalog, which was cool, but made things a bit predictable - I knew exactly which 3 songs they would play as their encore as they were basically the only 3 songs they had not played yet. I was hoping they might throw in a cool cover - I have heard some live versions of Ruby Soho and would have liked to see that, for example.
4/3 - The Oranges Band and The Hold Steady at Toad's Place, New Haven, CT - The Hold Steady are my favorite band right now. The Oranges Band were one of the first bands I saw that got me into more "indie" choices that eventually led to my enjoyment of The Hold Steady. When I saw they were playing together, I was excited. When I saw they were not coming within 2 hours of Boston, I was disappointed (side note, what up with that?). Then I realized, "New Haven isn't too far away, they have some great pizza, and my girlfriend's family doesn't live too far from there. What if I disguise a trip to see this concert as a visit to her parents?"
Brilliant, right? So I bought the tickets back in February, realizing it was a Saturday night, but in my excitement totally forgetting that it was 1. Easter weekend and 2. The Final 4. That led to a moderately tense conversation about what might happen should I have more pressing obligations that weekend, and how disappointed her 22 relatives would be should I bail on the family celebration. Fortunately for no one other than my relationship (and I definitely would have taken the consequences), the Ohio Bobcats made short work of my concerns and I managed to pick up some sweet grass stains in the family touch football game Sunday afternoon (and an excellent sausage pie at Modern Apizza - ridiculous lines at Pepe's and Sally's).
As for the concert, TOB was about how I remembered them, but playing as opener to a quarter full club who did not really know who they were was not inspiring. So we took up a position by the bar at the back, with a view of basketball and easy access to cold beer, and waited for Craig Finn and the newly reconstituted (more on this in a moment) The Hold Steady to take the stage and rock our faces off. Which they did, in the way that only a nerdy looking-dude with limp wristed spazzy dance moves and lyrics about drugs, booze, religion, gambling, and the power of rock and roll can do. They flew through about 23 songs in an hour and half (had to be off stage by 10 to make way for some disco party). They played almost equally from each of their 4 previously released albums and the 5th album coming out in a month or so, including almost all of my favorites. The 5 or 6 songs they played from the new album were a bit disappointing - I feel like I will like them better on the album, and there are a few winners live (Weekenders was good), but they may be reaching a bit on Craig's singing abilities in the live setting.
For those who care, as mentioned, it is a new lineup for this tour as well - the original 4 remain and Kuebler is still shredding the guitar, but Franz Nicolay has moved on to other projects (amicably, by all accounts) and his presence is missed. Nicolay played the keyboards and occasionally the accordion or banjo and stood right next to Finn at stage left in the prior setup. He was weird-looking (handlebar mustache and all), and perhaps a bit distracting at time, but he really led a few songs from the keys and was a fun personality on stage. He has been replaced with a keyboardist sent to the back of the stage and turned down in the mix and a third guitar who made no lasting impression on me. The result is more guitar-driven sound, and some more focus on great songs from the first two (pre-Franz) albums, but I don't think it is necessarily an improvement. I still loved the show, but did not think it was as good as their sound with Franz up front.
The crowd was pretty into it and packed the house (totally blocking out my 5'5" companion's view), though a later show might have been more fun. I did see one kid who could not stand up get escorted out before The Hold Steady even took the stage - perhaps the can of Natural Light (surprisingly not served at this bar) was a giveaway that he might be better off elsewhere.
Still hoping they add some dates in late summer/early fall and hit Boston proper (as well as NYC, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Chicago, Twin Cities, none of which are on this tour). And hope the new album is more impressive when I can hear it as a whole.
Coming in the next few weeks and months: Ted Leo, Pearl Jam, The National, Phish, My Morning Jacket/Tom Petty. Still thinking about/in search of tickets for: Atoms for Peace, Florence and the Machine, Dr. Dog, Los Campesinos, Frightened Rabbit, Wilco - anyone there on your "must see" list?