Saw Roger Waters last night, bought last minute tix for $45.
Great band, and still the best rock show performance out there, at 79!
And if you don't like his politics, "piss off to the bar"
He was fair, called each president since Reagan a war criminal...and he certainly had fun.
I would say the sound was good, but not as good as the last time I saw them 5 years ago.
Perhaps too many speakers and the in the round setup, rather traditional stage setup at one end.
The magic of live music: even a genre I don't normally like, played by people who are really good at it and having fun doing it makes for a good time.
Which brings it back around to the festival I just got back from... most of the bands were really relaxed and honestly looked like they were enjoying themselves. Nation Of Language! I forgot to mention them, KIDS who raided their goth parents' record collections, did the only cover song of the entire weekend (Pixies) and were having a blast. I feel like I saw a band before they got enormous. All very charming.
Saw Greg Blake last night on the front porch of a friend's house, accompanied by Natalie Padilla on fiddle and her dad Ray on bass. He's a killer bluegrass guitarist and he sings with a voice made for country radio.
Not the sort of thing I'd usually go see but I heard Natalie was playing with him and that sealed the deal. And I had a great time listening to him cover old country classics and picking a few bluegrass tunes. The magic of live music: even a genre I don't normally like, played by people who are really good at it and having fun doing it makes for a good time.
We walked out of a Shakey Graves show a few years ago, absolutely brutal sound mix. We've been to shows at the same place before and they were fine, but it's a cinder block box so they have to be careful.
These are the earplugs, by the way. They're not as wonderful as the advertising copy wants you to believe but they definitely are better than foam. I added the $6 lanyard which is a rubber band but it held up so maybe it's worth it.
Place like that here that's called The Blue Door. Saw James McMurtry there a few years ago and they got the sound and volume just right.
We walked out of a Shakey Graves show a few years ago, absolutely brutal sound mix. We've been to shows at the same place before and they were fine, but it's a cinder block box so they have to be careful.
Went to see Bob a few years ago in Oakland and the openers, who I really wanted to see, were Kings of Leon. But - even when we escaped out in the lobby by the concessions - we couldn't hear ourselves think. It was horrible. But we always have some high Q earplugs I tote to every show.
Flip side: saw Genesis back in the Illegal Alien period and the mix was so clean you could hear it when Phil picked up his tambourine. Beautiful.
And before anyone says "why don't they just lower the volume?" I have to say they've never been to a Lyle Lovett concert where you could have babies in the front row but also have to really strain to hear him, and if anyone around you is a talker, the show's ruined.
edit: not actually have babies. Go to the hospital or doula, whatever. Lyle does not want that niche.
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Posted:
Sep 2, 2022 - 7:57am
ScottFromWyoming wrote:
We walked out of a Shakey Graves show a few years ago, absolutely brutal sound mix. We've been to shows at the same place before and they were fine, but it's a cinder block box so they have to be careful.
These are the earplugs, by the way. They're not as wonderful as the advertising copy wants you to believe but they definitely are better than foam. I added the $6 lanyard which is a rubber band but it held up so maybe it's worth it.
We did something weird last weekend and went to back-to-back nights of the same bands. We saw Amigo the Devil and Murder by Death on Saturday at the Ogden in Denver and on Sunday at The Mishawaka outside Fort Collins.
We've been to shows at the Ogden before and I really enjoy the venue. Saturday's show was loads of fun. Amigo was absolutely unhinged, which made for a neat show. MBD was great. Absurdly loud, though. That was unexpected.
Sunday's show was a different experience altogether. The Mish is unique and beautiful. Much smaller crowd, more intimate, outdoor. For this show, Amigo was quite a bit more subdued, and played the exact same setlist, with mostly the same banter. Great show, though. MBD took the stage and it was immediately apparent that they were on a tear. Completely different setlist, they were having a blast and it was contagious. We left wanting more after a solid 5 hours of music, so it doesn't get better than that.
Every time I've gone to Pappy and Harriett's in Pioneertown, I've been overwhelmed with the extremely loud music. Unless the performance was outside. Like when we saw Lucinda Williams or Neko Case. Their indoor venue is a low ceilinged, cramped place. The sound just smashes into you.
Debbie and I went to see Best Coast a few years ago... it was so loud we went to another room. And it was still way to loud.
When we went to see Son Volt, it was spot on. Of course, it was mostly acoustic.
We walked out of a Shakey Graves show a few years ago, absolutely brutal sound mix. We've been to shows at the same place before and they were fine, but it's a cinder block box so they have to be careful.
These are the earplugs, by the way. They're not as wonderful as the advertising copy wants you to believe but they definitely are better than foam. I added the $6 lanyard which is a rubber band but it held up so maybe it's worth it.
Location: Really deep in the heart of South California Gender:
Posted:
Sep 2, 2022 - 5:41am
ScottFromWyoming wrote:
I cannot begin to describe how loud this concert was. Way beyond anything I've experienced and I have experienced loud. Luckily, I had invested in some $40 earplugs that are supposed to prevent damage but allow some fidelity. I tried them at a concert a couple of months ago and was disappointed: still muddy. But that show obviously wasn't loud enough. There's a tiny tympanic membrane inside each one that's supposed to transmit a fraction of all frequencies and I think it did a bangup job on these intensely loud sets. Justine had some basic industrial foam plugs and so we moved away from the stage after a few songs so she could take them out without injury.
The phone did a pretty remarkable job of making sense of it, considering.
Audio on this one is much more iphoney but hey: Sparks!
And for the review part: I have never been aware of an opportunity to see Sparks but they've been touring a lot lately and what a great time!
The first set we saw, a duo called "Terror/Cactus" was really really cool and I swear they went into Egyptian Reggae for a minute. Not my video; I only shot a few because I put my phone away most of the time...
But the takeaway must-see in a steamy nightclub is the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, whose youtubes don't capture the groove of the set or the amazingness of the back-and-forth between Delvon on the Hammond (which now sports one of Justine's "bee" stickers!) and Jimmy James, who also powers the True Loves, another Seattle band. Go see them if you have a chance. Go see Terror/Cactus. Go see Sparks. Modest Mouse if you like them, I thought they were great and fascinating to watch, altho the video I got is fun for me, it seems less anthemic now than it was in person. Ah, concerts!
Every time I've gone to Pappy and Harriett's in Pioneertown, I've been overwhelmed with the extremely loud music. Unless the performance was outside. Like when we saw Lucinda Williams or Neko Case. Their indoor venue is a low ceilinged, cramped place. The sound just smashes into you.
Debbie and I went to see Best Coast a few years ago... it was so loud we went to another room. And it was still way to loud.
When we went to see Son Volt, it was spot on. Of course, it was mostly acoustic.
I cannot begin to describe how loud this concert was. Way beyond anything I've experienced and I have experienced loud. Luckily, I had invested in some $40 earplugs that are supposed to prevent damage but allow some fidelity. I tried them at a concert a couple of months ago and was disappointed: still muddy. But that show obviously wasn't loud enough. There's a tiny tympanic membrane inside each one that's supposed to transmit a fraction of all frequencies and I think it did a bangup job on these intensely loud sets. Justine had some basic industrial foam plugs and so we moved away from the stage after a few songs so she could take them out without injury.
The phone did a pretty remarkable job of making sense of it, considering.
Audio on this one is much more iphoney but hey: Sparks!
And for the review part: I have never been aware of an opportunity to see Sparks but they've been touring a lot lately and what a great time!
The first set we saw, a duo called "Terror/Cactus" was really really cool and I swear they went into Egyptian Reggae for a minute. Not my video; I only shot a few because I put my phone away most of the time...
But the takeaway must-see in a steamy nightclub is the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, whose youtubes don't capture the groove of the set or the amazingness of the back-and-forth between Delvon on the Hammond (which now sports one of Justine's "bee" stickers!) and Jimmy James, who also powers the True Loves, another Seattle band. Go see them if you have a chance. Go see Terror/Cactus. Go see Sparks. Modest Mouse if you like them, I thought they were great and fascinating to watch, altho the video I got is fun for me, it seems less anthemic now than it was in person. Ah, concerts!
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Posted:
Aug 22, 2022 - 7:28am
We bought tickets months ago for a festival
featuring Silversun Pickups and Jimmy Eat World (headlining act was A
Day To Remember) at Fiddler's Green. Drove down to Denver on Friday to
catch the mayhem and it was very entertaining. Silversun Pickups were
rowdier than their recorded output - it was a great set. Jimmy Eat World
are VERY accomplished live. Again, quite different than the recordings
and a very good time. A Day to Remember? Well, apparently it has become
acceptable to have a backing track playing at concerts now. We left
after about half an hour.
HOWEVER
I'd known that there was to be a punk
festival the next day. The headliners were Pennywise and NOFX. We've
seen Pennywise before and it was fun, but the original ads for the show
did not mention any of the opening acts, which included Dwarves,
T.S.O.L., PKEW PKEW PKEW, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, The Suicide Machines, and
Circle Jerks.
So, long story short, I've seen Circle Jerks now. That was INCREDIBLE.
They hit that opening riff and I was all "Oh yeah! He wrote that!" I looked - Margo Price would have been 2 years old when that song was released. The influence is noticeable, and she tore that cover up.
Edit:
From a few weeks ago, apparently. This performance is pretty subdued compared to S
She's played GMF twice now....once with Margo driving in with a van full of players and trailer, last year in a big a** tour bus. Both times as sweet and nice and friendly person as you would hope. I will always be a fan.
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Posted:
Jul 7, 2022 - 11:46am
ScottFromWyoming wrote:
TIL that that was a Campbell/Petty song. I probably used to know that.
They hit that opening riff and I was all "Oh yeah! He wrote that!" I looked - Margo Price would have been 2 years old when that song was released. The influence is noticeable, and she tore that cover up.
Also, I forgot to mention that Stan Lynch was sitting in on drums for The Dirty Knobs. No explanation given, but I thought he'd completely left the biz. Campbell introduced him as a R&R Hall of Fame member, making no mention whatsoever about his status as same.
Edit:
From a few weeks ago, apparently. This performance is pretty subdued compared to Saturday's, so...
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Posted:
Jul 7, 2022 - 9:28am
We were supposed to have seen Elle King, Sheryl Crow and Chris Stapleton June 25th. That got bumped a week due to COVID stuff, and in that week somehow it morphed into us seeing Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs, Margo Price and Chris Stapleton on July 2nd. The would-be son-in-law was pretty bummed about the absence of Sheryl Crow until I told him who Mike Campbell was. At the actual show itself it became obvious that a lot of the audience would have benefited from this knowledge as well.
I've been pretty clear here about my concert preferences. I like 'in the moment' shows. Fast and loose is great. Chaos can be even better. With that being said, I'll lay this review out unconventional-like.
Stapleton. Despite all appearances, he is obviously a perfectionist/possibly a control freak. The performance was long (24 songs with encores), impeccably played, and perfectly enjoyable. I've wanted to see him perform for quite some time now, and while it absolutely was not a disappointment, I don't know that I'll bother to try and see him again.
Dirty Knobs. Set was WAY too short. Roughly 25 minutes in front of a quarter-full arena. They played a couple of Petty/Heartbreakers songs and a handful of originals. Margo Price came out during his set and sang backup and bashed a tambourine. The guitar work was, as one would expect, legendary. It was great. I cannot wrap my head around people paying money for a concert and not bothering to take in opening acts, but in this case COME ON.
Margo. Another one from my 'must see' list, so I was kinda amped up about this. I'd been wondering if her husband would be in the band. He was. Geeeez, what a guitar player. The bassist was fantastic as well. She hits a LOT harder live than on recordings and while I didn't get to hear my favorite (Hey Child), Mike Campbell came out for a couple of songs including what has become one of my absolute favorite concert moments ever when they launched into Ways to be Wicked and I put 2 and 2 together as to what was happening. That song was the highlight of the whole thing. It was obvious the performers were enjoying it, as well. Campbell soloed for about 2 minutes at the end. Pure scorched earth. 10/10.
