Got to NYC at 4 PM Thursday. I hadn't heard from The Bamboo Kids and needed to reach them to get a CMJ badge. Karma is amazing. I walked into the lobby of my hotel and there was Chris from BKs standing there talking to Heidi's UK photographer friend in the lobby. Turns out he was staying at the same hotel (very eerie). First show was a few hours later at Irving Plaza.
BILLY TALENT:
A 4-piece out of Toronto with a total poseur front man. They actually made The Used look not-so-bad. The screeching front man should be shot but bullets would not kill his ego. The music consisted of attacking music critics and tradition Someone called him a sellout and his brilliant response was "sell-out, fuck shit pussy." I have no idea what that was meant to mean. Definitely my nominee for worst voice of the year. Just crap--avoid at all costs.
STORY OF THE YEAR:
See above--marginally better but still total shit pseudo-hardcore. Who booked these bad hardcore acts to open for Jet.
JET: Awesome. They came on strong as compared to the Grand Rapids show opening with Cold Hard Bitch. None of the slow stuff until two-thirds through the set when they did On the Radio. The crowd was into them immediately (it was a 92 cent show and scalpers were asking $75 in front of the venue. I'm running out of time so will write more later.
--Dem
The owner of the original legendary Chicago punk bar, OZ, and producer of the infamous punk album Busted at OZ comments on music along with others. Visit Busted At OZ
Saturday, October 25, 2003
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Leeds - a bit late
From: suzel
Date: Tue Oct 21, 2003 1:00 pm
i wanted to give you a feedback of Leeds. I spent a week in london before the big carling festivals. In london, I only saw one band, The Prosaïcs. Has anybody ever written about them? I had the feeling I already knew this name. The venue, The Metro, was small, very small and the sound wasn't great. But The Prosaïcs managed to deal with it greatly. We didn't stay for the second band which was pretty lame. I couldn't say much more cuz my attention was often disturbed. :p
Then Leeds... great, excellent.. i didn't see as many bands as last year cuz our crew was big (8 persons) so we were constantly looking for the others. But my highlights have been first : Calla. Beautiful, awesome, brilliant: my new fave band !!! They tour in Europe again at the moment. They supported Interpol so some of you might have seen them. I also really enjoyed Franz Ferdinand and The Hiss. For the Hiss, some of their songs sound a bit Datsuns to me and others are beautiful ballads. I really advise you to check their record. Franz Ferdinand has really 2 types of songs, according to what i felt during the 30 minutes they played. Some songs really sound 80s coldwave and others nearly heavy metal. My main disappointment came from the YYYs. I was waiting for the gig for over 1 year (which partly explains my disappointment maybe). Anyway, Karen's voice wasn’t right. She was more screaming than singing her lyrics... maybe too much champagne or tension or both ??! Oh and i saw one song by McLusky but we had to leave for Interpol. I hate to have to chose but this time the decision was made!! Interpol was brilliant.. ok, i have a totally biaised opinion but!!!! it was really their best gig i've seen.The crowd was singing the words with Paul, on songs like the Specialist, which isnt on the album. Paul was less static.. He even grab the mike !! come on boy !!! lol They were all enjoying the gig as we could noticed some smiles from time to time. i guess the area of Leeds gathers a lot of their fans. Manchester isnt far ;-)
British Sea Power were as usual: mad.. doing crazy things like climbing at the top of the tent with a guitar in one hand and a piece of wood in the other...They played 2 nites in Leeds. The second was the music of a documentary which was broadcasted on the sides of the stage. this was a great experience, worth missing the Polyphonic Spree.
the whole weekend is a bit far away now so sorry if i cant give you more details about the bands i saw.
But i met The Bamboo Kids in the most amazing circumstances. We were in the guest area with my friends. one of my friend who was with Eric (Interpol) has been introduced to Dee and Vince by him. I guess they had a business together ;-). Then she came to ask me to play a game with them.. . when I arrived we begin to talk and suddenly discovered we knew each other thanks to you Dem! i guess i pronounced "i cant believe it" about 100 times .. same for "it's incredible!" .. Anyway, I'm sorry for the guys, we couldn't help them as we had no tent. Actually we decided to go to Leeds on thursday and the festival begin on friday. We had nothing prepared and without Martin, a friend of the organization crew, we wouldn't have had tix and tents.. So we couldn't help them for the beds. :-(
We were happy to notice they were alive the next day when we left. I hope they managed to get contacts for a future european tour.
oh before i forget, check also Jeffrey Lewis .. he reminds me of Beck when he was young.. nothing amazing but a certain talent for doin a pretty good song with 2 chords and a voice.. http://www.thejeffreylewissite.com/ .. his lyrics are often funny like "last time i was on acid, i became insane" or "dont let the record label take you out to lunch" .. he signed on rough trade and did a great song about it. The site is under construction though :( oh and he has a huge talent in drawing.. all the drawings you'll see about him are his own.. and he does videos with them.. but that's another story...
--Suzel
PS: Catpower (thursday), Calla, The Warlocks, Franck Black and probably
many others soon :))))
Pss: sorry, I really dislike the Darkness' music...the funny thing is that everybody told us to check them during Leeds even though they admitted they didn’t like their music... They're said to be awesome on stage... Hot Hot Heat aren’t that great on stage...good pop songs.
Date: Tue Oct 21, 2003 1:00 pm
i wanted to give you a feedback of Leeds. I spent a week in london before the big carling festivals. In london, I only saw one band, The Prosaïcs. Has anybody ever written about them? I had the feeling I already knew this name. The venue, The Metro, was small, very small and the sound wasn't great. But The Prosaïcs managed to deal with it greatly. We didn't stay for the second band which was pretty lame. I couldn't say much more cuz my attention was often disturbed. :p
Then Leeds... great, excellent.. i didn't see as many bands as last year cuz our crew was big (8 persons) so we were constantly looking for the others. But my highlights have been first : Calla. Beautiful, awesome, brilliant: my new fave band !!! They tour in Europe again at the moment. They supported Interpol so some of you might have seen them. I also really enjoyed Franz Ferdinand and The Hiss. For the Hiss, some of their songs sound a bit Datsuns to me and others are beautiful ballads. I really advise you to check their record. Franz Ferdinand has really 2 types of songs, according to what i felt during the 30 minutes they played. Some songs really sound 80s coldwave and others nearly heavy metal. My main disappointment came from the YYYs. I was waiting for the gig for over 1 year (which partly explains my disappointment maybe). Anyway, Karen's voice wasn’t right. She was more screaming than singing her lyrics... maybe too much champagne or tension or both ??! Oh and i saw one song by McLusky but we had to leave for Interpol. I hate to have to chose but this time the decision was made!! Interpol was brilliant.. ok, i have a totally biaised opinion but!!!! it was really their best gig i've seen.The crowd was singing the words with Paul, on songs like the Specialist, which isnt on the album. Paul was less static.. He even grab the mike !! come on boy !!! lol They were all enjoying the gig as we could noticed some smiles from time to time. i guess the area of Leeds gathers a lot of their fans. Manchester isnt far ;-)
British Sea Power were as usual: mad.. doing crazy things like climbing at the top of the tent with a guitar in one hand and a piece of wood in the other...They played 2 nites in Leeds. The second was the music of a documentary which was broadcasted on the sides of the stage. this was a great experience, worth missing the Polyphonic Spree.
the whole weekend is a bit far away now so sorry if i cant give you more details about the bands i saw.
But i met The Bamboo Kids in the most amazing circumstances. We were in the guest area with my friends. one of my friend who was with Eric (Interpol) has been introduced to Dee and Vince by him. I guess they had a business together ;-). Then she came to ask me to play a game with them.. . when I arrived we begin to talk and suddenly discovered we knew each other thanks to you Dem! i guess i pronounced "i cant believe it" about 100 times .. same for "it's incredible!" .. Anyway, I'm sorry for the guys, we couldn't help them as we had no tent. Actually we decided to go to Leeds on thursday and the festival begin on friday. We had nothing prepared and without Martin, a friend of the organization crew, we wouldn't have had tix and tents.. So we couldn't help them for the beds. :-(
We were happy to notice they were alive the next day when we left. I hope they managed to get contacts for a future european tour.
oh before i forget, check also Jeffrey Lewis .. he reminds me of Beck when he was young.. nothing amazing but a certain talent for doin a pretty good song with 2 chords and a voice.. http://www.thejeffreylewissite.com/ .. his lyrics are often funny like "last time i was on acid, i became insane" or "dont let the record label take you out to lunch" .. he signed on rough trade and did a great song about it. The site is under construction though :( oh and he has a huge talent in drawing.. all the drawings you'll see about him are his own.. and he does videos with them.. but that's another story...
--Suzel
PS: Catpower (thursday), Calla, The Warlocks, Franck Black and probably
many others soon :))))
Pss: sorry, I really dislike the Darkness' music...the funny thing is that everybody told us to check them during Leeds even though they admitted they didn’t like their music... They're said to be awesome on stage... Hot Hot Heat aren’t that great on stage...good pop songs.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Mars Volta / Saul Williams
From: demhopkins
Date: Wed Oct 15, 2003 11:07 am
Saul Williams, the poet, opened for Mars Volta. It was my first time seeing him live and he, alone, was worth the price of admission. Powerful words (with what some describe as a hip hop delivery) that hushed a packed house. The politic of his work comes from things that are so personal to him. Don't miss him if you get the chance. Mars Volta gave the crowd a solid, sometimes brilliant, 2 hour show. Early sound problems pissed off Cedric and he commented that the Riviera Theater was "a beautiful place but the people working here are assholes." Sound got worked out but was never as good as the band deserved. I don't hear as much "prog" as I thought I did when I first listened to the CD. A lot of funk and Latin rhythms--great keyboard. They played Comatorium pretty much straight through. Omar and Cedric have yet to write their masterpiece and have yet to perfect their stage show. But both the CD and last night's show were excellent. I expect that I will enjoy the CD more now that I have seen them (I hope) but I will also wish that it would change with each listen to incorporate what Omar and the band do on stage.
--Dem
Date: Wed Oct 15, 2003 11:07 am
Saul Williams, the poet, opened for Mars Volta. It was my first time seeing him live and he, alone, was worth the price of admission. Powerful words (with what some describe as a hip hop delivery) that hushed a packed house. The politic of his work comes from things that are so personal to him. Don't miss him if you get the chance. Mars Volta gave the crowd a solid, sometimes brilliant, 2 hour show. Early sound problems pissed off Cedric and he commented that the Riviera Theater was "a beautiful place but the people working here are assholes." Sound got worked out but was never as good as the band deserved. I don't hear as much "prog" as I thought I did when I first listened to the CD. A lot of funk and Latin rhythms--great keyboard. They played Comatorium pretty much straight through. Omar and Cedric have yet to write their masterpiece and have yet to perfect their stage show. But both the CD and last night's show were excellent. I expect that I will enjoy the CD more now that I have seen them (I hope) but I will also wish that it would change with each listen to incorporate what Omar and the band do on stage.
--Dem
Saturday, October 11, 2003
Scene Creamers
From: demhopkins
Date: Sat Oct 11, 2003 6:56 am
I know this is a band that you love or don't. The Scene Creamers show at Fireside last night just reaffirmed what I felt last March--they are my favorite touring band at this moment in time. Great new song "AK-47" to wrap up the show. If you dig the band you will love this show--if you don't dig the band you will love this show.
--Dem
Date: Sat Oct 11, 2003 6:56 am
I know this is a band that you love or don't. The Scene Creamers show at Fireside last night just reaffirmed what I felt last March--they are my favorite touring band at this moment in time. Great new song "AK-47" to wrap up the show. If you dig the band you will love this show--if you don't dig the band you will love this show.
--Dem
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
Polyphonic Spree
From: demhopkins
Date: Wed Oct 8, 2003 11:00 am
Corn Mo opened. He was named as funniest new musician by Village Voice but he was profoundly unfunny and over-miced last night. Starlight Mints were less than I was expecting. Sometimes very on-the-mark with their 1960's Kinks derivative tunes but other songs just completely missed--usually because the band was overly cute with them. It was PS' last leg of the tour with the Mints and Corn Mo. Hollywood Films was recording their show and cameras and equipment were everywhere. Bright pin-spots from the stage blinded the crowd and it looked like our comfort and enjoyment of the show was being sacrificed for the sake of video. But, PS didn't let that happen.
Amazing show with songs extended into orgiastic excess and even repeated later in the show. The same love-in cultish crowd as last time and a very personal connection between the audience and the members of PS. Two hour set climaxing with Five Years (still the best version I've ever heard). But wait--there was more--the final song was from Hedwig—Wig in a Box--and the place was up for grabs!! A final short selection from the Harp player with the band all sitting on stage and listening. I never thought I would see a crowd at Metro so quietly listening to a Harp. Then screaming applause from an adoring crowd and the night was over. I still can't listen to the CD but am looking forward to the DVD that will be released from last night's show.
--Dem
Date: Wed Oct 8, 2003 11:00 am
Corn Mo opened. He was named as funniest new musician by Village Voice but he was profoundly unfunny and over-miced last night. Starlight Mints were less than I was expecting. Sometimes very on-the-mark with their 1960's Kinks derivative tunes but other songs just completely missed--usually because the band was overly cute with them. It was PS' last leg of the tour with the Mints and Corn Mo. Hollywood Films was recording their show and cameras and equipment were everywhere. Bright pin-spots from the stage blinded the crowd and it looked like our comfort and enjoyment of the show was being sacrificed for the sake of video. But, PS didn't let that happen.
Amazing show with songs extended into orgiastic excess and even repeated later in the show. The same love-in cultish crowd as last time and a very personal connection between the audience and the members of PS. Two hour set climaxing with Five Years (still the best version I've ever heard). But wait--there was more--the final song was from Hedwig—Wig in a Box--and the place was up for grabs!! A final short selection from the Harp player with the band all sitting on stage and listening. I never thought I would see a crowd at Metro so quietly listening to a Harp. Then screaming applause from an adoring crowd and the night was over. I still can't listen to the CD but am looking forward to the DVD that will be released from last night's show.
--Dem
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