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RSSOctober 25, 2003: Marci Winters, Wooldridge Park, Austin TX
Oct 25
annoying as all hell, super chipper and kid-loving, husband played harmonica to accompany her guitar and oversweet faltering voice
October 24, 2003: Tiburon, Miguel’s La Bodega, Austin TX
Oct 24
Latin, World Music No Comments
salsa dancing music, lots of horns, really enjoyed it, fun sensuality, fellow Mendez teacher’s daughter was singer
October 18, 2003: Raekwon with Ice Water Inc., Emo’s, Austin TX
Oct 18
5+ MCs and 2 DJs, “salute the nigga” when Raekwon came on stage, I could definitely decipher a positive difference in the backbeats and rap with them because I was wearying of undecipherable lyrics and hypocritical positivity (actually some of the groups were political) but Wu-Tang is certainly not and there was no need to pretend, unfortunately I didn’t recognize the Wu-Tang songs they did and they came on some 2 hours later than they were supposed to so I’d waited 3-4 hours for them so I didn’t stay for their whole set, and what is “Ice Water”?, I refused to chant or do any of the hand motions like I do at shows of any genre
October 18, 2003: All Wise, Emo’s, Austin TX
Oct 18
gangsta rap, first song was about math, I was sold and bought a CD from them and like a flaming white girl told them I was a math teacher — Unfortunately the playlist is not in The Chronicle but I saw at least 4 groups—there was a San Antonio Latino rap group, there was a Kool Keith like group—ech—probably good lyrics but you know I can’t decipher any lyrics anyway, there was a white boy rap group—queer short bowl hair cut boy, the MC for the whole event did well with his DJ and two b-boys doing fabulous breakdancing, there was another group (black again finally) with several MCs and two DJs, I was near the band entrance and felt important standing next to each of the groups after they finished
10.05.2003 R.E.M. Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA
Oct 05
Alternative Rock, Rock and Roll No Comments
10.05.2003 R.E.M. Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA
I will note for the record that this weekend was originally planned for three R.E.M. concerts and I backed out to attend Mixfest. I lost a few dollars on the deal because I sold the tickets for face minus the service fees, but it was the right decision. As it turns out, I would probably have enjoyed the third show (which actually would have been the first, on Friday) but it was outdoors on the water somewhere in the state of New York, colder than crap that night and I looked at the setlist for that night, and yeah, I didn’t miss anything. Tweeter Center, formerly Great Woods as Michael pointed out, is an outdoor venue with a great view from every seat, as long as it’s not lawn. Having previously seen John Mayer / Counting Crows there, I knew what to expect. There are sixteen parking lots at the venue and one exit. If you are unlucky enough to end up parking towards the front of the venue, you then face a two plus hour wait to get out of your parking space, inching along make-shift lanes towards the exit and then waiting in long lines of similarly stuck patrons until you can all turn left because everyone is going to the highway.
The trick is to skip the opening act, thereby parking far from your seat but the equivalently close to the exit for a speedy (30 mins) getaway. I don’t remember and possibly never knew who was the opener that night. We hit our seats approximately four minutes before R.E.M.’s entrance.
Their set was more enjoyable overall tonight and I will attribute it to the fact that Michael Stipe didn’t spend as much time talking between each song. They varied the set enough that I got to hear some keepers, “Orange Crush” being principle among them. I really like “Life and How to Live It” as a live song, but I just can’t listen to the studio version. They stuck in “Permanent Vacation” an unreleased ditty from the 80’s so I hear and it worked.
Same glitter and glam. Same story about “Imitation of Life” being their first #1 in Japan. Same Mike Mills on lead vocals for “Don’t Go Back to Rockville” and I am sold. I waited 27 years to see R.E.M. live and that, my friends, is tragic. Bottom line: R.E.M. songs that suck on the albums rock out as live tracks. See “Electrolite” “She Just Wants To Be” and “The One I Love.” A friend of mine will kill me for saying that “Electrolite” is a shitty song, but it’s at the end of New Adventures and I have already taken the cd out of the player.
Songs I didn’t get to hear either night:
“How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us”
“Bang and Blame”
So back to this “Exhuming McCarthy” thing. I felt compelled to look up the lyrics to see if Michael Stipe attacked directly or feigned with analogy and vague references. Document is by far my favorite album of theirs and so I probably shouldn’t have to look up the lyrics when I can sing a ton of their songs in my head by rote, but alas, Sherman stole (er, well, was given permission to take and even offered to return to me) my R.E.M. collection when I moved to Boston and I’m a little rusty. This is the most specific it gets: “You’re beautiful more beautiful than me
You’re honorable more honorable than me
Loyal to the Bank of America.”
So what’s the song about? Here is Langston Hughes testifying before Congress: “You write it out of your soul and you write it for your own individual feeling of expression. First, sir, it does not come from yourself in the first place. It comes from something beyond oneself, in my opinion.” He’s not testifying about R.E.M.’s song (which, after all, was written during the Reagan administration) but about poetry. Why they are talking about poetry when its his political views on trial? I have no opinion on the matter.
Or if you prefer, there was an annotated R.E.M here http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Stage/9208/annotated.html which was utterly fascinating, more so because the site seemed to indicate that the work was done by a 13 year old, now deceased. The site itself has since been taken down, but whether he did it himself or had help, it was brilliant.
Finally, I received this from a friend, who is the closest person to an R.E.M. expert that I know:
“Exhuming McCarthy seems to be a reference to the day’s (the song was written during the Reagan era) politicians being bought with money, corporate interests being more important than human ones, and that America seems to be for sale. The title suggests that the McCarthy era of supposedly meaningless political witch hunts and, no doubt, other Republican tactics, is upon us once again.”
Setlist
Begin the Begin
So Fast So Numb
These Days
Drive
Animal
Fall on Me
All the Way to Reno
Bad Day
The One I Love
Daysleeper
Electrolite
Don’t Go Back to Rockville
Orange Crush
Losing My Religion
At My Most Beautiful
She Just Wants to Be
Walk Unafraid
Man on the Moon
Encore
Life and How to Live It
Exhuming Mccarthy
Final Straw
Permanent Vacation
Imitation of Life
It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
10.04.2003 Sparklehorse Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Oct 04
We squirreled away to out seats during the opening act, Sparklehorse. We ended up hearing three songs and as far as I could tell, it was three songs too many.
10.04.2003 R.E.M. Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Oct 04
Alternative Rock, Rock and Roll No Comments
10.04.2003 R.E.M. Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Opener: Sparklehorse
Madison Square Garden is an awesome location to see a concert. Despite being primarily a sports venue, the acoustics were stellar. And they serve champagne to boot. R.E.M. started promptly after a quick set change and opened with “Finest Worksong.”
It was a tight set, not exactly the songs I was looking to hear, but they made up for on Sunday night at the Tweeter Center. Tonight’s show involved a lot of side comments by Michael in between just about every song. He explained the joke about their first #1 in Japan (”Imitation of Life”) about how “Bad Day” is their new favorite song. Mike Mills even chimed in by dedicating his only song as lead singer, “Don’t Go Back to Rockville,” to the person it was written about, who was apparently in the audience that night. There were numerous references to New York City as their second home and one episode of intense conversation with some shouting that resulted in “Gardening At Night” which was not on the setlist.
R.E.M. puts on an amazing show. The set was a large glittery backdrop with pictures of the band and various archetypes from their careers that reflected and bounced the lights around the stadium. Some of their songs didn’t translate well live, most notably “Great Beyond” which sounded stale and “Losing My Religion.” They simply didn’t have the snap that the original recording captured. However, these exceptions were few and far between and for the most part, R.E.M.’s portfolio sounds vastly better during the live performance. Their new song “Animal” sounds like it’s sung through a funnel on the album, but having heard it live first, it’s high on my list of their great songs. “Drive” and “Country Feedback” are simply unrecognizable arranged live, and that is a good thing. I actually enjoyed “Country Feedback” as an outstanding concert moment, but then I had to turn to my friend to ask what song it was. The show closer also proved that “It’s the End of the World” is a better live track than a studio and I wasn’t ready stop listening when the lights came up.
The lyrics of “Final Straw” are supposedly a condemnation of our country’s current leadership, but the lyrics themselves are pretty generic. Michael Stipe could just as easily be referring to back pain as President Bush. “I can’t believe where circumstance has thrown me And I turn my head away. If I look I’m not sure that I could face you. Not again. Not today. Not today.”
It’s an okay song, but interesting that this is another band who have decided to not commercially release a political message into today’s climate. I’d rather believe they aren’t releasing it because it’s pretty generic. It was pointed out to me that Michael only gets political in his music when Republicans are in office.
Set list
Finest Worksong
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
Driver 8
Drive
Animal
Fall on Me
Daysleeper
Bad Day
The One I Love
World Leader Pretend
Don’t Go Back to Rockville
Great Beyond
Country Feedback
Losing My Religion
Find The River
She Just Wants to Be
Walk Unafraid
Man on the Moon
Encore
Life and How to Live It
New York Cares (Stipe Solo Acoustic)
Nightswimming
Final Straw
Gardening At Night
Imitation of Life
It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
10.03.2003 Duran Duran Fleet Center Boston, MA
Oct 03
Pop, Rock and Roll No Comments
Duran Duran sucked. The noise was too loud, Simon Le Bon can still carry a tune but his sound is all nasal. His old-man Rod Stewart tan and gesticulations on stage looked like death on legs. Some of his bandmates made out in the aging rocker category much better. The new song, “What Happens Tomorrow” was actually pretty fabbo in my book, but suffers in that same massive vacuum of lyrical emptiness as the new single “Sunrise.” A rowdy version of “Notorious” made up for screeching, polluted renditions of “Wild Boys” and “Rio”. “Ordinary World” didn’t sound good, but just to hear it made my day.
Song I didn’t get to hear: “View to a Kill”
10.03.2003 Barenaked Ladies Fleet Center Boston, MA
Oct 03
Alternative Rock, Pop No Comments
Barenaked Ladies. You know all the words, if you’ve seen ‘em before, you know all the stunts, but people eat this shit up and I am no different. The improvs (sampling Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys” and later, Sugar Ray’s “I Just Want to Fly”) loved it. The hits, loved it. The jumping up and down like retards and the chicken dance and the songs off the new album, what can I say? Loved it.
Song I didn’t get to hear: “Call and Answer”
10.03.2003 Train Fleet Center Boston, MA
Oct 03
Alternative Rock, Rock and Roll No Comments
Train. Hmm, well, surprisingly, I knew their stuff. Not surprisingly, the set was not enjoyable. They put on a good show, so I give them props for that, but I simply hate their singles “Meet Virginia” and “Drops of Jupiter”. When they opened with the only passable song “Calling All Angels” I knew I was doomed. Just doomed. The best song was a Led Zeppelin cover of “Ramble On.” Mark McGraff introduced them. I don’t know why.
Song I didn’t get to hear: Yeah, I’ll pass
10.03.2003 Tori Amos Fleet Center Boston, MA
Oct 03
Alternative Rock, Singer/Songwriter No Comments
Tori Amos does an amazing show and it doesn’t really matter what she performs. But the crowd wasn’t there to see Tori exclusively and she was promoting a greatest hits album. So why does she perform 4 covers and a b-side? If I had to guess, one answer would be, well, because she can and she knows the crowd isn’t there to see her anyhow. Her renditions of “I’m on Fire”, “House of the Rising Sun” and “Leather” were inspired. Tagging “I Feel The Earth Move” at the end of “Take To The Sky” just didn’t catch on fire with this audience. Spare me the Nirvana, please.
Song I didn’t get to hear: All of them
10.03.2003 Dido Fleet Center Boston, MA
Oct 03
Dido did an acoustic set that showed off her awesome voice, and I’ll forgive her that song about Mary because the rest of the six song set was excellent. She started with her new single, “White Flag”, managed to cover “Thank You” and “Here with Me” along with some stuff off of her new album. Her songs sound remarkably the same whether full band or acoustic and that’s just the way I like it.
Song I didn’t get to hear: “Hunter”
10.03.2003 Michelle Branch Fleet Center Boston, MA
Oct 03
Pop, Singer/Songwriter No Comments
Michelle Branch was painful. Her songs are catchy but the sound in Fleet Center sucked all the grace out of her voice and it just seemed like she was shouting the entire set. She was the clear favorite, overall, of the night’s performers, probably due mostly to her overplayed radio presence. But the crowd could sing along to her entire set, and they did. They did.
10.03.2003 Jason Mraz Fleet Center Boston, MA
Oct 03
Jason Mraz has a great voice, but too often he sings like Dolores O’Riordan. His song lyrics channel Neil Diamond and his stage presence is a lot of the Jim Morrison drug-haze without the Jim Morrison charisma to make up for it. That’s a lot of influences for one small man to handle. The result is songs like “I’ll Do Anything” that starts with a Reggae feel and ends as a Christina Aguilera cover. I mean, what?
10.03.2003 Vertical Horizon Fleet Center Boston, MA
Oct 03
Vertical Horizon was good, but somehow their songs just kind of got lost in the execution. The new single “I’m Still Here” makes a better acoustic number than the version on the radio. The rest, including their breakthrough hit “You’re a God” was just kind of bland.
10.03.2003 MixFest 98.5 10th Anniversary Fleet Center Boston, MA
Oct 03
Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock and Roll No Comments
10.03.2003 MixFest 98.5 10th Anniversary Fleet Center Boston, MA
Conclusion? I don’t have a six hour attention span. Or even a three hour attention span. The line up in order of appearance: Vertical Horizon / Jason Mraz / Michelle Branch / Dido / Tori Amos / Mark McGraff / Train / Barenaked Ladies / Duran Duran
Vertical Horizon was good, but somehow their songs just kind of got lost in the execution. The new single “I’m Still Here” makes a better acoustic number than the version on the radio. The rest, including their breakthrough hit “You’re a God” was just kind of bland. Jason Mraz has a great voice, but too often he sings like Dolores O’Riordan. His song lyrics channel Neil Diamond and his stage presence is a lot of the Jim Morrison drug-haze without the Jim Morrison charisma to make up for it. That’s a lot of influences for one small man to handle. The result is songs like “I’ll Do Anything” that starts with a Reggae feel and ends as a Christina Aguilera cover. I mean, what? Michelle Branch was painful. Her songs are catchy but the sound in Fleet Center sucked all the grace out of her voice and it just seemed like she was shouting the entire set. She was the clear favorite, overall, of the night’s performers, probably due mostly to her overplayed radio presence. But the crowd could sing along to her entire set, and they did. They did.
Dido did an acoustic set that showed off her awesome voice, and I’ll forgive her that song about Mary because the rest of the six song set was excellent. She started with her new single, “White Flag”, managed to cover “Thank You” and “Here with Me” along with some stuff off of her new album. Her songs sound remarkably the same whether full band or acoustic and that’s just the way I like it.
Song I didn’t get to hear: “Hunter”
Tori Amos does an amazing show and it doesn’t really matter what she performs. But the crowd wasn’t there to see Tori exclusively and she was promoting a greatest hits album. So why does she perform 4 covers and a b-side? If I had to guess, one answer would be, well, because she can and she knows the crowd isn’t there to see her anyhow. Her renditions of “I’m on Fire”, “House of the Rising Sun” and “Leather” were inspired. Tagging “I Feel The Earth Move” at the end of “Take To The Sky” just didn’t catch on fire with this audience. Spare me the Nirvana, please.
Song I didn’t get to hear: All of them
Train. Hmm, well, surprisingly, I knew their stuff. Not surprisingly, the set was not enjoyable. They put on a good show, so I give them props for that, but I simply hate their singles “Meet Virginia” and “Drops of Jupiter”. When they opened with the only passable song “Calling All Angels” I knew I was doomed. Just doomed. The best song was a Led Zeppelin cover of “Ramble On.” Mark McGraff introduced them. I don’t know why.
Song I didn’t get to hear: Yeah, I’ll pass
Barenaked Ladies. You know all the words, if you’ve seen ‘em before, you know all the stunts, but people eat this shit up and I am no different. The improvs (sampling Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys” and later, Sugar Ray’s “I Just Want to Fly”) loved it. The hits, loved it. The jumping up and down like retards and the chicken dance and the songs off the new album, what can I say? Loved it.
Song I didn’t get to hear: “Call and Answer”
Duran Duran sucked. The noise was too loud, Simon Le Bon can still carry a tune but his sound is all nasal. His old-man Rod Stewart tan and gesticulations on stage looked like death on legs. Some of his bandmates made out in the aging rocker category much better. The new song, “What Happens Tomorrow” was actually pretty fabbo in my book, but suffers in that same massive vacuum of lyrical emptiness as the new single “Sunrise.” A rowdy version of “Notorious” made up for screeching, polluted renditions of “Wild Boys” and “Rio”. “Ordinary World” didn’t sound good, but just to hear it made my day.
Song I didn’t get to hear: “View to a Kill”
