Weekend
So, Thursday night was Bliggity Bloc Party at Knitting Factory who was heaps of fun. Now I know many of the bands I listen to can trace their influences back to The Cure one way or another, but Kele sounded a LOT like Robert Smith live, something I didn't as much pick up on from hearing the CD. I thought they were awesome. So awesome, in fact, that there were drunk and tentative plans made to fly to Milan in December to go see them open for Interpol. We'll see how that works out.
The next morning I took off from work to head up to Reading, PA to see Death Cab and Pearl Jam play one of the Concerts for Change. Some wonderful coincidences took place so that instead of eating my extra ticket, going to the show alone, and then being virtually stranded in Reading, a sophomore from my school who was a friend of a friend and a gigantic PJ fan wanted to come and was willing to give me a ride back to school afterwards for Homecoming. Perfect. I was skeptical at first when he rolled up at the Bus Station to pick me up in a car with a Bush/Cheney Sticker on the back of his car, but he turned out to be a very chill kid who was elated to be going to see his favorite band right near his hometown. We mostly avoided talking about politics (as my Grandfather says, "you just can't talk to those people about that stuff anymore) and sat back to enjoy the show.
It was a really good time. Death Cab was great, playing a bunch of favorites to about the half full arena. And Pearl Jam still fucking rock. I had somehow never seen them live before, and they really do put on a hell of a show. One of the few acts I'd still go see in an arena. Mike McCready is one bad-ass guitar player...props where props are due. Afterwards we headed over to school and I spent the rest of the weekend catching up with old friends and other Homecoming-esque stuff. It was exhausting, but fun.
Last night I went out to Franz Ferdinand, tho I was completely burnt out from a weekend of excess. They were good as always, but I regret not being more up for it. Roseland's really not worth going to. I would go see Muse there, but honestly I can't think of anyone else who it would be worth it for. Trying to dump my extra tickets outside the show was a futile effort. Tons of scalpers lurking around, not worth trying to get $10 a ticket to get harassed by those guys for any longer than necessary. And by the way...anybody who's dumb enough to buy TicketFast tickets from a scalper deserves to get ripped off. I mean damn.
The next two weeks are gonna be busy for me. Tonight The Killers, Tomorrow Kings of Leon, Thursday Rilo Kiley, Saturday Beastie Boys, Sunday Morrissey. Then next week is CMJ, and tho I have a couple shows plotted out, I'm not really sure what I'm go to yet. Play it by ear.
posted by Jeff Baum @ 10/04/2004 02:25:00 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I fully agree that Pearl Jam is simply a damned impressive live band. I caught the Yield tour (same tour as the Live on Two Legs cd, though they shuffle set lists all the time) and it was amazing.
They played "Masters of War" the other night on Letterman... I've been digging Eddie's voice on that song since I first heard the Dylan Madison Square Garden tribute.
Anyway, keep postin' on the scene and the shows... it's usually a damn good read. The Village tends to draw a few more bands than Tucson does, though to be honest I wouldn't trade the desert for anything (and we do get probably more than our fair share, Phoenix draws the Jessica Simpson arena crap, but we get anything indie that's heading from Austin to San Diego or vice versa. Plus some remarkable local bands).
They played Masters of War at this show too...really good stuff. I also read after that they played an amazing song off Lost Dogs called 'Sad' for the first time live ever, which if I was still as big a PJ fan as I was years ago, would have been the coolest thing ever. Lemme know some of the good local bands out there! I'm always looking to listen to something new. What are the venues like in Tucson? Like if an indie band rolls through, what kind of place do they play? Very curious. Holla back.
The biggest names on the local scene come from the whole Giant Sand, Friends of Dean Martinez and Calexico collectives. They tour internationally so much, though, it’s hard to really call ‘em local. Of course, when they do play here it’s a real event, usually with full maraichi band and lots of guests. They bring their pals through town a lot - Richard Buckner and Neko Case each play here two or three times a year. Other locals do national/international tours, but most stick to the Southwest/West Coast circuits.
Tucson locals used to get lumped into the whole desert rock scene from Tempe (Gin Blossoms, etc.) but nowadays it’s so all over the map I’d be hard pressed to call it anything. Which is great, especially when three or four bands on one bill are all completely different. There’s lots of punk, lots of country rock, even some strange Hispanic-influenced hip-hop. A few of my favorites: Greyhound Soul (a drunken phrase I coined, peyote blues, might describe them, if it made sense), Fourkiller Flats (twang rock?), Chango Malo (“bad monkey in Spanish, they’re the hardest to pin down, maybe hardcore-funk?) and Al Perry (legendary “cow punk”). (Greyhound Soul and Chango Malo have self-titled Web pages, with some downloads).
The clubs are great. Indie tours usually land at Club Congress (old railway hotel, famous for John Dillinger’s capture), Solar Culture (warehouse gallery/performance venue) and Plush (one-time snooty-restaurant/jazz club nearly gutted and turned into a 7-night-a-week rock club). The Rialto (1910s Vaudeville theatre) started some renovation in June, should be done by 2005 with much better sound (The Shins played the final gig there).
Of course, take this for what it is, a quick rundown, full of holes, from a semi-expert at best. That's what I can think of now, but if ya got questions ask 'em.
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