Anyone seen any good shows lately?

Started by smash, September 21, 2004, 12:48:39 AM

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.

smash

Well, this weekend I travelled to Minneapolis with my friend Sarah.  The original purpose of this trip was to see The Fiery Furnaces play at the 400 Bar, but this show only allowed 21+ to enter.  We still went to the venue and try and find a way in, but instead of confronting the 'ID Checker', Sarah and I just waited off to the side until we were ready to try something.  Then, we had the greatest luck in the world.  Matt Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces walks out of the bar to make a phone call.  Really fucking excited, I jump up and walk up to him and say, "Hey Matt" and he responds with a "Yeah, hey".  Then I explain to him what was going on with our situation of a 4 hour drive and the inability to enter.  So he says, "Yeah, I'll see if they allow a guest list and then I'll add you guys to it so you can enter in."  So he enters and we wait.  Then, there's a van door that opens and Eleanor stumbles out.  I run up to her and tell her about our situation as well and she sympathizes, "Oh man, that really sucks,  I'm sorry you came all this way.  I'll go and talk to the bar guys too."  So we continue to wait.  After a little while Matt returns outside to talk to us, "Yeah, I'm sorry but they won't allow us to bring you guys in.  They're worried about their liquor license and stuff.  But, maybe later on you guys can slip in once some other bands are playing."  So at this point, I thank Matt for trying for us and that we'll just wait out here and hope something happens.

So we wait.

We listened to the opening act (The French Kicks) from outside the bar.  They sounded good, but they are the kind of high energy act that isn't properly portrayed on their album, so sitting outside the bar doesn't do them justice.  But after their set White Magic begins to set up and Sarah and I are just chilling outside.  It's about 10:30 at this point so we've been waiting for 2 1/2 hours outside already... thank god for the decent weather.  So then Matt walks out of the bar towards us and says, "Here, just a second."  He shuffles to the van and takes out a package of CDs.  Then tells me, "Go wait by that side door."  So, Sarah and I chill by the side door for a second and Matt comes by and opens it so we can enter!! We walk into the bar and we're really fucking ecstatic... we almost left at 8:45 because it seemed hopeless.  We stand really close and watch White Magic set up and play.  They did a great job with the first few songs, but I became a little tired of their mostly similar songs.  During the White Magic set Eleanor walked by us and said, "Hey guys, oh wait, I'm not supposed to know you."  As stupid as it sounds, little things like that were really exciting.

So then the Furnaces set up to play.  It was a 4 man band, Eleanor on vocals, Matt on keyboards/guitar/backup vocals, then one tour member on bass/keyboards, and the touring drummer.  They played all of their songs at an increased tempo so the show was a much higher energy than I previously anticipated.  They also strung their entire set together so the performace was, in reality, one long song.  They played little segments from most of Blueberry Boat and a few selections off Gallowbird's Bark.  They did an amazing job with the cohesion of all these songs.  It was very fluid and they performed it essentially flawlessly (little keyboard malfunction, but they worked around it).  After they finished Sarah and I hung around the bar to wait and get their autographs like they had said they would.  So I purchased a Gallowbird's Bark LP, a Fiery Furnaces t-shirt, and another Blueberry Boat CD for them to sign.  We talked to Eleanor and Matt a little more as they signed our crap and we thanked them for putting so much effort into allowing(sneaking) us in to the show.

Once we were ready to leave we hopped into Sarah's car and drove around aimlessly trying to reach our hotel.  We got lost for about 45 minutes.  But eventually we did reach the hotel at about 2AM... and as we walked towards the door I saw a bizarrely familiar figure.  The Fiery Furnaces were staying in the same hotel.  Eleanor sees us and exclaims, "No shit!" Then in the morning at around 11 we left the room to head home and we run into them AGAIN... they were leaving for a show in Wisconsin at the same time as us.  Never before would I have expected to meet the Fiery Furnaces but to meet them... 3 times in 1 day is just weird.

So, it was just amazing to be able to talk to the Fiery Furnaces and actually have them recognize and seek us out.  It was an amazing event.

Autographed Blueberry Boat Scan

Sorry it's such a long story... I was just overly excited as I wrote it :)

Ghostboy

That's awesome! The Fiery Furnaces are terrific.

03


modage

HEY!  funny story.  i just drove 3+ hours to see Wilco play in Norfolk VA and the Fiery Furnaces opened!  i'd never heard them before, and they were weird as hell.  (so were wilco by the way, who on this 5th occasion of seeing them were more NOISED OUT than ever).  but anyways, when checking out of the hotel this morning, who were in the lobby, but THE FIERY FURNACES!  it was pretty strange, especially since i had just read this story and was pretty sure it was the same band.  we didnt talk to them since we had nothing to say like "good show" cause i didnt care for them and i dont like to be a liar, but i did hold the door open for the singer who seemed nice.  

my concert event was less amazing since we tried to meetup with wilco at some weird bar called Hells Kitchen afterwards but since they were BLASTING pantera and metallica, it was not wilcos scene.  oh well, maybe next time.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

smash

Heh, crazy coincidence.  Too bad you weren't interested in their music, but that's okay, I bet Wilco was amazing

Stefen

Anyone seen any good shows lately?

I saw Animal Collective a couple weeks ago and it really wasn't anything special. It was fun, but kind of annoying.

Best part of the night was this hipster chick who was wearing this short dress and when she would sit down I could see she was going commando. Pretty awesome.

Next Wednesday I'm going to see Battles, which should be fun in a nerdy, introverted kind of way. Already special ordered my Texas Instruments T1 calculator.

I get to see The White Stripes in October on the last day of their North American tour so it's either going to be a great show where they give it their all or they will be on auto-pilot just wanting to finish the tour.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

mogwai

i'm going to see pearl jam next week. i'll probably write a small review or so after.

Sigur Rós

Quote from: mogwai on June 19, 2007, 02:24:50 PM
i'm going to see pearl jam next week. i'll probably write a small review or so after.

In Forum, Cph right?

I'm going to see Interpol this wednesday  :yabbse-thumbup:

mogwai

Quote from: Sigur Rós on June 23, 2007, 06:50:01 PM
Quote from: mogwai on June 19, 2007, 02:24:50 PM
i'm going to see pearl jam next week. i'll probably write a small review or so after.

In Forum, Cph right?

I'm going to see Interpol this wednesday  :yabbse-thumbup:

yes forum, i hope pj include interpol as special guests because i don't like the support band the futureheads.

interpol opened up for pj in germany on the 21st.

damien rice is playing tomorrow at vega and it's not even sold out.


Stefen

Quote from: I Love a Magician on June 24, 2007, 07:13:17 PM
new interpol album's not too good.

I never understood what was so great about Interpol anyways. Their like a serious version of The Killers, which makes it even harder to take them seriously. Plus, the singer sounds like Ben Stein.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

I Love a Magician

their first album's great. this is cliché by now now, but it's got a great mood about it. other than digging the general sound of it, they've got a great rhythm section. they're not overly flashy or proggy by any means, but it's nice to listen to a rock band that isn't so riff oriented or whatever. listen to "obstacle 1".

antics doesn't do a whole lot for me as a whole, but "next exit" is probably my favorite song of theirs. it lacks the atmosphere of TOTBL (mostly because of clearer and "stronger" production and a lack of slower songs like "untitled", "nyc", "hands away") but it's got some nice tunes on it.

Stefen

Turn On The Bright Lights was the second album of theirs I heard after the Precipitate EP. And this was AFTER Antics had come out.

It was the song PDA that really got on my nerves, some of the worst vocals on both versions of both albums.

Plus, that bassist Carlos D always has his face plastered everywhere like a dickhead. Just don't like this bands 80's sound or overall look. Maybe if I was younger I'd get it.

My taste sucks though, so I'm probably wrong.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.


Stefen

Just saw Battles a few minutes ago.

AMAZING. I was worried it was gonna be just to drone on parts of Mirrored, but luckily the fat was cut off (they saved all that for the encore)

I think every New Mexican hipster came out for this one. Place smelled like organic bathing soap (body odor), ramen, and chap stick.

This one chick kept elbowing me in the balls. She must have been about 4'10.

Kids kept doing the hipster dance, but I didn't care cause I was pretty buzzed by then. 

How come at every show, and every downtown where the young people hang out and drink, there is always that one person trying to find their way outta town? Their like "Hey buddy! Listen, I got stuck here and I'm trying to raise some money for a greyhound bus pass! Any help?" Anyone else run into these types ALL THE TIME?
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.