The Swamp

I know we had a Concerts thread back at the old old place...so I'll start a new one...

Been seeing lots of shows here in the last month or so. Seems like all the touring acts come to Australia in Feb/March/April. So far I've seen:

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis: Funny to see these guys after they've made it so big, when I saw them at Bumbershoot in Seattle a few years back. They were good, but Macklemore can get a little talky in between songs, especially setting up his "message" songs, like "Same Love" and the one about his addiction issues. But still, a fun show.

Bob Mould: This guy is a legend. The last few times I've seen him, he was doing solo acoustic shows, so it was great to see him with a band again. But geez....I couldn't hear right until about noon the next day. Crazy loud, in a small little club (The Corner Hotel...famous venue here in Melbourne. Think Toads in New Haven, Conn if you've ever been there). Pretty awesome when he came out and started the show with the first 6 songs from Copper Blue (absolutely one of my desert island discs).

Funny thing: I was wearing one of my many KEXP shirts, and 10 minutes after walking in I met a couple here on holiday from Seattle, also wearing KEXP shirts.

Last night....Bruce Springsteen: Had never seen him before, and I figured why not. I'm not as big of a fan of his as I was back in high school and college, but still like him, even if I don't really know his newer stuff, and I don't think I had heard any of his new album (Wrecking Ball). But I have to say...totally lived up to the hype. Consumate showman. Great show that lasted just over 3 hours. Played about 5 newer songs, and some great older ones, including ones I would have never expected like "The E Street Shuffle" and "Because The Night". And it was great seeing him do "Rosalita". And there's no getting around it...."Born To Run" is a fucking awesome song, no matter how many times you've heard it.

Couple of funny things that stood out for me:

-He can't call it the "E Street Band" anymore...its more like the "E Street Army". 5 horn players (including Jake Clemons, Clarence's nephew), 3 backup vocalists, a percussionist, piano, bass, drums (Max Weinberg is the Man), another keyboardist playing organ and accordion, a gal playing acoustic guitar and fiddle, Nils Lofgren, and filling in for Steve Van Zandt, Tom Morello, from Rage Against The Machine (one of the highlights for me was him and Bruce sharing lead vocals on "Ghost of Tom Joad".)

-I don't know if this is an Aussie thing, or a Bruce thing, but lots of people in the crowd in front of the stage had signs with song titles on them. Bruce would spot one, pull it out of the crowd, show it to the band, and they'd play that song. Kinda goofy, but it worked. Had me imagining what would have happened if the Grateful Dead did something like that....there would have been hundreds of signs for "Dark Star"...and none for "Stella Blue".

Lots of big "Rock Star" gestures...pulling a kid out of the crowd to sing a chorus, and then doing the "run across the stage then knee slide" with him....crowd surfing from the back of the floor back to the main stage....pulling a couple of gals up to dance with him and Morello during "Dancing in the Dark", but he made them work.

Oh, and it was funny to be at a show where I didn't feel like the oldest one there. There were people who looked like they were my parents age there.

Next show...friday night: The Lumineers

Took my wife and two sons to see Old Crow Medicine Show at House of Blues on Sunday night. My kids are big fans of the new album, and loved every second of it, right up until the point that bedtime hit. Great show. Had to leave before Wagon Wheel, but we heard most of the new album. Genevieve, Carry Me Back to Virginia and Levi were highlights.

AussieDave wrote:Last night....Bruce Springsteen: Had never seen him before, and I figured why not. I'm not as big of a fan of his as I was back in high school and college, but still like him, even if I don't really know his newer stuff . . .

No Patti Scialfa?

I've been to a couple of Springsteens shows. Even though I just can't like the guy, in concert he is spectacular. Consummate professional. Rage Against The Machine does a cover of The Ghost of Tom Joad; Tom Morello and Springsteen seemed to have formed some sort of bond since then.

I'd argue that The Ghost of Tom Joad is the best song Springsteen has ever written; from his best album. When I do break out the acoustics to fiddle around, that is one of the two Bruce tunes I play (as I've said before, that's my vocal range). But it seriously pisses me off that he didn't base it on having read John Steinbeck's masterpiece The Grapes Of Wrath. That would have scored Bruce some major brownie points with me but no. He said he "was really affected by that movie". *Sigh* Just a Cliff notes homage.

First time I saw a Springsteen show, in San Francisco, he played for about four and a half hours. I was in awe; one classic Bruce tune after another. He wouldn't stop until the audience was exhausted. The second time I saw him was in Los Angeles, solo performance, and I have to confess he was brilliant. Started the show by telling everyone to turn their cell phones off. "This is quiet music, meditative. I can't have you L.A. guys on the phone cutting deals." Excellent. That was the "Tom Joad" tour.

I have only one Springsteen entry on the iPods. And that is a tremendous bootleg concert recording (I can link it to anyone that wants it) 1975-02-05 at The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Anyway, lucky you, mate. Good bit of fun for sure.

Kinda funny that Dave just dropped Tom Morello in there at the end of the list like he's some regular session guitarist. Is he touring with Bruce or is that just a few shows? I would guess his alpha dog guitar style would kinda clash with that huge band, but maybe not.

Did Bruce cover Killing in the Name?

Shirley wrote:Kinda funny that Dave just dropped Tom Morello in there at the end of the list like he's some regular session guitarist. Is he touring with Bruce or is that just a few shows? I would guess his alpha dog guitar style would kinda clash with that huge band, but maybe not.

Did Bruce cover Killing in the Name?

That would be intriguing.

Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me. Forlorn harmonica wailing; capo'd down drop-D tuning on Bruce's Takamine. Oh, yeah. Ooooooooooooooooh, huuuuuuuuh, mmmmmm-hmmmmmm, killing in the name of strum wheeze strum. Lonesome saxophone line. Mmmmm hmmm mmmmmmmm.

Shirley wrote:Did Bruce cover Killing in the Name?

41 Shots.

Shirley wrote:Kinda funny that Dave just dropped Tom Morello in there at the end of the list like he's some regular session guitarist. Is he touring with Bruce or is that just a few shows? I would guess his alpha dog guitar style would kinda clash with that huge band, but maybe not.

Did Bruce cover Killing in the Name?

I thought that going from RATM to Springsteen was going to be a weird transistion, but Morello seemed to be having a blast up there on stage. As far as I know, he's touring with Springsteen for now, while Steve Van Zandt is off making his TV show "Lillyhammer". In an interview I read, he (Morello) said that when he got the gig, Springsteen said "Here, learn these 50 songs", and they keep throwing more at him.

Now I don't know how much of this was planned stage banter, but at one point during the show, Springsteen pulled a sign out of the crowd for "Red Headed Woman", and he said "Tom's freaking out right now, because he's never played this song". Then Springsteen went through this bit of trying to figure out which key to play it in, finally deciding on "the people's key of C".

During one of his solos (don't remember which song), Morello did this cool trick where he pulled the plug out of his guitar, and was tapping it against the palm of his hand, making some crazy noises. I'd never seen that before.

Oh, and Morello had "Arm The Homeless" written on one of his guitars. I guess you can take the guitarist out of Rage, but not the Rage out of the guitarist.

Hey, the "people's key" is G.

I should have probably ranted about this here instead of boring people with it on Facebook, but the venue hosting Depeche Mode in Las Vegas for their fall tour wants $160 for the cheapest seats. Cheapest seats in San Diego and LA (granted for larger venues) are $40 and $50 respectively. Gotta be fucking kidding me with that crap. Who the fuck can afford $160 for one concert?

brian wrote:I should have probably ranted about this here instead of boring people with it on Facebook, but the venue hosting Depeche Mode in Las Vegas for their fall tour wants $160 for the cheapest seats. Cheapest seats in San Diego and LA (granted for larger venues) are $40 and $50 respectively. Gotta be fucking kidding me with that crap. Who the fuck can afford $160 for one concert?

Umm....my Springsteen ticket was about that much.

AussieDave wrote:

brian wrote:I should have probably ranted about this here instead of boring people with it on Facebook, but the venue hosting Depeche Mode in Las Vegas for their fall tour wants $160 for the cheapest seats. Cheapest seats in San Diego and LA (granted for larger venues) are $40 and $50 respectively. Gotta be fucking kidding me with that crap. Who the fuck can afford $160 for one concert?

Umm....my Springsteen ticket was about that much.

Yeah, but that's Springsteen. He plays for like four hours and it's an event. I'm not saying I would never pay $160, but it's a damn small list and I'm certainly not going to pay four times the going rate for other cities for the same show. If Springsteen cost $160 in LA, I'm sure as fuck not paying $640 in Las Vegas.

Sounds like someone has the Mode-y Blues.

That's brutal. I've never seen Depeche Mode in concert but I have a few bootlegs of their shows. And every one of them is less than 90 minutes. A typical Depeche Mode show is around 75 minutes. Or about a third of a Springsteen show.

Scottie wrote:That's brutal. I've never seen Depeche Mode in concert but I have a few bootlegs of their shows. And every one of them is less than 90 minutes. A typical Depeche Mode show is around 75 minutes. Or about a third of a Springsteen show.

They are very good (surprisingly good) live though. I'd probably pay $75 or so and that's well more than I pay for most shows, even in this town where tickets are usually pricey. (I do get free/comped tickets to a few shows though so maybe that shit evens out. I got two free tickets to see Ben Folds Five a few weeks ago and those seats were listed at $100 each. Maybe I shouldn't complain.)

brian wrote:They are very good (surprisingly good) live though. I'd probably pay $75 or so and that's well more than I pay for most shows, even in this town where tickets are usually pricey. (I do get free/comped tickets to a few shows though so maybe that shit evens out. I got two free tickets to see Ben Folds Five a few weeks ago and those seats were listed at $100 each. Maybe I shouldn't complain.)

Of, for sure. The concerts I have are excellent. Although I did wonder how much was recorded and how much was performed.

One of the best shows I ever saw was a band from that era, as it were. Echo and the Bunnymen. In fact, their two most recent albums, Siberia (2005) and The Fountain (2009), are the best work they've ever done.

And that show was $90 or so. I can't remember what I paid last time I saw Pat Metheny but I recall it was around $150 or so. I do remember thinking that I could have gone to 10 WHL games for the price of seeing Metheny.

Just home from seeing the Lumineers. A great show. I was impressed. In addition to their own stuff, they did a couple of great covers....Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and Talking Heads "This must be the place". At one point the whole band made their way into the center of the room, cleared a space, and played a song with no amplification.

Also, a couple of times, the singer stopped the show, and said "Hey...put away your phones, and just be here with us". Good stuff....

AussieDave wrote:Just home from seeing the Lumineers. A great show. I was impressed. In addition to their own stuff, they did a couple of great covers....Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and Talking Heads "This must be the place". At one point the whole band made their way into the center of the room, cleared a space, and played a song with no amplification.

Also, a couple of times, the singer stopped the show, and said "Hey...put away your phones, and just be here with us". Good stuff....

I've liked these guys for quite a while. I've been listening to a lot of them along with Of Monsters and Men and Imagine Dragons. It is nice to hear some good solid rock music coming back into the mainstream. Doesn't surprise me that The Lumineers put on a great live show either. I've gotten that vibe from interviews and acoustic tracks they have done for some local radio around here.

Scottie wrote:And that show was $90 or so. I can't remember what I paid last time I saw Pat Metheny but I recall it was around $150 or so. I do remember thinking that I could have gone to 10 WHL games for the price of seeing Metheny.

I think I paid $60 per ticket for Metheny when he played Detroit for The Way Up tour. We were in the lower balcony, about the sixth row. Looking back at how awesome the show was, I would've paid twice as much for the tickets. It's not often you see a musical act that plays a single piece of music for about an hour.

AussieDave wrote:Oh, and Morello had "Arm The Homeless" written on one of his guitars. I guess you can take the guitarist out of Rage, but not the Rage out of the guitarist.

Morello performed at the Teamsters' Convention in the summer of 2011.

Never went to a Dead show eh?

(actually the longest Dark Star (their typically longest song, there have been some epic Playin' In the Bands,) was only 54 minutes, and that's adding in some intro/outro jams.)

Sabo wrote: It's not often you see a musical act that plays a single piece of music for about an hour.

Rush2112 wrote:Never went to a Dead show eh?

Nope. Never really had the opportunity. I would've been interested in going just for the experience, but not for the music.

BSF21 wrote: I've liked these guys for quite a while. I've been listening to a lot of them along with Of Monsters and Men and Imagine Dragons. It is nice to hear some good solid rock music coming back into the mainstream. Doesn't surprise me that The Lumineers put on a great live show either. I've gotten that vibe from interviews and acoustic tracks they have done for some local radio around here.

I don't know if I'd classify them as "solid rock music". To me, they are more in that Indie Rock with Folk influences, such as Head and the Heart, Fleet Foxes, Avett Brothers, etc. But they were great, and the crowd was totally into it.

Now the opening act....The Falls.....another story. I wouldn't say awful...just "Meh". A guy playing acoustic guitar, doing his best James Taylor impersonation, and a chick singing with him. At one point, she even broke out the grade school issue recorder to play along. Reminded me a lot of the Catherine O'Hara/Eugene Levy "Mitch and Mickey" act in "A Mighty Wind".

Sabo wrote:
Nope. Never really had the opportunity. I would've been interested in going just for the experience, but not for the music.

I'm the opposite....I went to a lot of Dead shows, and liked the music (except for Space, and the dirge songs like "Black Peter" and "Stella Bllue"), but I hated "The Scene". The people selling "Killer Veggie Burritos" in the parking lot, and especially the "I Need A Miracle" people begging for a ticket at the gate.

Hate and hated the trustafarians, those songs are for you to go to the top of the stadium, chill, and smoke that fatty Dave.

I'd love to see the Lumineers, but unless they play Red Rocks it's basically impossible to get a ticket. Their NYE show here sold out in like 30 seconds.

You could just watch a lot of Blue Moon commercials in a row and pretend.

I think it's the best thing in the world that Grateful Dead fans hate each other.

I wouldn't call them fans of the Grateful Dead. They are fans of the scene, the drugs, or both. I started going to Dead shows in the late 80s and the scene was much different from what is was in '94. It's calmed down a lot now with Furthur (Bob Weir and Phil Lesh's band) at least at the shows I've been to.

The trustafarians would be at what ever band is touring at the moment. Panic, Phish, SCI, and the dance jam bands like Disco Biscuits and Umphree's McGee. They are there more for what goes on outside in the parking lot then what goes on inside.

I do enjoy the scene to a point, but the big festivals and the last few years of Dead tour it was getting way to much. To many idiots, too much crime, and too many people on stuff a lot harder than weed or psychedelics.

Saw Lucero in Phoenix on Monday and they were brilliant as always, but was very impressed by the performance by Langhorne Slim and the Law. I'm definitely going to try to see them again if I can. Just a great set.

So glad you got to see Langhorne live. I had no idea they were on the Lucero tour. They just got back from Europe with the Avett Brothers. He/They are amazing when on. The last two times I've seen them they seemed a little distracted.

govmentchedda wrote:So glad you got to see Langhorne live. I had no idea they were on the Lucero tour. They just got back from Europe with the Avett Brothers. He/They are amazing when on. The last two times I've seen them they seemed a little distracted.

Is that THE govment chedda in the audience? I'm so nervous now!

Anyone go to Coachella this past weekend or is planning to this upcoming one? I have friends that went and all had a blast. Hopefully I can get there next year.

I usually kind of hate blues festivals but our 4th of July one this year has Eric Burdon & the Animals, John Hiatt, Mavis Staples, Robert Randolph, Taj Mahal, and Robert Plant. Gonna have to find myself a fanny pack and a visor.

P.D.X. wrote:I usually kind of hate blues festivals but our 4th of July one this year has Eric Burdon & the Animals, John Hiatt, Mavis Staples, Robert Randolph, Taj Mahal, and Robert Plant. Gonna have to find myself a fanny pack and a visor.

Good sounding lineup.

I'm probably heading to a festival this summer (the same one I saw guy clark at two years ago) to watch willie nelson. Chris Knight also there and I like his stuff. Basically an excuse to go sit outside and hang out for a few hours.

The Kimmel show gets a bunch of people at Coachella to talk about how much they love completely made-up bands...

You're not a big fan of Get the F*CK Out of My Pool?

The Black Crowes in Austin on Saturday night!

Huh?

"devoid of irony"

Art!

Just got tickets to see Bob Dylan, Wilco and My Morning Jacket on their Americana tour this summer at the local amphitheater. God, I hope Dylan is better than he was when I saw him at B.U. Just ask Sybian how bad it was.

govmentchedda wrote:Just got tickets to see Bob Dylan, Wilco and My Morning Jacket on their Americana tour this summer at the local amphitheater. God, I hope Dylan is better than he was when I saw him at B.U. Just ask Sybian how bad it was.

I have a friend who is leaning hard on me to join him at that show when they come to Shoreline Amphitheater out here. But, as you noted, I've heard from others that Dylan is just mailing it in for a check at this point, so I may pass...

sancarlos wrote:

govmentchedda wrote:Just got tickets to see Bob Dylan, Wilco and My Morning Jacket on their Americana tour this summer at the local amphitheater. God, I hope Dylan is better than he was when I saw him at B.U. Just ask Sybian how bad it was.

I have a friend who is leaning hard on me to join him at that show when they come to Shoreline Amphitheater out here. But, as you noted, I've heard from others that Dylan is just mailing it in for a check at this point, so I may pass...

It's worth it for the rest. Plus, I think Ryan Bingham will be at the one out there. Hate that they're coming nowhere close to Texas.