The Live Music thread...

[sancarlos]

We ended up with backstage passes to Flogging Molly who the Vandoliers opened up for last night. Got to watch their entire set from the side of the stage and it was probably my coolest live music moment ever.

How’d you swing that?

[Giff]

We ended up with backstage passes to Flogging Molly who the Vandoliers opened up for last night. Got to watch their entire set from the side of the stage and it was probably my coolest live music moment ever.

How’d you swing that?

Friend of the couple we went with last night is friends with Flogging Molly’s tour manager so we all got backstage. I’m trying not to focus on the recent realization I could’ve been up there for Vandoliers too haha. We just had all access badges and nothing would have stopped us.

[sancarlos]

So cool.

[Giff]

I watched two Flogging Molly songs with Josh standing right next to me. After he left the stage I gave him a high five and he said "I'll never get used to seeing our shirts being worn by people backstage."

[mister d]

Should have immediately taken it off.



(But that's really cool and they seem like the exact right level of popularity for this kind of thing. Minor band and its NBD, major band and you're part of the machinery.)

[Giff]

That would've been pretty great!

[sancarlos]

I watched two Flogging Molly songs with Josh standing right next to me. After he left the stage I gave him a high five and he said "I'll never get used to seeing our shirts being worn by people backstage."

With you, Brian, and me, we could have a Swamp gallery of pictures with Josh.

[DaveInSeattle]

My younger daughter went to The Gorge last Friday with her roomies and friends to see The Lumineers.

Well, they tried to. The Gorge royally fucked up by letting people coming to the next night's show (Eric Church) to show up and start camping on Friday, which caused a MASSIVE cluster fuck of traffic. My daughter sat in traffic for 4 hours trying to get in the venue. They did get luckier than a lot of other people...they actually made it into the venue and were able to see the last 7 or so songs of the show. The Lumineers even pushed back their start time as late as they could because they knew of the situation.

Yesterday, she let me know that Live Nation has refunded the ticket prices to everyone...along with an extra $50 credit.

[EnochRoot]

My younger daughter went to The Gorge last Friday with her roomies and friends to see The Lumineers.

Well, they tried to. The Gorge royally fucked up by letting people coming to the next night's show (Eric Church) to show up and start camping on Friday, which caused a MASSIVE cluster fuck of traffic. My daughter sat in traffic for 4 hours trying to get in the venue. They did get luckier than a lot of other people...they actually made it into the venue and were able to see the last 7 or so songs of the show. The Lumineers even pushed back their start time as late as they could because they knew of the situation.

Yesterday, she let me know that Live Nation has refunded the ticket prices to everyone...along with an extra $50 credit.

Wow. Those roads leading out there can't handle event traffic for multiple events. Where was the logic in this? Hell, when Phish comes to play a weekend's worth of shows, they open up the campgrounds Thursday night to prevent that type of thing from happening.

[DaveInSeattle]

My younger daughter went to The Gorge last Friday with her roomies and friends to see The Lumineers.

Well, they tried to. The Gorge royally fucked up by letting people coming to the next night's show (Eric Church) to show up and start camping on Friday, which caused a MASSIVE cluster fuck of traffic. My daughter sat in traffic for 4 hours trying to get in the venue. They did get luckier than a lot of other people...they actually made it into the venue and were able to see the last 7 or so songs of the show. The Lumineers even pushed back their start time as late as they could because they knew of the situation.

Yesterday, she let me know that Live Nation has refunded the ticket prices to everyone...along with an extra $50 credit.

Wow. Those roads leading out there can't handle event traffic for multiple events. Where was the logic in this? Hell, when Phish comes to play a weekend's worth of shows, they open up the campgrounds Thursday night to prevent that type of thing from happening.

I always thought the Gorge only did one event on a weekend, just to avoid those kind of situations. When we've seen Brandi Carlile there, its always just her for the weekend. And we always make sure to get there super early (like noon for a show that starts at 6pm). I'm guessing my daughter was able to actually get in because they were coming from Spokane, not Seattle. I saw lots of angry people on social media talking about sitting in traffic for 6 hours, and never coming close to getting in the venue.

[bfj]

Went to see the Trey Anastasio Band as a 4 piece (no horns/percussionist) in Harisburg, PA Sunday night. The venue was called Riverfront Park and it is operated by Harrisburg University. If it hadn't been raining all day, it was probably a lovely field with a great view of the Susquehanna River. As it was that night, it was a muddy field covered in straw. There couldn't have been more than 750 people there that night in the rain, but that band put on a hell of a show and I was basically 50 feet from the stage most of the night. Had a blast.

[mister d]

I've been there. Shockingly good sound for that type of venue.

[mister d]

So I'm not the biggest DCFC fan nor am I one of those people whose last ~20 years have been ruined by Postal Service never releasing another album, buuuttt ...

This is tonight and yet another concert where I can't skip the opener (Warpaint) because they're good and I want to see them.

[govmentchedda]

So I'm not the biggest DCFC fan nor am I one of those people whose last ~20 years have been ruined by Postal Service never releasing another album, buuuttt ...

This is tonight and yet another concert where I can't skip the opener (Warpaint) because they're good and I want to see them.

I get to see both the Beths and Giff at my DCFC show. Point, me.

[mister d]

I'm good with this one since I just saw The Beths last month and there's like a 15% chance that Warpaint's sound works really awesome in a big arena.

[govmentchedda]

I'm good with this one since I just saw The Beths last month and there's like a 15% chance that Warpaint's sound works really awesome in a big arena.

It'll be my 4th Beths show this summer. Wish I could see them more.

ETA - it'll be my first Giff show this summer. Wish I could see him more too.

[mister d]

I think when people go out once per month they should be allowed to reserve a seat at the bar at the place they want to go ahead of time.

[rass]

I think when people go out once per month they should be allowed to reserve a seat at the bar at the place they want to go ahead of time.

Yes pop-pop.

[EnochRoot]

I went down to DC to hang out with an old college buddy and see the Lemonheads at 9:30 club last night.

Holy crap I forgot what a goof Evan Dando is. John Strohm from The Blake Babies added guitars for much of the second set, which was nice. I'm 99% certain the guys with Evan Dando weren't in the original Lemonheads, which tells me Evan wanted the lion's share of the gate to himself.

Still, solid show. Even if Evan needed to be reminded what key a particular song started in (According to the drummer, "A-minor" is the answer to that question).

[mister d]

I’ve been torn on seeing them for a long time because I’ve heard such horror stories when it goes wrong.

[govmentchedda]

I went down to DC to hang out with an old college buddy and see the Lemonheads at 9:30 club last night.

Holy crap I forgot what a goof Evan Dando is. John Strohm from The Blake Babies added guitars for much of the second set, which was nice. I'm 99% certain the guys with Evan Dando weren't in the original Lemonheads, which tells me Evan wanted the lion's share of the gate to himself.

Still, solid show. Even if Evan needed to be reminded what key a particular song started in (According to the drummer, "A-minor" is the answer to that question).

Did Evan open his eyes? Seen him twice live. Not sure I've ever seen his eyes. Sounded great both times.

[govmentchedda]

I’ve been torn on seeing them for a long time because I’ve heard such horror stories when it goes wrong.

It's been years, but it was definitely not a Counting Crows experience for me, despite how out of it he looked.

[EnochRoot]

I went down to DC to hang out with an old college buddy and see the Lemonheads at 9:30 club last night.

Holy crap I forgot what a goof Evan Dando is. John Strohm from The Blake Babies added guitars for much of the second set, which was nice. I'm 99% certain the guys with Evan Dando weren't in the original Lemonheads, which tells me Evan wanted the lion's share of the gate to himself.

Still, solid show. Even if Evan needed to be reminded what key a particular song started in (According to the drummer, "A-minor" is the answer to that question).

Did Evan open his eyes? Seen him twice live. Not sure I've ever seen his eyes. Sounded great both times.

Yeah sort of, but he had them closed a lot too. He came out high AF, but definitely sobered up as the show wore on. Though he did put the capo on the wrong location on the fretboard at the start of "Into Your Arms," he had a solid interplay with Strohm. He also did a pretty heavy version of Echo & the Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon."

Oh, and I've not watched this, but apparently they were up at the TLA in Philly last week.

[govmentchedda]

Hard to listen to The Great Big No without the Juliana Hatfield melody.

[EnochRoot]

Yeah I was taking with my buddy last night about that. My guess is it boiled down to not carrying extra musicians (in this instance, a female co-lead/backup vox) because it was one less person to pay out).

[mister d]

I’m almost positive she was with him when they toured around here at the end of last year?

[DaveInSeattle]

John Strohm from The Blake Babies

The Blake Babies! Now that's a name from the past. Strohm and the drummer, Freda Love Smith, were both from Bloomington, IN so the Blake Babies played there a lot when I was living there. Funniest time was one night, shortly after Neil Young's "Ragged Glory" album came out, they played something like 4 or 5 songs from the album, saying they were bored with playing their own songs, so they learned the Young tunes (including "Country Home" and "Fuckin Up") in the van between gigs.

Oh, and Julianna Hatfield is really small. Her bass was almost bigger than her.

[EnochRoot]

I’m almost positive she was with him when they toured around here at the end of last year?

I dunno - I'd have to check. From the interview I saw he was excited to tour on the 30th anniversary of "Come on Feel..." because of the cash it represented. Can't fault him for saying the quiet part out loud, but he did exclude a female vocalist (much less, her) from the tour. Maybe she wasn't available. I sorta find that hard to believe, but whatever.

[EnochRoot]

John Strohm from The Blake Babies

The Blake Babies! Now that's a name from the past. Strohm and the drummer, Freda Love Smith, were both from Bloomington, IN so the Blake Babies played there a lot when I was living there. Funniest time was one night, shortly after Neil Young's "Ragged Glory" album came out, they played something like 4 or 5 songs from the album, saying they were bored with playing their own songs, so they learned the Young tunes (including "Country Home" and "Fuckin Up") in the van between gigs.

Oh, and Julianna Hatfield is really small. Her bass was almost bigger than her.

Love and Strohm formed 'Antenna' after Blake Babies after Julianna went solo.

I never knew that. Probably because I had graduated and was no longer a college DJ. What a time to be alive.

[govmentchedda]

I’m almost positive she was with him when they toured around here at the end of last year?

I dunno - I'd have to check. From the interview I saw he was excited to tour on the 30th anniversary of "Come on Feel..." because of the cash it represented. Can't fault him for saying the quiet part out loud, but he did exclude a female vocalist (much less, her) from the tour. Maybe she wasn't available. I sorta find that hard to believe, but whatever.

Not alleging anything about him, but I wouldn't be surprised if Dando is creepy to be around, and a woman may not be up to going on tour with him.

[mister d]

Concert review:

Warpaint: Incomplete ... sounded really good but there was zero audience participation which in a venue that big just kills off any vibe and they're a very vibe-based band. Also I had absolutely no idea they had dual-leads.

Death Cab: B- ... Gibbard still sounds great and it was a good looking show, but a weird album for an arena. The keyboardist (Dave Depper) has these weird little dances that reminded me of this old SNL skit but in a charming way. In a 4,000 person theater where people were trying less hard to be up and dancing to an album you don't really dance to would have been a lot better.

Postal Service: Strong B+ ... Gibbard sounds great and this is a cool album to hear with 15,000 people or however many MSG holds for concerts. Jenny Lewis has tremendous stage presence and the audience really reacted to her so that was cool to see. Highlights are what you would have expected plus the encore of "an Iron & Wine cover" of Such Great Heights that was just Gibbard and Lewis and then "Enjoy the Silence". It would probably be weird to end on a cover normally, but there's no Postal Service catalog and I guess he didn't want to dive back into DCFC.

Overall as expected. Album shows are an inverted bell curve for me (bands you like but aren't super into on the left and your all-time favorite albums on the right, the middle is "wish they were playing full catalog) and this one worked because I'm not close to a DCFC superfan so it was good to know what was going to be played going in. Solid night.

[DSafetyGuy]

Did you see NBA writer (and new addition to the Ringer) Howard Beck in attendance? He tweeted out a couple pics.

[mister d]

If he's a white guy between 35-55, probably.



(Just checked his twitter. He was on the same side as me, but a level higher and a few sections closer to the stage.)

[Giff]

Just so AB doesn’t get too jealous, I’m just pregaming with chedda.

[wlu_lax6]

Saw Evan Dando solo December 1994. He was solo, got boo'd pretty aggressively. Played 4 songs:
How Will I Know (Whitney Houston cover)
Into Your Arms
My Drug Buddy
It's a Shame About Ray

Other folks who played that night---Dando was the worst..
Big Audio Dynamite II
Freedy Johnston
Līve
Pete Droge
Simple Minds
The Go‐Go’s
Veruca Salt

[A_B]

Just so AB doesn’t get too jealous, I’m just pregaming with chedda.

awwwww yeah

[Giff]

Just so AB doesn’t get too jealous, I’m just pregaming with chedda.

awwwww yeah

Just so chedda doesn’t get too excited, his wife won’t be pulling off the side of the road so I can puke.

[Nonlinear FC]

So, I haven't seen a live show since waaaay before the pandemic. As some might've seen on social, my daughter invited me out to go see The Breeders at the Fillmore in Silver Spring last night.

Holy shit was that fun!!! The opening act was a 3 person group called Screaming Females (lead singer was a woman playing guitar, drummer and bass player both dudes) and they ROCKED.

The Breeders are doing a 30 year(!!) anniversary of Last Splash being released, so they played the entire album... So fucking good. 2 encores, but I was still home by 11p... Pretty much a perfect night.

(And the bonding with the daughter was a much needed happenstance.)

[govmentchedda]

So, I haven't seen a live show since waaaay before the pandemic. As some might've seen on social, my daughter invited me out to go see The Breeders at the Fillmore in Silver Spring last night.

Holy shit was that fun!!! The opening act was a 3 person group called Screaming Females (lead singer was a woman playing guitar, drummer and bass player both dudes) and they ROCKED.

The Breeders are doing a 30 year(!!) anniversary of Last Splash being released, so they played the entire album... So fucking good. 2 encores, but I was still home by 11p... Pretty much a perfect night.

(And the bonding with the daughter was a much needed happenstance.)

Last Splash, then an encore with "Wait in the Car", "When I Was a Painter", and "Iris"? The only thing I would have added is "Fortunately Gone".

[brian]

Got offered a free pass to Life Is Beautiful but way too old and tired for that shit but would have loved to see Yeah Yeah Yeahs tonight (though Amazon Prime is doing a livestream)