Live Baby Live, Part 3
And now the conclusion: the 5 best shows from my short-concert going years. Some of you may get done reading this and think, "Wait a second. When we got done seeing xxxx Logan totally said if he ever had a blog he would put them in his top 5." Well, I hate to break it to you, but I lied. Also, Bismarke didn't make the cut. Sorry SBC!
5. Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Arena, Madrid, 30 January 2002
During the summer of 2001, I made a conscious decision to expand my musical horizons. Perhaps musical taste follows some sort of rhythmic Kuhnian cycle where there are particular moments more prone to reception, and conversely times of unexplainable rigidity (somehow that doesn't sound appropriate). Regardless, I distinctly remember my big post-birthday purchases from that quaint indie store that predated Orion's Music [was it called the Salt Lake CD Exchange?]: Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish, James - Best of, Pixies - Surfer Rosa, Modest Mouse - Lonesome Crowded Midwest, and more crucial for this story, Godspeed! You Black Emperor - Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada. The small two-track EP was perfect for the intrepid listener: enigmatic and inscrutable, fearful and angry, indulgent and self-important. In a concert setting, Godspeed! You Black Emperor is almost unbearable. Each song stretched out infinitely with uncountable emotional climaxes that seemed to never give way. It was a exhausting show - the encore, while only two songs, lasted well over an hour - but it had a visceral intensity and a stunning sense of urgency that I do not think will ever be matched.
4. The Go! Team, Metro, Chicago, 29 October 2005
We came here to rock the microphone
We came here to rock the microphone
Our aim is to break you down to the bone
Our aim is to break you down to the bone
3. The Rapture, Ultra Live, Providence, 5 December 2003
I think Rebecca hit the nail on the head: if I were ever to be in a band, it would be one like The Rapture. Only one band released a better record in 2003...
2. Basement Jaxx, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, 17 July 2005
The sight was unbelievable: the entirety of the stuffy Hollywood Bowl - 18,000 people total - out of their seats and dancing their asses off. Even the elderly couples in the front Garden Boxes, who may have inadvertently purchased tickets when buying their season passes, could be spotted grooving with Carnival dancers and people in ape suits. Perhaps the BYOB policy was responsible for the delirium, but I would like to think it is because the Jaxx throw one hell of a party. Given the attendance, it causes me physical pain that not a single Basement Jaxx record has sold more than 40,000 units in America. Hell, I was even thinking of blowing off working Harry Potter night just to catch their DJ set in San Francisco the night before. The evening is perfectly encapsulated in a lyric from their closing song Do Your Thing: "All I need is a bumping beat, to bump away my blues."
1. Blur, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, June 12, 2003
This is probably a no-brainer. Blur, after all, is my favorite band and a lot of non-concert specific elements contributed in making that night particularly remarkable: I had just recovered from my terrible bout with pneumonia and I luckily managed to snag tickets to the show after the roosting of Nazi birds forced Field Day to be relocated. Then again, there were plenty of reasons this show should have collapsed under the weight of colossal expectation. Blur had vowed never to tour the States again and in the meantime they had lost their guitarist Graham Coxon. Even without Graham, Blur was spectacular. Damon Albarn, after his sobering experience with fame (see the Britpop documentary Live Forever), seemed rejuvenated and the crowd worshipped him. When he leapt into my arms during Girls & Boys, I thought I was going to be torn apart by a legion of obsessive fans. Their adoring screams/shreeks got so loud, my eardrums could no longer process sound. It obviously touched the band as they humbly thanked the crowd and recounted their disastrous former trips to the States. Seeing a band that would play to tens of thousands anywhere else in the world impacted by our small audience of 500 was incredibly endearing. Finishing off the list I started a week ago: Single Best Concert Moment - Lyrically going one on one with Damon Albarn to Popscene. What a dork, I know. Some friends we made in line invited us out for drinks after the show, but Taylor and I were content to retire for the evening and let the concert fully set in. Ecstasy. Euphoria. Bliss. Something like that.
5. Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Arena, Madrid, 30 January 2002
During the summer of 2001, I made a conscious decision to expand my musical horizons. Perhaps musical taste follows some sort of rhythmic Kuhnian cycle where there are particular moments more prone to reception, and conversely times of unexplainable rigidity (somehow that doesn't sound appropriate). Regardless, I distinctly remember my big post-birthday purchases from that quaint indie store that predated Orion's Music [was it called the Salt Lake CD Exchange?]: Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish, James - Best of, Pixies - Surfer Rosa, Modest Mouse - Lonesome Crowded Midwest, and more crucial for this story, Godspeed! You Black Emperor - Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada. The small two-track EP was perfect for the intrepid listener: enigmatic and inscrutable, fearful and angry, indulgent and self-important. In a concert setting, Godspeed! You Black Emperor is almost unbearable. Each song stretched out infinitely with uncountable emotional climaxes that seemed to never give way. It was a exhausting show - the encore, while only two songs, lasted well over an hour - but it had a visceral intensity and a stunning sense of urgency that I do not think will ever be matched.
4. The Go! Team, Metro, Chicago, 29 October 2005
We came here to rock the microphone
We came here to rock the microphone
Our aim is to break you down to the bone
Our aim is to break you down to the bone
3. The Rapture, Ultra Live, Providence, 5 December 2003
I think Rebecca hit the nail on the head: if I were ever to be in a band, it would be one like The Rapture. Only one band released a better record in 2003...
2. Basement Jaxx, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, 17 July 2005
The sight was unbelievable: the entirety of the stuffy Hollywood Bowl - 18,000 people total - out of their seats and dancing their asses off. Even the elderly couples in the front Garden Boxes, who may have inadvertently purchased tickets when buying their season passes, could be spotted grooving with Carnival dancers and people in ape suits. Perhaps the BYOB policy was responsible for the delirium, but I would like to think it is because the Jaxx throw one hell of a party. Given the attendance, it causes me physical pain that not a single Basement Jaxx record has sold more than 40,000 units in America. Hell, I was even thinking of blowing off working Harry Potter night just to catch their DJ set in San Francisco the night before. The evening is perfectly encapsulated in a lyric from their closing song Do Your Thing: "All I need is a bumping beat, to bump away my blues."
1. Blur, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, June 12, 2003
This is probably a no-brainer. Blur, after all, is my favorite band and a lot of non-concert specific elements contributed in making that night particularly remarkable: I had just recovered from my terrible bout with pneumonia and I luckily managed to snag tickets to the show after the roosting of Nazi birds forced Field Day to be relocated. Then again, there were plenty of reasons this show should have collapsed under the weight of colossal expectation. Blur had vowed never to tour the States again and in the meantime they had lost their guitarist Graham Coxon. Even without Graham, Blur was spectacular. Damon Albarn, after his sobering experience with fame (see the Britpop documentary Live Forever), seemed rejuvenated and the crowd worshipped him. When he leapt into my arms during Girls & Boys, I thought I was going to be torn apart by a legion of obsessive fans. Their adoring screams/shreeks got so loud, my eardrums could no longer process sound. It obviously touched the band as they humbly thanked the crowd and recounted their disastrous former trips to the States. Seeing a band that would play to tens of thousands anywhere else in the world impacted by our small audience of 500 was incredibly endearing. Finishing off the list I started a week ago: Single Best Concert Moment - Lyrically going one on one with Damon Albarn to Popscene. What a dork, I know. Some friends we made in line invited us out for drinks after the show, but Taylor and I were content to retire for the evening and let the concert fully set in. Ecstasy. Euphoria. Bliss. Something like that.
posted by d l wright at 4/04/2006 07:35:00 PM
1 Comments:
My main lasting impression from the GYBE show was its contrast to the previous night's venture: the aforementioned, infamous Jimmy Eat World Show. Fewer pseudo-punks, more 20-somethings wearing black and smoking hash. Possibly the longest concert I ever enjoyed. (Much better than that time I sat through one third of a performance of Vexations)
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