I was disappointed to miss the Pixies show. They seemed primed to follow the Smashing Pumpkins model. They would be another scary band I didn’t particularly like who would became scary good live. Wish I’d been able to find out if that actually happened…
I was even more disappointed to miss the Weezer show. This was the first time I had ever gotten floor tickets for an arena show. I could have been feet from “Getchoo”’s thrashing guitars; I could have stood across from Rivers during “Across the Sea.” (No, Weezer fans, I would not like to become an 18-year-old girl from a small city in Japan – just go with the phrasing. ;))
Sadly, I was not able to stand anywhere in the arena because the tour bush crashed into an ice patch two days before the concert, canceling the rest of the tour. Tear.
Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, though, and they plan on rescheduling in the new year. Once they come up with an exact date, count me in!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
56 – Guster – Wednesday, November 28, 2009 – The Beacon Theater – NYC
When I first saw Guster at William and Mary in October 2007, it was awkward. The crowd was there to hear live music on Homecoming, not necessarily Guster. The band tried to compensate with ‘rowdy’ pranks, which did not remotely match their vibe or sound. And the sound itself was not very good: Matoaka may be a visually impressive outdoor amphitheater, but it certainly does not enhance acoustics.
It was with great hesitation, then, that I stepped into the Beacon Theater for another Guster show two years later. I had been drawn back by the prospect of a straight album show (they would play 1999’s Lost and Gone Forever), but was skeptical they would sound anything other than mediocre.
Man, was I wrong. From the first song, 2007’s spirited “Captain,” they sounded great. The vocals were smooth, the instrumentals were strong, and the Beacon provided Constitution-Hall-level acoustics. This time you also had a committed crowd. Instead of hundreds of halfhearted non-fans who talked through most of the songs, there were two thousand devoted fans who joined in during the choruses and verses.
Considering this, every performance was an improvement. Every song was a pleasant surprise. Some of the best of those appear below:
Grade: A
It was with great hesitation, then, that I stepped into the Beacon Theater for another Guster show two years later. I had been drawn back by the prospect of a straight album show (they would play 1999’s Lost and Gone Forever), but was skeptical they would sound anything other than mediocre.
Man, was I wrong. From the first song, 2007’s spirited “Captain,” they sounded great. The vocals were smooth, the instrumentals were strong, and the Beacon provided Constitution-Hall-level acoustics. This time you also had a committed crowd. Instead of hundreds of halfhearted non-fans who talked through most of the songs, there were two thousand devoted fans who joined in during the choruses and verses.
Considering this, every performance was an improvement. Every song was a pleasant surprise. Some of the best of those appear below:
Grade: A
55 – Bob Dylan – Wednesday, November 11, 2009 – The Patriot Center – Fairfax, VA
The good news: I can now say I’ve seen Bob Dylan.
The bad news: To say that, I had to actually HEAR him. The closest comparison I can make is that he sounded like a serial killer. He had down the guttural growls and the wheezy moans – all he needed was a few horcruxes and he’d be a dead ringer for Lord Voldemort.
Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan has proven that demonic presence is not always a bad thing. His Pumpkins’ show last May was one of the five best concerts I’ve ever been to. The key difference is that Corgan’s music is supposed to be menacing. When your most famous lyric is “despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage,” it makes sense for the audience to be uneasy. Corgan’s performance was consistent with this identity: he pounded through creepy, nine-minute guitar riffs, he enveloped the stage in dark neon, he barely said anything to the audience, etc. The point is you would expect Smashing Pumpkins to be villains, and they were.
The problem with the Dylan concert was that Dylan is not a villain. A renegade, a rebel, sure, but not a blood-sucking villain. Yet that’s exactly how he came off during the show. He never faced or acknowledged the audience, he spit out every verse with maximum phlegm, and he assembled a band that was destined to fail. I cannot see why, other than self-sabotage, someone would assemble such a band. They started with somber folk music, then abruptly shifted to square dance. And all the while, Dylan kept up that same wheezy moan. It was enough to make you seasick.
I could take such discordant sounds if they were meant to be amusing, like Dylan’s recent “Must Be Santa.” He clearly meant for that song to be ironic. Christmas should involve time with family and thoughtful presents – not drunken, nauseous polka. Moreover, Dylan seemed to intend most of his holiday album to be a joke. Why else, Chris Erickson asks, would a Jewish homeless man with tuberculosis sing about Christmas?
The problem is, the vast majority of his work is not a joke – it is subtle, sophisticated, and even, in its own way, well sung. The way he inflects the “now” in “My Back Pages,” the “hey” in “Mr. Tambourine Man,” and the four different “hard”s in “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” are all first-rate. His lyrics also connect with various stages of my life: “Hurricane” with my dad in high school, “Like a Rolling Stone” with my quiz buds in England, and “Blowin in the Wind” with Evan, Kyle, Kinslow, Pierre, and Texas in New Orleans.
To hear all of that tarnished in one night, it was sad. I’m sure I’ll eventually start listening to him again, but for now, in my mind, he is a complete unknown…
Grade: F
What brought me back to Dylan after the concert -- Friday Night Lights:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw572hRD1diCOVhwem5xdW9vLU0/view?usp=sharing
The times they are a-changin from Tony Fox on Vimeo.
The bad news: To say that, I had to actually HEAR him. The closest comparison I can make is that he sounded like a serial killer. He had down the guttural growls and the wheezy moans – all he needed was a few horcruxes and he’d be a dead ringer for Lord Voldemort.
Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan has proven that demonic presence is not always a bad thing. His Pumpkins’ show last May was one of the five best concerts I’ve ever been to. The key difference is that Corgan’s music is supposed to be menacing. When your most famous lyric is “despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage,” it makes sense for the audience to be uneasy. Corgan’s performance was consistent with this identity: he pounded through creepy, nine-minute guitar riffs, he enveloped the stage in dark neon, he barely said anything to the audience, etc. The point is you would expect Smashing Pumpkins to be villains, and they were.
The problem with the Dylan concert was that Dylan is not a villain. A renegade, a rebel, sure, but not a blood-sucking villain. Yet that’s exactly how he came off during the show. He never faced or acknowledged the audience, he spit out every verse with maximum phlegm, and he assembled a band that was destined to fail. I cannot see why, other than self-sabotage, someone would assemble such a band. They started with somber folk music, then abruptly shifted to square dance. And all the while, Dylan kept up that same wheezy moan. It was enough to make you seasick.
I could take such discordant sounds if they were meant to be amusing, like Dylan’s recent “Must Be Santa.” He clearly meant for that song to be ironic. Christmas should involve time with family and thoughtful presents – not drunken, nauseous polka. Moreover, Dylan seemed to intend most of his holiday album to be a joke. Why else, Chris Erickson asks, would a Jewish homeless man with tuberculosis sing about Christmas?
The problem is, the vast majority of his work is not a joke – it is subtle, sophisticated, and even, in its own way, well sung. The way he inflects the “now” in “My Back Pages,” the “hey” in “Mr. Tambourine Man,” and the four different “hard”s in “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” are all first-rate. His lyrics also connect with various stages of my life: “Hurricane” with my dad in high school, “Like a Rolling Stone” with my quiz buds in England, and “Blowin in the Wind” with Evan, Kyle, Kinslow, Pierre, and Texas in New Orleans.
To hear all of that tarnished in one night, it was sad. I’m sure I’ll eventually start listening to him again, but for now, in my mind, he is a complete unknown…
Grade: F
What brought me back to Dylan after the concert -- Friday Night Lights:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw572hRD1diCOVhwem5xdW9vLU0/view?usp=sharing
The times they are a-changin from Tony Fox on Vimeo.
54 -- The Get Up Kids – Tuesday, November 3, 2009 – 9:30 Club – DC
I had not even heard of The Get Up Kids a month before the concert, so I wasn’t expecting much. Fortunately, for a number of reasons, I was pleasantly surprised.
1. There was an impressive mix of genres: driving rock (“Grunge Pig”), atmospheric mix (“Walking on a Wire”), punk anthem (“Red Letter Day”), nostalgic ballad (“Campfire Kansas”), romantic ballad (“I’ll Catch You”), etc.
2. I’d forgotten how great the 9:30 Club is. The proximity to the stage, the floodlights, and the packed crowds all enhance the music.
3. They played more than an hour and a half yet finished the concert before 11. They also acknowledged the audience’s dedication to come out on a Tuesday night.
4. The lead singer did not have a great voice. That might sound like a bad thing, but in this case, the rough edges were endearing. He made up for his deficiency with energy.
Considering all this, I’ll definitely see them again next time they come to DC. Thanks for the recommendation, Sketch.
Grade: B++
1. There was an impressive mix of genres: driving rock (“Grunge Pig”), atmospheric mix (“Walking on a Wire”), punk anthem (“Red Letter Day”), nostalgic ballad (“Campfire Kansas”), romantic ballad (“I’ll Catch You”), etc.
2. I’d forgotten how great the 9:30 Club is. The proximity to the stage, the floodlights, and the packed crowds all enhance the music.
3. They played more than an hour and a half yet finished the concert before 11. They also acknowledged the audience’s dedication to come out on a Tuesday night.
4. The lead singer did not have a great voice. That might sound like a bad thing, but in this case, the rough edges were endearing. He made up for his deficiency with energy.
Considering all this, I’ll definitely see them again next time they come to DC. Thanks for the recommendation, Sketch.
Grade: B++
Bruce Springsteen – Saturday, November 7, 2009 – Madison Square Garden – NYC
It was my dad’s birthday, so I gave him my ticket. Then I bought myself a scalper ticket. $125 later, I found out that the scalper ticket was a fraud!!! I was NOT happy.
Disappointed as I was not to join him, at least my dad got to experience his first full Springsteen show. :)
Disappointed as I was not to join him, at least my dad got to experience his first full Springsteen show. :)
53 -- Bruce Springsteen – Monday, November 2, 2009 – Verizon Center – DC
Terrorists should be forced to see a Bruce Springsteen show. Little by little over the three hours, their hatred would just melt away…
I’ve covered all the major songs in the other six Springsteen concert reviews, so I’ll just mention the few new things:
1. They played every song on Born to Run! Early in the show, I heard some woman, who I thought was an idiot, shouting, “Play ‘Born to Run’! Play ‘Born to Run’!” I thought she was dumb because he would clearly save that song until the end. What I eventually realized was that she was referring to the album Born to Run. Apparently the focus of this tour was to include an entire album in every show. Straight album shows are cool enough with Jimmy Eat World and Guster; if Springsteen’s doing it, that’s a whole different level!
2. I was able to walk up to the box office at 7:57pm the day of the show and get a 100-Level, Row-A ticket for face value! All tickets had been sold out months in advance, yet somehow I was able to get one.
3. The crowd requests were all solid: “Stand on It,” “Seven Nights to Rock,” “Pink Cadillac” and “Growin' Up.”
4. The whisper moans during “Backstreets” was nearly as powerful as “Jungleland.”
5. The last song of the night was a stunning new one. Most of the show emphasized Bruce (as it should have). This rousing new gospel tune, “Higher and Higher,” showcased two backup singers, Soozie Tyrell and Curtis King.
6. The last thing I’ll mention actually happened towards the beginning of the show. Midway through “Hungry Heart,” Bruce crowd surfed from the island all the way back to the stage! At 60 years old!
Grade: A+
I’ve covered all the major songs in the other six Springsteen concert reviews, so I’ll just mention the few new things:
1. They played every song on Born to Run! Early in the show, I heard some woman, who I thought was an idiot, shouting, “Play ‘Born to Run’! Play ‘Born to Run’!” I thought she was dumb because he would clearly save that song until the end. What I eventually realized was that she was referring to the album Born to Run. Apparently the focus of this tour was to include an entire album in every show. Straight album shows are cool enough with Jimmy Eat World and Guster; if Springsteen’s doing it, that’s a whole different level!
2. I was able to walk up to the box office at 7:57pm the day of the show and get a 100-Level, Row-A ticket for face value! All tickets had been sold out months in advance, yet somehow I was able to get one.
3. The crowd requests were all solid: “Stand on It,” “Seven Nights to Rock,” “Pink Cadillac” and “Growin' Up.”
4. The whisper moans during “Backstreets” was nearly as powerful as “Jungleland.”
5. The last song of the night was a stunning new one. Most of the show emphasized Bruce (as it should have). This rousing new gospel tune, “Higher and Higher,” showcased two backup singers, Soozie Tyrell and Curtis King.
6. The last thing I’ll mention actually happened towards the beginning of the show. Midway through “Hungry Heart,” Bruce crowd surfed from the island all the way back to the stage! At 60 years old!
Grade: A+
52 -- U2 -- Thursday, October 1, 2009 – Scott Stadium – Charlottesville, VA
Zzzzzzzzzzz. Unless it’s in Fairfax and free, I will never go to another U2 concert.
In the past, I’ve enjoyed a number of U2 songs: “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” "Vertigo," “In the Name of Love,” “New Years Day,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Beautiful Day.” And that night, I could not help but be impressed by the stagecraft: the band and crowd were surrounded by a friggin’ four-story spaceship! In the end, though, I could not get past the fact that the songs were boring live. Bono meandered through melody after melody, and I started to nod off.
“Soft” rock is acceptable; “sleepy” rock is not.
Grade: C
In the past, I’ve enjoyed a number of U2 songs: “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” "Vertigo," “In the Name of Love,” “New Years Day,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Beautiful Day.” And that night, I could not help but be impressed by the stagecraft: the band and crowd were surrounded by a friggin’ four-story spaceship! In the end, though, I could not get past the fact that the songs were boring live. Bono meandered through melody after melody, and I started to nod off.
“Soft” rock is acceptable; “sleepy” rock is not.
Grade: C
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