Last night we saw Destroyer at the Unitarian Church.  It's been hotter than hell around here this week, so we were afraid that we'd have a melty repeat of last summer's show at the church.

We saw Mark Eitzel last night at Johnny Brenda's.  This time he was just singing (instead of fussing with a guitar and singing) and that, my friends, makes all the difference.  From his first note to the last, Mark was amazing. Literally. Amazing.

Last Sunday we saw Mark Kozelek at the Unitarian Church.

We were so excited to see American Music Club at Johnny Brenda's last night.  Andrew has seen Mark Eitzel perform four times now, but it was my first.

We saw Destroyer in New York on Wednesday at the Bowery Ballroom.  We'd never been to the Bowery Ballroom before, and it's awesome!

Last night we went to see Cat Power.  Chan Marshall is amazing!  We've had chances to see her before, but decided against it because of her erratic live-show behavior.  She cleaned up in 2006 (alcohol abuse) and she hasn't been walking off stage and stuff lately, so we thought we'd chance it.

She is utterly amazing.  If I could wish one thing for myself, it would to be able to sing.  Watching her was magical.

She never stopped moving and there were no lights on the stage, which made it a challenge for Andrew to get a picture of her.  But the best one, above, is so awesome.  The rest of the pictures from the show are in this gallery.  The last three photos are Cat Power, the rest are Appaloosa, the opening band.

*** Superstar update ***

Today I was emailed by the sing of Appaloosa, who is totally sweet.  She found this post and clicked through to Andrew's gallery for the show. She loved the photos he took of her and added them to Appaloosa's myspace.  How cool is that?!

I'd also like to mention that Andrew never uses his flash as shows ... which can be annoying to the band.  He's thoughtful like that. :)

[photo taken 2/8/2008 in Philadelphia]

[title from the lyrics of "The Greatest" by Cat Power from "The Greatest"]

On a whim last Thursday, we went to see Elvis Perkins in Dearland at Johnny Brendas.  Man, oh, man, I'm glad we did.  He and his band are incredible.  I LOVE them.

It's funny.  I used to say that I would listen to anything except country music or rap.  I listen to them both now.  I probably would have added folky music in the list, too, had I thought about it.  But I love that now, too.  Sure, I'm still a music snob in my own way, but I'm glad I'll give anything a chance.  I sure would have hated to miss out on Elvis Perkins in Dearland.

Check out this video of him performing in the back of a cab in the UK.

Sunday we saw Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth fame) at Johnny Brenda's.  He's on a solo tour.  Above is the guitar he broke out for the encore.

It was unbelievable that we were right up on the stage.  There had been two guys in front of us, but they both seemed to get sort of sick from whatever drugs and booze mixtures they were on and they both slowly kept taking steps backwards until they were behind us.  Strange.

He doesn't look a day over 17.  For real.

[photo taken 9/30/2007 in Philadelphia with my cell phone]

Last night we went to the Khyber to see Shapes and Sizes.  They are awesome.  From their website:

... their music is ... a tasty mash up. It’s a whale with wings and a tomato that tastes like a strawberry. Shapes and Sizes wrote the melody that apexes in your brain when you were told for the first time that a tomato was really a fruit and that everything you’ve ever believed with certainty was a lie.

They are one of a handful of bands ANYWHERE doing ANYTHING remotely interesting.  I was blown away by their ability to sing/play/perform asynchronously and dissonantly and still keep it all together.  Watching them was like floating in a dream - you are simultaneously engaged *and* hypnotised.

We were happy to see the opening band, Paper Trigger.  Andrew purchased their EP when we checked them out after buying the tickets.  They are a great Philly band.  They had a small, but enthusiastic crowd.

The next band, Yeasayer ... well, let's just say they had a huge enthusiastic crowd.  And, although we were in the crowd, we weren't enthusiastic.

Then, when Shapes and Sizes came on ... it was Andrew and Me and four people behind us.  After their last song, I looked behind us, and we were the only ones in the room. Where did everyone go?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME, PEOPLE?

The saddest part is that the two opening bands each played for an hour.  Shapes and Sizes only played for 30 minutes. I can imagine it's hard to persevere when you're playing to a crowd of 6 (or 2?!), but we really came to see them.  I wish they'd played their full set.

Yesterday we went to see The National.  We'd wanted to see them a couple months ago, but they sold out.  We considered driving to DC, but that sold out, too.  Then we saw that they were playing a free show in New York.  We were all set to go, when we saw, the day before the free show, that they were coming to Philly again.  It was actually cheaper for us to buy tickets than to drive to NY (tolls, gas, parking, food ...)

So finally, yesterday was the day.  The National are an amazing band.  They are super tight players.  Amazing.  The lead singer has a bad cold and was drinking Robitussin straight from the bottle.  Poor guy was also coughing a bunch in between songs.  He seemed a little spacey and nervous (he was actually biting his fingernails after the first song).  I thought that it might have been the Robitussin, but maybe it's just the way he is.  I guess I'll find out next time.  He was good, but you could hear hints of what he can really do when he's not sick.

Not only are The National great musicians, but their lyrics are awesome.  They write pretty interesting and thinky songs.  What's weird, is that their whole audience (at least in Philly) were YOUNG.  Like high-school-young.  The guys standing next to us must have been seniors, because they were talking about what colleges they were going to apply to.

At least they weren't moshing like the kids at the Of Montreal concert.  I have to wonder if The National cares that they appeal to teeny boppers.  Where were all the hipsters (not that I like them any better than the kids)?  Although I can't say too much because I was one of the knobs taking cell phone pictures (just the three above) during the concert.  I wasn't going to, but then I couldn't resist.

The two opening bands were good (lucky us!).

Doveman is one of Andrew's new favorites.  The didn't really command the audience much because they sat in chairs the whole time.  They have one song that sounds super-Cure ... like if Seventeen Seconds-era Cure had a baby with a slow Psychedelic Furs song.  I LOVE that song.

The Rosebuds (from SC) we also saw open for Yo La Tengo ... they are OK.  I don't like their new dance-music direction, but their lead singer has an awesome voice.

[photo taken 9/6/2007 in Philadelphia]

[title from the lyrics of "Mr. November" by The National from "Alligator"]>

... and we were the lucky ones.

Modest Mouse's recent album is wonderful.  I loved it before I even listened to it.  The title of the album is the same as this post's.  And, when you open the liner notes, it says the first line up there.  I know exactly what he means.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Modest Mouse.  What's weird is that I saw them in 1999, and I didn't think much of them.  I walked a block from my apartment in San Francisco to see them at the American Music Hall on the hottest night of the year.  I was also sick.  Some guy I was dating* bought tickets and invited me.  I thought they were blah.  Maybe it was the 90 degree weather sans air conditioning.  They seemed slow and boring.  Weird, huh?

Now they are in my top ten ... probably.  Usually, I like a band's early album and start hating them the closer to *now* we get, but not with Modest Mouse.  I love the grungy immediacy of their early stuff *and* I love the slick catchy new stuff.

This album is super-wonderful, but I think I still like Good News For People Who Love Bad News better.  Seriously, the song "Dig Your Grave" has just the lyrics "I really do.  I hope you're dead." repeated in a whisper three times.  Oh!  Sometimes I know exactly how he feels.  He's the most exuberant misanthrope I've encountered.

* I went out on a million-and-one dates during my 2+ years of online dating in San Francisco.  I wish I'd kept track, but I'm sure I went out with over 100 guys.  This particular guy lasted for 3 dates.  He didn't tell me his last name nor did he give me his phone number (or where he worked or where he lived).  He wasn't the first (or the last) secretive guy.  Really, I was in no hurry to spill all my personal info, either.  We had fun on our dates, so I cut him some slack.  At the end of our last date I kissed him on the cheek when he dropped me off at home - that was the extent of our physical involvement.  The next day I emailed him to tell him about something I thought would interest him.  He responded with an email saying he wasn't comfortable with how fast everything was moving.  Um, OK, weirdo.  I never emailed him back.

[title is the name of an album by Modest Mouse]

On Friday we drove up to New York to see Neko Case ... for free!  She played the Summer Stage in Central Park.  They put on shows FOR FREE.  It was such a beautiful day, and night.  Neko is an amazing vocalist.  It's really unbelievable to see how effortlessly she belts out those songs.  Of course she did all my favorites ... because they are everyone's favorites: Deep Red Bells, Dirty Knife, Maybe Sparrow, and Margaret vs. Pauline.

[photo taken 7/20/2007 in New York]

[title from the lyrics of "Deep Red Bells" by Neko Case from "Blacklisted"]

We saw Bob Dylan in Atlantic City at the Borgota (a casino).  Andrew is a huge Bob Dylan fan.  I'm not, but I *do* appreciate that none of the music I love would exist without him.  His show was amazing.  It's less 'show' and more 'performance.'  Bob is all business about his music and it shows.  Surprisingly, I recognized almost all of the songs they played.  We had a great time.

We got to Atlantic City way early because we were worried about the traffic.  We spent a couple hours walking the board walk.  I usually get a sunburn on my part and the top of my head, so I bought a 99-cent bandanna.  For years I've been trying to find a summer hat, but all I needed was a little scarf.  I love how cute it is.  Andrew bought me a blue Bob Dylan bandanna at the concert.  I'm thinking of making several and keeping one in my purse all the time. Head sunburns suck so bad.

I had Andrew take this picture of me. I don't know why I didn't stand with the Ocean to my back.  The back drop of casinos and gawkers isn't as pretty.

[photo taken 6/22/2007 in Atlantic City]

We saw Frog Eyes at Johnny Brenda's on May 17th.  Man, that was over a month ago.

They were just as amazing as I thought they'd be.  Amazing.  The first time I heard Frog Eyes I thought, "What the hell?!?!"  And the second time.  But then they started growing on me.  I was completely won over when I discovered their songs have names like:

The Fox Speaks To His Wife Who Is Not Quite Sure

Krull Fire Wedding

Silence But Not For The Gentle Tinkling Of The Flowing Creek

The Horse Used To Wear A Crown

Our Lordship Has Devised A New Billing System

A Library Used To Be (Black Hole And Its Concentrated Edges)

I'm Telling You That Cities Were Never Ever Conceived Like This

See, how can you not love a band that so thoughtfully and completely names their songs?  The answer: You can't not love them.  Also, the chick is the drummer.  I love lady drummers. :)

If you're interested, my favorite album is The Golden River.  Love it!

[title from the lyrics of "One In Six Children Will Flee In Boats" by Frog Eyes from "The Golden River"]

Tonight we saw Sunset Rubdown for the second time at the Church.  We know the Church always starts late (but you can't complain too much for $10), so we got there late ... but even we couldn't predict how freakin' late they'd be.  Doors were supposed to open at 7:30 and the show was supposed to start at 8pm.   The opening band actually started at ten minutes to 9:00pm.  The worst part?  I forgot to bring my crocheting!!!  From now on, I will always have some crocheting with me.  Always.  Making fun of dumb kids' stupid outfits is only entertaining for so long.

Anyway, all was not lost.  One of the two opening bands canceled, so Sunset Rubdown played a lot longer than they would have. They played a lot of new stuff we hadn't heard yet.  The next album is going to be great!  Spenser Krug didn't have his mustache anymore, but he still wears a sweatband.  Seriously, there is sweat dripping off his nose and chin the whole time.

[photo taken 5/3/2007 in Philadelphia]

[title from the lyrics of "The Dust You Kick Up Is Too Fine" by Sunset Rubdown from "Snake's Got A Leg"]

Of Montreal put on a pretty good show.  Their musical talents are awesome.  Their show is theatrical, but most if it came off as "summer camp skit" and not "glam rock god/ess."  They played all our favorites, and I was very happy about going to see them.

Every time we go to a show we vow that the next time we are going to purposefully miss the opening acts (if we don't know them), because they usually stink.  This is the first time we've ever skipped the openers, and it's only because we saw Clinic the night before and I needed a nap.  I am probably the only person who took a nap before Of Montreal ... which is sad ... even though some of the kids there looked young enough to need an afternoon nap.  If I hadn't been so tired, I probably would have gone to see the opening acts since one was named Mixel Pixel - what a cool name!

Usually we get to a show way-early and stake our claim very close to the stage.  Since we sauntered in during the second Of Montreal song, we ended up on the sidelines.  But, that was lucky for us.  The kids at the show (and they were all kids) were the rowdiest bunch of thugs I've seen. The whole center floor was undulating en masse like an angry sea.  Throughout the show, people were getting knocked down, tossed about, and generally abused.  It was kind of fascinating to watch.  The weirdest part is that Of Montreal is dancy glam rock ... like Ziggy Stardust Era Bowie ... like Roxy Music.  It's like they were all listening to angry punk on their iPods.

The crowd didn't ruin it for us, though.  And neither did the goofiness of the stage show.  I had a great time!  For the whole week after the show Andrew and I would randomly sing snippets of their songs*.  They write the best, catchiest tunes.

*We were also singing snippets of Clinic songs, too.  But that's harder since most of their lyrics are purposely unintelligible.  Of course, that doesn't stop us from making them up.

[photo taken 3/13/2007 in Philadelphia]

[title from the lyrics of "Suffer For Fashion" by Of Montreal from "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?"]

I forgot to mention Mahogany, one of Clinic's opening bands, in my post yesterday.  They were incredible.  I'm not sure they really *need* four guitarists and two bassists, but they *did* sound great.  If you like Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura, then you should totally check out Mahogany.

Wednesday night we saw Clinic perform at Johnny Brenda's.  We were so lucky to see them in such a tiny, intimate venue.  Except for the Tin Angel, this was the smallest venue we've been to.  Clinic sounds, amazingly, exactly like their albums.  Sometimes that can make for a boring show, but when you're watching someone like Clinic, it's mesmerizing.

Above are my phone photos of the band.  Take a look at Andrew's phone photos, too (that first one is me).  The band had postcards encouraging cellphone photos and even had a forum you could text them to.  We didn't do that, but it made me feel less like a goofball taking the pictures.

Yes, they wear surgical masks during every show.  Every show.  Even on Letterman.  They passed out surgical masks to us at the door.  They always wear a costume, too.  Our show featured brown scrubs and felt top hats.  They are a wonderfully businesslike and precise band.  After their two song, pre-planned (we have a set list) encore, Clinic politely thanked us and left the stage in an orderly fashion.

Thank goodness they catered to the collective whim of their fans and played The Return of Evil Bill.  From the uproar, you can tell it's everyone's favorite.  I've learned that the fan-favorite tends to become some bands' least favorite to play.  I find it funny that I always seem to fall in love with every band's big hit without knowing it's their big hit.  Then I'm a little surprised and a little embarrased that everyone else loves the song, too.  Well, I used to be.  Now I don't care anymore that everyone else likes it, too.

Clinic is a mix of a lot of different, crazy sounds, but you can kind of sum them up with "horror show surf guitar."  Curious?  Watch these videoes.





Until now, Clinic evoked memories of dreary, grey Salt Lake City winters spent driving to and from work down S. 900 E.  There were several months when I just listened to them in the car.  I'm so glad I've reprogrammed their memory settings, although I hope I forget about the cold beer dripping down the back of my legs.

The one big surprise is that I'm even less sure of their lyrics now that I've seen them live.  We were so close to the stage that I was practically in Ade's pocket.  I could see his mouth moving, and I could tell the lyrics I thought I'd figured out were totally wrong.

Have more time to burn?  Here are a couple of interviews with more pictures and links to music videos:

So Fun

Funner Still

[photo taken 3/8/2007 in Philadelphia]

[title from the Alice-interpreted lyrics of "The Return Of Evil Bill" by Clinic from "Internal Wrangler"]

Saturday night we saw Yo La Tengo at the Trocadero in Philly.  I knew they were good, but I was unprepared for just how amazing they would be.  In the picture above, Ira Kaplan is playing the Farfisa organ (vintage, mind you) with his whole leg.  Georgia Hubley makes playing the drums for two hours look effortless.  James McNew can play the same bass line perfectly for 10 minutes straight while Ira acrobatically plays a guitar solo with his elbows.

They are the elder statesmen of indie rock.  See them if you can.

[photo taken 02-10-2007 in Philadelphia]

[post title is the title of Yo La Tengo's most recent album]

When Andrew saw that The Twilight Singers were coming to TLA he just had to go.  He's liked them (and The Afghan Whigs, singer Greg Dulli's previous band) for years.

Last night we witnessed the charismatic musical powerhouse that is Greg Dulli.  He held the whole audience in his thrall.  With his devilish grin and a sparkle in his eye, he belted out an unending string of songs.  Every time he would smile or gesture at the audience, the screaming (which never stopped) would become deafening.

Mark Lanegan joined them for several songs.  We have Mark's recent solo album, Bubblegum, which is great.  After listening to that album, Andrew and I both agree that every song is better with PJ Harvey singing back up, as Sparklehorse knows well.

But I digress ...
At the end of the show, I scored a set list from the nice roadie who was packing up the stage. (Thank you!) We had a great time!  I could barely keep my eyes open at work today, but that's what they make caffeine for, right?

I *was* awake enough to look up the difference between a cravat and an ascot ... I swore the opening band, Stars of Track and Field, were wearing cravats, but the hecklers were all yelling, "I like your ascot."  According to this chart, they were wearing mail coach style cravats. See, hecklers, you were wrong and I was right.  Luckily, the lead singer was wrong, too, when he said, "So you like our cravats.  Are you going to start throwing bottles now?"  You really shouldn't taunt Philadelphians.  They are bad ass motherfuckers. Just ask Santa Claus.

[phone photo taken 11-13-2006 before the show]

My current favorite band is Sunset Rubdown. We saw them at the Unitarian Church in October.  They were fucking amazing.  Spencer Krug is phenomenal.  I'm always in awe when we see live shows.  I love watching people sing and play instruments.  It's like magic to me.  Sunset Rubdown is one of the best live shows I've seen.

Señor Krug (he had a crazy little moustache (see above) when we saw him, hence the "Señor")  jumps around while playing intricate keyboard parts (or the accordion), and singing in his signature style.  About one song into it, he pulled out a headband that looked like it was made of kitchen towels and tied it around his head.  He was soaking wet by the end of the show, probably because he didn't stop moving the whole time.

The other three members of the band are awesome as well, but it's very clear that Spencer is the driving force behind the band (which used to be just him).  Everyone always looked to Spencer for direction and signals.  It was a very tight show and they sounded great.

We bought all their albums a couple weeks before the show, and I still haven't stopped listening to them.  My favorite album, if I had to pick, is "Snake's Got A Leg", which includes alternate versions of some of their previously released songs.  Generally, I prefer the rougher, rawer cut of a song, and that's what you'll find on this album.

I love their lyrics.  I love their music.  There is definitely a "Sunset Rubdown" sound, but there are some songs that just scream Brian Eno or Guided By Voices or Aphex Twin.  One song might be a bell-infested rollicking tune, and the next a dirge-like carnival lullaby.  You never know what you might get, but you know it's going to be good.

YouTube

I scoured YouTube for good bootleg videos of their show, and these three are the best:

Swimming, in which you can see Spencer jumping around while he plays keyboards and sings.  You can't see his legs, but at our show he was standing on one leg on a rung of his stool while jumping up and down -- all while he is playing the keyboard, or sometimes two different keyboards -- really!

Stadiums and Shrines II, in which Sunset Rubdown is amazing.

Snake's Got A Leg III, in which you can witness, for yourself, Spencer's splendiferous moustache and headband.  I want to hate the moustache, in all it's hipster glory, but I just can't.  That's how cool Spencer is.  The photo above is a screen shot from this clip.

They also have a couple videos on their MySpace, which is for Wolf Parade, Spencer's other band.  Spencer has also been in Frog Eyes and Destroyer.  He recently recorded an album with the guys from Frog Eyes and Destroyer under the name Swan Lake, and that album is coming out this month. I've heard one track from it, and it's going to be amazing!