Opening for Cults on April 1!
Category Archives: Tours
Who to See: Neko Case or Tapes n’ Tapes
I was as going to go to the Tapes n’ Tapes concert at the Paradise on February 3, but instead I am considering going to go see Neko Case at the Wilbur. It is a tough decision actually I never saw either of them live and you never know what can happen, bands break up, Neko Case could not tour for another 5 years, stuff happens. I remember the first concert I was going to see was Elliott Smith, I ended up missing the show which turned out to be his last tour before he died. So I figured I would take this oppurtunity to occasionally take a look at who is playing at various places in Boston in a new feature “Who to See” . The idea is simple, you listen to a song from a couple of artist playing in the area on that date (date will be chosen based on who’s playing and how far in advance) and you decide who you would rather see.
First Up: Neko Case “People Got A Lotta Nerve”
Next: Tapes n’ Tapes “Insistor”
So let me know what you think!
Bright Eyes – “Four Winds”
On Friday December 17 tickets go on sale for Bright Eyes on March 10 at the House of Blues, I bring this up for two reasons, one, I am a big Bright Eyes fan, but also for the past couple of years there have been rumors about Bright Eyes breaking up so Conor Oberst can concentrate on other projects. Will this be the final go around, maybe-maybe not, in any case I am hedging my bets and going, better to play it safe then miss out.
Update on Peter Hook Presents ‘Unknown Pleasures”
Recently I voiced my displeasure at Peter Hook concert I attended, apparently I am not the only one as in a recent article “Peter Hook Denies Being a ‘Robbing Bastard’ Over Joy Division Tour” by Spinner he voiced is rebuttal, here is the exact transcript of the article plus a video of Peter Hook performing the song “Transmission” so you can judge for yourself. Also for the record I asked for my money back, didn’t get it.
http://www.spinner.com/2010/12/10/peter-hook-joy-division-unknown-pleasures/
Three decades after his suicide, Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis remains one of rock’s most emulated vocalists. Interpol’s Paul Banks, National frontman Matt Berninger and bedroom-punk auteur Mark Sniper, aka Blank Dogs, are among his many descendents, and while some have nailed the sound — a plaintive baritone that requires little range or technical skill — few, if any, match the gravity Curtis brought to his music.
No one understands this better than Peter Hook, Joy Division’s founding bassist. Hook has spent much of this year staging top-down performances of the group’s 1979 debut, ‘Unknown Pleasures,’ and while his first thought was to enlist guest vocalists — folks more capable than himself — he ultimately changed his mind. Now, Hook is front and center, singing songs too dear to delegate.
“I felt I couldn’t really hand it over to another singer,” Hook tells Spinner. “It didn’t feel right, and I must admit I’ve been really flattered by the response, because people are saying the spirit and the passion comes across and I don’t think you can ask for anything more.”
Hook has dabbled in singing over the years, but he’s best known for his bass playing. In both Joy Division and its more pop-oriented offshoot, New Order, he pioneered a simple, highly melodic style, approaching his instrument as one might a lead guitar. Hook’s influence can be heard in many of today’s indie bands, including the Drums, Beach Fossils and Wild Nothing, and while he rates himself a passable singer, he admits he’s no Curtis.
“It’s certainly not a vocation,” Hook says. “My vocation is bass player, but I can sing, and the people that matter to me are the people that tell me it’s OK. As long as my wife tells me it’s OK, then I’m quite happy to get on with it. I know how to sing, and I can pull it off. It took me a long time to get to the point I can enjoy it. There were a lot of nerves on my part. I felt I was picking up one of the world’s most important records, so I was very wary of it. But I’m getting to the point where I’m enjoying it. We just did a wonderful tour of Australia and New Zealand — it went down an absolute storm. I wish I’d done it 30 years sooner, but in my life now it felt like the right time to do it. It has to feel like the right time.”
As one might expect, the ‘Unknown Pleasures’ shows have proved emotional — partially because they remind Hook of Curtis, and partially because Hook’s son Jack, a bass player in his own right, is part of the band.
“He’s 20,” Hook says. “He’s the exact same age I was [in Joy Division]. It freaks me out.”
“Because I’m singing, because I don’t trust anyone else to do it justice, there’s a lot of feeling and passion involved in what we’re doing, and the band is great,” he adds, defending the project against those who would accuse him of profiting on Curtis’ memory. “They’re great friends of mine. If anyone comes to the show and wants their money back because I’m a robbing bastard, they can have their money back.”
Also big shoutout to Spinner, I am a fan.
Thoughts on Peter Hook Presents ‘Unknown Pleasures’
I am not going to write a full fledge review of the show because honestly I left after the second-third song, but I am going to make a few comments on it. The first is Peter Hook is no Ian Curtis, now granted he wasn’t trying to do an Ian impersonation, but if you ever heard any Joy Division song you would no how important Ian’s lyrical style and voice was to the band, but apparently Peter Hook doesn’t. Hook was confident and cocky with his delivery which would be a fine for almost any other band, but not Joy Division. I see it as the equivalent as coming of shy and awkward as the front man of a Sex Pistols tribute band, it just doesn’t work. Honestly the whole thing sounded like a Joy Division themed karaoke night. Secondly and more importantly, when the bassist of Joy Division goes on tour to play Joy Division songs, I expect him to play bass guitar. As it turns out Peter wasn’t even acting as lead bassist, his son was. Besides the nepotism and everything wrong with that, there is a major issue here; Peter Hook thought it was appropriate to play Joy Division in not only a six piece band, but one that included two bassist. I don’t know if he lost touch with his own music or if he was just trying to make a buck, but the end result was just a mess. At the end of the day I am not sure what I was expecting but Peter, I am sorry I went, sorry I wasted my money on a ticket, and most of all sorry for what you did to the memory of a once great band on that night. Now if you don’t mind I am going to listen to some Joy Division, the way it was meant to be played, with a melancholy lead singer and one bassist.
An Evening With Greg Dulli- Concert Review-Brattle Theater
Yesterday was the moment I have been waiting for quite a while for a chance to see Greg Dulli live in concert, and even though it was an accoustic show, its a chance I have been waitng for since I first heard the Afghan Whigs 6 years ago (I was late to the party, I know)
Opening Act: Craig Wedren from Shudder to Think
Anyway doors were supposed to open at 7:00, they actually opened at around 7:20. First let me just say although the Brattle theater seems like an odd choice for a venue, for this show it worked at least, it was intimate, the sound was great, and everyone had a good view of the stage (which probably couldn’t hold more then 3 people). The opening act Craig Wedren ex lead singer (or current he didn’t seem that sure himself) of the band Shudder to Think. His set consisted of him with a guitar and a few pedals which he used masterfully. It was an experience in minimalism, and he really seemed to enjoy being on stage, all musicians do but he really seemed to relish the opportunity. I wasn’t familiar with his solo work or his work with Shudder to Think, but what I heard I liked, he defiantly falls into the singer-songwriter category of music, in fact for one Shudder to Think song he said here is the song ‘drastically reinterpreted’ and I got the feeling it was reinterpreted not only because of necessity of being the only man on stage, but because this was the song of he had envisioned, and that’s probably the best way to describe Craig Wedren’s music, it was solely is vision. Truth is Craig is just a very, very talented guy who was doing playing his songs, the way he wanted them to be played, and it worked, the set was strong and it set the mood for the main act.
B+
Greg Dulli Setlist
1. St. Gregory
2. God’s Children
3. Blackbird and the Fox
4. The Lure Would Prove Too Much
5. Bonnie Brae
6. Kings Only
7. Fourty Dollars
8. Hyperballad (Bjork Cover)
9. Step into the Light
10. Gunshots
11. If I Were Going
12. Summer’s Kiss
13. Follow You Down
14. The Stations
15. Never Seen No Devil
Encore
16. Candy Cane Crawl
17. Down The Line
18. Teenage Wristband
19. Twilight Kid.
Encore 2
20. Black Love
After Craig left at about 8:35 Greg Dulli and his back up band Twilight Singers guitarist Dave Rosser and multi-instrumentalist Rick Nelson of the Polyphonic Spree, took the stage at about 9:00. Throughout the show they seemed relaxed and was joking around with the audience. Greg told a story about the last time he was in the Brattle Theater, that was good for a laugh, and he called out someone in the front row for checking his email while he was playing, also good for a laugh. I guess my one problem is their should have been more audience interaction, the Brattle only holds about 235 people and Greg really could of turned it into an event, something like VH1-Story Tellers, except people would be watching this. Musically what can I say the man has his detractor’s, just before I left, I read something in Blender saying he was embarrassing himself now on this tour, me I thought he was great, his voice sounded strong, the band was in synch, the setlist gave the audience a nice career retrospective plus a little taste of some new material. Since it was an acoustic show everyone was in their seats the entire time, nobody got up until the encore, the atmosphere was very mellow, but the audience was composed of die hard Greg Dulli fans (tickets sold out in under a week) and Greg really put on a great live show, I know I left happy.
A-
More Hunx!
That video just got me really pumped haha, so here’s an old interview for all of you Hunx fanatics out there, such as myself.
The Gutter Twins: All Misery/Flowers
With Greg Dulli coming to a sold out Boston show (from what I read most major city stops of his shows have been sold out on this tour), I figured over the next couple of days I would post a few videos taking a look at his work. Here is a video showcasing his longstanding collaboration with Mark Lanegan (Queens of the Stone Age, Screaming Trees). While they have worked together on various projects throughout the years, they officially released (an amazing) album called Saturnalia under then name ‘The Gutter Twins’. Here is the song “All Misery/Flowers”.
7″ Review: “Night Jogger”
Artist: Those Darlins and The Funstix
Label: Oh Wow Dang
Side A: “Night Jogger”- Let me first say this is a tad bit more adventerous in sound for the Darlins, which is a good thing. If you’re big into their country sound (which I am) you may or may not dig this. I mean this still retains a lot of country elements, but it’s not as evident as their previous works. Either way, I’d like to see them expand into new territory. This song has a great groove and is almost modest in a sense; just like a layed back, slick, cool song, not too wild or attention grabbing and yet you can still dance to it. The vocals are what we have come to expect from the group and they are as solid as ever. Not my favorite from them, but it’s still a good song.
Grade: 8/10
Side B: “Funstix Party”- This is the better of the two songs: a rowdy, rockin and rollin, female King Khan BBQ number (lyrically anyway). This has a great blend of country-Darlins styled vocals with garage punk (I know I hate using the broad label too, but it really works here) production: jangely guitars, a nice little solo section, and pounding drums. It’s heavier than the A Side and in my opinion is much funner. I can picture this being a great song to mosh and sing along to live. The lyrics are humorous and licentious, which is always a pleasure- “I’ll bring the pussy you bring the dicks. FUNSTIX PARTY! FUNSTIX PARTY!” Now, that’s what I like to hear!
Grade: 9/10
Overall Grade: B+
Once again, Those Darlins will be playing in Boston at T.T. the Bears on Friday, September 17. I can’t wait! And if you are not in the Boston/New England area, then check around, since the Darlins are on tour right now and very well could be hitting up a club near you.
Awesome Pic of the Day
Ahh the memories!
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 