Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 @ The Fillmore at Irving Plaza

In San Francisco, I used to complain about there not being enough great bands to see. Now, I find myself complaining about not having enough money to see all the bands that come through New York. This summer's All Points West Festival at Liberty Park in New Jersey has introduced a layaway plan for the frugally minded. Either this is encouraging news or a sad state of affairs. In any case, I, for one think that every venue in New York should implement a similar plan or at least reduce ticket prices. There's no denying it. Recession prices and layaway plans are back and it feels like Christmas Eve in 1991 all over again.

Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 will be performing at The Fillmore at Irving Plaza on Saturday, April 11. B.Y.O.D.S.O.H. Bring your own droll sense of humor.

Read Wired.com's interview with Hitchcock here.

Fiddler On the Lawn

I can't remember the last time I saw so many great bands for free or had so many different drugs offered to me in the space of five hours (in a park). I passed by a gentleman selling rolled-up balls of aluminum (presumably hallucinogenic drugs wrapped in foil, but who knows, it could have been candy...) at one festival stage, several pot dealers on the grounds of another stage, and a purveyor of "magic" brownies at a third. Alas, I was short on cash and brownies give me the runs, but I sure was curious to find out just how much more fun I could be having.

As it turns out, we had a blast anyway. We missed Bonnie "Prince" Billy's set at 1:00, but managed to catch all of the other acts we were hoping to see: Elvis Costello's High Whines and Spirits (who opened with "[The Angels Wanna Wear My] Red Shoes" from Costello's first album, My Aim Is True), Iron and Wine (Sam Beam sans band), Gogol Bordello, Loudon Wainwright III, the tail end of Pegi Young's set, and Emmylou Harris. Highlights of the day were Gogol Bordello's blistering, gypsy-punk and Emmylou Harris who performed an amazing set with the Red Dirt Boys (scroll down to download songs from these artists).

It's great to know that the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival will be able to continue for a while to come thanks to Warren Hellman (Why can't all billionaires be this cool?) and festival organizers. Read the SF Chronicle article about this year's festival here and a nice recap of the event on the Mercury News blog here.

Gogol Bordello on the Star Stage

L-R: Emmylou Harris, Rickie Simpkins (fiddler), Warren Hellman (festival financier)

Elvis Costello - I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself (live Burt Baccarach cover, My Aim Is True - Bonus Disc, 1977)
Elvis Costello - Poison Moon (Honky Tonk demo, My Aim Is True - Bonus Disc, 1977)
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - New Amsterdam (Get Happy! 1980)

Iron & Wine - Sodom, South Georgia (Our Endless Numbered Days, 2004)
Iron & Wine - My Lady's House (Woman King EP, 2005)
Iron & Wine - Love Vigilantes (New Order cover, iTunes Live Session, 2006)

Gogol Bordello - Against the Nature (Vio-la Intruder, 1999)
Gogol Bordello - 60 Revolutions (Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike, 2005)

Loudon Wainwright III - The Man Who Couldn't Cry (Attempted Mustache, 1973)
Loudon Wainwright III - Motel Blues (A Live One, 1990)
Loudon Wainwright III - He Said, She Said (Career Moves, 1993)

Emmylou Harris - When I Stop Dreaming (Louvin Brothers cover, Luxury Liner, 1977)
Emmylou Harris - Pancho & Lefty (Townes van Zandt cover, Heartaches and Highways: The Very Best of Emmylou Harris, 1984)
Emmylou Harris - All That You Have Is Your Soul (Tracy Chapman cover, All I Intended To Be, 2008)

Sigur Rós

photo by Eva Vermandel
Sigur Rós are playing at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley tonight. So far, I've been to a string of great shows. Hopefully, this will be every bit as good. I'll keep you posted.

Sigur Rós - Gobbledigook (Með suð..., 2008)
Sigur Rós - Við spilum endalaust(Með suð..., 2008)
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (Með suð..., 2008)
Sigur Rós - Íllgresi(Með suð..., 2008)

Sigur Ros at the Greek Theatre
(Update) Tonight's Sigur Ros concert was phenomenal. I mean that literally and figuratively because it started raining just as the show came to an end. It isn't often that rain enhances one's appreciation of live music at an outdoor venue, but given the lush Icelandic landscapes that serve as backdrops for their videos (see the director's cut of "Gobbledigook" here), one would think that there was nothing more natural than the presence of natural phenomena at a Sigur Ros concert. The opening band, Parachutes, served up a solid set of jangly pop songs accompanied by the lead singer's delicate falsetto (which sounded almost like a whisper compared to Birgisson's steady and sustained delivery). Sigur Ros came on shortly after, beginning their set with "Svefn-G-Englar." The show consisted mainly of songs from Ágætis byrjun, Takk ("Hoppipolla") and their most recent album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust.

The music's soaring crescendoes, Jónsi Birgisson's ethereal falsetto, the giant lit lanterns in the background (first translucent, then looking like blue orbs suspended in space), the real-time black and white/color saturated video feed of the band projected onto the screen (something Nine Inch Nails also incorporated into their recent show in Oakland), the smoke and strobes from the stage, the confetti, and the gentle downpour of cool, refreshing rain made this show a veritable feast for the senses. The last time my senses were so bombarded with stimuli at a show was when I saw the Flaming Lips open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers dressed as bunnies, blowing bubbles from the stage. That was unbridled madness, but this had all the passion, gravity, and celebratory zest of Sunday mass (well, ideally, that's how mass should be, right?). One cannot help but associate Birgisson's voice with angels and boy's choirs. It is otherworldly. He spoke to the audience between songs--once in Icelandic, before making the wry comment, "You probably want this in English." To my pleasant surprise, the sound at the Greek theatre was perfect, transmitting every syllable uttered, every note sung and played with absolute clarity. Also, the seating arrangement abides by the most democratic system I have ever experienced at a full-priced concert. All the tickets are for General Admission and seating is on a first come, first seated basis. It's incredible. That the venue is designed so that you can situate yourself pretty much wherever you like and still get a decent view of the stage, makes the Greek Theatre my new favorite venue. It felt like a small club compared to the Concourse at the SF Design Center, despite their relative proximity in size. Since I do not anticipate going to any more shows for the remainder of this year (edit: just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!), I'm glad I rounded out my concert calendar with Sigur Ros on such a high note.

Bloody hell that was LOUD!

I was afraid my ears would literally start bleeding at a Ministry show I went to several years ago. Thankfully, my ears were plugged last night and I was able to appreciate MBV's sonic assault at a comfortable volume. The band played nearly all of Loveless except "Loomer" and "Sometimes". They played every track on Isn't Anything except "Soft As Snow," "No More Sorry," and "Sueisfine." They didn't play "Lose My Breath" because I would have remembered it if they had. I'm sure that those who snagged a setlist at the end of the show will post them somewhere soon.

Impressions: awful venue, inexplicable security policies, guy wheel-chaired away after he collapses next to the speakers at the first note the band played, clean-smelling friendly people in the crowd, Kevin Shields' hand, Shields and Butcher changing guitars more frequently than Bowie changed costumes as Ziggy in the Spiders From Mars, Bilinda Butcher playing what looked like a sweet, turquoise Fender Mustang at one point, drowned out vocals, my body vibrating like a cell phone, the audience's cheers sounding eerily like the shrieks of damned souls as the feedback faded out on the last number, Shield's saying, "Hiya, thank you for coming out tonight," ear plugs, no encore

What the last twenty minutes of the show felt/sounded like:
-standing on a tarmac while half a dozen Boeing Jets simultaneously take off
-speeding through the Lincoln Tunnel toward Jersey with the top down (amplified to 11 a la Spinal Tap)
-listening to 1,000 percussive instruments being played at the same time at different tempos
-listening to a dozen sets of helicopter propellers going at once
-being suspended in the center of a tornado
-the Rapture as I imagine it (just before your ass is left behind!)
-fucking cool

Head over to the SF Weekly Blog for a write-up of the show by Jennifer Maerz.

"the sound was like a rocket launch where the spaceship never leaves the vicinity, instead breaking one sound barrier after another ten feet away from you."

(Update) Setlist via alternapop.com:

I Only Said
When You Sleep
You Never Should
(When You Wake) You're Still In A Dream
Cigarette In Your Bed
Come In Alone
Only Shallow
Thorn
Nothing Much To Lose
To Here Knows When
Slow
Feed Me With Your Kiss
You Made Me Realise

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds: Part Deux

Night two at The Warfield was even better! Given how off the mark the setlist I posted last night was, I'm not going to put tonight's setlist in order until I can confirm it tomorrow. But here's what was played:

Night of the Lotus Eaters
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Tupelo
Today's Lesson
The Mercy Seat
Deanna
Midnight Man
Nobody's Baby Now
Papa Won't Leave You, Henry
The Weeping Song
Moonland
We Call Upon The Author
More News From Nowhere
Love Letter
Jesus of the Moon
Get Ready For Love
Hard-on For Love
Stagger Lee

Update: I don't go to very many shows. Tickets are usually pricey and I don't like to be disappointed when a band can't match their studio wizardry in a blood and guts live setting. I don't want to be entertained. I want to come out of the venue with my sensory processes temporarily impaired (in a good way). Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds remain a refreshing anomaly in rock music, surpassing the dark intensity of their recorded work with the primal energy of their performances. "Night of the Lotus Eaters" was one such example last night. "Get ready to shield yourself," (a lyric which sounded really depressing to me when I mistook it the first time I heard it for "get ready to shoot yourself") Cave admonished as the band took the stage with Mick Harvey on drums for the opener. Cave and company tore through the set, which included most of the same songs as the previous evening, with ferocity. I would almost describe it as a fire and brimstone ferocity, as Cave towered over us during "The Mercy Seat," taking on the aspect of an evangelic preacher, were it not for his crooning on the gentler ballads and the singer coyly referring to himself as "that beautiful face on the cover" when introducing one of the songs (I don't remember which. He's on so many of their album covers.) Highlights of the evening for me were "The Mercy Seat," "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry," "The Weeping Song," and "Love Letter." I thought "Stagger Lee" sounded better the first night, but it's one of my favorites so I'm not complaining. The band also appeared a lot looser tonight, but perhaps that was due to the consumption of the various alcoholic beverages on hand (ex. beer, red wine, and a mysterious ruby liquid in a cup). There were two hitches, one with Harvey's guitar and the other, Jim Sclavunos' off-timed finish on one of the last songs (I wanna say "Hard-on For Love," mainly because it would make for a nice pun). Warren Ellis and Mick Harvey did double-duty on several instruments: Ellis on violin (shredding it like a guitar), samplers, fender mandocasters, keys and flute; Harvey on guitar, keys and drums. The guys seemed to have a good time and we certainly did. It was a night I won't soon forget.

Now we'll just have to sit tight for the releases of "The Road" (Nov. 26) and Cave's new novel (Sept. 2009).

You better run to the city of refuge

'Cause Nick Cave and them Bad Seeds are in town. By sundown tonight, not even the rattlesnakes'll be safe.

Update: What a fantastic show! Below is a fairly accurate setlist of what Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds played at The Warfield tonight (9/19). They're all songs about "the usual stuff." Oh, and the mustache brigade (in the audience) was scant seen this evening. I saw maybe four or five who deserve an "E" for effort, but nothing even approximating the Selleck, Bronson, or Cave variety.

Setlist revised from Blah Blah Blog:

1. Night of the Lotus Eaters
2. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
3. Tupelo
4. Today's Lesson
5. Red Right Hand (Scream 3 version) (MP3 from Rarities and B-sides Vol. II, 2005)
6. I Let Love In
7. Midnight Man
8. The Mercy Seat (Acoustic version) (MP3 from Rarities and B-sides Vol. I, 2005)
9. Deanna (Acoustic version) (MP3 from Rarities and B-sides Vol. I, 2005)
10. Moonland
11. The Ship Song
12. We Call Upon The Author
13. Papa Won't Leave You, Henry
14. More News From Nowhere
15. The Lyre of Orpheus
16. Into My Arms
17. Get Ready For Love
18. Hard-on For Love
19. God Is In The House
20. Stagger Lee

Bonus link: "Little Empty Boat" (MP3 from Rarities and B-sides Vol. III, 2005)

Update: The crowd at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre last night was unabashedly vociferous in their adoration of the music, the man and the band. Throughout the night, Cave darted from one end of the stage to the other, howling, dancing and leaning into the throng of enthusiastic fans, while the band anchored the vocals to music (keyboardist, Conway Savage and drummer, Thomas Wydler, making shakers seem like pretty fun instruments to play.) Cave, amused and bemused, by the intermittent, hardly audible calls and shouts from the front audience, reciprocated the love. Starting the set off with "Night of the Lotus Eaters", a Tennysonian number, it was the first of many songs they played from their latest album, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Mute, 2008). It was followed by the title track off of Dig!!! and the syncopated chanting of "Tupelo" from the First Born Is Dead. They performed audience favorites, "The Mercy Seat", "Deanna", and "Red Right Hand" with "I Let Love In" for variation, and then my brain mutinied. I gave up trying to remember the correct order of the setlist and let the music in. They charged right into "Midnight Man" (introduced by Cave as a song about "stuff") "Today's Lesson" and "The Lyre of Orpheus," for which the frontman solicited the audience's participation to fill in the "oh mama's." One of my favorites of the night, "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry", was followed by "Moonland" and the rocking invocations of "We Call Upon The Author," replete with Warren Ellis writhing on the floor while he seemed to be conjuring the electronic breakdowns in the song from the stage itself (He might have had a laptop on the floor. I couldn't see.) The set was capped off with "More News From Nowhere." After a brief intermission, unsated fans were treated to an encore of "God Is In The House" from No More Shall We Part, "Into My Arms" from The Boatman's Call and a tune about everybody's favorite outlaw sociopath, "Stagger Lee."

Hands up! Who's ready for more? I am!

Nine Inch Nailed

I've never been disappointed at a Nine Inch Nails show. I saw them for the first time in 2005 on the With_Teeth club tour at The Warfield after having only experienced NIN's music through the albums. The intensity of the music and the band coupled with the comparatively small-scale venue made for an amazing two nights. It more than made up for the discomfiture we experienced standing in line one cold San Francisco morning to purchase tickets for the shows. I saw them again in 2005 at the Oakland Arena and that was fantastic. Regretfully, I had to miss the NIN and Bauhaus concert at the Shoreline in 2006, but last week, I saw them at Oracle Arena (formerly the Oakland Arena) again and it was glorious. I was very impressed by the visual aspect of the With_Teeth arena tour, but the visual design of NIN's current North American jaunt ups the ante considerably. Only by reading the feature in Wired about the tour's art production did I learn that the show was not completely staged.


WIRED
NIN Dazzles With Lasers, LEDs and Stealth Screens
By Bryan Gardiner

A vast wall of swirling static dances on a giant screen as Trent Reznor and his band launch into their song, "Only." Initially obscured by this sea of visual white noise, the Nine Inch Nails front man intermittently appears to push through the particles of snow with his hands and body, popping in and out of view and opening up random tunnels in the chaos.

"Sometimes, I think I can see right through myself," he sings.

Nine Inch Nails fans are accustomed to such sonic and visual feasts whenever Reznor and company go out on tour. But this time around, NIN has pulled out all the stops, creating a groundbreaking, fully interactive visual display that is as much a part of the show as the band's instruments.

"I'm not really a purist," admits Reznor. "If I'm in the studio working on an album, I try to only please myself. But when it's a tour, it feels a bit more like I have a responsibility to some degree to entertain people." Read more