What Shows Have You Been To Lately?
 

Strangely enough, I don't think we have a designated thread for this topic. We have the "bands you're anticipating seeing" thread, but that's not quite the same. Since I've been on a kick of trying to go to more shows lately, I figured I'd make this thread. Any type of live music performance is fine to post here, but please tell us a bit about the show. Posts don't have to be particularly long, but ones just containing the names of bands with little or nothing else will be deleted.

We had such a topic, but who gives a ****.
No shows lately. No money lately :)

http://www.austinchronicle.com/binar...ure-35967.jpeg

I just went to see Scratch Acid last night. I've been a fan of them since I was fourteen or fifteen and never in million years thought I'd ever have a chance to see them live since they broke up in 1987. So I was shocked when I found out they were playing walking distance from my house! It was my first time at this particular venue, which just opened a month or two ago, and I really liked the setup of the place. And the band were great! The years have definitely not been kind to David Yow and honestly he looked like he was about keel over at any moment, but he put absolutely everything into his signing, hocked lugies all over the stage and fortunately kept his clothes on for the entire show. I've always been a fan of David Wm. Sims' bass playing and it was great to see him perform in person, but the person who really surprised me was Rey Washam. I never thought to much about his drumming before but seeing him live gave me a whole new appreciation--he really is a pretty fantastic drummer. Highlights of the show for me were "Lay Screaming", "Damned for All Time", "Cannibal" and "She Said".

I recently saw Dillinger Escape Plan open for Mastodon. I didn't particularly enjoy Dillinger... to be blunt, the music they make sounds like amelodic, atonal drivel and I just don't have the PhD in Timesignatureology necessary to make sense of it. Mastodon on the other hand were great; they weren't showy at all and spent most of the set intensely focused on their instruments. They sounded excellent and I can understand how the technicality of their songs combined with the fact that all four members contribute vocals makes it difficult to jump around like the roid-raging Dillinger lead singer. They also played a wide berth of material-- about an equal amount from each album, with the exception of the Hunter of course.

Also, I don't know if you guys are aware of this site but it's fantastic. Setlist FM

Hot damn, I'm jealous man. I like both bands quite a bit!

The last show I went to was last month... Nuclear Rabbit reunion concert! Hadn't seen them play in about 5 years. And then someone uploaded the whole thing on youtube. I'm in it multiple times in a brown Hiero hoodie. It was at the Gilman in Berkeley, CA...

I dunno why its in 3d, but its still the best NR footage on the internet.

dammit, I hate when people misuse the word atonal. I in no way has bad connotations...

Anyway, I don't know, man. I think DEP are pretty accessible in their own way. They're not like Tool, for example, which uses a lot of strange technique but never uses it to make a song sound different from another.

Yeah, I'm really glad I got to go, it was kind of last minute

Perhaps it doesn't have bad connotations for you, but I believe atonality is fundamentally counter to what I consider music. It turns a collection of notes into nothing more than aimless noise.

Well I was going to see Testament and Death Angel in a few weeks but for whatever reason that show has been cancelled. I was also tempted to go see Cynic in a few weeks with the rumor that Anathema would be touring with them, but that doesn't seem to be the case, for this show at least. So my two shows for the rest of the year that I was looking forward to seeing are gone :/

However in the spirit of the thread, I did go see Sweatshop Union back in early-mid September with a buddy, although we had to sit through like 5 opening acts. It got to the point where we left the venue, went to a gas station, bought 40 oz's and started drinking them outside this scrap yard near the venue. By the time we finished them, Sweatshop Union were already a little ways into their set and my buddy wanted to leave because he has old man hips and they were sore after spending 2 hours standing through opening acts. As he was my ride home, I grudgingly went with him, still we got through at least 5 songs so I guess it wasn't all bad.

Last show I actually had a really good time at was back in May when I saw Dessa and Sims play on a Wednesday night during Finals week. I even told her that the small audience was probably attributed to all the university students studying for their finals. Still it was a pretty decent show all things considered. Last few shows I saw before that were other hip hop shows, Ceschi in February, Talib Kweli in April, and Gift of Gab later that month. It's been a very hip hop year for me, which is good for making up for all the shows I missed before I really got into the genre, but god damn what I wouldn't give for a metal show.

Let's see, the last show I went to was the Mushroomhead concert with Psychostick that I went to with my girlfriend, and it was quite awesome! =D

Are you sure you're using atonality in the correct definition? Because, knowing or not, I'm sure there's a ton of music which you enjoy that is atonal. Hip-hop, for example, is obviously completely atonal, as well as a lot of rock.

Personally, I don't care for scales. That's not just for noise, or avant-garde, either. There's no reason why you can't right fully harmonic/melodic music completely ignoring them. I think there's gaps in the system that can easily be matched with human intuition which is often more substantial than 'theory math'.

Glad you enjoyed Mastadon, though. I really need to get out to concerts more. Last thing I saw was Battles, and that was in freaking August.

I've seen quite a few great gigs this autumn. few weeks ago I saw Cat Martino opening for Marissa Nadler. Both of the girls were absolutely breathtaking. Cat Martino was cool since she palyed around with loop pedals alot. Marissa Nadler was also really amazing and I love her albums. I also saw Doug Paisley earlier this autumn. He's a really cool country/folk artist from Canada

Last show I went to was actually a festival.
Here's the pictures and video:
clickety!
Lowlands Festival 2011.
Not a particularly good edition by the way.
I went to see:
C.W. Stoneking, Jungle by Night, Mariachi el Bronx, White Denim, Arctic Monkeys, Junip, DeWolff, Flogging Molly, Seasick Steve, Babylon Circus, Erland & The Carnival, Beady Eye and the Offspring for nostalgia's sake :D

Man that is immense when a band you really want to see turns up on your doorstep! I don't know much about Scratch Acid at all (hides) but I know how it feels to click a few names off the 'to see before you die' list. I caught Fields Of The Nephilim on their only U.K date in years a couple of weeks back along with The Mission who were only doing 3 dates and I was made up. Sisters Of Mercy doing a 2 hour set on a very rare date for me Sunday night.

i saw modern english about a month ago

Meatloaf....terrible,terrible performance, out of breath, cant move, cant reach any note above a whisper, needs guitarist to duet sing his lines with him so he sounds good!

going to see Roger Waters "the wall" live in january...now that should be good

Last night I went to see Opeth and Pain of Salvation.

PoS were alright, passable, but theres just something about them that I cant completely get into. I'll probably give the albums I have another go this week though.

Opeth were stunning. They didnt play any metal, but rather a complete set of their proggier, clean stuff. The set list for this tour wont please everyone but I thought it was astounding.

^this is why if i ever make it back to Philly....you and i are meeting up for drinks in Fishtown!

when Jesus Lizard came to play Seattle on their reunion....the Stranger interviewed Yow and asked him if we could play on a full exposure show....he replied with...."i can't think of why anybody would want to see a 48 year old penis.".....needless to say his pants stayed on :)

Scratch Acid and the legendary Fillmore Theater dec 14!.....i cannot wait and your post just tripled my excitement

Nice! I saw Sisters of Mercy in the late 90s and they put on a terrific show. Hope you enjoy it!

Absolutely! I actually used to work in Fishtown so I have some favorite bars there.

:laughing:

You'll definitely have to do a little write up here after you go.

So then was it all from Heritage and Damnation? Or just Heritage? Or did they throw in clean bits from other albums too?

Yeah I'm probably misusing that word. So put it this way: Dillinger waged war with my ears, and my ears were on the losing side. How was Battles? That was post-Tyondai right?

RVCA,

Opeth did play a few tracks off Heritage, of course. They played 5, I think, off that album. Then they selected more mellow tracks from their back catalogue. Hex Omega, Face of Melinda, Credence, Closure, Porcelain Heart, A Fair Judgement. They played Throat of Winter from God of War, but I used that track to run to the bathroom. Well, it had to be done, may as well use what I consider to be not a real Opeth track, even though theres nothing wrong with it as such!

I went to see Sisters Of Mercy last night on a rare date for them (a 6 hour round trip to London + beer is not the ideal way to prepare for your first day in your new job) and I have to say that it was £30 (not including petrol and drink costs) wasted.

No support act and we got an hour and 25 minutes worth for our money. On top of that they just weren't very good. Terrible sound. I couldn't see shit (despite my small stature it isn't usually a problem) and they sounded more like a Metal band with bad vocals than the atmospheric Goth sound they are known for. Shame.

That sucks. They were great when I saw them many years ago.

I saw The Smashing Pumpkins last night.

I've never been a huge fan, but I like them. The person I went with likes them more than me. Of course its not really the same band now either, and so I wasn't expecting much.

I have to say I enjoyed it much more than I had expected to though. They did trail off into a little obscurity towards the end, before the encore, but they sounded great. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

congrats on the new job!

a few years ago when i still lived in Seattle....Sisters of Mercy played....i had tickets and looked forward to the show but was in the hospital....a good friend went and she basically described as you did except she added that all they did was complain about not being able to smoke inside

i have to admit....i think i'd still go see them if the chance came

http://new.assets.thequietus.com/ima...op_350x300.jpg

I went to see Trans Am about six weeks ago and have been meaning to post about it since. I've seen them twice before, in 1997 and 2003, so it's kind of interesting to witness the evolution of their live show over the years. This particular show they played their album Futureworld in it's entirety. Considering that this is possibly my favorite album by them, I was pretty excited about the show, and I have to say it definitely lived up to my expectations. They were amazing, super tight, and just flat-out entertaining. One thing I found pretty interesting was the fact that the bassist, Nathan Means, seems to have taken over as the main person who does the talking and interacting with the audience. The first time I saw them, Philip Manley, the guitarist, was definitely the one handling frontman duties. I can remember what the situation was the second time I saw them. All I remember is that the show was at the end of a long drunken day and my friends and I ended up getting thrown out toward the end.

Edit: Oh, and the opening band this time was some side project of one of the guys from Zombi. Okay electronic background music but nothing too special.

That is very untrue. I take it you don't listen to that much hip hop.

I've been to a few shows recentlly. Firstly I went to see DJ Shadow and the rather impressive Shadowsphere. A fully erect sphere parked centre stage from the very start of the show, and a screen behind it acting as a back drop. The show was visually very impressive and given the set-up, whatever images were being screened were being shown on the screen from left to right and also incorporating the sphere itself. The images were consistently changing, altering at a fast pace for the duration of the show. The pace at which the images were moving would give the impression the sphere was moving. At one point, for example, the sphere was a basketball and the screen a court. Then a chainsaw beamed onto the screen would slice clean through ther sphere. All very trippy. And 15 minutes or so into the show, the sphere was revolved to reveal Shadow set up inside the sphere.

Oh and he sounded great too. Or something.

http://hiphopfiend.org/wp-content/th...560&zc=1&h=500




Trillians is a fairly small rock bar in Newcastle. I'm not sure what the capacity is but it's far from huge. It's a basement bar, down the stairs, where you are plunged into near-darkness. Back before the smoking ban, it had a real smoky atmosphere, given there are no windows or anywhere for the smoke to escape. I've seen small local bands and tribute acts play here. The ceiling is rather low, so much so that on the rare occasion I've seen major label or "name" bands play here, the walls seem to get smaller and narrower and the floor space quickly shrink. When I saw Orange Goblin play here, the extremely tall frontman was simply too big for the venue and kept headbutting the lights.

I recently saw Napalm Death come to town and tear the place down. The stage is so close to the crowd that all seperates it from us is a small, single step. I've sat on the stage on a busy Friday night before, as it's really just a part of the furniture rather than an area of the venue made out of bounds. Napalm Death were in their element in a venue like this. It really is one of those charming venues where the band can see the whites of the audiences eyes. I've never seen the place so busy before, sweat literally running off peoples brows. Such a high energy, crazy show that I would go and see again and again and never tire of it. Beautiful.

From such a small venue to one of the biggest you will find in this country, I then went to see the Manic Street Preachers at the O2 in London, formerly the Millenium Dome. This show was hands down the biggest value for money event I have ever attended. I was so impressed and yet so disgusted watching it, thinking of how much some artists feel they can charge these days.

The band released a singles collection this year which they arent touring. They did a Greatest Hits tour a few years ago which may be why. That and it would be too much for them to do this show every night. This was a one off show for the fans. The band played EVERY song on the National Treasures singles collection. Thats 38 tracks, 3 hours on stage, and how much did I pay for my ticket? The £70+ that Coldplay are charging for their shows next year? The £80+ that Lady Gaga charged for her FIRST major tour? Hell no. £22.50. Can't argue with that at all.

The band were honest ("We're gonna play some songs many of you will fucking hate") and to their credit, put so much effort and money into the show. I have a feeling it may have been filmed for a DVD. Aswell as playing every charting, top 40 single from 1992 to the present day, they even brought out a couple of guests. Gruff from Super Furry Animals was a guest I certainly was not expecting when he came out to play Let Robeson Sing with the band and on the 6 hour drive to London me and my mate discussed if they were gonna bring out a female singer to sing Nina Persson's (from the Cardigans) part for Your Love Alone. They did. However I wasnt expecting them to actually fly the woman herself in from America to do it!

All in all, it was a lesson in how to treat your fans with respect. I particularly enjoyed Nicky Wire finishing the show the way they used to back in the day, by smashing his bass on the stage as he left, and then tweeting about it the next day. "Really wish I hadn't smashed my bass guitar in half last night - it's had it!"

High on Fire
with
Goatwhore
Primate
Lo-Pan

Went to this show this past thursday and I have to say, though I went to see High on Fire, all of the bands were fantastic. Lo-Pan impressed me with their tight bass/guitar relationship. Primate really blew me away with their sheer intensity. Goatwhore were fairly intense as well, with a nice black/death/thrash mix and one hell of an impressive bassist. And High on Fire, of course, blew the doors off the place with raw, boozy rock and fucking roll. Highlights included "Speedwolf", "Fury Whip", "Rumors of War/Dii" and a badass set-closing version of "Snakes for the Divine". On top of all this, the crowd was pretty great too. All in all a thumbs up.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ni5uywaFG...be6ed14572.jpg

Man Man with Murder by Death and Northern Arms
Great show! I've seen Man Man before, and though they've changed a bit since last time I saw them, they're still great. The other two, who I wasn't really familiar with, were great as well. Both were sort of the dark country category, though Northern Arms leaned in more of a dirge-like direction.

Hey Janszoon, how often do you go to see artists? Do you regularly go to gigs? I noticed your large list of bands seen in another thread and am impressed!

I don't go super often, maybe once every month or two on average. That list you're talking about really isn't that long when you consider that the timeframe it covers is over 25 years.

Yes I see what you mean! I wish I could go to more shows, there are some amazing bands that come to Auckland. I missed out on the Hollies, I'm going to miss Tool, all because I have no money!

I saw Paul McCartney not too long ago. Worst crowd ever though, seemed like no one knew that they were even at a concert.

http://www.m-light.com/SquidooKodo/Kodo-5-Epworth.gif

Kodō
Just got back from seeing these guys, who are a large percussion ensemble from Japan. Freaking amazing show. Honestly, I got choked up a few times during the show, overwhelmed by the raw power of what they were playing. If you ever have a chance, I highly recommend seeing them.

Pallbearer in Hot Springs, OOOOO BOY. I threw my neck out. It was massive.

I also caught some Peelander-Z after the former band. Oooo boy? I didn't have the energy for the whole show unfortunately :( video later.

Just got front row & center seats to Buddy Guy at Massey Hall, will report back after my mind gets blown away..

http://www.wnyc.org/i/620/372/c/80/p...PhotoColor.jpg

Red Baraat with Vandana Jain and Parijat Desai Dance Company
I can't even begin to express how incredible Red Baraat were live. My wife and I had these really great seats literally on a couch up in a balcony area but neither of us could stay seated because the music was just so high energy that we couldn't keep from dancing. At one point this tiny older lady came over and started dancing with us and it turned out she was the drummer's mom. She was so proud of her son. It was pretty adorable. Anyway, great show. If you get a chance, see these guys live.

The openers were decent too. The Parijat Desai Dance Company were great; it was kind of neat to see a dance group as an opening act at a concert. And Vandana Jain was a little rough around edges, but still played some worthwhile Berlin-esque retro 80s electronic music.

Here's some Red Baraat if you're unfamiliar:

I saw Neon Trees with Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

Both bands put on a great show. The sound was atrocious though. The bass player/sound man ruined it for everyone.

I also saw French Horn Rebellion with about 30 other people in a tiny little club here. One of the best shows I've ever been to in my life. I was literally 3 feet away from the band.