Louisville 11/22 Reviews

[Kory]

Did anyone else see the MMJ-themed Maker's Mark ad?  I thought it was pretty cool.



Kory - as a fellow photographer, I think your pics came out great, considering they were taken with a point-and-shoot camera.  If you have any other good pics, you should post them in the gallery.  I took some pics with my rangefinder camera that I brought with me, but at first glance, they didn't come out too well.  If I can get some of them to look decent, I'll post them.

-Scott

Yea, I saw those MM banners, I was impressed!
I've got a few more decent ones I'll send along to Riny but looking back I wish I had my Nikon with me.

[blainesanders]

hahahaha...
man i hate to burst bubbles, but strobe lights, smoke, loud noise... that's what makes it fun!!!!
and i'm pretty sure you can't "die" from second hand pot smoke!!!  but you can get "sorta high" for free!!!!
but seriously... no 2 hours of a rock show is going to kill even the most asthmatic folks out there!!  period!!
if you see 1 show a month, you'd never kill yourself cause you went to shows.... i think smoking is an essential part to rock n roll... like it or not, the rock n roll attitude has always been a "live in the moment, worry about consequences later" sort of thing... i know it's not the best way to live day to day life, but it's great for escaping... and thats why we go to shows... to escape!!!  i'm a quitting smoker, but i say, "SMOKE EM IF YOU GOT EM!!"
none of this was meant to be rude by the way.

[sweatboard]

That MM banner is Just Scary!!!!!!!  Also, I was starting to wonder if MMJ even played last night............and the Cardinals winning the World Series adds another ten years on to all their fans lives (period)

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

this show was amazing.  the stage, sound, and general feel was killer.  the band sounds tighter and more polished than ever.

granted, the Gardens is a venue stuck in 1978 and always will be, but that's part of the charm, no?

to all the people crying about the smoking-Jesus!  Fuckin' A.  Jesus man, would you take your pregnant wife and children to Headliner's?  No??  Why not?  

Your favorite band is playing in our hometown and there's always someone to complain endlessly about some detail they didn't like.  A song that wasn't played.  Some asshole talked too loud.  People were smoking weed.  BFD.

This was by far the least smoky show in a long time.  The Gardens is huge and big enough to handle the crowds of the past where EVERYONE was smoking.  

On a personal note, those damn bartenders should have advertised they were selling doubles...DAMN.  I was so fucking drunk by the middle of the show...oh so very drunk and still hungover...apologies to Jeremy and Tony and Mrs. Antoniostrohs for my drunken blatherings....

GREAT fucking show.  One of my favorites.

[marktwain]

Okay, sorry guys.  Next time I lose vision and end up stumbling to the first aid tent at a show I won't 'cry'.  Sorry I'm such a pussy.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061124/SCENE04/611240464

 
MUSIC REVIEW
One big holiday show from hometown band
By Marty Rosen
Special to The Courier-Journal


By Marty Rosen
Special to The Courier-Journal



The Squallis Puppeteers loomed large at the My Morning Jacket Thanksgiving Eve concert at the Louisville Gardens on Wednesday night. As they bobbed through the crowd, drums banged, trumpets screeched, and a couple of members of the Louisville band VHS or Beta served as deejays, spinning a celebratory mix of punk, pop and funk.

Wax Fang, another Louisville outfit, warmed up the crowd with richly layered guitar rock and dark, vivid lyrics -- "A heart is a bomb, sitting inside your chest," sang leader Scott Carney.

And then, after a herd of 21 Santas swarmed through the crowd, it was time for a triumphal homecoming for the headliners. Since 1999, when My Morning Jacket released its first CD, critics have likened the group to Neil Young, pegged it as a jam band and linked the guys to sources in southern rock and alt-country.

Such comparisons are fair enough, as far as they go. But after Wednesday night's performance (in support of the recently released live album and DVD "Okonokos"), descriptions seem utterly inadequate to describe the sheer power of what must be one of the best live rock bands in the world.

Visually, My Morning Jacket mixed DIY aesthetics with arena histrionics. At first, the members' backlit silhouettes were projected on a white scrim that billowed like a massive bedsheet.

Then, as it collapsed to the floor, leader Jim James opened with the exquisitely apt "One Big Holiday," with its inchoate vision of a rocker's life: "From this town we'd escape, if we holler loud and make our way."

Many of James' lyrics have an elusive, impressionistic sketchiness about them, like emotional shopping lists compiled in a dream; others have an edgy prophetic force that mixes surreal images with exhortations as personal as they are political ("Gideon").

He delivers them in a voice that encompasses a vast range of timbres, turning instantly from a thready, pensive baritone to a chilling falsetto war cry.

But in the end what makes My Morning Jacket a brilliant live band is the surgical rigor with which James, Carl Broemer (guitar, saxophone), Two-Tone Tommy (bass), Bo Koster (keyboards), and Patrick Hallahan (drums) stitch themselves into the musical fabric of their material.

On Wednesday night, their improvisational process sounded more like Beethoven than the Grateful Dead. Time after time, over the course of a generous two-hour show, they took a minuscule motif – two notes here, an angular rhythmic figure there -- and from these tiny materials they constructed vividly detailed, sharply elaborated sonic structures that roared, sobbed and satisfied.

[formantua]

The bartenders were selling doubles !?  Good lord, I could have been drunker. I was done with my beer by the time I got back to my seat. I thought bartenders knew that people who drink beer like to drink lots of it. Oh well.

[Corndogs And Asscrack]

Wednesday night was fucking great. I live in Louisville and have for all of my 36 years. Louisville Gardens is hollowed ground for more rock shows than you can imagine. I started going to shows when I was six. The Gardens make up a pretty decent portion of the greatest shows I've seen. I've been to 250-300 shows at the Gardens, and roughly 1400 shows in the last 30 years. I guess thats about one a week. When I was a kid, it seemed there was a show at the Gardens every day. With that said, the venue is a dump. It's always been a dump, but it's our dump, and many wouldn't trade those memories for a new swanky downtown arena.

Okay, now the smoking nonsense. All of you PC cock jockies need to lighten up. If you don't like smoke then don't go. It IS that simple. I don't go to McDonalds and then bitch becasue it wasn't as good as a filet. We are talking about rock and roll. Smoking and drinking go hand in hand. The problem with the non smoking zealots who are taking away our freedoms is that while it's okay to get blitzed out of your mind at the show, and drive home, you can't smoke a few during the show. It's okay to hurt someone else, but we won't let you hurt yourself. It's asinine. BTW, I'm not even a smoker. I'm just someone who likes his rock and roll dirty. If some of you think Wednesday night was bad smoke wise, then you've never been anywhere in this town to see a show.
This is rock and roll to it's very core. If you don't like it, then get the fuck out of Louisville, we're just fine without you. This is how we do things. Bourbon, broads, music and nicotine. It's what we are, and that's the way we like things. The best thing about Louisville is the lack of pretentiousness among most of the people. You don't get that feeling in most other cities. Leave us alone, and we'll leave you alone, and most of the time we can all get along.

It is so cool that MMJ represents this wonderful city so well. They were incredible. Dancefloors rocked like a California earthquake, and Golden was bittersweet. I missed not hearing Bermuda and Heartbreaking, but geez, how many can they play right? It was a great show all the way around, and the people I brought were blown away. I met a ton of people from out of town, and they couldn't seem to be having a better time. The people on this board who say the show was lacking in any measure have no idea what it means to enjoy a good ass kicking concert.

Sorry to vent, but some people just grate.

[Scott D]

"This was a concert. Certain things are and always will be expected and tolerated."

I'll decide what I want to expect and tolerate.  As I said before, I think it's quite reasonable of me to expect a smoke-free environment at a non-smoking show.  I don't think I should have to tolerate smoking at a non-smoking show.  (A "smoking" show is a whole different issue.  But, this was a non-smoking venue.  I don't care if they allowed smoking in the past at concerts at Louisville Gardens.  They don't now.)

"People like you are the reason the Dead stopped playing here when they did."

Um, OK...?  Because we all know how the Dead were firm supporters of smoking in non-smoking areas....?  I don't get it.

"this aint LA or NYC bro
 we make cigarettes and bourbon"

Right, this isn't LA or NYC.  It's Louisville, and Louisville has a smoking ban that currently includes Louisville Gardens.  And Louisville just passed a comprehensive smoking ban that will soon include all bars and other such places.  So, Louisville is quite similar to LA and NYC in this regard.

"man i hate to burst bubbles, but strobe lights, smoke, loud noise... that's what makes it fun!!!!"

No one complained about loud noise.  I complained about strobe lights, because it's just not my thing – I wasn't trying to say they shouldn't have them – I was just saying I don't particularly enjoy them.  

I disagree with you that smoke "makes it fun," and I know a lot of people who would agree with me.

"and i'm pretty sure you can't "die" from second hand pot smoke!!!  but you can get "sorta high" for free!!!!"

I guess some of your post was in jest, because you can't seriously think that secondhand pot smoke is a positive thing for others.  Do whatever you want in your own home, in your car, outside, etc, but I don't want to unwillingly get "sorta high," and I don't want my pregnant wife to unwillingly get "sorta high" at a non-smoking venue.

"but seriously... no 2 hours of a rock show is going to kill even the most asthmatic folks out there!!  period!!
if you see 1 show a month, you'd never kill yourself cause you went to shows.... i think smoking is an essential part to rock n roll..."

I agree – secondhand smoke is very unlikely to kill me.  Drinking a glass of urine every month is also unlikely to kill me.  Just because something doesn't kill me doesn't mean I'm OK with it.  I never mentioned the possibility that I might die as one of the reasons I don't like to be around secondhand smoke.

"like it or not, the rock n roll attitude has always been a "live in the moment, worry about consequences later" sort of thing..."

This is totally fine if the consequences don't affect other people.  But, secondhand smoke DOES affect other people, even if it doesn't kill them.

"i'm a quitting smoker, but i say, "SMOKE EM IF YOU GOT EM!!"  
none of this was meant to be rude by the way."

I consider smoking in a non-smoking area to be rude.

"to all the people crying about the smoking-Jesus!  Fuckin' A.  Jesus man, would you take your pregnant wife and children to Headliner's?  No??  Why not?"

Did you read my previous post?  I don't think you get it.  No, I would not take my pregnant wife to a show at Headliner's, because it is currently a venue that allows smoking, and I know that in advance.  Louisville Gardens, on the other hand, is NOT a smoking venue.  So, I would take my pregnant wife there, based on the very reasonable assumption that people shouldn't smoke in non-smoking areas.

Would you light up a cigarette inside a grocery store, elementary school, or a clothing store?  No??  Why not?

"This was by far the least smoky show in a long time.  The Gardens is huge and big enough to handle the crowds of the past where EVERYONE was smoking."

I agree – this show was less smoky than a show in, say, Headliner's.  That is not the point.  I don't care how big Louisville Gardens is, or how it handles smoke.  It's currently a non-smoking venue.  Why can you not respect that?  It's very inconsiderate to smoke around non-smokers in a non-smoking area.

I'm glad you enjoyed the show and had a great time, but your smoking had a very real negative impact on my enjoyment of the show.

" If you don't like smoke then don't go. It IS that simple. I don't go to McDonalds and then bitch becasue it wasn't as good as a filet."

I don't see how this is relevant.  It's a non-smoking venue.  Would you call me a "PC cock jockey" if I "bitched" about someone smoking in a library?  

"The problem with the non smoking zealots who are taking away our freedoms is that while it's okay to get blitzed out of your mind at the show, and drive home, you can't smoke a few during the show. It's okay to hurt someone else, but we won't let you hurt yourself."

Who said drinking and driving is OK?  I am very much against drinking and driving, and I haven't heard anyone here try to justify it.  In what way is this an argument for allowing smoking in a non-smoking area?

-Scott

[bug]

Okay, sorry guys.  Next time I lose vision and end up stumbling to the first aid tent at a show I won't 'cry'.  Sorry I'm such a pussy.

Oh wow it was that bad?  That almost sounds like nicotine poisoning!

And just for the record not every life time Louisvillian thinks Louisville Gardens is hallowed ground.  I think it sucks and I hope they play at The Louisville Palace next year :)

[Scott D]

"I hope they play at The Louisville Palace next year"

Agreed.  I prefer the Palace as a venue, but I can (somewhat) appreciate the history behind the Gardens.  Although I'm too young to have attended shows there in the 70's or 80's, I saw Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, and some others there in the early 90's, and I have great memories of those shows.

"If you don't like it, then get the fuck out of Louisville, we're just fine without you. This is how we do things. Bourbon, broads, music and nicotine. It's what we are, and that's the way we like things."

Yikes!  I somehow missed that the first time I read this post...

Another "for the record" - not everyone in Louisville is the same, and not everyone in Louisville likes "bourbon, broads, music, and nicotine" (although I happen to like a few of those).  We're all different.  

I hope no one leaves Louisville.  Especially for a difference of opinion.  No one is right all the time, so I think having people with different views on different subjects is a positive thing.  

-Scott

[CrazyFingers]

I thought this thread was for reviews of the Louisville show? Maybe the smoking discusson should move to the American Lung Association forums.

Here's a few pics I took with the crappy camera on my phone. I took a ton of pics but not many turned out good at all.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38891830@N00/304606425/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38891830@N00/304370822/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38891830@N00/304370826/

In regard to the Makers Mark - One Big Holiday banners. I thought they were cool. In fact, I thought they were so cool that I drunkenly tried to bribe the girl behind the bar to give it to me. Needless to say, it didn't work.

[Mr. T.]

They're doing fireworks now :o



 8)

[silversaint]

 "I assumed people would follow the rules and not smoke in a non-smoking venue."

Hello,  I am from Lexington and we are smoke-free.  However, there are such things as signs that were posted the NEXT day, every five feet in every building in the city.
I was surprised to see no "NO SMOKING" signs anywhere, and believe me I looked up, down, around, and upside down!  Did I ask A security guard if I could smoke, HELL NO!
They are usually the one's at outdoor shows that tell me to put it out.  So I might have been the first person to light up a cigarette and gave everyone else the idea.  One person in particular asked me if I was in the smoking "section".  I said "I guess"  So, my advice to whomever is disgusted with cigarette smoke is to  inform Louisville Gardens to put up signs or make one yourself and hold it up at the show like people do.  

great show, because I was able to smoke! and no one complained, to my face anyway!  Being from Lexington, I feel like a criminal when I find an indoor place to smoke.  Forgive me for taking advantage of Louisville Gardens' failure to notify out-of-towners about the current smoking regulations.

[ycartrob]

so let me get this straight; some people were bothered by the smoking?

[megisnotreal]

so let me get this straight; some people were bothered by the smoking?

Ha. Ha.

And, in other news, someone needs to steal one of those Maker's banners for me asap.  ;D

[Kory]

Alright, lets quit the bickering about shit in the past and look at these pictures and (when it's done processing...) watch this video!

http://www.youtube.com/v/ptUk6CAdVxQ

Video Link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptUk6CAdVxQ

My flickr site with photos of the show...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/koryjohnson/

[Kory]

I hate youtube... the sync of audio and video is not right after they convert it to their format. As well as the fact it looks like shit now...
Here's the original...

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ko116e

[blainesanders]

hey kids...
not to KNOCK anyone here, but it's really funny there is a big argument on this board... i've been a part of many band boards, but this one is my favorite... sorry people can't get along sometimes...
i agree that it IS important for people to have a difference of opinion on subjects as well... but namecalling is sorta stupid.. (not that i'm calling anyone stupid :) )
anyways, sorry that the venue said "non-smoking", but i've been to TONS of "non-smoking" venues. there has been a LOT of smoking at each one... sorry to burst your bubble, but rawk n roll and smoking are gonna be hand in hand, REGARDLESS of the rules of the venue!!
sorry, but that's the way it is... personally i like it that way.

[marktwain]

hey kids...
not to KNOCK anyone here, but it's really funny there is a big argument on this board... i've been a part of many band boards, but this one is my favorite... sorry people can't get along sometimes...

Yeah.  I've enjoyed posting and reading posts here for the last several years.  I'm not sure why there's been so much shittiness lately, but  I don't really want to be a part of it anymore.  Guess I'm just not rock and roll enough.  

So goodbye to those of you who deserve it, and fuck off to those of you who deserve that.