What Show Did You Just See?

[ranyart]

Betsy and I went to our first live in person musical event since Feb 2020 this past Saturday.  We saw Atlanta Rhythm Section at Ludlow Garage.  The place was totally packed, and it sounded like this was Ludlow's first big event since reopening (and that they are lucky they survived the virus mess financially).  Not a mask in sight even though we have lots of unvaccinated people in this part of the world, people were very drunk, and someone even puked toward the back by the only non-emergency exit.  ARS was good fun to watch and hearing live rock-n-roll music again was magic, so we had good fun overall but it certainly felt surreal being in that sort of crowd again.

Two more concerts are on our calendars for August.  Here's hoping that the virus doesn't boomerang back and hit us too hard in the coming months!

[APR]

Modest Mouse - August 17 - at The Anthem in DC. They were great and (pleasantly) not as loud as I remembered them being.  It was just great to see live music with a big crowd again.  It has been a long year and a half waiting for shows, and while Modest Mouse was great and fun, I'm really waiting for my second show back -- MMJ.  That will be next level awesomeness.   

[MMJTX]

Was this for the tour with Future Islands? How were they?

[robb]

finally got a chance to see bright light social hour last night. i'm prone to being easily excitable, but i've been letting it sit for awhile now, and i really think that was one of the better shows i've seen in the last several years. don't miss them if they're rolling through your area.

[MMJTX]

Hit Dead and Company in Dallas and then in Houston last week/weekend. Had a great time at both.

Dallas - first set was all about the women, the Peggy-O was beautiful and the Sugaree was insane. Second set highlight was obviously the Help-Slip-Franklin's Tower, was so happy i got to see one of those.

Houston - first set was a little slow in my opinion, but ended on a high with Jack Straw that set up a real face melting 2nd set, the Trucking into St. Stephen was mind blowing and the black muddy river closer was great

[MMJTX]

Forgot to post this earlier but went and saw Goose on 11/13 in Dallas at a new venue called The Echo lounge. Show was absolutely packed, sold out very quick. Great show and they even covered State of the Art!!!! Was killer.

[Lucius]

Caught the first Florence + The Machine show since 2019 on Friday night in Newcastle at O2 City Hall. They're usually an arena band in the UK so seeing them in such an intimate setting was incredible. Even if you just *like* their music I'd recommend catching them live. Total powerhouse and very euphoric!

https://twitter.com/MrsKray/status/1515419199606345732

To anyone ever coming to the UK and wanting to catch some live music - I recommend heading to Newcastle! I saw Future Islands there a couple of weeks ago and the crowds for both shows were wild. I'm used to the more reserved London crowds but I'm not a Londonder so I'm usually alone in my dancing/singing/fan-girling. Newcastle is apparently where the party is at!

[sillyboob]

Caught the first Florence + The Machine show since 2019 on Friday night in Newcastle at O2 City Hall. They're usually an arena band in the UK so seeing them in such an intimate setting was incredible. Even if you just *like* their music I'd recommend catching them live. Total powerhouse and very euphoric!

https://twitter.com/MrsKray/status/1515419199606345732

To anyone ever coming to the UK and wanting to catch some live music - I recommend heading to Newcastle! I saw Future Islands there a couple of weeks ago and the crowds for both shows were wild. I'm used to the more reserved London crowds but I'm not a Londonder so I'm usually alone in my dancing/singing/fan-girling. Newcastle is apparently where the party is at!

Sounds excellent.  My wife & I will see Florence & The Machine & The War On Drugs on back to back nights in October in San Diego at a small outdoor theater.  Will be two great nights of music! 

[sillyboob]

Just spent the week in Chicago where we saw Jawbreaker with Built To Spill & The Smoking Popes.  Great show!!  The Popes were a lot of fun (last time I saw them was 1995 at Tower Records on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood for a midnight show) and played a great version of Pure Imagination.  Built To Spill were a stripped down trio, and BTS needs extra guitars to sound right.  Didn't quite hit it home.  Jawbreaker are touring for their Dear You album, but opened up with (arguably) their biggest hit Want (joking it was on their Dear You album, which it isn't) and played a great emo punk set, aided at times by a second guitarist.  Chicago was a great time, what a great city!!

[ranyart]

We went to see Steve Hackett over the weekend in Atlanta and it was a fantastic show.  He played Seconds Out plus Selling England By The Pound which is right in my personal Genesis sweet spot.  His band is really good especially the keys and the bass player (who also played quite a bit of backup guitar).  Now I can say I've seen all of Genesis (took almost 40 years)!

[Lucius]

Caught the first Florence + The Machine show since 2019 on Friday night in Newcastle at O2 City Hall. They're usually an arena band in the UK so seeing them in such an intimate setting was incredible. Even if you just *like* their music I'd recommend catching them live. Total powerhouse and very euphoric!

https://twitter.com/MrsKray/status/1515419199606345732

To anyone ever coming to the UK and wanting to catch some live music - I recommend heading to Newcastle! I saw Future Islands there a couple of weeks ago and the crowds for both shows were wild. I'm used to the more reserved London crowds but I'm not a Londonder so I'm usually alone in my dancing/singing/fan-girling. Newcastle is apparently where the party is at!

Sounds excellent.  My wife & I will see Florence & The Machine & The War On Drugs on back to back nights in October in San Diego at a small outdoor theater.  Will be two great nights of music! 

You're in for a treat with Florence! Even though it was their first performance in three years they were TIGHT. "What The Water Gave Me" was a personal highlight. The crowd was there for every single song though! Hopefully you get the same

[LBSUNFLWR]

I finally got to see JRAD Thursday night in Newport, KY which is across the river from Cincinnati.

This band doesn't come around my way very often and I've been trying to see them for years!  I had tickets to a show in Nashville two years ago but of course it was canceled.

Finally got another shot, and an hour and a half away on a Thursday night. So I got tickets and took off work Thursday and Friday.

Six weeks ago I fell and broke my foot!! But knee scooter and all I made it to the show!!!

New venue called Promo West at Ovation and it is awesome. The sound in this place was fantastic. JRAD did not disappoint.  They sounded incredible and I got a nice setlist. Can't wait to see them again every chance I get!!

JRAD 4-28-2022 Newport, KY
Alligator
China>Bertha
Black Throated Wind>Rider
Greatest Story Ever Told
       —————————
Mississippi Halfstep
Dancin in the Streets
Eyes of the World
Playing in the Band
Werewolves of London
       ———————-
U.S. Blues

[Lucius]

I went to All Points East festival in London on Thursday to see Tame Impala. I enjoyed his set, fantastic lights and some great trippy prog-rock numbers (his older stuff really shines live) but my opinion on festivals hasn't changed... crowd full of people talking, barging their way around, arguing and fighting, way too many people that can't hold their alcohol/drugs and were either puking or being dragged out. I can handle a wild crowd but that was a strange one. Apart from his "hits" it felt like standing in a crowded, noisy bar. Really takes you out of the moment when you're someone that really likes to lose themselves in the music! Will definitely have to catch him during his next UK tour.

Also discovered a great quirky band called GOAT who had a great rockin' energy and quirky image. Fun to watch! 

[LBSUNFLWR]

I flew to NJ last weekend and went with my best friend to see Leon Bridges at Forest Hills Stadium.

Leon was pretty good, but more importantly I got to see Forest Hills! What an amazing venue  to see MMJ. I have to go to those shows next tour.

[sillyboob]

Forest Hills is a great venue, I really enjoyed seeing MMJ there in 2019, when Warpaint opened.

Speaking of Warpaint, just saw them to top off a two week run of The National at Kettlehouse & Dillon amphitheaters, MMJ at Santa Barbara & Hollywood Forever.  Had front row tickets for the John Anson Ford amphitheater, right across from the Hollywood Bowl.  What a blast it was, watching the band members exchanging glances and smiles, watching Stella on drums and JennyLee on bass interacting.  And we had a young girl dancing in the aisle for almost the whole show, and the band invited her up on the stage for the encore.  It was pretty damn adorable.  Went with Tom Acevedo, a friend I made on the MMJ / Strand Of Oaks facebook pages.

[Lucius]

Finally caught one of my favourite bands live on Wednesday. I was already aware that they have a reputation for being not very good live... and that was confirmed! Not the worst I've seen but I won't be in a rush to go see them again. They have a great catalogue but don't seem to want to play much of it live. Weird set-list which was a bit too deep cut heavy, and not much played from anything >2006. A lot of fan favourites left out.

However, the first support act absolutely blew the roof off the place! It was worth the ticket price for these guys alone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34kaMyIdRzc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INcEK7Qpcq8

[ChiefOKONO]

Just saw First Aid Kit which was sublime as usual.  They covered Fleetwood Mac's Songbird beautifully!

[Lucius]

Just saw Blondie at an outdoor show in Cardiff.

Pains me to admit it, but Debbie really is losing her voice now. It's been getting progressively deeper/weaker for a good couple of decades now but she always maintained great control up until recently. She sounded like she was really struggling through the entire show on Friday night. They're my 'other' favourite band alongside MMJ, so I really don't wanna admit it - but I think the end might be in sight for them.

On the plus side - the rest of the band are TIGHT. Some nice jams and musical segues in there. Every tour they like to throw in a few surprises and deep cuts that haven't seen the light of day, sometimes ever! It was still worth it for the music alone. But I feel bad for Deb

[LBSUNFLWR]

Just saw two nights of Goose at the Louisville Palace.

They are incredible and I'm trying to see them as much as possible while they're still playing theaters!

I get to top that of with MMJ tonight in Newport.

[MPP]

Just one? Since Jacket at Red Rocks, I've been to two excellent festivals -

Oceans Calling - Peach Pit (first time, really good), Dispatch, Dirty Heads, Third Eye Blind, Sheryl Crow (way better than expected), Incubus, Grace Potter (damn), Weezer (double damn).  Oh, and MD band OAR with guest sit ins from RunDMC (Doing Walk This Way lol) and Richie Sambora.  All were excellent sets.

Just back from this weekends Power Trip festival at Coachella.  Skipped G&R night (heard they weren't good).  Saw Judas Priest and the highlight of every band I'm listing here - AC/DC.  Good lord they rocked. Their first show in 8 years.  Then last night Tool and Metallica.  I get why Metallica has the huge following, if still not a big fan of much of their catalogue.  Great performers and thunderous presence, what hard rock is all about.

Can't rave enough about Angus Young. Dude is mid-70's, running the stage and duck walking like he's still 40. Whole band with Brian Johnson back again sounded great, and rocked the 80,000 out for almost 2 1/2 hrs.  24 songs.  No letup. Jacket-worthy.

Coolest moment I've seen at a rock show - James Hetfield was fan boying to Angus snd AC/DC from the VIP pit just in front of me.  Laughing and pointing to his friends every time Angus did his signature slide-dance during solo riffs.  Very cool to see!  Great festival, hot as hell though.