New Gig Thread

This is for all non-EC or peripheral-EC topics. We all know how much we love talking about 'The Man' but sometimes we have other interests.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: New Gig Thread

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Sounds great. I know nothing of R Crowell's past nor the Hot Band, though I do have Gram's two most famous albums and so know Love Hurts. Thompson sounds great. I gather the excellent drummer Michael Jerome has played a lot with Thompson over the last decade. Bassist Taras Prodaniuk. Interestingly low slung kit that Jerome plays. Lots of smiling, and creative use of all parts of the kit.

If they were playing in Cambridge, I'd be in there, but I wouldn't head to London or Birmingham for them, I'm afraid.
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Re: New Gig Thread

Post by Jack of All Parades »

Otis- here is a review of the show from the Boston Globe:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... fmm8H99L7A

Here is one more with set lists:

http://exm.nr/10Igdug

Agree with its assessment that this show will be hard to top anytime soon.
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Ta. Checking out the album on Spotify. Definitely not the kind of music I would sit down and listen to, but sounds like it's well done, etc.
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Just got tickets to Paul McCartney show in Warsaw in June.
First time ever in Poland.
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Re: New Gig Thread

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I'm going to a Yes concert tonight. Not sure why.
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Who Shot Sam? wrote:I'm going to a Yes concert tonight. Not sure why.
That was uh... interesting. Lots of Baby Boomers reliving the good old days. Fine musicians, just not my bag.

Going to Handel's Guilio Cesare on Friday at the Metropolitan Opera. Actually have a spare ticket as well if anyone wants to go with me.
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Re: New Gig Thread

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The Fratellis - Camden Electric Ballroom.

Superb!

But why do people throw beer around? :roll: It's not as if it's cheap!
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Got tickets for The National on Nov 14. Wouldn't have missed it for anything. High Violet would be in my top 5 albums of the century thus far, so it will be interesting to see how Trouble Will Find Me compares, out May 20/21. First taste here is promising:

http://www.americanmary.com/
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Re: New Gig Thread

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They are on quite the roll-with you as to a top five band for this century. Their sound gives me shivers and kudos to their drummer. I can say with exactitude-"High Violet"- is a record that I have not stopped playing since it appeared. It is that good. Looking forward to seeing them on their homeground- Brooklyn- later this year.
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Re: New Gig Thread

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June 5th with Youth Lagoon in support - unknown to me, butI note that the dirty Projectors support them the next night in the Animal Collective-immortalised Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia. I'd be very tempted by that one. Wonder who they'll have over here.
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Do comedy shows count as gigs for this thread?

I went to see Sean Lock last night with Mrs VG and laughed at the obvious, the plain silly and the genius of his thinking.
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Finally saw Edwyn Collins last night. It was superb. Opened with Falling and Laughing, then later blew me away with Dying Day and Blue Boy (and the two big hits were great too). Three of my all-time favourite songs. There was a phase after the demise of Joy Division where Orange Juice introduced an element of indie tunefulness that was based on a marriage of soul and the Velvets with a solid post-pubnk indie ethos behind it which made them my favourite band. I still love all the music I loved then and none moreso than those classics. I can't believe I didn't see them in the Rip It Up phase, I could have done. Nor Edwyn since. Finally put it right. His new album Understated is very good indeed and all the songs from his excellent trio of latest albums were great. The fact that he is with us and on stage at all after his horrendous double brain haemorrhage (followed by MRSA) is incredible in itself, and I don't think I've ever heard anyone sing so compellingly about the simple joys of being alive as he does now. It's amazing how he can sing much more easily than he can talk. A remarkable man in every respect, and incredible to me that the Junction was far from full for one of the greatest figures in British music of the last 30 years.
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Have added a few gigs since my last post! Public Enemy on Monday evening in Glasgow was fantastic. Never been to a hip hop gig before, nor was I ever a massive fan of hip hop apart from Public Enemy and De La Soul who grabbed my interest when I was about 13 or so. Fantastic atmosphere and a real performance by the band. Better than I could have hoped for. Always love those gigs where there's a real mix of people of all ages and 'types' who just all enjoy the music in the same way.

Absolute Bowie at Bannermans in Edinburgh on Sunday evening, Beerjacket at Edinburgh Jazz Bar on Thursday 2nd May, Emmylou Harris in Glasgow a few weeks later. (Anyone interested in Beerjacket, suggest you catch BBC Alba's Rapal programme from 10 pm tonight or on the iplayer)

It's also 25 years since I went to my first concert, so I'm taking my Mum to see the band she took me to see when I was 12 - Huey Lewis and The News at The Sage, Gateshead! Their fault I decided I wanted to play guitar when I was about 8............with 20 guitars, it's safe to say that's cost me a few bob down the years! Really looking forward to that one just to spend a night with my Mum like we did 25 years back :)

Anyway, not long now until June! Sorted my flights and accommodation for the Royal Albert Hall gig on the 6th, and can't wait for it to come around and start a hell of a month for live music!
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Saw the exquisite and very talented Bettye LaVette. It was a very crowded jazz club and she mesmerized us all. She was backed up by a five piece band. Her voice is full of emotion and you can feel her pain. Not only has she a set of pipes on her (especially for a petite woman) she is a cool lady. For a lady in her late sixties she was moving and grooving around the stage and she performed songs by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Fiona Apple, and Tom Waits. She did a killer version of Knightts in White Satin and a great version of a song by the only woman who, as she said,'"can drink me under the table", Lucinda William's, Joy.
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Incredibly powerful and impressive gig by John Grant at Cambridge's Junction. The man is a songwriting master and his rich, sonorous voice is a joy to behold. but more than anything it's the way he's taken his hideous upbringing as a gay person suffering at the hands of faggot-hating bible-bashing fundamentalists and fashioned his art out of it as both a way of wrestling with his pretty considerable demons and of sticking two fingers up to them all that makes him so unique. The audience loved him, he was hugely appreciative, and his 4/5ths Icelandic backing band took the fascinating somewhat retro electronica of his latest Pale Green Ghosts and make it into a throbbing, thrilling live beast.

Can't recommend his CDs and live performance enough. These are the things that life is all about.
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Otis Westinghouse wrote:Finally saw Edwyn Collins last night. It was superb. Opened with Falling and Laughing, then later blew me away with Dying Day and Blue Boy (and the two big hits were great too). Three of my all-time favourite songs. There was a phase after the demise of Joy Division where Orange Juice introduced an element of indie tunefulness that was based on a marriage of soul and the Velvets with a solid post-pubnk indie ethos behind it which made them my favourite band. I still love all the music I loved then and none moreso than those classics. I can't believe I didn't see them in the Rip It Up phase, I could have done. Nor Edwyn since. Finally put it right. His new album Understated is very good indeed and all the songs from his excellent trio of latest albums were great. The fact that he is with us and on stage at all after his horrendous double brain haemorrhage (followed by MRSA) is incredible in itself, and I don't think I've ever heard anyone sing so compellingly about the simple joys of being alive as he does now. It's amazing how he can sing much more easily than he can talk. A remarkable man in every respect, and incredible to me that the Junction was far from full for one of the greatest figures in British music of the last 30 years.

Love Edwyn an inspiration. You can hide your love forever is in my top ten albums of all time
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Re: New Gig Thread

Post by sheeptotheslaughter »

Ive won tickets to see Bonnie Raitt in Stoke Newington on Monday. Shame it wasnt Tuesday as I do not have to go to work Wednesday. Its part of the BBC 4 sesions
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Neil Young and Crazy Horse at the NEC Birmingham. An astonishingly good evening. Los Lobos were great support, but Neil was just amazing. Second time I'd seen him, but first time with the Horse, and it feels like it's the only way to see him. Three fairly limited musicians, but the sound they and Neil make is unbeatable. The setlists on his mainland Europe dates the previous week were pretty much the same apart from encores, but here he switched opener Love and Only Love for Love To Burn, also from Ragged Glory, and then didn't play Powderfinger, but kept it for a fabulous encore. Ramada Inn and Walk Like a Giant were immense epics, the latter leading to a 9.5 minute sonic mindfuck with Neil getting all manner of noises from his Les Paul. New song Hole In the Sky, very lovely. Fuckin' Up extended with Neil pointing at different audience areas and chanting 'You're just a fuck-up!' with the crowd joining in.

Back in the mid-70s when my brother had his stuff on vinyl, he represented the far out but madly exciting world of rock'n'roll to me - the photos on the sleeve of Tonight's The Night pretty much said it all. Been listening to him and loving him ever since. His voice has lost none of its range and power.

Probably the best thing of all was that unlike all the other recent shows, he suddenly pulled Cortez the Killer out of the hat. OMG!


Going to this meant an Elvis show was ruled out this month. I can't say I regret it (and I will see Elvis on the 30th). Long may he run.
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Re: New Gig Thread

Post by Jack of All Parades »

I think you made an excellent choice in forgoing one EC show- your review tells me that. Most jealous that I will not see this current tour. Thank you for giving me a chance to pretend I was there if only in my imagination.
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Going to see Dylan, Wilco and My Morning Jacket in Bridgeport, CT on July 19.
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Re: New Gig Thread

Post by nicola76 »

Springsteen tomorrow evening at Hampden Park, Ron Sexsmith at The Sage on Wednesday, Beady Eye in Glasgow with mates on Saturday and then Lucinda WIlliams on Sunday.

Hopefully they will all help ease the withdrawl symptoms of my last Elvis gig of the tour.
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Re: New Gig Thread

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Wow, gigaholicism. Had no idea the mighty Ron was doing more UK dates, just a few this time. He obviously loves playing at The Sage.

Hope it's a good one and look forward to a write-up. His RAH show in March was one of the year's highlights for me. the others all sound good too, but I'm not sure I could bring myself to attend a Beady Eye gig!
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Re: New Gig Thread

Post by invisible Pole »

Green Day with my twin boys and their friend.
The band played their asses off and Billie Joe is one hell of a showman so we had a great time.

Now Macca with my daughter on Saturday.
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Re: New Gig Thread

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Mixed reactions from this weeks gigs so far - one I left early and the other was almost perfect!

Left work later than planned on Tuesday owing to some paperwork landing on my desk. So, missed the bus through and by the time I did get to Hampden, Springsteen was already on stage. By the time I got down to the pitch, I took a wander around to try and get a vantage point without success. Stayed for 2hours and in that time I never saw him once. Quite different from the last appearnce at Hampden when I was just yards from the stage. I'm sure he was great, but I just felt really disconnected from it because I was so far removed from everything. The curse of the stadium gig!

The following evening, I made sure I left work sharply to head to The Sage from Edinburgh and was there about an hour quicker than it took to travel to Hampden from Edinburgh the night before! Had a front row ticket for Ron, and he was absolutely majestic. Really wonderful. He really doesn't waste a single line. I love his sincerity and the pureness of his words and melodies. There really isn't anything cynical about him at all. Secret Heart played on the piano was very moving. That he could make that song even more emotional was quite something. Lovely gig. Great to find out I was sitting next to a friend in the front row (complete coincidence!), the sunshine was out and everything was just perfect.

Beady Eye and Lucinda Williams over the weekend. I'm imagining they will be quite different experiences!
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Re: New Gig Thread

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My weekly update on the gigs I've been to!

Lucinda Williams was in Edinburgh last weekend doing a stripped down show as a trio with bass and guitar accompanying her. It was a well attended gig at The Queens Hall with a really enthusiastic crowd which I thought she really seemed to appreciate. A lot of her songs focus on the slightly grimmer aspects of life - death, suicide, lost love......A friend of mine who was there left after about 45 mins as he himself has had issues with depression and said that he found much of it too close to the bone for him given his own experiences. That's what you get with Lucinda though, completely raw and sometimes brutal emotion. I loved it! She was very kind afterwards and signed my copy of her double LP Blessed. She said that she was keen to catch up with Bonnie Raitt, Elvis, Springsteen, etc, while they were all on tour here at the same time. Have to say, I'd pay for that gig! Whether she as playing the predominantly acoustic first part of her set, or the rockier telecaster part, I found her engaging and raw.

Next up were the two Burt Bacharach gigs in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. I last saw him in The Edinburgh Playhouse about 10 years ago, and I'd initially bought a ticket for the Glasgow show before I spotted a centre stalls second row for Edinburgh and thought, "Why not?!"

First thing to say about the Glasgow show is that someone took seriously ill in the audience just before the show started. The staff at the Concert Hall, the audience nearby and the paramedics did an amazing job trying to look after the gentleman in question, and any comments about the concert that took place are very much secondary to wishing that the poor gent in question recovers in hospital first and absolutely foremost.

As for the music, well Burt is a legend, and faces a problem of how to put so many of those classics into a show of under 2 hours. Anyone going to see him can expect a lot of medleys which are tied together as either his earliest hits, or his movie songs, and I was personally a bit 'disappointed' that I didn't get to hear the full version of 'This Guys in Love with You', but that was only because the section of it we did hear broke then into 'I Say a Little Prayer'. Can you really be disappointed at that?! The trio of singers he used (2 female, 1 male) took it in turns to sing his hits. The standout vocalist for me was Donna Taylor who had such an amazing soulful voice. John Pagano took on the male vocals and one of the songs we did hear in it's entirity was God Give me Strength. I was really pleased at both gigs to hear such a great reception when Burt mentioned Elvis's name. I did mention in another thread that Burt talked about his work with Evis becoming a stage show with 6 or 7 of the Painted from Memory tracks, and another 6 or 7 new songs :D Very happy with that! The male vocalist has a great voice but it's really unusual to hear the song that's so familiar sung in another voice. Great song and definitely a vocal exercise!

Can't really say too much more about Burt. He sang a few songs himself. Sure, he doesn't have a strong voice given his age, but hearing this man singing in such a fragile way is quite an emotional experience. The reception for him on both evenings was super, athough in Burt's own words, Glasgow gave him that old 'Las Vegas atmosphere' :) Oh, and his son Oliver played keyboards with him on a few tracks. He wasn't introduced but just came on stage to play, but there's definitely a family resembalance! It was clear that Burt was enjoying having his son there, and on both evenings, it was incredibly warm and enjoyable show.
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