New Gig Thread

[Otis Westinghouse]

Thank you. No known audio, sadly, though maybe there are some black market bootlegs I don't know about.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Booked for the Newport Folk Festival , Aug. 1-2. And it looks like my sister will be going with me.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1
Pete Seeger, The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, Gillian Welch, The Avett Brothers, Billy Bragg, Iron & Wine, Mavis Staples, Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Ben Kweller, The Low Anthem, Brett Dennen, Tift Merritt, Tao Rodriguez Seeger, Langhorne Slim

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2
Pete Seeger with Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Neko Case, The Campbell Brothers, Josh Ritter, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Tim Eriksen & Shape Note Singers, Del McCoury, Guy Clark, David Rawlings Machine, Deer Tick, Balfa Toujours, Dala Girls, Joe Pug

[Otis Westinghouse]

Sounds great. had a good day out in the hit sun and some heavy rain at Hyde Park on Saturday. Pretenders, FLeet Foxes and Neil Young. My first time seeing the first and third of those, which is unbelievable given my decades of loving and listening to both. Both were remarkable. Chrissie still sounds and looks fabulous. they put them on at 3pm, no doubt to get the punters in, but it was an arse-pain as it meant only 45 mins, whereas ultra-boring Ben Harper got a yaaaawwwwn whole hour later on, just ahead of Fleet Foxes. And The Magic Numbers were in the alternative tent before Neil, no way could I get there, which is a real shame cos they're good live and the first LP is a cracker.

Seasick Steve was very, very good - just him and drummer. Raw and ready. Tells his life story at one point, all about wanting to kill his violent step dad aged 13 and taking to the road instead. he also plays a one-string: basically a plank with a piece of twine, and a tin on one end with 'money' and an arrow painted below. Brilliant at a festival.

Fleets better in a small venue, and with sun not rain, but they were still divine. Played a new song, wasn't blown away.

What can I say about Neil? Great setlist, as you'd expect:

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/neil-youn ... 676be.html

Lots of cliups here, incl. Macca coming on for Day In The Life:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... type=&aq=f

It was everything I hoped for and more. OK, some classics were missing, but half of Harvest was there, incl. a heart-melting 'Heart of Gold', 'Everybody Knows This is Nowhere' was superb, 'Words' even better, and the 6 or so false ends and restarts on 'Rockin' in the Free World' were hysterical.

Does anyone rock better than Neil? I don't think so. Remarkable. 64 in Nov.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Booked to see Wilco at the local minor league baseball stadium here on July 18.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Reviews of 'Wilco (The Album)' I've seen thus far are (so) lacklustre, but then again it's seen as a follow-up to 'Sky Blue Sky', which seems to be a disappointment, whereas I would say it has some excellent stuff on it (first half more than second). I love the title track, for instance. One reviewer mentioned Lambchop, as if this was an indictment. If it's halfway as good as 'OH (Ohio)', it will be more than worth getting.

[bambooneedle]

Pretty classic-heavy setlist by Neil Young... Agree about Ben Harper being boring, he's another of those mild-mannered unassuming Dave Matthews/Jack Jones/Amos Lee/Sheryl Crow/etc 'nice' type performers with no real edge... I guess they each have their own somewhat misguided or just naive obsessive fans who don't know any better... (like mood in the case of JJ )

[Boy With A Problem]

Does anyone rock better than Neil? I don't think so.

I saw him come on after an Odelay era set by Beck - and that day Beck kicked his ass.

[BlueChair]

Reviews of 'Wilco (The Album)' I've seen thus far are (so) lacklustre, but then again it's seen as a follow-up to 'Sky Blue Sky', which seems to be a disappointment, whereas I would say it has some excellent stuff on it (first half more than second)

There's a certain breed of reviewer that wants every Wilco album to sound like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or A Ghost Is Born and considers everything else to be a failure. Wilco (The Album) isn't that sophisticated or dense. It's just a good album made up of enjoyable, catchy songs. It's hardly a disappointment for me, and the same went for Sky Blue Sky.

[ice nine]

Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby started their US tour here in Pittsburgh. (She's from Pgh) It was a good show. There were only 30 to 40 people in the club. Eric certainly does like distortion and choas in his music.

[martinfoyle]

Hot 8 Brass Band, Prefuse 73, Allen Toussaint, at Whelans, & The Neil Crowley Trio at the NCH over the next few nights, and then a break until Booker T. Dublin can be great....

[Who Shot Sam?]

Fantastic show by Wilco last night. Probably one of the top five I've ever seen, and almost certainly the best outdoor gig. The concert was at our local minor league baseball stadium and they had set the stage up in center field. We brought along a blanket and watched Conor Oberst and his band's set while it was still daylight. Fairly straight ahead country-rock, but I liked it a lot more than I thought I would (I've never been a huge fan of CO), and it was a good teaser for the second course. They had tents set up on either side with microbews and so forth, so we were enjoying the evening and feeling pretty good, not to mention the weather, which was just ideal - upper '70s, light breeze.

Wilco played for somewhere close to 2 hours and 45 minutes. Tweedy was in a great mood, despite the bugs that occasionally tried to dive bomb him on stage. I was surprised by their ability to "shred". Not only do they have some marvelous songs, but they are incredibly tight as a group. In any case, here is the setlist, which is just about as great as you could hope for:

1 ) “Wilco (the song)”
2 ) “I’m Always in Love”
3 ) “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”
4 ) “Shot in the Arm”
5 ) “Bull Black Nova”
6 ) “You Are My Face”
7 ) “One Wing”
8 ) “Side with the Seeds”
9 ) “War on War”
10 ) “Deeper Down”
11 ) “Impossible Germany”
12 ) “Far, Far Away”
13 ) “Too Far Apart”
14 ) “Handshake Drugs”
15 ) “Can’t Stand It”
16 ) “Jesus, etc.”
17 ) “Sonny Feeling”
18 ) “Theologians”
19 ) “Hate it Here”
20 ) “Walken”
21 ) “I’m the Man Who Loves You”
22 ) “Hummingbird”

ENCORE 1:

23 ) “Poor Places”
24 ) “Spiders (Kidsmoke)”

ENCORE 2:

25 ) “The Late Greats”
26 ) “You Never Know”
27 ) “Heavy Metal Drummer”
28 ) “Hoodoo Voodoo”
29 ) “I’m a Wheel”

[Jack of All Parades]

Cannot add much to your insightful comments-too found it a very enjoyable experience with my wife. When you can walk to a concert like this it is fun in your backyard. I may enjoy Oberst but the quality of the two bands was more than evident- where Oberst's band's sound was basicly loud and louder sonicly washing out any real ability to distinguish between individual instruments and voices, Wilco clearly knew how to project, varying the sound, never losing the various instruments in the mix, so that one could hear all elements of the band clearly. Tweedy has a fine voice and he was in fine form and the band was tight, never indulging in senseless, formless solos- was particulaly impressed with each members ability to add unique sounds at key moments. Had a wonderful time.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Cannot add much to your insightful comments-too found it a very enjoyable experience with my wife. When you can walk to a concert like this it is fun in your backyard. I may enjoy Oberst but the quality of the two bands was more than evident- where Oberst's band's sound was basicly loud and louder sonicly washing out any real ability to distinguish between individual instruments and voices, Wilco clearly knew how to project, varying the sound, never losing the various instruments in the mix, so that one could hear all elements of the band clearly. Tweedy has a fine voice and he was in fine form and the band was tight, never indulging in senseless, formless solos- was particulaly impressed with each members ability to add unique sounds at key moments. Had a wonderful time.

Wow, I wish I'd know that you were going to be there Christopher. Always nice to meet up with fellow board members. Yes, I thought the sound mix was outstanding and really nicely balanced.

[Jack of All Parades]

Probably were blankets apart- we were ensconsed just to the right of the sound booth in front of the fence and in front of the stage-until the thronging masses with their unsteady beers, insistent screaming right into my ear and the smoke from careless cigarettes drove us up into the stands- I know I am old now.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Probably were blankets apart- we were ensconsed just to the right of the sound booth in front of the fence and in front of the stage-until the thronging masses with their unsteady beers, insistent screaming right into my ear and the smoke from careless cigarettes drove us up into the stands- I know I am old now.

Yes, we must have been just to the right of you, over near the merch table, just on the grass behind that tarped off area in front of the stage. I would see another show there. I think they did a nice job, all things considered, but it would have been nice to have a clear path over to the beer and food vendors that did not require tiptoeing around people's blankets.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Am immediately jealous of the ref to micro brews- only ever seen corporate brews at outdoor events!

Setlist is good (though I only know the more recent LPs well, and not got the new one - do you rate it?), but two of my Wilco faves are missing: 'Nothing'severgonnagetinmywayagain', if that's the title and how they write it (a friend gave me a tape early in the decade with Tom Waits' Mule Variations on one side, and a selection of fave tracks from Summerteeth and Ron Sexsmith's Whereabouts on the other, both of which were my introduction to these esteemed artists), and also 'Sky Blue Sky'. Love that guitar sound.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Setlist is good (though I only know the more recent LPs well, and not got the new one - do you rate it?).

Honestly it's not their best, but there is still plenty of great stuff on it, and I have only given it a half dozen spins so far.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Will get at some point, but really, I guess I should buy Summerteeth first. I don't actually know what they did early on apart from that and YHF. Are there any other classics I've missed? I really like A Ghost Is Born and SBS.

Am beginning to salivate over Tuesday at Brixton for the Moz. Check out his latest London setlist from the Troxy (at Mile End, the name conjures up loads of wonderful images):

This Charming Man / I Just Want To See The Boy Happy / Black Cloud / How Soon Is Now? / Irish Blood, English Heart / Ask / I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris / How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel? / You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby / The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores / Girlfriend In A Coma / One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell / Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself / Life Is A Pigsty / Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want / When Last I Spoke To Carol / Sorry Doesn't Help / The Loop / I'm OK By Myself // First Of The Gang To Die

It seems he's no longer playing all of Years of Refusal, as he seemed to be before, which is a shame, as it's an excellent record (give it to me over SP&S ANY day of the week), but he is playing 5 Smiths classics! TCM just doesn't sparkle as it should due to the non-jangly guitar chords, but it will still be awesome. The real OMG how will I cope with this experience? moment for me here is 'Please, Please; Please...' Always one of their very best moments. Will happily settle for that over 'Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others', which was being played before, but suspect he may resurrect it for Brixton given that (stop me if you think that you've heard this one before) the only time The Smiths ever played it live was at their last ever gig at, of course, Brixton.

Always one for a controversial comment, he introduces one song thus: "I was walking round Piccadilly yesterday and there were lots of T shirts for sale saying Michael Jackson - King of Pop. The next song is called The World is Full of Crashing Bores". People on morrissey-solo seem to be taking offence at this. Eh? They're Moz fans, for crying out loud! It seems the last 15 years of his life have been raised in the hagiographic rush.

I absolutely can't wait for this gig, having had to salivate an extra month and a half for it to come.

[Jack of All Parades]

For Wilco I would recommend the Mermaid Avenue discs with Billy Bragg also 'Being There' for earlier material-poppy but listenable- my only disappointment with them the other night was that they failed to do "California Stars"- am extremely jealous of your chance to see Morrissey-drove my daughter nuts constantly playing "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" and urging it be her theme song as she journeys to that city- again "Years of Refusal" gets considerably more airplay than SP&P in this household- never had the chance to see the Smiths or Morrissey-my wife and I had tickets to see The Smiths- their last swing through the states in 1986 at Radio City Music Hall and were eagerly bustling around the corner onto 6th Ave the evening of the concert when we began to encounter people disgustedly mumbling coming the other way-as we approached the doors we found out why- Morrissey had thrown a snit and the show was cancelled at the last minute- some flimsy excuse of a sore throat- have never been able to forgive him since- still a great admirer of his work in general but still sore at him.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Christopher - and others: an outstanding, crystal clear recording of the concert is up now on nyctaper.com:

http://www.nyctaper.com/

And a nice slideshow of photos to boot...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/openeye/se ... 9624/show/

[Jack of All Parades]

Thank you for sharing this-now my daughters can see what they missed-brought back a quick memory-Conor's outfit-had forgotten how fetching- a mix of Dylan or Parsons in the polka dotted silk shirt with Audrey Hepburn's wide brim hat-all he needed was the silk scarf and he would mirror pictures of Parsons at his sartorial height-all that was missing was Wilco in their Nudie suits. Thank you, again.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Morrissey and his sore throats! Well it does appear he hasn't cancelled anything since Paris in June. Lots of Eurogigs since then and now London. Setlists looking good, all similar to the above. Do I dare to hope he might play both 'Some Girls Are Bigger...' AND 'Please, Please...' on the same night?

[Jack of All Parades]

Here is hoping you 'get what you want'!!! Double reference and all.

[Boy With A Problem]

Saw Dave Alvin and The Guilty Women on Thursday at the Narrows in Fall River. This is a great veneu - third floor of an old mill building right on Battleship Cove. And they let you bring in coolers, bottles etc.

The band was fantastic - especially Cindy Cashdollar on a multitude of steel guitars. Dave was in good spirits and they just rocked the house - heavy on the new lp - all female group and all virtuosos. They started off with their bluegrass version of Marie Marie and never slowed down with Dave paying tribute to the all the greats still hanging around in LA in the early 70's - Big Joe Turner, Lightning Hopkins etc.

http://www.ncfta.org/music.php

[Who Shot Sam?]

Saw Dave Alvin and The Guilty Women on Thursday at the Narrows in Fall River. This is a great veneu - third floor of an old mill building right on Battleship Cove. And they let you bring in coolers, bottles etc.

The band was fantastic - especially Cindy Cashdollar on a multitude of steel guitars. Dave was in good spirits and they just rocked the house - heavy on the new lp - all female group and all virtuosos. They started off with their bluegrass version of Marie Marie and never slowed down with Dave paying tribute to the all the greats still hanging around in LA in the early 70's - Big Joe Turner, Lightning Hopkins etc.

http://www.ncfta.org/music.php

Other than "Marie Marie" how much of the old Blasters material did he do?