The Roundup

Things I’ve been into lately:

The Apple Juice Kid, Miles Remixed. I like when DJ’s hook up classic jazz: the Verve Remixed series being the most high-profile example. This album sticks entirely to the works of Miles Davis, but still comes off as a diverse mix. Great stuff, and best of all, available as a free download.

Dead Confederate, Wrecking Ball. This Athens, GA-based band has created the perfect marriage of Southern classic rock, Neil Young-influenced grunge and Brit rock.

Matthew Sweet, Sunshine Lies. Definitely nowhere near as consistent as some of his great albums from the 90’s, but he can still turn the most innocuous song into a work of jangly, toe-tapping beauty. I bought the deluxe edition from iTunes (for an extra $3, you get 6 extra songs), and it was well worth it — the bonus tracks are some of my favorite songs.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Harmless and cute, but funny — good date movie. I think Michael Cera’s ability to play the awkward indie kid is still second-to-none, but he’s starting to seem a bit like a one-trick pony. One more movie like this, and the backlash will be in full effect.

The Venture Bros. Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim has accounted for quite a bit of my TV watching in recent years (Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, The Brak Show, Sealab 2021), but nothing comes close to The Venture Bros. What started out as a simple Johnny Quest spoof has become a smart, wickedly funny action-adventure story with as many pop culture references crammed into each episode as humanly possible. With the first two seasons on DVD and Season 3 currently in reruns on CN, I’ve been watching at least an episode a day for the past month or so, and I still want more. Bring on Season 4.

“Lost” anticipation. Is it 2009 yet?

Old Friend

Matthew Sweet / The Bridges at The Fox Theatre. I’ve been a Matthew Sweet fan since the early 90’s, and it’s been nine years since I last saw him (NINE YEARS!?!). During that period he’s put out a couple good albums (Kimi Ga Suki, Under the Covers Vol. 1) and some that are best forgotten (Living Things), but his recently released Sunshine Lies seems to be a return to the sound that made his earlier albums so successful. My brother got me tickets for my birthday, so he and I made the trek to Boulder to check out the show.

First up were The Bridges, an Alabama band made up of 3 sisters, their brother, and a cousin. Since Matthew produced their debut album, they were a natural fit for the opening slot. With 4 females contributing vocals, they have a very lush sound (imagine the Dixie Chicks if they played power pop instead of country), and you could definitely hear the Sweet influence in the song structures and harmonies. I was impressed enough that I’ll track down their album. I might have been persuaded to buy it at the merch table on the way out tonight, but I didn’t feel like fighting my way through the line of dorks awaiting their chance to hit on the hottie guitarist (not that she wasn’t worth standing in line for).

Matthew and band came on around 9:15. Without making too many excuses, there were a lot of factors working against the show (cold, rainy, Monday, the Broncos on Monday Night Football, playing in a college town when his audience has gotten quite a bit older than that), and it was reflected in the size of the crowd. I’d be surprised if there were much more than 100 people in the room. I think the band noticed, and it probably took some wind out of their sails and kept the show from being as good as it could have been. I don’t think it helped that they started to lose some of the crowd during the first half of the set, which contained mostly new songs, but they recovered in the second half, which drew pretty heavily from Girlfriend. Actually, I was surprised at the fact that the setlist ignored so many albums. Other than “Sick of Myself” and one song from Living Things, the entire setlist came from Girlfriend, Altered Beast and Sunshine Lies. I was bummed not hear anything from In Reverse or Kimi Ga Suki. Then again, the set was short — only about an hour and then a two-song encore (both Girlfriend tracks) — so there weren’t many opportunities to delve into the back catalog.

I don’t want to say the show was disappointing, because it definitely wasn’t. It was more like when you catch up with an old friend that you haven’t seen in years, and after a few minutes, you realize things have changed so much that you can’t just pick up right where you left off any more. For starters, Matthew’s gained a pretty shocking amount of weight since I last saw him 9 years ago (to the point that I’m actually worried about his health), which did take some getting used to. Plus, I was bummed to see so few people at the show, because I think after 11 albums, he deserves better, but I blame that partly on putting the show in Boulder instead of Denver. I’d be surprised if he has many college-aged fans these days, and I bet he could have easily drawn three times that crowd if the show had been in Denver, closer to an older fan base. Finally, I think he’s at that tipping point in his career where the audience wants his greatest hits, but he still wants to play the new songs, so the energy level just felt a bit off all night — huge drops when he played new stuff, big spikes when he trotted out the oldies.

That said, the band sounded tight once they got going. Yes, I wish the show had been longer, but despite some things not being perfect, getting to hear “Girlfriend,” “I’ve Been Waiting,” “Divine Intervention,” “Ugly Truth Rock,” “Sick of Myself,” and “Someone To Pull the Trigger” played live again made the night worthwhile.

UPDATE: Just for old times’ sake...

I Predict A Riot

On a Saturday evening few months ago, I saw Ra Ra Riot at the Westword Music Showcase, and I don’t remember being all that impressed. Granted, it had been a long day of standing outside in the sun, and the crowds had been full of annoying douchebags who apparently only came to hold shouted conversations over the music, so my tolerance level was pretty low. I remember thinking RRR might have some promise, but I wasn’t really in much of a mood to give a new band a chance that day. Well, after listening to The Rhumb Line for the first time this weekend, I won’t make that mistake twice. This album has pretty much been on repeat since I downloaded it—at home, at work, on my iPod while I work out—and while I can’t exactly pin down what it is I enjoy about it so much, it really struck a chord with me. The closest I can come to describing their sound is like a darker Vampire Weekend without the Afro-Pop influence. The strings (in this case, violin and cello) are central to RRR’s sound, and I think that’s part of it for me. I’ve gotten into larger bands that use strings (like Arcade Fire and Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s) in recent years, and I’ve always loved Mark Mothersbaugh’s chamber-pop-ish scores to Wes Anderson’s films, so it makes sense that a large part of why I love Ra Ra Riot is that they seem to be influenced by all of that music, but have taken that influence to its next logical step.

I could go on, but I feel like I’m not coming close to doing the music justice with my description, so just have a listen for yourself.

“Dying Is Fine” (mp3)

“Ghost Under Rocks” (video)

Dark Shadows

I went back to see The Dark Knight again yesterday, this time on the IMAX screen, and I also watched Batman Begins, mostly just for comparison’s sake. What’s amazing is, for all the hype and critical praise that was heaped on Begins for its dark and gritty take on the Caped Crusader, that movie has nothing on Dark Knight when it comes to (pardon the pun) darkness. Aside from Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy’s villains in the first movie being completely outshined by Heath Ledger’s electric take on the Joker, Dark Knight is a literally darker movie. One of the first things that jumped out at me was the difference in the color palette of the two movies. Batman Begins, which seemed so raw and ominous when it was released, now looks comparatively bright, shiny, and colorful when held up against its sequel. Until the final battle scene, much of Begins takes place in the light, whereas Dark Knight is just the reverse, with the majority of the movie taking place in dark offices, back rooms, alleyways and underground streets. Even the outdoor daylight scenes all seem to take place on gloomy, cloudy days. Knowing how much thought Christopher Nolan puts into his movies, I’m going with the assumption that this is intentional — that the darkness is meant to show just how bad things are in Gotham, lending weight to Harvey Dent’s statement that things are always darkest before the dawn, but also mirroring Bruce Wayne’s acceptance of Batman’s place as an anti-hero who must remain a shadowy figure to achieve his true purpose.

Intentional or not, the visual tone of the film is just one more reason why The Dark Knight is now one of my favorite movies of all time. It lost absolutely nothing on a second viewing, and I’d go see it a third time in the theater given half an excuse. Usually, the second time I see a movie is when I catch lines I may not have caught the first time and notice more flaws, but I was just as absorbed in the story as the first time I saw it. A couple things I did notice: the soundtrack is pretty incredible, mainly because it fits the action so well that I barely noticed it except to think, “That’s cool”, and Heath Ledger was even more impressive and creepy the second time around. He was mesmerizing in every scene, and if he doesn’t at least get nominated for an Oscar, it will be a crime.

And finally, this was my first IMAX experience with a Hollywood movie, and for me, it didn’t add much except to make the screen a lot bigger. Maybe it was the angle at which we were sitting (off to the right), but it was tough to see what was happening in a lot of the darker scenes... of which, as I said, there were plenty. On the other hand, it was worth the extra $5 per ticket not to have to watch commercials before the movie. Until the show started, all we got was a blank screen and the Dark Knight soundtrack playing quietly over the speakers. It actually allowed people in the audience to talk to each other, which was nice since the theater started filling up 40-45 minutes before the show (yes, a 12:20 pm screening was still sold out a full two weeks after the movie’s release). Once the lights went down, it was two previews and then straight into the movie. That in itself is enough to get me back to an IMAX show in the future.

Stay Positive

Despite the title, this post has nothing to do with The Hold Steady’s excellent new album. It’s about a little movie you may have heard of called The Dark Knight that’s been breaking every possible box office record recently. I saw it two nights ago, and after a couple days to reflect, I’ve decided it’s in my top three all-time (alongside The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark). There’s a lot of reasons why, but the easiest explanation is that director Christopher Nolan took everything that was good about Batman Begins (gritty realism, almost total avoidance of CGI) and maintained or expanded on it, while also managing to improve everything that needed to be (Katie Holmes, camerawork during the fight scenes), all while getting fantastic performances from his actors.

Since I saw the movie, I’ve read several reviews which included a variety of complaints. I loved this movie, and I’m having trouble understanding all the negativity (hence, the title of this post). So, here’s my response to the most common gripes. [WARNING: SPOILERS]

At 2.5 hours, it was too long.
About two hours in, I thought, I wonder how long this movie is? Then I went right back to enjoying it. It didn’t feel long to me, it felt complete.

Heather Ledger’s death is the only reason so many people are seeing the movie.
OK, so the morbid curiosity aspect is legit, but those people are getting to see an incredible final performance from Ledger, and an incredibly high quality movie. Who cares why people come to the theater if they enjoy the movie? The Dark Knight certainly deserves this success much more than that piece of crap Spider-Man 3.

Ledger’s performance is way overhyped. I mean, Oscar buzz? Really?
Really. Almost all the actors gave incredibly high quality performances, but Ledger brought it on a whole new level. I really believed he just wanted to see the city explode simply because it amused him.

Batman was barely in this. Why didn’t they just call this movie The Joker?
I don’t get this one. Between Bruce Wayne and Batman, Christian Bale easily had more screen time than the Joker. I can see it being an issue in some of the older, campy Batman movies where guys like Ah-nuld and Jim Carrey stole the show, but I don’t see it here. I thought it was pretty well-balanced.

We didn’t get any back story about the Joker. Why didn’t they explain his origin?
OK, make up your minds, folks. Too much Joker, not enough Joker... Besides, aren’t villains more interesting and creepy when you don’t know their motives? Especially when you’re dealing with someone like the Joker, who’s only interested in panic and chaos. I agree with Stephen King: the scariest horror movies are always the ones where the killers just stalk their victims, and no reason is ever given why they’re doing it. Explaining the back story makes them more human, but also, less scary. The Dark Knight isn’t horror, but the Joker is a homicidal maniac, and if you’re doing a gritty take on him, he should have the ability to make your skin crawl. Plus, no definite back story gave the Joker the opportunity to keep changing his explanation about his scars, which I thought made him seem even more insane.

Two-Face’s story arc was too rushed. They should have kept him around for a third movie.
I really liked the fact that The Dark Knight felt complete in and of itself. If they never make another one (highly unlikely, given the way this film is raking in the cash), no one will feel like they were left hanging. I can’t stand it when a movie feels like it has no purpose other than setting up the sequel. Besides, I don’t know how much more they could have done with Two-Face. Aaron Eckhart’s performance was actually the biggest surprise in the movie for me—I thought he nailed Harvey Dent. But his purpose in the film was to be established as Gotham’s true hope—in a way, the anti-Batman, a normal citizen committed to cleaning up the city without needing a mask and fancy gadgets to do it. His arc ended once he was no longer the shining White Knight Gotham needed, and Dent’s fall forced Bruce Wayne to come to terms with the kind of sacrifices he would have to make to continue as Batman.

Of course, Two-Face is a comic book villain, and anyone who’s ever read comics knows that nobody stays dead forever.

Aside from the fact that they can’t ever bring the Joker back now (even if they wanted to re-cast, what actor would be crazy enough to take that role?), I don’t have any major complaints about The Dark Knight. A couple of casting quibbles, maybe (I’ve never been an Eric Roberts fan, and it’s hard for me to take Nestor Carbonell seriously since he played Bat-Manuel—unknowns in either of those roles would have been an improvement), but those were made up for by the dramatic upgrade of Maggie Gyllenhall over Katie Holmes. I’ll definitely see this one again in the theater, and apparently, I’m not the only one.

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On a different note, I’m going to try to get back to blogging more regularly. I’ve been pretty overwhelmed this summer with work and my brother’s wedding, but I’d like to get back to writing about my leisure-time experiences on a more frequent basis. In a way, this post is a chance to shake off the rust. So aside from going all fanboy-gaga over The Dark Knight, here’s a few things I’ve been doing lately:

Hellboy 2. A bit of a disappointment, since I loved the first one so much. This one seemed less focused and more choppy, and intent on setting up a third movie. On the other hand, the creatures made me really excited to see what Guillermo del Toro is gonna do with The Hobbit.

Watchmen. I just finished re-reading Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ amazing graphic novel after seeing the trailer for next March’s movie adaptation. It really is an incredible story, and hard to imagine that comics weren’t always like this. I just hope the movie can do it justice, since that will be the majority of America’s first introduction to the tale.

Concerts #99 and 100. I’ve been keeping track of every show I’ve seen since I was old enough to go without my parents. My first concert of my independent era was The Stones and Living Colour back in 1988 at RFK Stadium, and last Friday, I saw my 99th (Lyle Lovett and Leo Kottke at Red Rocks), followed by #100 on Sunday (day two of The Mile High Music Festival, where I saw some or all of the sets by Rodrigo y Gabriela, Flobots, The Roots, John Mayer, The Black Crowes, and Dave Matthews Band). Even though I don’t know a lot of his music, Lyle Lovett was a great show on a fantastic night at Red Rocks. As for Sunday, I wasn’t blown away by anybody, but the Roots and Rodrigo were both enjoyable, and I’d see either of them again. I’d also probably go see DMB again, but only if I could get good seats. Standing 400 yards away and staring over the heads of 60,000 other people kind of sucks. I think I’m also suffering from a bit of concert fatigue. In looking back at my list of shows, 52 of them have been since 2000, and 21 of those were in the past two years. I think it’s time to take a break, unless there’s somebody I really want to see.

Metalworking

I just got back from my second viewing of Iron Man, and I have to say, I'm not at all surprised that it was just as good the second time. It’s a great movie. Not a great “superhero” movie, or a great “summer blockbuster.” It’s an all-around great movie. Sure, it hits all the right beats for a comic book movie (especially an origin story) and there were plenty of geek references for the comix fans (Rhodey eyeing up the silver armor, and did anybody else pick up on the Star Wars references?), but it wasn’t campy, it wasn’t overdramatic, and it wasn’t a commercial for merchandise—just a well-cast, well-marketed movie with a solid story at its core. Unlike most (OK, all) superhero movies, this one left me with the feeling that, given another 10 years of technological advances, it’s probably not all that far-fetched. I give most of the credit to director Jon Favreau for not letting the effects and tie-ins overwhelm the movie (OK, except the Burger King thing—that was a little gratuitous), and also to Robert Downey Jr. for making Tony Stark a living, breathing character, not just the cardboard caricature he could have easily become. I’ve always been a fan of RDJ’s, but he crushed this role (not that he had to stretch very far to play a “bad-boy” celeb). The supporting cast was great as well, if a bit under-used. Gwyneth and RDJ had very believable chemistry, and Jeff Bridges was so far removed from The Dude as to almost be unrecognizable. Even though I’ve never read any Iron Man books and only know the very basic backstory, I cared about these characters, I got sucked into the story, and I wanted to know what happened next. Happily, I’ll get that chance again. Thanks to Iron Man’s gigantic opening weekend, not only has Marvel already greenlit Iron Man 2, but as anyone who sat through the credits knows, there’s an Avengers movie in the works as well, which will tie Iron Man in with this summer’s Hulk reboot, as well as upcoming Thor and Captain America movies. The nerds truly are running the gym these days.

So after all that, I realized it’s been years since I actually went back to see a movie a second time in the theater, so the bar is set pretty high for this summer’s lineup. Next up, Prince Caspian. Let’s see if Walden and Disney can improve on a decent, not stellar, Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe.

Interactive

Elbow at the Bluebird Theater. I always prefer small venue shows for a lot of obvious reasons—clearer sound, actually seeing the people onstage, and the chance for the artist to embrace and interact with their audience, an opportunity Elbow’s lead singer Guy Garvey grabbed with both hands last night. Kicking off off with “Starlings,” the opener from their new album, Elbow proceeded to mix their “golden oldies” with several more new songs. Elbow’s lush and layered sound came off surprisingly well live (if you’ve never heard their music, imagine Peter Gabriel fronting an older, smarter, and more cultured Coldplay). The band sounded tight, switching smoothly between rockers and the more mellow acoustic stuff. I was happy to hear “Scattered Black and Whites,” “Leaders of the Free World” and “Grace Under Pressure,” and the new single, “Grounds for Divorce” was a high point as well. The only disappointment for me was no “Fugitive Motel” in the set, but overall, I left quite satisfied. And openers Air Traffic showed a lot of promise, despite wearing their influences pretty blatently on their sleeve (I’m betting Coldplay, Muse, and even their tour mates are in heavy rotation in their van). They impressed me enough that I bought their album, and I’m happy to say it was well worth the $10.

But what stuck with me most on the night was Garvey’s electric personality and ability to handle the crowd. He provided interesting banter between each song, convinced a group of fans to buy the band a round of shots, drank toasts with the audience throughout the set, had the front row grabbing for his hand like some superstar televangelist, and shamed the ubiquitous howling Denver douchebag contingent into silence with a brilliant display of Northern English charm and wit. He even convinced the audience to sing a song of our choice instead of stomping and clapping to get the band to return for an encore. Unfortunately, the only song we could come up with that everyone knew was “The Wheels on the Bus.” Pretty lame. Still, I can count on one hand the shows I’ve seen where a performer has had the audience in the palm of their hand the way Garvey did last night. It’s an incredibly difficult stunt to pull off, which makes it all the more exciting when it happens. Most impressive.

Triple Threat

Editors, Hot Hot Heat & Louis XIV, Ogden Theater. As my friend Luc said last night, there's a reason you go to see bands live. I own both Editors albums, and had seen about half of their set at the Monolith Festival last summer, but none of those things in any way prepared me for their thunderous live sound. In a way, Editors are Coldplay’s evil twin. Both bands play moody Brit rock, and have lineups consisting of guitar/bass/drums and a hyperactive lead singer who alternates between guitar and piano. But while Coldplay set themselves firmly on the path to the mainstream by following in the footsteps of mid-80’s U2, Editors were burying themselves in darker 80's music—The Smiths, Joy Division, The Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen. Much like all of those bands, Tom Smith’s lyrics find the tragic beauty in the grand Romantic themes of love and death, while live, the band leans heavily on their rhythm section (something The Cure has always done to great effect). On Editors’ studio stuff and even when I saw them outdoors last summer, it was hard appreciate the power of their drums and bass, but in the Ogden last night, that solid underlying groove was impossible to miss. Plus, I love what this allows the lead guitarist, Chris Urbanowicz, to do with his instrument. He very rarely plays any chords, instead either playing chiming melody lines or ripping off squealing fills behind the melody, which creates a really interesting texture (and also increases the similarities to 80’s Goth). I said in my Monolith review that I was intrigued enough to want to see Editors in a different setting, and I'm glad I did. They put on a great show (although at 1 hour and 10 min including encore, it could have been longer). But with the two openers, it was a pretty solid night of music top to bottom.

I could say many of the same things about the sound of both Hot Hot Heat and Louis XIV. I had heard some of their studio stuff, but they sounded a lot heavier live. Louis XIV sounds like the bastard child of AC/DC, Kiss and David Bowie, while Hot Hot Heat made me consider the result if Rush had been into punk instead of prog rock. I don't know if either band made me a fan, but I'd certainly like to hear more of their stuff. The nice thing was, both of these groups have enough of a following that the theater was full and rocking for all three sets, instead of the small and half-interested or nearly silent crowds that usually show up for the openers. It always surprises me a bit to see what a difference an active crowd makes to my enjoyment of a band, but I guess that, too, is part of the appeal of seeing live music, and definitely a part of why I keep going to shows.

Speaking of which, this was show #92 all-time for me (yes, I’m anal enough that I have a list), and looking back, I’m happy to say that almost all of them have been enjoyable. I guess that makes sense, since I’m not likely to go see too many bands I don’t like, but you’d think there might be a few more bad nights or bands that just suck live. Happily, I’ve been pretty lucky. Anyway, stay tuned for some kind of special thing when I get to #100. Maybe I’ll give myself a special award or something... ;-)

Good to Be Kings

One of the first things I did after I bought my new TV and added the HD channels to my cable package was to set my DVR to record Austin City Limits. ACL has always had this legendary reputation, but it’s always been sort of a mystery to me. Despite the fact that some of my favorite artists have done incredible shows, I never remembered to watch it unless I happened to pass an episode while flipping channels. But thanks to my DVR, now I can see every new episode, and this season has definitely been worth it. For many years, ACL focused mainly on country and blues, giving the nod to local Austin acts whenever possible. But recently, they’ve begun to change their focus, booking younger and hipper indie bands. So far this year, I’ve seen sets from Wilco, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, Explosions in the Sky, Paolo Nutini, and Ghostland Observatory. But the best so far was the band pictured above, Kings of Leon, who in just a few songs reminded me what an amazing live band they are.

I’ve seen the Kings live twice—a couple of years ago in Indianapolis at a small club, and last summer here at Red Rocks as part of the Monolith Festival—and both times, they’ve been fantastic. The Kings are pretty unassuming onstage. They don’t go for a lot a lot of banter or big fancy light shows; they just get up and play their songs (and play them well). Their music is a perfect blend of indie and Southern rock (think the Strokes meet Skynyrd), and it lends itself very well to a live show. When I saw them in Indy, they were there because they had a night off from a 3-night stint opening for U2 in Chicago and wanted to play somewhere that wasn’t a cavernous arena. They had the crowd of 500 rocking, and they sounded great, but I’m willing to bet their music sounded just as good in the United Center. It certainly sounded good at Red Rocks, where in my opinion, they were the highlight of the festival. If you’ve never heard their stuff, their ACL performance is a great place to start. PBS tends to rerun episodes fairly frequently, so check your local listings... or just set your DVR.

Other stuff I’ve been into lately:
There Will Be Blood. I had some issues with the story itself (I thought it was a little choppy and unfocused), but the combo of Daniel Day-Lewis and the score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood made this movie an incredibly intense experience.

Lost: Season 3. This season seemed a lot better when taken in a just couple of chunks, rather than spread out over seven months. I’m definitely looking forward to the new episodes, even if we’re only getting 8 of them.

GarageBand. I’m not a DJ, but I play one at home.

Salem’s Lot, Stephen King. The first time I read this book, I was 13 years old and it scared me so bad, I wouldn’t go down in the basement by myself for a month afterwards. It wasn’t quite as scary this time, but then again, I don’t live in a big house in the woods anymore with the wind blowing tree branches against my window all night. Even so, it’s still a terrific read, and it made me remember why I got so into King in the first place.

In Rainbows, Radiohead. Still amazing every time I listen to it. I’m just as excited by it as I was when I wrote this.

Wrapping Up

As I’ve been sitting at my computer finishing up my Christmas shopping, I set up a playlist in iTunes for all the albums I own from this past year, and what I’ve discovered in retrospect is this: As musical years go, this one didn’t blow me away. I saw a lot of great live shows*, but as for album releases, meh. I’ve been looking over other folks’ year-end lists, which range from the tragically hip to the simply tragic, but barring one album, there’s nothing that screams “classic”. That said, I didn’t have much trouble coming up with a top ten for ’07. Here’s 2 through 10 in no particular order:

Wilco, Sky Blue Sky

Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

The Shins, Wincing The Night Away

Bloc Party, A Weekend in the City

Aesop Rock, None Shall Pass

Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha

Galactic, From the Corner To The Block

The National, Boxer

Kings of Leon, Because of the Times

And the easiest decision? The hands-down, no-contest, numero uno? I’m probably one of the few people who paid for it, and it’s been worth every penny.

Radiohead, In Rainbows

A few more Honorable Mentions:

Cabin, I Was Here EP
Ted Leo & Pharmacists, Living With The Living
Neil Young, Chrome Dreams II
Band of Horses, Cease to Begin
Dinosaur Jr., Beyond
Elliott Smith, New Moon

*Of all the shows I saw this year, Neil Young was my favorite, simply because I had waited so long to see him and it was still an amazing show. Bloc Party and Wilco were also highlights. What follows is an in-order list of every artist I saw live in 2007: Elvis Perkins > My Morning Jacket > Béla Fleck & the Flecktones > Adem > Badly Drawn Boy > The Noisettes > Bloc Party > Hot Hot Heat > Snow Patrol > Rush > Wilco > Everything Absent Or Distorted > The Broken West > Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band > Clap Your Hands Say Yeah > Das EFX > Kings of Leon > Editors > The Decemberists, > Black Rebel Motorcycle Club > Cake > Nina Storey > Little Ones > Meese > Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s > Ian Ball > Lords of the Underground > Art Brut > Spoon > The Flaming Lips > The Awkward Stage > Lavender Diamond > The New Pornographers > Crown City Rockers > Blackalicious, > Pegi Young > Neil Young > Jason Collett > Feist. Whew.

Warmup Act

One of the few reasons I still enjoy seeing a movie in the theater is the previews. As I’ve talked about in the past, I’m always fascinated to see how the editing houses try to condense two-hour fims into two or three minutes. A well-executed preview can really amp up my anticipation for a movie (I still think Garden State was the most successful example I’ve ever seen in this regard), and conversely, a bad one can make me lose all interest. One of the best parts of this time of year is that the studios have started up the marketing campaigns for the movies they hope will be next summer’s blockbusters, and I’ve got examples of the good and the bad. I’ve already mentioned my love for the Iron Man preview, but beyond that, what I’ve seen so far this season either has me counting down the days with childish glee...

....or making me think the filmmakers might as well have flushed their $150 million+ budget down the toilet. Yikes. Good luck recouping your money on this one. I haven’t seen anything that looked this bad since I suffered through the first 10 minutes of Buckaroo Banzai.

Misc.

It’s been a while since I last posted, and to be honest, I’ve been debating whether to give up on the blog entirely. I haven’t made up my mind yet, but I think for now, I’ll just continue to post when the mood strikes, and not worry about how long it takes me to come back to it. After all, it’s not like the internet is going anywhere.

For now, here’s a few things I’ve been enjoying lately:

• Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon — An instant classic of an adventure novel, written in the vein of Sir Walter Scott or Robert E. Howard. I started and finished it on the plane ride home for Thanksgiving. Thoroughly enjoyable read.
• Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson — Eerily prescient cyberpunk novel that influenced everything from The Matrix to Heroes. Also a great read.
• The World Without Us, Alan Weisman — A well-researched and interesting look at what would happen to the Earth if humanity suddenly disappeared. Unfortunately, our legacy would mostly consist of all the plastic garbage we’d leave behind.
• the audio/video page on Andrew Bird’s bowloffire.com — All kinds of cool live stuff and remixes.
• Jerusalem, Steve Earle — The more Steve Earle I listen to, the more he becomes one of my favorite artists. I just recently downloaded this anti-war album he released in 2002, and sadly, the themes are still way too current.
• classic Christmas music — From Charlie Brown to the Chairman of the Board, they just don’t make ’em like they used to.
• Automatic For the People, R.E.M. — 15 years later, this is still an incredible album. “Sweetness Follows” has popped up in my playlists several times lately, and it especially crushed me with its greatness.
• The Jungle Book 40th Anniversary Platinum Edition — This was one of my favorite movies as a kid, so I Netflixed it this weekend. Disney did an incredible job with the remastering. The movie looks gorgeous, and I was happy to discover that I still knew the words to all the songs. My neighbors, on the other hand... probably not as happy.
• the performances of Scarlett Johannson — I never thought I was much of a fan, until I realized recently that she starred in six of the top ten movies in my Netflix queue. In the past few weeks, I’ve watched Scoop, Girl With A Pearl Earring, Match Point, and Lost in Translation, and I have to say, there’s something indefinably sexy about her that I find kind of mesmerizing. I’m having trouble deciding whether it’s her voice, her lips, or most likely, some combination of the two. Plus, she does voices on Robot Chicken, so she’s got serious nerd points. And hey, Woody Allen seems to love her. (Then again, he also loved his adopted daughter who was half his age, so maybe old Woody’s not exactly the best measuring stick.)
• the Iron Man preview — Robert Downey Jr. was the perfect choice for Tony Stark, and I love that Jon Favreau refuses to overuse CGI. If the movie is half as good as the preview, I’ll be happy.

Adaptation

I’ve said it before. No Country For Old Men is a great book. Now, thanks to the Coen Brothers, it’s an equally excellent movie. Both are bloody, violent, and not for the squeamish, but as I said in my review of the novel, the violence never feels out of character to the story. The film stays pretty faithful to the book, but the Coen Brothers manage to inject their particular brand of dark humor into the story. The cinematography is gorgeous, especially the shots of the landscape, which is such an important part of all of McCarthy’s books. It’s no different in this film, as the movie immediately establishes place, opening with shot after shot of the Texas plains in all their stark beauty. Throughout the movie, the quality of light made me feel as if I was standing in El Paso or along the Rio Grande, and that I could almost smell the grass and dust. I was definitely sucked in, and I wasn’t the only one. It was pretty incredible to sit in a packed theater that was completely silent for minutes at a time, only to hear the whole audience gasp as each character met their ultimate fate. Keeping an audience watching with bated breath is an impressive feat (especially these days). Javier Bardem is deservedly getting all the press for his turn as cold-blooded killer Anton Chigurh, but Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin give excellently understated performances as well. I won’t be at all surprised to hear a lot more about the film come Oscar time.

As an interesting aside, I couldn’t place the actress who played Brolin’s wife, even though she looked incredibly familiar. Thank goodness for IMDB. Turns out it was Kelly MacDonald, the Scottish actress who played the schoolgirl Ewan MacGregor hooks up with in Trainspotting. Lass does a pretty convincing Texas/white trash accent.

Old Man

Neil Young at The Wells Fargo Theater. I’ve missed a lot of Neil Young shows in my day, and for a lot of reasons. I missed a couple because I was out of town. I missed at least one because I was too poor to afford tickets. I skipped one because I was going through a stupid and short-lived “I’m so tired of Neil Young” period. And there were at least two where the scalpers got all the tickets before I could. In between, tinnitus and an aneurysm (and let’s face it, the slow march of time) threatened to end his career. But tonight, 18 years after falling in love with his music, I finally got to see Neil Young live, and it was completely worth the wait.

In six days, Young will turn 62, but you never would have known it tonight. Splitting his show into two sets (solo acoustic songs followed by electric stuff with a full band), he managed to bookend his career, mixing some new songs from Chrome Dreams II with some of his earliest work. The acoustic stuff sounded fantastic: Just Neil, switching back and forth between one of the multiple guitars he had onstage, his harmonica, and his piano. At one point, he even broke out a banjo. There were a couple songs I didn’t recognize, but the majority came from the early days. He kicked off with “From Hank to Hendrix,” from Harvest Moon, and headed backwards from there through an eleven song set, incorporating three tracks from his classic album Harvest (including the highlight to close out the acoustic set, an amazing version of “Old Man”).

After a short break, Young came back to the stage and ignored his near-senior citizen status by bringing out his band and cranking the electric, tearing through several new songs plus some old gems like “The Loner,” “Cinnamon Girl” and “Tonight’s the Night”. I was well pleased to hear some personal favorites, “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” and “Winterlong”, and of the new stuff “Spirit Road” held up pretty well against the classics. The band, comprised of players from various stages of Young’s career, sounded really tight, and Young doesn’t appear to have lost a step either, still stomping his way around the stage during his solos.

“Old Man” and “Cinnamon Girl” alone were pretty much worth the price of admission, but for an artist who’s released so many live albums throughout his career (I can think of seven off the top of my head), I wasn’t sure Young could possibly bring anything new to some of his old favorites. Thankfully, I was wrong. I was impressed with how clear his voice was, even over all the distortion in the electric set. For a guy in his 60’s whose nickname is “Shakey,” he sounded incredible. And hearing the songs live with my own ears (as opposed to a recording) brought a whole new level of depth to each one. I picked up on some lyrics that I had never been able to make out on his recorded stuff, which is a testament both to his sound guys and to the acoustics in the Wells Fargo Theater. And I gained some new respect for a few songs like “Oh, Lonesome Me,” from After the Gold Rush, a track I usually skip over when it comes up on my iPod. After hearing it live, I’ll have to revisit it.

I’m sorry I had to wait 18 years to see Neil Young live, but I’m glad I caught him on a good night, and at a great point in his career. I would have been really bummed if I had waited that long only to find him a shadow of his former self. He may be heading into the twilight of his career, but he still puts on an incredible show. He’s become comfortable with his status as elder statesman, but not so comfortable that he’s willing to just rest on his laurels. How many other artists can say they’ve stuck to their guns and remained relevant and prolific for 40 years? At this point, when most of his still-active peers are simply cashing their checks on greatest hits tours, Young is cementing his legacy by continuing to put out albums worthy of his name that have some fire behind them. He’s not just making music to extend the brand (cough*Rolling Stones*cough), he’s doing it because he still has music to make, and that comes through in his live shows. It was clear to me last night that he still cares a lot about these songs, and I got the impression that if he ever stopped caring, he wouldn't be touring anymore. Ultimately, that passion is why people will still be listening to his music long after he’s gone. Almost 30 years ago, Young first sang, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” Happily, he no longer has to worry about either one. Which means I might actually get to see him again someday, and make up a little more for all those shows I missed.

UPDATE: Set list here.

Rainbow Bright

Radiohead have made a masterpiece. Radiohead have changed the face of music. Radiohead have betrayed their fans. Radiohead have made their best album since OK Computer. Radiohead have lost it. This album is amazing. This album sucks. This album puts me to sleep. This album is so good, it makes me want to cry.

All of that comes from reading hundreds of initial comments on Stereogum this morning. The first impressions are pretty sharply divided on Radiohead’s new album, In Rainbows, released today as a digital download. But you know what? It makes me really happy that everyone has different opinions, and that they are all just as new as the music. Radiohead only announced that this album would be available ten days ago, so we haven’t had time to be innundated by 273 reviews, the band on the cover of every music and pop culture magazine out there, and scores of reviewers, columnists and bloggers telling us what a massive success/disappointment this album was going to be. In the absence of a push by the marketing machine, I got to come to the album fresh and form my own opinion, free of outside influences, and that was a pretty nice feeling.

So what is my opinion? Brilliant. I’m currently on my fifth listen, and what I’ve found is a gorgeously textured album, definitely worthy of being placed alongside OK Computer and The Bends as one of my favorite Radiohead albums. This disc finds the band in excellent form, creating a more organic and mature rock sound—the experimental electronic beats and squawking guitars of Kid A and Amnesiac have been toned down by acoustic guitars, piano and strings, and the result is a surprising marriage of styles that, in some places, veer dangerously close to pop songs. Some tracks even have a bit of an upbeat feel, which for Radiohead makes them the equivalent of bright and sunny. Is this a kinder, gentler Thom Yorke and Co.? If so, I like it. “15 Step”, “All I Need”, “Reckoner”, and “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” are all highlights for me, but my favorite song is “Faust Arp”, a beautiful string-laden ballad that is reminiscent of both the Beatles and singer-songwriters like Nick Drake or Elliott Smith.

As for the whole “changing the face of music” mess, check out this business plan. Radiohead is not signed to a label, so they released the album today as a digital download, only available through their own website. You could begin pre-ordering as of October 1, and get this: each buyer got to choose how much they wanted to pay for the download. There was a blank field in the shopping cart on the website, and you could type anything in... even a zero. (I paid about $12—actually 6 pounds, because they’re English—because I like Radiohead and I figure I would have paid that much in the store for a CD.) At the same time, the band also made available a special edition box set with a second disc of music for 40 pounds (about $81). If you pre-ordered the box set, the cost of accessing the download today was included. And finally, the band plans to do a traditional CD release sometime early next year. So basically, Radiohead may have figured out a way to work around the inevitable leaking of their album (or at least make a little money off it) by doing it themselves. Sure, plenty of people probably paid nothing to download it today. But there are also probably a lot of people like me who felt comfortable giving money to a band they know they enjoy in exchange for new music (huh, how about that?). And with no record label and no distribution structure to support, whatever people do pay goes straight into Radiohead’s pockets. It’s interesting to see a band that has taken a strong anti-consumerism stance in the past now work the system so deftly. By setting it up to get the music out to as many people as possible early on (and ensuring it’s a superior product), eventually, enough of those people will cough up money for the CD or special edition after hearing a digital version that the album will make money. Or at least, that’s the idea. We’ll see if it works, but if the rumblings that other bands (Nine Inch Nails and Oasis, for starters) are looking into trying the same thing are true, there must be something to it.

Dead Like Me

I never really considered myself a Jim Jarmusch fan, partly I had never seen anything other than the excellent Ghost Dog, but also because his movies always seemed to be a little too much sitting-around-and-talking-about-existential-stuff for my taste. But recently, when one of my daily music blog reads, An Aquarium Drunkard, posted a few songs from Neil Young’s spooky score for Jarmusch’s 1995 film Dead Man, I decided to give more of Jarmusch’s work a shot. I’ve been on a big Neil Young kick lately anyway since I finally scored tickets to see him live, so based on the strength of what I’d heard of his soundtrack plus a vague memory of some good reviews from back when the movie was released, I was intrigued enough to add Dead Man to the top of my Netflix list.

A lot of times when I get “artsy” movies from Netflix, they”ll collect dust for days or weeks until I’m in the right mood to watch them. Today, however, I decided to watch Dead Man right away, and sometimes, it’s all about timing. Apart from a stellar cast (Johnny Depp, Lance Henriksen, John Hurt, Billy Bob Thornton, Gabriel Byrne, Alfred Molina, Crispin Glover, Robert Mitchum, and an excellent performance by Gary Farmer as the Indian named Nobody), what appealed to me was the sparseness and the “less is more” approach to Dead Man. Jarmusch shot the entire movie in black-and-white, and he captured some incredible landscapes and images as the characters travel across the West. The black-and-white was a terrific aesthetic choice, as it not only lent an Ansel Adams quality to the setting, it also brought out an impressive amount of character in the faces of the actors—there’s a reason photographers still shoot in that format. On top of the gorgeous cinematography, add a very limited amount of dialogue (something I usually appreciate when handled well) and Young’s sparse and haunting guitar, and this movie felt like a complete package. Stark but beautiful, violent but with purpose, and just a tinge depressing but in a meaningful way. I don’t know if it’s the approach of cold weather or the fact that I’m more appreciative of western landscapes now that I live out here, but every shot of dead trees and snow-covered forests hit me in the right spot. Tomorrow, I’m heading over to my local record store to see if they have the soundtrack, but based on how I feel after watching it, I might have to look for the DVD as well.

Standing on the Mountainside

I spent the past two days at Red Rocks taking in the inaugural Monolith Festival, and other than some sore legs, I’d call it a rousing success. The festival had five stages (the main Red Rocks stage plus four smaller areas), and over the course of two days, I saw 19 bands. Having been to a few festivals in my time, I was pretty impressed with the efficient timetable by which the bands’ sets were staggered (and the fact that everyone basically stuck to it), especially since this was the organizers’ first shot at this. Over the two days, I caught bits and pieces of a lot of performances, but here’s who I stayed to watch play more than one song:

FRIDAY
Everything Absent or Distorted
The Broken West
Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Das EFX
Kings of Leon
Editors
The Decemberists
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Cake

SATURDAY
Nina Storey
The Little Ones
Meese
Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s
Ian Ball (of Gomez)
Lords of the Underground
Art Brut
Spoon
The Flaming Lips

Whew. When I look at that list, it’s no wonder I’ve been so looking forward to chilling on the couch today.

After hearing so much about them, I was really looking forward to seeing the Lips, and they didn’t disappoint. They put on a great show (although I could have done with a little less speechifying from Wayne Coyne) with smoke, lasers, confetti, streamers, and dancing aliens and Santa Clauses, and were a great way to end the two days. Kings of Leon were definitely the highlight for me, but I was impressed by The Broken West and Ian Ball (who did some great covers and solo versions of Gomez songs), really happy to finally get to see Margot & TNSAS, and had my interest piqued enough that I’ll try to see Editors and BRMC in a different setting. It was also very cool to discover some great Denver-area bands (Everything Absent..., Meese, Cat-A-Tac, Nina Storey)—there’s a pretty solid music scene developing out here. Overall, this was a great festival experience, and hopefully, next year’s will be just as good. Parking was a breeze, it was easy to move between stages (as long as you don’t mind climbing stairs... lots of them), the food and merch was fairly reasonably priced (although they could use some more variety in the food department next year), the lineup of artists was solid, and of course the setting couldn’t be more amazing. I’m already looking forward to seeing next year’s announcement.

As a side note, I was really pleased to see woxy.com as a sponsor of Monolith. As I’ve said before, WOXY was the local college radio station in Oxford, OH (where I went to school) for many years, and turned me on to a lot of the music I still love today. Through a series of strange events, WOXY was forced to go internet-only, and has twice been snatched from the jaws of bankruptcy. I talked to one of their DJ’s, Shiv, about the happy fact that they’re still in business, and we reminisced about Oxford. Then he gave me a free t-shirt (rather appropriately, the graphic is a phoenix emerging from the ashes). Sweet.

Overrated

Thinking back over the past few weeks, there seems to be a theme to the pop culture I’ve absorbed: too much hype. The most pleasant experiences were the things I wasn't expecting anything from.

Slan, A.E. Van Vogt. Apparently, this novel is an important part of the sci-fi explosion of the mid-20th century. Maybe so, but maybe readers had lower standards back then, too. Yikes. Thankfully, the genre has progressed quite a bit since those days. While the alienated-mutant-on-the-run-from-human-authorities theme was pretty familiar (having been repurposed many times since, most noticeably as the basis for the entire X-Men mythology), the writing was so stiff and stilted that I barely made it through the book.

Little Children. Why did the critics love this so much? It was creepy and disturbing, the narrator was jarring and disruptive, and there wasn’t much likeable about any of the characters. Guess that’s reviewer-code for “edgy” and “gritty performances”. Well, the Oscars can have this one.

National Treasure. Nicolas Cage in a Jerry Bruckheimer production. Two guys that are emblematic of everything wrong with Hollywood. Of course they’re making a sequel. It was good to shut my brain off for a couple hours, I guess, but that’s definitely all I got out of this.

American Dreamz. This spoof of reality singing shows one was actually decent, although there were probably some inside jokes I missed because I’ve never watched American Idol. Given that tradeoff, however, I was happy to miss some of the humor. And seriously, why does Chris Klein keep getting roles?

Blades of Glory. Will Arnett gets the funniest line of the year: “Not only did we embarrass Marky Mark, we let down the Funky Bunch.” The movie was stupid and silly, but sometimes stupid and silly is all you need. Besides, who cares if the movie was any good? Jenna Fischer in lingerie! If I wasn’t on Team Pam before (which I was), I sure as hell am now. Yowza.

Superbad. Not as funny as all the hype, but still good for a lot of laughs. Michael Cera (of Arrested Development fame) is going to be hurting when he grows out of being able to play the awkward teenager, but for now, he’s got that role locked down. And of course, Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow continue their hot streak.

And speaking of those two, September 25 is now looking like the most geektastic day of the year, and Apatow and Rogen are involved. Not only is Halo 3 finding its way into the hands of millions of gamer geeks that day, but Knocked Up hits on DVD. Something tells me Seth Rogen may be celebrating by playing a little Halo himself. (And by something, I mean the fact that I played an online game of Halo 2 with someone I’m 99% sure was him recently.) On the other hand, he’s a big Hollywood star, so he’ll probably celebrate with coke and hookers. Hookers who play Halo. Or something like that. That’s what I would do, anyway.

Wilco at the Fillmore Auditorium. And now we get to the pleasant surprise. I’ve always had a hot and cold relationship with Wilco’s music, but I saw them in Columbus, OH about 8 years ago on a double bill with Matthew Sweet. I was there for Matthew, but I remember Wilco putting on a pretty solid show. So I knew they were capable performers, but no memories from that Columbus show could have prepared me for the show they put on Saturday night. The lineup of the band has changed somewhat over the years, and they seemed a lot more willing to rock out, putting two and three guitars to work on songs that are definitely more mellow on the albums. Plus, not only is new lead guitarist Nels Cline an amazing player, smoothly handling a wide range of styles from Neil Youngish to Brian Mayesque, he’s got the showmanship thing down, too. I had a great time, so much so that I finally gave in, went home and hit iTunes to fill in the gaps of my Wilco collection. And now I know I’ll enjoy it all.

Summer Reading (and Watching and Listening)

In between naps and bodysurfing, I cranked through a lot of stuff at the beach:

Books:
Back in the USSA, Kim Newman and Eugene Byrne. An interesting idea that held my attention for 3/4 of the book, then lost me at the end. This book is a series of short stories that tie together at the end, but the overarching idea is flipping the script of the Cold War: At the end of World War I, Russia peacefully becomes a democratic monarchy in the British vein, while the US is taken over by a Socialist Revolution. The stories largely imagine how well-known Americans and Russians’ lives would have differed, but like many of Newman’s books, fictional characters appear in this world as well (i.e frequent humorous appearances by Jake and Elwood from The Blues Brothers).

The Children of Hurin, J.R.R. Tolkien. A “history tale” from Tolkien’s early days. Having previously read two incomplete versions of this story in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, I was prepared for the fact that this wasn’t going to be The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, but it was nice to read a complete and polished version. Being a Tolkien geek and a completist, I always like to fill in the backstory gaps.

The Devil’s Teeth, Susan Casey. In retrospect, maybe not the the best book to read right before a beach visit, but I had just finished watching Discovery’s Shark Week and wanted more scary fishes. Casey documents her time chasing Great White sharks through treacherous waters off a remote and dangerous group of islands 30 miles west of San Francisco. Non-fiction, but it reads like a good novel. I highly recommend this one.

Lisey’s Story, Stephen King. King just keeps getting better with age. Ever since I read The Green Mile and Bag of Bones, I’ve been convinced that in 50 years, King will be as much a part of the average American Lit class curriculum as Faulkner, Vonnegut and Salinger. Lisey’s Story did nothing to change my mind. King’s ability to interject the supernatural into everyday life just gets better with age.

DVDs:
Summer of Sam. I bailed on this movie after half an hour, but I can’t decide whether it was because of John Leguizamo (who I mostly can’t stand) or if it was just plain bad. Spike Lee is usually pretty hit or miss with me, but I find it hard to reconcile the fact that the guy who made this stinker also made a masterpiece like The 25th Hour.

Undeclared. Another Judd Apatow project, this series was on Fox for the blink of an eye back in 2001. Featuring pretty much everybody from Apatow’s previous series, Freaks & Geeks, Undeclared also has great guest spots from some turn of the century comedy royalty: Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Amy Poehler, and of course, a young Seth Rogen (P.S. I can’t wait to see Superbad), as well as guest directors like Jon Favreau and Jay Chandrasekhar (of Super Troopers fame). Although it’s still unpolished here, that same trademark Apatow sweet/raunchy back and forth is peppered throughout the series. Definitely worth the rental if you like any of Apatow’s other work.

The Host. This Korean monster movie is a perfect example of why sometimes it’s better to just let a movie be a movie and not have to be an “event.” If The Host was made in the US, it would have probably ended up being some giant summer tentpole, and all the whole focus of the movie would have been the overly CGI monster and giant battle scenes. Instead, the monster is mostly shown in brief glimpses, and the movie stays focused on one family’s attempt to rescue a young girl who has been captured by the monster. It’s not often that I’d call a monster movie “sweet”, but that’s exactly what The Host is.

Music:
All good, for different reasons that I’m too tired to write about right now.
Stars, In Our Bedroom After the War
Galactic, From the Corner to the Block
Ted Leo / Pharmacists, Hearts of Oak
Foamfoot, Live at the Troubador 1-8-94
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, Live at Radio City
Editors, An End Has a Start

Solid As A Rock

Rush at Red Rocks. At this stage in their career, most bands are either long-retired or playing greatest hits shows in Branson. Rush is one of those rare groups who have managed to continue to record decent new music—nothing earth-shattering, but certainly not embarrassing in terms of their legacy—while still managing to play enough hits to please their fans. Having long ago moved beyond the necessity of an opening band, Rush hit the stage right at 8:00 and played two sets totalling more than 3 hours. The set list was evenly split between the well-known crowd pleasers (Tom Sawyer, Freewill), the new stuff (I don’t know any song names, but it doesn’t really matter as they all sound the same anyway), and most enjoyably for me, some really deep tracks that they dug out for the hardcores (A Passage to Bangkok, Witch Hunt, 4 of the 6 tracks from Permanent Waves). Unfortunately, as great a venue as Red Rocks is, last night the wind was blowing hard and playing havoc with the PA system, but despite some dodgy sound, the show was entertaining, and the people-watching was fantastic (think tons of drunken redneck metal fans mixed with a thousand dorky guys in their 40s air-drumming along with Neil Peart’s solo). It wasn’t the best show I’ve ever seen, but for a bunch of guys getting closer to 60 than they’d probably care to admit, it rocked pretty hard.

Limelight
Digital Man
Entre Nous
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl
Secret Touch
Circumstances
Between The Wheels
Dreamline

Intermission

Far Cry
Workin' Them Angels
Armor And Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism > Drum Solo
Hope
Summertime Blues
The Spirit Of Radio
Tom Sawyer

Encore
One Little Victory
A Passage to Bangkok
YYZ