The Live Music Thread

[cetoole]

On my way to see Colin for the imogen heap concert

This one. Wasnt as good as I was hoping, lot of technical problems, and not just electrical. Still was decent though.

[Voltron]

Tonight: The National

Tomorrow: The Flight of the Conchords

Saturday: Lou Donaldson

I'm tired already.

[Voltron]

It would really suck if he was dead and just propped up on stage. He's 83 years young and I am hoping he can still blow.

Here's the quartet for Saturday:

Lou Donaldson alto saxophone

Randy Johnston guitar

Akiko Tsuruga Hammond B-3 organ

Fukushi Tainaka drums

[Voltron]

Any blackberries come out?

[Grahame]

Tonight: The National

Tomorrow: The Flight of the Conchords

Saturday: Lou Donaldson

I'm tired already.

Take Monday Off

[mypasswordis]

Imogen Heap's D.C. show may be her last for a while | Washington Examiner

Touring's too Pricey says Imogen Heap | EU Ticket News - B2B Ticketing Industry website

[Dusty Chalk]

Mebbe she should charge more.

[jinp6301]

Its the damn ticketmaster fees. A $7 ticket came out to be $15-16 for me. A $35 pavement ticket is $50 after fees.

Bleh, shes seems like such a nice person too.

[Voltron]

Well, one for two so far on the three concerts in three nights weekend. The National was a bore as I feared they might be. Too monotonous. FOTC, on the other hand, was a home run. The show opened with stand-up comedy by Eugene Mirman and then Arj Barker (he plays Dave on the show), and they were both funny as hell, with the edge to Eugene. FOTC were seriously on all night. They were funny and played their roles but also played great and hilarious music at the same time. My son and his buddy were giggling and guffawing the whole time, which made it even more fun.

[mypasswordis]

So yeah, Imogen Heap is awesome and I need to see good concerts more often. Long concert was long, but so worth every minute because she's awesome and super funny live. We helped her do the whole Just For Now build-up and she even sang one of her Frou Frou songs, Let Go.

Didn't like Geese.

[postjack]

Got a pretty good summer lined up.

Next week: Gwar! I haven't listened to them in over a decade, but I saw they were coming to Mobile and so I youtubed some stuff. I don't see how this won't be awesome live.

6/19: Tool in New Orleans. I have only seen them once, several years ago during the Lateralus tour. Looking forward to the experience.

7/1: Phish, Raleigh, NC

7/2: Phish, Charlotte, NC

7/3-7/4: Phish, Alpharetta, GA

8/13-14: Phish, Deer Creek

8/15: possibly Umphrey's Mcgee in Atlanta. Be a nice way to break up the trip back to the Gulf Coast.

[Dusty Chalk]

Next week: Gwar! I haven't listened to them in over a decade, but I saw they were coming to Mobile and so I youtubed some stuff. I don't see how this won't be awesome live.

Dude, everyone should see Gwar at least once in their life. Wear clothes that you don't care about, and that's all I'll say.

[Voltron]

Lou Donaldson at Herbst Theater last night capped off -- and bested -- three concert evenings in a row. We took our kids because JP moved away and wasn't using his tickets any more. They were not as thrilled but it was fine except when my son was plugging his ears ostentatiously.

Anyway, it was the quartet I mentioned above but with Matt Bianchi on B3. They were all excellent musicians but the guitar had too much of a honey-drenched tone too much of the time. The drummer was great.

The man himself was a character in every way, and was in complete control of the band. They came out and launched into Blues Walk, which was awesome but a little tame. At the end of the song, Lou held up his arms like he was going to signal the final note but kept play-acting and trying to trick them with feints and such before the ultimate perfectly timed ending. He played great and had some really nice solos. He is a happy man at 83 but joked that Blues Walk and other of his songs are on Blue Note records so go buy them "because I need the money."

The set list is below with some comments for JP and Reks who were pining for having missed it. On that note, Reks, he complimented SF for being an astute jazz town and then said, "for jazz, you've got NY City, then Chicago and then all the way to SF and nothing in between!" Sad but true. Sorry about that.

Set list:

Blues Walk

Introductions -- "we will play straight ahead jazz with no fusion or confusion. No Spyro Gyra, no Kenny G, no Snoop Doggy Dog, no 50 Cent who ain't worth a quarter."

We (Charlie Parker tune)

Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong, in trubte to the greatest jazz musician and possibly greatest musician yet to live)

Fast and Free -- LD tune, "it's gonna be fast, but nit all that free." Great and extended drum solo.

Whiskey Drinkin Woman -- LD played some blues and how some people forget where jazz came from, then talked about the blues while the band plated on and then he sang this song. Fantastic stuff.

Alligator Bogaloo -- buy the album, LD needs the money!

A Quick One -- he said the management asked fir an intermission even though the band was si hot they could play 2-3 more hours, so he said they would play for the first time on the West Coast the intermission song from Mintons that they used when the band had been drinking too much beer. After the buildup, it was a one-note crescendo and they left the stage.

Love (made famous by Nat King Cole)

Gravy Train -- LD tune written on a monotonous train ride. The drummer nailed the locomotive beat.

It Was a Dream Baby -- This was another blues followed by LD singing a great song "about a man who smoked too much of those cigarettes with no name on 'em. You know the ones I mean."

Once I Had a Secret Love (band's choice -- trio w/o LD)

Bye Bye Blackbird -- "Made famous by Miles Davis when he played jazz." lol Lou. Great song and a beautiful quiet but fast solo.

Finale was a standard that I recognized but can't name. LD said before that song that it was about time to retire but he had a great time. I believe he meant retire for the evening because the man is very spunky and has plenty of chops.

Surreptitious iPhone photo for Reks:

Edited May 30, 2010 by Voltron

[Asr]

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing Beethoven's 8th and 5th. Man they were good. I was amazed by every musician's playing ability and they were all in perfect unison. The 5th felt a bit too fast overall but they delivered on the bombast.

[jvlgato]

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing Beethoven's 8th and 5th. Man they were good. I was amazed by every musician's playing ability and they were all in perfect unison. The 5th felt a bit too fast overall but they delivered on the bombast.

Need to go see Muti some time. Never a big fan of Barenboim, I'm hoping I like Muti more.

Last night, saw these guys at The Old Town School of Folk Music:

http://houseofwaters.com/live

They're a hammered dulcimer based jazz band, and holy crap, the dulcimer guy is amazing!

[jinp6301]

Question to the jazzers here, Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock are playing in Carnegie hall soon and tickets ($40-90) are available. Is this a concert that I (as a beginner jazz listener) should go to?

[The Monkey]

Question to the jazzers here, Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock are playing in Carnegie hall soon and tickets ($40-90) are available. Is this a concert that I (as a beginner jazz listener) should go to?

Cough a lot while Jarrett is playing--he likes that.

[jinp6301]

I think so? I dont think I can make a fair assessment until I listen to more of it (like how tigers must try every ice cream flavor to know which one they like), but I like most of what I've heard.

[Voltron]

Question to the jazzers here, Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock are playing in Carnegie hall soon and tickets ($40-90) are available. Is this a concert that I (as a beginner jazz listener) should go to?

Yes no matter what you like. One of the all-time trios. It will be great.

I just got back from seeing the James Farm, Joshua Redman's new quartet. My mind is pretty much blown as I feel this was a historic show. I will write something up tomorrow, but my very non-hyperbole-oriented wife said "I'm pretty sure that's the best jazz show I have ever seen." And we've seen a lot of jazz shows. Adding a bit of hyperbole to that, I will posit that it was one of the best jazz shows EVAR! Incredible.

Edited June 13, 2010 by Voltron

[jvlgato]

Saw Joshua Redman solo a few years ago in Chicago. Just outstanding. But needed some backup - must have been great with his new band! Didn't know he had formed one.

[jinp6301]

then go.

Yes no matter what you like. One of the all-time trios. It will be great.

Thats what I thought. Now I just have to figure out how much I want to pay above the $40

[dallan]

Phish last summer at Shoreline Amp....13th row, pretty cool. Downloaded a soundboard of the show in 24 bit to listen to when needed.

[uberburger101]

Just came back from Mika's concert. Elaborate sets, quirky costumes, almost his whole song repertoire and overall crazy energy. Awesome. Nothing more I could ask for.

[Asr]

Alison Krauss & Union Station performing at the 37th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival - and it was amazing! Seeing Alison live was beyond expectations and those Union Station guys are just supremely talented players. It was totally worth the 9-hour drive to see one of my top favorite bands live, I hope they come back next year!

I was able to push my way into the crowd to about 30-40 feet from the stage and getting to see the band that close-up was totally surreal after hearing them so many times on their CDs. I snapped dozens of pics from two different vantage points, here are two to show what it was like. Wouldn't have been able to take the night pic without my D300s (ISO was maxed out at 3200) and Sigma 50-150 (I think I maxed it out at 150mm). Alison was better-looking in person than I could have imagined.

The set list included songs from Now That I've Found You, New Favorite, Lonely Runs Both Ways, Live, Forget About It, and even the A Hundred Miles or More compilation. They did a jazz/big-band version of "Oh, Atlanta" that was just as fun as the version on Live and the encore was "A Living Prayer" that everyone shut up for and listening to nothing but Alison singing was spellbinding. The whole thing was an unforgettable experience in the always-beautiful Telluride.

[jvlgato]

Thanks, Steve! Looks sweet! AKUS is on my VERY short list of bands I HAVE to see.