The Live Music Thread

[Voltron]

Saw a very cool show with Bill Frissell playing live to accompany a silent documentary about the 1927 Mississippi floods by Bill Morrison. Also got to meet and talk to Bill Frissell, which was most excellent.

[jp11801]

Al that is very cool!

[mikeymad]

Was just watching Bill on NPR tiny desk... cool indeed..

[robm321]

FYI for those near SF

Two major new works by important contemporary composers are getting their first airings in the Bay Area this week

[postjack]

Festival season is indeed upon us!

Melody and I did both weekends of Jazzfest this year. Not all the days, just 1st Sat/Sun and 2nd Sat/Sun, but still it was an intense experience taking in both weekends.

First weekend highlights included Mickey Hart Band at Tips FQ. I was all snuggled into my hotel bed Friday night when I got a text from one of my Phish message board buddies who said he was at this show. I drove into the FQ and bought a ticket, so glad I did. I have never seen Mickey in any capacity, and to hear him ramble about the suns energy and starclusters and how it helps us party during Space was a surprisingly magical experience for me.

(thats a blurry Dave Schools to the left)

Tom Petty at the festival proper was also pretty damn entertaining, and I'm not even a fan. Also caught Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen at the Acura stage, who brought the thick greasy funk. Also caught this superb cochon de lait po boy, which brought the thick greasy pork omg:

its seriously like the best tasting thing ever. i ate more then one. the crawfish sushi was also shockingly good, as was the crawfish bread and crawfish beignets.

view of the acura stage on 1st Saturday, it was packed:

2nd weekend we caught tons of Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Their Economy Hall set was an outstanding experience, so cool to see the mix of old, middle aged, and spun out hipster kids enjoying the same music. pretty magical. i had a homemade ice cream sandwich during this set. Also strangely met Jeff Waful during this set (light guy for Umphreys McGee, super gracious dude). Later we saw My Morning Jacket at Gentilly which was amazing.

The PHJB show at the newly restored Joy Theatre was awesome. Some technical issues but plenty of guests, including Stanton Moore, Walter Wolfman Washington, Ivan Neville, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Jim James of MMJ, who performed an awesome rendition of St. James Infirmary.

later that night we had pancakes, shrimp poboys, and gumbo at an awesome 24 hour place in the FQ called Daisy Dukes:

sometime that weekend we also had the obligatory breakfast at Mothers, I got the debris biscuit:

hell yeah.

Trombone Shorty killed it on the fairgrounds, as did Galactic. Anders Osbourne set at the Gentilly stage was incredible as well, this guy is a superstar.

damn I can't wait until next year.

Hangout was amazing as well, Jack White's set left everyone stupefied. Here is a crappy shot of the fireworks during Seven Nation Army:

Umphrey's McGee also brought it, I heard a bunch of songs I love, including Ringo, Haj, and even the elusive prog Iron Maiden esque Wizard Burial Ground. Skrillex destroyed his daytime set, leaving me so exhausted I had to retreat to a friends condo to lay on a couch for a while. String Cheese had two awesome sets, including a Rosie > Miss Browns opener, and a fat Rollover sandwich in the second set. Pretty amazing seeing them on the beach.

Plenty more to come in festival / live music season. In a couple weeks I'll be going to Bonnaroo for the first time since 2004, and I am really really excited for that. Then Iron Maiden (!!!) with Alice Cooper opening in Atlanta, then a nice break until August when I get to see Phish crush the South for three nights. Then Voodoo fest and Bear Creek. Its going to be a great year!

[mikeymad]

forgot to post... Roger Waters insane show in SF

[Pars]

Radiohead last night in Chicago... sorry for the iphone pic

[jp11801]

Mikey glad to hear the Waters show is great, I've got tickets for the SoFlo show this Friday.

[Voltron]

Jealous of the Radiohead show, Chris. Was it all that?

[Pars]

Yes, it was very good Al. We both really enjoyed it. It was a nice night out, though we were in the covered seated section.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/turnitup/chi-radiohead-concert-review-radiohead-at-first-midwest-bank-amphitheatre-reviewed-20120610,0,4054249.column

That Roger Waters show looks like quite the spectacle Mikey. He was here at Wrigley Field Friday night.

[Absorbine_Sr]

Off to a free show in Evanston tonight. Playing are The Lee Boys, a Sacred Steel Ensemble. Sounds like it will be fun.

[Absorbine_Sr]

The Lee Boys are kickin' it.

[en480c4]

Saw Nellie McKay last night. Small venue (124 seats), great crowd and amazing show. She was endearing, quirky and very, very funny. I love live music, and that goes double for such a talented, natural musician who can do so much so well!

[acidbasement]

My wife and I are seriously thinking about booking passage here.

[Dusty Chalk]

That sounds \m/ AWESOME \m/.

Also, there's now a steampunk cruise.

[acidbasement]

That sounds \m/ AWESOME \m/.

I know, right? I'm excited to hear symphonic metal live without pre-recorded backing tracks.

Edited July 15, 2012 by acidbasement

[Dusty Chalk]

Wait, what? I missed that part. That just makes it better.

My only concern is all that white pasty skin that hasn't seen the light of day might spontaneously combust. (Specifically, I am thinking of Cristina Scabbia.)

[Dusty Chalk]

I think you can see me in this pic. Might be my friend that I went with, hard to tell with the distortion (he's blonde, I'm shaved of head) :

Bottom right, 2nd row (we were in the 3rd row, IIRC, but someone could have been sitting down).

Porcupine Tree, Radio City Music Hall, October 14 2010.

[thrice]

My wife and I went to the Andrew Bird concert last week. That man can whistle! Great show. Outdoor pavilion at the NC Museum or Art... a little light rain. Nice evening.

[grawk]

I saw the west Philadelphia orchestra last night. Phenomenal performance.

[thrice]

Went to the Amanda Palmer concert last Friday night. Great show. Some tough moments. Some tough songs. Best concert I've been to in a long time. See her if you can, she's on fire.

[Dusty Chalk]

Damnit, I missed her.

[Dusty Chalk]

Stolen Babies -- t'were awesome, exactly as entertaining as I expected. Short concert, but they played everything I wanted except Lifeless, which would have dominated the short set too much to be appropriate, which I understand.

Paradise Lost -- t'were awesome, but short set does not benefit this legendary band. And they didn't get a very strong reaction, so I doubt I'll ever see them headline. Alas.

Katatonia -- I've seen them several times now, and Jonas always starts out not even trying to sing -- it's almost like a spoken word version of some of the songs. I don't think I'll see them again, my earlier memories are better than they are now.

Devin. Fucking. Townsend. Fucking. Project -- unholy carp, he was ridiculously more entertaining than I expected. Total highlight of the night. <plays some proggy metally stuff> "Okay, that's the shit you play if you never want to get laid. Now here's a ballad. <starts ballad> No no, don't cross your arms, that intimidates me." Also: "I made out with a wolf. And now I'm angry. Because that shit was disturbing." End of tour shenanigans are the best. Amazing stage presence. And quite easily the highest fidelity metal concert I've ever heard -- you could understand every nuance of everything he said.

[ironbut]

Just got back from the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Tons of great music as usual and I thought I'd share some standouts;

Gregory Porter, fantastic singer with a little of a Motown flavor.

Pat Metheny's Unity Band hauled Pat's Orchestriion on stage. He and Chris Potter did some amazing stuff.

Pat also played in a trio with Christian McBride and Jack Dejohnette. Just killer! Jack was the featured artist and played and talked several times during the 3 days.

Another interesting talk was with Chris Potter talking about Coltrane on Sunday which was 'Trane's B day.

New (to me at least) horn player Ambrose Akinmusire played several times with different groups and impressed the hell out of me. His band with Walter Smith lll was fantastic as well as,..

The Monterey Festival Touring band with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Christian McBride, Benny Green, Chris Potter, Akinmusire, and Lewis Nash on drums closed the weekend.

Edited September 26, 2012 by ironbut

[blessingx]

Sonny Rollins with Al, Claire and Mikey last night. Sonnys not bad at all.