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Utter Randomness
Aug. 14th, 2004 08:43 pmAnd on the music front...
Current Tunage: The Monkees, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.
Yeah, I know. I'm listening to the Monkees. You can make fun of me. :p
So last Saturday I went to the Curiosa Festival at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield. Very cool show. Very VERY cool show. A quick rundown:
First show was Head Automatica, who played on the second stage out in the side parking lot. Okay band, sorta reminded me of those loud semi-alternative bands (the ones safe enough to play on "hip" commercial stations)...nothing to write home about. The only interesting thing is that Dan the Automator (premier turntablist behind Gorillaz, here playing prerequisite hard-rock band DJ) was there as part of the goofiness.
Mogwai was the first band on the main stage. Oh. My. God. These guys are too effin' cool. You wouldn't know it at first, since their songs often start off as very laid back as Cocteau Twins-ish guitar jams, but damn, to they know how to use feedback!!! These guys are one of the best post-rock bands around. They did an intense and brilliant take on their track "Mogwai Fear Satan" that ended with three guitars squealing at high volume as they walked away. Awesome band.
The Cooper Temple Clause played 2nd stage, and they're surprisingly good. Sorta reminded me of Disintegration-era Cure, very good with moody melodies and loud angst. I bought their cd Kick Up the Fire, and Let the Flames Break Loose at the Strawberries tent, they were that good. I was in line to have my cd signed but unfortunately had to bail because Interpol were about to come on stage.
The Rapture (main stage)--these guys I skipped. I'm not too impressed by them.
Melissa Auf Der Maur (2nd stage)--I skipped her too. She's okay but I wasn't too interested. Besides, ravaging hunger at that point took precedence. :p
Interpol (main)--Wow. Damn. Just...damn. Amazing, tight, and too cool. The first band on the bill to have an incredible presence that blew pretty much everyone away. They debuted three new songs that will be on their new cd (Antics) which will be out next month. I highly recommend this band to pretty much everyone. THIS is how a band should play onstage.
Muse (2nd stage)--Just...wow. This band intrigued me when they came out with Showbiz back in '99, and after an import-only 2nd cd (Origins of Symmetry), they came back with the killer Absolution cd. The thing with Muse is that if you listen to their stuff, you swear their bass and guitar lines are put through a sequencer--it's almost impossible for someone to play that fast and intricate. This was the main reason I went to see them--to see if they could pull it off. And they did. Plus they have all the stage presence of a punk band that finds starting a riot a bit more important (and a lot more fun) than just presenting their songs. And the lead singer/guitarist/keyboardist is quite the prodigy. Just amazing.
The Cure (main)--they rocked, just as they always have. Need I say more? Being that the last time I saw them, Boris and Porl were still in the band, hearing the latest line-up gave them a different, harder edge. This is of course in part to their harder sounding new cd, but still--they've never been better. Even the older tunes they pulled up (Plainsong(!!), Just Like Heaven, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea) sounded fresher and a lot healthier, if that makes sense. Like they breathed new life into them. The best surprise was when they did "One Hundred Years," which sounded so much better than the original. (Side note: they showed images of World War II in the background during this song--kinda gave the song a new meaning for me)
All in all, an awesome show. Pity I had to leave during the last third of the Cure performance so I could manage to get out of the parking lot and still make it home somewhat awake. Another interesting note was that there were a lot of older people there...I'm guessing a mix of parents of Cure fans, newer yuppie Cure fans who don't have anything before Head on the Door, and mayhap even a few longtime hardcore fans from the early years. Quite a few Goths and wannabe Goths there. There was even some guy who I swear HAD to be Andrew Eldritch--he was like seven feet tall and all he needed was black hair and black shades.
So yeah, cool show.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Current tunage: Led Zeppelin, Early Days
A little over two weeks before Noreascon, baby! Can't wait!
(yes,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
head58, I'm still staying in Boston. Thanks for the offer anyway.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Feh. I can't wait for Noreascon. Between that and the few days afterwards, I have a week and a half's worth of vacation coming to me. It's been hell at work, as they're slowly phasing out orders coming down the lanes in order to focus on fluid loads (yeah, I know, nickel)--basically a wave of orders being live-loaded directly into a truck instead of put on pallets. It's all very fine and dandy and takes some of the stress off the floor, but in the process a lot of us are getting our asses handed to us in the trailers, which sucks. Just something I gotta get used to, I suppose. That vacation's looking better and better...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
So what did you buy during Tax-Free Day in Massachusetts? I bought the two above cds at Newbury Comics and bought the new Writer's Market at Barnes & Noble. Kinda funny, being that I normally would have gone hog-wild ii the record store on a day like this, but believe it or not, there really wasn't anything I just HAD to get. Actually most of this week's check is going into the credit cards to pad the big dent I'll be putting into it in a few weeks. :p
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Since the last Cerebus trade came out, I've decided to start rereading Cerebus from the beginning, which I usually end up doing at least once every two years or so. I have them all in trade (and have Cerebus #0, which reprints numbers 51, 112/113 and...er...the Like-a-Looks episode after Jaka's Story), so I won't have to dig out individual issues. I've come to really enjoy High Society, where Sim really started to get good. Just finished that one today, and will start reading my very tattered copy of Church & State I soon.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I still find myself watching that damn Demented Cartoon Movie. The thing is way too addictive and too damn funny not to. I actually did a Google on Brian Kendall, the guy who made it, and apparently he's either a former Hampshire College student or a Northwestern University student majoring in music. Or maybe both. Zeeky Boogy Doog!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tomorrow, barring any really torrential rainstorm, I'll be heading down to West Springfield for the first Jeb! jam session we've had in well over a year or so. We're all pretty much rusty right now--I haven't picked up the guitar in ages, I don't know what Eric's been up to, and Bruce was out of commission with a bum knee for a spell. Of course I'll be taping it so we'll see what we come up with...!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Alright. Enough dawdling. I expected to do some legitimate writing tonight (I've been lazy since Wednesday), so I'd better stop this now before I hog everybody else's bandwidth.
Current Tunage: The Monkees, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.
Yeah, I know. I'm listening to the Monkees. You can make fun of me. :p
So last Saturday I went to the Curiosa Festival at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield. Very cool show. Very VERY cool show. A quick rundown:
First show was Head Automatica, who played on the second stage out in the side parking lot. Okay band, sorta reminded me of those loud semi-alternative bands (the ones safe enough to play on "hip" commercial stations)...nothing to write home about. The only interesting thing is that Dan the Automator (premier turntablist behind Gorillaz, here playing prerequisite hard-rock band DJ) was there as part of the goofiness.
Mogwai was the first band on the main stage. Oh. My. God. These guys are too effin' cool. You wouldn't know it at first, since their songs often start off as very laid back as Cocteau Twins-ish guitar jams, but damn, to they know how to use feedback!!! These guys are one of the best post-rock bands around. They did an intense and brilliant take on their track "Mogwai Fear Satan" that ended with three guitars squealing at high volume as they walked away. Awesome band.
The Cooper Temple Clause played 2nd stage, and they're surprisingly good. Sorta reminded me of Disintegration-era Cure, very good with moody melodies and loud angst. I bought their cd Kick Up the Fire, and Let the Flames Break Loose at the Strawberries tent, they were that good. I was in line to have my cd signed but unfortunately had to bail because Interpol were about to come on stage.
The Rapture (main stage)--these guys I skipped. I'm not too impressed by them.
Melissa Auf Der Maur (2nd stage)--I skipped her too. She's okay but I wasn't too interested. Besides, ravaging hunger at that point took precedence. :p
Interpol (main)--Wow. Damn. Just...damn. Amazing, tight, and too cool. The first band on the bill to have an incredible presence that blew pretty much everyone away. They debuted three new songs that will be on their new cd (Antics) which will be out next month. I highly recommend this band to pretty much everyone. THIS is how a band should play onstage.
Muse (2nd stage)--Just...wow. This band intrigued me when they came out with Showbiz back in '99, and after an import-only 2nd cd (Origins of Symmetry), they came back with the killer Absolution cd. The thing with Muse is that if you listen to their stuff, you swear their bass and guitar lines are put through a sequencer--it's almost impossible for someone to play that fast and intricate. This was the main reason I went to see them--to see if they could pull it off. And they did. Plus they have all the stage presence of a punk band that finds starting a riot a bit more important (and a lot more fun) than just presenting their songs. And the lead singer/guitarist/keyboardist is quite the prodigy. Just amazing.
The Cure (main)--they rocked, just as they always have. Need I say more? Being that the last time I saw them, Boris and Porl were still in the band, hearing the latest line-up gave them a different, harder edge. This is of course in part to their harder sounding new cd, but still--they've never been better. Even the older tunes they pulled up (Plainsong(!!), Just Like Heaven, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea) sounded fresher and a lot healthier, if that makes sense. Like they breathed new life into them. The best surprise was when they did "One Hundred Years," which sounded so much better than the original. (Side note: they showed images of World War II in the background during this song--kinda gave the song a new meaning for me)
All in all, an awesome show. Pity I had to leave during the last third of the Cure performance so I could manage to get out of the parking lot and still make it home somewhat awake. Another interesting note was that there were a lot of older people there...I'm guessing a mix of parents of Cure fans, newer yuppie Cure fans who don't have anything before Head on the Door, and mayhap even a few longtime hardcore fans from the early years. Quite a few Goths and wannabe Goths there. There was even some guy who I swear HAD to be Andrew Eldritch--he was like seven feet tall and all he needed was black hair and black shades.
So yeah, cool show.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Current tunage: Led Zeppelin, Early Days
A little over two weeks before Noreascon, baby! Can't wait!
(yes,
head58, I'm still staying in Boston. Thanks for the offer anyway.)- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Feh. I can't wait for Noreascon. Between that and the few days afterwards, I have a week and a half's worth of vacation coming to me. It's been hell at work, as they're slowly phasing out orders coming down the lanes in order to focus on fluid loads (yeah, I know, nickel)--basically a wave of orders being live-loaded directly into a truck instead of put on pallets. It's all very fine and dandy and takes some of the stress off the floor, but in the process a lot of us are getting our asses handed to us in the trailers, which sucks. Just something I gotta get used to, I suppose. That vacation's looking better and better...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
So what did you buy during Tax-Free Day in Massachusetts? I bought the two above cds at Newbury Comics and bought the new Writer's Market at Barnes & Noble. Kinda funny, being that I normally would have gone hog-wild ii the record store on a day like this, but believe it or not, there really wasn't anything I just HAD to get. Actually most of this week's check is going into the credit cards to pad the big dent I'll be putting into it in a few weeks. :p
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Since the last Cerebus trade came out, I've decided to start rereading Cerebus from the beginning, which I usually end up doing at least once every two years or so. I have them all in trade (and have Cerebus #0, which reprints numbers 51, 112/113 and...er...the Like-a-Looks episode after Jaka's Story), so I won't have to dig out individual issues. I've come to really enjoy High Society, where Sim really started to get good. Just finished that one today, and will start reading my very tattered copy of Church & State I soon.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I still find myself watching that damn Demented Cartoon Movie. The thing is way too addictive and too damn funny not to. I actually did a Google on Brian Kendall, the guy who made it, and apparently he's either a former Hampshire College student or a Northwestern University student majoring in music. Or maybe both. Zeeky Boogy Doog!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tomorrow, barring any really torrential rainstorm, I'll be heading down to West Springfield for the first Jeb! jam session we've had in well over a year or so. We're all pretty much rusty right now--I haven't picked up the guitar in ages, I don't know what Eric's been up to, and Bruce was out of commission with a bum knee for a spell. Of course I'll be taping it so we'll see what we come up with...!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Alright. Enough dawdling. I expected to do some legitimate writing tonight (I've been lazy since Wednesday), so I'd better stop this now before I hog everybody else's bandwidth.
