Coachella 2009 Recap
posted Apr 25, 02:50 AM by Rick WebbFile under: Hit the Road , Festivals
Oh hai. I went to Coachella. For the fifth time. I love coachella. I love the desert. I love the sun. I love renting a vacation house and making breakfast burritos and swimming and then mozeying on over to the Empire Polo Grounds and rocking out.
Ironically, every year, I get lazier and lazier about it. I used to go at like 1 or 2 in the afternoon, now I’m arriving at the field at like 5 or 6, enjoying an hour or two of sun, and then cooling off in the dark, leaving at like 11 or 12. It’s still awesome, though.
This year’s lineup was good, but it was definitely no 2008. Most of the headliners I had seen recently, and though I liked them all, which was nice, there weren’t any insane surprises like Roger Waters and Prince last year. This is not to say there weren’t some amazing things booked: getting Paul McCartney is a coup, no doubt, and Throbbing Gristle? The Orb? Public Enemy? Leonard Cohen? Awesome.
Day One
Day one I got there at 6ish and caught a little of Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band who were the muddled mess they usually are. I am a die hard Conor Fan – one of the best folk shows I ever saw was that dude, sitting there by himself, at the age of like 20 or something, and he blew my mind. But Bright Eyes eventually mushroomed into like ten people, and with the Mystic Valley band it’s even worse. Much like Iron and Wine and Devandra Banhart, Conor needs to ditch the band and be himself. But, then, dude’s got ten times more talent than I do, so he probably shouldn’t listen to me.
Next up was a quick trip around the feild checking out The Bug featuring Warrior Queen which was not my thing, N.A.S.A. which was exactly the type of electronica band that such a name would entail, and then to the main stage for Franz Ferdinand, who were fun and Franz Ferdinand like, and they had one new song that sounded awesome, but really, I do like them but never LOVED THEM.
Then back on over to the second stage for Leonard Cohen. This marks the third show on Leonard’s comeback tour that I’ve caught. It was substantially shorter than the other ones, of course (about 2 hours shorter) but was every bit as awesome, and he had a HUGE crowd, and they set up a secondary, auxiliary speaker column about a hundred yards back so people could hear, and he brought it. “Who by Fire,” “Tower of Song,” “First We Take Manhattan,” and, of course, “Hallelujah,” which the crowd LOVED. I love that little guy. I always have. I am psyched that he’s doing this tour, I’m psyched how endless it’s become, and I’m psyched at how much money he’s making after his evil manager embezzled his life’s earnings.
Anyway, next up was Morrissey, and… ugh. I have obviously loved the Smiths at various points in my life, but… god, it was not my thing this time. I momentarily got slightly excited when he started “Girlfriend in a Coma,” but it was fleeting. His annoying comments (“Are you sick of this yet? I am” and “Oh, dear me, I can barely handle the stench of cooking flesh”) are sometimes funny and clever but this time I was just like “meh.” Dude wears a cape now. Game over.
Skipped Silversun pickups even though we like them in exchange for adventurism – hit Peanut Butter Wolf who is an awesome mashup DJ with videos that was super awesome (especially impressed about his integration of the Pumpkin’s “I am One,” complete with video). Seems to be a lot of good stuff going on in that ream – reminded me of the Bassnectar guy I saw opening for Jane’s in Austin. Beirut were their usual faux-old world, Neutral Milk Hotel wannabe cardigan wearing (or at least considering purchasing) selves, and it got boring pretty quick. Checked out Mike Patton’s new project – Patton & Rahzel – which seems to be beatboxing with distortion effects and it was actually kind of hypnotic and intriguing. A Place to Bury Strangers KILLED IT. I love them live I love how noisy they are and they are like the perfect band in the world.
Then over to the main stage for Paul McCartney. He was great, opened with “Jet,” played a ton of beatles songs, had 300 foot tall HD video screens so everyone could see, and was generally awesome. It was the anniversary of Linda’s death, so that was sad. He played “Blackbird” and “The Long and Winding Road” and “Got To Get You Into My Life” and a bunch of other Beatles songs, and Wings songs. Maybe a bit too many new ones, but it was awesome.
Day 2
Got to the place as Spearhead was finishing up, sadly, and then checked out Henry Rollins, who was doing spoken word but it was pretty cool. Always gotta love Henry. Then a DJ set by The Bloody Beetroots who I have no idea about but if you can get 10,000 people raving in 100 degree heat you must be doing something right. Then we went to see Glasvegas but they were cancelled, sadly, and then Calexico who were doing their Calexico thing which I like on record but have never super gotten into as much as their Giant Sand/Friends of Dean Martinez associates. Then TV On The Radio who were AWESOME. Amazing new super fast version of “Staring at the Sun,” new songs that were awesome, and confidence and great stage presence, and YES. Then Fleet Foxes who are so insanely, perfectly talented and great that you have trouble even believing it’s live. I felt this the first time I saw them last year @ Emo’s, but even moreso now with all these people there. Just perfect. Then a bit of Junior Boys who were kinda boring, then Electric Touch which were actually pretty great in their own special glam rock way. I will check them out again. Then a bit of the Chemical Brothers DJ set, which damn, how awesome would it have been if it was a live set? Then Turbonegro who are so wonderfully insane live that was a great time, then a bit of Glass Candy which was more dance but with giant beach balls and a hot singer, so I’d check that out again.
Then Band of Horses who were doing that whole thing where they open with the rockers (“Great Salt Lake” and, especially” Ghost in my House”) and then settle into mid-tempo tedium. I wish they’d move “Funeral” up their set, too.
Then Thievery Corporation who were so excessive – ten musicians and A DIFFERENT SINGER FOR EVERY SONG. God, tens of thousands of dollars on transatlantic airfares right there. Oh Perry Ferrell was one of the singers.
Then MIA who was a little better than the other times I’ve seen her, but… jesus. Thievery Corporation has ten musicians and ten singers and they can switch from one song to another in seconds, but MIA revels in the between song pause. She doesn’t banter, it’s not for setup, she just DOESN’T FUCKING GET STARTED. And she always has these samples – last year it was a gun shot, this year it was an air horn – and she plays them OVER AND OVER AND OVER until you want to murder someone. Maybe that’s the idea. Maybe it’s experimental. Fuck if I know. I keep giving her a chance and she’s always bordering on disdainful to her audience. Whatever.
Then, finally, the Killers. People harsh on them, but I think they’re a good band. My friend Ryan recently called it – they’re the modern Roxy Music. New Wave, a bit weird, a bit glam, a bit pop. I stayed through the double-pyrotechnics burst of “Mr. Brightside” and “All these things that I have done” which was AWESOME. Left before the encore, but really – how could they top that? Same set more or less as their boston show I saw a few months ago, but the desert environs and pyrotechnics really added to it. Also, their set on this tour involves palm trees, so doing this @ Coachella amongst the real palm trees was kind of genius.
Day 3
Got in around 5:45 and caught the tail end of Peter Bjorn and John as we walked in, and then walked around and caught a smidge of Clipse and then a lot of X who were awesome. Then the Yeah Yeah Yeahs which I have often referred to as the worst live band in the world, but I now must revise that to formerly the worst live band in the world, because those dudes can play now. Karen O’s still kinda useless, but the music is good. Then Paul Weller who was awesome but played not enough Jam and Style Council, but it was great when he did, then a quick peek into The Kills who were great, and Devandra Banhart (see Conor Oberst, above).
Then over to the main stage for My Bloody Valentine. Now. I have seen them. A lot. I saw several shows on the loveless tour. I have seen them since they reunited. They are good live, but every show has been the same. But, then, every show I saw of theirs was in a club. Seeing My Bloody Valentine in a club? A LOUD version of the album. Seeing them in the desert, with 50,000 people? UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE. Oh man. It sounds better. The 15 minute noise opus in the middle of “You Made Me Realize” was wonderful – I was worried they’d shorten it for the masses, but no way. That’s a serious social experiment right there. Seventeen years after they first did it, it still seems insane, progressive, radical. People were curled up, covering their ears, running away, but surprisingly most people stayed and when it was over, the world applauded wildly. I shot it all in HD.
Next up was Public Enemy, who were awesome! YES! 21 years since “It Takes a Nation of Millions” and they’re still awesome. Every song was awesome. They had the whole crew. It was wonderful. I wish I could watch it again and again.
Then The Orb, who got props for being a live electronic act and not just a DJ set, but it was a little slow going.
Then Throbbing Gristle hahahaha. Zomg. Wonderful. I am thrilled I saw them. But they were pretty bad live. I mean, no surprise there. My partner at work and I were talking about it, and how we own something like 25 Throbbing Gristle live albums, and none of them are that good, so why did we expect this show to be any good. But it was fun to see them all, and “Persuasion” was pretty solid, so that’s something.
Then, finally, The Cure, who I love, but had just seen recently. They were playing new stuff, too. No opening it up with “plainsong.” But, I mean, by and large they played the hits people wanted to hear – “Just Like Heaven,” “In Between Days,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” etc. They played a few for the fans – Primary, A Strange Day, Prayers for Rain… The main problem with a cure set is that all the SERIOUSLY AWESOME SHIT is at the end. We left around Primary, and I’m looking at an online setlist now and the end looks awesome – “If Only Tonight We Could Sleep,” “The Kiss,” “One Hundred Years,” “M”, “A Forest”, “Play for Today,”... and it looks like they played 40 mins past curfew – with the plug being pulled, ironically, during “grinding halt.” Wow, I wish I stayed. But then I’d not have been home until like 4 AM. And I am old.
SXSW 2009
posted Apr 4, 08:37 PM by Rick WebbFile under: Festivals , Reunions
Bands: Bob Schneider and the Lonelyland w/The Fireants, The Dicks with David Yow, Vetiver, Circle Jerks, Sleepy Sun, Peter, Bjorn and John, Juliette and the New Romatiques, Echo and the Bunnymen, Kid Congo Powers, I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness, Shepard Fairey, Monotonix, Republic Tigers, Peter Murphy, No Age, Baptist Generals, Red Red Meat, Meat Puppets, Phosphorescent, Foreign Born, Kenan Bell, Bassnector with A-Trak, Jane’s Addiction, Silversun Pickups, Metallica, Tricky, Glassvegas, Primal Scream, Octopus Project, Lou Barlow, Morning After Girls, Longview, Crystal Method, Wayne Kramer, MSTRKRFT, Quaff
Wednesday, March 18: – Got up LATE. Laid around the hotel. Did work. Eventually went to Casino El Camino to meet Megan, Charlotte, Emma, Tara, and whats-his-name. Drank a lot of beer. Ran into a dude who made a calendar of pictures of cranes (the building kind) and I thought it was so adorable I bought a copy. Eventually Emma and I pedicabbed to the Austin Music Hall to see David Yow play with the Dicks. Turned out we went to the Austin Music Awards Show so everything was behind schedule. Saw some of Bob Schneider and Lonelyland w/The Fireants and then a lot of the awards show and then finally The Dicks w/David Yow and that was good – weird gay punk. I liked it. Then another pedicab to Emo’s and Emo’s Jr where we saw Vetiver, and then some of the Circle Jerks and then some of Sleepy Sun who were very interesting in their weirdness. Then we went to Vice to try and see Glasvegas but they were late so we saw a very ramshackle, stripped down Peter, Bjorn and John, which was strange and the place was too hot and I couldn’t find my friend Austin so we left and went back to Emo’s to see Juliette Lewis and the New Romantiques, who were better than the licks but still kinda boring, though the last song was good and Juliette is really a born performer. Then Echo and the Bunnymen which was a weird thing to see at Emo’s and they didn’t seem really into it but Emma hasn’t seen them a million times like me and she liked it so they probably delivered. Then inside for Kid Congo Powers who was actually kinda awesome.
So this is where it gets kind of weird. My friend Nussy basically pulls up and offers me and Emma a ride in this giant stretch white limo, and off we go to the Red Bull Moon Tower after party, since his friend, who also owns the limo, owns the place where the party is happening and did all the lights, stage, etc. The place looks beautiful and we roll VIP. We caught I love you but I’ve chosen darkness who I love love love, then Shepard Fairey DJing, which was a great song selection and whole songs but not particularly overly skilled at DJing, then Monotonix who were INSANE and played in the crowd and things went crazy (photos and a good writeup here) and then The Republic Tigers again, who I really like now I think. I gotta check ‘em out on recorded medium next.
The limo, after some good driving around, dropped us off at our hotel around 5AM. Ha.
Thursday, March 19 – Good breakfast at Manuels. I love that place but i probably shouldn’t say that cuz I like how it’s never crowded. Then some work at the hotel and the rock begins at 7PM with Peter Murphy at Elysium. It’s all new stuff, but the dude’s hilarious (“does anyone have any questions for the grandfather of goth?”) I’d have loved to have stayed for Blue Aeroplanes but we shoot for another 7 Hour show and head over to Radio Room for No Age, who are awesome but started early so we only caught about half of, and then The Baptist Generals, who I liked in their Neutral Milk Hotel meets Fleet Foxesness, except about 1/5th as good as that implies. Then we saw a little of Red Red Meat which was a fun time machine activity that was keeping in the good theme of this southby (my theory is that this was SXSW 1991 all over again) and then over to Stubb’s for The Meat Puppets, and then to the Mohawk for Phosphorescent and Foreign Born. Phosphorescent were awesome, Foreign Born not so much. We were working our way up Red River to get to the Playboy/C3 Presents party, and we did, and OMG. Okay first ban Kev and something. Um. Lemme look it up. Kenan Bell. Then an AWESOME DJ named Bassnectar who ROCKED IT. Occasionally he brought out an MC Apparently named A Trak. But really nothing could you prepare for the awesomeness of Jane’s Addiction, who have reformed with the original lineup, and want you to know they are really into the original Janes’s Addiction. They opened with Three Days, which really set the tone of awesomeness, then plowed through Ain’t No Right, Whores, Standing in the Shower Thinking, Ted, Just Admit It, Been Caught Stealing, Had a Dad, Mountain Song, Ocean Size, Stop! The last three were total and utter perfection. And you know how many bands I see. I haven’t even thought about Jane’s in a decade, but they were my first show, and they fucking ROCKED. YES. WOOOO! Oh and I still have hearing loss 20 days later. Great.
Friday, March 20 – after two days of late nights, I needed sleep, and I needed to do some work. So I didn’t roll out of the house until kind of late, and I made my way to Stubb’s for the Guitar Hero:Metallica Edition party, and caught Silversun Pickups who were great, but man it’s hard to open for… omg surprise! METALLICA. Yeah, that ruled. RAWWWWWK. Ashley would have hated it. Ha. But it was great. Then to Aces to try and see The Airborne Toxic Event, but it was packed and I could only see a smidge of them through the window so that doesn’t count. Then to the Austin Music Hall for Tricky who RULED and OMG I wish I could see him again on this tour but I missed the SF show but man he is still awesome. And then to La Zona Rosa for Glasvegas who were great and then my most anticipated band of the festival Primal Scream who TOTALLY RULED. OMG. Opened with Kill All Hippies, played Miss Lucifer, Higher than the Sun, Deep Hit of Morning Sun, Shoot Speed Kill Light, Swastika Eyes, Moving on Up, Get Your Rocks Off, Accellerator, Country Girl. Basically everything but Loaded. But it RULED. I was so happy. OMG OMG OMG More please. But apparently they can’t play long tours cuz they are drug addicts. Or so the E Street band says. Ha.
Saturday, March 21 – breakfast at Hickory Street – I forgot about that place but it does the job. Then puttering during the day then dinner with Megan, Woody, Charlotte and Emma. Then to the Rock. First Emo’s for The Octopus Project who I had never seen and man they were great! Very weird and arty. Then to the Parish for Lou Barlow w/Imaad Wasif and that was AWESOME. I love love love his last album, Emoh, and he played three songs from it, as well as some folk implosion stuff and some new stuff from his upcoming Merge album and that would rule. I am ready. Then we had some time to kill so we picked a band with a good name on the way to where we wanted to go and ended up at Pangea for The Morning After Girls who were not girls but rather awesome australian post rock meets the bad seeds and actually pretty much lived up to that awesome premise. Then to Cedar Street for longview who were really really good and not what i expected at all and I gotta remember to look them up and give them another listen and then to La Zona Rosa for The Crystal Method who were straight up big beat techno, and then to Maggie Mae’s to try and see Wayne Kramer but we literally saw one song because he went on early and we ran into my friend Adrienne from LA on the walk. Then to Radio Room to try and see MSTRKRFT but there was a giant crowd at the door and they made you go in the back, LAME, and even though there was probably room in the courtyard for us badged types, you couldn’t actually get to the door. OOPS. So we gave up and went to Elysium and ended SXSW music at Japan Rocks night which was HILARIOUS and we caught the last bit of Asakusa Jinta and then Quaff who were HILARIOUS and a perfect ending. When in doubt at south-by, go somewhere different and off the path, and it will rock. Rewarding.
Sunday, March 22 – AUS – SFO. Got up, got breakfast, and watched all three hours of the BSG finale, which RULED. Got on the plane and watched it again. Came home and started playing mad catch up with work.
2009 Begins!
posted Jan 17, 05:35 PM by Rick WebbFile under: Festivals , Hit the Road
And here we move into 2009.
So far, we have five festivals planned. Tickets are bought for All Tomorrow’s Parties UK weekend 1 – The Fans Strike Back This takes place in Minehead, Somerset UK again, at our old friend Butlins Holiday Resort, just after my Birthday May 8, 9 and 10. So far on deck for it are Devo, The Jesus Lizard (who I have not had the pleasure of seeing in over a decade), Spiritualized, Sleep performing Holy Mountain and selections from Dopesmoker, Grails, Young Marble Giants performing Colossal Youth, Antipop Consortium, The Cave Singers, Retribution Gospel Choir (Alan Sparhawk from Low’s other band), Shearwater and Beirut. More bands to be announced. They’re about halfway there on the lineup, the vast majority of the remainder being voted on by the attendees. I’m hella excited about Devo, Spiritualized, The Jesus Lizard and Young Marble Giants, who I never in a million years imagined I would ever get to see live.
I’ve also purchased tickets for next year’s US iteration of All Tomorrow’s Parties, which will take place in September, once again at Kutscher’s in Monticello, NY. This year will be curated by The Flaming Lips, and so far them, along with Atlas Sound, Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Antipop Consrotium, Suicide and the Dirty Three. The exciting one there for me so far is Suicide, who will be performing their first LP. Awesome.
I love ATP so much and am tempted to throw caution to the wind and go to ATP UK Weekend 2, curated by the Breeders, featuring Throwing Muses, Bon Iver, Holy Fuck, Gang of Four, Shellac, and Teenage Fanclub, but I’ll probably skip it in hopes that the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas is a good curator, since there are too many American bands in that lineup to justify another trip to the UK.
SO, then, festival three is, of course, the first of the year, South by Southwest. Lineup is trickling out, and for me, so far, the exciting bands include Primal Scream – one of the greatest live bands out there – along with the Vaselines (who are having some money trouble getting there, we hear, but we’re hopeful), Grizzly Bear, Au Revoir Simone, Andrew Bird, Grant Hart, The Ravonettes, Red Red Meat, Starsailor, Parenthetical Girls and Explosions in the Sky.
Moving on, we’re committed to hitting Coachella this year. The lineup hasn’t been announced yet – based on past years we expect it this week – but we are hopeful. The rumors, as usual, are insane, and we’re READY.
Next up we know we’ll be hitting Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits again this year, thanks to our good friends at C3 Presents, but we have NO IDEA what to begin to expect on the lineup.
Other festivals we’ll be keeping our eye on – Primavera, which is already shaping up nicely with Michael Nyman, My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized and the Vaselines. We really want to go back to Iceland Airwaves again this year, so with the depreciated Icelandic currency we’ll be keeping an eye on that as well.
Finally, some really great tours have already been announced for this year. We’re insanely, ridiculously excited to learn that the Tindersticks will be venturing out this year – I’ve not had the privilege of seeing them in over a decade and I loved it. Antony and the Johnsons are on the road soon, as well as Andrew Bird, Loney Dear, Acid Mothers Temple and more. One more exciting thing – Leonard Cohen makes his first US appearance in eons this February in New York. Having schlepped all the way up to Toronto to see him in one of the best shows of the year last year, I can’t wait for that one.
Last year I claimed that 2009 wouldn’t be as insane as 2008 on the Rock Tourism, but it is not looking that way at all.
Austin City Limits!
posted Nov 27, 10:24 PM by Rick WebbFile under: Festivals , Hit the Road
Bands: M Ward, Mates of State, Hot Chip, Jenny Lewis, NERD, David Byrne, Man Man, City and Colour, Erykah Badu, MGMT, Spiritualized, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Black Keys, Roky Erickson, Beck
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All Tomorrow's Parties NY: My Bloody Valentine
posted Nov 27, 10:09 PM by Rick WebbFile under: Reunions , Festivals
Bands: Tortoise performing “Millions Now Living Will Never Die,” Eugene Mirman, Thurston Moore performing “Psychic Hearts,” Patton Oswalt, Built to Spill performing “Perfect from Now On,” Wooden Ships, Fuck Buttons, Harmonia, Om, Autolux, Low, Polvo, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra, Les Savy Fav, Lightning Bolt, Shellac, Robin Guthrie, Lilys, Gemma Hayes, Mercury Rev, Spectrum, Yo La Tengo (a very little), Trail of Dead (very little), Mogwai, Bob Mould (very little), Dinosaur Jr, Brian Jonestown Massacre, My Bloody Valentine
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Lollapalooza 2008
posted Aug 9, 04:32 PM by Rick WebbFile under: Festivals , Hit the Road
Hit lollapalooza last weekend. It was awesome. Mad thanks to C3 presents for the hookup. What a great festival. I gotta hand it to them. Unbeatable setting. Convenient accommodations. No one mile walk to a car. Awesome VIP area. My only gripe – speaker poles in the VIP area. It’s quiet over there. Coachella rocks that. Anyway, it ruled. Here’s the recap:
The Bands: Steven Malkmus and the Jicks, Radiohead, Gutter Twins, MGMT, Devotchka, Explosions in the Sky, Broken Social Scene, Okkervil River, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Wilco, Brazillian Girls, Chromeo, Iron & Wine, Flogging Molly, Love and Rockets, Nine Inch Nails, Kanye West
Pictures are here
Friday, August 1 – got TONS of sleep. Then I met up with Emma and began our Lollapalooza experience! It started off not so hot, with a 2 hour wait in line for my C3 VIP passes. I should have gone the night before like emma and ashley! Emma politely waited in line with me until Ashley arrived, and off they went. I could here Mates of State, Grizzly Bear and Bloc Party while waiting, and I made some line friends, which is always nice, but I was woefully unprepared for 2 hours in the direct sun, and I got serious sunstroke. Luckily I didn’t burn, but I did get a nice tan. When I got to the front of the line ran into my man Fef, VP of Marketing for C3, and he let me pick up the passes for all the Barbarians coming, so at least no one else had to wait in line. Finally made it into the park and found Emma, Ashley. Kate Beaton, Doug P, Mike P and a few of Mike’s friends and we all congregated in the VIP area. Caught Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, who were totally as wanky as Ashley said they’d be. So sad. Pavement RIP. Then, of course, the mighty Radiohead, who were awesome and had an awesome light show. And then fireworks went off, and then the fireworks finale was right when the crescendo in “Fake Plastic Trees” broke and everything was right in the world and I nearly cried and god damn I’ve probably seen Radiohead 20 times at this point – from their first show in Boston at the Paradise in 92 when I lived across the street from it and went because I secretly thought “Creep” was a great song, right through to one of their only shows in the US for Kid A at the Greek Theater in LA to their pre-In Rainbows tour in 06 which I caught from the third row of Harborlights. It’s easy to be inurred by now, but they pulled it off and now I am plotting going to the Greatwoods show, esp. since Judi missed them due to a delayed flight. So on that note, me, ashley and emma walked back to our hotel area (our hotels were three blocks apart). We found a loungy bar for drinks and dinner and then went to their bar for more drinks, but I was so tired and when Judi finally got in at 1 I opted to go back to the hotel and meet her and promptly pass out of heat stroke and sleep 12 hours.
Saturday, August 2 Woke up the next day fully recharged and ready to rock. Luckily for all my time in the sun on friday I drank 8 bottles of water so I stayed hydrated, and I didn’t burn so there was no long term damage. Judi and I walked to the festival in time to catch the last song (Number 9) by the Gutter Twins, who I love love love. Then we caught a bit of MGMT, or tried, but the crowd was so insanely huge and it was so hot we gave up almost immediate (esp. since we just saw them @ the paradise like two weeks ago) We retreated to the north stage VIP area – oh and man, the VIP areas were so sweet. You could sit in the shade and get free massages and free drinks and dinner and yeah man, I’m 36. Fuck it. I’m gonna roll in VIP areas if I can get it for free why not, right? I am forever in debt to C3 presents. They are awesome. They made our weekend. Anyway, we listened to Devotchka, who were really good actually – I had been meaning to check them out for a while. Kinda worldy but not in a bad way. Then I chatted up the backstage access girl and she informed me that our wristbands would get us onto the sweet side stage balcony, so shit yeah, Judi and I did that for Explosions in the Sky, who were awesome, and later for Broken Social Scene, who were also awesome. In between we caught Okkervil River, who were almost awesome. Caught up with everyone – Kate, Mike P, Doug, etc. And Carrie S. joined us today, from our San Francisco office. It was really a great day. We rounded it out with Wilco, opting to skip Rage Against the Machine, since, well, their crowds are terrifying and we already went through that once at Coachella last year. Wilco were awesome in their ridiculous sewed embroidered suits, in different colors, each one matching their guitars. They had like teddy bears n shit sewed on them. It was a solid show, and for me it was highlighted by an amazing, pumped up, totally driving version of Kidsmoke/Spiders that was awesome. We spent a long time waiting in line to get back up the Balcony, but it was worth it once we did. Great view. Afterwards we all went out to a bar in Wicker Park, called Gold Dust, which was a good time, then another one called Maggie’s, I think. Brandie told us funny stories, doug entertained us with his silliness, and me and one of mike p’s friends shot the shit about Alaska, where her boyfriend lives. Good times.
Sunday, August 3 Last day of Lollapalooza! Woke up pretty late but still managed to get to the festival to catch a bit of the Brazillian Girls, who didn’t do it for me, then Chromeo, ditto. Then over to see Iron and Wine, who were also a bit boring and has lost the hauntingness and turned into a jam band. Judi had to leave then, which was sad. Back to Boston for her since she had to work early on Monday. And a wise move, too, given the airport hell we experienced monday. The day kicked in after that, really, when we met up with Fef and he got us backstage on the side stage for Flogging Molly, which were super high energy and MAN do they amp up the crowd to a ridiculous extent. After that Love and Rockets, who are great trip down memory lane for me, and their song selection is a fanboy’s dream and they even bust out the Bubblemen, which is kind of awesome and ridiculous. Then The National, who sounded awesome and great and yay. Then Nine Inch Nails who had too many new instrumentals for my liking, but they still rocked and are always a good time. Left halfway through to see Kanye again, who had retooled his set since the Glow in the Dark tour, but the set was basically the same. Man that dude’s got an ego. He’s a great performer, but he needs to stop reminding us of it. Someone needs to explain to him that he has been endowed with an ego AND talent, and despite his protestations that the ego drives the talent (a message that might be useful for the youth, as he was hoping, if he didn’t interject himself into it so much) – in fact he has talent and an ego. The ego doesn’t drive the talent. Someone should explain that to him. Ha. Anyway, the long march back to the hotels and me, emma, ashley, kate and carrie had a good champagne nightcap, bringing lolla to an end. what a great time.
Recap, Lollapalooza, ATPs, ACL
posted Jul 19, 06:08 PM by Rick WebbFile under: Festivals , Hit the Road
Well, I missed Yaz this week due to some stupidity around set times and an errant Brooklyn Vegan entry. UGH.
Since Leonard Cohen, I caught a few other shows “on the road.” Caught Kanye’s last Glow in the Dark show, or so he kept saying at the show, even though more and more of them keep cropping up. Not sure what’s up with that. It was pretty awesome, it has to be said, and man, the kids are all right. Excellent vibe there. Totally chill. Also caught Ludacris at a Webby Awards event, which was gloriously surreal.
Caught REM at Great Woods, which wasn’t really tourism since I live in MA, but we did take a limo there, which is always fun – we do it once a year to a show out @ Great Woods and REM won out this year. It was pretty awesome.
Worst is that I missed Sup Pop 20 because of my work load, which hurt a LOT, but I did trek out to Brooklyn to South Paw to see the one band I cared about the most: The Vaselines, which were wonderful and perfect and played their 18 songs and nothing more, nothing less, and had some seriously genius Banter. Some friends of my friend Aug opened up – band called The Indelicates who were pretty awesome.
Jarvis in New York is next up on the road, and then She & Him in Northampton, and then Lollapalooza next week, so things are picking up. Also hoping to catch Tilly and the Wall again here in Boston, and of course George Michael, which is insanely exciting.
Other upcoming Rock Tourist adventures include the My Bloody Valentine All Tomorrow’s Parties in Upstate New York, and Austin City Limits in Austin.
I debated hitting Tom Waits in Atlanta on the 5th of July but couldn’t get a flight back to NY that night and didn’t want to stay there. Ha. I was hoping for some European love too this year – Iceland Airwaves again, maybe, but the dollar is so insanely low I’m not sure I can pull it off.
Mike Patton and the Melvins are hosting the Christmas All Tomorrow’s Parties and I’m on the Fence about going. Is it psychotic to go to Minehead, UK just for the dancing?
She & Him Sleuthing, Sub Pop 20, etc
posted Jun 2, 11:50 AM by Rick WebbFile under: Hit the Road , Festivals
Haha! I feel so Sherlock Holmes! I had read on Brooklyn Vegan that She & Him were doing some more shows. I had missed all of their SXSW shows and haven’t had a chance to see their NYC shows yet, so I decided to check out if they were coming to Boston or not. They were not. BUT they were doing a show in Northampton, MA, on July 24. That seemed undoable until I realized I had to be in Connecticut for a wedding the next day. Serindipity!
So I set out to buy tickets, only to discover it’s basically impossible to buy tickets for this Academy of Music Theater over the web. Not at Ticketmaster, not at Ticketweb. There was a website, but all of the tickets said to call. So I did, and went to the ticketing extension, only to listen to a really long voice mail about a lot of movies that aren’t Zooey Deschanel and M Ward singing cute songs. Then it hung up.
But!
But I noticed that one movie had tickets available at something called Tix.com, so I went over to the site and sure enough, I did a search! And yes! the show was there! AND I GOT 4 TICKETS, SECOND ROW CENTER. Score! Buy now.
In other news, I’m hitting Sup Pop’s 20th Anniversary Festival in Seattle In July. I was on the fence about it until a) I just visited my friends in Seattle and realized how fun it would be, and b) THEY ADDED THE VASELINES TO THE BILL. OMG. That’s too exciting. I bought a ticket for their Brooklyn show @ Southpaw too to be safe, but I’m pretty sure I’m going. That’ll be fun.
Also figured out where to see Nick Cave this year – 9:30 Club in October.
So that leaves really one artist I haven’t figured out how I’m going to see. Leonard Cohen. Still gotta figure that out. Dude’s not playing america. Road trip anyone?
New Music Purchasing Habits for the Digital Age, plus Yaz, British Sea Power, Built to Spill
posted May 14, 08:16 AM by Rick WebbFile under: Rock Musings , Festivals
I’ve been excited for a while about the upcoming US shows by Yaz at Terminal 5 in New York, even though Terminal 5 is a bastardization of everything a club should be. But whatever. It gets the job done, and when it’s a choice between going to some arena show or seats, often I’d prefer Terminal 5. But today I learned that after selling out two shows at Terminal 5, both of these for which I have tickets, they are adding a third show at the much nicer Beacon Theater. MAN. Not fair! Do I need to buy again?
In other news, I saw British Sea Power again last night. I think that band thrives on the crowd. They had a good sized crowd this time – compared to their last Boston show which was unfortunately timed to land on the day the Sox beat the Yankees for the title. Paradise was probably about 85% full this time. But they played for a LONG time, and a lot of mid-tempo stuff from their second album. I have a few theories about this. First, I think it takes a while for a band to realize and accept which album is their best, and which the fans like the best. BSP are still trying to make us like the second album, which I kinda like actually, but isn’t as awesome live. Songs from that one should be nuggets that suggest a deeper, richer offering in the recorded world. Goldfrapp does this brilliantly now, four albums in. She knows which songs from which albums work best live, and doesn’t push too much.
My other thought about this is that I think in this modern downloading age, there’s a trend in record sales bands may not have identified yet. I think that people do still purchase albums, but they purchase albums in a different way. They’ll discover a band, listen to a free-downloaded album over and over, and when the next album comes out, they’ll buy the album, as a sort of micropayment/patronage/makeup thing for the one they didn’t buy the first time. I have very little data to support this, save for some anecdotal stories by my friend the wife of an indie band of moderate fame who says people routinely try to just hand her $20 at shows when she’s working merch to make up for their downloading habits. And I could totally see BSP being under the impression that people like the second album better because it sold better, when every fan knows their first album is their best (though the new one is a strong contender), and thus playing a lot of songs off of it. Except every single one of us who discovered BSP on their first album pretty much discovered it on the internet, and didn’t buy anything of theirs till the second. Um, actually, to be honest I don’t think I’ve bought a single BSP album, but I have paid good hard cash to see them five times or so plus two rock tourist outings to Coachella and SXSW, so I think they made a buck off of me.
In other news, Built to Spill, Dinosaur Jr and the Meat Puppets are playing a show together just after their appearances at The Greatest Rock Festival Ever planned. Will BTS and the Meat Puppets play their don’t look back sets? Man, that ATP lineup is so awesome. So Awesome that I keep forgetting that BTS are going to play all of Perfect From Now On, in order, which is like a great rock event in its own right.
Coachella 2008!
posted Apr 29, 01:03 AM by Rick WebbFile under: Festivals , Reunions
Bands: Architecture in Helsinki, The Breeders, Múm, Goldfrapp, Spank Rock, Swell Season The Verve, Fatboy Slim, Hot Chip, Scars on Broadway, Cinematic Orchestra, Dwight Yokam, Deathcab for Cutie, Rilo Kiley, Kraftwerk, MIA, Portishead, Prince, The Shout Out Louds, Stars, Swervedriver, Does it Offend You, Yeah? Spiritualized, Metric, My Morning Jacket, Love and Rockets, Roger Waters, Chromeo, Justice
Movies: Out of Sight, Margot at the Wedding
Coachella, year 4. Things that were different: Better art. Much better art. We had backstage access, and VIP access, which was awesome for the good bathrooms and vodka. The middle drinking area between stages 1 and 2 was MUCH bigger, and stage 1 was brought forward enough to make the sound better. The whole entry area was re-worked to get faster entry, and that worked awesomely. Much better signage. Better fencing. The frozen lemonades weren’t frozen solid. There was a crappy VIP area behind the dance tent. It seemed like most second-tier bands were in the tents and not on the second stage. The stupid rave in the middle of the festival was still there. The sound was, generally, much better. There was still a ton of pot in the air. No one was wearing any clothes. Man, Coachella is Cognitive Dissonance defined for New Englanders still used to winter. It was awesome to have my sister there, and our friend from Alaska growing up Lila Marley was there, which was awesome. I had randomly run into her at Coachella two years ago, so this was a treat to get to have her with us. Emma’s friends were super nice, and it was hilarious to see Christine and Emma interact and bicker and whatnot. Our vacation house was bigger than last year. Maybe like 5% less nice, but the AC worked, which was awesome. Judi managed to save like $200 on the car rental – I think she should do the car rental every time. Never caught up with half my friends like Laurance and Baily, but I did randomly run into Trammel, which was awesome.
All in all, the headliners are getting bigger and weirder and I have NO IDEA how they’re going to top that next year. Prince, Roger Waters and Jack Johnson were all gutsy moves for an alterna-festival. Prince and Roger Waters delivered. Jack Johnson did not. I’m hoping for Bowie or the Beatles next year. I mean, come on. What can they do? Oh, they do need to get Spacemen 3 together if they can. ha. And Ride. And Tones on Tail. But as you can see, none of these are particularly big. Oh, the Smiths. ha. yeah. This Mortal Coil. Cocteau Twins. Wolfgang Press. The Dead Kennedy’s with Jello. The Knife. Jay Jay Johansen. Man, one day into the next year and I’m already carried away with 2009 Coachella speculation.
Thursday, April 24 BOS – PSP. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUG! Got up insanely, uncomfortably early and caught a 7 AM flight to Palm Springs via Salt Lake City. Judi and I landed around noon and headed to In N Out Burger, of course. Then we tried to go to our rental house, but there was no key under the mat as there was supposed to be, so we thought maybe it was the unit upstairs, and, um, I walked in on an old man on crutches. Oops. So then we called the rental place and they said we couldn’t check in till 2:30 so we went to Radio Shack and got a cable for the iPod so we could rock in the car, and then we went and picked up my sister Val at the airport. Then we went grocery shopping for the weekend and then got to the house. We ate and debated going and seeing the Salton Sea – something I’ve wanted to do for ages, especially since Judi and I watched The Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea this year – but none of us could work up the energy to inspire the other ones to go. So we watched Out of Sight. Judi went to bed and Val and I drunkenly watched Margot at the Wedding, which is pretty funny to watch with your sister. At the end she said “man I’m glad I’m not insane.” Every bit of the film was great, and the dialogue was solid, but it was just… too much. And with no resolution, it missed something. Which is pretty much how I felt about Squid and the Whale. Anyway, eventually Emma’s friends Christine and Mike showed up, and they went to bed, and then around 2 AM
Friday, April 25 – Got up and I made breakfast for everyone – my absolute favorite thing to do on Coachella vacations. Big piles of breakfast potatoes, eggs, bacon, tortillas, two kinds of home made salsa, etc. Yummy. Then we sort of got motivated and headed to the festival via our secret back-door route. And we passed the Beer Hunter again! Best name for a bar ever. I had forgotten all about it since last year. Funny how all of the Desert Cities roads slowly came back to me over the weekend. Anyway, we arrived at the festival at exactly 4:09 and caught a few songs of Architecture in Helsinki, who were upbeat and fun, before heading over to The Breeders. The Breeders were in good form that day – they can be sloppy. But they nailed it pretty much, and played the hits. And for an old time fan like me, I was happy to see their first album, Pod, represented in Iris and Happiness is a Warm Gun. Pretty awesome. Next up was Múm, who are like totally twinkly and saddle creeky now and not sigur rosy like they used to be. I liked it but it was a bit muddled. Still, though, an interesting change. Up next was the winner for the day, I think, Goldfrapp, who had some sound troubles for the first couple songs but bounced back and was fuckin’ fantastic by the end. She ended with “Caravan Girl” and “Strict Machine” and it just sounded glorious. I shot a video of “Number One” as well, which I gotta put on youtube soon. Next it was over to the dance tent for a quick peek at Aphex Twin, but he was doing exactly what he did in December when we went to All Tomorrow’s Parties, so we moved on. Listened to a song or two of Swell Season while getting dinner, but they had rejiggered the fences so you coudln’t eat and watch the band this year, those meanies. Then on to the main stage for The Verve who were fucking awesome, and opened with This is Music. Other than that, though, they basically played all of Urban Hymns, which, you know, is a good album, but i would have liked to hear something from A Storm in Heaven. The old stuff was represented by a single song – “Life’s an Ocean” which is certainly good but no “Slide Away” or “Already There.” Still, though, they delivered, and “Bittersweet Symphony” was one of those Coachella singalong moments you love. At least up front. Anyway, by this time we also picked up a friend of Catherine’s, Danny, who is the new drummer in Chop Chop. Danny also is friends and he had two backstage wristbands which was pretty sweet. We made much use of these, and man, it’s awesome back there and in the VIP area and now I feel dumb for blowing off my CAA guy to hand out with my friends because by the end of the weekend we had 4 wristbands and five people. The VIP area is a totally different and luxurious and has sushi and video games and an air conditioned bar. We popped back there for the shorter bathroom line throughout the weekend. Oh and red bull and vodkas. Anyway, after the Verve we caught a smidge of Spank Rock , who were fun, and then ended the night with Fatboy Slim, who was big booming techno like you’d expect. Nothing awesome. Good intro, though. Then we went back to the house and watched the two hour pilot of Firefly, which was awesome.
Saturday, April 26 – Woke up, made breakfast for everyone. Mine and Val’s friend from Alaska (though she lives in SF now) Lila showed up at 10 AM so I got up a bit earlier than I’d wanted. In the end, I knew we’d miss MGMT, and there was nothing else I really wanted to see till six, so Christine and Mike and Emma left and I took a nap. Catherine went and drove out to Joshua Tree – she had a genius sightseeing in the day/rocking at night approach that I was impressed with. So me, judi, val and lila headed in round 5 and started the day with Hot Chip who were as awesome as they were last week and sounded AMAZING in the dance tent. Then I took a walk and checked out a bit of Scars on Broadway (not my thing), Cinematic Orchestra (ditto, but in a early Massive Attack kinda way), and Dwight Yokam who was pretty genius. Then I met up with the gang and we caught Death Cab For Cutie who delivered a solid but mildly uninspiring set. Then we popped over to stage two for some Rilo Kiley who were better than one would think. Then Kraftwerk who were AWESOME on the main stage – amazing sound, great visual show. They totally delivered. Popped over to the dance tent to give MIA another chance, but again, I didn’t like her. Checked out a bit of Akron/Family but they were doing their noisy freakout thing and not their awesome mellow “sorrow boy” type thing that I totally dig, so back to the main tent for the end of Kraftwerk. Next up was Portishead who did the same set as I saw in December, but man, it totally worked on the giant stage. AMAZING sound. Visuals looked brilliant. Seriously, Coachella really, finally, worked out the sound problem on the main stage this year. Portishead sounded as perfect as a rock show I’d ever heard. I do with they’d can that dumb rave area in the middle of the festival, or move it away from the second stage and the gobi tent, though. There used to be NO sound bleed problems at Coachella, and ever since they put that dumb rave in the middle, you can hear it everywhere.
ANYWAY, the night was capped by PRINCE. Yes Prince. And man, did he deliver. A 3 song intro that “got the night going” by introducing MORRIS DAY AND THE TIME, and then SHEILA E, who did “The glamorous life.” Then he busts into 1999 and then oh, look, Chaka Kahn’s there too and they all do “I feel for you.” He also does “U Got the Look,” “Cream,” a great version of “Little Red Corvette,” “Musicology” and a bunch more. Judi and I eventually decide we’ve had enough. Prince was phenomenal but the sound was kinda crappy and REALLY quiet: the LA Time theorizes they just started the show at a low volume because they knew it would run late. On our way out he covered “Creep” by Radiohead, and then, apparently, Sarah Maclaughlin and the Beatles before ending with “Purple Rain.” Nice. He was pretty f’n amazing, I have to say. I’m happy to have seen it.
Sunday, April 27: Got up 11 ish, made breakfast for everyone one last time, and headed to the festival. Got in at 3:30, in time to catch the last half of The Shout Out Louds, who I really dig. Then we moved up close so we could see Stars, who were awesome, even if they didn’t play “The Ghost of Genova Heights.” They threw a lot of roses into the audience and started with “Elevator Love Letter,” which made me really, really happy. Next up was Swervedriver, who I LOVED back in the day, but I really loved their first album, “Raise,” and they were playing a lot from “Mezcal Head.” They did play “Rave Down” though, which was pretty sweet. Then Judi and I popped over to see the last coupe songs of Does it Offend You, Yeah? who were not what I expected but were awesome! I’d go check them out. Then Spiritualized, who were doing an acoustic mainlines set, and, sadly, it went about as well as you would expect at a massive, booming festival. Tons of feedback, couldn’t hear the strings, too much noise bleed from the other stage. I kept pushing forward, though, and by the fifth song or so he did “Walkin With Jesus” and the sound problems were worked out and I was in the front row and it was sublime, but after having seen that at the MFA, I am ready for him to go back to rockin. Next was Metric, who were great and energetic and she had some funny silver lamé hot pants on which you can’t ever really complain about. Then I popped over to the main stage for My Morning Jacket, who I listen to a lot but I had NO IDEA they were so good live. Like, man, effortlessly perfect harmonies and solos and perfect sound. I was really impressed. Then I popped back stage to pee and to take a picture of Roger Water’s giant pig. Then over to the second stage for Love and Rockets who were actually good! Weirdly, their best track was “An American Dream,” which I had never thought much of, but man, they nailed it. Their entire set was from their first four albums, which was funny. But it did the job, and nostalgia was running high.
Good thing, too, on the nostalgia front because next up was Roger Waters. Um… Okay. I thought this would be a mildly funny thing to watch but it turned out to be AWESOME. First off, it was billed as him doing Dark Side of the Moon, but he played for an hour and a half before that, doing really solid versions of “Up Against the Wall,” “Mother,” “The Final Cut,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” “Have a Cigar,” “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,” one of his solo songs from Radio Kaos (which involved serious explosions which was awesome) and a few others. The finale, though, really took the cake, when he did “Pigs” and brought out a GIANT FLOATING PIG, AND HAD A PLANE FLY OVER THE AUDIENCE AND DROP SPARKLES. Oh, and did I mention the whole show was in surround sound? Like 12 point surround sound. Um… Yes. The best part, though, was a the end of Animals, they LET THE BIG GO and it flew up, up and away into the air, never to be seen again. “There Goes My Pig” he said, barely containing his self satisfied glee at the absurdity of it all.
THEN he settled into Dark Side of the Moon. Oh, and it ended with a fireworks display. YEAH. I didn’t think anything could top Prince, but I gotta say, ole Roger Waters pretty much did exactly that. And the SOUND was so much better. Smart man, starting at 8:30 instead of 11. He was done not long after Prince went on.
Then over to the dance tent to end Coachella was Chromeo and Justice. Both of which were a little better than I remember from SXSW, and Justice was particularly solid, but exhaustion was catching up with me, so home I went.
Modnay, April 28 PSP – BOS. Take sister to the airport, back to the house, pack up, and me, judi and emma hit In N Out Burger, and then to the airport and fly home. Landed around midnight.
