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Fiona Apple @ Central Park
I was lucky enough to see Fiona Apple and Damien Rice play at the central park summer stage last night. Definitely not the clientele you'd find at a Pearl Jam concert on the Camden Waterfront. Besides the fact that my sexual preference was very much in the minority, these people were reading between sets. That's right, I spotted at least 5 people reading a book while waiting for Fiona to come on stage. These books ranged in topics from Psychology to LSAT practice exams to Shakespeare. Weird shit.
My lasting impression after seeing Fiona for the first time is that I wouldn't mess with that chick. She comes off really cute and sweet and then gets really pissed off and appears to be having a seizure on stage. While I could do without the bouts of trembling and hitting herself, the emotions she has tied up in her music are quite evident and genuine.
One thing I really enjoyed about watching Fiona perform is that her music's true sound is present and easily discerned from her studio recordings. It's obvious that her record producers have a large effect on the way she's allowed to sing in order to produce a successful album (We all know that Extraordinary Machine wasn't even supposed to be released due to poor sales projections.) Music is too much of a wonderful thing to succumb to those dollar counters in suits.
Have you ever heard someone say 'you can tell this band is good since the concert sounds just like the CD.'? Nothing annoys me more than this statement. If you want to hear the studio recording, then play it on your iPod and save yourself the 50 dollar ticket and over-priced beers in the process. When you see an artist live, you really get to see what they are about, what makes them tick. If they're a good artist, they might even bring it to the point of appearing to have seizures on stage.
Thursday, July 27, 2006 09:19 AM EDT0 Comments Filed in: Music -
Dashboard Confessional - Dusk and Summer
It's obvious that Chris Carraba went through some life balancing experience while writing the songs for the So Impossible EP (Which happens to be my favorite offering from Dashboard.) This EP paved the way for A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar with the 'Hands Down' single. In my opinion, the addition of the full band tainted many of the songs, but we all know about the inescapable need of an artist to play around with their sound from time to time.
That being said, the songs prior to So Impossible are where I believe Chris picked up most of his fan base. After a casual listen to The Swiss Army Romance, you are left feeling like you just had your heart broken and the shit kicked out of you (why this is an enjoyable experience, I cannot describe.) Even more impressive is that this state of 'enjoyable depression' (for lack of a better word,) is achieved with only acoustic instruments.
When the band released 'Vindicated' for the Spider Man 2 soundtrack, I was very much impressed at how they took the sound of A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar and went a little farther into a direction which I believe sounds much better. Dusk and Summer, in my opinion, is an entire album based on the sound of 'Vindicated'.
I think the album is solid and have been listening to it constantly for the past two weeks. The addition of Adam Duritz to 'So Long, So Long' certainly adds some luster. Fans of Swiss Army Romance and The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most may be a bit disapointed, but I think most fans will agree that this album is still worth owning.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006 06:53 PM EDT0 Comments Filed in: Music -
Bittersweet Nostalgia
As a deterrent to my infinite boredom, I've decided to digitize my reminiscence of concert experiences. In other words, I've taken the time to scan all the old concert tickets I have laying around. The oldest ticket I found is from a 1999 Dave Matthew's Concert at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Since then, Dave and company have released 4 more studio albums, I went and saw them 11 more times, and Veterans Stadium has been imploded and is now a parking lot. I feel old.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006 09:16 PM EST -
iPod Love
I love when this happens...You're wandering along mindlessly listening to your iPod on random play, and you realize, "I haven't heard this song in the longest time." Then it all comes pouring back. The posters that were hanging on the wall in your old bedroom. The 'best friend' that you haven't spoken with in years. The girl that broke your heart. Everything. These memories come streaming from this song. This music. This chaos of analog waves bouncing around in your head. The feeling really is amazing.
So if you haven't guessed it, I was fortunate enough to have this experience the other day. The song was Hurt by Nine Inch Nails, which was released on The Downward Spiral album back in 1994. It's probably been about 6 years since I last heard this song, so I was content with the fact that my iPod chose to play it out of the thousands of choices it had. But when it rains it pours, right? A couple days later, I learned while reading Spin Magazine that Johnny Cash did a cover of the song in 2002 on his American IV: The Man Comes Around album.
I'm here to say that the Johnny Cash version is amazing. I love how a song can lead multiple lives between artists. The emotional differences between Trent Reznor in his 20's and Johnny Cash in his 70's is a lot of fun to compare and pick apart. Download both versions - you won't be dissapointed.
Friday, December 23, 2005 10:46 PM EST0 Comments Filed in: Music -
Guster @ Nokia Theatre
Guster has got to be one of the most unique bands of our time. Sure, lots of people have never heard of them, but seriously, how often do you get to experience a band play with a drumstick-less percussionist? I've had the oppurtunity several times now, all of which were at a Guster concert.
The most recent of these experiences was this past Saturday night, when Guster played at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. Wow. What - A - Venue. This place was ridiculously fancy for a concert like this. When I think of Guster, I think of places like The Electric Factory and Irving Plaza, not some place with stained hard-wood flooring and chandeliers. More importantly, the acoustical properties of the stage were spectacular.
The show itself was great. More evidence of Guster's uniqueness was displayed as Chewbaka (from Star Wars,) was brought onto stage in between songs. This reminds me of a particular Guster show in Philly that happened to be right around the start of Hanukkah. A request was made to play the Dredyl Song, which the band granted, but with a Guster-esh twist. The Philadelphia Eagles mascot was brought onto the stage to light a giant menorah with a plunger. Never a dull moment.
The band treated us to a second encore, which consisted of a completely acoustic performace of Jesus on the Radio. Let me re-iterate here. A completely acoustic performance. In all the shows I've seen (lots) I've never experienced a band give an all-acoustic performance to a couple thousand people. When does Guster play again?
Tuesday, November 22, 2005 06:25 PM EST0 Comments Filed in: Music