26 posts tagged “shows”
Well, I certainly never thought I'd get a chance to see my Favorite Band Of All-Time (F.B.O.A.T.)1 at Red Rocks again. Although I was reasonably certain that Phish would regroup at some point, I figured they had outgrown that venue for good. When the four shows got announced (after months of rumors swirling) I was pretty giddy. Jen and I were only able to score tickets to one of the four nights- Sunday, the finale. Five years ago, I would have been really upset to not be going to all four of these concerts, but this time, one show was sufficient2.
I got off work a half hour early, and Jen picked me up at 4:30. We headed straight to Red Rocks, parked, and found Tim, Justin, and a few other dudes in one of the parking lots. We wasted a good 20 minutes hiking up to the upper south parking lot, when Tim's text message clearly stated they were in the lower south lot. Regardless, we still had time to relax a little bit and have a couple frosty PBRs in the sun, before making the climb up the many, many stairs into the venue3.
Red Rocks has this new way of doing ticketing that's really freaking annoying. They've made the first 24 rows general admission, then rows 25-60 reserved, and 61-69 GA. The rows are just really long bleachers. So there are numbers painted on the top of the bleachers, corresponding to seat numbers. In my opinion, the entire venue should be GA4.
Or, I suppose they could make the first 25 rows reserved. But the way it is now is really stupid. Seven of us went in together, and staked out a nice spot in row 42, dead center. Tim and a buddy actually had reserved tickets for that row, but over towards one end. The rest of us had GA tickets. We just crossed our fingers, and hoped we didn't get people coming up to us saying "you're in our seats, bro." By the time the show started, we had 12 people in our group, occupying 7 or 8 seats' worth of real estate. Unlike an arena, though, the rows at Red Rocks are nice and deep. It ended up being a little tight at times, but not bad- just enough room for us to boogie.
Phish took the stage just after 8, and I definitely felt some goosebumps. Though I no longer devote even a fraction of the time I used to in dealing with all things Phish, they're still my F.B.O.A.T. And I thought I might never have a chance to see them again, after ditching out on Coventry5.
***It seems prudent to split this post into more than one piece, since it's taking me forever to write it. Next up, the concert.***
1. My apologies to David Foster Wallace, but reading Infinite Jest is not simply a leisure activity. He's starting to get deep into my head. Hence, the footnotes.
2. The last time I saw a single Phish show was July 21, 1998, at Desert Sky Pavilion in Phoenix. Between that concert and the Red Rocks show this past Sunday, I saw Phish 29 times, always seeing at least 2 consecutive shows, and seeing as many as 6 in a row.
3. It's always interesting being at a Red Rocks show that features a lot of out-of-town attendees- most of them have to stop fairly often on the deadly stairs up to, and also inside, the venue, their body pleading for oxygen. Red Rocks is located 6200 feet above sea level, and stairs remain a pain in the ass even if you are properly acclimated.
4. Some concerts still are done GA-style, like the upcoming Labor Day weekend Ween show.
5. Jen, Faustino, Freitag, and I had tickets for the infamous "last-ever Phish shows," but we listened to Mike Gordon's plea on the radio, and turned away from the "disaster area," rather than abandoning our rental car on the side of the highway, and hiking in 10 miles in flip flops, in order to camp in 3 feet of mud and water, and listen to what turned out to be really crappily-played music.
Gotta work early in the AM Saturday, so this will be brief. The fahkers teased me by opening with "Hornets! Hornets!," leaving open the possibility of a Good Friday run through Separation Sunday. But then they went with "Constructive Summer" next. They did end up playing 7 songs from my favorite album. But only 1 song from my 2nd favorite (Almost Killed Me). Great show, great crowd.
Hornets! Hornets!
Constructive Summer
Chips Ahoy
Navy Sheets
Sequestered in Memphis
Magazines
Hey Sapphire
Milkcrate Mosh
Same Kooks
Cattle & the Creeping Things
Charlemagne in Sweatpants
Banging Camp
Joke About Jamaica
Don't Let Me Explode
Lord, I'm Discouraged
Your Little Hoodrat Friend
Stay Positive
Slapped Actress
E: Certain Songs
Massive Nights
Stuck Between Stations
How a Resurrection Really Feels
Todd Snider's been one of my favorite artists for a while- what really got me into him was seeing him play at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2002. Matt and I had run into a buddy from high school who had secured an awesome spot right in front of the stage, and they had plenty of room for us to come hang out. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and Snider, armed with an acoustic guitar, had us grooving and laughing for his entire set. Unfortunately, Jen that was the one TBF Jen missed, and we've been talking about seeing Snider together ever since.
We've had plenty of opportunities (the guy tours constantly), but something always comes up. When I saw him scheduled to play the Boulder Theater at the end of January, I said "We're there, dude!" About a week before the concert, it was announced that, instead of Snider solo, he would be backed by Yonder Mountain String Band's Jeff Austin and Ben Kaufmann, and Vince Herman, of Leftover Salmon. Whoo-hoo! A Colorado all-star jamgrass backing band!
The show was great- the presence of the other three guys undoubtedly cause Snider to keep the stage banter to a minimum, but the stories that he did tell were freaking hilarious. The three guys did a great job of backing him- complementing the music, rather than trying to show off. Some of the hippie kids who were there to see Jeff shred the mandolin were likely disappointed, but there were a decent amount of Jeff & Vince jams, without taking away from the focus of the evening, the great Todd Snider compositions. He played many of my favorites- "Just Like Old Times," "Tilamook County Jail," "Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight White American Males," and "The Ballad of the Kingsmen." Oh, yeah, and, of course, "Talkin' Seattle Grunge Rock Blues."
It was interesting hearing him play that, after having seen Arlo Guthrie do "Alice's Restaurant" at Telluride this summer. Both guys feel compelled to play their one big hit/moneymaker night after night, but do switch it up, to keep it interesting. I can't imagine Snider will still feature "Talkin' Seattle..." nightly if he's touring when he's in his 60s, but you never know. I didn't take any photos or shoot any video at the show, but here's a tune he did play, a cool cover of CCR's "Fortunate Son," off his latest, Peace Queer.
Minneapolis band Tapes n' Tapes made a stop in Boulder this weekend, and Jen, Mer, Dom, and I made the trip up there. I've always found their sound interesting, but have never gotten totally into them. That being said, I've always enjoyed seeing them live, particularly drummer Jeremy Hanson.
We thought we had timed it well, going to the Sink for some food beforehand. There were two opening bands, and we walked in during Wild Light's set. Boy, were they awful! They sounded like they were trying to be The Killers, part 2. It was really pretty painful, and various members of the crowd were heckling them. (Not me, though!) Besides the drummer, there are three guys in the band, and they switched between guitar, bass, and keys. The annoying part was that they literally switched instruments between every freaking song! I mean, they could have fit an additional tune in their setlist if they would have not been wasting so much time. (Not that I wanted to hear another song, but you see my point.) I can't remember a single thing about thi band that i found even remotely appealing- not a single cool guitar lick or lyric. At times, it sounded like everybody was playing a different song.
There was a seriously long break in between bands, as it appeared that Tapes 'n Tapes hadn't yet done a soundcheck. At 11:00, all three of my fellow concert attendees were yawning up a storm, and I was hoping the band would hurry up, so that they didn't ditch me, and leave me to hitchhike back to Denver.
Tapes 'n Tapes came on around 11:30, and tore it up. I didn't keep track of the setlist, but they played plenty of tunes off both The Loon and Walk it Off. At one point, they played a song that Grier introduced as "a really old one." It was a very goofy song. Probably something he wrote when he was 15. I've only seen the band a few times in the past, and it was usually outside at a festival, so I wasn't always paying very close attention. So, I'm not sure if the band's sound has changed, or if I just never noticed before. They seemed a bit jammier than I remember- lots of slightly dissonant, rocking extended stuff in the middle of songs. Plus, they really like to crank up the distortion and fuzz. I thought their most recent album's production was odd, very muddled-sounding. Apparently, that's the way they like it.
My pal Jeremy definitely did not dissapoint- his beats are almost always interesting as hell. Unfortunately, we were standing in the worst possible place ot watch the drummer- dead center. I ended up wandering off a few times so I could get a better look at what he was doing.
As always, I wondered what the hell the keyboardist's purpose was. A dude behind me actually asked me that at one point. I think he's friends with Grier from back in the day, and has earned tenure. Most of the time, you can't hear the keyboard, and when you can, more often than not, it's distracting. Then he pulls out a trumpet for about 5 seconds, then puts it away. Sometimes, he's just waving an egg shaker back in forth in front of his mic.
Grier has grown his hair out since the last time I saw them, and he did a lot of headbanging:
That awesome photo I previously moblogged ("GP") was from the Grace Potter show. Good stuff! I met up with Dom and Adam at the Park Tavern, in Jen and my old stomping grounds of Capitol Hill (when we first moved to Denver, our apartment was a block away from the bar). They have a deal from 7-9, where all tap beers are $1, which is pretty sweet! Because of the cheap libations to be had there, we ended up missing the opening act, Hello Kavita, a Denver band that I've never seen.
I had never really listened to Grace Potter before, but ended up checking out some stuff online to prepare for the concert. On Friday, I checked the library catalog, and we had a copy of her most recent CD on the shelf, so I listened to that a bunch before the concert.
She reminds of Lucinda Williams, but a little less country, and a little bit more soulful, 70s-style bluesy rock. Grace alternates mainly between Hammond B3 organ, Fender Rhodes keyboard, and guitar. She occasionally played a Gibson Flying V guitar (or at least something shaped like it), which made her look a bit like Lita Ford. She's backed by three guys- guitar/bass/drums. The dudes almost looked like they still had on Halloween costumes- the guitarist looked like 80s-era Bruce Springsteen, with a red bandanna and sunglasses, and the drummer had a big 10-gallon hat on. But they were tight. I'm usually a big fan of watching the drummer, and this guy did not disappoint.
They did a great version of the Stones' "Paint it Black," and also had a big percussion jam that was a lot of fun. For the encore, they played Neil Young's "Down By the River," and did it justice with some great jamming.
If you get a chance to see Grace and her band, go for it! You will not be disappointed.
At one point in time, moe. was my favorite band to see live. They have a duel guitar attack, a great bass player, solid drums, strong vocal harmonies, and they like to rock hard. I've probably seen 10+ shows over the years, but the last time I saw them was over 3 years ago. For some reason, they decided to completely forsake Minnesota when I was living there between 2004 and 2007.
They were part of the Mile High Music Festival lineup, but I had no desire to shell out big bucks to stand outside in Commerce City in 100-degree weather. I would have liked to have seen moe., Mike Gordon, Josh Ritter, and Spoon, though. Right before the festival, moe. played a show at the Fox Theater, a much smaller venue (600) than they normally play. Jen and I planned on going with Tim & Anne, but it sold out before I bought tickets. D'oh! To add to my misery, I was informed that moe. would be taking a lengthy (2 years?) break at the end of this tour.
Then, Tim emailed me on Monday, letting me know that Monkeys On Ecstasy (moe.'s moniker for surprise shows, usually before a tour) were slated to play the Aggie Theater in Fort Collins last night. I had to work until 8:00, and it said doors were scheduled to open at 7, which usually means an 8-8:30 start time. Fort Collins is an hour north of Denver. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I bought tickets online, and then begged my boss to let me off 30 minutes early the next night.
We got there shortly after the band started, then had to wait in a 15-minute line to get in. We missed the first four songs (including covers of songs by the Ramones, Blue Oyster Cult, and Radiohead), then saw a couple hours of rocking music. They even played 2 Pink Floyd tunes! (Time and Interstellar Overdrive) Johnny Hickman (Camper Van Beethoven, Cracker) joined the band for a couple tunes, as well. All in all, the show was a ton of fun! Here's the setlist, followed by a clip from Time that I recorded with my cell phone, so the quality of the audio is pretty awful.
Set I: I Wanna Be Sedated> Godzilla> Threw It All Away, Karma Police> Don't Fuck With Flo> Interstellar Overdrive> Meat
Set II: Jazz Wank> CalifornIA> Time> Godzilla> Wind It Up, Good Guys and Bad Guys*> Deal*> Recreational Chemistry
Encore: Johnny Lineup
*w/Johnny Hickman on guitar and harmonica
Surprise show at the Aggie Theater in Fort Collins
I will write more about the shows later. For now, here are the brain-melting setlists. Two nights, close to 6 hours of music, 63 songs, with only one repeat!
7/16/08
Exactly Where I'm At
The HIV Song
Ice Castles
The Golden Eel
The Stallion Part 3
Voodoo Lady
Your Party
Light Me Up
The Argus
Waving My Dick in the Wind
Mr. Richard Smoker
Touch My Tooter
Even If You Don't
Object
Beacon Light
Flutes of the Chi
Zoloft
Johnny
on the Spot
Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?
The Stallion 5
The Final Alarm
Tender
Situation
The Mollusk
Pandy
Fackler
I Got to Put the Hammer Down
Captain Fantasy
You Fucked Up
Ocean Man
Reggaejunkiejew
E:
Fiesta
Poop Ship Destroyer
7/17/08
What Deaner Was Talkin' About
Piss Up a Rope
Spinal
Meningitis
Bananas and Blow
Learning to Love
Take Me Away
Transdermal
Celebration
Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)
Woman and Man
Happy Colored Marbles
With My Own Bare Hands
Roses Are Free
Your Party
Push th' Little Daisies
Stay Forever
Stroker Ace
Gabrielle
Doctor Rock
Did You See Me?
Joppa Road
Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain
You Were the Fool
Mutilated Lips
Back to Basom
Squelch
the Weasel
Buenos Tardes
E:
The Goin' Gets Tough from the Getgo
I'm in the Mood
The Enabler
Big Jilm
Awesome Sound
Never Squeal
For some reason, it seems to take me a while to do show reviews. And then, by the time I get around to writing it up, I can't remember
much about the show. I can't put this off any longer, so this will be short on details.
I highly recommend catching these Portland boys if you get a chance. A very fun experience. All the guys in the band are getting into it, switching up instruments, singing along, beating on blocks of wood and cowbells...everyone in the audience seemed to have a good time. The only bummer was that they played a pretty short set, and then skipped the encore. As the band left the stage, one of the guys in the band headed straight towards me, spotted my new shirt, and said "The Hold Steady almost killed me, too- seriously. We toured with them for a little while." We then proceeded to chat for a little while, and I got a picture with him:
