Leonard Cohen
posted Jun 8, 04:03 PM by Rick WebbFile under: Hit the Road , Reunions
In a hard core bit of Rock Tourism, Judi and I took a 9 AM flight from Boston to Buffalo, and drove to Toronto Saturday to see the legendary Leonard Cohen at the Sony Center.
Oh my god.
One of the best shows I have ever seen. Leonard’s still got it, along with his ten piece band. He played selections from his whole career – I’m Your Man, Tower of Song, Democracy, Waiting for the Miracle, The Future, A Thousand Kisses Deep, Closing Time and more from the 90’s and on, and Bird on a Wire, Suzanne, If it Be Your Will, and more from the past. The best of the set: a tear-jerking version of “Hallelujah” that had the audience in spontaneous one minute long mid-set standing ovation, all 3,000 of us. I nearly cried.
His wit is intact, his politeness is impeccible, his voice is as solid as ever. I had wondered before the show how he’d merge the casiotione cheesiness of the instrumentation of the I’m Your Man era with the folk of the past and the lounginess of the present, but it was so effortless, so perfect that it seemed a silly question to even ask. His spanish guitarist was genius, his backup singers could bring a tear to your eye on “If it Be Your Will” and crack you up with their “Doo da dum dums” on “Tower of Song.” Everything was genius.
A three hour set, with intermission and 4 encores. Oh my god.
Before we left, Judi and I are both so busy, we debated not going. “We’ll probably regret it the rest of our lives” she said when we contemplated a quiet weekend at home. If I had known how good it was going to be, I never would have doubted. And thank god we made it.
Leonard’s playing 47 more dates, though none in the US. Your best bet is Montreal the week of the 21st of June. “I know many of you went to significant geographic or financial pains to get here,” he said, “and for that, I thank you.” It was worth it. I can’t recommend it strongly enough.
This is shaping up to be the best year of my life for live music.
Echo and the Bunnymen
posted May 14, 07:41 AM by Rick WebbFile under: Reunions , Hit the Road
Oh I should also mention the 30th anniversary Echo and the Bunnymen show @ Radio City. I wasn’t gonna go because while I love the Bunnymen with an endless passion, the last couple shows have been a bit lackluster – Ian’s been on the sauce again, and his voice has been crackling and it’s all been kinda painful.
But then I learned that a) this is a one-off, b) it’s at Radio City Music Hall, which I’ve never been to, c) it’s got a 12-piece orchestra, and d) they’re doing all of Ocean Rain, in order. OMG. yes please. I am there.
Now I just have to figure out what city I can catch Nick Cave in this year. It’s looking like DC, for its combination of fitting into my crazy schedule and being at the 9:30 club, which is a pretty solid venue. I think. Or maybe I’m mixing it up with the Black Cat. Anyway, that’s the one for me.
65daysofstatic, The Cure, Cut Copy
posted May 13, 06:29 PM by Rick WebbFile under: Reunions ,
I didn’t tourist for it, but I saw three pretty awesome bands last night. First, I headed over to the Agganis Arena at Boston University, my Alma Mater. I hadn’t been there before, so I decided it was time. The show was The Cure, an old fave of mine, and 65daysofstatic, a new one, that I hadn’t had the chance to see live yet.
The show was a reschedule so I was lucky enough to get good seats at the last minute. And man, was it worth it. 65daysofstatic are in the Mogwai mold, and they totally delivered. Loud, awesome post rock that I love love love.
I approached the Cure with some trepidation. I’ve loved them since I was a kid, but man I have no idea of a single song of theirs since Wish, which I still conisder to be late period cure and it’s, um, 16 years old (I have this problem with REM as well – I still think of Green as a new album).
But man, did they deliver. Out of the first ten songs, 5 of them were from Disintegration. The amazingly opened with “Plainsong” and “Prayers for Rain” back to back. They played a few new songs, which were decent, but in the 100 minutes I saw them they also played “The Blood,” “Hot Hot Hot,” “A Night Like This”, “Pictures of You,” “Lullabye,” “Lovesong” and “The Edge of the Deep Green Sea.” Wait they may have also played “The Same Deep Water As You.” In any case, it was awesome.
Then I left early (That HURT) to go see Cut Copy next door at the Paradise. AWESOME. The kids of Boston dance again at shows, did you know that? This is like the fourth show I’ve seen recently in town where the entire place was hoppin. They don’t stand around with their arms folded anymore. Yay Boston. You loosened up. Or the kids did. Or something.
I also think it’s interesting this whole new school of merging rock and dance. Cut Copy, MGMT, and Hot Chip are the leaders of it. All of them are basically a dance band with guitars. I mean there was the whole dance punk thing a while back – The Rapture and !!! – and LCD Soundsystem’s been blazing that trail too, but I LOVE IT. I love it. I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve been constantly frustrated with the separation between dance – which has been totally limited in the techno realm – and rock – which most people think you can’t dance to.
So this whole new thing, these last few years, I love it. Yay dance rock! Yay dancing Bostonians! Yay 30 year old goth bands that still play half of Disintegration 20 years later! What an awesome night out of rock.
Also, I caught Shearwater last friday and Clinic. Shearwater were awesome. Then my friend Lele told me that the amazing Jetpack McLeod Interviewed Shearwater at our McLeod Residence recently. Awesome! Also caught some of Clinic, who I’d heard a little bit of, but they didn’t really do it for me.
British Sea Power tonight. Cut Copy in New York again tomorrow. Bought tickets to Bon Iver, Beth Orton and Phosphorescent today. Gotta figure out where I’m gonna see Nick Cave on this tour.
It is the season of the rock.
Coachella 2008!
posted Apr 29, 12:03 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.
Coachella, The Verve, ATP:MBV
posted Apr 23, 06:13 PM by Rick WebbFile under: Festivals , Reunions
Rock Tourist season is kicking into high gear this week with the second festival of the year, Coachella. This will be a great time. Me and my ladyfriend, my sister and some other pals for a long weekend in a Palm Springs house, with some awesome live sets by The Verve, Portishead, Spiritualized, Swervedriver, Love and Rockets, Roger Waters, um… what year is it again? New stuff, too, like Hot Chip and MGMT and the like, though I’ve seen most of them already this year.
In other news, ATP is attempting a return in a big way to america (after the Matt Greuning curated ATP LA way back in ought one or so, which I actually went to and it actually… wasn’t that awesome). This time it’s in upstate New York, and seems to be more aligned to the Camber/Minehead events in the UK, which as you know I love love love and am obsessed with. And, of course, it’s My Bloody Valentine’s first show in the US in 16 years. I actually went to the last one, as well, in LA in 92 or so when visiting my friend Hugh, so I suppose I should keep up. The lineup is extraordinary: Built to Spill playing “perfect from now on,” Tortoise playing “Millions Now Living Will Never Die,” Thurston Moore playing “Psychic Hearts” (WTF!), along with three of my favorite bands ever – Low, Mogwai and Shellac. I’m a bit annoyed to have to learn about it from Pitchfork, though. Hey Barry. I’ve been on your mailing list for 5 years. would it be too much to ask to let your customers buy tickets before telling the world through Pitchfork, or, even, you know, emailing us?
Also, catching the Verve post-coachella in NYC next week, that should be awesome. Got George Michael tix too, so I’ll be hitting MSG twice this summer. Never been before, it should be fun.
Full writeup after Coachella. Also hiting ATP:MBV, Lollapalooza, ACL and a Day of Saasquatch this summer. Iceland Airwaves in the fall. ATP Nightmare Before Christmas (hopefully, if the curator is good) in December. It’s a fine year for rock.
Reunions!
posted Mar 7, 07:30 PM by Rick WebbFile under: Reunions , Festivals
Tickets bought!
Swervedriver, 6/11, Bowery Ballroom, NYC
Yaz, 7/16, Terminal 5, NYC
The Verve, 2 shows Madison Square Garden, 1 Coachella.
Headed to SXSW tomorrow. A few good shows during Interactive (Tokyo Police Club, Freezepop, Til We’re Blue or Destroy) and then the music madness begins.
Also headed to Providence for Explosions in the Sky.
And then… Coachella is ON for April.
Gonna figure out where to see Leonard Cohen, which will hopefully be @ Glastonbury (I registered to purchase tickets).
Let the rock tourist season begin!
Jesus and Mary Chain + Hope Sandoval
posted Nov 18, 04:01 PM by Rick WebbFile under: Reunions , Hit the Road
One more quick note: Rock Tourist has hit LA a few times in the last few months, and on the 23rd of October we hit the Wiltern Theater for the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club/Jesus and Mary Chain Show.
The Jesus and Mary Chain has been doing “Just Like Honey” with various female backing vocals – you’ll recall we caught Scarlett Johansen singing the song with them at Coachella Last year. So we were excited to see who they’d get this time.
Lo and Behold, it was none other than Hope Sandoval, of Mazzy Star. They finished up “Just Like Honey” and went right into their 1992 or so hit “Sometimes Always” and I was just in bliss. I had caught that tour back in the day, two shows of it, but they only played it at the Boston show, as the Providence show they seemed to be in a fight. Anyway, Hope looked awesome – older but just as good – and it has made me forgive and forget the catastrophic Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions appearance here in Boston.
The Chain also played Darklands and Nine Million Rainy Days, back to back for the encore, so, come on. seriously. How awesome is that?
My Bloody Valentine...
posted Nov 18, 03:42 PM by Rick WebbFile under: Overseas , Reunions
So All Tomorrow’s Parties – my heroes already, even moreso now – have announced a series of dates across the UK for My Bloody Valentine. Rock Tourist participant Ashley is headed to the Glasgow show, and I bought for one of the Manchester shows, figuring it’s high time I went to the city that brought me so much music I loved.
Unlike most people freaking out about these shows, I’ve actually seen My Bloody Valentine before – three times on the Loveless tour, including the last show, to date, the band has ever played. And while they were pretty awesome shows, I do think there’s little chance the poor band can possibly live up to the hype of the reunion.
I’m also pretty convinced the Coachella rumors are true, and we’ll be seeing stateside shows, starting with a Coachella date. If that, plus the Portishead rumors are true, well, then, Coachella is shaping up to be pretty awesome.
ATP Don't Look Back: Sebadoh
posted Sep 14, 11:27 AM by Rick WebbFile under: Overseas , Reunions
I know this blog is basically looking like an ATP advertisement, but COME ON.
On my birthday next year, ATP’s Don’t Look Back series presents Sebadoh: Bubble and Scrape. All original lineup. The whole album. On my BIRTHDAY. Ow.
Info here
This does, however, make up for missing the House Of Love play their first album last night. Being like the only fan in the world of that album, I am BUMMED.
A Factory Night (Once Again)???
posted Jul 4, 11:46 AM by Rick WebbFile under: Overseas , Reunions
From my buddy John Hurwitz:. I doubt I can make this if I go to the Portishead ATP, but I am definitely going to keep an eye on it. Section 25 has been threatening to come to America for almost a year now but keep postponing because of “Visa issues.” I’m hearing a lot about this – something along the lines of bands not being able to get visas in time because the State Department is so backed up with their ridiculous new passport rules (don’t even get me started on that), but I haven’t seen any solid article outlining the extant of the problem. It’s not like Section2 5 were ever some crazy drug gobbling grave robbers or anything, so I suspect the delays are more bureaucratic than security related?
Anyway, this tour looks awesome. I want to go. Kevin Hewick! I saw Crispy Ambulance a few years back in Boston and it was actually shockingly solid. Worth seeing again.
Details are emerging of a special mini-tour by Section 25, Crispy Ambulance, Kevin Hewick and other ex-Factory artists.
The tour will go under the banner of ‘A Factory Night (once again)’ and will take place in selected continental European cities in December 2007.
Schedule
venue tbc, Cologne, Germany – Friday 14 December
Plan K, Brussels, Belgium, – Saturday 15 December
Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Sunday 16 December
What’s happening
Live: Section 25, The Names, Crispy Ambulance, Kevin Hewick (final line-up to be confirmed)
DJ sets: Martin Moscrop + local DJ’s
Exhibitions: Philippe Carly (www.newwavephotos.com), Katja Ruge (www.myspace.com/fotoreportage23
