OWR: The Devil Wears Prada
46: Skinny
Posts
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Viva Voce w/ Silversun Pickups @ Empty Bottle
I got in free to this one because my brother was the road manager for Silversun Pickups’ last tour. So that’s pretty sweet. Even though we didn’t get there that early, we set up right in front of the stage. The lead singer proceeded to draw as much attention as possible to my brother which was highly entertaining for me and the band, but not so much for my bro. They played a superb set – very rawkin’, much more so than their last show (at Schubas). I don’t have an easy time remember their track names for some reason, but they played nearly every song on their new album. The crowd was really digging them, most notably the drunken fraternity brothers standing around me. They were awfully excited. I was battered about the head and neck, but I suppose it kind of added to the show.
Viva Voce was doing a Black Keys thing with just guitar and drums and loops and stuff. They were a bit plain in my opinion, but I only really caught about two or three songs as I went to hang out backstage with the other bands in the smokiest room I’ve ever had the pleasure of breathing in (first opener was The Kingdom – nice guys; too bad we missed their set).
Viva Voce was doing a Black Keys thing with just guitar and drums and loops and stuff. They were a bit plain in my opinion, but I only really caught about two or three songs as I went to hang out backstage with the other bands in the smokiest room I’ve ever had the pleasure of breathing in (first opener was The Kingdom – nice guys; too bad we missed their set).
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Saturday, October 7, 2006
The Who w/ moe. @ United Center
Going in, we didn’t know who the opener was, but were thoroughly bored half-way through their first song. Eventually, the mentioned their name and I was at least pleased with myself in that moe. sounded exactly as crappy as I expected them to. The two “highlights” for me were (a) one song that was a blatant ripoff of a more obscure Jimi Hendrix song and (b) when they played a song with a chorus that went “OK, all right, OK, all right.” That pretty much summed up what they were shooting for.
The Who were infinitely more inspiring. We were sitting about sixty yards back, but on the floor – with an excellent view of the stage. They came out with little fanfare, playing “Can’t Explain.” After that, was “The Seeker”. At this point, the crowd was really mellow – partly due to the sleepy opener, partly due to the fact that most of them were in their 50s. Finally, the band launched into “Who Are You” and the crowd brought some energy. The band fed off that energy and showed more themselves. They kind of strike me as the most successful garage band of all time. There was nothing fancy about the show – yeah, they had screens and stuff, but it was basically just a band playing. They rawked pretty hard when needed. On drums, we had Zach Starkey. Yes, that Starkey. Pete Townshend’s brother was playing backup guitar, too. Townshend impressed me, even though he came across as a bit pompous. However, Roger Daltry’s persona is very endearing and personable. That’s damn near impossible to do at the United Center, so I was impressed with him as well. Instead of playing all their new songs, they did a six-song medley from their new album – each track ended up being about two minutes long. Clearly the crowd is there to hear the hits, but this didn’t bore them too much because each song was so brief. Great idea.
The musical highpoint of the show was Eminence Front. I’ve always liked that tune and for years did not know who recorded it. Towards the end of the main set, Daltry started coughing and punching his chest. Apparently, he had an allergic reaction to someone or something in the front row. He left the stage and the band played My Generation with Townshend on vocals instead. This was probably the emotional high point of the show, and was a pleasure to watch. The fans were more into this one than any other. They took a break and came back with Won’t Get Fooled Again. In my opinion, the pinnacle of the Who’s career is Daltry’s scream of “YEEEeeaaaaahhh!” towards the end of that song. I was worried he wouldn’t be able to hit it after the coughing bit, and while he didn’t nail it perfectly, it had every bit of wail you could ask for and made me feel like I got my money’s worth.
All in all, good show. I wouldn’t spend that much to see them again, but at least I can say I saw them and they were good. A better crowd would have made a huge difference, but what can one expect at the UC?
The Who were infinitely more inspiring. We were sitting about sixty yards back, but on the floor – with an excellent view of the stage. They came out with little fanfare, playing “Can’t Explain.” After that, was “The Seeker”. At this point, the crowd was really mellow – partly due to the sleepy opener, partly due to the fact that most of them were in their 50s. Finally, the band launched into “Who Are You” and the crowd brought some energy. The band fed off that energy and showed more themselves. They kind of strike me as the most successful garage band of all time. There was nothing fancy about the show – yeah, they had screens and stuff, but it was basically just a band playing. They rawked pretty hard when needed. On drums, we had Zach Starkey. Yes, that Starkey. Pete Townshend’s brother was playing backup guitar, too. Townshend impressed me, even though he came across as a bit pompous. However, Roger Daltry’s persona is very endearing and personable. That’s damn near impossible to do at the United Center, so I was impressed with him as well. Instead of playing all their new songs, they did a six-song medley from their new album – each track ended up being about two minutes long. Clearly the crowd is there to hear the hits, but this didn’t bore them too much because each song was so brief. Great idea.
The musical highpoint of the show was Eminence Front. I’ve always liked that tune and for years did not know who recorded it. Towards the end of the main set, Daltry started coughing and punching his chest. Apparently, he had an allergic reaction to someone or something in the front row. He left the stage and the band played My Generation with Townshend on vocals instead. This was probably the emotional high point of the show, and was a pleasure to watch. The fans were more into this one than any other. They took a break and came back with Won’t Get Fooled Again. In my opinion, the pinnacle of the Who’s career is Daltry’s scream of “YEEEeeaaaaahhh!” towards the end of that song. I was worried he wouldn’t be able to hit it after the coughing bit, and while he didn’t nail it perfectly, it had every bit of wail you could ask for and made me feel like I got my money’s worth.
All in all, good show. I wouldn’t spend that much to see them again, but at least I can say I saw them and they were good. A better crowd would have made a huge difference, but what can one expect at the UC?
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
