Flight Of The Conchords – The Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney 6th July 2012

When I first moved to Wellington, many years ago, I would see Peter Jackson walking around in shorts and Jandals.  I was a fan of Peter Jacksons Bad Taste and it was a very surreal experience.  A kiwi I had seen on TV and who had actually managed to break out of New Zealand.  I had a similar experience with Flight of the Conchords.  I remember seeing bits and pieces on TV and in Magazine and then I would see Jemaine Clement walking around but I never saw Flight of the Conchords, live until now.

The Sydney Entertainment Centre was packed and everyone was ready to have a good time.  The night began with a short stand up set by Arj Barker.  Arj is interesting in that he has a tendency to telegraph jokes but still manages to pull them off.  There were a number of laughs and it got everyone ready for when he introduced The Flight Of The Conhords. 

They came out with a bang opening their set with “Too Many Dicks on the Dancefloor”.  Decked out in homemade helmets and silvers jumpsuits they moved and sang along with sampled backing rocking the room in quite an unexpected way.  They used the same suits for the following tune “Robots” before changing into their regular stage gear.  The main setup for the show was the two Conchords on acoustic guitar and vocals with backing coming from an interesting looking gent called Nigel who played cello but also played Keyboards and drums when needed.

The problem with live comedy songs are that you know the punch lines and allot don’t have any replay value.  But FOTC’s songs are different as they are really good songs.  With a little tweaking of the lyrics here the songs sounded fresh in a live setting.  Of the existing material The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room), Hurt Feelings, I'm Not Crying and a super funky Business Time were the highlights.

FOTC played three new songs during their set.  “Fuck On The Ceiling” which was ok but fell quite short. 

“The Summer of 1353” was the best of the three.  An English folk song about “Wooing a Lady” and all the things that need to be done to get ready to do this.  The song was great and had really strong melodies and backing, in particular Jemaine’s guitar.  I Really want to hear a fully realised studio version of this track.

“Back On The Road” was a song that tied together allot of the stories mentioned in the between song banter.  It even included the punch line to a joke setup midway through the set regarding a fish and a groupie.  Clever stuff.

It was a great night when everyone was out for a good laugh and a good time which Flight Of The Conchords delivered.

I like the fact that a kiwi comedy duo has managed to get so much success.  But also know their limits in particular when they turned down a third season of their HBO series.  Lets hope that they can get their rumoured Movie together and give us some more new tunes to enjoy.

Flight Of The Conchords Setlist:

Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor

Robots

The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room)

Fuck on the Ceiling

Think About It

Jenny

Bus Driver's Song

Hurt Feelings

The Summer of 1353

Carol Brown

I'm Not Crying

Inner City Pressure

Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

Song for Epileptic Dogs

Business Time

Bowie

Demon Woman

Back On The Road

Albi the Racist Dragon

We're Both in Love With a Sexy Lady

Sugalumps

Eddie Spaghetti – The Sandringham Hotel, Sydney 29th June 2012

I saw the Supersuckers nearly 4 years ago at the Annandale Hotel and it is still one of best shows I have been to.  Allot of that had to do with front man Eddie Spaghetti who has 100% belief that his band are that absolute shit. 

This was still present at Eddie's solo acoustic show at the Sando in Newtown on a chilly Friday night.  The way the show worked was interesting in that beyond opener “I Gotta Get Drunk” and possibly closer “Born With A Tail” the setlist was made up on the spot via audience requests.  It was a really fun way of building a set in a small club setting and got everyone involved in the show.  It also gave those in attendance the chance to hear what they really wanted to hear.  The setlist ended up leaning heavily toward the more Country material of the Supersuckers “Must’ve Been High” album and Eddie's Solo tunes. 

Many times the audience was brought in to provide backing vocals or even shared lead vocals as in the case of “Hungover Together”.  “Hungover Together” was requested but Eddie said he would only play it if someone did Kim Deal's part and one female members of the audience did just that.  She did a great job even making up lyrics when she forgot the last set of lyrics.  Both "Killer Weed" and "Non-Addictive Marijuana" included extended chorus sections which had the audience singing along with Eddie. 

Other highlights on the night for me were "Barricade" (with Eddie asking the audience to “pretend I’m Eddie Van Halen in 1984” during the bridge, the just plain cool “Sleepy Vampire” (a highlight during the Supersuckers show I saw), Ween's “Piss Up A Rope” and the infectious “Pretty Fucked Up”. 

This show was a hell of a lot of fun and I think everybody in attendance had a blast.  I know I sure did.  Cha cha cha!

Eddie Spaghetti Setlist:

I Gotta Get Drunk

Double Wide

Barricade

Hungover Together

Roadworn And Weary

Misery And Gin

Little Ol' Wine Drinker Me

Dead In The Water

Sleepy Vampire

Mudhead

One Cigarette Away

Killer Weed

Non-Addictive Marijuana

Creepy Jackalope Eye

Jesus Never Lived on Mars

Breaking the Law

Bloody Mary Morning

Piss Up A Rope

Carry Me Home

Pretty Fucked

Born With A Tail

Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & Sufjan Stevens – “Planetarium” Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Sydney 29th May 2012

Planetarium is a new piece by Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & Sufjan Stevens commissioned for the 2012 Vivid Festival.  The piece is based on the planets in the Solar System plus The Sun, The Moon and the recently exiled Pluto.  The core three is joined by a live Drummer, String Quartet and Seven Trombones under the glow of a glowing orb representing the subject planet. 

The first half of the program featured The Orava String Quartet playing pieces written by Dessner, Muhly & Stevens.  Nico’s Diacritical Marks composition comprised of 8 fairly short pieces and to be blunt was uninteresting.  The players really didn’t seem comfortable with the material and there seems to be no real passion in their playing.  Sufjan’s Run Rabbit Run on the other hand flowed allot better and had the kind of melodic highs found in Sufjan’s music.  The three pieces flowed really nicely and were an interesting listen.  Brynce’s Aheym was very heavy in comparison to the others compositions.  Kind of like Heavy Metal on strings.  Probably not as successful as Sufjan but still an interesting piece of music.

After a short interval the group formed on the stage with Sufjan in the centre, Nico to the Left and Bryce to the right.  The sound of Planetarium is very much in the Space Rock zone.  The backing is quite lush and at times quite electronic but allot of the colour of the piece comes from Sufjan’s vocals.  For the most part his vocals are affected by vocoders, autotuners and other effects adding a other worldly feel.  It is quite exciting to hear vocals played live as an instrument.  The more dynamic and heavier tunes were the most interesting tracks with the epic Mars and Mercury as the highlights.  Pluto may have been booted from the Solar System but the groups tribute was heartbreaking.  A slow and haunting tune that reflected the loneliness of being at the edge of the universe.  Each tune seemed fitting to the planet that were their inspired by and as a piece Planetarium was a major success.  Lets hope that we get the a recording of this very soon.  

    

The Orava String Quartet Setlist:

Diacritical Marks (in eight movements) by Nico Muhly

Run Rabbit Run i: Year of the Boar by Sufjan Steven

Run Rabbit Run ii: Year of the Horse by Sufjan Steven

Run Rabbit Run iii: Year of our Lord by Sufjan Steven

Aheym by Bryce Dessner

Planetarium Setlist:

Neptune

Jupiter

Venus

Uranus

Mars

The Sun

Pluto

The Moon

Saturn

Earth

Mercury

Encore:

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Tim Rogers – The Stable, Griffin Theatre, Sydney 03rd May 2012

This show was an encore of sorts to a performance of  “The Story of Mary Maclane by Herself”, a play Tim is currently acting in and providing music to.  I had been keen to check the play out and when this and two other solo shows were announced the 3^rd of May shows were picked. 

Tim arrived on the Stable stage in a relaxed version of his costume from the nights play.  Tonight’s set was focusing on new tracks from Tim’s soon to be released solo album “Bring Me Scissors You Lazy Bastard” (this may not be the final title).  Armed with a two acoustics the new songs were quite laidback and restrained, almost Alt Country.  Two songs from Tim’s Saligia show “Walking Past the Bars” and “Sins of the Father” have been reworked and are sounding better than they did in their previous incarnations.  “I Didn't Plan To Be Here Either” was first up and sounded like it would fit comfortably on Tim’s "Spit Polish" album.   “Part-time Dad’s” as a quirky number that has a fantastic chorus with a Nick Drake or Rodriguez feel to it.  Nice tune with some trademark comedic lyrical twists.  “Spark and Fold” reminded me of “Get Drunk, Ring Your Friends” of the "Dress Me Slowly" bonus disc.  It’s an upbeat tune that waits quite a while to bring out the chorus which again was fantastic.  “FJ Holden” is a quiet number and an ode to Tim’s father who owned an FJ Holden back in the day.  The lyrics are very personal in places in particular one line “I never planned to be a divorced Dad too”.  A really sweet song.  “Wish You Were Here” is a song that Tim wrote for the film of the same name and is sung by Megan Washington on the soundtrack.  Although it’s not on the new record Tim gave it a spin.  The song is very stripped back and slow.  A nice tune but Tim struggled vocally on this one.  “All Or Nothing This Time” is a slow bluesy tune.  The song has a slow build and includes the fantastic line “We both burst like geyers”.  The final of the new songs “Driving At Night” is the first single from the new album and is the most different of the songs.  The song has a Rolling Stones feel to it and is a mid paced rocker.  The melody reminded me of the title track from Tim’s previous album “The Luxury of Hysteria”.  I’m looking forward to hearing this one on the album.  A really fun tune.

 The rest of the set was a selection of older tunes.  “Older Guys”, “Weeds” and “Trigger Finger” were all great but the highlight was “The Loneliest Folk In The World”.  This was a request from the audience and was a song that Tim’s hadn’t played in a while so he wasn’t sure he could remember it all.  He started off well but the more he got into the song he struggled with the lyrics.  But luckily the gent who had requested it was there to feed him the lines which was fantastic.  It was like a collective achievement when he actually finished the song.  A real show of class from Mr Rogers. 

In a venue that only holds 100 people this was a real treat for a Tim Rogers fan like myself.  Keep it up Timmy.

Tim Rogers Setlist:

I Didn't Plan To Be Here Either

Walking Past the Bars

Part-time Dads

Spark and Fold*

FJ Holden

Sins Of The Father

Wish You Were Here*

Older Guys

Dinosaurs

Paragon Cafe

Weeds

All Or Nothing This Time*

Driving At Night

The Loneliest Folk In The World

Time And Distance

Trigger Finger

* Unsure of song title

Lou Barlow – Annandale Hotel, Sydney 16th April 2012

This show is the 6^th time I have seen Lou Barlow live in 2012.  I saw him 5 times on the Weezer Cruise with Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh & Solo.  Of those shows my favourite show was definitely his solo show.  Not saying he isn't awesome with Dinosaur Jr or Sebadoh but I think he is at his best in a solo acoustic setting. 

When we arrived at the Annandale Hotel Lou was hanging out at the Merch desk selling T-shirts and CD’s.  There was a much large crowd gathered than I had expected.  Allot of this was due to talk of slow sales and the tour possibly being cancelled.  Lou’s set began with a number of very early tracks from the Weed Forestin’ cassette which had recently been re-released.  Played on a Ukulele these tracks were retained their stripped back feeling but had a nice clarity that Lou’s lo-fi recordings missed.  With New Worship, It's So Hard to fall in Love & Jealous of Jesus being standouts.  From the time Lou swapped over to guitar the set seemed to be created on the spot from audience request to new songs Lou wanted to give a spin. 

We were treated to 2 new songs, a new Solo tune and a new Dinosaur Jr song.  The new solo tune is a dark tune with some fantastic guitar playing which is has an English folk feel to it.  Looking forward to hearing this on a record some day.  The other tune which Lou described as a mix between Queens of the Stone Age and Elliot Smith was good but would certainly benefit from Dinosaur Jr treatment.  Many requests were unfulfilled due to Lou not being able to remember them but a nice mix of Sebadoh, Folk Implosion and Solo material were played in a nearly 2 hour set.   Soulmate, Think (Let Tomorrow Bee), Home and Foreigner cover Cold as Ice were highlights. 

Unlike most encores tonight’s encore was genuine and unplanned.  Lou who left the stage and made his way to the Merch stand to sell his wares returned to the stage after receiving much love from the audience.  A further 4 songs were played before it was all over. 

Thank you Lou for a  great night.  

Lou Barlow Setlist:

Poledo

New Worship

Ride the Darker Wave

I Can't See

I Believe in Fate

It's So Hard to fall in Love

Jealous of Jesus

Brand New Love

New Song

Take Advantage

Soulmate

Free to Go

Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)

Spoiled

Home

New Dinosaur Jr Song

On Fire

Ballad of Daykitty

Human Punching Bag

Natural One

Skull

The One I Call

Cold as Ice

Rebound

Together or Alone

Soul and Fire

Encore:

Punch in the Nose

Healthy Sick

Magnets Coil

Pearl

Mastodon w/ Gojira & Kvelertak – The Hifi, Sydney 01st March 2012

This Mastodon show was my first visit to the newly reopened Forum at Moore Park which is now part of the HiFi group of venues.  Upon arriving at the venue we were meet with a huge line around the building a full hour after doors had opened.  This you could put down to people turning up at the same time and it just getting congested.  But while waiting to get in the line was just crawling to get into the venue.  It became really apparent when we got closer to the start of the line that security was spending 5 minutes on each bag they came across.  This included girls small handbags.  Just a tip guy’s security in general is a good thing but it has to be reasonable and this was way over the top.   

Kvelertak were gone by the time we got into the venue.   So we waited and waited for Gojira to start.  15 minutes after their scheduled start time they arrived on stage to a rapturous response from the audience.  I was interested in seeing the band as Guitarist/Vocalist Joe Duplantier had played on Cavalera Conspiracy’s Inflikted album.  Maybe there was something I was missing but there was very little in the bands set that I found remotely interesting.  The bad sound didn’t help but Gojira is a prime example of why contemporary Metal bores me.  The riff’s all sound the same, there is very little thought about how parts of the song go together or how a song can progress in interesting ways and the Vocals are non descript shouting.  But hey I was a minority here and the black t-shirts around me loved it.

Gojira Setlist:

Oroborus

The Heaviest Matter of the Universe

Backbone

Love

Remembrance

Flying Whales

Toxic Garbage Island

Headliners Mastodon were next and they really showed how a band Metal band can create interesting and relevant contemporary metal.  There isn't the level of posturing that most metal bands roll out during live shows in fact the band said very little to the audience.  I heard the band described as a mix of Iron Maiden and Machine Head which is a very on the mark description of Mastodon.   The band delivered a set heavy with songs from their latest record The Hunter.  The songs from this record work really well in a live situation.  The more direct nature of the song and the almost pop melodies give the crowd ample to sing along to.  Dry Bone Valley, Black Tongue, Spectrelight the closer Creature Lives were fantastic examples of this.  Older songs such as Crystal Skull, Aqua Dementia and Blood and Thunder were fantastic though some other tracks such as Megalodon and Circle Of The Cysquatch missed the mark due to an at time muddy mix.  Probably the highlight of the evening was Crack The Skye who's chorus soared.  There is a reason that Mastodon is spoken with such reverence and it is because they are taking a path less travelled. This might not be for everyone but they are taking Metal and Progressive in new directions.   

Mastodon Setlist:

Dry Bone Valley

Black Tongue

Crystal Skull

Megalodon

Thickening

Blasteroid

All the Heavy Lifting

Spectrelight

Curl of the Burl

Bedazzled Fingernails

Circle of Cysquatch

Aqua Dementia

Crack the Skye

Iron Tusk

March of the Fire Ants

Blood and Thunder

Creature Lives

Soundwave Festival, Olympic Park, Sydney 26 February 2012

Soundwave is a very daunting task when think about trying to plan your day.  The festival which boasts 6 stages and 90 odd bands there is defiantly a risk of clashes and missing someone fantastic.  I arrived at Olympic Park to find a very large line waiting to get through the gates.  The line was right back to the entrance of the Olympic Park Station.  Thinking this didn't sound like the funniest thing I could be doing so following the rest of my train I mixed into the crowd near the front.  This still didn't mean that would get in for another 30 minutes due to some overzealous security. 

I heard the beginning of Chimaira’s set while in line and once in caught the rest of their set.  Chimaira put on a good show and are a nice mixture of Death Metal and Groove Metal.  Not really all that different to allot of the bands in their genre but a nice way to warm into the day.

Chimaira Setlist:

TBC

Due to a last minute timetable change Turisas where now on the smaller stage 7.  I made my way to catch the end of their set only to find they hadn’t started yet.  I’m not sure what the reason for this was but there was a crowd of dedicated followers get very restless.  The band finally came out with only 20 minutes of their scheduled set remaining and to their credit stuck to their slot.  At festivals there is nothing worse than a band running overtime due technical issues or running over time.  Turisas were a trip.  The band is dress in battle dress with Red and Black Stripped body paint.  Musically the song are anthemic power metal with fist in the air chorus’.  I have never heard a note of music from this band or read anything about them so when they broke out a cover of Boney M’s Rasputin I got very confused.  The melody was very familiar and when the chorus came in that it all clicked.  Tarisas were allot of fun and are a band you just have to go with and not think too much about it.    

Tarisas Setlist:

The March of the Varangian Guard

The Great Escape

To Holmgard and Beyond

Rasputin

Battle Metal

Next on the program was Steel Panther in the main stadium with a big crowd to see the bands first ever set in Sydney.  Steel Panther are a comedy act that is so on the mark that it is almost and embarrassment to enjoy their set.  Each band member in character from the get go with Vocalist Michael Starr and Guitarist Satchel being the ring masters and lead jokers.  Unfortunately like most musical comedy acts and glam rock bands the songs fall flat and don’t warrant (pun intended) repeat visits but in a live setting they absolutely fit the purpose.  Songs from the band’s first album Feel The Steel work best and seem to be sharper than songs from the bands second album Balls Out.  Highlights include Asian Hooker, Community Property and closer Death To All But Metal.

Steel Panther Setlist:

Eyes Of A Panther

Tomorrow Night

Just Like Tiger Woods

Asian Hooker

Gold-Digging Whore

Community Property

17 Girls In A Row

The Shocker

Death To All But Metal

After picking up some food and checking out the Merch I made my way to check out Meshuggah.  Shadows Fall were a few songs from the end of their set really didn’t do much for me.  I’ll be honest and say I don’t follow nearly as many metal bands as I use to and bands like Shadow Fall are the reason.  No variation from the form.

Shadow Fall Setlist:

The Power of I and I

Still I Rise

Destroyer of Senses

Fire From the Sky

King of Nothing

Stepping Outside the Circle

The Light That Blinds

Meshuggah certainly don’t suffer from that problem.  I was keen to check this band out because I had heard that they played with some wild time signatures.  The songs the band plays are extremely confusing but at the same time fascinating and brutal.  Vocalist Jens Kidman convulses on stage like he is being thrown around by the grooves and signatures the rest of the band are playing.  This is not the kind of music you can just jump around and have some good fun it is intense and extremely challenging.  Though I think they struggled in a Festival situation they put on a show that was highly original.  Definitely worth checking out.

Meshuggah Setlist:

Rational Gaze

Pravus

New Millennium Cyanide Christ

Combustion

Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion

Bleed

The recently reformed Coal Chamber was up next.  I had quite a fondness for this band back in the day but time hasn’t been kind to their kind of music.  They sounded very thin live and the songs really didn’t sound interesting in a live setting.  The band played their biggest songs as the first three songs by which time Muggs started having power issues with his guitars.  Dez’s posturing and empty threats to the stage staff were disappointing and unnecessary.  They struggles through a few more power outages and went 10 minutes overtime because of it.  As I have previously mentioned this annoys me in general but at a festival it’s the worst.  I hope that the Coal Chamber boys and girl are having some fun on this little tour but you time has long since passed.

Coal Chamber Setlist:

Loco

Big Truck

Fiend

Rowboat

Not Living

I

Something Told Me

Oddity

Sway

In Flames was everything that Coal Chamber was not.  This band is extremely tight and on point with their songs.  Their melodic Death Metal sound worked great in this setting and being the pros they are they played a tight set which closed the overrun Coal Chamber had left them.  Good lads.  The band the crowd had a blast and I will definitely be checking out more from this band.

In Flames Setlist:

Sounds of a Playground Fading

Deliver Us

The Mirror's Truth

Fear Is the Weakness

The Quiet Place

Where the Dead Ships Dwell

Cloud Connected

Take This Life

The only real clash I had was with Kittie and Mastodon.  Seeing as I was seeing Mastodon’s Sidewave later in the week went and saw Kitties set the headed back for the remainder of Mastodon's set. 

Being fairly early for Kittie I checked out In This Moment the band on before them.  The band is aimed directly at teenage boys.  Musically they play some fairly generic metal core that I’m sure their target market thinks is seriously heavy but really isn’t.  And to be honest really isn’t terribly interesting.  But to sweeten the prospect they have added in a buxom blond to sing and growl.  I really didn’t get much from this bands set and was glad when it was over.  It does confuse me why

In This Moment Setlist:

Just Drive

Blazin

Standing Alone

Blood

Gunshow

Kittie were wedge between In This Moment and Black Veil Brides.  Just saying.

Even though Kittie are an all girl Metal band they are not a gimmick and they are not the kind of band you say they are good for girls.  Kittie are a great live band and to be honest would have been better placed taking Coal Chamber's slot on the Metal stages.  From the opening strains of the title track of their latest album I Failed You until the closer of this brief set We Are The Lamb they didn’t let up.  The only disappointment was they due to technical issues and the previous bands overrun the band had to cut a song or two from their set.  An all but too sort set from a great band.  

Kittie Setlist:

I've Failed You

My Plague

Look So Pretty

Never Again

We Are the Lamb

I dashed back to the metal stages to catch the remainder of Mastodon's Set.  Mastodon are probably my favourite metal band only being trumped by my favourite band of all time Sepultura.  What I like about this band is that they are doing something different with the genre.  Having watched a number of live performances there was a worry that the vocal might not be the best.  Thankfully there was no issue with that at this performance.  The vocals were strong and on the mark.  Of what I saw Aqua Dementia, Blood And Thunder and Creature Lives were the highlights of the set.  Bring on Thursday!

Mastodon Setlist:

Dry Bone Valley

Black Tongue

Crystal Skull

Megalodon

Thickening

Blasteroid

All the Heavy Lifting

Spectrelight

Curl of the Burl

Bedazzled Fingernails

Circle of Cysquatch

Aqua Dementia

Crack the Skye

Blood and Thunder

Creature Lives 

I only saw part of Marilyn Manson’s set but to put it bluntly it awful.  Brian was completely off his face on drugs or Alcohol or something and was looking like they had just dragged out of the gutter to do the show.  In between songs there were streams of incoherent ramblings before the band, who by the way were very good, put us out of our misery and played another song for Brian to make odd noises over.  I have only seen one performer absolutely fail worse in a live setting (The Scare opening for Die!Die!Die! at the Oxford Art Factory) but luckily for them it was in front of 100 people not 20,000 people.  Hope you enjoyed it Brian because I find it hard to believe anyone else did.

Marilyn Manson Setlist:

Antichrist Superstar

Disposable Teens

The Love Song

Little Horn

The Dope Show

Rock Is Dead

Personal Jesus

mOBSCENE

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

1996

The Beautiful People

I've seen Slipknot before and was disappointed.  Not with the band but the sound was absolutely terrible at their Melbourne Big Day Out performance in 2005.  So I was hoping for a better experience and to really get to enjoy their songs along with their live show.  For the most extent the sound was great but did get very muddy in places.  As a live band Slipknot are an over loading of information.  With 8 people on stage, who for the most part don’t stand still, and a set that includes rising platforms and fire there is allot to take in.  The next time that KISS claim to have the greatest show on earth I can confidently call bullshit on it because being a fan of both bands and having seen them live Slipknot are better no contest.  The set was really strong with very few lulls (Pulse of The Maggots being disappointing) with songs mostly taken from the bands first two albums including my personal favourite Iowa.  The highlights of the set for me were Eyeless, Before I Forget, People = Shit & Surfacing.  Fantastic set from a band that everyone interested in heavy music or music in general should set live at least once.

Slipknot Setlist:

742617000027

(sic)

Eyeless

Wait and Bleed

The Blister Exists

Liberate

Before I Forget

Pulse of the Maggots

Left Behind

Disasterpiece

Psychosocial

The Heretic Anthem

Duality

Spit It Out

People = Shit

Surfacing

My last set of the night was System Of A Down.  System Of A Down are a band that can at times be very inconsistent.  When they hit their highs they a fantastic but they can at times lean towards the mediocre.  With the stage fronted with a white and Black System Of A Down banner the band broke into Prison Song.  It was fantastic and set the mood for the set.  The highlights were definitely tracks from the bands first two albums were played.  For me the set did drag in places and unfortunately exposed the weakness of the bands catalogue as it currently stands.  The set ended on a high with the last four songs being fantastic especially the jazz metal of Sugar.      

System Of A Down Setlist:

Prison Song

Soldier Side - Intro

B.Y.O.B.

Revenga

Needles

Deer Dance

Radio/Video

Hypnotize

Question!

Suggestions

Psycho

Chop Suey!

Lonely Day

Bounce

Kill Rock 'n Roll

Lost in Hollywood

Forest

Science

Holy Mountains

Aerials

Tentative

Suite-Pee

War?

Toxicity

Sugar

As a day I was entertained and was definitely not left wanting when it came to live bands to check out.  As an event Soundwave like last year’s Harvest Festival was really well run and thought about.  Little things like shelter and space were obviously thought about and delivered in a way that the other event that happens in the same location in January could learn from.   

A Quest for Prog 27: Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick

"A Quest for Prog" is a series of 50 Progressive Rock reviews to be written over a year.  The band selection is taken from the book in the first post on this blog.  And the albums I am reviewing is based on the highest user ratings for each band on Progarchives.com.

Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick (1972)

Produced by Ian Anderson

Ian Anderson – Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Flute, Violin, Trumpet & Saxophone

Martin Barre – Electric Guitar & Lute

John Evan – Piano, Organ & Harpsichord

Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond – Bass Guitar & Vocals

Barriemore Barlow – Drums, Percussion & Timpani

Track listing:

Side One:

01. Thick as a Brick, Part I (22:40)

Side Two:

01. Thick as a Brick, Part II (21:06)

Released in 1972 “Thick as a Brick” is the Fifth album by English band Jethro Tull.   The band formed in 1967 by Ian Anderson, Glenn Cornick, Mick Abrahams and Clive Bunker.  During the bands early days they could constantly change their name due to the lack of repeat bookings.  The band happened to be using Jethro Tull when they were offered a return booking.  Originally a Blues band Tull have over their career made Progressive Rock, Folk, Synth Rock and Hard Rock records.  The bands highpoint is regarded as being the Aqualung album which included live favourites Locomotive Breath, Crosseyed Mary and Aqualung.  Still is together and tours with Anderson and long term guitarist Martin Barre along with a revolving cast of musicians.     

“Thick as A Brick” is essentially one 40 minute song split over two sides of an LP hence the two parts. 

“Thick as a Brick, Part I” is the more structured of the two parts.  It begins with acoustic guitars and Flute which plays the main theme of the piece which is a kind of jaunty folk melody.  The recording is very dynamic with instrumentation making brief appearances.  The stripped back folky part of this tune gives way as the full band comes in on a passage similar to the uptempo tracks on Aqualung.  The Guitars, Flute and Keyboards work really well together and play off and around each other.  After an Organ solo the tune slows down into a more bluesy passage around the 6 minute mark that is reminiscent of the bands earlier work on This Was and Stand Up.  There is nice Flute Solo in this section and Ian’s voice is really strong.  The song at this point is moving between passages that showcase different instruments such as a Guitar Solo stylistically similar to Ace Frehley of Kiss.  Into a Keyboard let section with some really nice interlocking melodies with Ian’s Flute.  The signature theme returns around the 12 minute mark with some playing that make it sounds like a victorious military theme.  This section marches on and again the main the returns to herald a section that sounds like a lost Cat Stevens tune.  This part ends with horns and flute and a reprisal of a number of themes in this part. 

Flipping over the record we get “Thick As A Brick, Part II”.  This part much looser and has much more of a Jam feel to it.   Beginning with wind sounds and distant guitars the band comes in we move into quite a Jazz section.  The track gets psychedelic before breaking into a decent drum solo.  Drum solo’s for the most part on record are quite redundant and should be kept for the live setting.  This is no exception and does outstay it’s welcome.  The solo bring the band into quite an Avant-Garde section which is quite interesting.  The main theme returns with the same backing as the start of part 1 but with a completely different melody.  This melody is quite good but doesn’t have the delivery of the original.  A medieval passage with some nice guitars and pianos follows.  Ian’s vocals are probably the most adventurous and progressive I have ever heard them.  This part reminded me of Pentangle but with an uneasy and almost claustrophobic feeling to it.  The flutes and some Harpsichord feature as the song progresses this is all underpinned by some nice rolling drums.  This part is very jammy and does go on far too long.  The part ends with a return again to the main theme and it ends where it first started. 

This album for being a pastiche of Progressive music of its time is still a stellar example of the genre.  The band is on top of their game here and even though at point’s it certainly does drag on it is still a great album.  Is this the best Jethro Tull record? almost.  Is it worth check out? definitely.  Especially if you can get your hands on the excellent Newspaper Vinyl Gatefold.      

6/10

A Quest for Prog 25: IQ – Ever

"A Quest for Prog" is a series of 50 Progressive Rock reviews to be written over a year.  The band selection is taken from the book in the first post on this blog.  And the albums I am reviewing is based on the highest user ratings for each band on Progarchives.com.


IQ – Ever (1993)
Produced by Mike Holmes


John Jowitt - Bass, Pedalboard [Moog Taurus Bass Pedals] & Backing Vocals 
Paul Cook - Drums 
Martin Orford - Keyboards, Mellotron, Synthesizer, Flute & Backing Vocals 
Mike Holmes - Guitar 
Peter Nicholls - Vocals 


Track listing:
01. The Darkest Hour (10:52)
02. Fading Senses (6:36)
      i. After All
      ii.Fading Senses
03. Out Of Nowhere (5:10)
04. Further Away (14:31)
05. Leap Of Faith (7:22)
06. Came Down (5:56)


Released in 1993 “Ever” is the sixth album by English band IQ.  The band was formed by Mike Holmes and Martin Oxford in 1981.  The band along with Marillion, Pendragon, Twelfth Night, Pallas, Quasar and Solstice the were part of the Neo-Progressive movement which was accused of simply copying other bands styles.  The band is still active and recently celebrated their 30th anniversary.

The album begins with the 11 minute long “The Darkest Hour”.  The song is and upbeat and technical song that sounds like a mix of Dream Theater and Joe Satriani.  Production wise this song is very similar to allot of Progressive Rock records in the early 90’s with a few 80’s tracks thrown in.  The vocals are decent but are fairly bland.  Van Hagar fans might get something out of this song.  The song drags and lost any interest closer to the end. 

The two part “Fading Senses” begins with the Power Ballad “After All” section.  The track starts with some nice keyboards and guitar before moving in to a very dull Radio song.  That being said the vocals are stronger on this track.  Part two “Fading Senses” is slightly heavier with a mix of Sci-fi and funk.  This part is a bit more interesting with a darker feel to it but is still fairly dull.

The tone of the record continues with the Stadium Rock track “Out Of Nowhere”.  This is a plodding MOR song that fit’s in line with 80’s Yes.  The song has a few interesting movements with the tracking jumping around.  The vocals and the lyrics are pretty terrible on this one.

The longest song on the album “Further Away” follows.  This intro to this song has the most interesting instrumentation of any song on this album.  Beginning with a rolling keyboard line and flutes stylistically this section similar to Simon and Garfunkel.  Unfortunately after 3 minutes the song moves into familiar territory.  The track is heavier than previous tunes and has allot more energy and quite a nice groove.  The keyboards have a Sci-Fi feel and for some reason this song reminded me of Peter Gabriel musically.  They keyboard solo is pretty terrible and beyond this point the song slows and get very dull.  A few interesting moments that could have been whittled down into a few short songs but not a 14 minute track. 

In what could only be an 80’s Ballad “Leap Of Faith” follows.  There is so much contrived emotion on this track.  Not much more to say about this one than dull.

The album finishes on “Came Down”.  This track is a very straight forward MOR Radio song.  The technicality of earlier songs is completely missing here.  This is as bland as it comes. 

This album was such a dull experience to get through and write about that maybe this review should be on a white background with white writing.  This album delivered so little to me and seems like some talented musicians attempting to travel the road paved with gold and I gather failing.

1/10

The Weezer Cruise Day 4 & 5 - Carnival Destiny 22-23 January 2012

Day 4 22nd January 2012 (Sea Day)

Today was the last full day on the Cruise and the last day of activites.  We gave Scott’s vow renewal a miss so our first show of the day was Yuck on the Lido Deck.  Yuck are quite different to every other band on this bill with a Shoegazer/Pavement feel.  Seeing pasty English folk standing on an open stage on a Cruise ship was amusing but they put on a good show.  There songs are understated and have a breezy feel to them but they also quite likes some noise.  It’s an interesting mix that got people dancing.

Yuck Setlist:
TBA

Nervous Wreckords followed a little later on the Lido Deck.  Bands like Nervous Wreckords come and go on a regular basis.  The band is essentially a 70’s rock throwback with stomping riffs and soloing.  There is allot of charisma and allot of confidence in the band but I wouldn’t run out and buy an album or see them on their own.  One thing I would say is that they have a phenomenal drummer that any band looking for a drummer should seriously look at stealing this guy.  

Nervous Wreckords Setlist:
TBA

The Cruise photo and Weezer Q&A followed.  The Q&A for the most part was very light and didn’t really get allot of a response from the band.  The band did try and give as much as they could but the questions didn’t give them much to go on.  In comparison to River’s Pinkerton Diaries Q&A which had no screening and more interesting questions it seemed like a missed opportunity.

Wavves on the Casino Stage followed.  Wavves are getting alot of buzz in Australia so even though I hadn’t heard much from them I wanted to check them out.  Wavves are quite fun but very one note in the same way that Jay Reatard was but not nearly as interesting.  Vocalist and guitarist Nathan Williams is writing some nice enough tunes but still has some growing up to do.  There is a problem that some bands suffer where they need to know their limits and for Wavves 30 minutes is plenty after which things start to drag. 

Wavves Setlist:
TBA

After dinner I went and checked out Keepaway at the Criterion Lounge.  This band is quite an odd arrangement with a drummer using his floor tom in place of a bass drum and playing over programmed drum beats.  The other two members cover the guitars and keyboards.  The best way to describe the band are an indie Police.  A strange mix of Reggae, Drum & Bass and Indie Guitar music.  Their sound didn’t do alot for me but it was certainly interesting and I wouldn’t write this band off right now.   

Keepaway Setlist:
TBA

The hardest working man on the ship Lou Barlow's 7th and final set of the Cruise was with Sebadoh at the Palladium Lounge.  Playing a very similar set to the Lido Deck show but in a much nicer venue.  Lou had some trouble at the start of the set with a particularly noisy guitar amp.  He struggled through his songs with the quieter moments being drowned out by buzz.  Ironically the problem was fixed by the time Jason moved to guitar for his first set of noisy punk tunes.  The band seemed allot looser and seemed to happy to go with the flow not letting Jason’s Guitar and Bass breakages phase them.  Another great set.

Sebadoh Setlist:
Too Pure
On Fire
Skull
Rebound
Ocean
Magnet's Coil
S. Soup
Mind Reader
Got It
Love To Fight
Drag Down
The Freed Pig
Licence to Confuse
Sister
Drama Mine
Crystal Gypsy
Careful
Bird in the Hand
Soul And Fire
Not A Friend
Beauty of the Ride
Sixteen
Give Up
New Worship
Brand New Love

Ozma were the final band on the cruise and a band I still hadn’t seen so it was off to the Criterion Lounge.  Prior to this cruise I had no idea who Ozma were and what they sounded like.  I quickly realized after conversations on the ship that they held a certain place in a generation’s heart in this country.  The faithful were out for this last show and emoted, swayed and jumped along to the set.  I’m not sure if I missed something but for me the band where pretty light indie pop.  The material went from strong angular power pop tunes to some dull first generation emo tunes (I’m talking Emo Diaries not My Chemical Romance here).  The band finished off their set with a solid cover of The Rentals Friend's of P which for me was a really interesting way to finish off a Weezer Cruise. 

Ozma Setlist:
TBA

Then it was back to the room to back and get some sleep before our departure in Miami the following morning.

Day 5 23rd January 2012 (Last Morning - Miami, Florida)

It’s always a risk when you wait a long time to see a band.  Chances are they wont live up to expectations but thankfully Weezer delivered the goods.  Along with the other bands on the bill this was a fantastic experience and there was a tinge of sadness as we left the ship.  This Cruise had been a real treat and well worth the distance travelled to get to Miami. 
I have to say that Sixthman did a fantastic job to put together an event that really made sure everyone had a great time and wasn’t just about making a buck.