the joy formidable @ the independent
Mar. 19th, 2012 05:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
roneAlthough this is the first gig review since the failed Battles concert, i have actually attended one other gig since then: Soundgarden at the Bill Graham Civic Center. Opening band: the Mars Volta, who were far better and tighter than i expected, and played stuff from an upcoming release (it's probably out by now, i should look for it...). Soundgarden sounded like they'd barely missed a step; it was fantastic to hear Kim Thayil shredding again (even though, for some goddamn reason, the sound guy screwed us all by mixing Kim in at a very low volume). Chris Cornell couldn't quite belt it out as before, but it wasn't much of a loss. Matt Cameron was the usual pro's pro behind the kit, and Ben Shepherd was flat-out nuts, torturing amazing sounds out of his bass. Short summary: fucking awesome.
Back to TJF: i hadn't secured a ticket for last week's show, which later sold out; luckily, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
lammah had bought tickets for both Monday and Tuesday, but then decided he didn't want to go to both shows, so i got to pick up the slack. I ate at Tsunami (good but overpriced, except for a fantastic cocktail called The Cloister, of which i had two) with one of Sam's friends and his cousin, then walked two blocks to the Independent. The two opening bands were Big Black Delta, who had some songs with potential, and a good drummer with style, but an annoying frontman; and A Place to Bury Strangers, who were technically adept but whose songs were dull, and the guitarist (who looked like Nicolas Cage in "Raising Arizona") and drummer looked like they hadn't showered all year.
The Joy Formidable was everything i'd hoped they'd be, with two tiny and one small complaints: the setlist shows that they neglected to play "Chapter 2", and also that they fake-ended their set after a mere 9 tracks, which is pretty damn horseshit in my book for the main attraction. But they know they can get away with it because the music's so good, they have so much damn fun on the stage, and look genuinely happy to be playing in front of the crowd and with each other (and unlike APtBS, are all so handsome and well-dressed). They were augmented by a harpist named Stephanie on "Llaw = Wall" and "Whirring", and that worked out pretty damn well. I look forward to a subsequent tour after they have another album under their belt, so the set isn't so short.
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no subject
Date: 2012-03-20 04:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-20 07:08 pm (UTC)TJF review
Date: 2012-03-20 06:34 pm (UTC)Yeah, regarding giving away the ticket...this was on no account on not liking TJF or anything like that, but the fact that I had seen something like 3 shows in the past week...and I like to help a brother out every now and then.
Plus I had gotten the l33t meet and greet pass...well worth it, as it was great to meet Matt/Rhys/Ritzy AND to get to stand on stage while they soundchecked Abacus and Buoy...I prefer being out on the floor :-) ...the sound's better...you can never get the monitors to sound exactly like the PA.
Lots of bands "fake-end" their set, so that's a pretty odd complaint. Not everybody can be David Gedge, some people like to ritual of "are they coming back" even if the house lights still being dim give the game all away...
Big Black Delta didn't do very much for me, but I didn't pay much attention, since laptop pop doesn't really do it for me (sorry, Skrillex, smashing laptops is just plain moronic), unless you're Kevin Blechdom, that is...
A Place to Bury Strangers (APTBS) on the other hand...I don't know if it was in reaction to Monday's effort, but Tuesday night they only played two songs...one of them being a near-20 minute holocaust version of "Ocean" that was astounding....followed by a song from their new EP...if you're looking for verse-chorus-verse from these guys...well, keep on looking, sir...though they do incorporate structure and melody, it's really about the noise. But you're right, Oliver Ackermann *does* look like Nicolas Cage! Thought the showering comment was pretty odd...especially from a Soundgarden fan...and a bit beyond the pale...does it really matter?
APTBS is at the forefront of some of the most extreme music that can be produced by a guitar, so much so that he created his own pedal effects and founded a company called Death By Audio to sell them to folks like U2 and NIN [which I'm more than happy to see him do]...maybe you've not heard of it?
Here's a video I shot (mixed in with my audio recording) of Ocean, starting about when the strobes turned on...it's still being uploaded as I typed this, as it's in 1080p:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XC-FguiKoI
Re: TJF review
Date: 2012-03-20 06:45 pm (UTC)Is another review by one of the guys I went with. He left after the first TJF song, which I found out as he SMS'ed me midway through the set...likened them to Oasis. A pretty extreme reaction, but understandable as anything after the APTBS set would have been a letdown...it was only with the final encore song Whirring did TJF really hit their stride, though I have to admit this was due to situating myself in front of Rhys AND next to a pair of extremely inebriated women...whom I seen at the Independent before, so maybe we're being subjected to some weird professional "drunk chick" performance art...I didn't really let them bother me, though the people around them were suitably, VERY annoyed...enough to where one of that number went to get them some water...she later said they showed up a few minutes later, looking much less wasted...so yeah...performance art!
Re: TJF review
Date: 2012-03-20 07:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-20 07:14 pm (UTC)You know what i like, so i'm not looking for verse-chorus-verse, necessarily. "It's really about the noise," well, fuck that, that's what everyone says about Sonic Youth and they're just fucking awful. Noise is an element, not a destination. I really don't give a crap about the avant-garde; if i want 'extreme music that can be produced by a guitar', i'll listen to Michael Hedges. As for the showering, well, Soundgarden looked pretty damn clean when i saw them. It's one thing to be sweaty, it's another to look like you'll be begging for change at a freeway ramp after the show. Does it matter? No. So what?
DEAF BY AUDIO
Date: 2012-03-21 01:18 am (UTC)Regarding "noise"...I disagree...it can indeed be both element *and* destination. It does take a certain aesthetic mindset to appreciate it, so horses for courses.
Of course, SY now I think is well past its sell-by date NOW, and I have a problem of how they've see themselves as "indie royalty", but back in the day, their off-kilter song structures and unusual tunings really were quite visionary. I guess record sales buys you Ivory soap and personal groomers. I guess you'd not be caught dead at a punk show...I don't go to see shiny happy people, but want an escape from my oh-so normal day-to-day. In exchange, I help support these people through going to shows, buying merch, and providing documentary services through audiovisual capture.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-21 06:16 am (UTC)PNUK
Date: 2012-03-21 08:36 pm (UTC)You can be wrong some of the time.
Re: PNUK
Date: 2012-03-22 01:49 am (UTC)Some of the time? Boy, that would be an improvement.