1.) FEIST - saw her last week with the Happiness Project at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. As Daryl can attest to, the Happiness Project sure was boring. "a big snooze," Marty Crane would say. They were like the Books but too driven by concept to be really interesting.
the idea was the band made music out of taped testimonials of their neighbors' perceptions of happiness and how that varies from person to person. and they sure were talented musicians but that was the end of it.
But Feist! FEIST! she blew us all away. I have not listened to Metals with any real depth yet, granted I like what I heard. She was brave and experimental and quirky and sweet, joking around with the audience. You could tell this woman was more than happy to get her and her amazing band (which now includes back-up vocals from MOUNTAIN MAN).
And despite her music often coming across as mellow and muted via recorded form, in person, SHE ROCKS. It's totally believable she was once a member of a no-holds-barred punk band. Like, seriously. Then towards the end, she let the fans all rush the stage. It was so cool! And the Brooklyn Academy of Music is BEAUTIFUL!
comments: SEE HER SEE HER SEE HER
grade: A++++
2.) ST. VINCENT-Annie Clark can do no wrong and never will; her last album showed this. So that being settled, this show at Webster Hall last week was a bit disappointing for me. Cate Le Bon, her opener of choice, was pretty interesting but not particularly grabbing. Of course Annie is very gifted...her guitarwork was extraordinary and some of the songs were in PERFECT form. But maybe it was just the technical quality of the show or just my own state of mind, but I didn't enjoy this as much as I did in 2009 and saw her live with Andrew Bird. Don't get me wrong, she was still great! And her nervous little anecdotes between songs were endearing, but. you get me- I just wasn't feeling the Strange Mercy tour that much.
comments: will help enormously if you are some sort of hipster
grade: B+
3.) CHROMEO/MAYER HAWTHORNE- My first and perhaps last Terminal Five show! First of all, Breakbot is good stuff. He's very much in the vein of Justice. When Mayer Hawthorne and the Country arrived on the stage though, to the drawn-out sounds of the beginning of "MAYBE SOOOOO, MAYBE NOOOO" ALL OTHERS WERE FOR-GOTTEN. I had heard people before say he was incredible live but damnnnnnnnn. I am a changed woman for seeing Mayer in the flesh. So suave, so great, so soulful, he played the crowd and we all just couldn't get enough. Then CHROMEOOOOOOOOOO, OOOOO. Nothing prepares you for how good Chromeo are live. NOTHING. It's useless for me to try up anything that would do it justice. But they played hit after hit seamlessly, strutting around. The crowd of drunken bros and possible sluts was very VERY into it. This is the new sound, we're here to get down.
CHROMEOOOOOOOOOOO
you don't go to one of THEIR shows to be pensive, I'll say. YOU GO TO DANCE.
commennts: the only downside is you sort of feel like you're at an Ohio State frat party at Terminal Five.
grade: a solid A
next up 4 moi: Oh Land again, the National, Yelle!
the idea was the band made music out of taped testimonials of their neighbors' perceptions of happiness and how that varies from person to person. and they sure were talented musicians but that was the end of it.
But Feist! FEIST! she blew us all away. I have not listened to Metals with any real depth yet, granted I like what I heard. She was brave and experimental and quirky and sweet, joking around with the audience. You could tell this woman was more than happy to get her and her amazing band (which now includes back-up vocals from MOUNTAIN MAN).
And despite her music often coming across as mellow and muted via recorded form, in person, SHE ROCKS. It's totally believable she was once a member of a no-holds-barred punk band. Like, seriously. Then towards the end, she let the fans all rush the stage. It was so cool! And the Brooklyn Academy of Music is BEAUTIFUL!
comments: SEE HER SEE HER SEE HER
grade: A++++
2.) ST. VINCENT-Annie Clark can do no wrong and never will; her last album showed this. So that being settled, this show at Webster Hall last week was a bit disappointing for me. Cate Le Bon, her opener of choice, was pretty interesting but not particularly grabbing. Of course Annie is very gifted...her guitarwork was extraordinary and some of the songs were in PERFECT form. But maybe it was just the technical quality of the show or just my own state of mind, but I didn't enjoy this as much as I did in 2009 and saw her live with Andrew Bird. Don't get me wrong, she was still great! And her nervous little anecdotes between songs were endearing, but. you get me- I just wasn't feeling the Strange Mercy tour that much.
comments: will help enormously if you are some sort of hipster
grade: B+
3.) CHROMEO/MAYER HAWTHORNE- My first and perhaps last Terminal Five show! First of all, Breakbot is good stuff. He's very much in the vein of Justice. When Mayer Hawthorne and the Country arrived on the stage though, to the drawn-out sounds of the beginning of "MAYBE SOOOOO, MAYBE NOOOO" ALL OTHERS WERE FOR-GOTTEN. I had heard people before say he was incredible live but damnnnnnnnn. I am a changed woman for seeing Mayer in the flesh. So suave, so great, so soulful, he played the crowd and we all just couldn't get enough. Then CHROMEOOOOOOOOOO, OOOOO. Nothing prepares you for how good Chromeo are live. NOTHING. It's useless for me to try up anything that would do it justice. But they played hit after hit seamlessly, strutting around. The crowd of drunken bros and possible sluts was very VERY into it. This is the new sound, we're here to get down.
CHROMEOOOOOOOOOOO
you don't go to one of THEIR shows to be pensive, I'll say. YOU GO TO DANCE.
commennts: the only downside is you sort of feel like you're at an Ohio State frat party at Terminal Five.
grade: a solid A
next up 4 moi: Oh Land again, the National, Yelle!
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