LCD Soundsystem @ Terminal 5
James Murphy and company tore a hole through the floor of Terminal 5 on Saturday with LCD Soundsystem’s third of four scheduled shows at the venue with an unrelenting set, daring the audience to sit still. Pat Mahoney’s drums on “All My Friends” plowed through the crowd with reckless abandonment, sparing no one from the power and beauty of arguably the best song off of 2007′s “Sound of Silver.” The surprise of the night was the emphatic bass drops that shook the walls during “Pow Pow,” injecting elevated energy into the track off their latest record This is Happening.
Song after song, the set refused to bring you down and the energy level peaked with a vivacious version of “Yeah” that grew with each verse and became the exclamation point of the show. For the encore, we got a little bit of everything: “Someone Great” into “Losing My Edge” with the city appropriate closer “New York, I Love You But Your Bringing Me Down.”
The only disappointment in the set was the absence of the best song so far of 2010, “Dance Yrself Clean.” That aside, it was the best dance party of the year. See more pics and setlist (same for all four nights) below:
Setlist:
Us v Them
Drunk Girls
Get Innocuous
Yr City’s A Sucker
Pow Pow
Daft Punk is Playing at My House
All I Want
All My Friends
I Can Change
Tribulations
Movement
Yeah
Encore:
Someone Great
Losing My Edge
New York, I Love You But Your Bringing Me Down
Empire State of Mind
Jónsi @ Terminal 5
Jónsi’s performance Saturday night at Terminal 5 left no emotion unfurled. I’m not sure if there an a word in the English language that can adequately describe the degree of emotional stimulation his music brings when fused into the visceral stage production assembled for this tour.
Jónsi decided to embark on a solo record while the other members of Sigur Rós are having children and imagined it to be a quiet acoustic record. The sound of his first solo record go quickly grew into a much larger production. He wanted to reflect this sound with an equally massive stage production. Jónsi enlisted Phil Eddolls and 59 Productions, a company that usually produces operas, bringing a unique stage show of film, art installation, and theater performance as a backdrop for the show. The concept is inspired by a book featuring photos of a burned out taxidermist shop.
The show began with simplicity. Jonsi and his acoustic guitar playing the subdued unreleased track “Stars In Still Water” in front a tan curtain covering the back of the stage. Having seen a few online videos I waited for it to drop and give way to the elaborate set design behind it. However, this was not the case. Halfway through the second song, “Hengilás,” the unassuming tarp transformed into a gigantic, tea-stained piece of paper adorned with sketches of brooding animals. Now realizing it was actually a screen, the digital image that covered the entire back of the stage began to burn away with a stunning digital fire as the strings picked up and the song came to an end. What was left behind was a darkened forest of burnt trees in various states of decay, with two separate smaller screens in front of the stage illuminating images of a glass jar filled with an ocean of butterflies for the next song, “Icicle Sleeves.” What followed was the first of many jaw-dropping moments and an almost indescribable series of stunning images. Animals changing form, becoming wire frames, then shedding their color while chasing one another through a dead forest of night for the song “Kolniður.”
The calm tension of the song “Tornado” led into the thunderous drums of “Sinking Friendships,” which stood as the musical shift of a consistently rising tempo for each song. Each one sounded louder than the previous and never let up. Ending with Jónsi in a feather headdress, violently shaking his head and body, while belting out the final lyrics “They, in the end, will turn and fall, You’ll know…” from the closer “Grow Till Tall.” It left the crowd and mysefl disoriented and overwhelmed with his almost frightening ability evoke emotion. Full set list and a few Youtube videos below, giving a peek into the experience.
Setlist:
Stars in Still Water
Hengilás
Icicle Sleeves
Kolniður
Tornado
Sinking Friendships
Saint Naive
New Song
Go Do
Boy Lilikoi
K12
New Song
Around Us
Encore
Animal Arithmetic
Grow Till Tall
NIN Adds NYC Club Dates: Bowery, Webster Hall & More!!
Trent’s farewell tour just got a bit more interesting and perhaps more fitting. After attending the NIN/JA show in at PNC in NJ, I was left disappointed. As the last note of “Hurt” was played, the writhing hard-hitting NIN that that I had seen more than ten times live seemed to have ended with a whimper, destroying my dream of hearing “Heresy” played live.
Now Trent seems to have agreed (citing short sets and large outdoor venues in daylight as not the way to go out). The announcement came today via Twitter, thanks to Trent’s recent return to the digital world. But just as he announced it, the servers crashed, delaying the official NIN.com announcement while they patched them up for some 45 minutes. Dates have yet to be announced.
Full Post from nin.com below:
Getting right to the point, we’re going to play a handful of shows in NYC, Chicago and LA starting August 22nd. They will be informal affairs in medium to small venues with longer set-lists, possible special guests, cool openers and other surprises. Upon reflection, the NIN/JA tour felt like we had to rush through sets due to a limited allotted set length and many shows were in daylight – it just didn’t feel right to end NIN that way. An offer to headline V-Fest in Toronto (being announced soon) set the idea in motion to play some FUN shows to end this up with. If we can get it together we’ll film these shows, too
In NYC we’ll be playing Bowery Ballroom, Webster Hall and Terminal 5. In Chicago, the Aragon Ballroom. In LA we’ll be at The Wiltern, The Henry Fonda, The Palladium and The Echoplex. These should be cool, unusual and unique shows and I hope you come out – this is it.
So far, The Horrors will be joining us for some shows in NYC, Mew will be with us at other shows in NYC, Chicago and LA, and perhaps more.
Details and ticket info will be announced shortly, so check back.”Thanks,
Trent
Redemption awaits…
Fishpork’s Ten Favorite Shows of 2008
As a collective, Fishpork attended 15 live shows this year (and there are still two more: Of Montreal tomorrow and Crystal Castles on New Year’s Eve, both at the Music Hall of Williamsburg). Unfortunately, a band does not have complete control over how well received their live performance can be. This was the case with all bands that played in our least favorite venue of 2008: The Electric Factory in Philadelphia. Although Animal Collective managed to overcome the venue’s sound limitations the best, others were not so lucky (The Mars Volta, TV on the Radio, Of Montreal). Unless Jeff Mangum announces a show here, Fishpork will avoid it at all costs in 2009. Highlights of the year included an intoxicating performance by Deerhunter, a sweaty dance party curated by Girl Talk, and a 3am secret show by Modest Mouse. These were our favorite shows of 2008:
- Deerhunter @ The Music Hall of Wiiliamsburg
- Girl Talk @ Starlight Ballroom
- Enon @ Hiro Ballroom
- Modest Mouse @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
- Built to Spill @ Terminal 5
- Animal Collective @ Electric Factory
- Nine Inch Nails @ Wachovia Center
- Radiohead @ APW Festival
- Saul Williams @ The Trocadero
- Battles @ Johnny Brendas
Honorable Mention:
Holy Fuck @ Johnny Brendas
Crystal Castles @ Webster Hall
Health @ House of Blues
TV on the Radio @ Electric Factory
Of Montreal @ Electric Factory
Least Favorite Show of 2008
The Mars Volta @ Electric Factory
Favorite Live Venue of 2008
Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA
Least Favorite Venue of 2008
Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
Built To Spill @ Terminal 5
The chance to hear a band perform arguably one of the best records ever written in its entirety does not come often. For me, this was one of the most anticipated shows of the year. Add on great line up of opening acts consisting of the Meat Puppets and Dinosaur Jr, and you just can’t miss. Extensive touring is nothing new to Built to Spill and they decided to play a series of shows in the middle of their current tour to play Perfect From Now On from start to finish.
Built To Spill agreed to take part in the Don’t Look Back concert series which was started in 2005 and has featured Sonic Youth performing Daydream Nation and Girls Against Boys playing Venus Luxure No. 1 among others. However the first full fledged tour that I can remember in this genre was back in 2003 when Primus toured with a two set show. The first set featured Sailing the Seas of Cheese in its entirety and the second a mix of new and old songs. I saw this show at the Hammerstein Ballroom and it was a memorable show.
When Built To Spill signed with Warner Bros. Martsch brokered a deal that allowed him to retain a large degree of creative control over future albums. Many artists that signed to major labels around that time were not able to pull that off. BTS produced its first major label release which ended up being Perfect From Now On. The history of this album is near legendary. The album was recorded three times. Martsch played all instruments on the first try, but he did not like the sound so he invited Brett Nelson and Scott Plouf to help record. This second attempt was finished save overdubs but a hot summer drive from Bosie to Seattle destroyed the tapes . Left without any other options, the band continued to refine the album and recorded it a third time which was released to critical acclaim on January 28, 1997. You can read more about the recording process here in a great archived interview with Martsch’s and PFNO producer Phil Ek.
The show started right on time at 7:30. The Meat Puppets put on a loud but decent set with their power chord garage sound. Dinosaur Jr’s overall mix suffered a bit from the over-driven (and overdone) triple stack Marshall amps behind front man J. Mascis in this small venue. I was actually concerned that BTS might suffer the same fate. However, Martsch is known for his perfection tendencies and created a perfect sound for the set. From the opening note of “Randy Describes Eternity” the band was crisp and replicated the album perfectly. The crowd fervor was fueled with fire as Martsch sang the album mantra of ”I’m gonna be perfect from now on/I’m gonna be perfect starting now.” That moment put the show in proper perspective. More than 11 years after its release, these songs sounded are relevant, important and perfect.
BTS only took breaks for a few technical difficulties. After guitarist Jim Roth broke a string, Martsch apologized for the delay and joked that they “could not afford any roadies or guitar techs.” At one point a cable from Martsch’s foot pedals died and he had to replace it mid-song. Amazingly, despite the technical difficulties, they did not miss a beat throughout the entire recreation of PFNO. The guitar intro to “Stop the Show” had a more brutal punch then on the record and had the crowd going crazy. When asked about playing PFNO in its entirety Doug Martsch said:
“I’ve been enjoying playing it because I feel like we can do it live better than the record. I listen to our record and the quality of my voice gives me shivers—bad shivers not good shivers—so being able to sing the songs a little bit more, the way I naturally sing, has been nice. And there are instrumental things that, live, I think we can make more intense.”
After finishing “Untrustable/Pt. 2 (About Someone Else),” the last track from PFNO, the band immediatly went into “Goin’ Against Your Mind” from You In Reverse before leaving the stage. Martsch and company came back for two more songs, “Car” and “Virginia Reel Around The Fountain.” The latter turned into a exhilarating 15 minute jam with the Curt and Cris Kirkwood from the Meat Puppets and Dave Dreiwitz of Ween on bass. I walked away on an emotional high and even more respect for Built To Spill. Their performance was stellar and put this show in my top 10 of all time. Doug Martsch and company are currently working on a new album which will hopefully see daylight by Spring 2009.