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=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: miss pretentious on July 13, 2007, 03:26:00 pm
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i'm highly HIGHLY considering picking up tickets to this. anyone else going?
i'm trying to weigh the pros and cons... i've seen them twice already BUT the BSO is awesome. i've also never paid to see them before BUT i should probably save my money for another show. i have nothing else to do BUT i should probably clean my apartment.
im so torn.
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I have to go to the O's game with my cousin visiting from England. But, most of the rest of my family is going.
i thought the show was next weekend :(
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Honestly, I like the Decemberists a lot and I think their first few shows in DC were fabulous (Black Cat Backstage anyone?). But the past couple of shows I've seen (sans orchestra) have been insufferable cutesy-pageants full of matching costumes, drama club antics and inside jokes.
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Originally posted by ggwâ?˘:
Honestly, I like the Decemberists a lot and I think their first few shows in DC were fabulous (Black Cat Backstage anyone?). But the past couple of shows I've seen (sans orchestra) have been insufferable cutesy-pageants full of matching costumes, drama club antics and inside jokes.
ding ding!
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i'm tempted but the orchestra seems like an added novelty... maybe it was heat induced but after witnessing them open their bonnaroo set with "the mariner song" followed by "the tain" i told kosmette i was over them. one would think that festival would equal fun short songs from the their early days, but no...
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If you want to get a preview of the orchestral arrangments, archive.org has their show at the Hollywood Bowl (http://www.archive.org/details/TheDecemberistsAtTheHollywoodBowlWLaPhilharmonic) from earlier this week available for download. Some of the arrangements are very very nice. Alas, The Tain is still in circulation.
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well based on reviews of the hollywood bowl show, i'm going to pass....
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Originally posted by kosmo:
i'm tempted but the orchestra seems like an added novelty... maybe it was heat induced but after witnessing them open their bonnaroo set with "the mariner song" followed by "the tain" i told kosmette i was over them. one would think that festival would equal fun short songs from the their early days, but no...
wow. the tain? at a festival? good lord. i can't imagine that...
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i saw them at acl a couple years ago.
i showed up early at the stage because tortoise was playing after them. it was agonizing.
i thought i needed to be there early for tortoise. i was obviously wrong. tortoise starte their set playing to like 500 people. seemed everyone else went to see coldplay.
tortoise + getting out before most everyone else > coldplay.
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I'll be there in the fourth row (DDD). I'm sure some would consider me a fanboy because I've been to every Decemberists show in the area over the past five or so years. I think the Decemberists put on one of the best shows around, and I am very curious as to how they are going to integrate the BSO into their oeuvre. I'm a bit leery, I guess, but I also trust them enough to hope they know what they're doing.
That said, I too yearn for the days of yore when the Decemberists played at the Black Cat and their first couple of 9:30 Club shows. I fell in love with the Decemeberists the first time I heard "The Tain" at the Black Cat. Their recent shows have been a bit too audience participatory for my tastes, particularly when they keep asking us to do the same thing concert after concert ("Mariner's Revenge," ugh...). I have a higher threshold for that stuff than most of the other jaded concert-goers around here, but even I'm getting tired of that. Overall, I tend to prefer the Colin's solo shows which are stripped down to the essentials of Colin's voice, his lyrics, and his guitar.
Even so, the show at the Strathmore a few months ago was excellent. Better than the 9:30 Club show before that, I think, but that might have just been because my appreciation of "The Crane Wife" was deeper by the time of the Strathmore. I know "The Crane Wife" was somewhat unpopular around these parts when it was released. I liked it from the first listen and defended it at the time, but it grew on me even more with each listen. I now rank it very high in their discography.
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Just got back from the show. Was able to score a pair of 5th row seats for $40 each. Great show and the BSO really added to the songs. I kicked myself for missing them at The Strathmore and was glad I was able to see them at a reasonable cost. Great sound and song selection (even The Tain worked well). They took an intermission but not sure why.
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Originally posted by jeffml:
Just got back from the show. Was able to score a pair of 5th row seats for $40 each. Great show and the BSO really added to the songs. I kicked myself for missing them at The Strathmore and was glad I was able to see them at a reasonable cost. Great sound and song selection (even The Tain worked well). They took an intermission but not sure why.
i am guessing the intermission was a Union thing for the orchestra?
very enjoyable, even paying full price in row 5 as well.
best BSO integration of the Ben Folds, Elvis Costello, Decemberists trilogy.
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That is what I was thinking re: intermission. They said it was their first intermission ever, so if it was a union thing, the other city's orchestras didn't require it.
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I really enjoyed this show! The BSO arrangements sounded great and made nearly every song better. (The only song which I didn't think quite worked was "Los Angeles, I'm Yours") Highlights for me were "The Tain" (I started the standing ovation, I think) and "I Was Meant for the Stage." I don't think the latter has ever sounded better. Wow. Excellent show. I got a kick out of Colin jumping off the stage and running up to the lawn and then having a difficult time getting back on stage. Chris Funk's facial expressions during that whole escapade were priceless! I guess my only complaint was that it felt short. But I am just coming off a 3+ hour Smashing Pumpkins concert, so two hours is going to seem short after that, I guess. The intermission was pretty long though. I think they probably only played for an hour and a half or so really.
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I'm also extremely glad I decided to go down. We scored a pair of tickets for $30 each, one lawn and one tenth row dead center. So I sat down there for the first half, until intermission, then we switched and I spent the second half up on the lawn (front and center). So I for one was glad of the intermission, as it made the switch a lot easier than if they had kept playing straight through.
Catching the show was worth it for "The Infanta" alone. It's one of my favorite Decemberists songs, and I've been wanting to see it played live since the first time I saw them. This was, incidentally, the fifth time I've seen them, meaning that they didn't play "The Infanta" on the other four occasions, leaving me disappointed on every one. So imagine how ecstatic I was when he said they were going to play it and I realized that the first time I'd see it live was going to be with a full orchestra. :) I was almost as excited when he started playing the opening strains of "The Bagman's Gambit".
I remember being amazed as the orchestra began chiming in on the first song. "Crane Wife 3" is another one of my favorites, and the effect as the orchestra kicked into full gear was incredible. It became immediately clear what a special night it was going to be. :) And yeah, "The Tain" came off really well, the orchestra really helped it out. And good lord, I definitely didn't expect "I Was Meant for the Stage" to come off so impressively at the end. I was really glad they gave us "Mariner's Revenge", too, because I'd only ever seen them play it once before, the very first time I saw them. An amazing evening, all in all.
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Oh, yeah, how did I leave out mentioning "The Infanta"?! That was indeed glorious. A definite highlight. I hadn't noticed them leaving it out of their set lists, but I guess you're right! I don't know how you missed "Mariner's Revenge".... As I recall, they've played it at every show since Picaresque except for the October 2006 shows at the 9:30 Club.
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I'm really sad I missed this show. I love The Crane Wife, and having skipped Strathmore I was ready for a big spectacle show (I know, I know, those early Black Cat shows are priceless, but we're on to a new era and I'm fine with it). But, had a family event in NYC (first Grandpa visit) so the choice wasn't a choice.
Next time! Glad those of you who went enjoyed it....
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Originally posted by Darth Ed:
Oh, yeah, how did I leave out mentioning "The Infanta"?! That was indeed glorious. A definite highlight. I hadn't noticed them leaving it out of their set lists, but I guess you're right! I don't know how you missed "Mariner's Revenge".... As I recall, they've played it at every show since Picaresque except for the October 2006 shows at the 9:30 Club.
The first time I ever saw them was at the Sonar in October 2005, and they did "Mariner's Revenge" then, but they haven't the last three times I've seen them. Those include the second 9:30 show, the Philly show two nights later, and the Messiah College show (a few days after the Strathmore, far closer to me and much cheaper to boot). They played it at the Strathmore, then? I know they did the very next night after Messiah at the Norva, as well as "The Infanta", which rather made me wish I'd driven down.
Oh, and a slight correction, I don't know what I was thinking. They didn't play "Crane Wife 3", just 1 and 2. It was still pretty amazing when the orchestra started chiming in on 1, though. :)
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Originally posted by Reod Dai:
They played it at the Strathmore, then?
Yes, one of the better renditions I've seen, I think. Not trying to rub it in, but the Strathmore was a really good show. I especially enjoyed the apropos, impromptu performance of R.E.M.'s "(Don't) Go Back to Rockville" that night.
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Originally posted by Darth Ed:
Originally posted by Reod Dai:
They played it at the Strathmore, then?
Yes, one of the better renditions I've seen, I think. Not trying to rub it in, but the Strathmore was a really good show. I especially enjoyed the apropos, impromptu performance of R.E.M.'s "(Don't) Go Back to Rockville" that night. [/b]
agreed. that strathmore performance was brilliant. i had just seen them for the first time at the club in october... i had a blast at both shows, but the strathmore one was just a different atmosphere.
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well i should start this by saying i wasnt a huge decemberists fan and passed up on seeing them A LOT of times. but when i was offered a free ticket last night, there was no way in hell i was saying no. besides it was a benefit show, and i figured id better not let the ticket go to waste. but man, i think i was converted last night.
they didnt have the orchestra, and i can only imagine a show in the middle of central park with an orchestra, but it was a really great show.
the highlights for me were: o valencia. ive always loved that song, and i think hearing him talk about the song and it referencing sf, was just a slice of home for me. july july which was the opener really started the night perfectly. colin mentioned how he was going to make it a very special summer show with lots of summery songs.
chimbly sweet was beyond awesome - esp when he put the band to sleep, and then the crowd. starting on the left side of him he worked the crowd getting everyone to lie/sit down. at one point it was deathly silent, with everyone sitting/lying down - before the music crescendos and the place came back alive working into a frenzy.
and last but not least - the mariner's revenge song. what a way to end the show.
the show had to end at 10pm - and because colin had done great work on racing through songs, by 9:30 he was told that he could keep on playing. about 9:50 he started into the mariner's revenge and my friend commented - 'oh man this song is 10 mins long'. :D
heres the setlist from last night:
1. July, July
2. Billy Liar
3. Summersong
4. The Perfect Crime #2
5. The Sporting Life
6. From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea)
7. The Engine Driver
8. The Crane Wife 3
9. The Island: Come & See / The Landlordâ??s Daughter / Youâ??ll Not Feel the Drowning
10. O Valencia!
11. Sons and Daughters
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12. Red Right Ankle
13. Oceanside
14. Chimbly Sweep
15. The Marinerâ??s Revenge Song
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Wow, that's a great set list, xneverwherex! A lot of old favorites there. They haven't played "July, July", "Red Right Ankle", and "Chimbly Sweep" nearly enough on recent tours, IMHO. I love those songs. Where was this show?
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red right ankle is up there in my favorite songs of recent years. for sure. it gets me every time.
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Originally posted by Darth Ed:
Originally posted by Reod Dai:
They played it at the Strathmore, then?
Yes, one of the better renditions I've seen, I think. Not trying to rub it in, but the Strathmore was a really good show. I especially enjoyed the apropos, impromptu performance of R.E.M.'s "(Don't) Go Back to Rockville" that night. [/b]
Man, I would have enjoyed that cover. They did The Eagles' "Take It To The Limit" in Philly last fall, with the folks from Lavender Diamond, which was pretty cool. I don't regret seeing them at Messiah instead of the Strathmore, though. How often do you get to see them play in the auditorium of a tiny college in the middle of nowhere anymore these days? We did a special Battle of Gettysburg reenactment towards the end of the show. :)
As for "Mariner's Revenge", I remember their rendition at the Sonar being pretty amazing, what with Chris Funk biting various folks on stage with giant, spongy whale jaws and all. It was decent the other night, too, although I wish I hadn't been up on the lawn for it. The first half of the show was a good time to be down front, though.
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Originally posted by Darth Ed:
Wow, that's a great set list, xneverwherex! A lot of old favorites there. They haven't played "July, July", "Red Right Ankle", and "Chimbly Sweep" nearly enough on recent tours, IMHO. I love those songs. Where was this show?
yeah im hearing it was a really get setlist. this was the summerstage show in central park with grizzly bear and land of talk. i loved chimbly sweep and july, july was a great way to start the show. they made a fan out of me :)
and heres an interesting note: the guys who did their sound on this show, were the same sound guys they first worked with in NYC at mercury lounge. i thought it sounded awesome!