Best Show of the Year (M83)

[HoyaSaxa03]

M83.
 
 hands down.
 
 these guys fucking blew me away ... i really didn't know what to expect, i thought it could just be their one guy manning some boards ... turned out it was a full 4 piece band and they fucking ROCKED ... it felt like the closest i'll ever get to seeing my bloody valentine, their grooves were so deep and the guitar/synth washes were just amazing
 
 the lead guitarist (stage right) was unreal, he played most of the show with a slide on his finger, then there was a guitar layed out horizontally attached to the frontman's keyboard somehow that he would saw away at ... during the encore he put a screwdriver in the upper frets of that horizontal guitar and would *boing* one end of the screwdriver with the beat, and played the guitar with one of those tiny portable fans, the edges scraping against the strings
 
 i was second row from the stage and i couldn't believe how stoic people around me were, i rocked out harder than i had in a while ... i was also really surprised at how they could play these incredibly complicated electronic songs with a full band, very impressive ...

[kurosawa-b/w]

Yeah, I really enjoyed the show, too. (Though the Arcade Fire is still my show of the year.) Great energy onstage. That bass player was completely into it. I had my earplugs in and got the full intensity and was able to hear all the layers of sound. Great show and I was pleased to see how packed it was. Ulrich Schnauss was also really good though his set suffered from poor sound. The last three pieces were great.

[Jaguär]

I too thought that this was a great show. Very much enjoyed myself all night long. Can't say much more that Kurosawa and Hoya haven't already stated above.
 
 Honestly, went mostly to see Ulrich Schnauss, partly for personal reasons but also because I love his music so much. M83 were a great bonus for me. Shame about the sound though for Ulrich because he really did his part up onstage. I know that part of the reason for the sound issues was because of where I was standing. The other being the Black Cat. What else can I say about that? Also, I'm curious if anyone who wasn't familiar with his music picked up on that. I know it pretty well and it sounded kind of flat and in a much lower key than usual. He has a very clean sound on recordings, all of which I very, very highly recommend, especially his release called "A Strangely Isolated Place". I always call it 'music for the soul' because it is so healing.
 
 For those of you who enjoyed Long-View the other week, if you haven't already, you should check out Ulrich's remixes of a couple of their songs. Not to be biased or anything, but they are even better than the originals.

[beedubyah]

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:
  M83.
 
 hands down.
 
 

Well no shit...Ill have to check them out.
 
 Who said Arcade Fire?  They make my "all-overrated team"  I saw that show and was vastly underwhelmed....

[snailhook]

i was so close to going to this show, but i opted to spazz out at melt-banana and an albatross in baltimore. melt-banana was terrific, as usual, and covered devo's "uncontrollable urge."
 
 glad to hear that M83 pulled that shit off live. i'll see them next time.

[wingelbert humptyback]

ulrich definitely had sound problems, but i was so into it i barely had time to care. he's definitely one of the best straight electronic musicians going right now, and it was excellent to see him *actually* playing live, rather than letting a sequencer do all the work for him.
 
 m83 were amazing as well, though i made the mistake of leaving my spot upfront (because i thought it might help with the sound problems i was hearing during ulrich) and had to deal with the upsetting amount of idiots populating the back of the room. it wouldn't have taken much imagination to convince myself i had walked into a sports bar, with so many people yapping away right in the middle of the set at the top of their lungs. why people pay to get into a show and then stand around talking to eachother is way beyond me.
 
 i second the vote for the longview mixes ulrich did, definitely the best ones on that disc. i haven't heard a bad remix from him yet, actually (my favorite probably being the zephyrs). i also loved m83's take on bloc party.

[dumpkopf]

Originally posted by snailhook:
  i was so close to going to this show, but i opted to spazz out at melt-banana and an albatross in baltimore. melt-banana was terrific, as usual, and covered devo's "uncontrollable urge."

God damn having to work and being sick, I can't believe I missed that show. Arrggggghhhhh.....

[flawd101]

ok...we all know the best show so far this year was ATREYU, unearth, norma jean, and scars of tomorrow.  so stop lying or you will all go to hell with the middle easterners and indians(both kinds).

[Jaguär]

Originally posted by wingelbert humptyback:
 ...actually (my favorite probably being the zephyrs).  

I listened to that in my car on my way down to the club.
 
 I'm dying to hear Ulrich's remix of Rachael Goswell's "Coastline" but don't have a working turntable nor an iPod. Hate buying MP3s. Strange that I'll buy vinyl that I can't play but not an MP3. I need a product in my hand. Also, I don't like the compression factor in an MP3. Oh, well. I can get it from my friend awhile to hold me over.
 
 Luckily for me, the front was nice and quiet. All the musical computer nerds and geeks were up front and paying very close attention throughout the entire show.              
 
 It's funny how that is one of the very rare performances with crap sound that we could still very happily get through without it ruining the experience. How rare is that!? His sound wasn't the best when he played for my friend in London either. Hopefully, he'll learn to work that out. Most of it was probably already set for the headliners. With that said, the sound for M83 was actually pretty good. At least, as well as can be expected for the Mudhole of Sound (I say that lovingly) that is the Black Cat.
 
 Does anyone know if the show sold out? It looked to me as though it almost did but not just quite. Next time around, I guess I'll have to buy an advance ticket. Sometimes I hate to do that just in case something comes up and I can't make it.
 
 Snailhook, I saw Melt Banana too. Loading their equipement out of The Ottobar as I drove past on my way home. (Unless there was another Asian band that played than it may have been them.)
 
 Flawd, one day you will grow up and repent.
 Enjoy your rebellion and crap taste in music while you can.        :p

[LostSoul]

Hoyasaxa, couldn't agree more...M83, best show to date.  They were the tightest band, musically, I've seen in a while.  I could not stop staring at their drummer, and I'm a guy over here.  
 
 I too loved Ulrich Schnauss BEFORE I went to the show.  I have Far Away Trains Passing By and A Strangely Isolated Place, but in my mind, his set fell terribly short.  It was just plain boring and evoked nothing from me, not even the slightest amount of interest or emotion.  He might as well just put the CDs on repeat (with shitty sound, I must say) and drank a beer.  Boring as all hell...
 
 And this is coming from one of his fans.

[sonickteam]

Originally posted by Jaguär:
 
 Snailhook, I saw Melt Banana too. Loading their equipement out of The Ottobar as I drove past on my way home. (Unless there was another Asian band that played than it may have been them.)
 

they were the only Japanese band that night....