Post Show Banter >>>>

[Space Freely]

It's fortunate my kid had a free period first period today, and fortunate that we didn't know the later than guessed at headliner start time until we got there.

But we got there, and both my kid and I loved the Aaron Frazer show at the Atlantis. Save for seeing Bruce Springsteen for the first time earlier this year, I can't think of a show I enjoyed more this year.

 My kid even stuck it out to the end after asking if we could leave early when we found out about the set time. I could tell she liked the show because she later commented that "it would have been lame for us to leave early."

[day of love-hatch lııllı|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llıl]

"it would have been lame for us to leave early."

growth!

[kosmo vinyl]

Went to see Matt Johnson and his crack band last night, his voice deep and smooth as always.

First part of the show was as Matt described it, the sit and listen section, where they played through all of Ensoulment.  Nothing against the album but clearly released with no intended chart friendly singles and as my brother said many of the songs do tend to sound alike.  Clearly, an album Matt hoped people would just sit and listen to.  Some live variations from the originals, was enjoyable to hear live.

Second part was the get up and dance singalong section, where they played almost all of the well known singles and hits which of course was the highlight of the show.  Only song really missing was "Beat(en) Generation" which is my favorite The The song. Band delivered some rather lively versions of some songs, the drummer really kicking the band into high gear.  Really can't go wrong when they opened the second set with "Infected" and "Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)". 

His band is James Eller who has been with him since Mind Bomb, equally adapt and regular and fretless bass, those bass lines all so good. DC Collard who was added as the keyboardist for the "Mind Bomb" tour and was just having a blast playing the piano solo at the end of "Uncertain Smile".  That solo which I may have known this before was originally played by Jools Holland, which totally fits his style of playing.

On lead guitar was sideman to the stars Barrie Caogan aka Little Barrie, who was able at times to add in the higher range background vocals that feature in many of the songs. Matt's regular touring drummer Earl Harvin was apparently unable to do this time out, so they brought in Chris Whitten as his replacement.  Who is best know for playing on "World Shut Your Mouth", "The Whole Of The Moon" and yes  Edie Brickell's "What I Am".  Also, spent some time with a dude called Paul McCartney... yes wikipedia is my friend...

Totally worth it for the Retrospective set alone...  Also, and yes likely due to the age of the crowd, but for the most part people abided by Matt's wishes to keep the phones put away.

[Julian, White Poet WARLORD]

Went to see Matt Johnson and his crack band last night,

This is the natural outcome of us not pushing back firmly enough on hutch labeling things “hobo rock” — now we have Kosmo declaring entire bands crackheads.

[hutch]

Of what I heard -albeit not much- The The sounded fantastic!

[nkotb]

Tuesday night didn't seem as free-wheeling as Monday, but they really sounded great and were having a great time.  That said, lot's of overlap in songs (10 or 12 I think?), so maybe it wasn't.

We did have the pleasure of seeing John ask for someone's phone to remember the words to an older song (Store) and then again on Luna. 

As much as I think the Birchmere is lame, it's pretty nice to get to a venue in 10 minutes and then be home at 10:30.

How was the show?  Looking forward to it, though I had the Birchmere.  Insanely short drive, but I still need to get there early to find a good seat.

Mountain Goats on Tuesday

Tonight

What did you think of the show?

[bearman🐻]

Of what I heard -albeit not much- The The sounded fantastic!

Really enjoyed the show. I thought they sounded great. Got to meet Matt afterwards, and he was just about as lovely as you could ever imagine. He seemed genuinely touched that I told him that all of The The's LPs are markers in my life of certain places, and that each came to me at points when I had major things occurring, and they reminded me of those times. Barrie was a sweetheart, as was James. Very happy that I finally got to see them perform, and though I appreciate Kosmo's comments on the new LP, I actually think that the songs are nuanced, well-written, and in spite of an overall cohesive mood/vibe, the record holds up as some of Johnson's best work. But I have spent some time with it and had time to absorb it. I will say that I prefer the second half, but it's really worth sitting down with and giving a little attention to.

[grateful]

Tuesday night didn't seem as free-wheeling as Monday, but they really sounded great and were having a great time.  That said, lot's of overlap in songs (10 or 12 I think?), so maybe it wasn't.

We did have the pleasure of seeing John ask for someone's phone to remember the words to an older song (Store) and then again on Luna. 

As much as I think the Birchmere is lame, it's pretty nice to get to a venue in 10 minutes and then be home at 10:30.

How was the show?  Looking forward to it, though I had the Birchmere.  Insanely short drive, but I still need to get there early to find a good seat.

Mountain Goats on Tuesday

Tonight

What did you think of the show?

Good times indeed. It takes me a full hour to get to and from Birchmere, so that's a deterrent to start. I'm less than 10 minutes from FSS and still rarely go there. 930/Atlantis hits the sweet spot with solid bookings and ease of transportation.