Live Bands

After the great Belle & Sebastian show I had high hopes for the rest of the week. Unfortunately none of the other bands lived up to my expectations (either due to incredible hype or my own love for the record). Band of Horses was decent but not as good as the record. Is that because Phil Ek did such a great job producing the record? Not sure about that, but I do know that King King sucks. $10 to park and as Josh Ritter pointed out, it feels like a high school gym (and sounds about as good). Plus the packed crowd at King King felt like Cinespace on a Tuesday night. I'll definitely see them again. Hopefully next time they'll play Spaceland or the Troubadour.

I've been told that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is a great live band. I really like the record so I had high hopes. Once again the crowd was kinda lame. When did indie rock get big in malls in Orange County? I know the singer doesn't have the greatest voice, but there's something charming about it on the record. In a live setting it was even more exaggerated. He didn't open his mouth or enunciate anything. He spent a great deal of time with his back to the audience. Two of the other guys spent most of the time staring at their shoes (shoegazers who don't play shoegazer music). He didn't address the audience until the last song. I'll probably see them again. Maybe it was just an off night? or else I saw too much music this week? or bands just need more time to grow?

All the shows this week had me reflecting on my favorite live shows of all time. Some people are just legends and being there gives you goosebumps: Brian Wilson, Arthur Lee/Love, Neil Young, The Zombies. Other bands are just great performers and sometimes you're lucky and see them at their peak: Beck (especially when Smokey Hormel and Joey Waronker toured with him), Radiohead (OK Computer-era), Spiritualized (Ladies and Gentlemen-era), Elliott Smith (the 10 or 11 times I saw him between 1997 & 1999), Belle & Sebastian (they didn't become a great live band until years into their career), Arcade Fire (Troubadour), Fugazi (mid 1990s), Sugar (Bob Mould didn't address the crowd once, but played so passionately it didn't matter). A few poeple like Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips are just great entertainers who rarely disappoint because of their great connection with their fans. Other times I've only become a fan of a band after seeing them live: Muse, My Morning Jacket, Mogwai. I know I'm forgetting tons of great shows.........