I saw both and would recommend to see both. If you have only funding for one see the one you haven't seen or haven't seen recently.

Full length Mono mp3

Tonights concert was three bands: KAL, Markscheider Kunst and Spitfire.
The place was only half-full. (Beginning of the week and not everybody is interessted in eastern european music.)

First band was KAL from Belgrad. I didn't care that much about them. I had never heard of them before and the Balkan-Tango type music isn't exactly my cup of tea. Sounded a bit like the soundtrack of a Kusturica movie.



Second band was Markscheider Kunst from St.Petersburg. It was the second time I saw them. They play Ska. Not bad but at times they are to close to latin rhythm for my liking.


The third band Spitfire skanked the house. Ska - fast, fun and catchy. Bought a cd and am listening to it right now.

So, the Prodigy live in concert @ Spodek Hall, Katowice, 02.05.2006.

I was hoping for some major-bad-ass-dance-assault. Boy, was I wronged by the band. It was 10 times more than I expected. But let's not rush things.

First, we had to wait more than 30 minutes to get in, because it's a _tradition_ round here to organize the entrance area in a very 'we don't care a heck about you lot' way. But that's a standard, so I shall pass on to the pleasantries.

We missed the bigger part of the opening DJ's set (some guy from Krakow + his terribly inconspicuous MC, or so I've heard) - it wasn't bad, it wasn't brilliant, too. Just your average warm up artist, who knows what it's all about (not trying to mess the show up). I had the time to observe people. A real mix of a crowd. Age-wise: anywhere from 15 to 55, looks-wise: techno/acid, rasta/jungle, punk, metal, everyday people as well. This alone made me smile, as I think the Polish crowd would not differ from any other crowd at any Prodigy concert in the western world - what we've been so hard aspiring for all these years - to _be_like_you_ .

So, anyway, the DJ pulled his set off (with a neat mix of Nirvana's "Smells Like..." and Tone Loc's "Funky Cold Medina" and some other antics), and the crowd was patiently waiting to be slaughtered by the main act of the night.

Smoke, intro music, and there they were... A massive battery of samplers/keyboards/stuff in the central place, with a proper analogue drumkit and a 'omg-looks-sooo-metal' guitar stand below . So, 'twas a five-man army we had to deal with (rumour has it that the guitarist was Rob from Sulpher - a very good and aspiring industrial-rock band, check them out if you haven't yet, they've got only one release so far, the next one is in the works).

People putting phones/cameras/girlfriends up, plus a legion of clapping hands. Being 198 cm didn't help too much, and I had to take my glasses off (hate contacts), but it was not a 'watch-me-sitting' gig, not at all.

As the intro finished, we got bombed with a punk-mosh song as a nice teaser of what was to come later. I tried to find a suitable place to jump around a bit, but the floor was in constant flow. And then...

From track 3 onwards, I can only recall myself becoming more and more of a beat-animal, dancing and jumping and howling and clapping and doing all the irresponsible things you don't normally do when listening to music at home, for example. And I wasn't alone. There was about 6k of people doing the same, everyone grinning and sweating like mad. The band was enjoying it too, I think.

Random observations:

- Prodigy live is all about pure power (live drums + live guitar + live electronica with no preprogged 'push-the-button' routines).

- tracks like "Poison", "No Good", "Breathe", "Their Law" and all the others you _have to_ know, whether you listen to the Prodigy or not , are so much better when blasted live straight at the people.

- indoor concerts are not a good idea for such music - on one hand, the floor doesn't turn into a muddy pit, on the other, oxygen becomes a valuable resource after 15 minutes (I'd rather clean my shoes afterwards than die stifling during the gig).

- the crowd stood up to the test - no injuries, no ruffian-like behaviour, people behaving like brothers and sisters united in the dance-trance throughout the whole thing.

- it's possible to be a tiny teenage girl and mosh around (yes, proper mosh-pits sighted, and I know how to tell a mosh-pit blind-eyed - been to a Slayer concert ) with the big boys, not suffering any serious injury (bumps and bruises don't count).

- I've never seen so many different people so happy after an intense 1h25m workout in the dark (not counting our small orgies).

- even though the concert was fairly short, I'd say it was more than enough (had to retreat during the last song, cause I felt like STANDING STILL for a minute ).

- if you haven't seen the Prodigy live and are thinking about doing it - DO IT.

Bah, I think that's all I can come up with. It was one of those "haven't been there? no use telling you the story" events in my life.

Ah, yes, no pictures - I went there to have fun, not to work ;D. I'll try to find some pics online for you, if you want to see lame, static and mute images .

The unofficial tracklist (ripped from some forum, and checked against my twisted memory)

01. Intro
02. Wake The Fuck Up
03. Breathe
04. Their Law
05. Spitfire
06. Hotride
07. Back 2 Skool
08. Firestarter
09. Action Radar
10. Warning
11. No Good
12. Poison
13. Blow Your Mind
14. Smack My Bitch Up
15. Everybody In The Place
16. Dead Ken Beats
17. Out Of Space

I don't go to concerts often, I'm extremly selective. For example, the Stones are in town next month. I'm so not going! But I got me this today...

Vesper, re: Prodigy. Fuck yes. Saw them back in 1997 at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles' textiles district, and it was everything you said. Glad to see Liam Howlett and co. are back in form. I'm sooo pissed I missed them when they did a very short US tour earlier this year (it was something like four dates). Could have been a handy collection of favorites: Kraftwerk, Front 242, Prodigy, and the Orb all in under a year.

Hasad: I should add that, of all the weird coincidences, Mogwai is at the 9:30 Club on Wednesday, and Mono is at the Black Cat on Thursday. I think it'll be Mono.

Ah, Kraftwerk, I missed them last year, they came to Greece for the first time (and obvously the last) and I didn't have any money. So sad!

Don't feel too bad, yer.andreas. Pick up "Minimum Maximum" and you've basically heard their set. That said, it's absolutely fantastic and I really couldn't care less that they basically played out of a can, cause it sounded *great*. Hearing "It's More Fun to Compute" at ear-bleed volumes (which you first heard at so young an age as to practically have those beats in your DNA) is just a primal experience. So buy that live CD set and crank it.

Looks like it's going to be Mogwai on Wednesday instead of Mono on Thursday. I'll be bringing my camera, and, just for Black Jacque, may be hitting up Ben's Chili Bowl for pre-show grub.

Black Label Society are playing September 28th! I hope tickets are out soon!

Bravus, you'd better be there.

Last night, I finally got to see and hear Tony Levin play. I think most people know him from his work with King Crimson, and especially Peter Gabriel. He pretty much played on every Gabriel album. Even if you don't know his name, I'm sure you remember his bass parts for Sledgehammer, for instance. For me, he's probably the greatest bassplayer that ever walked this earth. Seriously.
Of course, I did see him play before (twice, with Peter Gabriel), but that was at the Giant Reverberating Bathroom that's also known as the Ahoy Hall in Rotterdam, therefore I should emphasize that I saw him play, but couldn't hear him play.
This time the TLB played at a nice and lot smaller venue, De Kade in Zaandam, where my wife and I could watch him from the front row, just two meters away. And a great concert it was.

As support act Tony brought stick player Tom Griesgraber.


I'd never heard of this guy before, but he was excellent. As Jerry Marotta, who played drums with both acts, introduced him: "He's among the world's top 5 stick players. Of course, there are only 5 stick player's in the world". Joking obviously, although there are very few stick players around, but this guy ruled. Awesome, really melodic. I bought his cd. From the man himself, mind you. As soon as he finished playing, he ran to the merchandise booth where he took on his other job as merchandise salesman for the Tony Levin Band. Now that's modesty.

Then the Tony Levin band came on.


They started introducing themselves by doing a barbershop quartet intro, wich was great fun. As the show itself was. Five excellent musicians, TL as the center point, switching between bass, NS upright bass and the Chapman stick.
The sound was great, too. Not too loud, well balanced. And what I particularly liked: the relaxed atmosphere. There were maybe 150 people in the audience, you could just walk around, get a beer and a smoke and walk back to the front of the stage, and take as much pictures as you liked. Mine weren't very good ones, mostly. My little digicam is not really great for concert pics, but it'll give you an idea.
They played some stuff from the new album "Resonator", which I didn't know yet, but it sounded damn good. Two of my favorite TLB songs were played as well, "Pieces Of The Sun" and "Phobos".



Though, as much as I enjoyed Tony's own songs, to me the highlights of the show were the songs "by others". Genesis' "Back in NYC", Peter Gabriel's "On The Air", Led Zep's "Black Dog", and King Crimson's "Sleepless" and "Elephant Talk" were the songs that...well, fucking ruled.



Right after the concert the whole band went to the merc stand and signed cd's and t-shirts or just having chats with the fans. Typical for the night's informal atmosphere. I even shook mr Levin's hand and my wife took a picture of him and me.


And yes, that is my stupid fan boy smile™ that I specially reserve for occasions like this. Ask Mr Gibson, he probably still has nightmares about it...

Awesome report, Gringo. And Tony Levin is clearly the reason why this unfunky aging white boy constitutionally *cannot* sit still for 'Sledgehammer' or 'Steam'.

Shots of Mogwai

And I don't even have to give you a report on the show! You can download it from this NPR story.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Justy,

Ha. I got a contract today at my new day job. Looks like I've genuinely survived. I'm back in the village for a night, so I checked my mail. It seems my band Johnny Dopper and the Rubber Soles are playing on Friday May 26 at the Bohemian with the Brixton Moord en Roof Orkes. There was a famous police unit in Johannesburg, disbanded now because they beat too many suspects to death, called the "Brixton Murder and Robbery Squad". This is the Murder and Robber Orchestra. They're old friends of mine, but I've always managed to miss hearing them play. They're rough, but they're ready.
Another month or so, and I'll Be Back. But this time, I'm only going to talk music.
PS Anyone in San Francisco know a Japanese boy called Yohei, who sells bicycles, cycling gear, and artworks? I heard he got commissioned to do a big mural there. I met him out here recently. Seems a great guy. I told him to read "Virtual Light", just the book for a Japanese cycling artist in San Francisco.

Nick Cave is doing a very small european solo tour in september (just Antwerp, Paris and Prague). Tickets for the show in Antwerp went on sale today. I just checked, thinking there'd still be tickets available... but nope. All out

i think he's going through a bit of a strange patch anyway. last i saw of him anyway.


my partner is ready to pop, his favourite band of all time, the fall, are doing a 30th anniversary gig in manchester while we're in the UK. he'll have to travel from inverness for the night for it but it's so worth it.

on virtually the same date, my lifelong favourite band, split enz are reforming. of course i'll be on the other side of the world for it.

quote:

Originally posted by misty:
i think he's going through a bit of a strange patch anyway. last i saw of him anyway.

How so?
Anyway... a weird Nick Cave is still Nick Cave, and thus brilliant. This is the umpteenth time i can't go his performance when he's Belgium. Next time i'll hopefully finally manage to see him.


Tomorrow: The Presidents of the USA.
Next week: Keith Caputo.
Next month: Graspop!

Yay for summer!

the year's first outdoor show, held at the intimate Plaza of nations.



i'm not the biggest fan of Strokes albums. what i am is a huge fan of particular Strokes songs. the setlist they played catered to my needs perfectly.

Ize of the World
Red Light
Soma
The End Has No End
Hawaii
Elecricityscape
Someday
Juicebox
Vision of Division
Last Night
Ask Me Anything
Take a Walk on the Wild Side
Reptilia
Hard to Explain
You Only Live Once
Alone, Together

New York City Cops
Barely Legal
Heart in a Cage
Take It or Leave It

the thing i noticed most was how much heavier and aggressive they are live. there's really no comparison. one of the loudest shows i've been to in a while. ahhh, the sound of distortion ringing in the ears after it was all over. i usually bring earplugs but lately all the bands playing hear have had too perfect a sound to require them.
i think the most enjoyable songs they played were probably those in the encore. HiaC was superb (and i'd been waiting for it for the entire show), as was BL. Casablanca's voice was perfect for the Lou Reed cover, and the bass for Juicebox absolutely cut the place in half. awesome. and there was a beer garden. mmmmmmm.

i was thoroughly impressed, given how critically i listen to these guys. i'd totally see them again any time.

Wen to see my friend's 'band' play. An odd selection of covers done in intersting ways.

here's their myspace page. I know some very odd people.

On wedenesday, May the 24th I'm playing my second gig in Le Moulin de Brainans (France).
The program is here
The name of my project is Kabutogani, I play electronica. You can hear bits of what I do here
I'm playing with my friends from Absent.

Since Louis didn't mention it, i guess i should:

The Presidents Of The USA, last thursday (18th of may) in Paris.

We saw them pretty much exactly a year ago, also in Paris. The Presidents are always good fun though, so after some planning and scheduling i had no objections to hopping on the Thalys to Paris and see them again.

Opening for the Presidents where two bands i had never heard of... and hopefully will never hear from again. We got treated to the worst of the worst of french music, probably.

The first band (i never even got the name) brought a mix of crappy hiphop and blasts of punk/grind. The hiphop apparently was supposed to be funny, but my french being what it is i didn't pick up on that. Louis however assured me that it was bloody far from funny. Added to that, the singing was godawful and the "dj" did nothing more but start beatloops. The blasts of punk/grindcore weren't any better. Louis statement "It set a new low in my music appreciation" is a good summary.

Next band was Fickle. When they started out, they weren't actually that bad, if a bit bland. They play emo-punkrock. After the previous band, it was a huge improvement; but the optimism in their favour didn't last long. Their music got tired and annoying real fast. Specially because the vocalist couldn't sing in tune with the music, and the music itself was pretty much always the same. Think the emo-punkrock you can hear on MTV, but make it several times worse, and you get about an impression of what this band was like. As a final act of torture, they actually dared to cover Blitzkreig Bop from The Ramones. That was the time i wished i had stuff to throw at them, preferrable stuff with pointy bits.

Add to these two bands a bunch of annoying dutch teenagers right in front of us; and you have about an accurate view of what we went through to see PUSA that night.

Of course, the Presidents of the USA being who they are, they made us forget all of these ordeals within seconds. They were they glorious self, and delivered a set full of steamy rock at full speed and with the neccesary dose of humour. I guess some would accuse them of doing a routine as it wasn't all that much different from last time we saw them, but really you see the guys on stage having a blast and doing their very best to enjoy the crowd. And that's what everybody who's going to see PUSA wants anyway: their best songs to shout along with, and frivolous banter of the singer to laugh with. PUSA delivered what we wanted, and did it in their own flair of casual splendidness.

I'm debating whether to see Misfits. Anyone seen them Danzig-less?