The Killers

setlist:

Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
On Top
Midnight Show
Somebody Told Me
Believe Me, Natalie
Change Your Mind
Under the Gun
Smile Like You Mean It
Andy, You're a Star
Glamourous Indie Rock & Roll
Mr. Brightside

intermission

Everything Will Be Alright
Moonage Daydream
All These Things That I've Done

flawless performance. this band knows how to entertain. their schtick is perfect. Vegasesque rock motions and delivery. grand gestures, blazers and tuxedos with the tie unfastened, Dean Martin and company playing during stage set-up - (i may or may not have grabbed my girl and spun her a few times)



they started out great, and only got better. the sound was perfect. a big silver quilt with the Killers logo as a backdrop and good lighting. by the time they got to Somebody Told Me, the place was howling with the screaming along and dying a little inside over the band. it was strange to see so many wild-eyed little girls elbow high wading through the floor where i was situated.

Believe Me, Natalie was their first most outstanding song of the night. it was then that i noticed how fucking brilliant the drummer is. sensational skills and not a little bit of great theatrics, standing a lot and hitting cymbals with great sweeping strokes. probably the most interesting drummer i've ever watched.



Andy, You're a Star was also terrific, and Mr. Flowers and the band completely rocked Mr. Brightside.

the second (too small) portion of the show had all but the guitar player on a row of keyboards for Everything Will Be Alright. bloody marvelous.

despite the short length (which was around an hour) i have to say they put on a helluva show. they played their cover of Moonage Daydream like fucking champions. fantastic time had by all. these guys are the real thing.

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

Opeth

I was delighted last week when I figured out that Opeth was playing in Vancouver on the one weekend this year when I'd be there. They're not playing in Edmonton this tour, so it was a fantastic fluke that the conference and the concert coincided. A couple of colleagues had thought about accepting my invitation to join us, but ended up being too busy as co-chairs of the conference, so Suzie and I walked the couple of blocks from the Vancouver Hyatt to the Commodore Ballroom. Charma had told me the Commodore is a great venue, and it really is: we arrived early and scored a table with two chairs to the side of the stage just off the floor, with enough height to see over the pit. We were close to the stage and comfortable, and the cold ones were brought to the table.

The first support band was S.T.R.E.E.T.S. , a local Vancouver band. I know genres and subgenres is a maze, and I'll probably get it wrong, but I'd describe what they do as ˜technical metalcore'. Fast and hard, with various slower and heavier passages and some very cool twin-guitar harmonies. The vocals from the two guitarists, who traded off lead and backup duties, were a fast punk shout. They rocked hard, and their drummer in particular was excellent.

Second support was Fireball Ministry . I'd planned to keep my earplugs (which I remembered this time!) in for both supports to listen to Opeth with relatively pristine ears, but these guys were so good I dug the earplugs out and put them away partway into the first song. Really nice – genuine heavy metal, rocking and beautifully played, with dynamics and drama. The singer and lead guitarist has a more baritone voice that reminded me of Ian Astbury of The Cult, but more metal, and the pretty young blonde on rhythm guitar also sang some backup vocals. They had a Scott Ian look-alike bass player who was apparently borrowed from another band because their bassist couldn't make it, who did a great job of their songs, and their drummer was a big older bald guy who was rock solid. I was hugely impressed by these guys, and so was Suzie.

But the crowd was psyched for Opeth, and yelled, screamed, swirled and waited while the stage was set up. The band came on and definitely did not disappoint - and the pit went wild! I don't know their whole oeuvre well enough yet to be able to give you a detailed setlist – I really only discovered these guys seriously a month or so ago, and have bought the four newest albums and listened to them a fair bit. I know they played at least one song from each of their albums, and a couple from the new one, ˜Ghost Reveries'. They played ˜The Great Conjuration' off that album, which is monumentally heavy and just plain amazing. They played ˜In My Time of Need' from ˜Damnation' and ˜Deliverance' from that album.

Obviously plenty of the songs switch back and forth from death metal vocals to ˜clean' vocals, and also from heavy riffing and blast beats to intricate little dual guitar harmonies and counterpoints. These guys can play! Everyone in the band (they'd borrowed the drummer from Bloodbath, who did a monster job on Opeth's complex time signatures) was incredibly competent, tasteful and just rocking out.

Mikael's between song banter is funny and enjoyable – he seemed to get frustrated once or twice with people shouting for "Opeth, Opeth" when he just wanted to chat to us, but also bantered back and forth with those calling for particular songs or shouting personal tributes. His knowledge of music is obviously huge, and he's playful with it: lots of references to Canadian vocalists like Geddy Lee, Sebastian Bach and Devin Townsend, and he referred to Per Wiburg, Opeth's keyboard player, as ˜the bastard son of Keith Emerson who can really play'! He has a very gentle and rather high-class English accent in his English, and the contrast between his gentle, very approachable manner between songs and the mighty roars he produces during the songs is incredible. Add that to his beautiful, melodic ˜clean' vocals, and it's just astonishing that all that comes from one throat. I had huge expectations for this show, and the band exceeded them.

Opeth – beautiful, violent, intricate, extreme, melodic, terrifying, sometimes by turns, but sometimes all at once.

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

I positively adore reading charmakarmacat's performance reviews.

merci beaucoup.

next up:

Metric
Bad Religion

yeah, that's right. motherfuckin' Bad Religion.

I didn't even know Bad Religion was still arround. Fun band tho... punk rock done right for sure!

Fear Factory announced a tour with Strapping Young Lad, Soilwork and Darkane! Wish i could go see that, but it's a US tour only (and two show in Canada).

Western Canadian Music Awards

for three or four days here in Van, a dozen or so venues book and organize to give concert goers a chance to show-hop with a single paid wristband and schedule. (this was a few weeks ago. i've been behind) on the friday i happened upon Grady, starring Gordie Johnson. you may remember Gordie J from such ass-kickin' band as Big Sugar. Johnson's traded in his fromer band and all the dapper suits and hooked up with two dudes in Austin, Texas. behold a Gordie Johnson in full beard, jeans, t-shirt and cowboy hat. these three dudes rock hella hard. really good rockin' tunes with a southern feel. fans of Clutch ought to like this. anyone who's ever seen Big Sugar knows how fucking good Johnson plays. truly amazing. with Grady, the slide never leaves his hand, and Johnson seemed excited about playing again, something he wasn't towards the end of Big Sugar. a few times he played the twelve string six string combo axe thingy or whatever. after breaking a string on the twelve portion, he proceeded to floss with it, snarl a bit, and beat the bitch up once more.

after fleeing the scene to check oot some local stuff, which turned oot to be crap, we proceeded to drink heavily and traipse over to venue number three, the Fabulous Commodore, where we joined in the hit parade of 54-40, Vancouver's most loved local act. i'm not going to even bother posting a setlist. they played every good song they've written, which is a lot. i will say that the encore featured my favorite 54-40 song, One Day in Your Life. magical show. what struck me most was the amount of people dancing and carrying on in a most unthreatening and joyful manner befitting the evening and the bands we heard. Neil Osborne's vocals are still so, so, so fucking strong.

after that heartwarming affair, we headed back to venue number two once more for cheap drinks and shits and giggles, and another two bands not really worthy of mention.

i'll try to post a few words about last night's Metric show later.

Metric was not only a solid show, it was an very interesting one. it was the day before Hallowe'en, so the Fabulous Commodore was decked oot in a ton of spiderwebs. i mean thick. it worked perfectly with Metric's oft-times ghostly ethereal sound.

they played a lot of material from their new album, Live it Out. i haven't yet got my hands on this so it was all new to me. but oh, was it good. a little more complex and dischordant than Old World.... very fucking sweet. a few of those songs may have been from their 2001 E.P. as i haven't heard that either.



the band was tight and the music slightly faster than album version. Succexy was especially good this way. the surprise of the night was Calculation Theme. they did it in a way to incorporate the drums and made it much more upbeat and accessable withoot losing the sombre tone and tempo. Dead Disco, however, was probably their best tune. the guitar player, Jimmy Shaw, seems
to have really gotten into using distortion and other...uh...unconventional noises. i'm not sure if it's his live schtick or what, but it was very very good and enhances the band very well. with the trashy, faster-paced stuff from the new disc, he, at times, sound a bit like, dare i say, East Bay Ray.

now then...on to Emily Haines.



this woman is not the prettiest in the world, but she's so fucking sexy it kills me. she was dressed like in the first pic, a short black dress up to her neck. bare arms. boots. she is an awesome performer and dances in a totally cool yet dorky kind of way that makes her seem ne plus ultra naughty. i could watch her all fucking day.

a fun fucking time you bet.

OK. Not just because I seem to be featured, but we are trying something quite radical to revive our blighted inner metropolis.

I have, over the years, told people that I think there are three really interesting cities in the world: Berlin, Moscow, and Johannesburg.

So in Johannesburg I meet this really funky chick in a club called Berlin. And she organises me for a gig in a club called Moscow.

Is there a message here?


http://www.jhblive.co.za/live/events_view.jsp?event_id=24290

Oooh, Metric. Though unfortunately that's one of those bands I've listened to 2 songs from, loved both of them (especially Calculation Theme), then never got around to listening to them more. *makes mental note to do so*

I'm hopefully (though this is highly highly unlikely) going to see Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at the Ottobar in Baltimore in a couple weeks.

Tomorrow in Paris : Robert Plant

And the day after : Flogging Molly

And the day after : Sinead O Connor (but I can't be there...)


Weeeee!

Sounds cool, carlos. I haven't actually been into downtown JHB, just through the airport lots of times and out to Pretoria. I guess it's suffered the fate of many downtowns in SA, and getting it jumping again is definitely an important project. More important projects need DJs.

Thanks mate. Downtown Jo'burg by night these days generally looks like something straight out of Mad Max: roaming gangs and burning fires in oil drums. Fast cars getting through and out of the city as fast as they can.

Jo'burg joke: they frisk you at a club: they don't find a gun: they say WHAT, you're planning to go in THERE without a gun? Dude, you better take this (and they give you a piece).

Bad Religion fucking tore up the Commodore last week. tight. so tight. the setlist went something like this:

God's Love
21st Century Digital Boy
Let Them Eat War
All There Is
Sinister Rouge
Do What You Want
Supersonic
Prove It
Sorrow
Epiphany
Defence
The Gray Race
Come Join Us
Recipe for Hate
Man With a Mission
Atomic Garden
No Control
I Wanna Conquer the World
You
Suffer

encore (fully deserved)

Fuck Armageddon...This Is Hell
LA is Burning
Generator
Infected
American Jesus

phenomenal energy and sound. Bad Religion is one of those bands that is truly incomparable. Graffin's vocals are strong, clear, fast, and distinct. his word choice is second to none.

Every day i wander in negative disposition
As i'm bombarded by superlatives
Realizing very well that i am not alone
Introverted, I look to tomorrow for salvation
But i'm thinking altruistcally
And a wave of overwhelming doubt turns me to stone

i had never heard the song Epiphany before. mother of fuck does it ever rule. hard.

the crowd was as energetic as i've ver seen in the Commodore and i was happily surprised by the amount of surfers. an oncoming wave of bodies to the stage.
one thing i love aboot Bad Religion is that they have a message but don't try hitting you in the face with it in shovel form. between songs there was no "fuck the government" and "let's tear this place apart" and other elementary phrases i've heard by other punk bands (Antiflag was the opener and was kind of like that) Bad Religion realizes and gives credit to their audience's intelligence. they let the songs speak for themselves. instead we were serenaded by pointless humourous little stories and nonsensical anecdotes which kept the mood fun.

i should also point oot that they played with the most weathered and used equiptment i've ever seen a band play with in quite some time. good on ya boys.

and speaking of good on ya, merchandise was the cheapest i've ever seen. thirty five bucks for a hoody! usually that's about sixty-five or seventy!

I did indeed went to Phil Collins, although most of my friends are making fun of me.



And I even enjoyed it! A lot! I only wished he'd do even just a couple of Genesis songs, but he didn't.

Robert Plant was pretty good, last night.
At first I though he was more tired than last time, but no : since he was playing at the Olympia Hall (which is pretty elegant and not very rockin'), he was more quiet than last time I saw him (at the Rock en Seine festival).

He played a remarkable cover of Hey Joe.
And also : he played The Enchanter, which is my favourite track from the last album.
He closed with Whole Lotta Love, which was the only song that got the crowd moving.


For me, the most remarkable event was the first part of the evening :
The Legendary Shack Shakers opened for Robert Plant.
And they were the best surprise I had in ages.
1/ They rock tremendously (they sound a bit like Morphine, only way faster and more violent).
2/ Their singer is the most bizarre creature I ever saw on stage.


Try imagining the guy in the middle, wearing lederhosen and big thick nerd glasses, jumping around the stage with crazy looks... and pulling off hair from his torso, throwing it around like confetti.

You get the idea...

I bought their CD on the way out.
I review of it can be found here (I couldn't resist the cover when I saw it).

--
ArkanGL

quote:

and pulling off hair from his torso, throwing it around like confetti.

he must be pretty hairy if he wants to do it in every show they give, or someday he'll run out

I assume he was using fake hair, stuck on top of the real one...

Else it would hurt like hell.

Or maybe we were a very specialaudience, worthy of what little hair he could spare. ^^

quote:

Originally posted by ArkanGL:
The Legendary Shack Shakers opened for Robert Plant.
ArkanGL

Wow.. I saw them about six months ago. They opened for the Reverend Horton Heat, in what was essentially a back yard.

That was a really fun show. It was raining the whole time, and both bands really played their hearts out.

Last 'gig' I went to was the Download festival at Donnington in the summer.

The one I'm looking forward to is my own, as my band play our first gig on the 8th of December, just a support slot, but its a start!

And yes, that WAS a shameless bit of self-promotion!