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Wednesday, August 27, 2003
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of crazy workdays, weekends away, and wicked good rock shows. As expected, I've hardly had the time or motivation to blog it up, but last night I cleared the decks and posted a bunch of pics I've been sitting on.
 First up, British Sea Power at TT the Bears back on Sunday the 10th. As you recall, I was really looking forward to this, and was not even close to disappointed. They lived up to their record (which gets released domestically on September 9th with extra tracks) and more, putting on an intense, energetic, at times fairly bizarre live show. Army outfits, plastic birds, headstands, military marching, the works. They were aloof, distant, filled with attitude, and just amazing. The set started off with Fear of Drowning, followed by Apologies to Insect Life, Spirit of St. Louis, Childhood Memories, Remember Me, Bass Rock (a new one?), Carrion, and then finished up with a full 14-minute jaw-dropping version of Lately. Amie arrived late and only caught the second half of it, but was entirely blown away. She pointed out to me something I hadn't realized before... there's a whole lot of early Bowie getting mutated within BSP, along with the obvious Joy Division and Mercury Rev influences. It's great stuff, and when they return to Boston, don't miss 'em. If I see you there, and you aren't impressed, a beer is on me. I barely made it to Cambridge in time for BSP's set, 'cuz I had to rush across the river from Avalon, where I caught a reunited Joe Jackson band. My folks came down for the day to visit and see the show, and it was a more meaningful experience with 'em there. I wasn't even ten years old when my dad brought home the first couple Joe Jackson records ("I'm the Man" & "Look Sharp"), but I have vivid memories of hearing every single song on them, start to finish, many times over. I've been a fan ever since, although I kinda lost track of Joe through his many musical metamorphoses over the past 25 years. (25 years?! yikes.) When I heard about this reunion tour, which included all four players from those first two albums, I knew I had to be there, and I knew I had to invite my parents along. My dad is more than a little responsible for my obsessive love of music, and the early british poppy-punk of those first two JJ records really opened me up to new things at a young age. It was such an excellent show, perfect seats with a clear view, the sound mix was spot on. Like the Elvis Costello show last October, I was amazed by the energy level of these aging rockstars... they played like they were in their early 20s, not what must be their late 40s. Guitarist Gary Sanford even played with a broken foot on a wheeled chair, rolling around the stage like a madman, pushing himself with his good leg. Bassist Graham Maby and drummer Dave Houghton are two of the best, and they proved it. Joe was as filled with bile as he's ever been, spitting out his lyrics on the fast stuff, singing 'em sadly on the slow stuff. Got the Time, Look Sharp, Be My Number Two, Right & Wrong (updated for the new decade... 'the commies' become 'the arabs'), Don't Wanna Be Like That (a highlight), Throw It Away, so many more. I was a little bummed that my favorite JJ song, It's Different For Girls, didn't make the cut, but considering Joe himself said this band would never get back together, we were lucky to see them at all. He may have mellowed enough to reunite, but he sure hasn't mellowed too much to rock out. On Friday the 16th, Amie and I headed west and slightly north to the Bellows Falls, Vermont area for a three day music fest called Rock in Rockingham. Actually, you're probably all blogged out by now, and the experience definitely deserves it's own posting, so I'll save it for a little later on. Knowing me, 'later on' may mean next week sometime, so check out all the pictures in the meantime. They're worth a whole lotta words, after all.  |
 neil halstead live in cambridge, ma on november 14th, 2008 previously: joy formidable - boston 2011 recent posts on the 'nac...
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