Saturday, December 31, 2005

The Shows

These are the best concerts I was able to catch during 2005. You will notice that I didn’t include the ACL festival, since there are so many bands there and it is such an all encompassing experience I decided to leave it out, just know that it was a great time. My number one show was The Arcade Fire but the rest are in no particular order.
1. Arcade Fire / The Black Keys What Made Milwaukee Famous Stubb’s Bar b que Austin, Tx
By far the best show I have ever been to. This was my first time to see a show at stubb’s and the first time I’ve ever eaten a bar-b-que sandwich during a show. And a kid in line gave us some chicken strips. The Arcade Fire are my band of the year. All the hype about their live show is true. They rocked the roof off of the place. There was so much going on that I could only process a small fraction of what was going on. They started with Wake Up and 5 Years by Bowie was in there somewhere amongst most of Funeral and part of their first album. That was the first show in a while that had me dancing and moving the entire time. The Black Keys opened and were once again amazing. The opener was a local band What made Milwaukee famous. They were very good and very nervous.
2. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals The Gypsy Tea room Dallas, TX
Emily’s brother got me drunk on the way to this show so Ryan Adams and I showed up in the same state. There were some amazing moments in the show. Ryan Fell apart after abusing some jerks up front and stormed off of the stage giving be a chance to hit the bathroom. He came back after the break in even better form and wearing a t-shirt. At one point during the second set he left the stage and led a sing along of Come Pick Me Up while standing on the bar. He also did a countyed up verson of Dear Chicago.
3. The Black Keys / Henchmen /El Paso Hot Button The Green Door Oklahoma City, Ok
Most of you know that the Green Door is a tiny venue. We were so close for the Black Keys that we sat on the stage during breaks. We were right in front of the drum kit(which was on the very edge of the tiny stage) and would periodically get hit by broken drum sticks. If you never been to a Black keys show it’s hard to describe, two guys are able to fill the room with an absolute fog of blues drenched rock. We got to meet both of them after the show and they were unbelievably gracious. I don’t remember much of the henchmen but the opener was this one man band El Paso Hot Button. He sat down and played jack White style guitar while playing a modified trap set with his feet. He told okryan to stop taking pictures.
4. Bright Eyes / The Faint /Airborn Audio Cain’s Ballroom Tulsa, Ok
Finally I’ve seen bright eyes. He was touring on the Digital Ash album so he played most of that album and a couple of songs from Fevers and Mirrors. The Faint opened up and blew me away, I am now a Faint fan for life. Bright Eyes had several members of the Faint as his backing band along with Nick Zimmer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The most disturbing part of the show was that Conor wore a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up for the first few songs and it was hot as hell.
5. Kings of Leon / The Features Cain’s Ballroom Tulsa, Ok
I believe that the Kings of Leon played every song off of both off their albums at this show. They announced that they had family there and then commenced to rock. They sounded great. The rock was loud and dirty. The Feature were the openers and were beyond belief. I bought one of their albums at the show and had it signed. Once again they were great guys. I predict that they will be pretty big in the new year. The only drawback to this particular show involves the new practice at the Cain’s of offering six packs for sale. The show was pretty short so we were pretty drunk at the end of it and were slightly concerned about getting home but we made it. This was also the first time I ever witnessed someone order a pizza to a concert. I guess being a pretty girl has its advantages.
6. Wilco The Orpheum Memphis, TN
This was a Christmas present from Ryan And Emily and what a present it was. We made a day of it hitting Graceland, eating honest to god one pound burgers and after the show hanging out on Belle Street in the rain. I have to say a couple of things abut the venue. It was this beautiful old theatre with lots of gilt carvings and carpet and seats. Wilco was amazing. They played a pretty good mix of old and new ad they were all sick with the flu.
7. Gomez The Cains Tulsa, Ok
This is the only show I saw without okryan this year. In his place was the much prettier Brittian. I really only knew a couple of Gomez’s songs before going to this show in the middle of the week. It was a very light crowd but every single person seemed into the show. The band rocked like the place was packed to the rafters, much respect to them for going all out.
8. Kasabien The Cains Tulsa, Ok
Ryan and I just went to this show on a whim. We had heard good things about them and the show was cheap and we had money so away we went. They put on a great show to another undersold house. Clubfoot sounded great live really the whole set was perfect.
9. Snow Patrol The Cains Tulsa, Ok
This is another show we just went to for the hell of it. I constantly played the new cd the week leading up to the show and by the time the show rolled around G! was wishing we had bought her a ticket and found a sitter. I was afraid to tell her how moving it was to hear Run being sung by so many people at once, she would have hit me.

17 comments:

OKRyan said...

We need to work on getting "THE SCRAPBOOK" online so one can the glory that it is.

kingdomforavoice said...

It is a majestic piece of work.

Anonymous said...

I went to some amazing shows this year, but there are four that stick out in my mind as the best.

1. Social Distortion!
By far the most incredible show. I found myself jumping up and down right up against the stage, fist flying in the air as people were flying over my head and Mike Ness was playing like the god he is. So amazing! And it was at the Fillmore, which is by far the best concert venue sound and size wise. You are so close no matter where you stand and the sound is clear and booming.

2. Gillian Welch
Again at the Fillmore. Incredible guitar playing with her and her partner Dave. The way the two of them harmonize and are in sync with eachother made me feel so in the moment. Very cool.

3. Alanis Morrisette
Unbelievable. It was her acoustic tour and she delievered. She connected with each and everyone in the audience and her lyrics cut right into you. I will admit that I cried thru most of it I was so completely taken by her.

4. The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
Ralph Stanley & His Clinch Mountain Boys
Emmylou Harris
Dave Alvin
Steve Earle
Joe Ely
Guy Clark
Verlon Thompson
Austin Lounge Lizards
Gillian Welch
Rosanne Cash
Dolly Parton

And these were just the ones Vosse and I saw. The event goes on for two days and by god it's FREE! Unreal! Nothing like it...only could compare the old Newport Folk Festivals in the sixties.
There are five different stages and there is music everywhere you walk...in the air blowing past you as you walk around. And if you're like Voss and myself you have a take no prisoners attitude. We roamed to every stage and made our way up front each time...even had to take some bitches out to see Dolly. It was glorious. If you guys can ever make here in the summer time you must come to this event...it just keeps getting better.

lua said...

i saw the shins- it was amazing. loved the brunetts, too. then, i went to france. saw the lavendar fields in the south and went to a jazz festival just outside of paris. i'm picky about concerts. i generally avoid the really crowded areas. sorry guys, you can take mark. i won't be able to keep up.

Anonymous said...

Yeh the shins are still paying our lawyers for the old tapes of us they use on their records...
and artie can't hit the high notes now but shit we'll take their money.
shins shins buy em
buy em now

Anonymous said...

Oh right! James Cotton at Yoshi's! Okay that was another one that was truly mind blowing. Spur of the moment decision as well. I love those...and wait! Speaking of Spur of the moment!

DAVID BOWIE!!! I totally forgot! My birthday present from Voss! Soooooo good. You just handed me some money and said go and go NOW! Went over there by myself and got the last ticket. The ticket lady said she had been waiting for me all night. Gave me a seat close to the front and from then on Dave and I had a thing going on.

lua said...

by the way the lavendar fields are not a band. they are these amazing blue fields of lavendar that smell dreamy and seem to go on forever. yeah, the shins do remind me of simon and garf, but that is not a bad thing. i didn't meet them, nor did i get hit with any of their broken instruments, but i danced my ass off the whole two hours. (towards the middle of the crowd) I could see everything fine- no need to absorb the sweat of the lead singer. he is atractive, tho. more importantly, how do you forget david bowie? what did his hair look like? did he sing anything from ziggy stardust? have you heard m. ward's cover of let's dance? oh my gawd! it is fabulous. that is such a beautiful song. (both versions) i am supposed to be back at work. heh heh

lua said...

what is so epiphany wrong with saying epiphany? i also want to clarify mark's last statement... i would epiphany not hit him, that is not my style. my forms of torture or much slower and less obviously epiphany violent.

Anonymous said...

I gotta say...not a fan of the song by either artists. Bowie's versions isn't one of my favs of his and M. Ward...doesn't pull it off for me. Maybe I'm just not a fan of the song.

But, he was very cute in the concert. He really had a hold of the audience and just kept us right where he wanted. He played a lot of his earlier stuff too. And his bass player...hello ma'am! She was incredible. This beautiful black woman with a voice like Odetta.
Good time!

Anonymous said...

here here! Lucky for me the fairy dancers in robes didn't come out for the encore at the show I went too!

Anonymous said...

my thoughts exactly. Richard Simmons could learn a lot from them...especially about clothing options.

kingdomforavoice said...

I think they are talking about the polyphonic spree.

lua said...

yeah, it was nice for a while they actually talked about things they liked, instead of picking apart things we like. alas, it was short lived.

Anonymous said...

i want to be the minority
i dont need your authority
down with the moral majority
'cause i want to be the minority!

lua said...

yes, your opinion is clear. your feelings are valid and very understood. no one will ever accuse you of being a fan.i did see the lead singer when they were the tripping daisy- in stillwater. i think mark saw 'em in austin. i ain't never paid no 65 dollars, tho.

Anonymous said...

I totally thought they were a cult too. I swear they were serving kool-aid in the lobby. They were just way too happy. Like the Cowsills on crack.

lua said...

why is that so wrong? aren't we all just searching? maybe they are onto something. whatever floats the boat, right? i know, just don't charge 65 bucks a ride.