Weekend, revisited.
Continuing what is a busy last month in Texas for Ingrid and I, last weekend was the double rockshows of the Tomorrowpeople and Radiohead.
The Tomorrowpeople played in a small bar called The Doublewide. The bar was split into 3 sections, two of them bar and one of them a small room with a stage. Props to the Doublewide for a well-designed room for shows, a loud-but-not-deafening sound system and good fidelity through the night. Six month of audio engineering courses and I have a whole new respect for a well-made place to see music.
The band themselves were in a great mood, being back on the stage for the first time in 8 years. I saw this band's 2nd show, I saw their last show and being there with Ingrid was a fantastic experience to help sum up our time here. Two of the original members had since moved to Los Angeles but the new guys filled in perfectly and the crowd was filled with people filled with the same nostalgia for this band that took me to the show.
Towards the end of the band's run ten years ago, they were signed to Geffen Records (then home to Nirvana, Sonic Youth and fellow local bands the Toadies and Brutal Juice.) They recorded a full album on the label's dime only to fall through the cracks when Geffen's management changed-- one great new band let go with a slew of others.
I knew this music was out there but never managed to get ahold of it, despite asking everyone I met that had the slightest chance of finding it if they could. I had given up on this quest but not easily. I tracked down Erich (aka Trey aka JODY POWERCHURCH) on myspace when I heard the band was playing and all but begged for a copy of their Geffen recordings.
A big huge thanks to the man who came through and burned a CD for me of not only those Geffen recordings but (what he deemed the 'Historia Del Rock') an thorough synopsis of the bands music from the home demos to the obscure one-off tracks like their cover of 'Possum Kingdom'.
So go visit their myspace and listen to the handful of tracks there. I recommend 'Vacation Destination: Earth' and 'Something 4 Joey'. This band is great live but truly shines in the studio. If you like what you hear, the band will be putting their entire catalog on iTunes soon if not already.
When you talked about two kinds of people
You said there was good and evil
Oooooooooooooh,
I thought you meant Evil Kinevil!
Sunday evening, Radiohead and a wholt lot less to say. Met up with a handful of coworkers beforehand and enjoyed a few Marudsous on tap. I was excited about the band (being one of the greatest making music today and all) but not the venue. Ingrid and I had lawn seats that I was determined to abuse and find us some actual seats for the concert. I made her walk up and down the security-guarded entrance between the lawn and the sets 3 or 4 times before I finally saw our opportunity, yanked her by the hand and dashed up the steps.
We managed to say in the first seats we found for most of the concert until a fellow concert-goer stopped in front of us and looked quite confused that we were where we were. It didn't help him that it was quite dark and he wasn't sure if he was in the right place or not-- but I quickly let him know that we were scragglers and that he probably was in the right place. Looking for a new place to sit, we stumbled upon a couple of coworkerpeople and found ourselves at the very front of the back section-- as perfect of a view the venue had to offer.
They opened with a bunch of material from the new album which left me a little bored. Not that I don't love the new album but it didn't feel like it translated well into such a large event-- the sense of intimacy the album brings quickly lost to reverb. But after Radiohead started playing some of the older, more rock songs the pace picked up and the show started to be the experience that seeing Radiohead should be.
They closed with my all-time favorite song, Paranoid Android. Even at a distance, you can just see BADASSNESS oozing from Johnny.
The Tomorrowpeople played in a small bar called The Doublewide. The bar was split into 3 sections, two of them bar and one of them a small room with a stage. Props to the Doublewide for a well-designed room for shows, a loud-but-not-deafening sound system and good fidelity through the night. Six month of audio engineering courses and I have a whole new respect for a well-made place to see music.
The band themselves were in a great mood, being back on the stage for the first time in 8 years. I saw this band's 2nd show, I saw their last show and being there with Ingrid was a fantastic experience to help sum up our time here. Two of the original members had since moved to Los Angeles but the new guys filled in perfectly and the crowd was filled with people filled with the same nostalgia for this band that took me to the show.
Towards the end of the band's run ten years ago, they were signed to Geffen Records (then home to Nirvana, Sonic Youth and fellow local bands the Toadies and Brutal Juice.) They recorded a full album on the label's dime only to fall through the cracks when Geffen's management changed-- one great new band let go with a slew of others.
I knew this music was out there but never managed to get ahold of it, despite asking everyone I met that had the slightest chance of finding it if they could. I had given up on this quest but not easily. I tracked down Erich (aka Trey aka JODY POWERCHURCH) on myspace when I heard the band was playing and all but begged for a copy of their Geffen recordings.
A big huge thanks to the man who came through and burned a CD for me of not only those Geffen recordings but (what he deemed the 'Historia Del Rock') an thorough synopsis of the bands music from the home demos to the obscure one-off tracks like their cover of 'Possum Kingdom'.
So go visit their myspace and listen to the handful of tracks there. I recommend 'Vacation Destination: Earth' and 'Something 4 Joey'. This band is great live but truly shines in the studio. If you like what you hear, the band will be putting their entire catalog on iTunes soon if not already.
When you talked about two kinds of people
You said there was good and evil
Oooooooooooooh,
I thought you meant Evil Kinevil!
Sunday evening, Radiohead and a wholt lot less to say. Met up with a handful of coworkers beforehand and enjoyed a few Marudsous on tap. I was excited about the band (being one of the greatest making music today and all) but not the venue. Ingrid and I had lawn seats that I was determined to abuse and find us some actual seats for the concert. I made her walk up and down the security-guarded entrance between the lawn and the sets 3 or 4 times before I finally saw our opportunity, yanked her by the hand and dashed up the steps.
We managed to say in the first seats we found for most of the concert until a fellow concert-goer stopped in front of us and looked quite confused that we were where we were. It didn't help him that it was quite dark and he wasn't sure if he was in the right place or not-- but I quickly let him know that we were scragglers and that he probably was in the right place. Looking for a new place to sit, we stumbled upon a couple of coworkerpeople and found ourselves at the very front of the back section-- as perfect of a view the venue had to offer.
They opened with a bunch of material from the new album which left me a little bored. Not that I don't love the new album but it didn't feel like it translated well into such a large event-- the sense of intimacy the album brings quickly lost to reverb. But after Radiohead started playing some of the older, more rock songs the pace picked up and the show started to be the experience that seeing Radiohead should be.
They closed with my all-time favorite song, Paranoid Android. Even at a distance, you can just see BADASSNESS oozing from Johnny.