Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Up, Doves
I'm not a big Yeah Yeah Yeahs fan. They've had some really good songs. They have a reputation for putting on a good show. But their albums haven't won me over. This latest one, though, has been pleasant on my ears. So, in the interest of making good on stealing their music, I plunked down $28 to see them play live on Tuesday. First of all, the show was at the Aragon, which is a barn. It's universally disliked because it sounds absolutely horrendous in there. I couldn't even place a cover song they played because the vocals were unintelligible and the riff was muddy. (After coming home and doing a little work, I got it as "Human Fly" by the Cramps. In another venue, I'd probably have recognized "I say buzz buzz buzz / And it's just because" in a heartbeat.) Karen O is at a point where she doesn't even have to be wild to get applause. She gets it just by spitting water or holding the microphone a specific way. Now, don't get me wrong, she's a really good frontwoman, but I guess I expected more than some jazzercise moves and a little screaming. She wasn't even wearing something outrageous. I thought she'd be the second coming of Wendy O. Williams, or something. Ken nor Mychelle were very impressed with the set list, but it was heavy on singles, so I didn't mind. But they only played an hour, which disappointed everyone. (And I've now talked to, like, a half-dozen friends/acquaintances who were there.) Shouldn't a band with as much output as them play longer?
Then Wednesday evening I saw a screening for Up. I haven't seen much marketing for it and didn't even know when it was being released until a couple weeks ago. And, well, it's Pixar. Does any movie studio offer a consistently better product? If so, I don't know of them. And I understand why I haven't seen much marketing - because there's not much to market. A septuagenarian (possibly?) doesn't strike me as a character that'd inspire action figures. Neither does a little Asian kid. And a house attached to thousands of balloons would be a difficult toy to produce. But this movie doesn't need those gimmicks because it was so good. The opening scenes that critics have been going bananas over are excellent. They provide the deepest character development for any Pixar character yet. I'm convinced that one of Pixar's features will receive a Best Picture nomination in the next few years. I would have no qualms with Up being the one. It looks tremendous and the story's far better than many that carry live action films.
Now, it's no secret that I go to a lot of shows. In fact, it's probably fair to say that I see a lot of shows that don't mean a lot to me. Of course, I'm always hoping that they'll mean something and I'll cherish the memories for the rest of my life. But that's not likely to happen very often. So it's almost a bit of a novelty for me to attend a show now where I'm actually excited because A) I've never seen the band before; B) Their music has meant a hell of a lot to me for a long time. After years of one thing or another preventing me from seeing Doves, I finally did so on Friday. And I was not disappointed. Anyone who knew me well between, say, 2001 and 2003 was well aware of my love for Lost Souls and The Last Broadcast. They heard me jaw on about "The Cedar Room" and "Pounding" far too much. They didn't play the former, but they did own the latter. Mercy. And the Kingdom of Rust songs, which have yet to really sink in for me, sounded great and will probably have a great influence on how I hear the album from now on. But it was the songs from the first two albums that I wanted to hear, and which blew me away. "Rise" reminded me of my rather eclectic 2-4AM radio program my sophomore year of college. "Words" reminded me of driving around dark country roads late at night with the sunroof open. "There Goes the Fear" reminded me about living with Skot, Sean and Sweitz. This band's really important to me. I can't believe it took me so long to see them. They were everything I hoped they'd be. (And then I met Jimi Goodwin afterward. He seemed nice.)
Then Wednesday evening I saw a screening for Up. I haven't seen much marketing for it and didn't even know when it was being released until a couple weeks ago. And, well, it's Pixar. Does any movie studio offer a consistently better product? If so, I don't know of them. And I understand why I haven't seen much marketing - because there's not much to market. A septuagenarian (possibly?) doesn't strike me as a character that'd inspire action figures. Neither does a little Asian kid. And a house attached to thousands of balloons would be a difficult toy to produce. But this movie doesn't need those gimmicks because it was so good. The opening scenes that critics have been going bananas over are excellent. They provide the deepest character development for any Pixar character yet. I'm convinced that one of Pixar's features will receive a Best Picture nomination in the next few years. I would have no qualms with Up being the one. It looks tremendous and the story's far better than many that carry live action films.
Now, it's no secret that I go to a lot of shows. In fact, it's probably fair to say that I see a lot of shows that don't mean a lot to me. Of course, I'm always hoping that they'll mean something and I'll cherish the memories for the rest of my life. But that's not likely to happen very often. So it's almost a bit of a novelty for me to attend a show now where I'm actually excited because A) I've never seen the band before; B) Their music has meant a hell of a lot to me for a long time. After years of one thing or another preventing me from seeing Doves, I finally did so on Friday. And I was not disappointed. Anyone who knew me well between, say, 2001 and 2003 was well aware of my love for Lost Souls and The Last Broadcast. They heard me jaw on about "The Cedar Room" and "Pounding" far too much. They didn't play the former, but they did own the latter. Mercy. And the Kingdom of Rust songs, which have yet to really sink in for me, sounded great and will probably have a great influence on how I hear the album from now on. But it was the songs from the first two albums that I wanted to hear, and which blew me away. "Rise" reminded me of my rather eclectic 2-4AM radio program my sophomore year of college. "Words" reminded me of driving around dark country roads late at night with the sunroof open. "There Goes the Fear" reminded me about living with Skot, Sean and Sweitz. This band's really important to me. I can't believe it took me so long to see them. They were everything I hoped they'd be. (And then I met Jimi Goodwin afterward. He seemed nice.)