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Architecture in Helsinki
with El Guincho

So this was my second time seeing AiH at the Tiv. We arrived pretty early so we could secure a spot right up the front and I was dead in the centre. Which was awesome.

El Guincho was… I don’t know, really. He was certainly energetic and I was quite honestly waiting for him to fall down from doing so many things at once, but I guess it seemed a little repetitive. Or something? Like I said, not sure. It was the kind of stuff I’d likely love dancing to while out clubbing. AiH contributed to two numbers, though, which were excellent. Still, methinks Bridezilla from last year were better.

I spent most of my time in-between downing Red Bull and chatting, but it was probably good that the main act came on fairly soon after because we were all pretty tired. Although, clearly, some more than others. Let me also just say here that I love that these guys set up all their own instruments and do all their own sound-checking, rather than letting The Tiv do it. Anyhow. I pretty much started dancing from the first number; I freaking adore these guys live. Their music is so infectious it’s impossible to actually stand still (although I wish there hadn’t been Red Bull spilt on the edge of stage that made my hands all gross and sticky. Boo). They were just as excited and chatty as when we saw them last year and Gus Franklin is still as cute as ever. Ahem. Jamie also spilt his beer on-stage, which was funny and Kellie came down off stage into the front at one point, though the poor girl got accosted by crazies. They did all the good stuff – “Hold Music”, “Debbie”, “Like It Or Not”, “It’5”, “Frenchy, I’m Faking”, “Cemetery”, “Wishbone”, etc. They also did “Souvenirs” which made me incredibly happy; they were all, “we haven’t performed this song here for about four years so it could be dreadful” but it so, so wasn’t. When they came back for their encore, I pretty much decided that they’d better do “Maybe You Can Owe Me” or I was leaving and they did (um, I may have gotten a little bit excited). Next was a cover of “Break My Stride” which was actually the greatest thing ever. Then lastly, of course, “Heart It Races”. Some crazy morons jumped up on stage and were dancing and trying to get photos and stuff and as much as I would have loved to see them carted off by security, they jumped down fairly quickly; as crazy and fabulous as AiH are, I think they were still a bit worried.

I classify AiH’s previous gig as the second-best I’ve ever been to, and this was just as good, if not better. To avoid having to make an actual decision and bump number three down, I may just squish them both together in the number-two spot. Yay. A wonderful night spent dancing and being crazy with wonderful people to finish a great day.

Eels

Ah, classy seated shows at the Tiv. Is there anything better? Well, probably, because it was freezing and I ended up with two guys sitting to my right who smelled oppressively of beer and whiskey. But we were close to the front and I think I enjoyed the show much more because of it.

Doors opened at seven and I was dreading having to sit around for nearly three hours waiting for Mr. Everett to rock out. However, instead of the usual cringe-worthy support act, the evening began at around eight with a really lovely documentary film about E’s journey to learn more about his father, Hugh Everett III, who was a famous mathematician and quantum theorist. It was called “Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives” and I believe it was made for the BBC. I was thoroughly impressed with this – good production values (despite an incredibly irritatingly-accented female voice-over), as well as being very bittersweet, funny and charming. Plus Bobby Jr. was in it (of course) and that makes everything okay.

E came out about a half hour after this finished, which was great. He said hi, cracked a few jokes and took a seat at the piano for a beautiful version of “It’s A Motherfucker”. I totally did not mist up. The Chet (aka the awesomely fabulous Jeffrey Lister) then joined him for “Strawberry Blonde” and that was it, I was gone. It is such a gorgeous, sad song and it ruined my eye makeup. Ahem. All in all, it was an excellent show. E and The Chet traded jokes back and forth most of the night and the latter also read extracts from E’s autobiography (which was on sale at the merch stand but it was $35 and I was broke as all hell), Things the Grandchildren Should Know. I’d forgotten what a great musician The Chet is. They also worked incredibly well together, the highlight being a crunchy version of “Flyswatter” that saw them swapping back and forth between drums and piano for an extended outro. So much love. E pretty much did all of Daisies of the Galaxy, plus classics like “Novacaine for the Soul”, which made me endlessly happy; some of the newer stuff from “Blinking Lights and Other Revelations” is a bit hit-and-miss. Sad that there was no “Saturday Morning”, “Fresh Feeling” or, worst of all, “Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues”. Boo. The non-musical highlight of the night was E getting stuck into a group of loud drunks right down the front – they were chatting endlessly before and during songs, and calling out random bullshit. At first, he was telling them to hush as politely as he could, but later told them, deadly seriously, “okay, you really have to shut up. It’s a concert, for chrissakes. I’m going to play some tunes now, if that’s okay with you guys.” You could have heard a pin drop in the Tiv; it was hilarious. They got thrown out by security mid-song about twenty minutes later. Mwhahahaha.

In conclusion: a unique and wonderful show that was well worth the expense.

It just occurred to me that I fail at updating this goal.

Modest Mouse
with Hot Hot Heat
and Sparkadia

Let me just put out there first that this was at The Arena, otherwise known as the worst effing venue in town. It’s inescapably hot, the floors are sticky, it generally attracts the worst kind of dancing douchebags and it’s a fire hazard. If I could gather a group of like-minded people and burn it to the ground, I would.

Also keep in mind that my dinner this night consisted of Maccas, Red Bull and assorted lollies.

So Sparkadia were quite good. Nothing particularly memorable, but a couple of solid songs and decent instrumental work. I also have a vague recollection of liking something the female guitarist was wearing. Hot Hot Heat weren’t anywhere near as great as they could have been, and I’m sorry to say that Steve Bays was dressed like an absolute asshat, but they did rock out and look like they were enjoying themselves, plus they kicked it on “Middle of Nowhere” so I was happy.

It was around the end of their set that I started to feel like death warmed up. Even after the water that Nic kindly purchased for me and crouching down to lean on Huy, I just felt worse and worse. Modest Mouse finally came on and I still felt pretty sure I was about to die. I was hot, I felt claustrophobic and I was pretty sure I was about to lose my dinner. I tried my very hardest to enjoy it, but the worst part about being sick during a show is that it then seems like it’s going on FOREVER. They signaled their encore and all I could think was “hurry up, PLEASE hurry up.” I have never been more grateful for oxygen in my life; I pretty much raced away and burst out through the doors and into the night as soon as they played their last note. I was okay enough to recognize that it was a good show, and I was happy that they did “Dashboard” and “The View” but I wish a) that it had been at a different venue and b) that I hadn’t been so ill.

We’re experiencing a minor drought at the moment, but Eels and Architecture in Helsinki (again! Wheeee!) are coming up, so yay. Still ragey that The Presets is sold out, though.

Iron & Wine
with Texas Tea

So, the last two weeks of shows, late nights and early starts had finally caught up with us by the time this rolled around so we were all absolutely wrecked (think struggling to stand and trailing off mid-sentence when conversing, just from sheer exhaustion). Our fragile states of mind weren’t helped by Texas Tea, a pretty lame local band that walked the line between country and accoustic pop-rock, and pretty much failed at both. The female singer sang way louder than she needed to, consdering The Zoo’s usual faultless sound system, and by the end basically sounded like she was shouting. Fail.

Sam Beam of Iron and Wine was accompanied by a female vocalist, which was really nice and the band opened with “The Trapeze Swinger”, which is one of my favourite songs. And I totally did not have tears in my eyes, it was just really dusty in The Zoo. Honest. I didn’t enjoy the show as much as I could have, mainly because they did predominantly their newer stuff from The Shepherd’s Dog that I’m not very familiar with, and they mostly strung their songs together two or three at a time, making the whole show seem like one long jam session. Which was fine, but not really what I was in the mood for. So there was no “Such Great Heights” (which I suppose I can forgive, seeing it isn’t actually Beam’s song), no “Each Coming Night” and, worst of all, no “Naked As We Came”. But he did do “Sodom, South Georgia” and he closed with just himself and Sarah performing “A History of Lovers”, which was beautiful. So all in all, a musically sound show, I just wished they’d done some older, slower stuff that would have done more for me, and that I hadn’t been so very, very tired.

CocoRosie
with Centipede

Arrived to hear the last couple of Centipede’s songs and she sounded alright. She can’t have been anything memorable, though, or I would be able to recall her songs more clearly. I think I was more weirded out by her choice of stage name.

CocoRosie were everything I wanted them to be – completely weird and utterly wonderful. I was particularly looking forward to what they would be wearing (which, based on previous shows, could have varied from pirate hats to gold leotards) and they didn’t disappoint, wearing wacky capes and glitter paint on their faces. I couldn’t see Bianca super-well because she kept mostly to the right of stage, mucking around with instruments and toys, and had this funky, glow-in-the-dark backlight on her for the majority of the performance. But Sierra was in the middle for the most part which was great, because I pretty much want to bottle her operatic voice and then consume it in the hope that it will become mine (... I need to watch The Little Mermaid again). She also danced around crazily when Bianca was doing her stuff and it was effing adorable. We pretty much decided we needed her to be pocket-sized so we could carry her around with us always. Sadly, they didn’t do “Rainbowarriors”, but there was “By Your Side”, “Japan”, “Animals” and “Beautiful Boys” (not quite the same without Antony Hegarty, who we kinda prayed would miraculously appear, but alas did not… but Seirra did his part in her hella awesome falsetto and it therefore remained fabulous). Yay.

Beirut
with Shiver Like Timber
and Pikelet

So we skipped Shiver Like Timber in favour of gorging ourselves on Chinese (a worthwhile choice, I feel) but rocked up to have a few drinks during Pikelet (as well as playing pool, except we decided we didn’t want to be rude and play during her set, so just rolled the balls back and forth until she was done, lol). Billy had waxed lyrical regarding her epic failure at opening for Sufjan Stevens (which I am still ragey about missing while I was in NZ) and she was indeed pretty average.

We were still playing pool and drinking just before Beirut started so we were towards the back and stuck behind some of the tallest people everrrrr, but I managed to situate myself well enough to still be able to see Zach Condon. And damn, is he beautiful. And hot damn, was it a good show. He had a seven-piece band and everyone played at least two instruments (as well as all being mega-talented, they were all about my age, which made me feel hopelessly inadequate regarding my own musical prowess or lack thereof). They opened with “Nantes”, which is one of my absolute favourites, so I was ecstatic from the get-go. I don’t know if they had all had a bit to drink or if Zach was just speaking too close to the microphone or what, but it was tricky to understand much of what he said between songs. But it didn’t matter, because he also did “Postcards From Italy”, “Elephant Gun” and “A Sunday Smile”, a song that pretty much makes my heart explode (tm Billy). He also sang a song entirely in French and I swear to God, Huy and I nearly melted into a puddle right there at The Zoo. It was pure aural sex. Ahem. Anyhow, Zach also stepped down into the crowd for the last two songs, much to the dismay of us near the back. It was probably for the best, though, as I likely would have tried to molest him. At the end, he did an solo encore with his ukelele, a hilariously muddled version of “Hallelujah” that was gorgeous despite him forgetting the words and confusing the verses – everyone loved it nonetheless. An amazing concert that has slipped into third place for Greatest Show Ever.

Broken Social Scene
with Stars

I’d forgotten how much I love Stars and their wonderfully nuanced, eloquent brand of indie pop until seeing them live. Apart from the fact that I’m slightly in lust with Torquil Campbell and rather wish Amy Millan was my best friend, they give a good – nay, great – live show. An energetic and utterly infectious performance that made me fall hopelessly in love with them all over again and wish I could play the melodica. Ecstatic that they did “Take Me To the Riot”, “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” and “Elevator Love Letter”, though no “Look Up”. Sadface. Also, as much as I love the crossover between members and the collabs that occur with BSS and these guys, am I alone in thinking they deserve their own show, not just to support? I mean, c’mon.

Broken Social Scene had an interesting set, in the sense that they had to rush before being kicked out and they played a lot of the newer, Spirit If… stuff, which I’m not as familiar with. Though I’m quite fond of “Farewell to the Pressure Kids”, “Backed Out on the…” and the like, it would have been nice to have a bit more from the self-titled album and even You Forgot It In People. No “It’s All Gonna Break”, either, which made me weep. But they did “Cause = Time” and “Stars and Sons”, so I can’t complain. Well, I can, because they didn’t do “Lover’s Spit”, either, but I found Kevin Drew’s stage presence and jokes more than made up for lost songs. He’s adorable and oh-so-talented. Lineup was Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Justin Peroff, Andrew Kenny, Mitch Bowden and Sam Goldberg. We all kinda prayed Emily Haines would magically appear, even though we knew it was highly unlikely, but alas, she didn’t. Amy Millan came back out and did some stuff with them, though, which was lovely, and the rest of Stars contributed to a number of songs (incredibly excitedly, too, which was really cute).

Laneway Festival: Broken Social Scene, Stars, Feist, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Presets

So we got there too late and/or were too lazy to see Bridezilla and Okkervil River (though we ended up sitting near the violinist from Bridezilla, Daisy Tulley, for a bit in The Zoo while briefly watching redsunband, which was rather exciting, not least because a) we fell a teensy bit in love with them when we saw them open for Architecture in Helsinki last year and she in particular was wonderfully sultry and crazy-go-nuts up on stage, and b) she was wearing the hottest lipstick and it was all I could do not ask her where she got it). We saw Stars again in the early evening and though they weren’t as good as they had been the previous night, they still gave it their all and made me bite my knuckles with joy by doing “Elevator Love Letter” and “Take Me To the Riot” again. And “Calendar Girl”. So happy. One thing that struck me about these guys both at their sideshow and here was how much fun they have up on stage and how truly excited and grateful they were to be there. Loved it. Broken Social Scene was again next and man, what a difference to their previous night’s performance. Even more energetic than usual, and just really played up to the crowd. I dunno, maybe they prefer playing festivals? Who knows. But they rocked it. There were technical difficulties halfway through “It’s All Gonna Break” (yay!) but Kevin Drew just improvised the hell out of the situation and pretty much made everyone go nuts (he started singing “I don’t they’re gonna fix it. I think they just fixed it” and such while waiting for the power to work again, which was awesome). I adore him. Feist and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah clashed, which was lame, but we stayed for the first half of Feist, catching “My Moon, My Man” and “1234” amongst others. She had to struggle with tech problems as well, which sucked because it meant she couldn’t get through “The Park”, which I love, without sounding shitty, but she made the best of a bad situation. She has such a lovely voice and was so happy to be there, rocking out and mucking around with the crowd. We dashed back for the last part of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, meaning we saw “Clap Your Hands” as their last song, which was great. Still glad I went to Feist, though. Hung around with some of the messiest, hyped-up people in town for The Presets, but it was totally worth it. Those boys have created some of the most dance-worthy indie beats in the country and I adore them for it. I danced and I danced some more. “My People” and “Are You The One?” particularly went offffffff.

All in all, an awesome weekend of shows spent with the best possible people. Love.

Explosions in the Sky
with The Paper and the Plane
and Eluvium

What I heard of The Paper and the Plane was decent, and I’d probably consider getting my hands on their album at some point. I was drinking by Eluvium so whilst interesting, it just seemed like noise. But Explosions, my God. One of the most musically epic experiences of my life. “Your Hand in Mine” gave me chills. Chills, I tell you.

Stealing Beirut and CocoRosie posters (or getting people to steal them for you) is also fun.

A great night spent in great company.

So last year I saw Regina Spektor, Missy Higgins, Coldplay & Youth Group, U2, John Mayer & Ben Kweller, Snow Patrol & Iain Archer & The Silversun Pickups, The Red Paintings, The Audreys, The Killers & Louis XIV and Architecture in Helsinki with Bridezilla. After seeing Arcade Fire, Spoon, Josh Pyke, Operator Please and LCD Soundsystem at Big Day Out this year, I’ve decided I need to see more live music than I did last year.

Lucky I’ve got a tonne of concerts coming up.