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2007:05:31:08:00. Thursday. NO!: MINIPOP (#269, MAY 24 2007).
The first band on the bill -- starting their set just as I walked in -- was something called Potion, which was two people playing with additional recorded music. It was really kind of unimpressive, and yet I think their late addition to the bill got the cover bumped from $8 to $10. Go figure. Meanwhile, this title track from Minipop's debut LP is one of a handful of tracks from the that album that keep threatening to move into greatness every time I hear them. The first four tracks in particular are really superb to listen to repeatedly -- though my iPod's shuffle reminded me on the plane that they're not quite up to the level set by their most similar competition, Eisley.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:30:08:00. Wednesday. NO!: MINIPOP (#268, MAY 24 2007). The only show I got to see while in San Francisco was one featuring my favorite newly discovered band, Minipop, who played as the second opener for French scuzz act Nous Non Plus. I'm not sure if this song is a cover or what, as it's not on either of their records, but it's a nice one whatever it is and was a smooth way to open their set.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:28:10:33. Monday. SF. Man, it is fucking freezing in San Francisco. I can't believe I feel this way, but more than almost anything else I can't wait to get back to Madison just for the weather.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:25:08:00. Friday. NO!: THE HOLD STEADY (#267, MAY 18 2007).
When the band came out for their encore, all they had left from Boys and Girls was this song, and if that didn't tip off that it was coming, Tad Kubler's acoustic guitar deployment did. It didn't wind up as the actual closer -- the encore ran about 20 minutes -- but it was a nice cap to newer, bigger-than-club-sized material. The show wasn't as intimate as either of the other shows I've seen them at -- one an acoustic set in Brooklyn, the other a crazed Halloween-night event at the Annex -- but it was certainly the same kind of huge shared experience. It's hard to know after a show like that whether I'd prefer them to stay on the road for a while longer or to get back into the studio and crank out another great record. Either way, rock fans win.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:24:08:00. Thursday. NO!: THE HOLD STEADY (#266, MAY 18 2007).
I didn't expect the Reputation to suddenly break late last year, but they did anyway. So one of the real treats of this show was seeing Elizabeth Elmore joining the band onstage to sing part of "Chillout Tent," as she does on the album version. The only downside? No Dave Pirner to sing the other part of the back-and-forth. It's not like he's doing anything else -- come on!
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:23:08:00. Wednesday. NO!: THE HOLD STEADY (#265, MAY 18 2007).
This was my favorite song on Boys and Girls -- one of my top favorites of 2006, in fact -- and judging by the audience reaction I suspect I'm not alone. At the beginning, Craig Finn roots the song in rock's fantasy nature, which I'd never really thought about before, but it fits the song in a heartbreaking way. The one spot in the chorus where they replace "There's always other boys" with "There's always other scenes" particularly sticks out that way, since, for Finn's characters, there are plenty of other boys, but there are never any other scenes. As much as the "you" in that song is stuck in a bad relationship, she's even more stuck in the scene.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:22:08:00. Tuesday. NO!: THE HOLD STEADY (#264, MAY 18 2007).
The last time I was at a show with a sizeable, high-energy crowd like this was, well, I don't know -- probably Nine Inch Nails last spring. It's the kind of thing I usually have to go to Milwaukee to see, unfortunately. The crowd had been going pretty well already, but this song -- the big fun climax to Boys and Girls in America -- turned things up a notch. The really awesome thing is that the band kept things at that level for the rest of the show.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:21:08:00. Monday. NO!: THE HOLD STEADY (#263, MAY 18 2007).
You know those guitars are, like... double guitars? Yes, it is indeed one of those double guitars, whipped out by Tad Kubler for the mid-section of the set. This is probably as good a time as any to point out just how bloody dark it was onstage during the show. I'd only seen one Stagedoor show before, but it was plenty well lit. This time out they had two small rigs onstage, pointing at nothing in particular, and that was it. It's kind of unfortunate, since Craig Finn is such an expressive guy when he's performing, that most of the room probably couldn't see much if any detail of what was going on.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:20:08:00. Sunday. NO!: THE HOLD STEADY (#262, MAY 18 2007).
Astonishingly, of all the stuff I recorded at this show -- and it was quite a bit -- this is the only clip that's not from Boys and Girls in America. Instead it's from the band's debut album, which it's hard to believe is only a little over three years old. It's generally a much rougher sounding album than their other two, with more bar band feel. They played a few songs from it, which mixed in pretty well with the newer stuff (that is to say, all of Boys and Girls and a few from Separation Sunday), and had more of the crowd than I'd expect going crazy.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:19:08:00. Saturday. NO!: THE HOLD STEADY (#261, MAY 18 2007).
Before heading out to the Hold Steady show yesterday, I wondered aloud to Emily if they might be in a position to steal away the "best band" title I'd given to the Long Winters after we saw them play in March. And I think they sort of did, but only sort of. If I ever finish writing my top albums of 2006 post, the two bands will share the #1 spot, because I found it impossible to think of ways in which one was clearly insurmountably better than the other. In the same way, their live shows are too divergent to really compare -- the Hold Steady has become the holy grail of would-be arena rock for indie scum like myself. This song, their set and latest album opener, hits that nail pretty squarely on the head and set the sell-out crowd jumping for the next hour.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:18:00:23. Friday. THE SUMMER OF NETWORKING. Word came in today that all three of my AEJMC submissions were accepted, which means I'll be traveling to San Francisco, Boston, Washington, Vancouver and Chicago, at least, for scholarly events between now and 2008. This will be, by far, the most networking I've ever done in such a short period -- less than eight months from start to finish, in which I'll be interacting with many of the Important People in the field, and also trying to establish myself as a Big Name of blog research. And yet, the one thing I keep focusing on is, "I wonder who's going to be playing in [city] while I'm there?"
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:11:08:00. Friday. NO!: SYSTEM AND STATION (#260, MAY 1 2007).
Late in the set, another solid tune from a show with no clunkers. Watching this clip, I realized who it was this band most reminds me of -- a British could-have-been band called My Vitriol, who briefly flared up in 2002 and haven't been heard from since. There's maybe a little bit of Jawbox in there, too, and it combines in a fuzzy sound that nobody else seems to be doing right now. It's a lot of fun to watch get recreated live, especially because the band is so loose onstage, unlike, say, any Ken Andrews-fronted fuzz band.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:10:08:00. Thursday. NO!: SYSTEM AND STATION (#259, MAY 1 2007).
The last time System and Station played Madison it really was an awful shame -- only seven of us stuck around to see their set at the High Noon, which started well after 1:00am. Things went much better this time out. The show started earlier, and even without a big-draw local band on the bill (last time the Selfish Gene brought in probably 30 or so people), there were at least a dozen civilians hanging out for the System and Station set. At a $4 show, I'd expect they all got their money's worth and will hopefully be back for more next time.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:09:08:00. Wednesday. NO!: SYSTEM AND STATION (#258, MAY 1 2007).
I don't get why this band doesn't blow up. If I ever finish my write-up, you'll note that their 2006 release, Here Is Now, is among my top 15 albums of that year, and I've only come to appreciate it more since we ticked over to 2007. Their early alternative approach to fuzzrock -- exemplified well on this terrific Here Is Now cut -- should fit well with the crowd that's clamoring for the well-received new Dinosaur Jr record, but for whatever reason their engaging recent output hasn't broken through. Perhaps it's because I can't seem to get a live recording of them without significant bass distortion; I guess we'll never know.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:07:08:00. Monday. NO!: THE BLOODY AWFUL (#257, MAY 1 2007).
I think Madison's got a hot new band on its hands with the Bloody Awful, who made their debut last week supporting System and Station. Fronted by former solo act John Mars, the band has a clean power-pop sound which I imagine will play well in a town that's still missing Charlemagne, though whether we needed another shirt-and-tie band right now is a question left unanswered. They were a little rough in places, but very solid for a first show. My only real complaint is that I think they closed with what was by far their best song, a rollicking stomper about zombies.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:05:02:23:42. Wednesday. THE BOX SOCIAL MAKES A RECORD. The first segment of my documentary of the Box Social's first LP recording process is now up on YouTube: Three more parts to come. The whole thing can be seen throughout May on WYOU (cable channel 4 in Madison) at 10:30pm on Saturdays and 3:30am on Mondays.
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