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urbpanI guess I could have gone to see Neil Gaiman or Neil Diamond tonight (both are appearing in Boston venues this evening) but instead I went and saw Firewater.
I'm not sure when the last time I went out to see live music was; perhaps my friend Carrie's wedding. I seem to only dance at weddings these days, and as most of my friends are hitched, I'll need to find a new excuse to dance. I danced tonight--my entire range on display, from shoegazing swaying in place, to ska skiffle, to outright pogoing. Everything but dancing with a partner. Alexis and I dance at weddings, and we're usually one of the first couples out there.
Firewater played songs from their new album almost exclusively--there were two songs from previous albums, which the band excused by saying that the crowd liked them, but they always messed them up. The highlights involved a trombone player (whose birthday it was) and a hand drummer (actually, the best songs were those he played with a single stick on a hand-held drum. I don't know what you'd call that---EDIT---appparently it was world-famous Indian Dhol player Johnny Kalsi). They took an material from an album which I found a little gimmicky ("hey look, I took a trip to south asia") and brought real passion and excitement to it.
Until I bought the new album, "The Golden Hour" I'd forgotten how dark and dour the lyrics of this band were. Each song speaks of a determined loneliness, of a persona who spends too much time thinking about what his cigarettes look like, and was too influenced by Tom Waits. After the birthday cake was brought out, complete with candles and a mylar monkey balloon, and the audience sang the birthday song, front man Tod A said, okay here's another depressing song." But the live treatment was so buoyant, that the lyrical content couldn't bring you down. Two anthems, clad in the thinnest veils, about how much we dislike the Bush administration, were big singalong hits.
The opening act, Harris, is apparently a local group. I would have loved them 15 years ago, but would have begrudged the fact that they have a keyboard player who mostly adds texture. Indie rock doesn't appear to have changed too much, and I still find it kind of charming. I'll bet you anything that at least one of these guys works in the Newbury comics warehouse, or at Herrels Ice Cream.
Best of all was that I rode my bike to the show, and didn't have to wear my coat. I forgot how beautiful it is to ride a bike in the city at midnight.
I'm not sure when the last time I went out to see live music was; perhaps my friend Carrie's wedding. I seem to only dance at weddings these days, and as most of my friends are hitched, I'll need to find a new excuse to dance. I danced tonight--my entire range on display, from shoegazing swaying in place, to ska skiffle, to outright pogoing. Everything but dancing with a partner. Alexis and I dance at weddings, and we're usually one of the first couples out there.
Firewater played songs from their new album almost exclusively--there were two songs from previous albums, which the band excused by saying that the crowd liked them, but they always messed them up. The highlights involved a trombone player (whose birthday it was) and a hand drummer (actually, the best songs were those he played with a single stick on a hand-held drum. I don't know what you'd call that---EDIT---appparently it was world-famous Indian Dhol player Johnny Kalsi). They took an material from an album which I found a little gimmicky ("hey look, I took a trip to south asia") and brought real passion and excitement to it.
Until I bought the new album, "The Golden Hour" I'd forgotten how dark and dour the lyrics of this band were. Each song speaks of a determined loneliness, of a persona who spends too much time thinking about what his cigarettes look like, and was too influenced by Tom Waits. After the birthday cake was brought out, complete with candles and a mylar monkey balloon, and the audience sang the birthday song, front man Tod A said, okay here's another depressing song." But the live treatment was so buoyant, that the lyrical content couldn't bring you down. Two anthems, clad in the thinnest veils, about how much we dislike the Bush administration, were big singalong hits.
The opening act, Harris, is apparently a local group. I would have loved them 15 years ago, but would have begrudged the fact that they have a keyboard player who mostly adds texture. Indie rock doesn't appear to have changed too much, and I still find it kind of charming. I'll bet you anything that at least one of these guys works in the Newbury comics warehouse, or at Herrels Ice Cream.
Best of all was that I rode my bike to the show, and didn't have to wear my coat. I forgot how beautiful it is to ride a bike in the city at midnight.
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-24 07:04 pm (UTC)If not, you can hear it on Amazon, too.
Nothing like having there in front of you, though.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-25 04:02 am (UTC)The dhol was plenty impressive, though, from the few seconds I heard it. Definitely NOT TO BE confused with the dinky little bodhran. (Ssh! Don't tell the Irish people I said that!)
Oh, well, back to shopping!