The Bleeding Heart Show
Oct. 15th, 2005 01:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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bethje and I met in Philadelphia last night to see the New Pornographers at the Trocadero. This was actually the first show I'd seen there. Most of the musicians I want to see tend to come to the TLA or the Electric Factory. It's kind of a shame, because the Trocadero is so close to the bus and train stations, so there's no need to drive or take a cab.
We got to the venue half an hour or so after doors had opened, and the place wasn't very full. It's a relief when you can get to a show close to when it actually starts and not end up in the very back. If it had been a They Might Be Giants or Ben Folds concert, the place would have been packed within five minutes or so after doors, because people would have lined up outside five hours beforehand.
The first opening band was the Immaculate Machine, who weren't bad at all, but didn't thrill me either. Their sound was kind of punkish, but not overly so. Beth, who liked them enough to buy their EP, thought they had kind of an eighties sound. Their drummer didn't wear a shirt, and I kept calling him "Big Shirtless Ron" in my mind, because I like to amuse myself with obscure Simpsons references. {g}
After the Immaculate Machine's set, I went out to buy merchandise. I picked up a shirt with a panda on it for Beth, and bought a dark green Twin Cinema shirt for myself. It has some kind of Asian writing on it, which probably just says "The New Pornographers" or "Twin Cinema," but because I have no way of translating for sure, I suppose I could have bought a T-shirt that says, "Go stick your head in a pig's anus" in kanji. Anyway, I got back to the standing room area in plenty of time for the next opener, Destroyer, a band led by Dan Bejar (who, in case you didn't know, is also in the New Pornographers). They were okay, but it does seem like most of Dan's better songs are reserved for the New Pornographers. I actually checked out a Destroyer album from the library a few years ago, and it didn't do much for me. I do like their song "No Cease-Fires," which I actually heard Neko Case perform at a solo show back in 2002 or so. They might be worth investigating further.
Destroyer's set was quite short, clocking in at under half an hour. I've heard that Dan used to not tour with the New Pornographers (I wish there were a convenient abbreviation for their name, but "NP" and "the New Pornos" don't look right {g}). I guess he changed his mind for this tour, but he was actually off-stage for most of the main set, only showing up for the songs where he sang lead ("Jackie, Dressed In Cobras," "Streets Of Fire," and "Testament To Youth In Verse," the latter being the very last song of the night). The other songs of the set, as far as I can remember, were (in no particular order, aside from the first two):
Twin Cinema
Use It
The Bones Of An Idol
These Are The Fables
Sing Me Spanish Techno
The Bleeding Heart Show
The Electric Version
The End Of Medicine
All For Swinging You Around
It's Only Divine Right
Miss Teen Wordpower
Mass Romantic (introduced by Carl Newman as "an old favourite" [1]; I kind of don't think any of their songs are old enough to qualify as such, but I suppose it's all relative)
The Fake Headlines
The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism
The songs all sounded pretty much identical to how they are on the albums. The thing is, I really can't imagine them sounding different. The arrangements are just as integral to their songs as the lyrics and tunes, if not more so. Really, I don't even know the lyrics to most of their songs, and I'm usually a very lyric-oriented person.
There was also some amusing between-song banter. At one point, Neko said that, from her point of view, the theater reminded her of the Muppet Show. She also mentioned that drummer Kurt Dahle [2] wrote a song about himself that included the word "lovemaking," and how disgusting that was. (I would have to agree with that sentiment.) Kurt also teased Neko about her having a crush on some heckler with a beard. After a particularly long exchange between Neko and Kurt, Carl said something about how the people who write reviews for the Internet should keep in mind that it was Neko and Kurt who wasted time at the show, and not him. I'll go on record as saying that this Internet person doesn't mind. {g} I've mentioned before how I really don't understand the "Shut up and play a song!" mentality. You can hear the songs anytime, but how often do you get to experience real, honest-to-God banter? Which isn't to say I think there should be MORE talking than music, but a heavy dose of banter is pretty much always a good thing. One thing I like about Neko's solo shows is that she talks a lot, and I'm glad she did the same thing with the New Pornographers.
Today, I was considering getting breakfast at McDonald's, but I ended up waiting too long to go there, so I got breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts instead. I had the ham, egg, and cheese croissant, which was good, and a Bavararian Creme donut that I haven't eaten yet. Now that I think of it, that breakfast sandwich is pretty similar to the ham and cheese sandwich that I made for lunch. Variety in diet isn't really one of my strong points. {g} While driving, I saw a guy in a chicken suit outside a Halloween costume store, which strikes me as a bit of an odd choice for such a place. And I think that's about all I have to say, so I'll just write the footnotes and get this thing posted.
[1] Since he's Canadian, I'm assuming he included the letter U in the word. {g}
[2] There seem to be quite a few musicians named Kurt, but very few ordinary guys with that name. Is that just a name where your destiny is mapped out for you?
bethje and I met in Philadelphia last night to see the New Pornographers at the Trocadero. This was actually the first show I'd seen there. Most of the musicians I want to see tend to come to the TLA or the Electric Factory. It's kind of a shame, because the Trocadero is so close to the bus and train stations, so there's no need to drive or take a cab.We got to the venue half an hour or so after doors had opened, and the place wasn't very full. It's a relief when you can get to a show close to when it actually starts and not end up in the very back. If it had been a They Might Be Giants or Ben Folds concert, the place would have been packed within five minutes or so after doors, because people would have lined up outside five hours beforehand.
The first opening band was the Immaculate Machine, who weren't bad at all, but didn't thrill me either. Their sound was kind of punkish, but not overly so. Beth, who liked them enough to buy their EP, thought they had kind of an eighties sound. Their drummer didn't wear a shirt, and I kept calling him "Big Shirtless Ron" in my mind, because I like to amuse myself with obscure Simpsons references. {g}
After the Immaculate Machine's set, I went out to buy merchandise. I picked up a shirt with a panda on it for Beth, and bought a dark green Twin Cinema shirt for myself. It has some kind of Asian writing on it, which probably just says "The New Pornographers" or "Twin Cinema," but because I have no way of translating for sure, I suppose I could have bought a T-shirt that says, "Go stick your head in a pig's anus" in kanji. Anyway, I got back to the standing room area in plenty of time for the next opener, Destroyer, a band led by Dan Bejar (who, in case you didn't know, is also in the New Pornographers). They were okay, but it does seem like most of Dan's better songs are reserved for the New Pornographers. I actually checked out a Destroyer album from the library a few years ago, and it didn't do much for me. I do like their song "No Cease-Fires," which I actually heard Neko Case perform at a solo show back in 2002 or so. They might be worth investigating further.
Destroyer's set was quite short, clocking in at under half an hour. I've heard that Dan used to not tour with the New Pornographers (I wish there were a convenient abbreviation for their name, but "NP" and "the New Pornos" don't look right {g}). I guess he changed his mind for this tour, but he was actually off-stage for most of the main set, only showing up for the songs where he sang lead ("Jackie, Dressed In Cobras," "Streets Of Fire," and "Testament To Youth In Verse," the latter being the very last song of the night). The other songs of the set, as far as I can remember, were (in no particular order, aside from the first two):
Twin Cinema
Use It
The Bones Of An Idol
These Are The Fables
Sing Me Spanish Techno
The Bleeding Heart Show
The Electric Version
The End Of Medicine
All For Swinging You Around
It's Only Divine Right
Miss Teen Wordpower
Mass Romantic (introduced by Carl Newman as "an old favourite" [1]; I kind of don't think any of their songs are old enough to qualify as such, but I suppose it's all relative)
The Fake Headlines
The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism
The songs all sounded pretty much identical to how they are on the albums. The thing is, I really can't imagine them sounding different. The arrangements are just as integral to their songs as the lyrics and tunes, if not more so. Really, I don't even know the lyrics to most of their songs, and I'm usually a very lyric-oriented person.
There was also some amusing between-song banter. At one point, Neko said that, from her point of view, the theater reminded her of the Muppet Show. She also mentioned that drummer Kurt Dahle [2] wrote a song about himself that included the word "lovemaking," and how disgusting that was. (I would have to agree with that sentiment.) Kurt also teased Neko about her having a crush on some heckler with a beard. After a particularly long exchange between Neko and Kurt, Carl said something about how the people who write reviews for the Internet should keep in mind that it was Neko and Kurt who wasted time at the show, and not him. I'll go on record as saying that this Internet person doesn't mind. {g} I've mentioned before how I really don't understand the "Shut up and play a song!" mentality. You can hear the songs anytime, but how often do you get to experience real, honest-to-God banter? Which isn't to say I think there should be MORE talking than music, but a heavy dose of banter is pretty much always a good thing. One thing I like about Neko's solo shows is that she talks a lot, and I'm glad she did the same thing with the New Pornographers.
Today, I was considering getting breakfast at McDonald's, but I ended up waiting too long to go there, so I got breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts instead. I had the ham, egg, and cheese croissant, which was good, and a Bavararian Creme donut that I haven't eaten yet. Now that I think of it, that breakfast sandwich is pretty similar to the ham and cheese sandwich that I made for lunch. Variety in diet isn't really one of my strong points. {g} While driving, I saw a guy in a chicken suit outside a Halloween costume store, which strikes me as a bit of an odd choice for such a place. And I think that's about all I have to say, so I'll just write the footnotes and get this thing posted.
[1] Since he's Canadian, I'm assuming he included the letter U in the word. {g}
[2] There seem to be quite a few musicians named Kurt, but very few ordinary guys with that name. Is that just a name where your destiny is mapped out for you?
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-15 05:56 pm (UTC)One of my best friends is marrying a Kurt next week. He is very much not a rock star.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-15 06:47 pm (UTC)