Yesterday Mrs. Jay and I had a chance to catch the Dandy Warhols (Support: Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor) at WUK, Vienna.
The venue was sold out and we had a wonderful evening dancing our socks off…
Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor
The Dandy Warhols
I saw Christopher Cross, Men At Work, and Toto last night at Ameris Bank Amphitheater in Roswell, GA 3 miles from my house. Christopher Cross was good and Toto was great. Men At Work, just so-so.
Patti Smith Quartet yesterday in front of Cologne Cathedral. 78 years old and still full of rock ‘n’ roll. A great artist.
Yesterday was my last gig before my vacation… I drove to ppc, Graz to catch the mighty Obituary celebrating the 35th anniversary of their “Cause Of Death” album. Local support by Outrage.
The venue was nice and the sound was among the best I’ve heard at a metal gig for some time. The crowd was amazing and it was great to see that Obituary still love what they are doing…
Outrage
Obituary
A few days ago, I had the pleasure of hearing Patti Smith cover the song “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” live in Cologne. Then yesterday, I heard the original version in Bonn. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,” the Pumpkins played many songs from this album, and they were still wonderfully refreshing and powerful.
Another zip trip to the Princess Theatre, down in Decatur, Alabama, to catch Todd Snider whom I had not seen since he was promoting his first album, Songs From the Daily Planet, at the local record store in Memphis, Tennessee, back in 1994…
Started the set with Todd on acoustic, along with an electric bass and guitar player…
Midway through Todd went solo and, as always, provided some mighty fine storytelling to accompany the songs he was playing…
Closed out the evening with Todd’s bandmates rejoining him for more stories, songs, and sing-alongs from many in attendance…
A mighty fine show indeed. Well worth seeing if he comes your way.
Last night I saw the Lemonheads in Northampton a good 30 years on from the last time I saw them.
Part magic, part tragic.
Evan Dando was clearly absolutely wasted when he took the stage and his performance was erratic, shambolic and occasionally brilliant. They raced through around 9 classic 'heads tunes and then the drummer and bassist went off stage leaving Dando to perform one of the most bizarre acoustic sets I’ve ever witnessed in over 40 years and 1000+ gigs.
Half completed songs, mostly covers, rambling incoherent “chat” with the audience and a brief spell at the piano that went from painful to mesmerising and back again were greeted with love and affection from the audience, tinged with a palpable sense of sadness.
Unlike many of his contemporaries Dando neither died nor got sober. His saving grace is that he’s both a great songwriter and, in his more lucid moments, an incredibly talented performer.
Given that he was often cited as the most beautiful of the grunge era idols his current presentation is all the more tragic.
An interesting night but one, I fear, that is not all that far away from potential tragedy.
PIL at Cheltenham Town Hall on 7th August. Was slightly too young to catch the Pistols before their original implosion, and tend to avoid the reunion cash-ins if the motivations feel wrong. As a result I’ve never seen Mr Lydon perform, and as it was a nice local gig thought I’d chance my arm. They certainly make an unusual noise! Really interesting guitar playing, and when the drums and bass were locked in it was pretty hypnotic stuff. John’s trademark wailing over the top really makes them a one of a kind night out. Things got a bit boisterous down the front towards the end so I retreated to a safer distance. Glad I went.
Caught another band from my high school days that I was never fortunate enough to see during their heyday…
Dewey Bunnell, in the center, is the only original member of the band who led a talented group of musicians for an hour and half show…
The graphics displayed behind the band throughout the show helped to remind us of the history of the original band members [Gerry Beckley (guitar, bass, piano, vocals), Dewey Bunnell (guitar, vocals), Dan Peek (guitar, bass, piano, vocals, 1970-77)]…
As well as highlight the theme of many of their songs, both old and new. My favorite were the images displayed during the song “Sandman” which I failed to capture. However, below is the Memphis, TN city skyline during the song “Daisy Jane” as an example…
Flyin’ me back to Memphis
Gotta find my Daisy Jane
I did find a partial clip from the band’s performance of the song “Sandman” from a different venue…
Overall, a short but worthwhile concert for those interested in their brand of music…
This weekend just gone was Pelagicfest in Maastricht, Netherlands. An annual celebration of all things Pelagic Records.
Highlights of the weekend were Irish post rockers God is an Astronaut
Legendary US post rock geniuses This Will Destroy You
And a special mention for up and coming Hungarian band Törzs who delivered atmospheric, cinematic instrumental beauty.
Yesterday I saw GOAT headlining the last open air event of this summer @ Arena, Vienna. Support came from Graveyard, Arabrot and Planet Dust.
It was the first time ever that GOAT played in Austria.
I didn’t really know any of the support bands.
Arabrot
I really like what those guys are doing. Genre bending rock music and a great energy on stage.
Graveyard
70s style blues-/hard-rock. Good performance.
GOAT
Dancable psychedelic rock, funk and hypnotic beats. A great show and a fantastic audience.
