the acoustic diaries

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Of Angels and Angles

Did a show with the guys from Run Chico Run last night. Fun times. It was neat to watch them switch up positions and instruments every few songs. I was impressed with how the drummer would sing, and drum with one hand while playing keyboards with the other.





***

falling
fall ng
fall n
falln
fal l
fall
f a ll
f n
f

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Everybody is just a stranger but that's the danger...

John Mayer and Sheryl Crow played the Pacific Coliseum last night.

Marjorie Fair opened the evening. Managed to catch the last two songs of their pop-rock set.

John Mayer and his band came on next. He started with Belief, followed by a solid rendition of Bigger Than My Body. For his set design, there was a backdrop of squares that would light up differently during songs. The pattern resembled the cover art for his debut album, Room For Squares.

Mayer as always displayed his strong blues repetoire and improvisation skills throughout his 1hr 15min performance. His extended intro to Vultures, and the song itself, were really well done. I find that John is a very underrated guitarist and musician, since most people who judge him too quickly only know his music through radio hits. What they don't know is that he also attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and has jammed with the likes of Buddy Guy, Herbie Hancock, and B.B. King amongst others.

Slow Dancing In A Burning Room, Gravity, and In Repair were also some highlights and featured some solid jams in them.

Setlist:

Belief
Bigger Than My Body
Vultures
I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)
My Stupid Mouth
Why Georgia
Slow Dancing In A Burning Room
Daughters
Good Love Is On The Way
Gravity
Waiting On The World To Change
In Repair


Sheryl Crow then took the stage and closed out the co-headlining show on this night. Her and John are in the midst of a North American tour and are both taking turns headlining shows.

Accompanied with Crow onstage were a backing band along with a four piece string section that nicely added to the sound. Sheryl played a decent set musically, with some good performances of My Favourite Mistake, Redemption Day, and Strong Enough.

What really lacked though was the energy in the room during her performance. We had a very mellow Vancouver crowd on this night that didn't want to stand during the show. I find that's okay in some intimate theatre performances, but when you're at an arena rock show and you see most of the people on the floor and in the stands sitting down for the headliner, that's kind of a problem.....though I must note that we did have an older audience demographic for the most part attending the show.

Still, the responsibility lies in both the artist and the audience to make something of the concert and performance. It's the artist's responsibility to work the crowd and get them involved in the show, physically and/or emotionally. At the same time, a performer feeds off the energy of their audience.....so it becomes the responsibility of the crowd to reciprocate that energy back onto the stage.

It didn't really make sense when Sheryl got the crowd to sing a few lines, hear mostly silence from the audience, then have her go through the motions and say "You guys are great!".....wtf.....no we definitely were not.....and this happened a few times during her set.

It wasn't til the encore that people actually decided to get on their feet and somewhat applaud her and the band. Sheryl's Led Zeppelin cover of Rock N Roll at the end was fun at least.

Setlist:

Change Would Do You Good
Hard To Make A Stand
My Favourite Mistake
First Cut Is The Deepest
Mississippi
Good Is Good
It Don't Hurt
Redemption Day
Home
Strong Enough
Real Gone
Steve Mcqueen
Soak Up The Sun
Everyday Is A Winding Road

If It Makes You Happy
Rock N Roll

***

Found a copy of When Harry Met Sally for $1 yesterday. Best dollar I've spent all week.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Hearts wrapped in blankets laying low

Amy Millan played at Richard's last night.



Mayor McCa opened the show. He was a one-man band, playing guitar and also using his right foot on a bass drum, while his left foot played a bass keyboard. His songs were split between singing and spoken word, and it seemed like he made up some lyrics on the spot.

Mayor made some funny comments in-between songs that got the crowd laughing, though we were also laughing because he seemed stoned out of his mind. During his last song, McCa brought out a clarinet to play. He then got off the stage and walked a lap around the venue barefooted while playing his clarinet. McCa then made his way back onto the stage, tripped a bit on his footing and finished the final notes to his performance for the evening. It was an interesting set to say the least.

Amy Millan came onstage backed by a six piece band. Her set consisted mostly of songs off her debut solo release, along with some new material and one number that was left off the album.

Partway through her set, the band left the stage to let Amy perform solo for a bit. She then played a nice acoustic version of Losin' You. The highlight of the evening came next as she invited Torquil Campbell onto the stage and the two of them performed my favourite Stars song - Look Up.



Ruby II, Baby I, and Skinny Boy were also some set highlights. For the encore, Amy and the band played a Gillian Welch cover and then finished off the night with He Brings Out The Whiskey In Me.

Monday, September 18, 2006

that's the way this wheel keeps working now

The weekend was fun. We had a nice swing dance event happening. Saw some friends for the first time in a few months. On Saturday, I was able to get in some really good dances before jetting off to run a rock show at the Lamplighter. The two scenes for the night were such a contrast, but I felt very comfortable in both of them.

Doing some sponsorship stuff for the festival and keeping busy. Things are coming along well.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

It's understood that Hollywood sells Californication

The Red Hot Chili Peppers played to a sold out GM Place crowd on Thursday night.

The Mars Volta opened the evening. The 8 piece progressive rock band filled the venue with their many instruments and drawn out jam sessions. They started their 1hr set with a 15min version of Roulette Dares. Singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala has a unique stage presence. He wasn't as flashy with his dance moves as the last time I saw them, though he did rock out briefly with the mic stand gripped in-between his teeth.

With so many instruments combined with the arena sound system, the music was deafening at times. The high end frequencies of the sound were really loud with the vocals lost in the shuffle during some points. I'm glad I had plugs in. I would love to see these guys play in a smaller intimate theatre setting where the sound system would support their strong musicality.

Guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez had some fancy stage moves himself while ripping it up on his axe. The supporting bandmates also did a solid job with the bongo solo and those flute riffs. I was quite content about their set time since openers rarely ever get an hour to play.

Setlist:

Roulette Dares
The Widow
Tetragrammaton
Viscera Eyes
Day Of The Baphomets

Saw someone eating an apple for the first time at a concert. Good idea getting their fruit intake. I wish I thought of that....though I'd probably bring one of those mini travel pack cereal boxes that open up in the middle instead where you can pour the milk in. Perhaps take a Frosted Flakes, Corn Pops, or Lucky Charms to tie me over. I didn't care much for Honey Smacks...the one with the frog on it. I did once buy a pack of Cocoa Pebbles just to get a Fred Flinstones eraser.

anyways...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers came onstage and started with an intro jam, followed by Can't Stop. Each of the members had their own unique dress style; Flea wearing a bodysuit, Kiedis in his funky street wear, Frusciante in his dress shirt and blazer ensemble, and Chad Smith simply looking like Will Ferrell.

The production of the set featured video screens in the backdrop and stage lighting that stretched into the middle ceiling of the floor. The guys had two weeks off the road leading up to this show so they were full of energy on stage. Highlights for me from the main set included Charlie, Readymade, Californication, and By The Way. Before Right On Time, they played a cool London Calling intro. During the first chorus of By The Way, they had a really neat freeze frame panoramic shot of Kiedis leaping into the air.

For the encore, they came back and played the intro to the Public Enemy song You're Gonna Get Yours, before segueing into Give It Away. The Peppers then ended their 1hr 55min set with a close to 20min jam session. Omar from The Mars Volta came back out to jam with the Chili Peppers for the show closer. Anthony did some singing during the jam while Omar and Frusciante ripped it up together. The ending was a great display of musicianship between five tremendous performers.

Setlist:

Intro Jam
Can’t Stop
Dani California
Scar Tissue
Charlie
Fortune Faded
Readymade
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Throw Away Your Television / Don't You Ever Leave (outro)
Snow (Hey Oh)
Me And My Friends
For Emily (John Frusciante solo)
Stadium Arcadium
Don’t Forget Me
London Calling (intro) / Right On Time
Tell Me Baby
Californication
By The Way

You're Gonna Get Yours (intro) / Give It Away
Outro Jam

Monday, September 11, 2006

an engagement









Photos courtesy of The Mack.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

awake...light...dusk...

Did a show with the guys from Pneuma last night. They can jam for hours on end if needed. The festival planning and other things are coming along well and making good progress.

I hate it when you wake up and it's already close to 3pm. It feels like you've pretty much wasted half the day.....though if I'd gotten up earlier, I would have taken a few steps, fell down, and passed out again.

In other news, ducks are too cute.

Saturday, September 02, 2006

And we'd left our love in our summer skin




















Friday, September 01, 2006

A thousand promises that never seemed to help me before

Went to see Marianas Trench play the Buffalo Club last night. Their harmonies and pop-rock riffs are infectious.

All four of them are classically trained musicians, so it's always a treat to watch them do their a cappella song during the set. Decided To Break It, Push, and Skin & Bones were definite favourites. I first saw them play over 3 years ago, so it's nice to see that their debut LP will finally be released this October.

Mmmmm..... those Fritz Fries were tasty!