What gigs have you just been to?

[sunray]

Been to a load, but the standouts since the last September update are:

Jim Jones All Stars, Upstairs in Whelans, Dublin which was superb. High energy maximum rock n roll on a Halloween night. This is what i want from a gig. Music from the gut slugging you in the gut. A poor reflection on Irish gig goers that the gig got moved from the main room to upstairs. No bother to the 8-piece band, they just went ahead and delivered the goods. A mixture of original material from his various acts (wonderful to hear Thee Hypnotics 'Shakedown') and cover versions taking in the Velvet Underground, Jimmy Castor Bunch (the superb Troglodyte, a highlight on the new album) and Little Richard amongst others. Tip of the hat to Thee UFO on support duties, about time they started getting some decent slots.

Slowdive, National Stadium, Dublin Very good indeed. First time playing their own gig here. Their only previous appearance being at Electric Picnic when they were scheduled the same time as Mogwai A surprisingly young crowd, lending to a very different atmosphere; Singalongs, Queen style handclapping and lighters/phones in the air. All very cringe but the kids love that shit and i'm sure it was a great buzz for the band. Heard the next day that Slowdive have been very big on Tiktok the past year so that explains it i guess. The last two albums sound much better live but some of that material is just too smooth and my mind began to wander. Lovely triple-whammy of Slowdive/Avalyn/Souvlaki Space Station early in the set and a great Golden Hair. Got chatting to one of the young folk beforehand and turned him onto Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized. He'd heard of neither and bookmarked them on his Spotify. He was a big Slowdive fan and this was his first ever shoegaze gig. I'm sure he had a good one.

Sasquatch, Grand Social, Dublin Stoner rock from California, plus three local support acts. Only mention the supports because it meant we got four trios, which i can't recall ever happening before! Shout out to Burning Realm who were excellent. A heavy psych/stoner outfit featuring, the always fantastic, drummer from No Spill Blood. The man is an absolute machine. I'll be keeping an eye out on Burning Realm.
Sasquatch were just good time Stoner vibes. Didn't take themselves seriously but provided great fuzzy riffs and solos.

[herman]

Went to the Sonic City Festival at Kortrijk (B) last night. It's a 3 day fest each year curated by another artist.
What I saw last night...
Rose City Band... Well, what can I say, it's a mixed bag. It's like JJ Cale on cheap coke. To be honest, I wasn't impressed at all. Nice clean sound but kinda boring, couldn't get into their vibe.
Deerhoof... The revelation of the night. High energy noise pop/rock from San Francisco including an impromptu band meeting in the middle of the set. Didn't know the band but it seems they got already some 17 releases so far. Recommended live stuff!
Youth Lagoon... Got the first album, which I really like. But they don't deliver the goods live.
Stereolab... A lesson in musical history! 70 minutes of pure bliss. After so many years they still improvise on the spot, making the concert exciting for them self, a thing I missed on the last Spz concerts. The band were in Topform and were enjoying themselves and therefore also the audience. Like a give and take thing, bouncing energy and stuff... Big grin on everybody's faces afterwards!

[good dope/good fun]

Just saw Spiritualized on Wednesday at Basilica Hudson.
And then saw Tool at Mohegan Sun on Friday.
It’s been a very good week.
2 of my absolute favorite bands in 3 days.

[angel-sighs]

Slowdive played a Stadium?

Interesting to see the reports on Rose City Band. I like them but i am not crazy about them. Hope we do get more Moon Duo, more Wooden Shjips wouldn't go amiss either. Wonder if they are finished.

[sm-iom]

https://www.thenationalstadium.ie/

[sunray]

Slowdive played a Stadium?

Ha! No not quite but i see sm-iom beat me to it on the info front.

Early 90s i saw the Pixies w/Pale Saints in there (still one of my all time favourite gigs), Primal Scream and Inspiral Carpets. Gig-wise it went fallow for a good few years but seems to have picked up again.

[swmcsherry]

Most recently, Spiritualized in Buffalo, Hudson, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and NYC. It was quite a week, and met some lovely people

Bummed that I missed the first show in New Jersey, but I had to be responsible!

[runcible]

Popped over to Manchester to see Connecticut noodly jam exponents Goose at Academy 2.

It was amazing to see a large room of around 1000 people all dancing throughout. 2 sets, 75 minutes each, but only 12 songs played. Everything built into monumental epic jams, usually with considerable intensity. Two drummers. Ben and Jeff, were so in sync they allowed bassist Trevor, using a 5 string bass, to go all Phil Lesh and do his own thing yet still holding the rhythm down. Keyboard and guitar whizz Peter adds masses to proceedings and mainman Rick, one of the most natural guitarists I've ever seen, produced an endless array of guitar effects, solos and such. Some top tier musicianship on show. At every crescendo the crowd went nuts and the atmosphere in that room was the best I've ever known at a Manchester show. Very hippyish, loads of Deadheads, but everyone with beaming smiles. Their reaction after every song was almost louder than the band. Some think Goose aren't edgy enough and too poppy but they got pretty heavy at times last night. Jam bands might not be for everyone but Deadheads and Phish fans will find lots to enjoy here, so myself and Mrs. Runcible were very happy. A really superb night.

For a band who are almost completely unknown here, with no exposure of publicity, they sold out their entire European tour. Impressive.

[niamhm]

The Clientele at Stereo 2 weeks back, Christ that venue is uncomfortable if it’s sold out, luckily I was only in for the hour they played, as a relative new comer to the band only listening to them during lockdown I only really know the last two albums but both had large chunks played, understated and evocative, they really do a lot with so little, glad I got to see them though as I believe it’s been over 10yrs since they were last here.

Elder at Slay.Prog metal with side orders of stoner and psyche, this was a great show and has to be said the metal audiences are a great crowd, a noticeable lack of assholes, sold out audience had to emptied out onto the street after a fire alarm went off which was a new one for me. 8 songs in 90 mins so the tracks were long but the proggy bits weren’t too proggy if you catch my drift, thoroughly recommend the most recent album Innate Passage,

Bdrmm at Classic Grand . Two in the one weekend is getting a bit much for me these days tbh what with Elder on the Friday and this on the Sunday but I’d really been looking forward to seeing them since getting tickets last Feb and the album from earlier this year will easily be one of my fav this yr, a yr of almost non stop touring has their set honed to perfection so it’s like second nature, when the loud bits come they’re loud, controlled and confident, are they “shoe gazing”? I don’t know but the sound is evolving, more elaborate and electronic arrangements, top gig and looking forward to seeing where they go from here.

[stegraham]

I went to watch the Cult play Death Cult and early Cult material last night at the Electric Brixton. It was their second night there, both nights sold out. Gotta admit I'm a big Cult fan - they were my first gig when I was 16 in 1987 on the Electric tour - but I'd never seen most of that early stuff live before. They played all the Death Cult tracks, lots from Dreamtime, 3 from Love and a Southern Death Cult track - Moya. No big rock riffs or solos, just the old school 83/84 Cult sound. Jamie Stewart, the original bass player who left after 1989, came on stage to play two tracks - Ressurection Joe and Horse Nation. Crowd loved it and he did too - big smiles all round. It was a great gig and one of the loudest I've been to in quite a while - my ears are still ringing today. They have been celebrating 40 years of Death Cult by doing these gigs, and next year it'll be 40 years of the Cult. Hopefully some more anniversary shows next year along with album number 12.

[sunray]

Bdrmm at Classic Grand . Two in the one weekend is getting a bit much for me these days tbh what with Elder on the Friday and this on the Sunday but I’d really been looking forward to seeing them since getting tickets last Feb and the album from earlier this year will easily be one of my fav this yr, a yr of almost non stop touring has their set honed to perfection so it’s like second nature, when the loud bits come they’re loud, controlled and confident, are they “shoe gazing”? I don’t know but the sound is evolving, more elaborate and electronic arrangements, top gig and looking forward to seeing where they go from here.

Saw them the following week in the Button Factory, Dublin and had a very different experience. It really was a gig of two halves. First 45 minutes i was wondering what on earth had happened to this band? It was pretty lame for a good chunk of it. Then the singer announced "Now it's gonna get good". He wasn't wrong. The next 45 minutes were a vast improvement. 90 minutes overall was too long though. I was done at 65 when it looked like they were finished. Then they did a 10min. instrumental jam (very good) that really should have been the end. When he announced after that they had three more songs left i groaned. Not a patch on last year's gig in the smaller Workmans Club. Although, if they'd cut 20 minutes off the opening half it would have been far more enjoyable. I'll give them one more chance but they dirtied their bib a bit for me with this gig.