Concert review: Music Midtown
Until last Thursday, I was unsure whether I would be able to escape to Atlanta for the weekend to see Music Midtown with Ben, Jeff, and Dan, but as it turns out, I made it. While the lineup this year was not nearly as solid as those in years past, there were some excellent performances.
I pulled in on Friday and hauled ass from Marta to the show, making it just in time to catch the beginning of Interpol's show. Their performance was decent enough but (as you might expect) centered around the new album "Antics", which I have heard all of once. The only songs from "Turn On the Bright Lights" played were "Obstacle 1", "P.D.A.", and "Say Hello to the Angels". I was amused that during "P.D.A.", the couple directly in front of me was engaging in some extreme P.D.A. themselves (continuing the trend of me always getting stuck behind a facsimile of the most annoying couple in the world at every concert I go to). All in all, their show was okay but nothing impressive. I was disappointed that "N.Y.C." did not make an appearance. If nothing else, the show helped me realize how much lead singer Paul Banks sounds like Fred Schneider of B-52s fame.
After Interpol came the White Stripes, who put on an energetic, chaotic and very rewarding show. Jack White proved himself to be a bad-ass guitarist, playing some crazy improv riffs. Meg White leaned her head back and kept her eyes closed as she drummed, creating the illusion that she was asleep as she wailed on the snare with particular intensity. They roped me in immediately by opening with "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" and then ripped through a set that sounded as if they were making it up as they went along (they probably were). In the end, I was impressed at the fullness of the sound and the energy created by merely two people. If not for the following day, they no doubt would have been the highlight. But they had competition.
Saturday brought with it some artists I had only passing knowledge of, and others that I just about knew every word to every song. In the former category, the first was Bloc Party. Their performance, while not remarkable, was thoroughly enjoyable. The second was Keane, who invite comparisons to Coldplay like guests to a wedding. For example, the keyboard player had a similar style of rocking out in his seat, just as Chris Martin does. I only got to hear half of their set though, because the 96 Rock Stage awaited with its promise of two stellar shows, a promise I hoped would not be broken.
It wasn't. The first performer of the evening was John Fogerty, former lead singer of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Many would scoff and wonder how a rocker of fairly advanced age such as Fogerty can still rock out. Those people have not seen him live. He roamed around stage and sang and played guitar with energy befitting a 30-year-old, not a 60-year-old. He played every CCR song I could think of, opening with "Travelin' Band" and closing with "Fortunate Son" ("Who'll Stop the Rain?" was particularly ironic since it was pouring at the time). He also threw in solo favorites such as "Centerfield" along the way. For an encore he played "Bad Moon Rising" (complete with distinctly singing "bathroom on the right" in the final rendition of the chorus) and finished up with "Proud Mary". The chance to see such an experienced rocker, who had penned so many gems over the ages, lived up to and even exceeded expectations.
And then, following Fogerty was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, another performance that bordered on religious experience. Obviously, I did not expect them to play all of my favorites ("Learning to Fly" and "The Waiting" were glaring omissions) but the performance was stellar nonetheless. For example, I did not expect the band to play "Don't Come Around Here No More", and I got really excited when I heard them launch into it. I also screamed with joy when Tom said, "This next song goes out to all the Traveling Wilburys" and proceeded to play "Handle With Care". Thankfully, my two favorites "Free Fallin'" and "I Won't Back Down" made the set list, as did "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and "You Don't Know How it Feels". He also covered Dylan's "Rainy Day Women" as an encore. In short, there were plenty of marijuana references. Jeff swears he got a contact high at the show. The high I was on, on the other hand, was at simply having witnessed it. An unbelievable show. (Incidentally, they opened with "Listen to her Heart" and closed with "Running Down a Dream").
From there, of course, there was really only one way to go, and our interest in Sunday's lineup was fleeting at best. Jeff and Ben really wanted to go see Tegan and Sara, a sister duo with a backup band. They put on an enjoyable show, with some rather amusing stage banter. I would imagine comparisons to the Indigo Girls would be accurate, but I'm not really familiar with the Indigo Girls either. They were followed by Coheed and Cambria. I was somehow the only person in our group who had heard "A Favor House Atlantic", and their performance of that was rather shoddy. Afterwards, we just decided to leave, not really caring about the remainder of the bands in the lineup. The only reason I would go to see Devo or Def Leppard would be to say I saw them, unless I thought Def Leppard might play "From the Inside", which I'm sure they didn't.
Besides, we wanted to get back to Dan's place so we could have an Unexpectedly Sober reunion jam session. We dragged my friend Bob along to play bass with us, and had a fun jam session, going over some of our own original favorites ("Littleton", "Island", "Every Refrain", "Start") as well as a few covers (U2's "One" and "Running Down a Dream" in honor of our Tom Petty experience). All in all, it was an awesome weekend.
Tonight, I will hopefully be viewing "Batman Begins", for which I will post a review at some point. I know I promised a review of "Episode III", and I actually began one, before realizing it was going to be way too long and not all that interesting. In short, while it was a flawed movie, it still makes the first two prequels better, and casts a new light on the original trilogy. A success overall, and a 9.5/10.
Song lyric of the day:
"Get over regrets
While you were sleeping with angels, he was under the bed
And the more skin that you shed
The more that the air in your throat will linger when you call him your friend"
- Toad the Wet Sprocket, Crowing
I pulled in on Friday and hauled ass from Marta to the show, making it just in time to catch the beginning of Interpol's show. Their performance was decent enough but (as you might expect) centered around the new album "Antics", which I have heard all of once. The only songs from "Turn On the Bright Lights" played were "Obstacle 1", "P.D.A.", and "Say Hello to the Angels". I was amused that during "P.D.A.", the couple directly in front of me was engaging in some extreme P.D.A. themselves (continuing the trend of me always getting stuck behind a facsimile of the most annoying couple in the world at every concert I go to). All in all, their show was okay but nothing impressive. I was disappointed that "N.Y.C." did not make an appearance. If nothing else, the show helped me realize how much lead singer Paul Banks sounds like Fred Schneider of B-52s fame.
After Interpol came the White Stripes, who put on an energetic, chaotic and very rewarding show. Jack White proved himself to be a bad-ass guitarist, playing some crazy improv riffs. Meg White leaned her head back and kept her eyes closed as she drummed, creating the illusion that she was asleep as she wailed on the snare with particular intensity. They roped me in immediately by opening with "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" and then ripped through a set that sounded as if they were making it up as they went along (they probably were). In the end, I was impressed at the fullness of the sound and the energy created by merely two people. If not for the following day, they no doubt would have been the highlight. But they had competition.
Saturday brought with it some artists I had only passing knowledge of, and others that I just about knew every word to every song. In the former category, the first was Bloc Party. Their performance, while not remarkable, was thoroughly enjoyable. The second was Keane, who invite comparisons to Coldplay like guests to a wedding. For example, the keyboard player had a similar style of rocking out in his seat, just as Chris Martin does. I only got to hear half of their set though, because the 96 Rock Stage awaited with its promise of two stellar shows, a promise I hoped would not be broken.
It wasn't. The first performer of the evening was John Fogerty, former lead singer of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Many would scoff and wonder how a rocker of fairly advanced age such as Fogerty can still rock out. Those people have not seen him live. He roamed around stage and sang and played guitar with energy befitting a 30-year-old, not a 60-year-old. He played every CCR song I could think of, opening with "Travelin' Band" and closing with "Fortunate Son" ("Who'll Stop the Rain?" was particularly ironic since it was pouring at the time). He also threw in solo favorites such as "Centerfield" along the way. For an encore he played "Bad Moon Rising" (complete with distinctly singing "bathroom on the right" in the final rendition of the chorus) and finished up with "Proud Mary". The chance to see such an experienced rocker, who had penned so many gems over the ages, lived up to and even exceeded expectations.
And then, following Fogerty was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, another performance that bordered on religious experience. Obviously, I did not expect them to play all of my favorites ("Learning to Fly" and "The Waiting" were glaring omissions) but the performance was stellar nonetheless. For example, I did not expect the band to play "Don't Come Around Here No More", and I got really excited when I heard them launch into it. I also screamed with joy when Tom said, "This next song goes out to all the Traveling Wilburys" and proceeded to play "Handle With Care". Thankfully, my two favorites "Free Fallin'" and "I Won't Back Down" made the set list, as did "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and "You Don't Know How it Feels". He also covered Dylan's "Rainy Day Women" as an encore. In short, there were plenty of marijuana references. Jeff swears he got a contact high at the show. The high I was on, on the other hand, was at simply having witnessed it. An unbelievable show. (Incidentally, they opened with "Listen to her Heart" and closed with "Running Down a Dream").
From there, of course, there was really only one way to go, and our interest in Sunday's lineup was fleeting at best. Jeff and Ben really wanted to go see Tegan and Sara, a sister duo with a backup band. They put on an enjoyable show, with some rather amusing stage banter. I would imagine comparisons to the Indigo Girls would be accurate, but I'm not really familiar with the Indigo Girls either. They were followed by Coheed and Cambria. I was somehow the only person in our group who had heard "A Favor House Atlantic", and their performance of that was rather shoddy. Afterwards, we just decided to leave, not really caring about the remainder of the bands in the lineup. The only reason I would go to see Devo or Def Leppard would be to say I saw them, unless I thought Def Leppard might play "From the Inside", which I'm sure they didn't.
Besides, we wanted to get back to Dan's place so we could have an Unexpectedly Sober reunion jam session. We dragged my friend Bob along to play bass with us, and had a fun jam session, going over some of our own original favorites ("Littleton", "Island", "Every Refrain", "Start") as well as a few covers (U2's "One" and "Running Down a Dream" in honor of our Tom Petty experience). All in all, it was an awesome weekend.
Tonight, I will hopefully be viewing "Batman Begins", for which I will post a review at some point. I know I promised a review of "Episode III", and I actually began one, before realizing it was going to be way too long and not all that interesting. In short, while it was a flawed movie, it still makes the first two prequels better, and casts a new light on the original trilogy. A success overall, and a 9.5/10.
Song lyric of the day:
"Get over regrets
While you were sleeping with angels, he was under the bed
And the more skin that you shed
The more that the air in your throat will linger when you call him your friend"
- Toad the Wet Sprocket, Crowing
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home