BSP, Interpol, NY Dolls, Killers Concert

[Frau_Blucher]

...at the Across the Narrows festival on Staten Island, Saturday Oct 1st. We had a dropout and I would hate to see him get stiffed with the bill for nothing. Anyone else interested in this lineup? Come one, this is close enough for Phily and NYC folks. Email me thru my profile info if interested.

[Frau_Blucher]

We're headed out to the festival this afternoon! Any last second takers? Stage times are now posted on the event site:

http://www.acrossthenarrows.com/lineup.html

Anyone else going to this or the Brooklyn set?

[waukena]

I gotta work...[V]

[MARV]

Wow, what a hell of a time Blir and I had tonight! Just back from Staten Island. British Sea Power and Interpol were EXCELLENT. I can't thank Blir enough for turning me on to British Sea Power BTW. They are well on their way to "ownage" territory in my book. Interpol are Interpol and they just rock in a most satisfyingly driving, incessant, pulsating, non stop Joy Divisionesque manner that just rules as far as I'm concerned. The crowd was definitely an Interpol one. After they finished their set, people left in droves. I never would have gone out of my way to see the the New York Dolls but I'm glad I did as there were a few numbers that I thought were quite good. They definitely have the whole stage-act-peformance thing down pat and can entertain, no question. The Killers I found to be a little weak. Without a major catalog of work to draw from I thought there was a lot of fluff in their show and either their lead singer needs to project more or their tech guys need to play with the EQ to make his voice stand out more. And the sushi we had one town over from me was AWEsome and a great way to end the night.

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[MARV]

[quote][i]Originally posted by waukena[/i]
<br>I gotta work...[V][/quote]

Sorry you missed it bud. It was good.

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[Frau_Blucher]

Ditto pretty much what Marv said...

British Sea Power: an excellent albeit short set given the festival setting. Blasted out of the gates as usual with "It Ended on an Oily Stage" and finishing with their rousing "Lately/Rock in A" sendoff combo...although "Rock in A" was distinctly different somehow. I thought I saw a lot of the younger crowd get wowed by their energetic performance. However, I'm kinda resigned to them never making it really big - they're almost too lyrical and melodic for today's mass consumption. There's no way I'm missing them this winter on their club tour - they're fabulous in an intimate setting.

Interpol: much better than what I saw of them in the Glastonbury webcast. Much more stage presence, energy, and animation. A very excellent show. These guys are extremely polished for what is still a very young band. If BSP have the lyrical and spiritual heart of Joy Division, Interpol are the driving and intense musical heirs.

NY Dolls: I thought I'd tire of them after the novelty of a couple of songs, but like Marvy said, they maintained the energy and presence to keep me interested. "Looking For a Kiss" was a classic kickoff. "Personality Crisis" held together the middle of the set while "Trash" and "Jet Boy" rocked the house at the end. I heard a lot of cynical comment by the younger crowd, but by the end, a lot of them were rocking and dance. It's ironic how polished David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain's stage presences were considering the knock that they hardly knew what the hell they were doing in their early days. They crushed the Killers as far as stage presence went.

The Killers: they did some really good songs but kinda thudded. Brandon Flowers' vocals just got lost in the mix. The opening "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" was preceded by a piped-in vocal version of "A Love Story" theme - pretty cool actually, very theatric. But "Mr. Brightside", "Smile Like You Mean It" and Somebody Told Me" were sprinkled amongst an otherwise unmemorable set - they need more good songs to headline such a festival. My favorite "All These Things That I've Done" was saved for the encore so we waited to the bitter end. But it was essentially ruined by a BORING lead-in of some repetitive song that I can't remember plus an unnecessary cover of a Bowie track off Ziggy Stardust. The overriding impression I have is that these guys are lightweights and they have some work cut out for their next release. It pisses me off that they've sold over a million records vs BSP's 100,000, but I guess their cookie-cutter, cut-n-dry digestable music is an A&R man's wet dream, kinda ala Coldplay.

Overall, supremely worthwhile, especially with the backdrop of Manhattan behind the stage and the orange twilight giving way to a magnificent city nightscape. I wish more of you were there.

[KYYX4ever]

Wow, that sounded like such a treat. Thanks for posting your reviews, guys. I'd love to see any of these acts in concert. Your posts always inspire me to catch whoever might be coming to town. Except--no one much ever comes thru town, though.

[MARV]

Really? I'm surprised. I remember Albequerque as a pretty decent happening kind of place.

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[Frau_Blucher]

BTW, how did I never know that The Killers took their name from New Order's "Crystal" video? It's the one where all these teenagers lipsync their way through the song until they're finally booted off my security. On the drum set, you can clearly see the moniker "The Killers". Also the giant digital light board that's the backdrop is very reminiscent of the logo backdrop that The Killers use. I only just looked it up on the web, and sure enough, Flowers says that's where they got their name. Kinda nifty.

[schwenko]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Blir[/i]
<br>BTW, how did I never know that The Killers took their name from New Order's "Crystal" video? It's the one where all these teenagers lipsync their way through the song until they're finally booted off my security. On the drum set, you can clearly see the moniker "The Killers". Also the giant digital light board that's the backdrop is very reminiscent of the logo backdrop that The Killers use. I only just looked it up on the web, and sure enough, Flowers says that's where they got their name. Kinda nifty.
[/quote]

yes, grasshopper.... you are learning[^]

[schwenko]

more on "Crystal" video:

Shamberg is also building a Web site (www. kinoteca.net) that will contain his stories about the making of these videos as well as one special treat. “When I called Leos Carax” — the legendary French director of Les Amants du Pont-Neuf — “to do a video for ‘Crystal,’ he told me, ‘The video will be very cheap, but my fee will be very large,’” recalls Shamberg, who notes that Carax didn’t get the job. “Then one day he called and told me that he had gone ahead and made the video. It’s very funny, and it will be up on my Web site. It’s just him, his dog and his cat. It makes fun of music videos. At the end, his dog is sitting there with an erection.”

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by schwenko[/i]
<br>At the end, his dog is sitting there with an erection
[/quote]
Well, that's me at the end of every New Order video. [:I][:I][:I]

[Frau_Blucher]

What a cynical prick this Village Voice reviewer is. Does he even like music at all? Is he really complaining that there was no hip-hop to attract the crowds? The whole premise of 4 scattered shows was indeed lame, especially with no true broad-appeal headliners, but that's not the performers faults. They put on some great shows IMHO...except for the Killers, who this jerkoff ironically seemed to like the best. Freaking retard...

http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/statu ... s_up_1.php

...and before you ask me to tell you how I really feel, I just did. [:D]