Ken | “s”
In Physical (live) (2010)
The studio version of this song came up on shuffle and I forgot I loved it. Never knew there was a live DVD for the album, tho knowing L’Arc I should have guessed!
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The Joy Formidable - Live Tour 2013 “Wolf’s Law”
The Joy Formidable - Wolf’s Law Tour @ Upstate Concert Hall
w/ RIBS & Team Spirit
2013.04.14
On Sunday last weekend, some of my friends and I attended The Joy Formidable live at the local concert hall. The Welsh Trio came back to Upstate NY to little fanfare, but put on an explosive show none the less.
We arrived at Upstate Concert Hall around 6.20pm and noticed a few heads floating around at the door, and decided to queue up. About the UCH: it’s a pretty big place — holds about 650 people more or less, the sound is pretty good. Real nice bar help, nice security, all in all: not a bad dive.
Anyway, 7.30 rolls around, and opening band RIBS walked out on stage to little applause.
The next 45 minutes up, the band played a relentless attack of pop-rock, and shoegaze channeling early Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage. The drummer was pretty tight, playing some slightly intricate little things here and there, keeping an excellent beat. I had no issues with the guitarist & bassist in terms of sound quality from the cabs. Not only that, but the overall song writing was pretty tight. However, as with any opening band, and especially a band that is rather noise oriented, the vocals were drowned out. The bassist & guitarist switched off on a tune, creating a different tonality in the room. Bassist dude’s telecaster completely drowned out the sound of guitarist man’s bass. It was pretty wacky to say the least. Things started to get weirder at the end of their set, when the bassist winked at my girlfriend and I & proceeded to throw his shirt off in our general direction. Overall though, I’d definitely see them again. They have two EPs out right now at their official site, and some videos worth checking out (Especially their most recent, “Russian Blood”).
EDIT: I talked to the guitar dood, and he was rate chill! They’re a band located out of Boston, and I guess our station WEQX has been playing them extensively recently. Great, because these guys should definitely break out.
Setlist -
01 - Kiss
02 - Even
03 - Gateway Drug
04 - ALARMS
05 - Destructo
When the next band came up on stage, I did NOT know what to expect. On stage banter during sound check implied that this band knew how to have fun! I even laughed! However, when Team Spirit came on stage, shit started to sound weird.
When the next band came up on stage, I did NOT know what to expect. On stage banter during sound check implied that this band knew how to have fun! I even laughed! However, when Team Spirit came on stage, shit started to sound weird. As with any surfer rock/punk band you’ve gotta really gotta be interested in that niche, but what I heard I did not enjoy. As I viddied from the bar, the band seemed energetic enough. But I heard some generic punk rock tunes along with some witty on stage banter, in between more songs with titles like “Fuck the Beach”. Though I’m not sure if it was the band or the dude on the mixer, but the band sounded like butt. The general consensus among us attending was that the band wasn’t really enjoyable at all. Maybe worth it for the rest of you guys who dig this brand of crazy music.
Finally, Thomas, Dafydd, and Ritzy walked out to the crowd at about 9.30pm, and played for us a wonderous setlist, centered around their sophomore effort, “Wolf’s Law”. For those who have never heard of The Joy Formidable, they’re a three piece from Wales, centered around a joyous brand of Stadium Rock, calling forth bands like Arcade Fire, and Phantogram, but with a post-rock flair to their craft.
Opening up with “Cholla”, the crowd who began as sparse, now seemingly shoved to the front, starting singing along as well, creating that really unified atmosphere that some bands seem to ooze. Y’know, on-stage charisma. That sort of thing.
The night was littered with those sing along moments, from career jumping single, “Cradle”, to almost tangibly heart felt moments in their performance of “Silent Treatment”. The biggest waves of energy in the main set came from the primal and emotional “I Don’t Want to See You Like This”, and from the ridiculously raucous and infectiously rockin’ “Maw Maw Song”.
The main complaint though with the main set, was the use of extensive backing tracks that had little to substance/or were just plain inaudible. “This Ladder is Ours” made extensive use of these backing tracks, and the song lost it’s luster and staying power.
However, when the band came back for their encore, a piano was set up on stage for the band’s final two songs. Ritzy was very heartfelt, extensively telling the audience how happy she was we all came out to see them that night, while Dafydd told them and us that they had to leave, etc.
Anyway, the last two songs of the night were quite lively and explosive to say the least. “Wolf’s Law” in particular was quite the moving performance, even though it was mired in back tracks for half of the performance.
The band closed with their most well known track, “Whirring”. The band played with the audience extensively during this song, Ritzy even came down to the pit and let us, the audience mash on her beloved Stratocaster. After a couple more post-rockalyptic jump offs, the band threw down their instruments in a fit of joy, and walked off, triumphant. All in all, an excellent end to an excellent evening.
Setlist -
01. Cholla
02. Austere
03. This Ladder is Ours
04. Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade
05. Little Blimp
06. Cradle
07. Tendons
08. Silent Treatment
09. Maw Maw Song
10. I Don’t Want To See You Like This
11. The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie
-encore-
12. Wolf’s Law
13. Whirrring
This certainly isn’t one of Dir en grey’s best performances, but I want to call attention to Shinya here. Why? Because he’s a mess. Granted this was recorded back in December — probably after their hiatus that was a result of Kyo’s throat issues — so maybe they were rusty. But Shinya has been rusty for a while. It’s telling in the song’s opening drum fill, where he doesn’t even bother throwing in the double bass hits, so it ends up sounding like an amateur is sitting behind the kit. I find it curious.
We all know Shinya is a fantastic drummer, but I seriously have to wonder if the heavier style Dir en grey has adopted just isn’t his forte. He doesn’t have the power to drive the sludge forward. In live settings, he’ll go from cracking the hell out of the snare to sounding like he’s applying a feather touch to the toms, all within one drum fill. And his feet sometimes sound like they’re stumbling over each other.
Look, it’s obvious he’s using triggers in the studio. Bring them with you to the stage too, dude. There’s no shame in it. Don’t turn into another Lars Ulrich.
iron maiden | maiden england ‘88 (2013)
I’VE LOVED THIS CONCERT FOR YEEEEEARS.
But alas, visually, the DVD transfer is barely an improvement over the VHS i’ve worn out: Steve Harris’ decision to record this show to tape instead of film twenty-five years ago was a bad one.
It means colors will continue to feel washy and bleedy, while the details will never attain crispness. And forget an HD version someday.
No, if you’re buying this, it should mainly be for the 5.1 mix, not for the picture quality.
There’s also three extra songs — “Run to the Hills,” “Running Free,” and “Sanctuary” — but we’ve already got at least half a dozen different live versions of those tracks, and these renditions are entirely unspecial.
Bummer.
:\
dir en grey | kasumi (2011)
with the release of dir en grey’s new mini-album “the unraveling” drawing closer, there has been a lot of talk about them likely turning all their songs into sludgefests.
however, this very recent version of “kasumi” (which apparently slipped under the radar, unless someone posted this in the shoutbox) actually has me looking forward to it. it’s definitely true to the original but in this case, the updated guitar tones and the change in timbre kyo’s voice has undergone since their vulgar-days is enough to do the trick for me.
