Neil Young with Wilco and Everest, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY - 12/15/2008

I just got back to the C-bus after a whirlwhind trip to San Francisco (business, mostly) and then New York City (pleasure, mostly). The trip to NYC was made to see friends, eat some good food (the Striphouse features steak as well as truffled spinach that are both to die for) and - though I thought I could resist it - see Neil Young with Wilco opening up.

I had been to Madison Square Garden twice in my life before this: once as a kid to see the Knicks with my dad during one of our annual NYC sojourns (pretty cool annual trip for a kid from straight up rural South Carolina), and later as a teenager on another family trip to see Rush on the Roll the Bones tour. (It was kind of awesome, and I even found a bootleg a couple years later of the second night of that stint at MSG for Canada's greatest prog rockers.)

I had not wanted to commit to a big, arena show with all the social comings and goings of this venture into the city, but I couldn't help myself and swung up to Penn Station around 6 PM to see what the ticket situation was. Scalpers seemed to be having a hard time giving these tickets away, and I ended up paying $80 for a general admission floor seat in section 7 (face value $90). I was telling the scalpers that I only wanted to spend $40, much to their chagrin, and to my surprise, low balling them worked pretty well. As did the fact that I was obviously not overly enthusiastic. Plus, well, they couldn't give the damn things away.

I relaxed with a Bud tallboy back at my buddy's apartment and then walked in around 8 PM. It was a strange maze of hallways for general admission ticket holders, and when I finally stumbled out into the arena, I think I was guided the wrong way, as I found myself in the closest possible general admission area. I waltzed up about 30 feet back from the stage, dead center, and about 20 minutes (most of which I kept thinking someone was going to pull me out of there) later, Wilco walks out and launches into a killer 4-song set opener. The rest of the set was quite good, though I could live without "I'm the Man Who Loves You." Hey - at least they left out "Hate It Here."

Via Chicago / Impossible Germany / You Are My Face / Spiders (Kidsmoke) / Hummingbird / Jesus Etc. / Forget the Flowers / Walken / I'm The Man Who Loves You

So then it's wait time for Neil. I drink a couple of Bud Lights from the floor people who are out selling it, as I was not about to lose my place. This was my first time seeing Neil, too, so it was kind of a big deal for me on many levels. There are so many things to highlight about this show ... his crazy amplifiers, the fact that he rocks pretty hard for an old codger, the fact that he played almost 3 hours (which was almost too much for me), the fact that his newer songs are often pretty awful (esp. the brand new ones on this tour that are all related to oil/cars/etc.). Regardless, just getting to see him rock "Powderfinger" or "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" was dreamy for me. I can't even begin to explain how long I've simply loved those songs, going all the way back to early high school when I picked up Live Rust and had my world blown open.

Seriously ... this setlist pretty much kills:

Love And Only Love / Hey Hey, My My / Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere / Powderfinger / Spirit Road / Cortez The Killer / Cinnamon Girl / Oh, Lonesome Me / Mother Earth / The Needle And The Damage Done / Light A Candle / "Cough Up The Bucks" / Fuel Line / "Hit The Road And Go To Town" / Unknown Legend / Heart Of Gold / Old Man / Get Back To The Country / "Off The Road" / Just Singing A Song / When Worlds Collide / Cowgirl In The Sand / Rockin' In The Free World // "Get Behind The Wheel" / A Day In The Life

I had to leave before "A Day In The Life" was done with its feedback outro as there was a train that needed to be caught as well as sleep that needed to be had, since I was flying out of LaGuardia at 9 AM and, as a lot of folks know, I only take public transportation to the airport - even LaGuardia.

Dean Wareham et al, Peel Slowly and See panel discussion, Wexner Museum, Columbus, OH - 11/20/2008

It's always a bit nerve-wracking to finally meet someone whose art you really appreciate/respect/what-have-you. I've been a fan of Galaxie 500 since late high school and can say that, for about half my life, I've been a fan of Dean Wareham. And I got to meet him in a fairly non-crowded environment this week.

He and his (quite beautiful) wife Britta were playing a special performance of songs commissioned for Andy Warhol screen tests and, while here playing at the Wex, did a panel discussion of the Velvets/Warhol relationship plus a book-signing afterward. (I loved his book and highly recommend it, by the way.)

The panel, called Peel Slowly and See: Warhol, Music and Image, included Dean, Ohio State comparative studies professor Barry Shank, and Pitchfork managing editor Mark Richardson. Prof. Shank got things started with a 20-minute or so slide show and talk on Lou Reed's background leading up to forming the Velvets, including a clip of a song by Lou's pre-Velvets band the Primitives. I had never heard this before. Mark Richardson (who seemed like a shockingly cool, down to earth guy) went next and made the overriding point that it's hard to imagine how crazy it must have been to hear the Velvets back in 1967-68. One of his points was how crazy different (rock and roll speaking) 1967 was from a decade before while nowadays, 2008 doesn't seem so different than 1998. I think the term "cultural acceleration" was applied to this. Dean finished things off with more or less off the cuff remarks about his personal relationship with the Velvets. (Luna were picked to open up for the Velvets when they toured Europe briefly in 1993. Pretty awesome.)

The Q&A that followed was brief, mainly because there were maybe 40 or so folks there, most of whom didn't ask anything. Most questions were aimed at Dean, of course. I couldn't help myself and asked the whole panel, getting back to Mark's point about cultural acceleration, if they felt that music was reaching some kind of dead ends when it came to finding a sound as game-changing as the Velvets were. The discussion on that one was pretty lively, I thought.

Afterward, there was a book signing. I talked to Dean for a few minutes, and he was quite nice and, well, down to earth. I told him that I had been a fan of Galaxie since high school but, after reading his memoir, had really reevaluated and more deeply come to love Luna. He asked what I did for a living and seemed genuinely intersted when I talked about leukemia/lymphoma, etc. At the end of the conversation, I told him that I'd probably never get to meet him again and, if it was cool with him, would love to get a photo with him. And he jumped up, put his arm around me, and ... well ... there you have it. I'm a bigger fan than I was before.

No Age, Wexner Center Performance Space, Columbus OH - 11/19/2008

As the Who once sang ... the kids are alright. Yes, it was a kid-friendly (and by "kids," I mean teens and twenty-somethings) atmosphere at the Wex for this show last night. I had listened to all of 1 minute of No Age going in, so I was kind of expecting, based on other reviews, a loud/pummeling assault. That was about right.

My friend Jenn and I grabbed a couple beers pre-show at the always yummy St. James (where we also tried a new Lagunitas brown sugar-tinged beer that was, um, strong) before getting to the show around 10.

Openers #1 were Silk Flowers, whom we missed. We did not hear good things. Then was Soft Circle, which was a cool looped thing where a guy got a good, trance-y, krautrock-esque instrumental thing going and then drummed (quite well) and chanted along. It was good if a bit tiresome.

Then it was time for No Age. They played a lot of 2-minute songs that were surprisingly complex for how much riffage and volume was going on. The vocals could have been louder, for sure, and the moshing a bit less in my face (I'm old, what can I say?), but it was a fun time. (The last moshpit I saw that rivaled this was, I swear, during Yo La Tengo's set at All Tomorrow's Parties. Crazy.) They aren't my bag 100%, but they are good at what they do.

I'm thinking that I'm going to get to meet Dean Wareham today. Kind of pumped. Now that's more my bag ...

(No setlist, as I have no idea what their songs are titled.)

Zoso (Zeppelin tribute band), Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH - 11/14/2008

I'm a little late getting to this one. I have an odd love of all tribute bands, even those that are a tibute to bands that I don't necessarily love. From the B Street Band to the Sweet and Tender Hooligans, count me in. Of all the tribute bands out there, though, I have seen none as many times as I've seen Zoso, the most totally awesome hammer-of-the-gods Zeppelin-istas you'll ever come across. It is jaw-dropping how they rock the Zepplin sound. And how can one really hate the Zeppelin sound? It's awesome - end of story.

What I really like is that they play a pretty varied setlist with some oddball song choices every show. They rocked a killer "No Quarter," for instance, threw in a gorgeous "Going to California" along with some later period tunes and even opened with one of my personal faves from Zeppelin III, "Celebration Day."

It was fun, that's all I'm sayin' ...

Partial setlist ...

Celebration Day
can't remember
What Is and What Should Never Be
Tangerine
Heartbreaker
can't remember
can't remember
Black Dog
Immigrant Song
can't remember
Misty Mountain Hop
Since I've Been Loving You
10 Years Gone
Bron-y-Aur Stomp
Going to California
The Song Remains the Same
No Quarter
Over the Hills and Far Away

Stairway (why do they have to end with Stairway?)

Fleet Foxes, Wexner Museum, Columbus, OH - 10/8/2008

A college buddy of mine got into town a couple hours before this show, and we had a few beers to get warmed up for the event. As our group walked into the Wexner, we found out that rather than a trip to the Black Box stage, the band was performing on the stage of the Mershon Auditorium. The last show I saw with that set up, Vampire Weekend, was a kind of hushed affair, so I was skeptical.

We walked into the forlorn, dead-on primitive folk/blues stylings of Frank Fairfield, which was pretty great stuff, I must say. For fans of old blues or Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music (a collection I highly recommend), it was kind of mind-blowing how well this dude channeled that creepy vibe.

Then the Fleet Foxes came out and did their thing, and they did it very, very well. I don't have a ton to say about this show aside from the fact that it was great ... a towering, mighty performance. They played most of their catalog and sounded devastatingly perfect. A couple of songs, most notably a cover in the middle, were done solo by their lead vocalist, and he was a force just on his own. They encored first with him again playing solo, this time their haunting "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song," which possibly sounded even better with him doing it on his own. If I may be forgiven a moment of hyperbole for the umpteenth time in my life, it made me think of what seeing the Band in their heyday must have felt like. (That's a high compliment coming from me.)

A buddy of mine has said that he wanted to follow Grizzly Bear around on the road after seeing them live recently, and I had that same feeling seeing Fleet Foxes. They're the real deal.

Setlist (courtesy of the Via Chicago forum):
1. Sun Giant
2. Sun It Rises
3. Drops in the River
4. English Houses
5. White Winter Hmnal
6. Ragged Wood
7. Your Protector
8. Crayon Angels (Judee Sill) >> Oliver James [Robin solo]
9. Quiet Houses
10. He Doesn't Know Why
11. Mykonos

-Encore
12. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song [Robin solo]
13. Blue Ridge Mountains

My Morning Jacket, The LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH 10/6/2008

Got back into town from Nashville and quickly turned around and headed up to this show. I'm a pretty big fan of these guys and would even rank their album It Still Moves in my Top 5 all-timers. The typical baggage comes along with that kind of long-formed devotion ... things have changed, they're more popular, they don't play the "good" songs anymore ... it's kind of like a relationship going slightly sour ...

I was reminded recently of telling a friend that seeing them live would "make you a believer," and I still stand by that statement. By now, I've seen them >10 times and pretty consistently for 5 years (first MMJ show for me was the Orange Peel, Asheville, NC in early 2004), and those have included some of their career-defining performances (Bonnaroo is 2004 and 2006, end of the Z tour at the Orange Peel in 2007); expectations are thus a bit high for me.

We got there early and settled down on the lawn at the LC with a great sightline. It was cold and clear and kind of perfect. My 32-ounce Fatweiser tasted quite yummy. So the show ...

One truly needs to divide reviewing today's MMJ as pre-Evil Urgesand post-Evil Urges, the steaming pile of dung that they released this year. It's a brutal, heart-breaking record to listen to, and I don't mean that in a good way. It's the sound of everything good going off the rails in a big way. I'm not a change hater, either ... from Dylan to Miles to the Velvets to Wilco and Spoon and Pavement and other modern rockers, change can be done perfectly well. This is a case of change going very, very wrong.

For the pre-EU material, a band this good is not going to have much trouble conjuring magic and intensity. It's amazing how intense and vibrant they can still make "The Way That He Sings" sound, even if they've played it literally hundreds of times. Even the by now expected closer, "One Big Holiday", sends shivers and inspires some degree of rapture, despite it's predicted nature. Highlights were, for me, "Lay Low" (which is always a live highlight), "Evelyn" and all the It Still Moves material, even a slightly tired reading of "Golden."

And now where the rubber hits the road ... Evil Urges ... as I expected, these songs did indeed sound much better live. A couple are even quite legitimate, like the "Touch Me" two-fer or "Sec Walkin'." But this is just subpar material, no matter how you slice it. I've gotten to a point where most of the bands I like are continuing to put out such strong material that I'm just as happy to hear the new stuff as the old, even with acts as venerable as Radiohead or Wilco ("Hate It Here" notwithstanding). Sadly, though, no one is ever going to redeem "Highly Suspicious" or the middling lyrics of "I'm Amazed" (though the music is great on that cut).

But add it all up, and the show was greater than most any band you're going to find these days. These guys are in control and can bring out the hammer of the gods as they see fit. Jim James is a singularly great frontman. Maybe I just miss the days of old and should stick to my geezer rock tastes.

Nicely, I have a great upcoming comparison in getting to see Fleet Foxes tomorrow night. I am looking forward to comparing/contrasting the new kids on the block with the old ...

Onstage: 8:30
Off: 10:45

Evil Urges
Touch Me Pt. 1
Off the Record
What A Wonderful Man
I'm Amazed
The Way That He Sings
Thank You Too
Sec Walkin
Evelyn Is Not Real
Mahgeetah
Lay Low
Gideon
Golden
Librarian
Dondante
Smokin From Shootin
Touch Me Pt. 2

ENCORE:
It Beats 4 U
Wordless Chorus
Highly Suspicious
Phone Went West
Anytime
One Big Holiday

The Cardinals, Palace Theater, Columbus, OH 9/29/08

I can't say that I had the highest of expectations on going into this show, as I think that Ryan Adams has been, to put it mildly, wildly erratic in terms of quality output. Whiskeytown was great, to be sure, and then he gave us one of the greatest albums I've ever heard, Heartbreaker. Then he's given us one album after another of some great cuts padded with a lot of not-so-great ones. The last thing I really loved from him was Cold Roses, and that came out in friggin' 2004.

More to the point, though, he just doesn't bring that much to the table as a performer these days. He's talented beyond belief and has a voice that is nothing short of spectacular, but the renditions of his songs live lack any sense of dynamics. It all comes across as very brutish compared to the delicacy of the records.

This show was a case in point. We started the night with a nice meal and decent beer at the Elevator and then walked over the the venue, which is a gorgeous, old school theater. Columbus seems to have more gorgeous, old school theaters than it knows what to do with.

Compared to the last time I saw him (at the Ryman in Nashville, 2006), he was very engaged and chatty, even having fun. And the show started with some excitement, especially getting a lot of gems in the first 5 songs. But the playing was just a bit ... by the numbers. Not once was an acoustic guitar touched during this show. The first set really hit a high mark with "Goodnight Rose," not a favorite of mine usually, but they really channeled a Dead-style energy and made it hum. "Let It Ride" is a never miss as far as great tunes, but it too felt kind of tired.

The second set had an emotional high point or two ("Dear Chicago," which he played even though he vowed he wouldn't play it in a million years after people kept yelling for it, and "The Rescue Blues"), but there were moments that I swear could have been from a Counting Crows show. All in all, it just saddens me because he's got the talent and Lord knows he's got the songs, but the performance itself just lacks a bit.

(In case you haven't noted this yet, his new album is titled - and I couldn't make this up - Cardinalogy. Ouch.)

Coming next (after a quick trip to Nashville) is My Morning Jacket in a week. Fingers crossed ...

Setlist and photos courtesy of the Ryan Adams archive.

On: 8:45 pm EST

1. Cobwebs
2. Stars Go Blue
3. Wonderwall
4. Two
5. La Cienga Just Smiled
6. Fix It
7. Sun Also Sets
8. Magick
9. Remote Control (Improv)
10. Come Pick Me Up
11. Goodnight Rose
12. Evergreen>
13. Bartering Lines
14. Desire
15. Natural Ghost
16. Let it Ride

Break: 10:10 pm EST

Onstage: 10:30 EST

17. Sinking Ships>
18. Crossed Out Name
19. Afraid Not Scared
20. Please Do Not Let Me Go
21. Everybody Knows
22. OMG Whatever, ETC
23. Rescue Blues
24. Note to Self, Don't Die
25. Dear Chicago

OVER CURFEW

26. Off Broadway

Off: 11:15 pm EST

All Tomorrow's Parties New York 2008

So I rarely post on here but am thinking that this is a better venue for my music reviews/vacation tales/etc. than just old e-mails. Plus I can toss in more links, have these things remain a bit more "permanent," etc.

So I just got back this week from the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in the Catskills, New York. There have been some great, all inclusive reviews already published, like from:

NPR - All Things Considered
Pitchfork Media
The New York Times

Here's my 2 cents on it ...

Thursday 9/18/08

I fly out from Columbus to Providence, RI, where I rent a car and head up to Newton, MA to meet up with my sis and her family. I got there by 1:30 or so in the afternoon and scared my brother-in-law slightly. We headed up to my sister's lab to all meet up (my brother-in-law's mom was in town, too) and ended up ordering pizza back at the house. I was having a blast playing with my nieces, of course. My sis and I ended up getting out of the house for some beers, and it was great to catch up, though she gave me the damn third degree on career plans and what not. A nice, easy night.

Friday 9/19/08

Lily, my 3-year old niece, comes in and wakes me up in the morning. (I should explain that when I sleep at my sister's, I usually sleep on an air mattress on the floor of their half bathroom downstairs, as they don't have a guest room and my brother-in-law is up late in the den usually. Lily, who just turned 3, thinks that I always sleep in bathrooms all the time. Mildly hilarious.) I make my first driving foray into Boston proper to pick up my med school buddy Matt (pathologist in Boston) and his lovely wife Nicole (ditto) right by MGH. I did OK, methinks.

We hit the road, stopping on the way to get 3 cases of beer and some snacks, and around 2 PM arrive at Kutshers Country Club in Monticello, NY. An article I read described this resort as "elegantly shabby." It's hard to quite convey just how right on that description is. As Pitchfork reported:

A resort that was once a jeweled notch on the buckle of the Borscht Belt, Kutsher's is stuck in a time warp somewhere around when Dirty Dancing was supposed to take place. It's got a real golf course and a mini-golf course, an ice rink, indoor and outdoor pools, tennis courts, a playground, a lake with rowboats, a synagogue, an arcade, a cinema, and a cosmetics counter where a lady sat from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day, ready to do your makeup. The kitchen is kosher; the ATP food court, serving only the finest in greasy fried carnival fare, was located in the parking lot. As a certain expert on the vacationing patterns of Northeastern American Jews during the 1960s and 70s (a.k.a. my mother) said, "What the hell are you going to Kutsher's for? That place is still around? What a dump!"

Indeed, Kutsher's was a dump. An entire wing was crippled under flood damage, many rooms barely got hot water, and ATP advised guests to bring their own towels and toiletries. A rumor spread that the place was infested with bed bugs. (Not true, thank goodness.) The ceiling of the main performance space looked like it had been attacked by Cookie Monster. But as the event's publicist pointed out, it isn't easy to find a space that not only features all of the amenities required for a three-day, live-in, indoor rock festival, but is willing to put up with thousands of intoxicated revelers and the mayhem that ensues. The place did have its charms, though. References to The Shining ran rampant, and Patton Oswalt made a joke about David Lynch walking into Kutsher's and saying, "Ahh, perfect!"

As we checked in, we ran smack dab into Thurston Moore within 10 minutes, which gave me a taste of what the weekend had in store. The first day's sets were close to getting started, so we hurriedly cracked some beers so as to get there in time to see Bardo Pond perform their album Lapsed, a record I bought when it came out and have liked for a long time. It's not as seminal to me as their double album manifesto Amanita, but it's a good 'un. They were pretty dang true to the album, and our first introduction to the main venue (the venerable Starland Ballroom) was surreal. Also, we quickly discovered that we could bring our own beers wherever we wanted. And that this festival was composed of about 92% dudes by my estimate, so ladies, if you're looking for socially awkward late 20's/early 30's rock nerds, this is your Studio 54.

Bardo Pond - "Be A Fish" (off Amanita, but it gives you a good idea of what their sound is all about)

So Bardo Pond brought it, I thought ... we recharged with more beer and then settled in for the Meat Puppets playing Meat Puppets II. It was a bit cracked at first, but by the end of the record they were cooking with fire and even did a killer trio of "Up On The Sun" (my favorite song of theirs) into "Tennessee Stud" into "Tomorrow Never Knows." I knew we were in for a good weekend.

Meat Puppets - "Up On The Sun"

I was feeling drunk by now, too, but we regrouped for part of Tortoise's rendering of Millions Now Living Will Never Die. I like seeing Tortoise live, but it was, as usual, a bit boring. And to reiterate ... I was getting drunk. At this point, I ate some (fairly nasty) kebab (which will now forever make me think of Flight of the Conchords) and acutally napped through Thurston Moore's Psychic Hearts. I had to rest up for Built to Spill. Sadly, I missed all the comedians, which was too bad, because some of those dudes are damn funny.

So I really did get up and rally for the coup de gras of the first evening, Built to Spill's complete opus Perfect From Now On. Both Nicole and I tried to rouse Matt with earnestness, but he was out for this one. What can I say? It's one of my favorite records of the 90's, and they absolutely killed it. Not always a great live band, they were clearly digging it. Right when "Untrustable" ended, they launched into (without pause) "Goin' Againt Your Mind," followed by a short break and then a killer encore of "Stab," "Car" (!!!) and finally a long, noisy drone out. I was so stoked that I ended up staying up 'til 3 or so that morning talking and drinking and soaking it in.

Built to Spill - "Randy Described Eternity" (live)

Saturday 9/20/08

I felt pretty good this morning, despite my fears otherwise. I e-mailed some in the morning and then went to a screening of Gimmie Shelter, the classic Stones documentary that I've seen multiple times already. It seemed like a good way to get into the day. The Criterion Collection was there screening films all weekend and giving away some killer prizes. A guy at the Stones film won a Frank Kozik-signed poster related to the movie. Damn!

During the day, I saw Apse (forgettable, but great drummer), Wooden Shijps (pretty killer psych rock) and Harmonia (very cool, oddly relevant krautrock from some old geezers from Germany).

Harmonia - "Arabesque" (live 1974)

Then we saw Edan, a rapper/DJ from Boston, and he killed it. Great rapper, very innovative spinning ... it was a great set. Impressive. And he had crazy reverence for indie rock, including a long rap where he namedropped a great and varied cache of artists.

Edan - "I See Colours"

Next was a band that was a deciding factor for me to come, Polvo, indie rock greats from Chapel Hill who have just recently reunited. I never got to see them back when I first fell for them in high school, so it was great to see them now. And they were huge - monolithic slabs of math rock with a drummer who blew my mind. And they played some "hits," including "Fast Canoe," "Every Holy Shroud," "Bombs That Fall From Your Eyes," and a personal favorite, "City Spirit." Possibly the set of the weekend for me.

Polvo - "City Spirit"
Polvo - "Bombs That Fall From Your Eyes"

Next was Les Savy Fav. (The singer, Tim Harringon, was standing next to me during Polvo, so we snuck a shot of that.) They were predictably awesome and wacked out, but I had to take a breather for about 30 minutes to prepare for Shellac. And Shellac rocked it hard. Very machine-like, with enough "hits" ("Prayer For God," "Copper," "My Black Ass" and a bunch of others) to keep it great. I had to bolt right when they finished, as I am an old man who can't hang with the kids who hung around to see Lightning Bolt.

Shellac - "Copper"

I should mention that this was Nicole's least favorite day, as it was very heavy on hard, math-y rock. I find that interesting.

Sunday 9/21/08

I am still very tired on getting up this morning. Matt, Nicole and I drive into Monticello for proper brunch (it wasn't that proper, but whatever) and to restock the beer fridge. I wasn't planning on seeing any bands until 4:00 or so because I was feeling like such a wimp, but I roused enough to get over and start the day seeing Lilys, a psych rock outfit from Philly. They've been around a while and were fine ... nothing great, but fine.

We then saw EPMD, the most incongruous act of the weekend. They are straight up hip hop legends, and this was the whitest crowd you could possibly imagine. A handful of people really knew their catalog, but it was kind of eerily quiet at times. They seemed to have fun with it, though, and they were pretty great.

EPMD - "You Gots to Chill"

Then it was time for the mega-lineup everyone was really there for ... Mercury Rev, Yo La Tengo, Mogwai, Dinosaur Jr and, finally, My Bloody Valentine's first show in the US in 16 years. This was a long night, and I got quite drunk, and I got quite tired, and I had to take some breaks. But here's my attempt ...

Mercury Rev - ear-splittingly loud, very "soaring" and bombastic, made me think of the Flaming Lips minus the good, succinct songs

Yo La Tengo - a weird set for them, starting with an ambient opener, then an obscure one off Electr-O-Pura called "Flying Lesson" (which I'd never heard them do live, interestingly), a couple of new tunes ("I Feel Like Going Home" and "Watch Out For Me Ronnie") and a crushing ending with "The Story of Yo La Tango," which was fantastic ... and people moshed to them - hard - which never happened the rest of the weekend

Yo La Tengo - "The Story of Yo La Tango"

Mogwai - I stuck around for about 2 songs ... they don't do it for me, though they sounded great ...
(At this point, I woofed down a hot dog and saw about 5 songs from Bob Mould, including a spirited take on "See a Little Light," which was nice ...)

Dinosaur Jr. - I certainly made it back for Dinosaur but was getting stupid by this point. I saw "Little Fury Things" and "Out There" and a couple others, but by the time they started in with "Feel the Pain," I had to go lay down and rest up for MBV ...

My Bloody Valentine - Pitchfork wrapped their set up nicely, though I would have to disagree on the point that they came out of the gate rocking hard (and loud) and continued to do so for the whole set ... it was great and, on some level, revelatory to hear these songs done this way ... I only made it through about 5 minutes of the unreal, 17-minute wall of noise with which they end each set ... it was super loud, like standing behind a jet engine ...

My Bloody Valentine - "I Only Said"

And so I was out like a light, though we stayed up for a while just gushing about how great it was. Hey ... it was pretty great ...

Monday 9/22/08

Traveling ... we hit the road at 7:30 that morning after we saw these poor English dudes getting scolded for taking a golf cart out and wreaking havoc. They looked sheepish and hungover. That was probably the most violent thing that happened all weekend. I really think the staff and security were just perplexed by these mostly older, fairly calm, almost totally white dudes all hanging out qutie politely for 3 days.

We were in Boston by 11:30 AM, said our goodbyes, and then I was off to Providence and finally back in the C-bus by 8 that night.

There's some talk around that they're going to do this thing again next year ... same time, same place. If the line-up is anywhere near as sick as this one, I can't recommend it enough. Just a great time ...