Pixies, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - 9/11/2010

I picked up Doolittle by the Pixies when I was about 12 or 13 years old.  I heard them on MTV's 120 Minutes and was blown away.  That album, along with REM's entire early output, Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, and the Cure's Distentegration (and a few others, like the B-52's and Hoodoo Gurus), was the start of a lifelong obsession with music.  (What a way to start - thanks, MTV [and my older sister and the older siblings of my friends].)

I had the good fortune to see the Pixies twice when they first reunited in 2004, once at the Ryman but quite spectacularly at Coachella (where they were immediately followed by Radiohead - not too shabby).  That Coachella set is one of the better concert experiences of my life.

So here we are, putting together one of my favorite albums ever with one of my favorive live experiences ever, yet I was going into this one pretty nonchalantly.

We had dinner beforehand at Cabana with some friends and then found downtown to be just hopping - nary a parking spot to be found.  Kind of strange, but good to see.  We arrived as F*** Buttons were finishing a very loud, very boring opening set.

Without much ado (though some very rude youngsters told us that we needed to move out of "their" seats - just like that - when they were in the wrong section altogether - why be rude, people?), the Pixies came out after a short silent film that included parts of Un Chien Andalou (the inspiration for "Debaser").  They rocked about 5 B-sides and then launched into "Debaser."  They sounded awesome, the crowd was just about sold out and totally on their feet and loving every minute of it (how un-Nashville, yet again - love it), and it kind of flew by all too fast.

What can one say about Doolittle at this point?  It's fantastic from start to end, and hearing it now reminds one all over again that without this sound, there would've been no "alternative 90's" decade of music.  They played a first encore with the more famous B-sides (including the UK surf version of "Wave of Mutilation" and ending with "Into the White").

They surprisingly came out for a second encore with all the houselights up (past curfew?) and ripped through "Winterlong" (Neil Young cover), "Alison," "Dig for Fire" (had not heard them play this live yet), "Where Is My Mind?" and finally "Gigantic."  They seemed to really be soaking up the enthusiasm of the crowd, etc.  So glad I went to this ...

All Tomorrow's Parties New York Festival, Monticello, NY - 9/3-5/2010

My third straight year back at ATP NY. My last 2 trips here had been amazing, and while the line-up wasn't as thrilling for me personally as the last 2 years, it's such an intimate and unique experience and always includes good friends such that seeing some things kind of new to me would just be icing on the cake to good times anyway.

9/3/2010 - Friday

I flew into Newark, NJ Friday morning without much issue, picked up my car, made the fairly quick 2-hour trip up to the Catskills without much ado and got settled in the charmingly delapidated Kutsher's by around 1 PM or so. My friends Matt and Nicole got in a couple hours later, and we were all relieved that they had relaxed last year's outside alcohol ban. Outside (as in "good") beer was technically not allowed, but they were not checking bags or being very uptight about it, so we brought in a couple of cases, mainly Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Souther Tier Double IPA and a sampler of Magic Hat. Made the weekend, I tell you.

First up was Aussie 80's post-punks the Scientists playing their first US show ever. The pre-show tunes were the Silver Jews, a good sign. They had a good, Nick Cave-ish blues rock thing going. Got a little same-y, though, and we only caught part of this.

Next was Mudhoney, and we sadly missed their opening "Touch Me, I'm Sick," but got to hear them rip through Superfuzz Big Muff and singles like "Sweet Little Thing Ain't Sweet No More." They sounded great, much better than when I last saw them in the mid-90's. Mark Arm's growl is just mighty. Great set.

No matter how much I'd listened to/read about/dreamed of seeing the Stooges, nothing could have prepared me for actually (finally) seeing them. My goodness ... Iggy was truly like a Tazmanian devil unleashed, just going bananas, stagediving over and over (as did a good many fans), and basically just unleashing his madness. They played Raw Power and then some choice cuts after that and sounded mighty:

Raw Power (in its entirety)
1970
noise
I've Got a Right
I Wanna Be your Dog
Open up and Bleed

ENCORE:
Fun House
No Fun

After a respite, we caught a few minutes of Sleep, some very heavy, very loud sludge/stoner metal. I could catch that they're good at what they do and are a pretty mighty, huge-sounding band, but it was really not my bag whatsoever.  Sleep time indeed ...

9/4/2010 - Saturday

Ahhh ... a gorgeous, cool Saturday morning with a mild hangover and a day of rock awaiting me.  I could tell that I'm certainly getting older/snobbier, as the delapidated accomodations, quaint as they may be and charming in their very disrepair, were getting to me a little.  But it was a fine day for the rock.  And it's around this time at any festival that the hanging out with your friends becomes just as important as the actual rocking out.

We started the day seeing the Sian Alice Group (theatrical, a bit much) and then the minimalist English, Krautrock-inspired Beak>, who were good but a bit boring.  I was super-excited to see Tortoise up next, but as usual, they fell a little flat for me.  Just very trancey and what not.  I saw them in the 1990's, and they kind of rocked a bit more, but those days are done, I guess.

I took a break at this point for a wood-fired pizza that was quite yummy and saw Bob Boilen from All Songs Considered on NPR there in line.  I didn't have the stones to say HEY to him, though.  Weird that I'd totally almost bearhug Nick Cave (see last year's report) but couldn't muster a mumbled Hullo to Bob Boilen.  More beer?

This was the big night to rock, though, so we started with Hallogallo, the reinvention of the Krautrock stalwarts Neu!.  I was excited for this but, in typical fashion for me this weekend, found it boring.

Then came a 1990's favorite for me, Bardo Pond.  Playing on the second stage does no one any favors at this festival, as the main stage sounds amazing while this stage straight up doesn't, but they were loud and pretty huge and were playing the first song off Amanita when we walked in.  They also played "Tommy Gun Angel" off Lapsed during their set.  I liked it a lot, but I knew that already.

Back on the main stage, we checked out Shellac (did their Shellac thing, which is fine but a bit predictable and repetitive) and then the Breeders (who sounded unpracticed and out of sorts - a mess).  I actually took a nap during Explosions in the Sky, whom my friends totally dug.  But I had to be ready for Sonic Youth.

I've seen Sonic Youth multiple times over the years, with my first time being in 1995 when they headlined Lollapalooza (which was a tour back then - I saw them in Raleigh, NC, on a stop that included Pavement, Superchunk, the Jesus Lizard, Beck, Cypress Hill and Hole).  I've seen them be both great and kind of awful, but I'm a big, old school fan of them.  I had last seen them probably almost a decade ago, so this was a big selling point for me.  And they were the best I've seen them ever.  Just the 4 of them, very focused, rocking out, playing nothing newer than Daydream Nation (which they played nearly half of).  It was transcendent (and sounded awesome):

Candle (when they opened with those first notes, I nearly lost it)
The Sprawl
'Cross the Breeze
Catholic Block
Stereo Sanctity (!!!!!)
Eric's Trip
Death Valley 69 (!!!!!)
Shadow of a Doubt
Hey Joni
The Wonder
Shaking Hell

ENCORE:
White Kross

I stayed up after it just high on rock and roll.  A great feeling.

9/5/2010 - Sunday

This was my fourth festival of the year, and I was feeling it.  A little burned out, a little tired, a little sure that nothing was going to beat Sonic Youth or the Stooges at this point.  We headed into town for pizza to start the day and then got back for the rock.

First up were a Nashville-connected band, the Greenhornes.  They sounded good and very true to their retro sound.  It wasn't all the spectacular, though, and got a bit same-y after a while.  I checked out maybe 15 minutes of F***ed Up, whom I just don't get and can't get into at all.  And I like a lot of punk and metal but just don't enjoy the straight up hardcore stuff.

On the second stage, we saw Vivian Girls (whom I like but who were pretty lame live, all things considered) and then Wooden Shjips (super loud and rocking, very good psychedelia).  We regrouped and mellowed out to Hope Sandoval on the main stage (very languid, a bit slow for me) and then caught the whole set from Dungen, who were quite good, especially when they rocked out a bit more.  I ended my night seeing T Model Ford, who was charming but predictably underwhelming.

Due to a 5 AM wake-up time on Monday in order to get back to Newark and catch my flight home, I opted out of seeing a few bands that I would have normally checked out ... most notably I missed Boris/Sunn(((O))) performing what must've been a crazy loud blast of feedback, both Raekwon and the GZA from Wu fame, and the Black Angels.  But the old man needed sleep ...

I'll spare everyone the details of flying out of Newark (slightly painful but no major hitches) and say that I had a blast, even if the music was my least favorite of the 3 years.  Not sure what the future holds for me returning to so many festivals, though I know that every spring I end up getting excited all over again, so never say never ...

Worth checking out are reviews (with great photos) from:

The A.V. Club

Brooklynvegan

Pitchfork