| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Nate in the PDX |
Posted - 04/22/2010 : 19:20:51
Imagine my surprise to discover our man Charles listed in the summer concert series for the Oregon Zoo (Portland). I've seen him play lots of different venues over the years, but I'm not sure how to prepare for seeing him at the zoo. The freakin' zoo. Opening for the Swell Season. Difficult to process, really. But don't get me wrong, I'm probably going, if only for the chance he plays "When I Go Down on You" for the squarejohn zoo concert/Swell Season crowd.
http://www.oregonzoo.org/Concerts/index.htm
"The Swell Season with Black Francis
"You know that couple from the movie "Once" whose song "Falling Slowly" took top honors at the 2007 Oscars? In real life, they are Irish singer-guitarist Glen Hansard and Czech singer-pianist Markéta Irglová, and together they comprise the folk-rock duo known as the Swell Season. Though no longer a couple, the pair remain an amazing musical team. Their latest record, "Strict Joy," came out last fall to rave reviews. Opening this show is legendary Pixies frontman Black Francis (aka Frank Black)." |
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| joe FITZ of molly BANG |
Posted - 08/21/2010 : 06:35:12
you beat me to it nate. :)
my pregnant fiance and i just watched black francis and left.
it was quite short but worth it.
i think it's the 14th time I've seen charles perform in some form?
the only other things I'll mention is that nimrod's son live was absolutely amazing.
the best version i've heard besides the usual pixies rock out version.
and i've heard quite a few live versions.
i would love a copy of that version.
the pump organ was awesome and it was great the eric was there too.
I'd never heard ramona live so that was a treat.
also people around me were pretty dumb.
one person thought this guy was covering bowie's "cactus" and another thought he was covering "that band that plays that song in fight club" and there were alot of laughs during parts like "incestous union", which i actually enjoyed.
however, i hate zoo shows now.
i wasn't a big fan of 666 without guitar.
my only other critique is that except for a few songs i think the songs chosen weren't a very good choice for the non black francis fans which were most of the people there.
all that being said I love black francis and it was worth all of the heartache and 48 dollars.
ps. I had made two mixes (160 minutes) of songs for my fiance and none of those songs were played at the show. heh :)
________________________________
if you are bored please check out the new song I just wrote / recorded today. my debut on the harmonica. the song is called "get outta here". my band: www.myspace.com/mollybang
|
| Nate in the PDX |
Posted - 08/21/2010 : 05:29:21
On to the Swell Season's set, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova came out and he started strumming the unmistakable (to me, anyway) opening to "Cactus", which they proceeded to play, a fine version with guitar and their nice harmony. What a funny treat, to see them open with a song BF had just played a few minutes earlier. As he was strumming the intro Hansard mentioned the "weird night" they'd had, the first of several references to the on-stage suicide at the Mountain Winery.
Midway through the set, Irglova spoke a bit about how close they are as a band, which makes it easier to experience all the things they go through together on the road. And then she introduced their violinist, who played a solo piece, an old Irish love song "usually sung by old men in pubs", dedicating it to the family and friends of the young man who committed suicide. It was a powerful, haunting moment.
At the close, Hansard said something like "I want to thank Black Francis for being here, and for being the king!" which of course delighted me. And then he acknowledged the crowd with something along the lines of "It's been a wonderful night. We needed it, I promise. Thank you."
A terrific show, all in all. I doubt I'll ever love the Swell Season's music as much as, say, my wife does, but hereafter I'll definitely consider myself a "fan". |
| Nate in the PDX |
Posted - 08/21/2010 : 05:18:43
Very nice set from Charles last night. I don't know how the Swell Season's crowd as a whole responded, but there were more than a few BF partisans present. And he seemed to be in a good mood and happy to be playing this show, repeatedly thanking "my friend Glen", the fellow from the Swell Season, for asking him to join them.
The man hit the issue of playing a zoo amphitheater show (and its audience including a good number of families with kids) head on, saying something along the lines of "I promised Glen I wouldn't say the fuck word in front of any C-H-I-L-D." And he didn't bowdlerize or make any attempt to downplay the lyric in "Nimrod's Son" featuring that epithet later in the set.
In fact, I'd say he didn't compromise anything about his act to curry favor with this crowd. Perhaps of interest, he was wearing a blue button-down shirt (tucked in, which he made a little joke about) and blue jeans, which was a departure from his man in black look of most of the shows I've seen. And he played 45 minutes of solid, weird rock.
Anyway, on to the set list:
Black Rider (EDF played pump organ during the intro and first two verses, then bass on the third verse)
Bullet
Los Angeles (EDF on pump organ)
Where is My Mind?
Get Away Oil
Cactus
Six Sixty-Six (EDF on pump organ)
I Heard Ramona Sing
Nimrod's Son
That Burnt Out Rock and Roll
The stagehand/tour manager/jack of all trades fellow, ubiquitous on the past few tours, whose name is escaping me, played percussion on most songs. I had trouble seeing him from my vantage point so couldn't detail his doings.
As expected, the crowd really reacted to "Where is My Mind?", which was fine with me. Though I was disappointed that the fellow next to me, who looked like a hipster-in-the-know type, didn't realize that the guy playing all those Pixies songs was in fact the front man of the Pixies... sigh.
Couple of bits of banter: BF said he'd learned that a song of his that EDF produced was featured in a "Hollywood film" and "you know what that means", at which point he and EDF both did the thumb-rubbing-against-first-two-fingers gesture which indicates money making. And then he proceeded to say they were going out for a nice dinner the following night, "anything you want... as long as it's not over $20." Before he went into "Six Sixty-Six" he noted that its author hailed from Salem, OR, which is just down the road from Portland. And before "Burnt Out" he said that EDF had special access to folk music archives at the Smithsonian of which BF had availed himself a few years back to unearth this song. They were in good spirits, and it showed. |
| Nate in the PDX |
Posted - 08/20/2010 : 12:51:07
No kidding, vilainde. I don't intend to summon whatever ghoulishness is required to click play on that video.
Appears tonight's show is proceeding as planned. Will check in with a report afterward... |
| vilainde |
Posted - 08/20/2010 : 12:40:36
For some reason I don't feel like watching the video.
That's seriously fucked up.
Denis
"Can you hear me? I aint got shit to say." |
| Nate in the PDX |
Posted - 08/20/2010 : 06:48:47
Awful, awful news from last night's Swell Season/BF show in California:
http://www.mercurynews.com/twitter/ci_15836764?source=rss&nclick_check=1
Selfishly, I hope the band(s) don't cancel tonight's show in Portland, but I would certainly understand if they did. Good grief, I can't imagine enduring what the Swell Season had to endure last night. |
| joe FITZ of molly BANG |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 04:51:49
i was planning to go but it looks like it's sold out. :(
________________________________
if you are bored please check out the new song I just wrote / recorded today. my debut on the harmonica. the song is called "get outta here". my band: www.myspace.com/mollybang
|
| Daisy Girl |
Posted - 04/30/2010 : 16:21:56
Yes, it will be very chill. Something so nice about being out doors and listening to music. Combine that with BF and that will be heaven. It will be a very cool date night.
Wow, but August seems like a long way away...
Thanks Nate... I will keep my eyes posted for a Minny date. I scoped it out and tix are $30 - A little pricey for a band I don't know. But you know if BF were there, I would gladly pay the $30. |
| Nate in the PDX |
Posted - 04/30/2010 : 10:18:41
Yep, I sound like a jerk about the zoo venue, but I am looking forward to it, Daisy. And the missus is on board so it'll be a "date night" for us -- woo hoo! I welcome the cognitive dissonance of spreading out a blanket on the grass and having a nice picnic whilst listening to BF.
cargro started a thread for the Vancouver BC show, which I think is also BF/Swell Season.
Their site doesn't list opening acts, but in between Portland and Vancouver they're playing a festival near Seattle. And before Portland they have a California date... so who knows...
http://www.theswellseason.com/tour/ |
| Daisy Girl |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 16:05:47
Hope you have fun Nate. I bet it will be cool.
Does anyone know if bf is doing more shows with Swell Season besides this one? I just heard that they are doing a show in Minny... |
| Nate in the PDX |
Posted - 04/23/2010 : 06:27:16
Screw it, I'm going... just got tickets via a pre-sale offer.
I've never attended one of these zoo concerts, but it can't be too different from an amphitheater show, aside from all the animals nearby.
Hopefully the missus will come with me, since she seems to like the Swell Season. Haven't dragged her to a BFB show since that two-night stand he played at the Black Cat in DC... was that ten years ago? (Nope, Gigography says that was November 2002.) |
| vilainde |
Posted - 04/22/2010 : 21:05:37
For some reason I can't help thinking "I've told them a hundred times: put 'Spinal Tap' first and 'Puppet Show' last!"
Denis
"Can you hear me? I aint got shit to say." |
|
|
