Jay Reatard, Pixies (11.30.09 & 12.01.09)

the Band: Jay Reatard, Pixies
the Date: Monday-Tuesday, November 30 & December 1, 2009
the Venue: DAR Constitution Hall (DC)

(Photo credit to Erica Bruce and her Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/people/betweenloveandlike/)

Two full nights of my favorite band of all time, the Pixies!

This tour was to mark the 20th anniversary of their best-selling album Doolittle. The Pixies are Frank Black (a.k.a. Black Francis, a.k.a. Charles Thompson; vocals/guitar), Kim Deal (a.k.a. Mrs. John Murphy, a.k.a. Tammy Ampersand; vocals/bass), Joey Santiago (guitar), and David Lovering (drums). They are in a word, PERFECT. They started each night with the Doolittle B-Sides including Weird at My School, Bailey’s Walk, and one of my favorites, Manta Ray. The die-hard fans, like myself, loved it, but when they started into the official album with Debaser, the entire crowd absolutely lost their shit. It was magical.

Back in high school, I must have played Doolittle ten million times. Now twenty years later, I’m listening to the Pixies play the entire album LIVE! What an amazing experience. On a side-note, earlier this year, the entire Doolittle album became available on Rock Band and I will admit that I immediately downloaded these tunes and have been prepping myself just for this occasion. Wave of Mutilation, Here Comes Your Man, Monkey Gone to Heaven, Crackity Jones, Hey, and Gouge Away … I mean the whole freakin’ album was played! The whole freakin’ show was unbelievable!

(Photo credit to Clint JCL and his Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/people/clintjcl/)

Each night they delivered two encores, including the UK Surf version of Wave of Mutilation, Gigantic, Into the White, and my all-time-favorite song, Where Is My Mind? And, depending on the night, they also played Nimrod's Son, Caribou, Vamos, Isla de Encanta, and Broken Face. We all left happy, ears ringing. The Pixies are dead, long live the Pixies!
 
I should also note that Jay Reatard opened both nights.  Kind of a mess, but I could see how the Pixies liked 'em.

Full setlist for November 30: Dancing the Manta Ray / Weird at My School / Bailey’s Walk / Manta Ray / Debaser / Tame / Wave of Mutilation / I Bleed / Here Comes Your Man / Dead / Monkey Gone to Heaven / Mr. Grieves / Crackity Jones / La La Love You / No. 13 Baby / There Goes My Gun / Hey / Silver / Gouge Away / ENCORE 1/ Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf version) / Into the White / ENCORE 2 / Where is My Mind? / Gigantic / Caribou / Nimrod’s Son

Full setlist for December 1: Dancing the Manta Ray / Weird at My School / Bailey’s Walk / Manta Ray / Debaser / Tame / Wave of Mutilation / I Bleed / Here Comes Your Man / Dead / Monkey Gone to Heaven / Mr. Grieves / Crackity Jones / La La Love You / No. 13 Baby / There Goes My Gun / Hey / Silver / Gouge Away / ENCORE 1/ Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf version) / Into the White / ENCORE 2 / Isla de Encanta / Broken Face / Something Against You / Vamos / Where Is My Mind? / Gigantic

HEY!  Been trying to meet you ...

Guster (10.29.09 & 10.30.09)

the Band: Guster
the Date: Thursday - Friday, October 29 & 30, 2009
the Venue: 9:30 Club (DC)

(Photo credit to Amy Willard and her Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/people/amywillard//)

I’ve been a big fan of Guster for years. The band was formed by Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel back in 1991 while attending Tufts University. Joe Pisapia joined the band back in 2003. This current tour was in support of the 10-year anniversary of the album Lost and Gone Forever. They played two nights at the 9:30 club and luckily we picked up two-night tickets.

Basically, the shows were amazing. Each night, Guster played two sets: the first was a mix of songs from all of their albums, and the second was Lost and Gone Forever in its entirety. Both nights, the crowd was in a fantastic mood and everybody was dancing and singing along to every song. The setlist was fantastic. They played some older tracks from as far back as the Goldfly album and songs that are not even released yet. Yup, the boys played a few brand-spanking-new tunes that will hopefully make an appearance on next year’s new album.

Between the two sets, Guster played a small video showing some old footage of the band during the recording of Lost and Gone Forever. It was a nice look back at where it all began … well, at least where this particular album began.

The second set was a fun and vibrant run-thru of Lost and Gone Forever. For most of these tunes, Guster brought horn and string players on stage to enhance the sound. On both nights, for All the Way Up To Heaven, a small children’s choir came on stage to perform harmony and whistle. Also on each night, Guster closed the show with a completely unplugged version of Jesus on the Radio.

(Photo credit to Amy Willard and her Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/people/amywillard//)

Full setlist for October 29: SET ONE / The Captain / One Man Wrecking Machine / Red Oyster Cult - Reaper / X-Ray Eyes / This Could All Be Yours / Manifest Destiny / Keep It Together / New Song # / Demons / Ruby Falls / C’mon / Airport Song / SET TWO / What You Wish For / Barrel Of A Gun / Either Way / Fa Fa / I Spy / Center Of Attention / All The Way Up To Heaven / Happier / So Long / Two Points For Honesty / Rainy Day / ENCORE / Hang On / Come Downstairs And Say Hello / Jesus On The Radio (unplugged)

Full setlist for October 30: SET ONE / Ramona / G Major / The Beginning Of The End / This Could All Be Yours / Demons / Diane / Satellite / The Captain / Bad Bad World / Manifest Destiny / Rocketship / Come Downstairs And Say Hello / SET TWO / What You Wish For / Barrel Of A Gun / Either Way / Fa Fa / I Spy / Center Of Attention / All The Way Up To Heaven / Happier / So Long / Two Points For Honesty / Rainy Day / ENCORE / Hang On / Airport Song / Jesus On The Radio (unplugged)

Inspired by true events on movie screens

I am one man wrecking machine ...

the Features, Kings of Leon (09.08.09)

the Band: the Features, Kings of Leon
the Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2009
the Venue: Merriweather Post Pavilion (Columbia, MD)

(Photo credit to Zach Vitiello and his Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/people/zackvitiello/)

The Features opened, but we totally missed them … traffic getting into Merriweather is such a killer. I like the Features too … bummer.

Thankfully we didn’t miss any part of the main act, the Kings of Leon. These Tennessee boys, consisting of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill (vocals/guitar), Ivan Nathan Followill (drums) and Michael Jared Followill (bass), with their cousin Cameron Matthew Followill (guitar), rocked for two full hours. They focused a lot of this time on the most recent album, Only By the Night. Even so, they played tunes from their whole catalog. This was an amazing show, one of my all time favorites. The whole show was fantastic, but for me, the best songs of the night were Taper Jean Girl, Fans, On Call, and Slow Night, So Long.

Full Setlist: Closer / Crawl / Charmer / Taper Jean Girl / Molly’s Chambers / Red Morning Light / Fans / Revelry / The Bucket / My Party / Four Kicks / Sex on Fire / Notion / Manhattan / On Call / Cold Desert / Slow Night, So Long / ENCORE / Be Somebody / Knocked Up / Use Somebody / Black Thumbnail

“This is the most fun I’ve had at a show in a long time … that means we’re going to come back real soon.” (Caleb’s words to the crowd)

Whispertown 2000, the Breeders (08.21.09)

the Band: Whispertown 2000, the Breeders
the Date: Friday, August 21, 2009
the Venue: Black Cat (DC)

(Photo credit to Derek Denim and his Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/people/41695739@N02/)

Whispertown 2000 opened. They were okay.

The Breeders were the main attraction. They are nothing short of amazing. They have always put on a phenomenal show and such was the case at Friday night’s show at the Black Cat. The current members are Kim Deal (guitar, vocals), Kelley Deal (guitar, vocals), Jose Medeles (drums), Mando Lopez (bass), and Cheryl Lyndsey (guitar). Their regular bassist had to leave the tour to witness his girlfriend give birth so the band called in their original bassist Josephine Wiggs to fill in. It was a healthy dose of nostalgic awesomeness!

The Deal twins, et al. played tons of songs from the early material, maybe to be sure that Josephine would be comfortable. Whatever the reason, the crowd, myself included, absolutely loved it. Even though it was an all too brief affair, only about 65 minutes, the show was amazing. My favorites of the evening were Drivin’ on 9 (where Kelley picked up the violin), Divine Hammer, Cannonball, Saints, and Huffer.

Full setlist: No Aloha / Walk it Off / Divine Hammer / New Year / Cannonball / I Just Want to Get Along / Do You Love Me Now? / Happiness Is a Warm Gun / Iris / Fortunately Gone / Hoverin’ / Little Fury / I Am Decided / Night of Joy / Bang On / Huffer / Drivin’ On 9 / Safari / Saints / Tipp City

Motherhood means mental freeze ...

the Screaming Females, the Dead Weather (07.13.09)

the Band: the Screaming Females, the Dead Weather

the Date: Monday, July 13, 2009

the Venue: 9:30 Club (DC)

 

(Photo credit to Carlos Avilez and his Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/people/soulrac)

The Screaming Females opened. Not my cup of tea … at all.

The Dead Weather was the main attraction. The band is made up of Allison Mosshart (the Kills), Jack White (the White Stripes and the Raconteurs), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age), and Jack Lawrence (the Raconteurs) who while touring together a couple years ago, they just decided what the hell, let’s make another band.

I’ve been blown away by previous shows of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs and I’m a big fan of the Kills and Queens of the Stone Age. This show was just, um … okay. The tunes were from the Dead Weather’s debut album, Horehound. The band put forth lots of energy, but there were only a handful of songs that I really enjoyed. I wouldn’t say a full-on disappointment, but I just didn’t walk away thinking, “Wow, I can’t wait until this band comes back to town.”

Nonetheless, I'm glad NPR recorded the entire show and saved it here:  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106385053

Full setlist: 60 Feet Tall / Bone House / Outside / So Far From Your Weapon / Cut Like a Buffalo / Forever My Queen (Pentagram cover)/ Rocking Horse / New Pony (Bob Dylan cover)/ No Hassle Night / Will There Be Enough Water / ENCORE / Treat Me Like Your Mother / Child of a Few Hours / Hang You From The Heavens

Now let me drag you by your hair ...