asylum4violin
05-20-2005, 11:07 AM
I feel lonely on the M. Ward message board so I thought I would post my message here as well
I just thought I would make a little report about last thursday's night gig in Lyon, France. There were 3 bands on the bill that night including M. Ward’s. Matt was backed by Adam Selzer's band Norfolk of Western and it was nowhere said they’d play so that was a nice surprise to have a 4th band for a mere 10 € .
The show started with the band Morning Star http://www.morningstarsmallorchestra.org.uk/. I didn't know much about “morning star” at the time, I had heard songs of their second album once without being much impressed several months ago, but I actually was nicely surprised by the set that night, consisting of songs inhabited with old fashioned manneers and melodies. The band members were very nice and in no-way pretentious.
Unfortunately, I felt a bit of that later “quality” in the singer of the following band. http://www.calc.fr.st/ Calc is a French band from Bordeaux. I had listened to an album of theirs before, but I didn’t recognize any of the songs that night (that sounded Elliott Smit-like on the album, but those were obviously songs from a new album). They put the sound-level quite loud which was stupid given that the venue in itself isn’t really good for sound quality. I could hardly distinguish any of the instruments, or anything musical so I went at the back of the venue to prevent my ears from falling dead... I’ve heard worse but still I’m tired of band members that come with ear protections for themselves but don’t give a shit about the audience’s auditory health. Especially when they don’t warn anyone about it, I would have brought my own protections, even though I personnaly think it is not necessary to play that loud except to prevent the audience to distinguish bad playing from good. Who give a shit if members of a band don’t yet master their instruments like a God if all they bring out on stage is actually meaningful and human! Sorry I can still remember the deception I felt when I understood it wouldn’t do it for me. I’m sure they are a great band. I read in a nice webzine among others how unpretentious the band members are when you think of the talent they have. I guess last thursday wasn’t a good night then cause I actually can write the opposite sentence from my personnal experience.
Then came Adam Selzer on guitar with Rachel Chaiya Blumberg on the drums http://norfolkandwestern.org/. The set was actually very energetic and I really liked it, couldn’t really describe the music, it was really the energy they seemed to convey when playing together that appealed to me. I enjoyed their set most than the album of Norfolk & Western I had heard before. Looking back at what I said earlier about “morning star” and “calc” it stands as a proof for me than one can’t judge a band only by their albums or only by their on-stage performances. Given that, my favourite bands usually are great at both!!!
The show ended with the M Ward & band set (Adam switched to the bass and there was an extra guitar player I don't remember the name). www.mwardmusic.com It was also very energetic, and I really enjoyed being able to watch them while sitting down before the stage. I hink I was a bit disappointed he didn’t play some of his songs by himself, because I know from the 10ish bootlegs I have that he can’t disappoint me when solo. But I didn’t like the way the band sounded on some songs, a bit too bluesy, but not in a good way, I mean like school-learned blues, not blues from the guts. Actually they sounded more Rackabillyish than bluesy. But on the overall they all mastered their instruments and the energy they conveyed helped me to forget I had rather seen him perform a bit solo... And I was so happy I could at last see the man live, I’ve been waiting for it almost on an everyday basis since I came upon his “End Of Amnesia” and “Transfiguration of Vincent” albums...
Does anyone else has been to one of those bands show recently?
I just thought I would make a little report about last thursday's night gig in Lyon, France. There were 3 bands on the bill that night including M. Ward’s. Matt was backed by Adam Selzer's band Norfolk of Western and it was nowhere said they’d play so that was a nice surprise to have a 4th band for a mere 10 € .
The show started with the band Morning Star http://www.morningstarsmallorchestra.org.uk/. I didn't know much about “morning star” at the time, I had heard songs of their second album once without being much impressed several months ago, but I actually was nicely surprised by the set that night, consisting of songs inhabited with old fashioned manneers and melodies. The band members were very nice and in no-way pretentious.
Unfortunately, I felt a bit of that later “quality” in the singer of the following band. http://www.calc.fr.st/ Calc is a French band from Bordeaux. I had listened to an album of theirs before, but I didn’t recognize any of the songs that night (that sounded Elliott Smit-like on the album, but those were obviously songs from a new album). They put the sound-level quite loud which was stupid given that the venue in itself isn’t really good for sound quality. I could hardly distinguish any of the instruments, or anything musical so I went at the back of the venue to prevent my ears from falling dead... I’ve heard worse but still I’m tired of band members that come with ear protections for themselves but don’t give a shit about the audience’s auditory health. Especially when they don’t warn anyone about it, I would have brought my own protections, even though I personnaly think it is not necessary to play that loud except to prevent the audience to distinguish bad playing from good. Who give a shit if members of a band don’t yet master their instruments like a God if all they bring out on stage is actually meaningful and human! Sorry I can still remember the deception I felt when I understood it wouldn’t do it for me. I’m sure they are a great band. I read in a nice webzine among others how unpretentious the band members are when you think of the talent they have. I guess last thursday wasn’t a good night then cause I actually can write the opposite sentence from my personnal experience.
Then came Adam Selzer on guitar with Rachel Chaiya Blumberg on the drums http://norfolkandwestern.org/. The set was actually very energetic and I really liked it, couldn’t really describe the music, it was really the energy they seemed to convey when playing together that appealed to me. I enjoyed their set most than the album of Norfolk & Western I had heard before. Looking back at what I said earlier about “morning star” and “calc” it stands as a proof for me than one can’t judge a band only by their albums or only by their on-stage performances. Given that, my favourite bands usually are great at both!!!
The show ended with the M Ward & band set (Adam switched to the bass and there was an extra guitar player I don't remember the name). www.mwardmusic.com It was also very energetic, and I really enjoyed being able to watch them while sitting down before the stage. I hink I was a bit disappointed he didn’t play some of his songs by himself, because I know from the 10ish bootlegs I have that he can’t disappoint me when solo. But I didn’t like the way the band sounded on some songs, a bit too bluesy, but not in a good way, I mean like school-learned blues, not blues from the guts. Actually they sounded more Rackabillyish than bluesy. But on the overall they all mastered their instruments and the energy they conveyed helped me to forget I had rather seen him perform a bit solo... And I was so happy I could at last see the man live, I’ve been waiting for it almost on an everyday basis since I came upon his “End Of Amnesia” and “Transfiguration of Vincent” albums...
Does anyone else has been to one of those bands show recently?