[...music...]

2010-10-20

massive attack + thievery corporation @ bell centre

the show was on monday evening. i went with some friends: roxanne, fil, christophe. the stage was placed at mid-arena, and we had seats in section 116; good view.

first act of this double bill was thievery corporation. i had heard of this band's name, but the only music i'd heard from them was a clip of "thievery blonde", a track i think they played that night.

their music is a mix of electro with world music. it was nice, very lounge.

my favourite track was near the end, before the encore, when the stage was completely bathed in red light. after some searching, i found a youtube user who uploaded some great videos of the show. turns out the song was "sound the alarm".

video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kDcU_p8ujQ

i was there for the main headliners, massive attack. "mezzanine" is my favourite album of theirs, and i told myself before the show that i'd happy if anything from that album gets played.

the stage atmosphere was eerie throughout their set: the stage was dark most of the time, lots of smoke, the occasional spooky light effects, and a led screen in the background with lots of writing. i thought the visual effects were well done to keep the audience entertained.

except for the writing on the led screen. at first, it was random phrases (in french!), which was alright. but during "girl i love you", the content became socio-economic, using numbers to contrast between the living conditions of an industrialized country and that of a developing nation, etc. i appreciate a band with strong politics and a message to say; but at that moment, i felt a bit too uneasy to rock out during a song while i am reminded that there are people in the world with little access to drinkable water and their annual salary is minimal.

my favourite part of the show started with white lights illuminating streams of smoke; very ghostly. when the song started, i didn't recognize it until martina topley-bird started singing: it was "teardrop"! squee momment for me. this song was followed by "angel". another squee moment. finally, this was followed by "inertia creeps". this trio of songs, performed live, was the highlight of the show, for me. (during "inertia creeps", the led screen displayed news headlines, in french. a bit sensational, like the stuff you'd see on journal the montreal...)

the same youtube user has some great videos of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqpkTKtlzy8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0_Ccz1RVIs

people have been putting together the setlist on setlist.fm. but as of this moment, i feel that it is not the most accurate; i am pretty sure there were some other songs between "mezzanine" and "teardrop". i'll wait a few days to see if it gets updated.

the encore was pretty epic. the last couple of songs had some long instrumental jams. robert del naja danced like in a trance.

it was quite a show.

~~~

Labels: bell centre, massive attack, shows, thievery corporation

2010-10-10

gorillaz @ bell centre

on sunday, one week ago, i went to the gorillaz show at the bell centre, with roxanne, fil, lucia. we got some pretty good seats, in the middle, a bit higher than stage level. we had a good view of the whole stage, although a bit far.

the openers were we are wolves, from montreal. they first appeared with ridiculous props on their backs. they started with a few garage-rock-ish songs. meh. then they went more electro-dance-rock, and i liked that more. the only track i recognized was "fight and kiss", from their previous album, i think.

with gorillaz, it was a full orchestra and band on stage, with various guest vocalists. unfortunately, i didn't know any of them... on the other hand, i was pretty excited to see paul simonon and mick jones touring as part of the gorillaz band, as i am a big fan of the clash, and am too young to have seen their live shows in their prime. i only wish i was close enough to the stage to have seen them play, and not just shadows of musicians moving around on stage...

for most of the show, my eyes were on the animations on the big screen, since there wasn't much happening on the stage; the "cartoons" were much more interesting. i didn't know the songs enough to sing along, but i did dance throughout most of the show.

roxanne has a blog post of the event, including the setlist:
orchestral intro
welcome to the world of the plastic beach
19-2000
last living souls
oh green world
stylo
melancholy hill
rhinestone eyes
superfast jellyfish
tomorrow comes today
kids with guns
empire ants
dirty harry
el manana
white flag
to binge
dare
glitter freeze
plastic beach

encore:
cloud of unknowing
feel good inc.
clint eastwood
don't get lost in heaven
demon days

this was my most expensive show, with the ticket costing 3-4 times my average show budget. but it was fun to attend with friends. i can't deny that it's a completely difference experience from the tiny club shows. i still have one more arena show coming up (in a week). after that, i should probably stick to $15 shows for a while...

~~~

Labels: bell centre, gorillaz, shows, we are wolves

2008-05-15

the cure @ bell centre

i went to the show last night with roxanne and ryan. it was my first time at the bell centre. my first big arena show, and it was great! our section was facing the stage; the seats in the row immediately in front of us were unoccupied, so we had an unobstructed view the whole evening.

i had been waiting for this show for a while. it was initially scheduled for september 2007, but was postponed until last night.

i am glad they kept 65daysofstatic as the opening band. electro-post-rock. i really like their albums, and was disappointed that they did not sell cd's last night. they ended their set with "radio protector", my favourite track of theirs. live, they sound exactly the same as on their album, just louder.

the cure gave an *amazing* show. they played for two hours straight, then returned for three encores lasting an additional hour. they played a three-hour set! how awesome is that!?

they had lots of sparkly colourful lights. a large screen split in four sections was in the backgroud, showing different visuals to match the songs. for example, a giant spider during "lullaby".

i must admit that i am not familiar with their entire catalogue. i recognized about half the songs they played, the hits. their set was very varied; they played material spanning almost all their releases, from new songs, to old ones from their debut. it was lots of fun.

big thanks to roxanne, for writing down the mega-setlist.

1) plainsong
2) prayers for rain
3) a strange day
4) alt.end
5) the walk
6) the end of the world
7) lovesong
8) sleep when i'm dead (new)
9) pictures of you
10) lullaby
11) the perfect boy (new)
12) from the edge of the deep green sea
13) hot hot hot!!!
14) the only one (new)
15) push
16) in between days
17) just like heaven
18) primary
19) shake dog shake
20) never enough
21) wrong number
22) one hundred years
23) pornography
24) disintegration

encore 1:
25) at night
26) m
27) play for today
28) a forest

encore 2:
29) boys don't cry
30) jumping someone else's train
31) grinding halt
32) 10:15 saturday night

encore 3:
33) killing an arab
34) freakshow (new)
35) close to me
36) why can't i be you

it was my first time using my new camera at a concert. i took way too many photos, trying to find the optimal settings for that environment. a lot of them turned out not good, but a few were alright.

the funniest picture i took. at the moment when robert smith stuck out his tongue. too bad for the crappy quality.

~~~

Labels: 65daysofstatic, bell centre, shows, the cure