[...music...]

2009-11-23

on friday, it was the brand new show at l'olympia. i went with sherlock. it was my first time at that venue. it was nice.

the first opening band was crime in stereo. their set was short (20 minutes), and not very memorable. i only remember thinking 'generic alterna/pop-punk'.

the next band was glassjaw. i first heard about them when they released their first album; i was in high school.

i must say, singer daryl palumbo was very energetic, moving around the stage a lot, with a manic look on his face. in between songs, he kept making birthday wishes for bassist manuel carrero, but there must be some kind of inside joke going on, since he called out different ages each time.

i would have enjoyed this set a lot more if i knew any of the songs. since i was unfamiliar with their material, i had a hard time following, with all the tempo changes and all.

finally, brand new came on, with a large screen on the background, showing some avant-guarde silent film throughout the whole set. their album "deja entendu" is a guilty pleasure of mine. but i never took the time to really listen to their stuff, so i didn't know the songs enough to sing along and enjoy the show to the max.

they played my favourite "sic transit gloria..."; they got that one out of the way near the beginning. near the end, they played another old song i like (but had forgotten about) "jude law".

setlist (via setlist.fm):
welcome to bangkok
sink
degausser
you won't know
okay i believe you, but my tommy gun don't
sic transit gloria... glory fades
the quiet things that no one ever knows
limousine
vices
gasoline
sowing season (yeah)
you stole
in a jar
luca
the archer's bows are broken
jesus christ
bought a bride
at the bottom
jude law and a semester abroad
seventy times seven
play crack the sky

i had brought my camera, but didn't take it out since i didn't have a good view of the stage. also, the crowd was kind of rowdy; this was my first time seeing some moshing since that gogol bordello show from two years ago. i was standing at the edge of the pit, so it was alright.

i found a pretty good set of pictures from the show on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oliverchank/sets/72157622847795046/

and there are some videos on youtube.

~~~

cd purchase: i was debating whether to get their latest "daisy"; i thought i'd get it if the show impressed me enough. but i thought it was just alright; nothing bad about it, but not the best i've been to either. so no purchases for me.

hearing damage: from the moment brand new started, i had found it was too loud. by the end of the show, my ears were ringing. i told my cousin that if i cannot sleep off the ringing in one night, then it means that i am too old for show. well, i woke up the next day with some residual ringing in my ears. crap.

~~~

Labels: brand new, crime in stereo, glassjaw, l'olympia, shows

2007-11-13

commercial stuff

thanks to good friend and music buddy roxanne, who got me a hmv gift card for my birthday. it is exactly the kind of gift that i like!

of course, i cannot keep it in my wallet for long, so i went to the store to check out the new releases today. while browsing the shelves, i was distracted by all the spice girls songs they were blasting in the store; ugh, (bad) memories from high school. i was a bit confused by some of the new releases: spice girls? backstreet boys? wtf?! are we back in 1998?

the other new releases this week were not of interest to me. so i got some older albums. radio-friendly rock music. i just want some easy stuff to listen to. i am getting 'old'.

brand new - deja entendu
yes, i know, there are countless, undistinguishable, generic emo-pop-punk bands out there. but for some reason, this album stands out to me. i admit, it is because of that "sic transit gloria" song. is this a guilty pleasure? not really. there are a few emo-pop-punk bands among the masses that i actually enjoy quite a lot. brand new is one of them.

neverending white lights - act ii: the blood and the life eternal
i got this on a whim. i saw it at the store, remembered his song "the grace" - a nice song, featuring vocals by dallas green - from a few years ago, and thought "ah? new material? let's see who's contributing this time..." i like that he finds different vocalists for each of his songs. seeing a current cast that includes jimmy gnecco, auf der maur, rob dickinson, and hawksley workman (!), i knew i must get this cd.

nine inch nails - things falling apart
"the fragile" is probably my favourite nin album. i have no idea why it took me so long to get this remix album. anyway, i got it today; i will be listening to this all week.

~~~

Labels: brand new, cd purchase, neverending white lights, nine inch nails