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Took in a couple good shows on labour day weekend…

Thursday night Mish and I went to see Beck at the Orpheum — a pretty incredible venue when you’re blessed with decent seats… and blessed we were — but I was more excited to see the openers Band of Horses.  I don’t know where I first heard these guys — I picked up their 2nd album a couple months back and let me tell you: they’re the fucking real deal.  South Carolina via Seattle kind of Allman Brothers meets Skynyrd meets the Pixies. I’m fully aware that makes zero sense in the band-identifying spectrum of references but that’s what I’m hearing.  These guys play big beautiful rock music.  The sound was fantastic and the songs just filled the room. With the aid of special guest keyboardist (picture medium-sized John Popper with a massive beard and a voice like an angel) they totally blew the doors off the place.  Fortunately they were able to be re-hinged by the maintenance staff prior to Beck hitting the stage.

As you might expect, Beck put on a helluva good show himself.  Not quite as wild and ruckus as the time I saw him on the Midnite Vultures tour but in a venue like the Orpheum things are a little more high class, ya dig? Despite not being a devout Beck fan (I think I only have maybe half of his albums) I pretty much knew every song he played… except for one that he opened the show with called “Loser“… apparently this song enjoyed mild popularity in the mid 90s.  Pretty solid repertoire of songs he’s got these days.  Good mix of hard-rockin’, dance-ish and folkier numbers. Kudos goes out to Beck’s female guitar player who was both incredibly attractive and ridiculously proficient at her instrument.  Unfortunately I can’t find a picture of her.

On Labour Day we ceremoniously torched our white clothes before heading down to Stanley Park for day 2 of the Stanley Park Singing Exhibition, a 2-day musical event held in an outdoor amphitheatre smack dab in the middle of the park.  Sweet sweet musical lightning struck twice this week as I was able to see another great band I had yet to experience live: Black Mountain.  (Direct order to all readers:  go and buy In the Future, acquire a pair of large headphones and listen to this record at maximum volume).

Absolutely K-I-L-L-E-R set.  So loud. So heavy. And so good.  These guys are just loose enough to rock the jams (not as cheezy as it sounds) on a regular basis but tight enough to nail the jam-ending changes without any visible nodding or onstage communication.  Unbelievably big sound from five people.  And a bonus treat to finally put a face to the incredibly haunting voice of Amber Webber. I highly recommend checking them out if you get the chance.  They’re heading to Toronto and Montreal later this month.

Rounding out the Stanley Park show was Visqueen, the 1900s, Stevie Jackson (of Belle and Sebastian) and the New Pornographers.  Pornos drummer Kurt Dahle continues to provide more entertainment value than the rest of the band combined.  The guy chucks drumsticks, talks to his buddies, drinks beers and moves his cymbal stands around… while playing.

Pretty awesome video from the New Pornographers’ last album Challengers…

posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 1:07 am in Left Coast, Music
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