Last night's Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks show was pretty alright. Truth be told, there is nothing I can say about Pavement or Stephen Malkmus that hasn't been said by people who know music and this musician in particular, better than I do. I enjoyed the sold out show, but for me it wasn't life-changing, "epic" or particularly spectacular. I expected more quick starting and quick closing songs, but there were a lot of free jams happening onstage. The crowd was into it, and especially stoked that the drummer from Sleater Kinney is now a Jick. So no analysis, here's the set list for you.
The opening band was called Entrance. They're a three piece, with a chick bassist (who was wearing moccasins and looked like she hit the peace pipe before the show). The vocalist/guitarist plays Hendrix style, with his guitar upside down and really weird tunings. The first four songs to me were pretty cool, psychedelic rock with a hint of gypsy vibe, but they turned more into straight up psych rock as the set progressed and I lost my enthusiasm when the singer switched guitars mid set and had to tune for at least 5 minutes only to come back with only 2 songs. huh? Seemed like a waste. I also felt like the draw of the band was the hollering vocal stylings of the singer and the lyrics fell by the wayside. I guess that's just me. "Don't go walking on the wrong side of the road" just ain't deep.
All in all, I had a good time, but there have been and will continue to be much better shows at the Casbah and around town in '07. Sorry for the indie rock sacrilege.
7 comments:
omigod, janet weiss is a jick?! i love her in a geeky-lame fan kind of way - she's awesome!
I have to chime in to say that Stephen Malkmus is one of the only influential guitarists I can really think of in the past 7 years that i would say has influenced many writers. There are many great bands out there but most are pulling from older influences, and maybe more current ones like Johnny Greenwood, etc., but the list is huge for guitarists and writers that seek similar songwriting and guitar tones that Malkmus creates.
I think his show is perhaps more for musicians.
Drummer is rediculous, Jazzmaster and riffs are insane, vocals or very unique, the tunings and chords are very inventive, and this group is a unit together...I envy what they are able to create.
- Andrew
Well Mister andrew.vr.cm.us, I'm not a musician but I thought the Stepehn Malkmus show last night (and their show at The El Rey on saturday) was "particularly spectacular" (to steal from Rosey's original post) and was indeed able to immensely enjoy, perhaps even geek out, on the musicianship that goes into putting together a performance like this.
i have entrance mp3s @ cat dirt sez if anyone is interested.
I'm not saying that only musicians would dig this show, but if you do play, it's a huge plus.
Something to keep in mind...we all assess shows and filter our experience differently for different reasons…”Do they look cool while they play” “how do the guitars look/sound” “How’s the mix” “Are the vocals good” “Do they have energy” “Are they doing something different” “is this too influenced” “Am I not drunk enough” “Does the drummers hair cut look good” “Do they draw hot girls” “Do they draw hot guys” “Do they get me moving when they play” “Do they seem nice” “are they professional on stage”……….
- Andrew
No one's interested in you, cat dirt. :-) I really enjoyed Entrance's recorded tracks, so I'll def be hitting your blog up...
But back to andrew.vr.cm.us-- To what extent would you define a musician? I have music in my heart-- been listening and feeling the stuff since birth, have knocked off a few very basic punk rock songs in my youth using only a crappy guitar and the power chords, grew up playing piano and am fond of bringing a tambo along on road trips. Is this enough to give me a "huge plus"?
But really, if you're way into Malkmus' music, than you're way into it and get off on the jamming and the vocals and what he's capable of with just his guitar and a few pedals. But if I pay attention to the breakdown of the instruments in each song and when he chooses to use his fuzz pedal and the band members' interactions, wouldn't this make my show experience more pleasurable music-wise and my assessment more educated than the musician who's drunk ass is checking out the hot dudes and the drummer's haircut?
Oh. And when I say that I grew up playing piano I mean I dropped it when I was 11 and am not even proficient in reading sheet music, or ever really was for that matter cause I had really crappy teachers. That's probably why I dropped it...
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