Friday 14 May 2010

Showtime

I've recently had the privilege of seeing two great bands!

Caribou was a wonderful surprise! I didn't know what to expect of Dan Snaith's experimental music in live format. His latest album took a lean towards house music as a change from his signature mix of indierock riffs and electronica and so the possibility of it just being Dan and some machines struck me. Therefore I was pleased to see the stage set up with two drum kits, guitars and pedals galore, keyboard etc. The venue was far from crowded, perhaps due to an unusually early show or the strange idea of hosting a reggae club afterwards. It made for an intimate gig and a real treat for the audience.

I was absolutely blown away by the performance! The band had a great dynamic with Dan and the drummer up front and the bass player and guitarist/keyboard player at the back, creating powerful build-ups that developed into insane jams. The drummer looked like Ian Curtis on drums and was soaked after the encore, and when Dan broke out a recorder I almost fainted. They really gave it their best efforts.
Here is some footage from the 2010 tour to give you an idea of what it was like. It wasn't as dark though.



Plus a mini documentary as this is what my blog seems to specialize in now!



The second gig I saw was the Brian Jonestown Massacre! I had been gearing up for this show all week by watching the documentary; DiG! (a must-see even if you've never heard them) and youtube clips. Again, not knowing what to expect from this band live added to the excitement. Anton is notorious for his outbreaks on stage that sometimes lead to fights with the band members and/or audience. Debaser Slussen has quite a small stage and the place was packed. The crowd was roaring and the atmosphere full of anticipation! The 8-piece band came on at the announced time and did a fantastic, tight set with almost all their best known songs. Anton was in a good mood despite technical problems with mics and some idiots mucking about in the crowd to which he just said "No fighting!". They played for a little over two hours, no encore, and really got into it towards the end and were more talkative. I've understood that Matt Hollywood and Mr. Tambourine Man don't always tour Europe so I'm glad I got the chance to see them!

Here is the last song from the show and you can hear me shouting a faint "woo" after Matt joking about how many girls it would take to get his shirt off haha (which read "i <3 swedish girls"). WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!