band of horses

[this is neither my photo nor even from the same show]

band of horses finally made it back to town after their failed attempt last march. as expected, they delivered a quality show, despite the lack of the bearded guy [pictured center]. the show was @ the conservatory, & while i had heard of their subpop labelmate chad vangaalen, i had never heard him. neither had i heard of simon dawes, so i went late, hoping to miss the openers. to my dismay, the show hadn't even started yet [though i got there 1.5 hours after doors opened], but i enjoyed what i heard. simon dawes sounded like a band i will be into when their next album comes out. i can't quite put my finger on it, it just seemed like they need to progress a little further to satisfy my palate. their guitarist reminded me of some of the stuff you hear from wilco, all distortiony & whatnot. they only played about 15min. but it was pretty good. up next was chad vangaalen. i listened somewhat disinterestedly at first waiting in vain for one friend to show up @ all, & a little longer for another. it sounded alright, so i decided to go out onto the floor & get a better look. to my surprise he was onstage all alone! he was playing guitar, singing & had a kick-drum set up. it was pretty badass. he was joined later by a drummer & the lead from dawes on keyboard. i'd say i would listen to his album if someone burned it for me, but i won't be going out to purchase it. finally, boh took the stage & played several songs from their album, as well as a cover of 'you don't have to call me darlin', which was fun. there were a couple of songs i was hoping for that didn't get played, though it was a moderately long set, without significant pauses or interruptions between songs. if you havent heard band of horses, click here & give funeral a listen. by the time they got up to play i was pretty tired, so i wasn't as stoked as i had been when i first heard they were coming, but they were worth the wait.

christmas @ the zoo

[jöe in full flaming lips regalia]

[stolen from ryan. i was much closer than this, but with no camera]

so i said before that this show was spiritual, & i meant it. those of you who know what has been going on with my family know why. the opening bands aren't worth mentioning except to say that deerhoof is screwed up![bunny bunny bunny]. anyway, the band descended from a ufo [which later tipped back to create an intense light show] amidst a swarm of santas, alien chicks, & superheroes. wayne climbed out on top of the ship & got inside a huge clear inflated ball, then proceeded to crowd walk like a giant hamster. canons fired confetti out above the crowd which remained aloft due to the heat generated by rabid fans while huge beach balls & inflatable killer whales danced at arms length over their heads. speaking of rabid fans, the show was being filmed for a live dvd & lots of people wore all kinds of great costumes.

at one point, much like our pastor does each sunday morning during prayer, wayne reminded the crowd that there were those among us that were dealing with incredible sadness & great tragedy in our lives & that this collective was an opportunity to show love, both to those who you came with, & to the 10,000 strangers all around! the song do you realize? followed... i'm not sure if i can do justice by attempting to further explain... listen

i can confidently say that [barring another lips show] i will never have another live show experience like that. they played for approx. 1.5 hours &, of course, 3 hours wouldn't have come close to being enough. they played all their best songs, mostly from the 3 most recent albums, but also resurrected she don't use jelly, & love yer brain. wayne alternately sang through a blow horn, with hand puppets, & at one of the evening's many perfect moments [during my cosmic autumn rebellion], walked out onto the audience catwalk with an electronic bird flapping its wings held above his head. i'll be honest, i got all choked up [no lie].

wayne commented @ the end of the show that they get to play to the best audiences in the world & it's because of love, the love they have for what they do, the love their fans have for them, & the humanistic service they do for all who listen via the thematic 'existential optimism' prevalent in their large body of work. he said 'you don't have to worry about violence breaking out at a flaming lips show'...'aerosmith can't say that!'...

[postscript] i didn't take my camera because i didn't want to be distracted by all of the amazing photos i could have been taking, so i'm reduced to stealing from my friends...

andy's review
ryan's review

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