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What have you heard live recently?

Aaron German

Active Member
I thought it was kind of weird that we have never had a thread for live show reports. So here it is.

Right now, I am waiting to go see Nathaniel Bartlett. He's playing for free (I'm sure that our tax dollars are paying this) just down the street at the University of Kentucky. What grabbed my attention is that his performance was labeled as "immersive music." I read an interview with him that I wish I could find again, because I think many of you would like to read it. He talks about audio the way we talk about audio. He has a certain idea of how his audience should hear his music, so he surrounds the audience with eight speakers, so that he can place each sound where he wants to. The best part about what he says about his music is that he explicitly talks about the spatial elements of sound, calling what he does "audio sculpture." Here's a snipet from his website ( http://www.nathanielbartlett.com/intro.html ):

"My performances seamlessly meld my five-octave acoustic marimba with electronics, a powerful custom computer, and an eight-channel cube of loudspeakers. With the audience positioned in the center of the cuboid loudspeaker array, a three-dimensional soundfield can be projected into the audience space, totally immersing the listeners. In my music the positioning and movement of sounds in physical space, resulting in kinetic audio sculptures, is a central musical parameter. The three-dimensional soundfield is enriched by the use of high-definition audio (superior to CD-quality audio), which allows for a significant increase in sonic nuances."

I'll report back after the show.
 
Cool idea for a thread!

Sadly I don't get to hear many live shows and the ones I do are local bands playing free events in the local parks.
The last such show was from a band called Idle Hand. I won't wast anyone's time because the band really wasn't worth commenting on.
 
My last two large concerts were Mark Knopfler, and The Police.

They were both odd, GF and I were in the midst of a breakup at the first, and were totally broken up by the second (she was such a huge Sting fan I took her anyway, but the dinner was so miserable I wish I could relive that decision).

I think I posted elsewhere about the Santana tribute band I saw Sunday, excellent!
 
Towen7 said:
Cool idea for a thread!

Sadly I don't get to hear many live shows and the ones I do are local bands playing free events in the local parks.

I have learned that local bands can be plenty good (of course not all of them). I wouldn't mind hearing about the bands people think are local gems.

Just because a band is well known doesn't mean they're any good. And just because a band is known only locally doesn't mean they're no good.
 
Aaron German said:
I thought it was kind of weird that we have never had a thread for live show reports. So here it is.

Right now, I am waiting to go see Nathaniel Bartlett. He's playing for free (I'm sure that our tax dollars are paying this) just down the street at the University of Kentucky. What grabbed my attention is that his performance was labeled as "immersive music." I read an interview with him that I wish I could find again, because I think many of you would like to read it. He talks about audio the way we talk about audio. He has a certain idea of how his audience should hear his music, so he surrounds the audience with eight speakers, so that he can place each sound where he wants to. The best part about what he says about his music is that he explicitly talks about the spatial elements of sound, calling what he does "audio sculpture." Here's a snipet from his website ( http://www.nathanielbartlett.com/intro.html ):

"My performances seamlessly meld my five-octave acoustic marimba with electronics, a powerful custom computer, and an eight-channel cube of loudspeakers. With the audience positioned in the center of the cuboid loudspeaker array, a three-dimensional soundfield can be projected into the audience space, totally immersing the listeners. In my music the positioning and movement of sounds in physical space, resulting in kinetic audio sculptures, is a central musical parameter. The three-dimensional soundfield is enriched by the use of high-definition audio (superior to CD-quality audio), which allows for a significant increase in sonic nuances."

I'll report back after the show.

Well, the show was alright. The guy actually lectured the audience a bit about audio and how to listen to the spatial elements of sound. He even explained why he could have just one subwoofer, but wanted to use eight speakers for the mids and highs. He also went on a bot about why he wanted to use High Res audio out of his computer. I actually thought the lecture part was the best part.

But the music was perfectly listenable. I guess people would call it "modern." I'm not sure, but think of something that would be played by a guy who was playing stuff by composers like Steve Reich. It was a bit strange, I guess. But I listen to some pretty strange stuff these days, so that didn't turn me off. But I didn't love it either. But I love the idea of someone composing for surround sound. I would definitely recommend that someone see this guy if they had the chance. However, I was not blown away by the "immersion" in the sound. To be sure, the sound was all around one. But good recordings at home can do the same.

Maybe the best thing was that the audience was sitting on the stage with the musician, his huge marimba, his computer and speakers.

After this show, I am also more convinced that a computer can be an instrument for live performances. Bartlett has the computer programmed in such a way that it really is just another machine that produces various sounds when interacted with in various ways. Five years ago, I hated seeing computers on stage. And part of me does not like having to wait for the program to get ready and whatever else can go slow with a computer. But I have little doubt now,. after seeing this show and plenty of electronic music, that computers or effects pedals or some kind of home made electronic sound producing advice can be used to create all kinds of new sound possibilities. And ones that can be used spontaneous in live creation. It's a real instrument.
 
Aaron German said:
Just because a band is well known doesn't mean they're any good. And just because a band is known only locally doesn't mean they're no good.
Words to Live by... :handgestures-thumbup:
 
I don't go to many concerts but the wife and I will be going to see the Pixies on the 17th. :handgestures-thumbup:
 
CMonster said:
I don't go to many concerts but the wife and I will be going to see the Pixies on the 17th. :handgestures-thumbup:

I didn't realize the Pixies were still touring. I thought that Frank Black and Kelly (or is it Kim) Deal couldn't stand each other.
 
On Tuesday night, 9/14/2010, I saw the Jeb Bishop Trio here in Lexington at a nice little place that used to be a Cajun restaurant by day and the occasionally a live music space at night. Now...well, I'm not sure what it is now, but lucky for me, the space is still occasionally used for live music.

I showed up about a half hour early to eat. $5 got you a Cajun buffet, about three different choices and rice. Everyone sitting around and eating before the show really makes for a nice environment within which to start the show.

The Jeb Bishop Trio is:
Jeb Bishop on Trombone (and other instruments)
Jason Roebke on Bass
and Frank Rosaly on Drums

Frank Rosaly is one of my favorite jazz drummers. Not that I know a lot about this kind of music, but he was the first guy I saw playing a "free jazz" style and doing really interesting things with percussion. I would say that, of the three times I have seen him play, his playing with the Jeb Bishop Trio is the most traditional (again, I really have no clue about this kind of stuff).

The show was great. There is nothing like sitting about 5-8 feet away from, and on the same level as, the band. I wish I could describe this music, but I am no good at that kind of thing, so I will just post a video. It will have to suffice to say that by the time the second set ended I was not at all ready for the end of the show. I have no problem recommending this band to you all.

The video below is not from the show I saw.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZyHJcTVdo8[/youtube]
 
Yesfan70 said:
my wife and I don't see eye to eye when it comes to music.

Same here, most of the time. So she stays at home, and I go listen to some great shows. She's always welcome, of course. But bad taste is a hard thing to fix.

But one night I did get her out. And, get this, she knew that we'd be sitting on the floor of some very small art gallery, listening to some guys twist knobs and make weird sounds. I guess she ain't all that bad after all.
 
I saw Rangda last Sunday, 9/12/2010. I knew nothing about this band, but I had a few friends who were pretty excited about it. Now, given that Rangda was playing the after party of a three-day music festival late on a Sunday night, right before a Monday on which I had to wake up at 6:00 am, I was a bit hesitant to go. But I got my exhausted self there, and boy was I glad I did.

The show was at a restaurant called Natasha's. They have a small stage there, around which there are tables and chairs. I'd say about 100 people can fit in the place, maybe. We had a big group, so we sat at a big table in the back, about 30 feet from the stage.

Rangda is two guitar players and a free jazz drummer. There are some members of this band that are famous in certain crowds (apparently one of them was in the Sun City Girls), but I know nothing about these guys, except that the show was awesome. I was actually surprised that I liked it as it was kind of a high frequency assault with two noisy guitars. Not that I have a problem with noise, but too much emphasis on the high freqs can get to me after a awhile. But not that night.

The band did have some calm stuff that many here would possibly like. But, for me, they shined when it got noisy. I found a clip of my favorite song that night. This clip makes it sound like shit. But pay attention to when the drums come in. You can't really hear them, but this bald kid can play those drums.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BLVcEzchFA[/youtube]
 
Pixies were awesome and I went ahead and ordered a cd of the show recorded that night. The opening band (Fuck Buttons) sucked and was booed heartily as they left the stage.
 
KISS is playing tonight at Rio Tinto stadium in SLC. I couldn't find a date... :cry:

I saw them at the Delta Center in SLC quite a few years ago, it was their first tour after putting the makeup back on. I've never been to a concert where everyone was still screaming as they were leaving the venue!!!
To add to the evening, it was a partial lunar eclipse that night, and the full moon was blood-red. Damn... :shock:
 
Rick Deringer and Pat Travers at an outdoor venue in Donna, Texas. Back in August.

Show was great they both had some technical challanges.
 
CMonster said:
Pixies were awesome and I went ahead and ordered a cd of the show recorded that night.

I think it's great that you can get a CD of the show. I think that making live recordings available for all shows wouldn't be all that difficult. The recording could be posted to the web, where it could be downloaded for a reasonable price.

Glad to hear the show went well. But what's with all the booing? I'm sure there were some people who wanted to hear that band and their time was ruined and their money wasted. Rudeness at concerts is becoming one of my pet peeves.
 
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