What gig did you go to last night? (7 Viewers)

[Jill Hives]

to be fair, slowdive were the original shoegaze band for which the term was coined. it wasn't even a term of endearment to begin with. it was music press derision, and it was funny. there seems to be a lot of cultural revision about it these days. i'd say jim and william reid take particular offense at being tagged as shoegaze

worst part was when everyone pulled out their torches on their phones and started waving them around for a particularly sad/mellow tune they played. saps

Last night we were asked not to take photos or record. It was so nice, only about 15 people tried to sneak a few shots. It’s so much better without a zillion phones in front of you, especially when you can see it’s gonna be a shit shot anyway.

The Cult tonight. I’m playing designated driver. I’m pregaming with over the counter pain killers and ear plugs.

 

[shidheat]

i was at autechre the other night - a pitch black gig in vicar st. all the lights switched off and there were still people videoing it on their phones ffs. just black screens

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

Off!

So good,pretty relentless barage for about an hour.

 

[jay69]

Was at Off! too. Morris was fairly knackered at the end.

 

[Unicron]

Wednesday in Opium, I don't think I've been to a gig there since a late night Pantha du Prince one in 2014. I suppose I never really warmed to the place even when it was The Village.

Good, I really like their album from this year, Rat Saw God.

Opener, because the original ones didn't play, was MJ Lenderman from the band, backed by everyone in the band bar the lead singer. I like his album "Ghost of your guitar solo" from 2021, in fact I'm listening to it again now. Will try to listen to his 2022 album after that. I think I might have enjoyed his set more, better written songs I reckon.

They had a cup/QR code for donations to Palestine at the merch desk, singer spoke at the end about being a 40% Jewish band from America and how she felt about about that. Unsurprisingly good reception given where they were playing, probably easier to say that here than it might have been if they were saying it in Germany when they played there a couple of weeks ago. But fair play all the same.

 

[bogmanfan]

Irreversible Entanglements in Whelan's. Excellent gig - incredible musicians at the top of their game. Struck a perfect balance between melodic and fiery. Loved it.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

I was at Irreversible Entanglements too, wasn't really feeling it though.

 

[shidheat]

i really need to keep a better eye out for what's on... i had just been listening to them the other day and was loving it

 

[bogmanfan]

i really need to keep a better eye out for what's on... i had just been listening to them the other day and was loving it

Life was so much easier in the old days!

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

A quick 45 minutes from Slapshot. Ripping!!!!

Decent crowd considering the awful promotion. Was talking to one lad I expected to see at it. He only knew about it as his mates were on the bill.

 

[Richie]

William Basinski in the Sugar Club - had never seen a photo of him or heard him speak despite liking his music for a few years, his look & stage presence is hilariously different to what I had imagined..

 

[rettucs]

William Basinski in the Sugar Club - had never seen a photo of him or heard him speak despite liking his music for a few years, his look & stage presence is hilariously different to what I had imagined..

in a... good way?

 

[Richie]

in a... good way?

Sure - based purely on the eerie melancholy ambient music I think I was expecting some professorial Eno-ish type, not Neo's dad meets John Waters.. every line of stage banter had me laughing out loud (with the exception of him announcing his mom had just died). Enjoyed the tunes, even if I had the strong suspicion he was just hitting play on his laptop.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

I went to see him last night, I think he might have been pissed. I was wondering about the laptop too. I saw the tape going but he didn't appear to be doing much with it, he was mostly on his laptop. I don't really like his music but I really liked his gig in the pepper canister church last year so I went again. I didn't like it last night though, left early. That's two gigs in a row I've left early, I must be getting jaded and old.

 

[rettucs]

I went to see him last night, I think he might have been pissed. I was wondering about the laptop too. I saw the tape going but he didn't appear to be doing much with it, he was mostly on his laptop. I don't really like his music but I really liked his gig in the pepper canister church last year so I went again. I didn't like it last night though, left early. That's two gigs in a row I've left early, I must be getting jaded and old.

I had a ticket for that pepercannister church gig but forgot about it til after

I do like him, but also have no idea what he looks like

 

[Nate Champion]

Sure - based purely on the eerie melancholy ambient music I think I was expecting some professorial Eno-ish type, not Neo's dad meets John Waters.. every line of stage banter had me laughing out loud (with the exception of him announcing his mom had just died). Enjoyed the tunes, even if I had the strong suspicion he was just hitting play on his laptop.

Hmm, this makes me think of this hilarious recent post

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Thought-provoking anyway in terms of what are people actually expecting in terms of performance from an electronic-based artist?

One of the few electronic artists I've seen who actually seems to be performing [in the sense of doing the tracks live] is Carl Stone but on a visual level, it's just an old bloke sitting intently at a laptop.

 

[Richie]

Hmm, this makes me think of this hilarious recent post

Thought-provoking anyway in terms of what are people actually expecting in terms of performance from an electronic-based artist?

One of the few electronic artists I've seen who actually seems to be performing [in the sense of doing the tracks live] is Carl Stone but on a visual level, it's just an old bloke sitting intently at a laptop.

That post is very funny & well thought out and I basically agree with him.. I appreciate that electronic music often doesn't really translate to a live performance setting and a lot of the time what you're basically getting is some form of playback with certain elements that have some live control, and I'm fine with that (as that post says, there are a lot of reasons to go to shows besides just seeing somebody physically working an instrument).. I do think there is a bit of a sliding scale and that some electronic acts (even the ones that are just someone standing behind a laptop) manage to make it feel like a 'live' event more convincingly than others, whether or not that's complete smoke and mirrors.

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

Electronic music is going back to its roots of being made in a studio and played on tape for a bunch of people in a different room.

Separately, Basinski is shit and he looks like a dope.

 

[Nate Champion]

Interestingly when you do get a very present performer - say Will Oldham, who to me had the magnetic, commanding stage presence of I dunno Jack Nicholson - and he really performs or reinterprets songs in new and interesting ways, there will be just as many people going, "what the fuck?? That's not how the songs sound on the record!"

I guess regardless of the genre, if a performer is either subverting expectations or being light-hearted with his persona or pre-existing material that's what I hope to see live.

Basinski being a drunken fool and bantering with the audience is probably more appealing than just turning up and hearing sound in a space.

I'm questioning the whole gig going thing as I get older...that said I'm going to two things tomorrow at Huddersfield Contemporary Music festival then Boundaries in Sunderland...

 

[Nate Champion]

That post is very funny & well thought out and I basically agree with him.. I appreciate that electronic music often doesn't really translate to a live performance setting and a lot of the time what you're basically getting is some form of playback with certain elements that have some live control, and I'm fine with that (as that post says, there are a lot of reasons to go to shows besides just seeing somebody physically working an instrument).. I do think there is a bit of a sliding scale and that some electronic acts (even the ones that are just someone standing behind a laptop) manage to make it feel like a 'live' event more convincingly than others, whether or not that's complete smoke and mirrors.

Not to mention what mood you yourself in as an audience goer on the day.

All about expectations for a given artist though.


I'm trying to think who I saw where he just pressed play and paced around smoking cigarettes and then repeated this banging his head, and its all about how the people around you are digging this. In that case, everyone was loving it.