Chris Cornell Poster

Thanks to everyone who has come for the first Chris Cornell show, hope you enjoyed it (if anyone has any comments, particularly flattery but constructive criticism too, they'd be appreciated). 

While you wait for the second show, I thought I'd post this, which might be of interest.  There was an option to pay $199 for a ticket that guaranteed a seat in the front 15 rows, a wrist band, pre-show drinks and nibbles, and a poster signed and numbered by the poster artist.  The poster was the main thing in that package that tempted me, but in the end I couldn't justify the cost.  But now a limited number of the posters are available for sale from the artist's (Munk One) website.  Each poster costs $US45, but a ridiculous $29 for shipping.  Nonetheless, $75 all up isn't too bad.  If anyone wants one the link is below.  Only 30 are available, out of a total of 600.


Munk One Chris Cornell Poster

Chris Cornell - 19 October 2011 at the Palais

I know a lot of people are keen to hear this one, so hear it is, I'll try not to blather as much as usual.

Comments on the show: my overall impression was that he fell back on his 'scream' too much.  The guy has got a great voice, but not necessarily the material to do it justice (not that he doesn't have great songs, just not as many of them as his voice deserves).  Part of the problem was probably the obvious comparison with Eddie Vedder's shows earlier in the year (admittedly I'm a much bigger EV/Pearl Jam fan than CC/Soundgarden/Audioslave fan).  The crowd was pretty quiet (which was good for the recording), but he still played a few 'requests' (as I pointed out in a comment that with hindsight sounds pretty bitchy, the printed setlist was identical to what was played, so the 'requests' were more acknowledgements).

Comments on the recording: apparently when the batteries are changed in my recorder the settings can reset.  This meant that the gain was set to Mid, rather than Low.  If this wasn't an acoustic show the recording would probably have been ruined, but fortunately there is only occassional distortion during the applause (the only song significantly affected is Ground Zero).  Otherwise, the recording is pretty decent quality.

http://www.mediafire.com/?4cdfbd0edgu49

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding
Can't Change Me
As Hope and Promise Fade
Ground Zero
Be Yourself
Wide Awake
Fell on Black Days
Outshined
Blow Up the Outside World
Call Me a Dog
Hungerstrike
Wooden Jesus
Seasons
A Satisfied Mind
Thank You
When I'm Down
Mind Riot
Getaway Car
Sunshower
Like Suicide
Like a Stone
Doesn't Remind Me

Billie Jean
Say Hello 2 Heaven
Black Hole Sun
Burden in My Hand
Long as I Can See the Light

The Wilco Book CD

As a big Wilco fan I check the fan site http://forums.viachicago.org/ on pretty much a daily basis.  The bands website doesn't have a forum on it, so this is pretty much the de facto official forum (people comment there on behalf of the band).

Recently, someone there asked for a copy of the CD from the Wilco Book.  For those who don't know Wilco released a book in 2004 that included various photos, diagrams, interviews, and other ephemera related to the band.  The book also included a CD of experimental music from the A Ghost is Born sessions.

In an interview Jeff Tweedy had mentioned that the band did a lot of experimenting at the time, such as setting up the studio so that members of the band could only hear a limited amount of what the others were playing.  I assume that these are from that experimentation.  Regardless, there are some pretty interesting things here, particularly for the hardcore fan, who will enjoy the more experimental versions of Hummingbird, and Company in My Back (titled Pure Bug Beauty on the CD).

As I've mentioned, this stuff is much more experimental than Wilco's other material, so those looking for the great lost Wilco album are better off checking out the various Yankee Hotel Foxtrot demos (which I will probably put up as part of my series of great bootlegs).  Note: the YHF demos are available from the Owl and Bear Archive (see links).

Lastly, for those who are concerned - I will never put up commercially available material.  However, this CD was difficult to get at the best of times, and is now out of print.  I put up a couple of comments at Via Chicago inviting anyone associated with the band to veto this, and no one did.  Nonetheless, if anyone has a problem contact me via email, or leave a comment, and I will take down the link.

Here it is:

Pure Bug Beauty
This is New
Diamond Claw
This is New (The Explanation)
What Good Am I
Here Comes Everybody
Hummingbird
The High Heat
Doubt
Barnyard Pimp
Rottnest
Hamani

[Update: apparently the old link was broken, so I've added a new one. If any links are broken for things you want send me an email]

https://mega.co.nz/#F!kdMBDb6b!VPMPz1gb1ihAtqp0b3G2fw

Lastly - I know lots of people are waiting for the Chris Cornell shows.  The first one is nearly done, and I'm hoping that the second one will follow relatively quickly since I did some of the processing simultaneously.

Will Sheff - 16 October 2011 at the Toff in Town

(Photo courtesy of freetoeknee from http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/)

When I started taping it was for shows like this.  Amazing performances that I (and hopefully others) would want to relisten to.  Thankfully the audience at this show was also great, and the recording turned out really well. 

I'm not planning on saying too much about the show, hopefully people will download it and make their own minds up.  The key points for me - a great set with songs I never thought I'd get to hear (e.g. The Presidents Dead), and reworkings of old songs (the version of For Real was worth the price of admission alone).  The only real let down was that the version of Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe was pretty bad.  I hoped that he would come out and play one of the songs I'd assumed we'd hear but hadn't (Westfall, Okkervil River Song) so that the show would end on the note it deserved, but sadly he didn't.  Nonetheless, this was a great show that deserves a listen.

http://www.mediafire.com/?x2mxcbp81dykh

Lay of the Last Survivor
Plus Ones
A King and a Queen
Happy Hearts
Red
Your Past Life as a Blast
Wake and Be Fine
The President's Dead
I Guess We Lost
A Stone
Unless It's Kicks
The Valley
For Real

Love to a Monster
Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe

Shows to be added

I know a few people are interested in getting the Chris Cornell shows so I wanted to put something up to say that they were both taped.  I haven't had a chance to listen to them properly, but based on the quick listen to get the setlist they are both pretty decent.

Before I post those though, I'll put up the Will Sheff solo show, and the Wilco Book CD, which a few people at http://forums.viachicago.org/ were after.  Given I haven't had a chance to do any processing of the Cornell shows expect to see the first one late next week and the second early the week after.

After these shows I don't have anything coming up for a while so I'm planning on putting up a few of my favourite bootlegs, the ones I think everyone should have.  Hopefully you'll enjoy them.

Okkervil River Gossip

Whether this is gossip depends on if you use the definition that says it must be sensational, or the one that says it can be trivial.  This is of the trivial (but a little interesting) kind.  At Will Sheff's show on Sunday (yes it was awesome, yes it was taped) prior to playing I Guess We Lost he mentioned it was from the EP of I Am Very Far b-sides they've released.  As far as I can tell that EP hasn't been released or even announced yet.  So there you go - look out for an EP from Okkervil River pretty soon.

In other news - I'm having some internet woes that will prevent me from uploading any shows this week.  Booker T Jones will be up as soon as I can, followed by Will Sheff's solo show.

Booker T Jones - 7 October 2011 at the HiFi

Booker T Jones is a legend.  However, that legend is largely (solely?) built on his status as a backing musician in one of the great backing bands.  Given this I was a bit uncertain seeing him live, would his voice stand up to renditions of songs that form part of the fabric of musical life?  Would he be able to carry a show as a frontman, rather than an incredibly skilled backing musician?

The answer to these was largely yes.  Helped in no small part by the incredible good will he engenders (in part because of the fact he comes across as a wonderfully nice guy) Booker T put on a show covering a small portion of the astounding number of classic songs he has featured on (I, for one, had no idea he played bass on Knockin' on Heaven's Door).  Being a huge Otis Redding fan I was particularly worried about his rendition of I've Been Loving You Too Long, but he managed to sing this (and everything else) with passion and skill.  Having said that, he wasn't able to raise the show to something truly extraordinary - he lacked the ability to work the crowd, and to craft and execute a set that would put him on a par with other greats of his era.  However, the quality of the show, and the warmth of the man meant that most people would have left with a smile.

Recording wise (yet again) there is a bit of annoying talking.  Hang 'Em High, in particular, suffers from an innane conversation from two idiots (how hard is it to go to a concert and actually listen?).  Nonetheless, most songs come out pretty well, and overall the recording is pretty good.

Link to come in the next 24 hours or so.   Internet woes mean that I won't be able to upload anything this week.  Sorry.  Here it is:

http://www.mediafire.com/?zc5kgcxfn44yw

Harlem House
Walking Papers
Take Me to the River
Born Under a Bad Sign
Green Onions
Soul Limbo
Oh Pretty Woman
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Ain't No Sunshine
Hip Hug-Her
Time is Tight

Hey Ya!
I've Been Loving You Too Long

Melting Pot

Okkervil River - Lighting Design

OK, so compared to having a decent recording of the whole show this isn't much, but it is kind of interesting.  As usual after the show I tried to grab a copy of the setlist.  This time the guy handed me a handful of papers, which was weird.  Having a look through them I realised he had given me the lighting design notes, as well as the setlist.  This might be interesting for Okkervil River trainspotters (or lighting design geeks I guess), for others - not so much.

A couple of interesting things to note - don't expect to see any purples, magentas, light blues or light yellows on this tour.  Expect to hear So Come Back I Am Waiting at every show.  The numbering for the setlist is all over the place.  I assume this is because they have a list of songs with lighting instructions and cut and paste them for the setlist.  Based on the numbering I suspect they have 31+ songs worked up for the tour (including covers).  From the two shows they've played that I've seen setlists for (no Meeniyan setlist) they've only played 18 different songs, so there is some room for variation in the upcoming sets (although the numbering also suggests the first five songs are fixed, and the first seven or eight won't see much variation).

Anyway, still feeling bad about the recording fail, but the second OR treat is much better than this one.

Fail: Okkervil River - 14 October 2011 at the Forum

Don't get me wrong, Okkervil River were great, but recording wise I messed up a bit.  Forgot to check the batteries pre-show, with the result that I missed the end of the show, which was the best bit.  I haven't had a proper listen to it yet, but hopefully there is something worth putting up.  In the meantime, the setlist:

Wake and Be Fine
For Real
Rider
Black
Piratess
A Girl in Port
Song of Our So-Called Best Friend
We Need a Myth
The Valley
No Key, No Plan
So Come Back, I Am Waiting
John Allyn Smith Sails
Your Past Life as a Blast
Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
Lost Coastlines (Not Recorded)

Hometown Farewell Kiss (Triffids Cover) (Not Recorded)
Westfall (Not Recorded)
Unless It's Kicks (Not Recorded)

At the end of the show Will Sheff came back out on stage, but none of the microphones were working.  He something shouted to the crowd (which I didn't hear) and left.  A slightly strange end to a very good show.

Update: apparently he said that they wanted to play another encore but the venue said they couldn't.  So on behalf of everyone that attended - FUCK YOU FORUM.


Apologies about the problems with the recording.  There will be (fingers crossed) a couple of small treats for hardcore Okkervil River fans in the next few days.

Big Boi - 3 September 2011 at the Palace, Melbourne

Although Andre 3000 gets most of the credit regarding Outkast, I think Big Boi is underrated.  His material for Speakerboxxx was better (although perhaps not as innovative) as Andrew 3000's.  So I was keen to see him when he played here on the tour for his new album. 

There is a saying that you should never meet your idols because they can only let you down.  Big Boi is far from being one of my idols, but having seen him live my opinion of him is much worse than it was.  The performance was fairly flat, but that happens sometimes.  A video show that consisted of the videos for the songs being played was redundant and detracted from the performance.  But worse were the varied hip hop cliches.  From the skanky girls invited to dance on stage at various points, to the periodic requests to 'put your motherfuckin hands in the air', there were enough cringeworthy moments to go round.  Lots of people in the crowd were too busy working on their gangsta impersonations to notice though.

That said, the quality of the recording isn't bad.  The sound is somewhat muffled, but that was what it was like at the venue.  As I mentioned previously, I intend to give a quality rating for all the shows I put up - in this case I would give this a 4.0.  Unless somebody requests a show I won't put it up if it rates less than 5.0 - so if you want this, comment.  In the meantime, here is the setlist:

Bust
ATliens
Skew it on the Bar-B
Rosa Parks
So Fresh, So Clean
Ms Jackson
General Patton
Follow Us
Ghetto Muzik
B.O.B.
Star Wars
The Way You Move
Southernplayalisticaddillacmuzik
Player's Ball/We Will Rock You
Shine Blockas
Fo Yo Sorrows
Shutterbug
Tell C-Bone
Kryptonite

Tangerine
(Unknown Track - any help would be appreciated)
Ain't No DJ

Liam Finn - 18 August 2011 at the Worker's Club, Melbourne

The day before his show at the Corner Hotel Liam had a warm up gig at the Worker's Club.  This one was just him and EJ Barnes, the same as the setup for his previous tours.  Unfortunately, having never been to the Worker's Club before, I got lost on the way and missed the first few songs.  Here is what I got (if anyone knows the first few songs please tell me):


...?
Fire in Your Belly
Gather to the Chapel
Energy Spent
Jam
Don't Even Know Your Name (w/ Jol Mulholland)
Cold Feet (w/ Jol Mulholland and Elroy Finn)
On Your Side
Honest Face
Chase the Seasons
Second Chance
Lead Balloon

Again, like the following night, this show was marred by an extraordinarily talkative crowd.  Liam and EJ didn't seem to mind (or perhaps it was better towards the front).  I haven't put this recording up because of the quality of the crowd, and the fact that this isn't a complete recording.  If anyone wants it leave a comment and I'll make it available.

Some Street Art

One of my favourite things about Melbourne is the street art.  I suspect that many people don't even notice the extent of it, or realise Melbourne's uniqueness in this regard.  The picture below is one of my favourites, it was on Little Lonsdale but has now been painted over.

Liam Finn - 19 August 2011 at the Corner Hotel, Melbourne

Apparently at least two people have visited this blog, neither of which are my Mum.  That is (literally) infinitely more interest than I anticipated so, as promised, here is the first recording - Liam Finn at the Corner Hotel. 

In terms of quality I'm a bit torn by this show, on one hand the performance is really good, on the other the crowd (particularly around me) were apallingly talkative (as you'll hear if you download).  The set was also somewhat affected by gear problems in the encore, which resulted in no bass in Jump Your Bones, and Gather to the Chapel being dropped from the setlist. 

My intention for the shows I upload is to give you an idea of the overall quality, taking into account the quality of the recording, the crowd, the performance, and anything else that affects the listening experience.  My rating for this show: 6.5 out of 10 (it would have been higher if not for the crowd).

The setlist:

I'll Be Lightning
Better to Be
Neurotic World
Energy Spent
The Struggle
Real Late
Plane Crash
Don't Even Know Your Name
Wise Man
Roll of the Eye
Second Chance
Lead Balloon

Jump Your Bones
(Gather to the Chapel - dropped from the setlist because of gear problems)
Wide Awake on the Voyage Home

Look for a link to be posted in the next few hours.  Done.

http://www.mediafire.com/?yfxmqx5tsbdx3

PS - For those unaware of it, Liam Finn actually has two official live shows available (unfortunately none for the current album).  You can get them for $US10 each (plus postage) from the link below.  I have both and can recommend them.

http://www.kufala.com/Liam_Finn-list.aspx

Welcome

Welcome to my blog.  Why are you here?  There is nothing here for you to see so its strange for you to be here.  What will be here?  Probably two things - recordings of bands (mainly) playing shows in Melbourne, and pictures from (mainly) around Melbourne.  Or perhaps I won't get round to putting anything up.  If I do put up anything you can expect it to happen in the next few weeks and be recordings of the following bands:

Liam Finn at the Corner Hotel
Big Boi at the Palace Theatre
Booker T Jones at the HiFi Melbourne

If you want to hear any of these feel free to post a comment, it will probably make it more likely that I'll put them up.  Maybe.