Conor Oberst & The Felice Brothers - Corner Hotel, 26 February 2015

Never seen either of these guys before but both put on really great shows. The Felice Brothers set seemed a little bit hurt by the fact they had a crowd that was only half paying attention and that their set was over just as they were starting to fire, but they still did a great job (particularly given they were on stage for nearly three hours a night on this tour).

The Felice Brothers backed Conor Oberst for his set, it really highlighted what a flexible band they are, because it didn't seem like their folk/country background limited the set choices in any way. The set was very wideranging, covering solo material, Bright Eyes and some covers (including a Felice Brothers song). The set lasted two hours (which he apologised for a few times) because he only makes it here every three or four years (because the plane ride is a bitch). My only criticism would be that the encore seemed to lose a bit of momentum thanks to some slower songs, but really this was a great show.

Unfortunately, I stood in a different spot to my usual and the sound isn't as good as past recordings. Nothing awful, but a bit too much bass and a little noise from a nearby fan. I can't imagine it will worry anyone particular, but it's worth noting.

Felice Brothers

Murder by Mistletoe
Honda Civic
Lion
Silver in the Shadow
Wonderful Life (w/ Conor Oberst)
Penn Station
Dead Dog
Cumberland Gap
Hey Hey Revolver
Cherry Licorice

Conor Oberst

Napoleon's Hat
Southern State
Four Winds
Time Forgot
Hundreds of Ways
Ten Women
Artifact #1
Well Whiskey
Poison Oak
An Attempt to Tip the Scales
We Are Free Man
Meadow of a Dream
Lenders in the Temple
Zigzagging Towards the Light
Cape Canaveral
Soul Singer in a Session Band
Method Acting
Easy/Lucky/Free

Milk Thistle
Walls (w/ John Darnielle)
Another Travellin' Song
A Song to Pass the Time

Felice Brothers

Conor Oberst

Kevin Devine - Corner Hotel, 13 November 2014

I said that Kevin Devine didn't really appeal to me, but listening back to this he's starting to grow on me. Too late to go back and see him on night two, but I'm getting too old to stand for that long anyway.

This was the very first thing I recorded with my new unit and the volume is a little low. It isn't anywhere near as bad as if I made the same mistake with my old unit, but it could have been a tiny bit better. As you can see from the photo, he sometimes tends to sing while standing away from the mic, this sounds kind of cool and comes across relatively well on the recording, but if you're wondering why he sometimes sounds a bit faint, that's why.

Anyway, this is obviously a pretty short set since he was first up on a three-band bill, but he does a good job of playing a bunch of songs and being engaging, without assuming people are there to see him (although some clearly were).

Bubblegum
Just Stay
Now: Navigate!
Little Bulldozer
Private First Class
Cotton Crush
Brother's Blood

https://mega.co.nz/#F!JF10GbCR!IAznodVdafmEx1A4JqOe7Q

Manchester Orchestra - Corner Hotel, 14 November 2014

Night two of Manchester Orchestra didn't quite reach the heights of night one. They seemed to have got the message from night one (or maybe just wanted to mix things up) and dropped the long quiet encore with Kevin Devine. But the crowd were pretty obnoxious, constantly yelling out song requests or general stupid comments, which clearly didn't go down well. I didn't see the written setlist, so I don't know if this was planned, but the show only ended up being an hour and a quarter, and I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped some songs so they could get out of there.

Having said all that, they barrel through quite a few songs, and the set isn't bad so much as not as good as night one.

Pride
Shake It Out
Pensacola
Pale Black Eye
Every Stone
The Mansion
I Can Barely Breathe
I've Got Friends
Everything to Nothing
Cope
Simple Math
I Can Feel a Hot One
42 (w/ Kevin Devine)
Sleeper 1972

Top Notch

https://mega.co.nz/#F!NMVyzRbZ!uaVc5vY-hPTIDr4uOgHpZw

Apes - Corner Hotel, 14 November 2014

Second night I skipped Kevin Devine since he didn't really grab me, but made sure to catch Apes again. These guys are a really great new band, sounding a little bit like the Stooges.

They played an identical set, but when you haven't even released an album, you can't really blame them for not mixing things up. All the songs are really good, but the single Pull the Trigger sounds like something that could generate some radio play and grow their fan base (but I say that about lots of bands so what do I know). These guys are definitely worth checking out.

Seven
Bones
Black Lung
Got Some
Strange Tastes
Goin On
Pull the Trigger
Helluva Time

https://mega.co.nz/#F!1F8gnJbS!7JXTo9yE7682cOQLrTVciQ

Manchester Orchestra - Corner Hotel, 13 November 2014

Unfortunately my old recorder has been havingsome problems, so I've had to replace it. This was the first show with the new unit, and although it's not quite as convenient as the last one, the sound quality is better and it has some features that should prevent some of the bad recordings I got in the past.

Manchester Orchestra put on a pretty good triple bill with Kevin Devine and local band Apes (I'll put those sets up soon). The show itself was slightly odd. The set was amazing and the band seemed to be enjoying it. But they totally lost the crowd for the encore. It probably hurt that they didn't really play any 'hits' and the songs with Kevin Devine were pretty slow. People ended up just leaving, and those that stayed started talking a lot, which comes through in the recording. This is still a good set, but the encore stops me from recommending it more strongly.

Top Notch
Shake It Out
Pensacola
Every Stone
The Ocean
100 Dollars
I Can Barely Breathe
I've Got Friends
Colly Strings
Everything to Nothing
Cope
Simple Math
I Can Feel a Hot One

Wolves at Night
42
You're a Mirror I Cannot Avoid
Pyotr (aborted)
Where Have You Been?
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air

https://mega.co.nz/#F!JQNyXYDY!_4WjicRmMV4bkAIpPO0pAA

Yo La Tengo - Corner Hotel, 9 March 2014

Another show I thought I'd posted, but apparently not. Yo La Tengo returned after their Melbourne Festival exclusive for a full tour, again playing their acoustic/electric set. Being old, I wasn't super excited about standing for that long. But they played a good set, although it was pretty late by the time they were done.The recording quality is decent, but not outstanding.

Ohm
From Black to Blue
Is That Enough
Fog Over Frisco
I'm On My Way
The Point of It
Cornelia and Jane
I'll Be Around
Tom Courtney

Stupid Things
We're an American Band
Double Dare
Paddle Forward
Autumn Sweater
Before We Run
Nothing to Hide
Decora
Ohm
I Heard You Looking

What'cha Gonna Do About It
You Tore Me Down
Sugarcube

https://mega.co.nz/#F!1N1kQYxZ!NH1QdXH2uXU8Wfo4JhSQEg

Hanni El Khatib and White Denim - Corner Hotel, 5 January 2014

This is an old show that I haven't got round to putting up. I'm not really sure why I ended up going to this show - I'd vaguely heard of White Denim and didn't have any idea about Hanni El Khatib. In the end I was glad I went. White Denim were pretty disappointing - the sound mix seemed a little off, but even without they I suspect they just aren't really my thing. They sound a bit like Vampire Weekend, which probably works for lots of people, but I'm not really a fan.

Hanni El Khatib, on the other hand, was fantastic. As soon as he stepped on stage it was clear that this was a step up from the opener. As well as having stage presence and a hell of a lot of energy, he's got a great voice, great songs and a great band. If he makes a return visit I'll definitely be attending again.

White Denim

Pretty Green
River to Consider
Come Back
Say What You Want
A Place to Start
I'd Have It Just the Way We Were
Bass St
Shake, Shake, Shake
Limited to Stature
Cheer Up/Blues Ending
At Night in Dreams

Hanni El Khatib

Head in the Dirt
Nobody Move
Build. Destory. Rebuild
Can't Win 'Em All
Dead Wrong
Human Fly
You Rascal You
Sinking in the Sand
Penny
Skinny Little Girl
Loved One
Pay No Mind
Spit It Out
Fuck It. You Win

House on Fire
Family

White Denim Download
Hanni El Khatib Download

Johhny Marr - Corner Hotel, 4 January 2014

I saw Johnny Marr way back at 7 Worlds Collide in 2009. He was good, but only sang two songs, so it was hard to make too much of it. And although I like the Smiths, I'm hardly a massive fan. But I figured that he was someone to see at least once, so I trundled along to this show. It ended up being really good, the two key things I was concerned about (the quality of his voice and the calibre of his solo material) turned out not be issues at all. Even though he played 10 songs off his new solo album, The Messenger, none of them were weak, which is pretty impressive really. Plus of course there were a bunch of Smiths songs, all done really well.

The audio quality here is really good, consistent with the best I've done. Hopefully this one doesn't get missed because of how much stuff is going up at the moment

The Right Thing Right
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Upstarts
Sun and Moon
The Crack Up
Panic
New Town Velocity
The Messenger
Lockdown
Say Demesne
Generate! Generate!
Bigmouth Strikes Again
Word Starts Attack
I Want the Heartbeat
How Soon is Now?

Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
The Hop
I Fought the Law
Getting Away with It
There is a Light That Never Goes Out

https://mega.co.nz/#F!0c0hAAKA!WPTS2s0ZZCsIO6J46cBoTQ

Japandroids - Corner Hotel, 30 August 2013

The second Japandroids gig was substantially better than the first. The effect of having a night off and playing on Friday were pretty evident. Vocally the band were much better, although, like the first night, the sound quality wasn't great. They were also a lot more engaged (or maybe the crowd were just more enthusiastic), at one point slightly after midnight inviting a fan (who had just turned 18, having managed to get in underage) on stage for shots, followed by crowd surfing for the entirety of To Hell with Good Intentions.

The setlist was virtually identical to night one. The only difference being Crazy/Forever being played in place of I Quit Girls. Like I said, the sound quality isn't outstanding, although it isn't horrible either. A fun show, and hopefully Australia will get a visit a little earlier on the tour for the next album.

Adrenaline Nightshift
The Boys Are Leaving Town
Fire's Highway
Art Czars
The Nights of Wine and Roses
Rockers East Vancouver
Younger Us
Wet Hair
Evil's Sway
Heart Sweats
Sovereignty
Continuous Thunder
To Hell with Good Intentions
Crazy/Forever
Young Hearts Spark Fire
The House That Heaven Built
For the Love of Ivy

https://mega.co.nz/#F!1I9iRLha!JfqinlcQSpgV46ntIzVwOg

Japandroids - Corner Hotel, 28 August 2013

I've been waiting for a loooong time to see these guys do a headline set. Their show earlier in the year at Laneway was pretty good, but these guys are better suited to a club. Unfortunately, the time taken to get to Australia meant these shows were at the very end of their Celebration Rock tour and, as they admitted at the shows, their voices are a bit fried. It can't have helped that they were playing consecutive nights in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne.

Putting all that aside, the show itself was still pretty great. At times the strain on their voices really shows through, but hell, they still played almost all of both their albums, plus a couple of non-album tracks. Having had a day off, their show on the 30th was a bit better (plus it was a Friday night with a crowd who were more into it), but this was still a good show.

Adrenaline Nightshift
The Boys Are Leaving Town
Fire's Highway
Art Czars
The Night of Wine and Roses
Rockers East Vancouver
Younger Us
Wet Hair
Evil's Sway
Heart Sweats
Sovereignty
Continuous Thunder
I Quit Girls
Young Hearts Spark Fire
The House That Heaven Built
To Hell with Good Intentions
For the Love of Ivy

https://mega.co.nz/#F!1Z9kSKbC!M_s-RTCbuEB0aAdeG7iCBg

Wavves - Corner Hotel, 27 July 2013

The recording for the last show I went to didn't turn out very well (fortunately, it got broadcast so there is (an edited) version of it). For this show I turned the sound way down and it seemed to produce a pretty decent recording.

The crowd for this half of the show was quite different to the Unknown Mortal Orchestra half - a lot younger and a lot more rowdy. There was a lot of crowd surfing from the start, and the mike stand gets knocked down early on, hence a bit of the distortion you hear. Overall though the sound is pretty good. The set is, as all Wavves shows are, pretty short, and features more King of the Beach songs than Afraid of Heights ones. This was a good show, but I think I prefer their 2012 show a bit more.

Idiot
Super Soaker
King of the Beach
Bug
Demon to Lean On
Paranoid
Afraid of Heights
Post Acid
Friends Were Gone
Linus Spacehead
Beat Me Up
Sail to the Sun
100%
Green Eyes
No Hope Kids

https://mega.co.nz/#F!NVlmTQbQ!ZaT0g3ADiOcWVkanL8Dm0A

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Corner Hotel, 27 July 2013

I wasn't sure whether I'd go to UMO's Melbourne show, so I was pleased when they announced a co-headlining gig with Wavves. I'm not sure whether they were a good fit together, as the people who were there for UMO all seemed to leave at the end of the set to be replaced by a visibly different crowd for Wavves.

The show itself was pretty good, but people didn't seem to be too into it (there's lots of talking in the recording), and I started to get a bit bored as the show went on. Their best songs are really good, but I'm not sure I'd make the effort to see them again.

From the Sun
The Opposite of Afternoon
Thought Ballune
No Need for a Leader
How Can U Luv Me
Strangers are Strange
Jello and Juggernauts
Monki!
Nerve Damage
Swim and Sleep (Like a Shark)
So Good at Being in Trouble
Ffunny Ffrends
Boy Witch

https://mega.co.nz/#F!EMt1DZoa!Aw172RYQO_JD-wmcahEbCA

Wavves - Corner Hotel, 9 May 2012

This was a great show, that I recorded but it turned out really badly. Fortunately, while I was looking for something to put up in advance of Wavves return visit in a couple of weeks, I found that this was broadcast on the radio. They've cut two songs and the between songs banter, but it still sounds great. They're playing with Unknown Mortal Orchestra, which is a pretty great double header (sold out now though I think). Obviously, this doesn't feature anything off of their new album Afraid of Heights, but its still well worth a listen.
https://mega.co.nz/#F!0EMG2bwS!U64WGjexyhJrv6hmMMwvKA

Vieux Farka Touré - 11 March 2013, Corner Hotel

I put off putting this up because I was struggling to figure out what the setlist was. I still haven't got it (if anyone knows any of the tracks please leave a comment), but having had a listen to this it was a great performance and sounds really good. It's only a pity that more people didn't get to see it (this was the first time I've been to the Corner and had the curtain drawn to reduce the size). Having said that, the smaller space made this a fairly intimate show, with lots of engagement between the crowd and the band.  If you're a fan of African music, or want to find out why Vieux Farka Touré is described as the Hendrix of the Sahara, check this out.

Update: someone contacted me a while ago to ask if they could pass this on to Vieux's manager. I'm happy for these to be circulated freely, so of course I didn't have a problem. I asked the person if he knew the setlist, but he wasn't 100% sure. He passed the request on, and this is the setlist that I got back:

Ay Bakoy (Biba)
Souba Souba
Fafa
Gido
Lakkal
Ali 2
All the Same
Ai Du (Walaidu)
Djarabi
Mainmouna
Passouba

Amana Quai

https://mega.co.nz/#F!gA0UyRqR!duehTG3XZtpYsTu0BwBWlg

Divine Fits - 4 February 2013, Corner Hotel

Divine Fits' album poses a bit of a problem for me, in that its a fantastic album, but obviously also means that we won't be seeing any Spoon material for a while. There's also been some mention of a follow up Divine Fits album, so Britt Daniel might end up juggling two bands for a while. As long as he keeps making great music it'll be hard to complain.

This set includes the entirety of their album (the only song they didn't play at Laneways was For Your Heart), plus covers of Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones. It would have been great if they'd played a bit longer (I know they've covered Frank Orange a couple of times, which would have been interesting to hear), but it was a great set, and with some extra time they had the chance to engage with the audience more (Dan Boeckner in particular, who seemed to be having a great time).

The show didn't seem that loud at the time, but there's a bit of occassional distortion in the recording. Other than that the sound is very good, and these guys are a really great band. For those that don't know them, my favourite quote is that "they sound like the best music ever made in 1982", which captures both the fact they have a clear early 80's sound, but that they shouldn't be associated with some of the cliches about the quality of 80's music.

Neopolitans

Baby Get Worse

Flaggin a Ride

What Gets You Alone

Would That Not Be Nice

My Love is Real

Civilian Stripes

You Got Lucky

The Salton Sea

Like Ice Cream

For Your Heart

Sway

Shivers


http://www.mediafire.com/?v54z9qz1e5a9h

Sharon Van Etten - 30 December 2012, Corner Hotel

As promised, this should be the start of things picking up after a post-Xmas pause. This show was from what seems like a long time ago, but was only a couple of weeks. Sharon Van Etten seems to be on the up and up and this show was a display of talent from someone who will hopefully be a regular visitor here. Unlike Laura Marling, who she is often compared to, the focus here isn’t simply the voice, instead she has a bunch of powerfully melodic songs, which the voice is just one component of.

Like Laura Marling, she seemed to have an annoying faux-naïf thing going on. But as the show progressed it became clear that actually, she was just genuinely nervous; becoming more confident as it became clear that (to her apparent surprise) she has a bit of a fanbase here.

Unsurprisingly, the set focussed on her most recent effort – Tramp, which has been featuring on many best-of year lists, with a few older songs and one new song (listed on the setlist as ‘Solo’, although that may simply be a description or a working title) added in.

The sound quality for this is very good. I’ve had to push the volume up a lot at times because she is pretty softly spoken; while this is occasionally noticeable, it shouldn’t be too annoying.

 http://www.mediafire.com/?v28bbj91r1c8o

Dave Dobbyn - 14 November 2012, Corner Hotel

The advantage of seeing big names of New Zealand music in Australia is that they tend to play much smaller venues than they would in their home country. The downside is that the shows are usually packed wall to wall with obnoxious ex-pats. This show had the former, but not too much of the latter, which made it more enjoyable than these things sometimes are.  It also helped that Dave Dobbyn is currently touring a greatest hits release, which offered an ideal opportunity for Australian audiences to reacquaint themselves with his impressive back catalogue, given he hasn’t toured here for nearly 20 years.

It didn’t hurt that he’d also brought an impressive band with him (although it doesn’t come through much on the recording, the bass player was particularly good). While Dobbyn frequently commented on how much fun he was having, this show didn’t really manage to move from very good to great. I can’t put my finger on what it needed, but something extra from the band or the crowd could have lifted this. Even so, this is a good show that’s worth a listen.

The first couple of songs here have a bit of occasional distortion (I think these recordings have a bit more power than the stuff I did a while back, but in future I’ll reduce the input volume to try to remove the distortion). After that the sound is really good.

Language
Lap of the Gods
Hanging in the Wire
Pour the Wine
Rain on Fire
Guilty
Beside You
Whaling
Just Add Water
Outlook for Thursday
Be Mine Tonight
Devil You Know
Love You Like I Should
Loyal

Blindman’s Bend
This Town
Welcome Home
 
http://www.mediafire.com/?k6brnh783pbz6

Gomez - 22 October 2012, Corner Hotel

[A little note: there is a ton of stuff coming up, so shows might either start coming thick and fast or I might have no time to do anything, hopefully the former]

Most of the best gigs I’ve been to this year have been when I couldn’t be bothered, but had already got a ticket. And what better reason to not bother than a Monday night show from a band I’m not a huge fan of, but wanted to see once (or at least I did before this show). Sure enough, really not wanting to bother, and got a stunning show.

The band’s Quinceañera tour (literally ‘one who is fifteen’, thanks Wikipedia) includes a bit of fan participation even before the shows, with the ability to request songs. I’d read an interview where they said it was a waste of time to request the hits, since they play those every night, so I requested songs I thought should be hits, but don’t seem to get played much. I’m not sure how many other people bothered, but three of the five songs I requested got played.

Although I heard someone complaining about the crowd, I didn’t they were bad, particularly for a Monday night (who plays a Sunday/Monday double header?!?). There was a bit of a lull through the middle of the set, where they seemed to lose the crowd a bit (you can tell on the recording because there’s a bit of talk for a while, whereas early on there isn’t any). Given they were including a few rarities, I thought they managed to pace the set nicely. As a casual fan I managed to enjoy the show a lot. Enough that I’m now a bit of a convert, and will definitely go see them next time they tour (which, admittedly, isn’t likely to be anytime soon).

The sound for this is mostly outstanding. That mid-set lull brings it down slightly, but for the most this could almost be an official recording (big call I know, but check it out, I’m very pleased with myself). This is one of a small handful of shows I can recommend for download regardless of whether you were there or not.

Bring It On

Shot Shot

Hangover

I Will Take You There

Rhythm and Blues Alibi

Meet Me in the City

Get Myself Arrested

The Place and the People

Drench

We Haven’t Turned Around

Rosalita

Revolutionary Kind

Options

Girlshapedlovedrug

Bring Your Lovin’ Back

Ruff Stuff

Whippin’ Picadilly

Tijuana Lady

Devil Will Ride

How We Operate

http://www.mediafire.com/?ay9kg78et9bpg

Stephen Malkmus - 3 October 2012, The Corner

At some point during Stephen Malkmus’ set I remember thinking that he could be much bigger if he wanted to (all he’d need to do is make sure Pavement songs filled half the set, and play a more focussed set). But a fundamental part of the success he has had (including with Pavement) is because he wouldn’t do that (deep huh?).

Anyway, the point of that is that he doesn’t play a lot of Pavement songs, and he doesn’t play a focussed set. Instead, he frequently talks in a ‘funny’ voice, plays a lot of new material, and a few not even released yet songs. Like I said, to ask for anything else is probably asking for him to be someone else, but it does mean that he played more for his enjoyment than the crowds. The most exciting point came at the end of the encore when he played a cover of Dragon’s Are You Old Enough?, followed by Summer Babe. It might be churlish to wish that the whole set was as good as that, but there it is.

The sound on this is pretty good. Malkmus frequently addressed the crowd while wandering round, or stepping away from the mic, so I’ve tried to crank the volume up at those points to make it audible, but sometimes its just too faint to work.

Senator
Spazz
Brain Gallop
All Over Gently
Dark Wave
Flower Children
Asking Price
Stick Figures in Love
Forever 28
Phantasies
Categories
Blind Imagination
Houston Ladies
Long Hard Book
Tigers
Us

Jenny and the Ess-Dog
Speak, See, Remember
Are You Old Enough?
Summer Babe

http://www.mediafire.com/?gh9h61jdmvpf1

Kate Miller-Heidke - 16 August 2012, The Corner

Middle-aged women you are my kryptonite. If kryptonite was really noisy, a bit overweight, had a bad sense of humour, and rather than killing Superman, just really annoyed him. Apparently whatever radio station they play where middle-aged women work has played a few Kate Miller-Heidke songs, so my middle-aged foes figured they might as well go along, have a bit of a natter (middle-aged women don’t talk), and get drunk on Chardonnay and G&Ts.  Then scream when the one song they knew started. Then go back to nattering. Aaah yes, this is hate.

But I digress. Kate Miller-Heidke is music your mum would like, but you shouldn’t hold that against her, because she’s actually very good. It’s just that your mum went to the show, and as everyone knows, your mum is really annoying. Most of the set was made up of the new album Nightflight, which is good, because the album has a bunch of great tracks. Her cover of Eminem’s The Real Slim Shady felt a bit gimmicky, but the segue into Kanye West’s Monster (that phrase would make the ladies titter) worked better, and highlighted the power of her band.

Having spent an excessive part of this bitching about middle-aged ladies, its fair to say that their drone doesn’t come through on the recording as much as it did at the show, since they were standing behind me. I’m not sure if it was just their lack of interest, or it applied to the whole crowd, but there also seemed to be a degree of apathy among the audience. None of this stopped Kate Miller-Heidke from putting on a really good, professional show, but it might hinder your enjoyment of the show.

http://www.mediafire.com/?26e6suv28s222