As is often the case, I found myself spending four hours standing in front of a stage last night. Given that it was in Lawrence this meant that I also happened to be the oldest person standing in front of the stage by a good ten years. But that is a small price to pay in order to see a triple bill consisting of Immaculate Machine, Emma Pollack and The New Pornographers. I’ve been looking forward to this show from the moment it was announced. Talk about the makings of a fun night.
Immaculate Machine opened and they are my favorite band that absolutely no one has ever heard of. Well, I did include them in a Wednesday Night Music Club at one point so you might actually have heard me rattle off their particulars before. Led by the lovely and talented Kathryn Calder (pictured above and crush-worthy beyond belief) they just have a bunch of catchy three minute pop songs. Just guitar, drums and keyboards, they don’t even bother with a bass player. Seriously, you need to search out some of their music. They even decided to sing one song partly in French because they’re from Canada and apparently it is a law or something.
(I’ll go into a little more detail about Kathryn later as well.)
Emma Pollack was second and while her set was good it will be best remembered for one of those constant thorns in my concert going side: the extremely wasted older woman. She was a good thirty feet away from me and I don’t know if she was drunk or stoned or what but she actually cleared out a ten foot radius of people who did not want to deal with her. She yelled at the band, the people standing next to her, and probably some random woodland creatures that she imagined were running across the speakers. It was disturbing and frightening as you wondered just what was going to happen. What happened was that about fifteen minutes into her display she decided to hold up her lighter in a big arena rock moment (for a set that featured acoustic guitars) and that’s when she was tossed. As I told the guy next to me, they can’t toss you for being an asshole but if you hold up a lighter at a no smoking show you’ll get canned. The crowd actually cheered when this happened.
That’s only the first part of the annoying crowd experience. I also had the eighteen year old girls next to me who decided to sit down between sets. Given their apparent lack of knowledge of three dimensional geometry they didn’t realize that they took up a lot more space sitting than standing thus resulting in the rest of the crowd being scrunched into each other and falling onto them whenever someone moved. I was so tempted to punt one of them or just accidentally step on a hand. I’m sorry but not only are my knees older than theirs but I have knee ligament tears that are older than they are. If I can stand for four hours so can you.
Since it’s Lawrence I also had the new generation hippie behind me who, when the Pornographers came out under a lighted sign that read “New Pornographers”, yelled directly into my ears “I love light up signs!” I don’t even want to think about how much you would have to up my medication to make me say that in public. Oh, I also had the annoying guy who had to talk to the band during the set next to me as well. I swear, I should be allowed to toss these people from shows because they obviously don’t appreciate it as much as I do. Yes, I am that much of a music snob.
Anyway, the New Pornographers were amazing as always. They had the full band this time around so I got to stand directly in front of Neko Case as I always do whenever she plays. You have to dig a band that just uses Neko to belt out songs and play tambourine. They are a pretty amazing band. It was always meant to be a side project as a Canadian supergroup except the side project has become more popular than anyone’s actual band. It’s power pop at its finest and while some people question the need for it, I love it. You don’t always need the full orchestra of Arcade Fire and Polyphonic Spree. Sometimes just guitars, keyboards, and the occasional six part harmony will do.
Kathryn Calder is also a part of the Pornographers and I really think she might be a breakout star. She has a look and talent and you only need the former to make it in the biz. The latter just makes it easier. She has a killer voice and is getting more notice by singing backup and an occasional lead and just learning from being on stage with Neko. I really want to see where her career goes because I can see her being a big deal in a few years.
I’ll wrap up with how the set wrapped up. They finished with the song “The Bleeding Heart Show”, which I know was used as music in a commercial at some point. The song ends with Neko singing “We have arrived” over and over. Standing in front of a stage with a full house behind me seeing a band I have followed for years seemingly make it was an awesome experience. They have arrived.
Immaculate Machine opened and they are my favorite band that absolutely no one has ever heard of. Well, I did include them in a Wednesday Night Music Club at one point so you might actually have heard me rattle off their particulars before. Led by the lovely and talented Kathryn Calder (pictured above and crush-worthy beyond belief) they just have a bunch of catchy three minute pop songs. Just guitar, drums and keyboards, they don’t even bother with a bass player. Seriously, you need to search out some of their music. They even decided to sing one song partly in French because they’re from Canada and apparently it is a law or something.
(I’ll go into a little more detail about Kathryn later as well.)
Emma Pollack was second and while her set was good it will be best remembered for one of those constant thorns in my concert going side: the extremely wasted older woman. She was a good thirty feet away from me and I don’t know if she was drunk or stoned or what but she actually cleared out a ten foot radius of people who did not want to deal with her. She yelled at the band, the people standing next to her, and probably some random woodland creatures that she imagined were running across the speakers. It was disturbing and frightening as you wondered just what was going to happen. What happened was that about fifteen minutes into her display she decided to hold up her lighter in a big arena rock moment (for a set that featured acoustic guitars) and that’s when she was tossed. As I told the guy next to me, they can’t toss you for being an asshole but if you hold up a lighter at a no smoking show you’ll get canned. The crowd actually cheered when this happened.
That’s only the first part of the annoying crowd experience. I also had the eighteen year old girls next to me who decided to sit down between sets. Given their apparent lack of knowledge of three dimensional geometry they didn’t realize that they took up a lot more space sitting than standing thus resulting in the rest of the crowd being scrunched into each other and falling onto them whenever someone moved. I was so tempted to punt one of them or just accidentally step on a hand. I’m sorry but not only are my knees older than theirs but I have knee ligament tears that are older than they are. If I can stand for four hours so can you.
Since it’s Lawrence I also had the new generation hippie behind me who, when the Pornographers came out under a lighted sign that read “New Pornographers”, yelled directly into my ears “I love light up signs!” I don’t even want to think about how much you would have to up my medication to make me say that in public. Oh, I also had the annoying guy who had to talk to the band during the set next to me as well. I swear, I should be allowed to toss these people from shows because they obviously don’t appreciate it as much as I do. Yes, I am that much of a music snob.
Anyway, the New Pornographers were amazing as always. They had the full band this time around so I got to stand directly in front of Neko Case as I always do whenever she plays. You have to dig a band that just uses Neko to belt out songs and play tambourine. They are a pretty amazing band. It was always meant to be a side project as a Canadian supergroup except the side project has become more popular than anyone’s actual band. It’s power pop at its finest and while some people question the need for it, I love it. You don’t always need the full orchestra of Arcade Fire and Polyphonic Spree. Sometimes just guitars, keyboards, and the occasional six part harmony will do.
Kathryn Calder is also a part of the Pornographers and I really think she might be a breakout star. She has a look and talent and you only need the former to make it in the biz. The latter just makes it easier. She has a killer voice and is getting more notice by singing backup and an occasional lead and just learning from being on stage with Neko. I really want to see where her career goes because I can see her being a big deal in a few years.
I’ll wrap up with how the set wrapped up. They finished with the song “The Bleeding Heart Show”, which I know was used as music in a commercial at some point. The song ends with Neko singing “We have arrived” over and over. Standing in front of a stage with a full house behind me seeing a band I have followed for years seemingly make it was an awesome experience. They have arrived.
1 comment:
Dude, prepare to say 'whoa, cool!' Alex Rogan may not be the last starfighter after all.
This website has instructions on how to build your own cabinet for the video game, and a downloadable full version of the game itself.
Rogue Synapse: Last Starfighter Resource Page
"You have been chosen by the Star League..."
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