There are memories in music that we all hold dear and drift off into. I sit currently listening to Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely" (off of Kid A, an album I have only recently been able to get all the way through and still enjoy), and I think about all of the moments and feelings in life. There is something in music that takes us to these places, to the people, and to these events.
I'm not here
This isn't happening
I'm not here, I'm not here
In a little while
I'll be gone
The moment's already passed
Yeah, it's gone
Sitting, waiting, wondering... what brings us to these memories. With Radiohead, it's all about alienation and loneliness, but with the Polyphonic Spree, it's all of the opposite things - even in the darker songs ("It's the Sun"). When I think of the happiness, I think of one of the first songs I ever gave to my wife. And even if she didn't appreciate the long flowing robes and the choruses and Tim Delaughter's voice, there is something beautiful in the lines of "Younger Yesterday," which makes me feel good about life, and that's what I'm focusing on as I write this now (even if I'm listening to words that are so far from it):
Cause together we can make it great
Now we know, were beautiful we've always wondered
No we know, together were alright
Now we know, were beautiful we've always wondered
Now, we know, with everyday, everyday is a fight
You will make it right
You were misunderstood
The world wants
You to make it right
We were misunderstood
The world wants love
This concert review included after this was originally written in 2007 after the Polyphonic Spree Show at the Theater of Living Arts in Philadelphia.
Before the finale of Happy Birthday to some lucky gal getting serenaded and somewhere during the eternally beautiful encore, Tim Delaughter said it best - We needed this. It was a sentiment that he repeated over and over during the night, and somehow, he and his 20+ bandmates also realized that something special was going on here.
In the wait for the show to go on, I moved back towards the soundboard just to be out of the crowd. The show moved slowly through a song I didn't recognize and then went into John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth" with words flashed on a red sheet that blocked the instruments from being seen by the audience.
When the song finished, a long artsy solo came on as Delaughter cut through the curtain to reveal the band. I was standing in the back wondering what the hell was going on, vaguely aware that the Polyphonic Spree has an incredible live reputation, but at the same time, I've been jaded by standard fare concerts and live music from bands that do it all the same way in a manner that has been done before.
Hell, it's been 40 years of rocking the house if VH1's Monterey Music Festival video is to be believed.
But then they finished the solo and the lights went on to reveal the band, and WOW!!!
They burst into The Fragile Army's energetic turn and then did both parts of "Hangin' Around the Day." By the time "Hangin' Around the Day" was in motion, I was up front jumping and singing along. In that, I apologize to those people that had to hear my out of tune voice, but alas, it's been a long time since I've had this incredible feeling inside me from seeing a concert. Something like that feeling when you're falling in love or watching a certain home run in 1998 or being in the presence of natural beauty, the movements of Delaughter and the 7 beautiful women behind him belting out harmonies and dancing and moving as the 2 drummers, guitarists, bassists, harp player, brass section, flute player, pianists and string players move in time and feel the vibe of summer's joy served up eternally for all to see forever, and it is (in the words of a former English teacher of mine) won-der-ful!!
At many shows, the fans are left to lose classics in favor of the new album of sub-standard fare, but here, the only song missing was "Soldier Girl." However, for at least a 20 minute version of "When the Fool Becomes a King" segueing into "Together We're Heavy" (off the disc of the same name) complete with solos AND a 5 minute freeze where the band held still and Delaughter went around trying to spook them or make them play their instruments as if he was the puppet master was intense.
Of the new album, the best tracks were "Running Away" and "Younger Yesterday," which is truly the happy track of the summer, which featured the lyrics "Now you know, you're beautful, you always were!!" as it fills up your ears and heart with its joyous melody.
The whole new album features shorter songs that are way more upbeat, but still hold true to the Polyphonic Spree's style of deviating and moving all over the place. Some songs are more female fronted, but no matter what they do, it just comes out amazingly.
And just as Delaughter said that they needed this, so did I. Not just to get over the hump of a frustrating week or a drought of great live shows (I've seen very good - but since 1992, I haven't seen one this good). The signing on the new CD at the end was sweet, but it was more about the vibe of the show.
Sometimes, we all just need that happiness.
And so, for the hundreds of shows I've seen in the last 25 years, the new top 5 is this:
1. Fugazi at the Norwich Waterfront 1992: the show rocks, I sit on the stage, and we meet the band afterwards, but my friend's camera screws up and no pictures exist.
2. Nine Inch Nails at the London Marquee 1991: Incredible Pretty Hate Machine gig that ends with the destruction of the set.
3. Ramones at the Silo 1989: last show before the Air Force. All my friends are there and everyone is blown away by the sound between the 1,2,3,4's!!!!
4. Lemonheads at the Norwich Waterfront: Made better for 2 reason A) Evan Dando became a stoner loser that screws up all of his shows and B) because I went to see them on Lovey, but had to catch a train back before the band hit the stage. But then again, let's not forget, this is where I met Evan and got my picture with his goofy ass.
and replacing Ben Folds Five at the Electric Factory in Philly 1997 (with its "kick ass" jam and so many great songs from those 2 amazing albums that started off Ben Folds Five's career), Polyphonic Spree at the Theater of Living Arts in Philly June 2007.
Showing posts with label Fugazi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fugazi. Show all posts
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Waiting Room
When I was in 12th grade, I discovered Minor Threat. There's pretty much a shelf-life on hardcore bands that ends at about the same time that the pre-frontal cortex is fully formed (21-25) or when one starts paying his / her own bills and doesn't live at home with his parents. This rule can be completely neglected if one is 53 years old today (happy birthday, Jello!) and is pretty much angry at everything... spurning making good money on it to keep their punk rock cool by not allowing his bandmates to sell "Holiday in Cambodia" to Levi's.
That said, if a sound financial plan and vacations are in the cards, uh... the above rule is enforced thoroughly.
I grew up with a mix of heavy metal in junior high school and pop / new wave prior to that. I don't want to turn this into songs that changed me because a few of them (David Bowie's "Changes" and The Smiths "There Is a Light That Will Never Go Out") deserve entries all their own, but there were songs that changed me, and somewhere in 10th grade, there was a kid named Nate who turned me on to punk rock. My friend and next door neighbor Tom knew him, and he was willing to record his vinyl and tapes if we got him tapes, so I did, and I got a bunch of Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, and other bands I can't quite remember (forgettable crap like the Surf Punks) as well as a list of "cool" bands before he moved to a different state.
Over time, I would buy to experience (it's not like going on Youtube or Myspace to hear something now), and there was some good stuff, and there was some not so good stuff. For example, my cousin Michelle had a tape by the Exploited (Punk's Not Dead), and she lent it to me. It was OK. Frankly, it was better if you
hadn't heard much punk music. And I'm not talking about good punk stuff like The Ramones. I'm talking about loud and annoying British mohawk sporting 1970s leftover bands still trying to perform in the 1980s while doing too much bad needle drugs and taking too much dole money. Well, unfortunately, I got stuck buying that tape because somehow Tom lost the case, and I ended up having to buy a new tape of it (not exactly easy to do at Mall stores), which left me stuck with the original tape and short of $10 (and you wonder why Napster was so revolutionary for those of us who felt that the music industry owed us thousands of dollars for all of the crap that we bought just to try it since it wasn't on commercial radio at the time - thank God for used CD shops at the time that were at least willing to trade our crap for better crap).
And there were some good bands then. Minor Threat was one of them. A lot of the DC bands on Dischord were really good, and they seemed to stand the test of time better than some of the other stuff (especially the New York stuff that seemed to want to be metal or skinheads). Alternative Tentacles offered some great non-Dead Kennedys choices as well (Alice Donut and Nomeansno), but it's hard to listen to them the same way as I did when I wasn't a quarter of a century old (though I will say, I can still listen to them more than a lot of other stuff that was SOOO... cool back then).
There was some good stuff on SST as well; however, it's not like anyone over the age of 25 can listen to Black Flag or Bad Brains for longer than a couple of songs either (if that long). Nevertheless, at 16, I was captivated by the guy at the mall who looked so cool with his Black Flag jacket. He wore Misfits shirts, so I discovered them, too, and let me tell you (in another column at length), they're still awesome (at almost age 40).
Some bands moved on and became mature than straight up noise and angst-filled short "fuck the world" songs. Husker Du, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr were some of the best, and I can elaborate on them in other columns, too (and I will).
But Minor Threat and their 1-2 minute songs were anthematic... at least at the time.
And they did it with a lot of stuff that related to why high school life sucked so much (instead of real world politics that I thought I understood better than I did).
Now... not so much. The same is true with other good Dischord hardcore stuff like Dag Nasty. Even some of the Ian Mackaye side projects (Egg Hunt and Pailhead) have lasted, but other stuff (Embrace) is simply nostlagic pre-emo / straight edge history of a time long since forgotten in the course of daily life (though thinking about them here makes them come alive again).
But Fugazi... and that first 7 Songs vinyl release... and we all had the 2nd one for Margin Walker, too. They were liberating forces of life in 1989. Blueprint was equally fantastic in 1990, and by the time Steady Diet of Nothing came out prior to that tour in 1992 where my friends and I met them and took a million pictures (none of which came out - damn you digital age for not being here soon enough and damn you Tony for not loading or removing the film correctly!), they were the greatest. However, by 1993, In on the Killtaker was good, but it wasn't the same as the live versions of the songs or the older discs. The later albums like Red Medicine and The Argument didn't match the intensity of a full on band's assault and timing with lyrical and musical masterpieces like the ones that comprised those first 13 songs. Those 13... they were and still are the greatest example of what the days of hardcore music could mean. Twenty two years later, they're still awesome as I listen to the digital versions from my computer's speakers.
And "Waiting Room" can be mixed with Destiny's Child and Rihanna and still be great, but when it's by itself, it's still one of the best of all time, which is a lot more than I can say for anything that the Butthole Surfers ever did, but you didn't need me to tell you that.
Or did you?
That said, if a sound financial plan and vacations are in the cards, uh... the above rule is enforced thoroughly.
I grew up with a mix of heavy metal in junior high school and pop / new wave prior to that. I don't want to turn this into songs that changed me because a few of them (David Bowie's "Changes" and The Smiths "There Is a Light That Will Never Go Out") deserve entries all their own, but there were songs that changed me, and somewhere in 10th grade, there was a kid named Nate who turned me on to punk rock. My friend and next door neighbor Tom knew him, and he was willing to record his vinyl and tapes if we got him tapes, so I did, and I got a bunch of Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, and other bands I can't quite remember (forgettable crap like the Surf Punks) as well as a list of "cool" bands before he moved to a different state.
Over time, I would buy to experience (it's not like going on Youtube or Myspace to hear something now), and there was some good stuff, and there was some not so good stuff. For example, my cousin Michelle had a tape by the Exploited (Punk's Not Dead), and she lent it to me. It was OK. Frankly, it was better if you
hadn't heard much punk music. And I'm not talking about good punk stuff like The Ramones. I'm talking about loud and annoying British mohawk sporting 1970s leftover bands still trying to perform in the 1980s while doing too much bad needle drugs and taking too much dole money. Well, unfortunately, I got stuck buying that tape because somehow Tom lost the case, and I ended up having to buy a new tape of it (not exactly easy to do at Mall stores), which left me stuck with the original tape and short of $10 (and you wonder why Napster was so revolutionary for those of us who felt that the music industry owed us thousands of dollars for all of the crap that we bought just to try it since it wasn't on commercial radio at the time - thank God for used CD shops at the time that were at least willing to trade our crap for better crap).
And there were some good bands then. Minor Threat was one of them. A lot of the DC bands on Dischord were really good, and they seemed to stand the test of time better than some of the other stuff (especially the New York stuff that seemed to want to be metal or skinheads). Alternative Tentacles offered some great non-Dead Kennedys choices as well (Alice Donut and Nomeansno), but it's hard to listen to them the same way as I did when I wasn't a quarter of a century old (though I will say, I can still listen to them more than a lot of other stuff that was SOOO... cool back then).
There was some good stuff on SST as well; however, it's not like anyone over the age of 25 can listen to Black Flag or Bad Brains for longer than a couple of songs either (if that long). Nevertheless, at 16, I was captivated by the guy at the mall who looked so cool with his Black Flag jacket. He wore Misfits shirts, so I discovered them, too, and let me tell you (in another column at length), they're still awesome (at almost age 40).
Some bands moved on and became mature than straight up noise and angst-filled short "fuck the world" songs. Husker Du, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr were some of the best, and I can elaborate on them in other columns, too (and I will).
But Minor Threat and their 1-2 minute songs were anthematic... at least at the time.
And they did it with a lot of stuff that related to why high school life sucked so much (instead of real world politics that I thought I understood better than I did).
Now... not so much. The same is true with other good Dischord hardcore stuff like Dag Nasty. Even some of the Ian Mackaye side projects (Egg Hunt and Pailhead) have lasted, but other stuff (Embrace) is simply nostlagic pre-emo / straight edge history of a time long since forgotten in the course of daily life (though thinking about them here makes them come alive again).
But Fugazi... and that first 7 Songs vinyl release... and we all had the 2nd one for Margin Walker, too. They were liberating forces of life in 1989. Blueprint was equally fantastic in 1990, and by the time Steady Diet of Nothing came out prior to that tour in 1992 where my friends and I met them and took a million pictures (none of which came out - damn you digital age for not being here soon enough and damn you Tony for not loading or removing the film correctly!), they were the greatest. However, by 1993, In on the Killtaker was good, but it wasn't the same as the live versions of the songs or the older discs. The later albums like Red Medicine and The Argument didn't match the intensity of a full on band's assault and timing with lyrical and musical masterpieces like the ones that comprised those first 13 songs. Those 13... they were and still are the greatest example of what the days of hardcore music could mean. Twenty two years later, they're still awesome as I listen to the digital versions from my computer's speakers.
And "Waiting Room" can be mixed with Destiny's Child and Rihanna and still be great, but when it's by itself, it's still one of the best of all time, which is a lot more than I can say for anything that the Butthole Surfers ever did, but you didn't need me to tell you that.
Or did you?
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