3 posts tagged “david bowie”

Well, it's over. I meant to post a recap of who I saw on Saturday yesterday morning, but I got sidetracked; and I've been in bed feeling like rubbish all day today. Not sure whether Lollapalooza's to blame or some other source of lurgee, but I can at least see straight now.

So, Saturday. We got to Grant Park in time to see a snippet of Foals. I had no opinion on them either way, which is odd considering they're one of the many "saviours of rock n' roll" that get trotted out by the NME every year. I also caught a little snippet of The Gutter Twins, featuring the inimitable Mark Lanegan. I wasn't paying too much attention, but they sounded alright.

The first band proper for me was MGMT, whose weird Bowie meets dance sound was perfectly suited to the festival vibe. I really enjoyed them, and their guitarist's shredding all over 'Kids' was fantastic.

Josie went off to see DeVotchKa, who are like a Hispanic gypsy folk take on The Smiths, while Jess and I hung out waiting for Brand New to come on. We saw them live already, but in a terrible venue full of teenyboppers, so we were hoping they'd be better at a festival. Not so much. The highlight of their set was the dudes brawling a few metres away from me. It's a shame, because on CD, they're great.

At least frontman Jesse Lacey was as disappointed as us, at one point telling the crowd "You should all be watching Explosions In The Sky."

Somehow, there was a big gap for us, until we ended up watching Okkervil River while waiting for Broken Social Scene to come on. They weren't what I expected (the name conjured up rootsy blues, but they were more folky and upbeat). I liked them.

Then Broken Social Scene... Broken Social Scene were my second favourite band after Radiohead. For a band with such an inconsistent line-up, they manage to be consistently awesome, and played some of my favourites including '7/4 (Shoreline)' and 'Farewell To The Pressure Kids'... and they had Amy from Stars with them, awesome.

We caught the tail end of Toadies' set (apparently they were big in America, never heard of them... and gladly so), then sat patiently waiting for Rage Against The Machine. I had chosen them over Wilco as I don't know that I would get to see them again.

I was... kinda non-plussed. While musically, they were tight, it sounded exactly the same as the CDs. To me, part of the appeal of seeing a band live is seeing how they mess with their arrangements. Add to that the fact they *kept* stopping so Zach could lecture the moshpit, and it wasn't all that entertaining. A massive shame. I wish I had seen Wilco now.

Sunday was the least action packed of the three days, reflected by the fact we were able to head down so late (not helped by The Weakerthans pulling out).

As we arrived, we could hear Iron & Wine and decided against them as they would be a bit of a Debbie Downer. So, our first act of the day was the brilliant Saul Williams. The girls weren't fans, but he did put on an energetic performance.

We caught snippets of Blues Traveller and Love & Rockets, but the next band proper was The National. Having seen them in the colossal United Center supporting REM, I wanted to see if their sound fared better in a relatively smaller environment... and I am pleased to say it did. I love them.

After they left the stage, the girls went over to catch the start of Kanye West's set while I watched Nine Inch Nails. I'd seen them before and really enjoyed them, but for some reason, the magic just wasn't there this time around... I think mostly because they decided to kill the mood a short way into their set by playing some of the instrumental pieces from Ghosts I-IV... which, while great to listen to when you're chilling out, is not really much fun when you're stood in a field.

They did play an awful lot of material from The Downward Spiral, though, which sort of made up for it. Especially 'Closer'.

Overall, it really was a good weekend, marred only - really - by feeling horribly ill today.

I just ordered the sound system for our wedding reception and I feel very proud of myself that I managed to remember everything I needed to tell the guy - times, dates, names, addresses, phone numbers and requirements. I despise talking on the phone, especially when I need to convey such important information, so I'm pleased with myself.

My next wedding-related task is to put together a selection of playlists. We're going to have nicer, gentler, loved up music while people are eating the different courses, and more upbeat and dance-able numbers in between/afterwards. To this end, I look to you, dear Vox friends, for some suggestions of songs we should have at the wedding.

I reserve the right to ignore silly suggestions. To get you started, here are a few songs that I absolutely must have on the danceable playlist:

1. 'Come On Eileen' by Dexy's Midnight Runners
2. 'Modern Love' by David Bowie
3. 'Mr Brightside' by The Killers
4. 'Is This Love?' by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
5. 'Heart Of Glass' by Blondie

Thinking of playlists makes me think of the songs my parents used to put on mix tapes in the '80s and '90s. 'Caribbean Queen' by Billy Ocean, 'Drive' by The Cars, 'Money For Nothing' by Dire Straits, 'Red Red Wine' by UB40 and that sort of thing. If only they still had the tapes so I could get ideas from the song listings on the front.

I also think I remember hearing Pat Benetar's 'Love Is A Battlefield' while covertly stealing snack foods, which leads me nicely to this cover of said song, performed by Billy Corgan for the soundtrack to 2002 indie flick Spun, which starred Jason Schwartzman, Debbie Harry and the excellent Mickey Rourke.

Last night, I got my Mac working with our TV, so now I technically have a 32" monitor. Pretty freaking sweet. Anyway, having my Mac back up and running meant I could access my vast iTunes library and update my iPod.

It's now stuffed to the gills with Radiohead, Unbelievable Truth, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Blonde Redhead, Coheed & Cambria and... Suede (or The London Suede, for you Americans). Lovely, lovely Suede. It's hard to believe, but before they pissed it up the wall with misguided trips into sub-Ziggy Stardust, wannabe Bowie territory and then got progressively blander, Suede were one of Britpop's leading lights. Their then-intelligent lyrics were charged with sexual ambiguity, allusions to drug-use; and amongst all the grime of their concrete dungeons steaming with the petrol-perfumed remains of burnt out cars, there lived an almost alien romance and beauty.

I listened to some Suede on the way into work, and I set up a playlist for anyone in the office with iTunes with network sharing turned on. It features the following songs:

- 'So Young'
- 'The Drowners'
- 'Sleeping Pills'
- 'The Next Life'
- 'We Are The Pigs'
- 'The Wild Ones'
- 'New Generation'
- 'The Power'
- 'The Asphalt World'
- 'Stay Together'
- 'Trash'
- 'The Living Dead'
- 'My Dark Star'
- 'Killing Of A Flash Boy'
- 'Whipsnade'
- 'Europe Is Our Playground'
- 'These Are The Sad Songs'

I didn't put Head Music on, so no 'Electricity'; and I don't own anything beyond that as they got so utterly shit. Of course, if you were sage enough to love Suede too, you will probably have other favourites that I haven't listed, but it's my playlist, so nurr.