Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Dirty Three at Meredith 2010

For those waiting for this one I'm sorrry to have delayed so long.

Dirty Three Live at Meredith 2010

Primavera 2011 Day 1

May 26

Again the day starts with a miss, this time Cults. The hit sounded great. Hang round for SeeFeel who were impressive.
SeeFeel - Live @ Primavera - 26 May 2011
Then down to the Vice Stage , my favourite of the Festival. The sound was generally good and the crowds relatively small and appreciative. Connan Mockasin is great. New Zealand keeps producing these guys. How the hell do they do it.
Connan Mockasin - Live @ Primavera - 26 May 2011

Suicide are confronting. 70 year old's singing about sex with anyone let alone young girls really seems to piss people off. But that has always been the way I guess. The sound is heavy as fuck and the recording doesn't do justice to the the sheer physicality of it. Best live. I missed the last song to get down the the Vice stage.
Suicide - Live @ Primavera - 26 May 2011
Part of some new San Fran garage revival along with Sunny & The Sunsets, Fresh & Onlys, Thee Oh Seees and a few others. Actually more mainstream than any of those bands but damm good anyway. First mosh I have seen at two PS's. I will see them again when I return to Brisbane in a club and I enjoyed it there too.
Ty Segall - Live @ Primavera - 26 May 2011

Primavera 2011 Poble Espanyol Shows

May 25
The venue didn't work for me really. The first day it was crowded and under resourced. Out of the crowd the sound was average. Saw the last minute of Nissenmondai who I was looking forward to. A little disappointed with Las Robertas. They were fine but reminded me of a few Australian bands like Southern Comfort but weren't that much better. Comet Gain saved the day on Wednesday.

Ended up spending so much time in the line for the toilets that I couldn't get near the stage for Echo & The Bunnymen and went home after a few songs.

Comet Gain - Live @ Poble Espanyol - 25 May 2011

Las Robertas - Live @ Poble Espanyol - 25 May 2011

May 29
Mercury Rev "Deserter Songs" is a 'cosmic americana' opus. Right?

The support bands were an odd bunch which seemed to have been assembled from a random list of bands who were available on the day.

There was a fine Spanish folk rock band [Me and The Bees] who with time will be very good especially when they learn how to structure a set rather than play Slow/Fast/Slow/Fast etc, a US indie punk band who were seriously dire [My Teenage Stride] and veteran Scottish pop rockers with a singer who for medical reasons travels with pockets full of fruit and whose stage banter reflects this way too much [BMX Bandits] You work it out.

BMX Bandits - Live @ Poble Espanyol - 29 May 2011

Where I ended up as Mercury Rev started playing the sound was average to poor and for all the world it was like six guys playing roughly the same songs but each was trying to play louder than the others. Another early night.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Showcases at Primavera 2011

One of the best things about Primavera is the sideshows. Like the Label showcases in this case at the Sala Apollo on the Monday and Tuesday nights.

May 23 - Acuarela Showcase
Nacho Umbert is in love I suspect with a girl. He sings heartfelt songs about it I think [speaking no Spanish]. I hope he gets her in the end because he puts a a lot of feeling into it. When I was very young I did much the same at the local folk club doing Leadbelly covers. Maybe he has better luck.
Nacho Umbert and La Compania - Live @ Sala Apolo - 23 May 2011

These guys sound like bad pub rock from the 70's. They look like they were doing it then as well. I have no idea why a record company paid for them to come to Spain. My son is having fun heckling them for their banter which unsurprisingly is an impression of a bunch of guys from a pub rock band on their first trip to Spain.
The Bitter Springs - Live @ Sala Apolo - 23 May 2011

This trip is starting to look like a mistake.

Wait, it's Darren Hayman ex of Hefner to save the evening. Nice guy, nice tunes and if you aren't in tears at the end of the song about the witch and her dog you obviously weren't there.
Darren Hayman & The Secondary Modern - Live @ Sala Apolo - 23 May 2011

May 24 - Heart of Gold Showcase

This is better. Girl harmony groups are fun. They are recording down the road with Eli 'Paperboy' Reed and do a set with a special guest appearance by the man.
The Pepper Pots - Live @ Sala Apolo - 24 May 2011

The mood is dulled somewhat by El Trons who are by the numbers beat pop. I am of two minds about groups that perform in a foreign language.
Els Trons - Live @ Sala Apolo - 24 May 2011

Never seen Eli before but I enjoyed his stuff. He connects with the audience unlike the Bitter Springs guys.
Eli Paperboy Reed - Live @ Sala Apolo - 24 May 2011

This was surprising. From Brazil and I was half expecting an hour of salsa which would have been 45 min too much. Instead it turns into a Brazilian funk groove thing which was very much fun.
Garotas Suecas - Live @ Sala Apolo - 24 May 2011

Best part of the two nights was being there with my son who has been teaching English in Bogota for the last two and a half years. This could be good after all.