It's good to be back in the land of Music and Pussy [as I'm now trying to get ATX to be known].
Or at least, it's good to be back in the land of music.
I went to the Crowded House show last night at Stubb's and it was amazing. For those who don't know, Stubb's is a wonderful BBQ joint with a great outdoor venue. It was Gen Ad, and I made sure to get there just after the doors opened, expecting a large crowd. It wasn't actually that bad when I arrived, and I got pretty close to the front, about 7 or 8 folks back.
The opening act was Lawrence Arabia and his band The Prime Ministers. I highly recommend you check him out. Very nice, melodious pop with great arrangements and harmonies. Put me very much in mind of Camera Obscura in the way he combines elements of R&B, Soul, Country and Rock to come up with something that is very smooth, pleasing and nice to move to.
The Crowdies themselves were absolutely brilliant. They played straight through to the curfew, sweating their arses off in the Texas heat. Most of the crowd were singing along as well, and Neil commented a few times that Texas was in "fine voice" that evening. Standouts for me included a ROCKIN' version of "Private Universe" that was a bit faster than the album track and had a lot of really great guitar / noise embellishments. "World Where You Live", one of my favorites was the second song of the night, and the energy didn't disappoint. The closing sequence, which due to the strict curfew imposed on live music in Austin [boooo] they went straight into, with Neil commenting, "We forgot to go off and come back on, do you mind if we just keep playing?" was "Don't Dream It's Over", "Weather With You" and "You Better Be Home Soon". Liam Finn, who had been on at various points of the evening, sang the last verse of this. Then, with the crowd trying to sing along, they all held the note on "home" e x t r a long. The crowd dropped away, Neil urged us on, looked at his watch, and then we hit "soon" right on the stroke of 10:30.
What a treat, and a great way to get the batteries recharged for what lies ahead.
Or at least, it's good to be back in the land of music.
I went to the Crowded House show last night at Stubb's and it was amazing. For those who don't know, Stubb's is a wonderful BBQ joint with a great outdoor venue. It was Gen Ad, and I made sure to get there just after the doors opened, expecting a large crowd. It wasn't actually that bad when I arrived, and I got pretty close to the front, about 7 or 8 folks back.
The opening act was Lawrence Arabia and his band The Prime Ministers. I highly recommend you check him out. Very nice, melodious pop with great arrangements and harmonies. Put me very much in mind of Camera Obscura in the way he combines elements of R&B, Soul, Country and Rock to come up with something that is very smooth, pleasing and nice to move to.
The Crowdies themselves were absolutely brilliant. They played straight through to the curfew, sweating their arses off in the Texas heat. Most of the crowd were singing along as well, and Neil commented a few times that Texas was in "fine voice" that evening. Standouts for me included a ROCKIN' version of "Private Universe" that was a bit faster than the album track and had a lot of really great guitar / noise embellishments. "World Where You Live", one of my favorites was the second song of the night, and the energy didn't disappoint. The closing sequence, which due to the strict curfew imposed on live music in Austin [boooo] they went straight into, with Neil commenting, "We forgot to go off and come back on, do you mind if we just keep playing?" was "Don't Dream It's Over", "Weather With You" and "You Better Be Home Soon". Liam Finn, who had been on at various points of the evening, sang the last verse of this. Then, with the crowd trying to sing along, they all held the note on "home" e x t r a long. The crowd dropped away, Neil urged us on, looked at his watch, and then we hit "soon" right on the stroke of 10:30.
What a treat, and a great way to get the batteries recharged for what lies ahead.