Last night I went to see The Decemberists and Lavender Diamond live "in concert", with the sad memories of Friday night's gig still haunting my thoughts. And there was further disaster afoot because I believe no man there who saw Lavender Diamond is not now in love with and keen to wed singer Becky Stark. Homes have been wrecked all over town and it is her fault. Their sounds were extremely good too, it was a magnificent deal.
Then the Decemberists! They had all the right ideas about pleasing the audience, to the extent of playing some drones, which I noted down in my gilt-edged notebook of drones. This was live music done right for all to see and so I say well done, well done.
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10 comments:
Aw bugger, that was last night?
Goddammit, I was planning to go to that concert! Ah well, I shall console myself, somehow.
Huzzah! The Decemberists are coming to my neck of the woods at the end of March, and it's a relief that they are still doing a good job... and that Colin Meloy has moved on from that irritating phase where he boots the rest of the band offstage and plays Morrissey covers for half of the evening (as a friend of mine once saw him do in concert).
It is also nice to be able to mention The Decemberists in casual conversation without a chorus of "Huh?"s from the people I'm talking to. They are becoming more well known and that is fantastic.
Oh bum - the only time the Decemberists are coming near me is on a day I will be out of town. I am also saddened by the fact that there weren't any photos of the lovely lead singer on the Lavender Diamond web site, but that, I suppose, is another matter.
John, your blog is completely Anti-Post Everything You Eat in your LiveJournal Month. You are a disgrace to February.
Also, rather jealous of your concert-going. And your new poster is lovely.
it is a totally weird phenomenon but only very recently i found colin meloy bearable! his excessive nasal quality in singing used to grate my personal preferences in singers (husky voice, can rhyme 'mine' with 'swine' sincerely, makes a girl's knees go weak and puddly, etc) but then i saw the new "valencia" video and suddenly colin meloy is kind of attractive! what is this!!
maybe colin meloy turned into a man becky stark
I haven't the cash for a single Yo la Tengo gig and you're galavanting about the place with the glimmering jewels of the Indie firmament.
Fie on you, sir.
(Please lend me AUD50).
When I was a student, I gained both free records and "gig tick-ets" by writing about music for the university newpaper and website. Eventually I was crowned music editor and every release on Matador Records was sent directly to my house without my asking. Perhaps, Tom, if you know your spondees from your dactyls, you can pursue a similar line of enquiry.
A warning: after writing dozens of singles and album reviews, I never wanted to be a journalist ever, ever again.
Your esteemed utterances on the subject of the Decemberists were mostly pleasing to my ears- what other band would try to recreate the American War of Independence in the middle of the Shepherds Bush Empire? But I must disagree with your words on Lavender Diamond- although Becky Stark is very much the belle femme, their sounds were like having pure sugar poured down ones auditory canal.
Citizen: I can get behind the Diamond's combination of Stonesy piano and church-lady singing, it just tickles me right. I have had a promo of the album for a few months, there is something pure and rousing about it that I am not getting from Bromhead's Jacket. But I think it is definitely an acquired taste - like the Decemberists themselves!
My I briefly express the opinion that Lavender Diamond were poor? The lead singer was irritating beyond compare, although admittedly the sounds were fairly pretty.
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