Andrew Bird - Variety Playhouse - 9/13/07

So I've noticed how the types of concerts I go to have evolved. My first rock concert ever was Dave Matthews at Lakewood in 1997. I spent about $250 to get 5th row seats and despite the hundreds of concerts I've been to since then that one still remains one of my favorites. It was an awesome experience that I tried to replicate by going to about 15 more Dave shows over the next three years. Some of them were pretty great but none rivalled that first show. Through that I learned it's pointless to try to relive the past because it's never going to be the same again, you can only go forward in life. So that's what I tried to do...I saw Pearl Jam and U2 at massive amphitheaters. No Doubt and Oasis at Music Midtown (I also admit to loving Collective Soul at the time and seeing them there which is undeniably questionable [Dosage had just come out and you liked it too] but I could just chalk it up with the other things I thought were good ideas in high school like wearing jean shorts).
All of these shows were at big venues at a time in whichever groups career when they were as much an act as a band. This is quite distinct from the types of shows I see now. There is the occasional mid range band at a venue like the Tabernacle or the Fox but more and more it's smaller bands at smaller clubs that cost like 10 bucks to see where the music is the focus. Don't get me wrong, style and charisma (theatricality) are extremely important when you go to see a show but these smaller shows seem more authentic, more pure.

Andrew Bird definitely gave off that feel. The show was very intimate and it made me think of they way music was like before it was so infinitely accessible through modern technology. Before television and cds and ipods. When the only way for you to hear music was to play it or have someone you knew share what they could do with you.
That's what I felt he was doing, sharing with me. He played the glockenspiel, the violin, the guitar (which he actually kind of sucked at) and had a bad ass whistle. He had differing degrees of technical proficiency at each instrument and it was obvious but it was also earnest and therefore satisfying in it's own way.
When he finally decided to play Scythian Empire, which is one of the best songs of 2007, he failed miserably. If you're not familiar with his style he plays pretty much all the instruments/parts during his songs. He'll play one melody and loop it and frantically pick up another instrument and play something else and loop it over top of the previous one and so on and so on. He just couldn't get the song right and kept messing up the loops and what I thought was going to be the most memorable part of the show was, but not for the reasons I thought. Strangely, his inability to play the song correctly didn't ruin the experience. It simply reminded me that I was watching another human being trying to make something beautiful. It added a childish simplicity to it. Now I'm not saying I want every show I go to to be somewhat amateurish because I love seeing the tightness of The Strokes or the theatricality of U2 but everyone once in awhile it's good to remember that these people, these rock stars, are just like us.

Check out his latest cd Armchair Apocrypha:

Bjork - Fox Theater - 9/17/07

The weird thing is that I've seen quite a few shows in between Carina and Bjork, I just haven't felt particularly compelled to write about them. I saw Midlake, who had some awesome moments (Roscoe), and The National, who I love, but for some reason wasn't particularly moved. I was semi-bored. I guess it has something to do with the people you go to shows with because if they aren't into it it can take away from the experience. Bjork fans definitely left nothing to be desired...they were dressed up in drag (who knew Bjork had such a big gay following) and generally amped up about the show. I'm not sure if she's ever come to Atlanta before so I guess the rarity of the occasion had everyone hyped. The costume design and light show/theatrics were top notch and I would expect as much from Bjork because she's so weird. I mean, she's from Iceland. And anyone who knows anything about Bjork knows to expect the unexpected.

What made the concert so great wasn't just the show she put on, but rather the way she got my wheels turning. Isn't that what great art is about? Producing a canvas for the viewer to project onto? My seminal moment came when Bjork was singing 5 Years to a guy in the front row. She kept screaming, "You can't handle Love, boy. I'm so sick of cowards. They say they want and can't handle Love." It was like she was singing the song to whoever she wrote it about and it was so intense it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

That got me thinking about love. The western world's favorite topic. Ever since we were born we've been bombarded with thoughts about love. John Lennon told us "All you need is love". If thats true, how do you get it? It seems like it should be intuitive and without need of any explanation, but if thats the case, why are so many of us without the amount/type we want? I think its like the magic eye, some people see the picture right away, their eyes naturally relax and the 3D image appears before their eyes. While some of us don't really understand the concept and any explanation of what we are supposed to see only adds to the frustration and confusion.
And is that true anyways? Is love all you need? After years of listening to love songs and watching romantic comdies we develop a thirst for love that similar to greed(or any addiction) is not satiated by getting it. You want and want and want but you have no idea exactly what is it you want. You think you know because of the way love is represented in popular culture but what does that have to with reality? Don't get me wrong, every once in awhile someone gets it right. Knocked Up, Annie Hall, Brokeback Mountain, and The New World are all realistic portrayals of people trying to make sense of the feelings we call love.
I mean, don't you think it's hard to recognize the real deal when it happens? Its like how they say when you smoke weed you don't get high the first few times. That just isn't true. You get high, it just takes you about five times to realize what getting high is and enjoy it. But since you don't know what the fuck you're doing you smoke the entire blunt by yourself when all you needed was three hits and you've spoiled something that should have been easy and you're so high you can't talk.

So now after the high school awkwardness and college drama you have love. All your problems are solved right? If it were only that simple. No one told you it was a living thing you had to nurture. All you know is the chase. You're clueless about how to keep it afloat. So you get lazy, and you take what you have for granted, you're distracted by tight packages and you think, "I wonder what that would be like?" Now all of a sudden you have Bjork yelling, "You can't handle love you coward!" in your face and you're thinking how the fuck did I get here?
You finally realize how profound the not so well known Dave Matthews song "Pig" is. He sings the lines, "Love, Love, Love what more is there?" with such fierce desperation; pleading for someone to end the drama. It's enough to make you want to put your head in the sand. It seems like this is a cycle we're forced to play out over and over again because unfortunately, Robert Palmer was right.

Carina Round @The Earl 9/1/07

Carina Carina. Quite the songbird. Quite the rockstar. From the second she walked on stage with her bright red dress, her bright red lipstick, and her bright red high heels she commanded everyone's attention. She played almost exclusively from her new album Slow Motion Addict. I had just picked it up a couple weeks earlier to be ready for the show but I was much more familiar with her previous disc The Disconnection. I must say I was pleasantly surprised, I liked the new cd so far but watching her perform with such confidence made me feel like I should have been paying closer attention all along. Her voice was pure and full, singing voice that is, and you could tell she was an experienced performer. When they broke it down and she backed away from the mic to dance she would stomp around while her guitarist would gyrate like a catatonic. There were times when you could tell she was completely lost in the music and she actually whipped out the "oh" face. During one of those moments we made eye contact and I had to look away...I felt like I was watching something I shouldn't have been. And why shouldn't I have been, I mean...standing in the front row taking pictures wasn't creepy at all. The things I do for you guys...

It was strange to see her switch from the sexually energized performer to the cute British girl in between songs. Even with her high pitched squeak she had some bite to her. After a few songs she introduced herself and her band saying, "Thanks to everyone who came to see us, thanks to the people who didn't come to see us but are digging it anyways, and fuck you to the people who are talking through the whole set." My kind of woman.

After the set she said she would be back at the merchandise booth if anyone wanted to say hey...there was my chance! I walked back there to buy a poster for a dollar and get some face time, see what she was all about...here's how it went:
Me: Great set, I really enjoyed it.
Carina: Thanks a lot, glad you could make it.
Me: Could I get you to sign this for me?
CR: Sure love, whats your name?
Me: Garry.
CR: Lovely.
Me: So you're from Britain huh?
CR: Sure am, but we've been in California a lot lately.
Me: I bet you love that, you don't have to carry your um-br-ella-ella-ella-eh-eh-eh around with you anymore huh?
CR: ...
Me: Well I can't wait for the next time y'all come through Atlanta.
CR: Cheers.

So unfortunately seeing the "oh" face onstage was as far as we got. No worries though, Bjork will be here pretty soon...