so, last night, i went with anoop and kate to see TILLY AND THE WALL at the satellite ballroom. i recently decided that TILLY is in my five top bands of all time, and, as such, they are deserving of capitalization. we went out for thai food before the show (which i will let anoop describe in detail, obviously) and then headed over to the satellite ballroom, which was pretty much the perfect place to see TILLY AND THE WALL, as it is so small. we were up by the stage, very very close, and then moved into the middle, towards the back, for some intense dancing. kate had earlier suggested that TILLY is the whitest music ever, but i maintain that barbershop is still whiter.

TILLY was amazing. they were smiling the entire time that they were playing, which really makes such a difference. Neely said that the smiling, dancing crowd was worth all of the snot in her throat. the tap dancing was intense, and the stomping was sublime. the choreography during the flamenco-esque parts of Bad Education were so very good that i cannot further describe it. TILLY AND THE WALL is the best live band in the universe.

so after the show, kate and i see Kianna at the merch table. as i kind of have a little crush, i decide that we’re going to ask the band out for a drink! well, Kianna doesn’t drink… so we drank instead, and decided that we’re going to start our own band (me, kate, anoop) featuring the flute, rollerblades, and probably other stuff, too. anyway, best live musical performance ever.

• Permalink
• | Write Comment

Comments

Jess Horrible says:

Awesome. Very few things in this life are worth all the snot in my throat.

Posted over 2 years ago | Delete

Putty says:

the flute and rollerblades: what a powerful combo.

Posted over 2 years ago | Delete

jagermeta says:

the flute and rollerblading is just ONE of our members. i am sure that the rest of us will find shit to make some noise, too.

Posted over 2 years ago | Delete

so, sufjan stevens is a brilliant performer. though i have not seen him perform, personally, i’ve heard enough about his illinoisemakers, and though perhaps he uses too many trumpet flourishes, and too often loves the 5/4 time, i think he’s brilliant. but his latest release, The Avalanche, consisting of leftovers from his illionoise project, shows that he is more importantly a brilliant songwriter. to demonstrate, we’re only going to look at his variations on chicago, one of the best songs to appear on the original album.

first, we have chicago acoustic. this is really all about the lack, and the song. there is seemingly no production whatsoever on this track, just sufjan, one (or two) guitars, and some backing vocals. it’s so much calmer, almost whispered, than the original. their voices carry a tinge of sadness, of regret, not carried in the others. the flourishes of the original are stripped away, and all that is really left is the song, yet still, it is a success.

next, there is chicago A.C. air conditioned? this is pretty close to the original, yet, without the zero-to-sixty start of that version. there’s a little more emphasis on rock, yet it’s calmer, and not as busy. and by rock, i mean xylophones, a snare drum, and possibly some hand-bells. oh, and a guitar. and lots of vocals. it’s not my favorite version, but it’s a nice contrast to the original, where we see what a song would be like if it were not so sufjan-y. there is really only one horn playing at a time for the most part, so it sounds a little more sparse, less planned out, more organic. quite good.

finally, we come to chicago o.c.d. and oh, isn’t it. there are no discernable instruments here at first, just synthesized noise and hand-claps. this version has an ebb and flow of nothing and everything, where there is either no instrumentation or every possibly piece of noise that could possibly sound good, with ray-gun noises insterspersed with the trumpets, and a synthesized counter-point to the simple electric guitar riff during the main vocal sections. it’s such a departure for him that it is amazingly good. finally, a sufjan stevens song that doesn’t remind anyone of the theme from ‘a charlie brown christmas.’

• Permalink
• | Write Comment