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Rasputina were lovely last night. For the first few songs I was not totally getting into it and felt a bit as though although they were certainly technically proficient, they weren't really getting into it either. It did not help that the theatre was freezing. But the energy level kicked up a bit as they went on. They played a well known but not the hits selection of earlier music, then a group of covers. I do not like the extended covers part of their shows, but maybe that's because I never liked Heart and Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd in the first place. I do like their tin pan alley and jazz and folk covers, but those are so Rasputina that one hardly thinks of them as covers. And I would say that their cover of Bad Moon Rising, which they did not do last night, becomes uniquely Rasputina in their hands. The rest of it largely feels gimmicky to me. That said, the covers section did kick up the energy, and I was happy when Melora announced that the show would be one third old stuff, which they'd already done, one third covers and one third new songs. I liked the new material a lot, and hopefully some of it is on the Melora solo album I picked up. The drums were best integrated into the new stuff, they felt too loud and out of place in the older material. The encore was a beautiful solo rendition of Rusty the Skatemaker and a bring-the-roof-down heart-pounding Hunter's Kiss, I could feel the forest floor against my skin and hear the arrows flying through the air.
It was interesting to watch the contrast in how Melora and the other cellist, Sarah Bowman, played--Melora handles her cello like a rock star, fingers flying through the solos, bow hairs fraying and flying. The other cellist still has very classical hands and her playing lacked some of the abandon of Melora's, don't think there was a single hair out of place on her bow. She was a member of the opening band, the Bowmans--a sister duo who sing, have one guitar and occasional small percussion. I did not like what I heard at their website before the show at all, but they were much more entertaining in person, with a better sound. I still wouldn't run out to buy their stuff, but it was pleasant listening to them. And boy can those women sing! All in all, it felt like a night of professional musicianship.
The assuit hip scarf that I was so happy about ordering yesterday turned out to be out of stock. Meh. They had other colors which would have been ok except that I need turquoise to match some other accessories. I ended up with a super shiny turquoise lame deal with beads and coins instead, not as folkloric as I wanted but I suppose better for stage in some ways, and it is undeniably the right color if nothing else. And if I ever get my &*(#$@$$ Sophisticated Assuit costume, I suppose I can always use the scarf from that when I want a more folkloric feel. I should call Dahlal today.
In other news, I did pick up the Grinderman album from emusic, rationalizing that it was cheaper that way and if I really hated it I could just delete it off my computer and pretend it never existed. I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but of the first seven tracks, the first four are actually pretty good, the fifth was the standard "eh" track that every Nick Cave album seems to have, the sixth was interesting musically but uninteresting lyrically and the seventh was a little too straight ahead garage rock for me. But those first four, that was a surprise. What I really liked was that he was singing more freely than he has on the last few albums, bringing a lack of restraint that used to be the norm. Musically, there's a strong return of the blues influence, though this time around he's moved out of the swamplands and into Nashville or maybe more likely Chicago. Words weren't too bad either; I even liked "No Pussy Blues" better on a more close listening, and get more of what it's about. I'll have to listen to the rest of the album before a final conclusion, but I think my assessment right now would be that although there's still some foundering happening, breaking free of the Bad Seeds mode (and switching from piano to guitar) was a very good move on Nick's part. I think he'd written the Bad Seeds project into a corner, and a new project with the aim of rocking out and being loud has revitalized him. After listening to the album I am also realizing how tongue in cheek some of their recent obnoxious interviews have been.
My office is cold and damp today. I can't tell if I ache all over because I am cold, because I am getting sick or because there is a storm coming, but I wish it would cease already.
It was interesting to watch the contrast in how Melora and the other cellist, Sarah Bowman, played--Melora handles her cello like a rock star, fingers flying through the solos, bow hairs fraying and flying. The other cellist still has very classical hands and her playing lacked some of the abandon of Melora's, don't think there was a single hair out of place on her bow. She was a member of the opening band, the Bowmans--a sister duo who sing, have one guitar and occasional small percussion. I did not like what I heard at their website before the show at all, but they were much more entertaining in person, with a better sound. I still wouldn't run out to buy their stuff, but it was pleasant listening to them. And boy can those women sing! All in all, it felt like a night of professional musicianship.
The assuit hip scarf that I was so happy about ordering yesterday turned out to be out of stock. Meh. They had other colors which would have been ok except that I need turquoise to match some other accessories. I ended up with a super shiny turquoise lame deal with beads and coins instead, not as folkloric as I wanted but I suppose better for stage in some ways, and it is undeniably the right color if nothing else. And if I ever get my &*(#$@$$ Sophisticated Assuit costume, I suppose I can always use the scarf from that when I want a more folkloric feel. I should call Dahlal today.
In other news, I did pick up the Grinderman album from emusic, rationalizing that it was cheaper that way and if I really hated it I could just delete it off my computer and pretend it never existed. I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but of the first seven tracks, the first four are actually pretty good, the fifth was the standard "eh" track that every Nick Cave album seems to have, the sixth was interesting musically but uninteresting lyrically and the seventh was a little too straight ahead garage rock for me. But those first four, that was a surprise. What I really liked was that he was singing more freely than he has on the last few albums, bringing a lack of restraint that used to be the norm. Musically, there's a strong return of the blues influence, though this time around he's moved out of the swamplands and into Nashville or maybe more likely Chicago. Words weren't too bad either; I even liked "No Pussy Blues" better on a more close listening, and get more of what it's about. I'll have to listen to the rest of the album before a final conclusion, but I think my assessment right now would be that although there's still some foundering happening, breaking free of the Bad Seeds mode (and switching from piano to guitar) was a very good move on Nick's part. I think he'd written the Bad Seeds project into a corner, and a new project with the aim of rocking out and being loud has revitalized him. After listening to the album I am also realizing how tongue in cheek some of their recent obnoxious interviews have been.
My office is cold and damp today. I can't tell if I ache all over because I am cold, because I am getting sick or because there is a storm coming, but I wish it would cease already.
