Oh hello! Apologies for the recent radio silence, I've just been busy. And by busy I mean completely addicted to Bejeweled. But I do have some concert reviews to report.
1. The New Pornographers at the Hi-Fi. The New Pornographers are a conglomerate Canadian/American rock band full of extremely talented musicians. Their tunes are catchy, and they kind of have a Fleetwood Mac type thing going on with both male and female lead singers. I was lucky that they brought Neko Case along on this tour- since she's very popular as a solo artist she doesn't always tour with the band. And I think she's awesome and fully admit to having a girl crush on her. The show was great and I liked the venue, small enough but not horribly crowded. The only downside is that Neko didn't perform any of her own songs, but I guess I'll just have to wait until she goes on a solo tour.
2. I went back to the Hi-Fi a few days later to catch the Australian World Music Expo for a New Zealand themed show. The headliner was hip-hop artist King Kapisi, but my favorite act of the night was the funky Electric Wire Hustle. Overall, it was an interesting show and good for people watching. The audience was almost all New Zealanders, including a lot of young Maori guys with spiky hair and tattoos.
3. One of my labmates invited me to go see Paul Kelly, a legendary Australian singer/songwriter/guitarist who Kris once described as "Australia's Bob Dylan" so of course I said yes. Here's a video of a much younger Paul Kelly performing To Her Door, his most well-known song. The show was at the Corner Hotel, which reminds me a lot of the Paradise in Boston, right down to an annoying pole that I somehow always end up standing behind. He definitely lived up to his reputation- Kelly and the band sounded fantastic and they all looked like they were having a blast on stage, just enjoying playing music together. Tim Rogers from the opening act joined the stage for their encore performance of Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl. Even though I wasn't familiar with most of his songs it was easy to enjoy myself and appreciate an excellent musician putting on an excellent show.
3 comments:
I'm glad you enjoyed Paul Kelly! He's got an autobiography out now that we really need to get. (It's called "How to Make Gravy", which is also the name of one of his songs.) I got introduced to him in London when he played the Walkabout in Shepherd's Bush. I think every Antipodean in London was there last night. He closed with "Every Fuckin' City," which was so appropriate and funny and awesome.
Does Dean have any of his albums? If not let me know and I'll burn you some songs...
I've noticed the bejeweled thing as your score was above mine last week. I can't believe you'd beat a sick person and take away their one chance at (bejeweled) happiness. :)
RT- I'd love some Paul Kelly! Burn me a CD and you can send it to me for Christmas :)
Liz- When it comes to bejeweled, I am MERCILESS!
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