[Ohoen]

Three great shows in a row in Montreal. We started with Cat Power on Saturday at the Outremont Theatre which is very nice and an excellent venue for Chan. With and without her backup band she played for approximately two hours. There was a lot of banter with the audience and her voice sounded great. It seems her stage fright and tantrums on stage are a thing of the past. If you like Cat Power and can do it, I definitely recommend seeing her play.

Next up, on Sunday night, was GY!BE. It was the first of three soldout shows in Montreal at the beautiful old Rialto. We only managed to get tickets because the guy at L'Oblique (the best record shop in the world) took pity on us when we told him we couldn't go on Tuesday (the only show that wasn't sold out at that point) because we were going to see Yo La Tengo, and gave us his last two tickets to the Sunday show that he had been saving. So, once they did start... wow. This is one impressive live band. It was just so powerful when they swelled up to those crescendos. And I have to note the visuals. The best I've ever seen. I especially liked the stock market ticker displaying the story about "suspected terrorists detained". Go and see these guys if you possibly can. I think they're scheduling a jaunt through the western US after Europe. Not positive though.

Monday we rested and Tuesday was Yo La Tengo at Cabaret. This is my second time seeing them there so I knew what to expect. The theatre is fairly small but packed. Portastatic was the opener and I can't say they were all that thrilling. YLT came on and were flawless as usual. They just know exactly what they're doing up there. They played most of the new album and a few old favorites. My only problem with the sound was that the vocals seemed to get a little lost behind the instruments. I don't know if it was the venue or the band or me but there it is. Anyway, if you're a YLT fan I'm sure I don't have to encourage you to see them live. You're there for sure. I'll be seeing them again next week in CT.

 

[stuartr]

It sounds like you had some great concerts. I would love to see GY!BE if they came down to LA or something. As for YLT vocals getting lost behind the music, this is something that seems to happen. I know there is a song on I Can Feel the Heart Beating As One that would have been a great song, if only you could hear the vocals. It is really strange, you would think it is something easily remedied. It must be a conscious choice. I cannot imagine why however.

 

[wab]

Cool.. I saw GY!BE about a year ago (when they were still called GYBE!). It was a very overwhelming experience for me too. Only too bad the concert turned into a noisefest at the end, when they were trying to destroy the soundsystem with feedback and other painful stuff.
Also, I'd love to see YLT sometime, as they are one of my favourite bands.

Edit: It appears Yo La Tengo are playing in the lovely Paradiso venue, Amsterdam on may 9th! I'll be there.

 

[dngl]

i don't get why people object to the noise&feedback endings of concerts. i actually like it when mogwai or gybe or their peers (and fore-fathers) do that. it's purifying and it ends the night right imo.

 

[Ohoen]

Quote:

Originally posted by stuartr It sounds like you had some great concerts. I would love to see GY!BE if they came down to LA or something. As for YLT vocals getting lost behind the music, this is something that seems to happen. I know there is a song on I Can Feel the Heart Beating As One that would have been a great song, if only you could hear the vocals. It is really strange, you would think it is something easily remedied. It must be a conscious choice. I cannot imagine why however.

Yeah, even on the albums vocals tend to be on the quiet side but this was even more so. I don't know, I don't remember noticing this the other times I've seen them but who knows if I was paying close attention. There's always a lot of beer. I'll definitely be listening for a change at the NH show. And thanks for the restaurant recs btw. I love Indian.

As for Godspeed being loud and painful. I can understand this complaint. I thought it was wonderful but my girlfriend found it kinda painful. I think people just have different tolerances for loud noise. Like at clubs, for me, I can't stand a lot of high frequency stuff for more than a minute or so. It all starts to sound very liquid and slushy (tech terms of course) and is totally unenjoyable. Of course that's after about 3 hours so my ears would certainly be more fragile at that point. I have a feeling the DJs controlling the volume have plenty of upper end hearing damage along with a lot of people on the floor.

 

[Guardian]

I hate you so much. I did not manage to see GYBE as they toured the U.S. this past late winter/early spring.

Have you ever seen Sigur Ros or Mogwai?

 

[ls20]

ack, i missed Godspeed when they came around here last month. what do you think of the new yo la tengo album? ive listened to it about 3 times tops because its so bad =\

 

[Ohoen]

I haven't seen Sigur Ros or Mogwai but I'm planning on it if they ever come around.

I quite like the new album but I'm partial to softer YLT. When I wanna rock out I listen to Tool or ACDC. I think I can understand your disappointment though. It's a bit softrock/pop-ish.