Tortoise ~ June 18, 2007

For those who might be uninitiated regarding Tortoise, I lifted this description from their Wikipedia page: Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in various indie rock and punk groups. Tortoise was among the first American indie rock bands to incorporate styles closer to Krautrock, dub, minimalism, electronica, and various jazz styles, rather than the standard rock and roll and punk that had dominated indie rock for years.

Some have cited Tortoise as being one of the prime forces behind the development and popularity of the so-called "post-rock" movement. Others, however, have criticized Tortoise's music as being derivative of progressive rock.

Arriving a half hour before the doors opened it appeared that the crowed might be rather thin as there was no line at all out front of The Bluebird at all. I decided to take advantage of the nice evening and cheap micro brew prices across the street and headed to the Goosetown Tavern's patio until the doors opened. At 8:30 a few of us filed in and waited for Lichens to start (see my review below). I snagged a prime second tier rail spot right in the middle of the floor. Thoughts of poor audience turnout soon were put aside as a really nice size crowd began to showup right before Tortoise's set.

Tortoise came out about 10:20 and proceeded to wow us with an incredibly tight set of tunes. One thing really interesting about these guys is they are all multi-instrumentalists and they tradeoff on almost every song. They actually have two drum kits setup up face to face and on several of the songs have duel drumming. Three of them handled the kits. All the members played their two sets of xylophones eventually and all of them played some sort of keyboard during the course of the show as well. Three of them traded off on guitars and basses too. One could tell they really enjoined playing together as there was tons of grins at each other and they totally fed of the crowd's exciting reactions. We coaxed them out for two encores...they were extremely deserving! Throughout the show they had projected images which were mostly moving abstract, contemporary painting type of visuals...very fitting and not too distracting.

This was my first time seeing them live in person and it will not be my last. It's amazing how their live music grooves, because on CD a lot of the tunes don't really come off that way, but live they seem to improve the studio versions somehow that makes things even better...highly recommended if one wants to see a very tight band who's music isn't so ordinary, highly creative, but at the same time somewhat accessible.

I have a photo slideshow with music recorded that night on my YouTube Station (here).

Also, I have the complete set of photos on my Photosite (here).

Lichens ~ June 18, 2007

I had no idea what to expect from this opening act for Tortoise, but the buzz on the street was that it would be good. Turns out is was. Lichens is one guy, Robert Lowe, who totally managed to transfix the audience. Mr. Lowe came out and sat down on his stool. Near him was a mic, guitar and some effects pedals. He proceeded to pick-up the mic, put it up to his mouth and these lovely bird whistles started emitting from the PA. He did a variety of these all the while looping the different ones until it sound just like we were in an enchanted forest or something. While the bird songs were looping he picked up the guitar and did some improvised swatches, some of which were atmospheric some were sort of bluesy. This went on for a few minutes until he set the guitar down and picked up the mic again and began doing these deep toned whistles that sounded like wooden flutes. He started harmonizing with the previous tones he looped. All the while the bird songs where still playing. Next, he started singing wordless tones, starting in the lower registers and then he started harmonizing with those loops in higher and higher resisters. This entire piece went on for almost 25 minutes and was amazingly beautiful. A girl behind me at one point said in astonishment,
'this is crazy!" It was. Fans of droning, relaxing, atmospheric music might just check Lichens out. He has two CD's out (here).

COURT - from Italy

I first became aware of Court when they contacted us via Pindral's MySpace page saying they would be playing in Aurora on June 17, please join them. I had never heard of the venue they booked themselves into, but how often does one get to see an Italian prog band in Colorado? Gotta go check them out even though it was on a Sunday night.

Larry and I pulled up to Wyatt's Torch which was in a nondescript strip mall off S. Parker Rd. Much to our surprise there were only 5 cars in the parking lot outside. The place is pretty much a hole-in-the-wall club where they seem to really push the sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle. A sign in the place proudly proclaimed they were the loudest club in Aurora. Oh, boy. Upon entering we were pleasantly surprised to see a friendly face, Mr. Ron Perron, bass player for Stencil Forest and Colorado Art Rock Society friend, who was the only person there besides a few of the bar staff and the three piece band from Laramie, Wyoming who were the opening act. This was after 9:00 and the opening act was supposed to have been playing already, but they got delayed on their trip down. They got set-up and did a short opening set. Thankfully, the sound guy cut them off at 10:00 so Court could set-up. The Laramie guys weren't that bad really, but at 10:00 on a Sunday night with an early work day looming...let's get to the main act! In the meantime, Ron, who had already had the chance talk with the Court members, introduced us to some of them and we got to chat briefly. We explained we play in a prog band here in town and next time they come through let us know and maybe we could do a show together at The Oriental Theater. They seemed like really nice folks indeed and receptive to the idea. Keeping fingers crossed.

Court consists of a lead vocalist, drummer, two guitarists and a bass player. A couple of them also play a wind instruments, such as recorders, flutes and oboe. Very nice sounds. After setting up their gear, they stepped outside the back door to change into their stage clothes, much to our surprise, because there was only three real paying customers at this gig...professional to say the least!

I had not really heard any of Court's music besides a few samples from their MySpace page, so I wasn't really sure what we were in for. The band started into their set with some great instrumental passages. Wow, what a great sound! Lead singer Paolo soon joined. Such a nice voice and stage presence he brings to the table. His energetic and theatrical stage antics really added to the set. The band ripped through an hours worth of songs from their latest CD Frost of Watermelon and some older material as well. The music was a blend of all out powerful prog rock passages with some great folky ones as well. Very good blend of instrumental and vocal passages. Excellent musicianship too. Actually we didn't want them to stop even though it was well after midnight...they were that good.

After the show we got to talk to all of them and thank them for coming. We exchanged CD's and purchased one also. Talking to Francesco he said they are financing the tour themselves and looked at this tour as a nice US vacation. He told us he has lived in the States previously, spending some time in Carmel, CA and I think Ohio (?). The rest of the guys had never been here so they were wide-eyed with all the sights. Amazingly, they had just come from De Moines, Iowa the night before. They drove all night and arrived in Denver at 11:00 am and got to sleep before the show. Their next shows are in California and they have three days to drive out there. Hope some nice crowds show-up for them because they really deserve to be heard! Marco mentioned they were sometimes surprised where they end up playing because they really had to book the venues blindly...I think this was one of the surprises.

Upon heading to our vehicle after saying goodbyes the club manager stopped us and thanked us for coming. I had video taped the show and he asked me if I was going to post any of the footage on the web, because he said he was blown away by these guys. Just as we didn't know what to expect from them, I don't think he really had a clue what he was in for booking Court, but nice to see them gain some more fans, myself and Larry included.

I have a video of their performance on my YouTube station (here).

Also, I have a complete set of photos on my Photosite.

Porcupine Tree @ The Fox Theater

Well, Porcupine Tree returned to Boulder and sold-out the Fox Theater for the first time themselves. Actually the show sold-out weeks in advance. Great to see this band getting the attention I think they deserve. Thankfully we purchased our tickets the week they went on sale...had a hunch this show would sell-out. I saw their first performance at the Fox in 2002(PHOTOS HERE). It was a free show and there was about 50 of us there. It was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Well five years later PT kicked-ass once again. They have played the Fox three other times since and every show was great, but his one definitely was a standout.

I got to the theater around 5:40 in hopes of getting a decent spot in line so some friends and I could snag some of the few bench seats in the theater. Well, it payed off as I was about the 20th person in line. Bandmate Scott also showed-up early and we downed some tasty burritos and waited for our other friends to show up. The two-and-a-half hour wait was worth it. We got decent spots in the theater with a somewhat high vantage point. When The Fox is sold out its hard to see the stage. We lucked out.

First up was the 5-piece Woodstock, NY band "3"(MySpace). They did a great opening set as their music was a nice blend of rock, metal, folk, prog and jazzy elements. They were very tight for sure. I especially enjoyed the last two tunes they did from a yet to be released CD. Best opening act for PT we've seen that's for sure. There's some pics of them here.

Porcupine Tree came on a little after 10:00 and proceeded to blow the roof off the place. They performed the entire Fear Of A Blank Planet album with a nice mix of tunes from their last 6 albums. Steven Wilson seemed in very good spirits, except he did jokingly make a comment about it just being us old folk here tonight as the show was 21 and over. Guess he wanted to have some younger fans in the audience. Can't blame him for wanting to expose their music to the next generation of fans. I hear some other shows around the country are all ages.

Anyway, the sound was very good. I brought earplugs because the last two PT shows were extremely loud...too loud really and the mixes weren't great either. Not the case here. Of course one could nit-pick about the mix here and there, but overall I found it pretty well balanced, especially for our position which was off to the left side of the theater.

Here's the set list:

Fear of a Blank Planet
Lightbulb Sun
My Ashes
Anesthetize
Open Car
Gravity Eyelids
Drown With Me
Sentimental
Blackest Eyes
Half Light
Sever
Way Out Of Here
Sleep Together
----

Encore: A Smart Kid (Even Less was on the set list but they substituted this as a request from some guy who apparently has been following them on the tour)
Mother and Child Divided
Halo.

Absent from the show though was their projections. Found out later that they couldn't get them to work properly. It was OK though in that the music and lighting was enough.

After the show I managed to get Richard Barbieri's set list. I headed out to the bus in hopes of at least thanking the band for coming to Colorado again and maybe asking Steven if they'd consider playing Denver. Face it, they've outgrown Boulder and I think they need to do a show at one of the fine theaters in Denver. Maybe they could do both cities. Many bands do. Out by the bus I ran into good friend and major PT fan Robert, who heads up the PT street team in Colorado. We waited for about an hour and got to chat a little with Wes. Eventually all the band members came by, but it was obvious they didn't want to talk much because of being tired, but they signed all the stuff the 7-8 of us had (thanks for having that Sharpie Robert). I did manage to ask Steven if they might play Denver and he indicated it could happen and commented it would be nice to have the "kids" attend the show. Yeah , I think he may have not liked the 21 and over situation...pure speculation on my part though. I asked if they are coming back in the Fall and he said yes. Cool.

By then it was about 1:30am and I headed home, listening to the Porcupine Tree 2007 setlist playlist on my iPod after a very satisfying evening. Got home about 2:00...finally fell asleep about 2:30 ( I couldn't get the tune Sleep Together out of my head)...that alarm came rather early, but it was well worth it. I had to be at work at 8:00 the next morning...well I told my manager I'd probably be a little late and I showed-up at 8:30.

I have a couple albums of photos. One is of friends and crowd shots with some digital movies...HERE. The other is a collection of Porcupine Tree during the show. Taking pics was a challenge in that I had to usually shoot above, through or around people in front of me. Couldn't really change the vantage point much at all. Got a few decent ones I feel. Enjoy! Feel feel to sign the guest books and check out some of the other albums. Thanks.

GENESIS!

I have to admit the is the most money I've ever paid for a concert and we got the "cheap" seats too. But, a bunch of us snagged an eight seat section in the front row of the upper level during the pre-sale last week. I've never seen them before in person so am really looking forward. I think Jamie said it best, " FUCKIN' A!!!! I'M GONNA SEE GENESIS!!!!"

October 6th. Pepsi Center.

New PT and Marillion Absorbed

Fear of A Blank Planet took a few listens to get my head wrapped around, but I have to say it's going down as another PT classic in my book. Every song has something different to offer. Nice continuation of their 2000's output along with Deadwing and In Absentia. Again, perhaps blends some of their spacier 1990's material with the newer, harder-edged stuff. Can't wait to see them live on May 15th!

I guess I'm one of the few that like the new Marillion right off the bat. Not sure what it is but Somewhere Else one just sounded pleasing from day one, perhaps it does have a somewhat familiar feel of some of their older stuff and repeated listens have revealed more and more layers. No, not their "proggiest" of releases, but just some great songs as only Marillion can do. Some favorite tracks are Somewhere Else, The Other Half, See It Like A Baby, No Such Thing, Voice From The Past and The Wound.

New Porcupine Tree and Marillion CD's

Two of my all time fave bands came out with CD's today.

I've read some less than thrilling reviews of the new Marillion album Somewhere Else and tried not to be influenced, but I gotta say I'm pleasantly surprised. OK, it doesn't have the overtly proggy stuff like Marbles (Ocean Cloud, Invisible Man, Neverland) but I think it's solid effort none-the-less. I think some of the subtleness may sneak up on some people in the long run, ala Afraid of Sunlight.

Luckily I heard the new PT last week via one of those "advanced copies" (thx you know who) . I picked up the official copy today at Twist and Shout along with Marillion. Every listen to Fear of A Blank Planet gets better. It could be their most mature and complete album to date. To me it really blends a lot of their best elements. It even repeats a couple motifs from Deadwing and In Absentia (I think on purpose...certainly Steven Wilson wouldn't borrow from the past without a purpose me thinks). I dunno, don't be fooled the Fear Of A Blank Planet video is all I can say . Sure the album draws from modern social concerns, but the music also helps "deal" with those issues like good/relevant music can. Can't wait to see this stuff live on May 15th at The Fox!