Tag: New York City

Jack White 1/30/16

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(a) setlist

    1. Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground (The White Stripes cover)
    2. High Ball Stepper
    3. Lazaretto
    4. Hotel Yorba (The White Stripes cover)
    5. Temporary Ground
    6. Cannon (The White Stripes cover)
    7. Broken Boy Soldier (The Raconteurs cover)
    8. Love Interruption
    9. We’re Going to be Friends (The White Stripes cover)
    10. Three Women
    11. Black Math (The White Stripes cover)
    12. Top Yourself (The Raconteurs cover)
    13. Ball and Biscuit (The White Stripes cover)

Encore:

  1. That Black Bat Licorice (w/ Q-Tip)
  2. Excursions (A Tribe Called Quest cover w/ Q-Tip)
  3. Sixteen Saltines
  4. Astro (The White Stripes cover)
  5. Steady As She Goes (The Raconteurs cover)
  6. Would You Fight For My Love?
  7. Just One Drink
  8. Blunderbuss
  9. Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes cover)

(b) highlights

  • my friend won a lottery through Jack White’s fan club that let us automatically get in the venue first, which means front row center at Madison Square Garden = heaven
  • that SETLIST, Jesus
  • getting to hear that many White Stripes songs was a true treasure
  • I don’t know how or why, but “That Black Bat Licorice” was seriously next level – a damn near religious experience
  • the entire show’s audio streamed on xm radio, which made the whole experience that much more special
  • Jack was in a great mood, elevating each moment to a better place – his mood made the performance the best possible

(c) lowlights

  • I don’t know who I have to murder to hear “Icky Thump” live, but I would really like to know eventually, please
  • also willing to commit a small crime to hear the Dead Weather’s “I Cut Like a Buffalo,” but I suppose that’s a longshot that this point
  • Jack White is CRAZY about people taking photos during his shows (meaning, he’s stopped performing and caused a scene because of it), so no one took pictures throughout the show*
  • *(this isn’t actually a lowlight – it was nice that no one was distracted during the performance, but I wish I could’ve had a few keepsake photos of my experience)

(d) overall thoughts

For those who don’t know, Jack White is an…eccentric guy. As a performer, he doesn’t use conventional setlists or even really determine how long his shows will be before they’ve started. His band of touring musicians are a particularly skilled group of people who can equally perform each song with perfection and anticipate the unexpected when it comes to Jack. As an astute audience member, you can definitely sense the tension every so often on stage. Jack will start one song and turn it into something else halfway through. His violinist will pick up one fiddle and bow only to immediately put it down and pick up something else after Jack has changed the song seemingly mid-chorus. It sounds stressful, and sometimes anxiety-inducing to watch, but at Madison Square Garden, it made me excited. I had seen Jack White’s solo act twice before this show – once in a small outdoor venue and another at a huge festival – but it was at this show that he seemed most happy, comfortable, and effortlessly thrilled to be playing. He performs for himself, not the audience, so his art really speaks for him. Make of that what you will.

Jack’s second solo album Lazaretto was so strong to me, and this night really let those songs shine right alongside some true White Stripes classics. “High Ball Stepper,” “Temporary Ground,” and “Three Women” felt so fully embodied as songs that you wonder how they haven’t always existed. “That Black Bat Licorice,” even with the bizarre accompaniment of Q-Tip, felt so massive and so much bigger than that venue could even hold. Each song felt like taking steps a part of a greater journey, and I was so willing to take Jack White’s hand and let him lead me along the way. Regardless of how people feel about Jack, who has somehow become a point of controversy over the years, you can’t deny the presence of magic hearing 20,000+ people sing “Seven Nation Army” in such an iconic arena. That’s something you never forget.

Bottom line: Jack White is a true musician in every sense of the word, and experiencing his art live is a privilege…even if he sort of hates the audience in the process. I can live with that.

[All photos are by David James Swanson, Jack’s personal photog.]

 

Bonus Material!

My blonde head is too excited and jumping in and out of frame, but man, this song was beautiful.

 

Bloc Party 3/16/16

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(a) setlist

    1. Only He Can Heal Me
    2. Octopus
    3. Virtue
    4. Song For Clay (Disappear Here)
    5. Banquet
    6. One More Chance
    7. Different Drugs
    8. Exes
    9. So He Begins to Lie
    10. Hunting for Witches
    11. Positive Tension
    12. The Love Within

Encore:

  1. Heroes (David Bowie cover)
  2. Flux
  3. Helicopter
  4. Ratchet

(b) highlights

  • seeing one of my favorite bands of all time live for the first time (!!!!!)
  • “Song For Clay (Disappear Here),” “Banquet,” and “Helicopter” soothing my 16 year old soul
  • David Bowie cover (!!!!) and it was HEROES (!!!)
  • “The Love Within” and “Exes” – haters gonna hate
  • no, really, guys – I have loved Bloc Party since 2005, this was a DREAM show for me

(c) lowlights

  • probably the worst crowd I’ve ever seen in New York City
  • set was too short
  • I miss the original band lineup
  • everyone needed more energy

(d) overall thoughts

I’ve dreamed about this show for years. Somehow, Bloc Party was always the band that got away for me. I’ve adored them since the moment I heard “Banquet” in 2005 and, unlike most fans, have (mostly) enjoyed their newer work after the departure of founding members Gordon Moakes and the inimitable Matt Tong. Kele Okereke has always been a controversial frontman and some fans feel a strange betrayal on his part, but I still believe in this band. Though it’s unpopular to say, I enjoy the slow-burning quietness of their newest album Hymns, and – haters will hate – I totally dig singles, “The Love Within” and “Exes.”

I’m still partial to Bloc Party’s earlier work – particularly Intimacy and A Weekend in the City, an album that would undoubtedly make my Top 5 Desert Island List, and it’s clear the crowd at Irving Plaza preferred the early work too. Meaning no one remotely moved for anything other than songs written ten years ago. So irritating as a fan and must be for the band, as well. Regardless, Kele is a frontman and stood behind his work. Russell Lissack brought it on guitar in a way that endearingly made me feel like he’s still living in 2005, but there wasn’t much to say about the new members Justin Harris and Louise Bartle. The new rhythm section wasn’t bad in any way – they just feel like touring musicians in the shadow of their frontman.

I hope to see the band later this year at Gov Ball, and I hope both the band and crowd step it up for a great performance, not one that is merely good.

Bottom line: The expectations in my mind I’ve had for this show for years weren’t exactly met, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t bawl my eyes out for the back-to-back, heart-wrenching pair that was “Song For Clay (Disappear Here)” and “Banquet.” Step it up next time, Bloc Party, cause I love you a lot.

Bonus Stuff!

David Bowie’s “Heroes” cover:

 

Miike Snow 3/3/16

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(a) setlist

    1. Heart is Full
    2. Billie Holiday
    3. Cult Logic
    4. Genghis Khan
    5. Paddling Heart
    6. The Heart of Me
    7. Burial
    8. My Trigger
    9. Silvia
    10. I Feel the Weight
    11. Song For No One
    12. Black & Blue

Encore:

  1. Longshot (7 Nights)
  2. Animal

(b) highlights

  • seeing them live for the first time!
  • the intimacy of Le Poisson Rouge
  • bomb ass production
  • “Genghis Khan,” “Silvia,” and “Animal”
  • “I get a little bit Genghis Khan / don’t want you to get it on / with nobody else but me / with nobody else but me” = amazing

(c) lowlights

  • started late, not much to complain about

(d) overall thoughts

This was my first time seeing Miike Snow! It was their first performance in four years, supporting their third album fittingly titled iii, but nothing about it felt stiff. I normally don’t go to shows where I’m unfamiliar with the majority of the discography, but my roommate is a huge fan. Needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed. Andrew Wyatt’s stage presence along with the stage production and lighting let me buy into the Miike Snow Aesthetic. I’d only heard a few songs in passing, but found myself singing along to the infectious choruses and memorable melodies.

I’m writing about this show nearly two months after the fact and I still remember how much I loved “Genghis Khan,” “Silvia,” and “Animal” – the band’s stand-out tracks and coincidental fan favorites. Would love to see them again in a festival setting after relishing in the intimacy of Le Poisson Rouge.

Bottom line: Solid set, top-notch production, great crowd, would love to see these Swedish dudes again.

The Last Shadow Puppets 4/11/16

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(a) setlist

    1. Aviation
    2. The Age of the Understatement
    3. Used to Be My Girl
    4. Calm Like You
    5. The Element of Surprise
    6. Dracula Teeth
    7. She Does the Woods
    8. Miracle Aligner
    9. My Mistakes Were Made For You
    10. Only the Truth
    11. Bad Habits
    12. Pattern
    13. Everything You’ve Come to Expect
    14. Meeting Place
    15. Sweet Dreams, TN
    16. In My Room

Encore:

  1. I Want You (She’s So Heavy) (The Beatles cover)
  2. The Dream Synopsis
  3. Standing Next to Me

(b) highlights

  • Hearing my favorite song from Age of the Understatement, “My Mistakes Were Made for You” (!!!)
  • Accepting the true romantic-comedy act that is Alex Turner and Miles Kane
  • the string section
  • that Beatles cover!!!
  • Turner’s semi-embarassing tambourine swing and hip sway

(c) lowlights

  • “Aviation” didn’t quite hit home live like it does on the album
  • Miles Kane has essentially become Alex Turner’s “hype man” instead of true musical partner
  • Kane’s gold chains, Turner’s pinkie ring and absurd art smock outfit

(d) overall thoughts

This was my first time seeing TLSP and I loved their first album Age of the Understatement, but never got to catch them for that. I’m a long-time Arctic Monkeys fan, despite being slowly turned off by the “persona” Alex Turner has taken on since roughly 2009 circa the release of Suck It and See. Their newest album Everything You’ve Come to Expect feels quintessential to Turner and Kane, but its deep cuts don’t feel as strong as their previous work, and they fail to recreate the cinematic aura so prevalent on their debut.

Bottom line: Enjoyable show, loved hearing some of those fantastic songs, but everyone could’ve used less hair gel and gold chains.