Matthew Sweet @ Webster Hall - Oct. 28, 2008

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet!
Yep. Matthew Sweet. Still around, cranking out good tunes! This time around he played on a cold Tuesday Fall night at Webster Hall. The Bridges, Matthew's project i think(produced?), which consists of siblings and a cousin, opened before Matthew and Co. took the stage sometime after 9. He ripped into stuff from his newest album "Sunshine Lies" and opened with "Time Machine" and ran into others like "Room To Rock", "Byrdgirl","Feel Fear","Flying" and "Sunshine Lies"(w/ The Bridges). He proceeded then to play a great setlist of hits that sounded great and crisp. The guitarist rippin all of Matthews' solos is sick! Definite good show, good price, good venue, all good baby! Other songs he played : Girlfriend, Divine Intervention, The Ugly Truth, Someone to Pull the Trigger, We're the same, and so many other great songs!

Art + Action = Obama 08 - The Showroom NYC - Oct. 17, 2008

Unless you have been living in a cave in Aff-Wan-A-Stan then you probably know about Obamania.(I can think of someone living in a cave who is aware of his popularity, he who shall remain nameless). So, the Obama Art train rolled into my backyard last week in the form of a show which consisted of custom designed Obama action figures by various artist at The Showroom NYC at Toy Tokyo.

The figures were for sale and proceeds went to the Obama campaign. The prices were reasonable and those that didnt sell will be auctioned off. There was quite a few people there and the line to get in was long but moved quickly. They had free beer and wine as well as a DJ, which was a nice touch. The obama figure below is my favorite, the White House was made of paper!

Smashing Pumpkins at The Charlottesville Pavilion - Aug. 16th 2008 - Charlottesville, VA

The Mighty SP! If ya know what i mean! They'rrrrereeee backkkkkkk!

This is another concert from a few months back that I would like to share with you. The WifeBot and I took a road trip to VA to catch Billy, Jimmy, and Co. I see a trend here as last year we took another road trip to see SP in Philadelphia at the Tower Theatre. Awesome. Now, back to the task at hand. The SP announced a summer warm up Tour for their upcoming 20th anniversary tour in November. They didnt plan any tri-state area gigs on the summer tour, so I checked out the closest spot they would be playing and that happened to be Charlottesville, VA. Lucky me as it turns out that Charlotesville, VA is a really nice place to visit and see a show, especially in the Summer. We also visited Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water in PA on the way. WOW! Cool place to visit if you ever get a chance, its more near Pittsburgh than anything else so plan accordingly. Anyhowm after Falling water we stayed in Winchseter, VA for the night before proceeding to C-ville as the locals say.

So we left Winchester and headed south through the Shenandoah National Park and that was another cool trip. Dont drive the whole thing as its long and slow. You are basically driving a road that is built mostly at the top of mountains and ridges. Awesome views, serene, historic etc. Check it out.

So then we finally made it to C-ville and headed to Monticello to check out Mr. Thomas Jefferson's crib. I must say that he was quite a forward thinker and is another must visit when in the C-Ville. Also in C-Ville is the amazing

University of Virginia. Another one of Mr. Jefferson's brilliant ideas. Gotta love that guy. So eventually we got to the show and it I was expecting a somewhat anticlimactic end to the trip with the SP show as they decided to play the same exact setlist every night of the warm up tour. Leave it to Corgy to pull that shit out of his hat! Nothing unexpected I guess. But, the show was very well played and sounded extremely crisp since they have been doing it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. I think you got the point.

In the middle of the pedestrian mall near the venue is a freedom of speech wall where anyone can write anything on a huge piece of double sided slate. I felt I had to leave my 2 cents. Notice my initials at the bottom, DB is my nickname from the members of an SP forum. You see, since I let my feelings be known about not changing the setlist on the warmup tour, I was immediately labeled a douche bag. Lol, love it. Anyhow, here is the setlist and am looking forward to giving you the update from the Nov. 7th 2008 Show at the United Palace Theatre :

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Eddie Vedder at The United Palace Theatre

Eddie Vedder East Coast Solor Tour with Liam Finn. at The United Palace Theatre in NYC, August 5th 2008. Wow. Fresh off of 2 nights at MSG with Pearl Jam a few months earlier, EdVed embarked on an east coast solo tour and played uptown around 179th and Broadway at an old vaudeville theatre which was cool and ornate on the inside. It had a Buddhist-themed Broadway theatre feel, but old and authentic. Really cool. Liam Finn opened, this is where I first discovered his music and have seen him twice since. So Liam ran through his usual set, albeit abbreviated. Then the 'man of the hour' took the stage after a bunch of 'scientists' in lab coats set up the stage for Ed's 'experiment' as he would put it. They setup the stage with various items to make it look like a living room of sorts. Nice twist. Although most of the tour had similar setlists, he tended to change it up every night with a few goodies that werent played the night before.


The treat of the night for me was 'Picture In A Frame', for some others, it was 'Here's To The State...' Lets hope some of these shows get an official bootleg release as they were some of the best acoustic, solo performances ever by EdVed. Hopefully we all get a chance to see Ed and Company next year as well as another solo Tour. Setlist below
Set list: Walking the Cow, Trouble, Sometimes, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Man of the Hour, Setting Forth, Guaranteed, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Rise, Millworker, Picture in a Frame, Goodbye, Broken Hearted, Driftin', Hide Your Love Away, Girl from North Country, Thumbing My Way, Porch
Encore 1: Wishlist, Here's to the State of Mississippi, Society (w/Liam Finn), No More, Arc
Encore 2: Hard Sun (w/Liam Finn)

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Liam Finn at The Bell House - Brooklyn, NY 10/11/08

Liam Finn and The Veils played the newly opened (Sept. 08) The Bell House in Brooklyn, NY on Saturday October 11, 2008. I happened to stumble across this tour date when checking out Liam's site. It appears this wasnt part of the official North America tour, where he played The Bowery Ballroom a few months earlier(another great Liam show, maybe will post about that one) which was part of the tour. So a nice little treat from the KrazyKiwi, AND it was only 10$, and the Bell House was a cool little spot. Not far from the the F and a 2 other lines(look it up yourself, I took the F, So F U). Near a bunch of warehouses in Gowanus, a few blocks off of the main drag(4th Ave.). The Bell House has a nice layout, laid-back vibe, nice bar in front, and then through a few doors in the back is the stage with another bar adjacent to the stage. The place has high ceilings, lots of room, good views of the stage from anywhere. Great beers, only $5 a pop. They also have DUB Pies for sale, I didnt try but heard they are good. Liam came on, cracked a few witty jokes as usual, played around with all his toys, and did work! Of course it wouldnt be complete without the voice of EJ Barnes. Liam's partner in crime, who provides amazing vocals and effects along with the rest of the band who occasionally assist on stage with rhythm guitar and drums(Liamm's brother). I dont have the setlist and once I find it, I will post it here. But he pretty much covered the Album sans a few tracks and did an AMAZING improv with EJ where they whaled and screamed and strummed etc and mixed it all up and sounded so sickkkkkk!!! Get out there and see your boy Liam if/when he comes back next year ya hear!

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