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Saturday, March 29, 2008

We Can't Help You

I saw Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks last night at the 930 Club. Ummm, it was awesome. Front row and slightly off center is where we took our spot as we waited for greatness to start. First, though, we listened to John Vanderslice. No, I kid, he and his band were quite good and very entertaining. The keyboardist played the tambourine by kicking it! You can't get much better than that, right? Oh wait, yes you can. Stephen Fucking Malkmus can walk on stage after you've been standing there for hours and totally rock your socks off. But the thing is, he doesn't rock them off by wailing guitar solos or smashing guitars into the drums. He's just up there, doing his thing, singing songs named "Elmo Delmo" and he's just ruling. The man is a music legend in my (and many other's) opinion and once you see him on stage you almost forget that. In a way. It's very difficult to explain. For example, when you see Billy Corgan on stage he is a force to be reckoned with. (I think the leather dress may help. And the light show*.) Even when I saw The Decemberists awhile ago Colin Meloy kind of had that glow about him. The 'lead singer' glow, if you will. Stephen Malkmus**, though seems different. Maybe it's the many articles I have read lately that describe his family life in the same sentence as his rock greatness. Or the fact that his songs are understated in their awesomeness.

Anyway, I thought the show was great. The Jicks are a lot of fun. I'm not usually a fan of female singers***, but I think they make great bass players and I'll even forgive Janet Weiss for having played drums with Sleater Kinney**** (and I also have to mention that she has awesome hair).



And here is the set list (as written on the set list):

*Some song I forget the name of*
Animal Midnight
Gardenia
Baby C'mon
We Can't Help You
Real Emotional Trash (one of my favorites!)
Cold Son
Hopscotch Willie
Out Of Reaches
Elmo Delmo
Post Paint
Oyster
Encore


XO,
SVR


*Yeah, I'm a huge Billy Corgan fan. The light show is great. Suck it, ok?

**I can't call musicians by just their first name. It feels weird. DaveGrohl, BillyCorgan, StephenMalkmus, JustinTimberlake, etc.

***Oh look, another chance to say I hate Kate Nash;)

****Sorry, not a fan.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll forgive you for not loving SK - honestly they are an acquired taste- I don't think I loved them at first.

I'm really starting to dig the new Stephen Malkmus cd - but can't justify seeing them live. I saw them open for Radiohead a few years back and saw Pavement back in the day (I'm trying to spend my concert dollars on bands I haven't seen). It sounds like it was a great show.

You have to send me a pic of Weiss. Also - why do you hate Kate Nash? Is it the female singer thing? I just heard about her last night for the first time.

Stephanie said...

I finally got my Paper Mag subscription - THANK YOU! :)

Miss Scarlet said...

I tried to like Kate Nash. I heard she was like Lily Allen, who I like, but she is not. She has some good lyrics, but overall I think she ruins any of the goodness with the most irritating voice ever. She makes weird, guttural sounds and in one song I swear (and I am not the only one to make this comment) she sounds like she's about to have an orgasm. It's uncomfortable.


I'll link to my pics once they're up.

Yay, Stephanie! Glad it came finally:)

GreenCanary said...

I love live music. I fell in love with Gavin DeGraw when I saw him at the 9:30 Club because he had this amazing stage presence. And also? The way he sang all up in the microphone was obscene. And really HOT. I'm just sayin'.

minijonb said...

i've having flashbacks to some of the Pavement shows i saw. maybe i do need to catch The Jicks on this tour...

Anonymous said...

sounds like an awesome show. ok i'm usually a big ol love the girlie singers, but i'm gonna have to go on mz rose's side with this one. scarlet, you are wrong about ani and tori, but you def hit it on the nail with kate nash -- not my cup of tea!

Miss Scarlet said...

Greencanary- Oh, I know what you mean. I used to have a thing for bass players, haha. Anyone who plays an instrument is just that much hotter.

Minijonb- Jealous you saw Pavement. Def check The Jicks out:)

ARebelSong- Miss you! Yeah, we have KN at BN and it's dreadful.