Off to the great east coast

Vacation time is here! This time I'm off to see a tiny portion of the exotic eastern seaboard of the United States of America.

The rough itinerary:

THURSDAY 10/23
Arrive at BWI in the evening

FRIDAY-SUNDAY 10/24 - 10/26
Record music with JohnStone

MONDAY 10/27
Hang out in DC, try to catch up with a few folks
Head up to Baltimore during evening

TUESDAY 10/28
Baltimore

WEDNESDAY 10/29
Head up to New York City

THURSDAY
Back to Baltimore around mid-day

FRIDAY-SATURDAY
Hang with family and friends in Baltimore

SUNDAY 11/2
Fly back to SF

I'll try to blog somewhat regularly, though it might be slow, especially for the next few days as I'll be holed up recording.

Drink well and be well until then.

Joe

And the band played new material from chemical chords: Stereolab live at The Fillmore

I have a real soft spot for Stereolab a band who, at the height of their powers, could hypnotize with their steady, mid-tempo drone (or later, their funky 60's pop inspired tunes) and catchy, tasteful French and English harmonies sung by lead singer/ co-band leader Laetita Sadier alongside keyboardist/vocalist Mary Hansen. Tragically, Hansen was killed by a truck while riding her bike six years ago, and the band has since undergone various personnel changes over the years. It would be interesting to see how the band's performance would rate since the first time I saw them ten years ago.

Armed with the usual combination of guitar, bass, drums, vibes, fender rhodes, moogs, vox organ and hohner clavinet, Stereolab hit the ground running with 'Percolator,' a tune from 1996's Emperor Tomato Ketchup LP. Really fast, rushed actually, and not a great way to begin the show. Afterwards, following a bit of confusion in between songs, Laetitia jokingly commented, 'after 18 years, we're still pros.' Smoothed over for the time-being, but pauses in between songs would be an on-going issue which negatively impacted the show. Some more new material followed, which at its best sounded like re-hashed material from the Neu! inspired Transient Random Noise Bursts era 'lab, and at its not so best sounded very repetitive in a way that, even for Stereolab, just didn't work. Mid-way through the set, the band launched into 'Ping-pong,' a familiar single which appeared to show the crowd (and band) at their most energetic and emotive. There were a few other highlights, but they tended to involve older material, such as 'French Disko' and 'Cybile's Reverie.' One notable exception would be their last encore, which captured the steady kraut rock feel of their earlier work, threw in some more loud soft dynamics, and seemed to work surprisingly well as an extended, experimental, improvisational piece. Maybe Stereolab does have some new sounds to explore after all.