Vinyl Me Please Essentials

DJSJ said:
At a little 3 stage mini festival in New York I caught Kurt Vile (solo). He showed up 20 minutes late, was visibly drunk, and was definitely more into hanging with his friends that night then playing a show. He noodled around on his guitar for what felt like 10 minutes before going into a song. Every 30 seconds or so he'd fuck up a chord and have to stop and restart. Tripped his way through the song. By the time he started the second one me and my buddy said "Fuck this" and went to see another artist.

Couple acts later we see Woods, and for their last song they decide to bring up local drunk Kurt Vile! Luckily it was only for vocals. He then lends his drunken wail to a cover of "Knockin on Heaven's Door". Man fuck KV.
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It's funny how a god or bad show like that frames an opinion on an artist. Same kind of thing happened for me seeing How To Dress Well several years ago. Tom was clearly agitated, it affected his performance, and he came off as a dick. Everything I heard from them since (this was when they toured for their second album) hasn't sounded as good to me.

Interestingly enough, I had the exact opposite experience with Kurt Vile that you had. I first saw him at a local indie music festival in a small church venue. The sound was incredible, the music was studio-tight, and Kurt and the band all brought out ottomans and bean bag chairs to sit on as they played. One of the better shows I've seen in the seven years I've been going to that festival, and I've seen him three other times and they have all been phenomenal. Granted, Kurt has not been visibly in the state you described. Maybe its because he was performing with either the Violators or with the "Sea Lice" backing band he had with his joint album with Courtney Barnett.
 
BattleFlag said:
It's funny how a god or bad show like that frames an opinion on an artist. Same kind of thing happened for me seeing How To Dress Well several years ago. Tom was clearly agitated, it affected his performance, and he came off as a dick. Everything I heard from them since (this was when they toured for their second album) hasn't sounded as good to me.

Interestingly enough, I had the exact opposite experience with Kurt Vile that you had. I first saw him at a local indie music festival in a small church venue. The sound was incredible, the music was studio-tight, and Kurt and the band all brought out ottomans and bean bag chairs to sit on as they played. One of the better shows I've seen in the seven years I've been going to that festival, and I've seen him three other times and they have all been phenomenal. Granted, Kurt has not been visibly in the state you described. Maybe its because he was performing with either the Violators or with the "Sea Lice" backing band he had with his joint album with Courtney Barnett.
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Most recent example for me: Julien Baker.
Huge fan of the 1st album, but I was thinking of purging Little Oblivions from the collection.
Then I saw her perform the songs Live @ the Beacon.

I have a whole new appreciation for that record.

There's a kick ass Rock N' Roll show lurking in that Lady - and once she gets more comfortable with presenting her work to larger crowds...we might see something real special out of her.
 
BattleFlag said:
It's funny how a god or bad show like that frames an opinion on an artist. Same kind of thing happened for me seeing How To Dress Well several years ago. Tom was clearly agitated, it affected his performance, and he came off as a dick. Everything I heard from them since (this was when they toured for their second album) hasn't sounded as good to me.
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I had the exact same experience with How To Dress Well on the same tour. He was pissed that the crowd was rowdy and he was trying to create an intimate vibe. He basically scolded the crowd and told everyone how when he played a club in New York recently you could hear a pin drop while he was performing. He was right, that the crowd was noisy, but it was the weekend and he was the opening act. I was there to see him, not the headliner so I felt a bit bad for him/embarrassed by the crowd, but insulting your audience is never a good look at a show.
 
Urbs_hott said:
I had the exact same experience with How To Dress Well on the same tour. He was pissed that the crowd was rowdy and he was trying to create an intimate vibe. He basically scolded the crowd and told everyone how when he played a club in New York recently you could hear a pin drop while he was performing. He was right, that the crowd was noisy, but it was the weekend and he was the opening act. I was there to see him, not the headliner so I felt a bit bad for him/embarrassed by the crowd, but insulting your audience is never a good look at a show.
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This is almost verbatim what happened at the show I was at. Hilarious.
 
Worst show: tied between The Fray at summerfest like 10 years ago and Chuck Berry at Oneida Casino in 2009 or so. The Fray just fucking sucked and I damn near fell asleep. Everything about it was terrible. Chuck Berry was 80 or so at the time and I believe he was completely drunk. His guitar was out of tune the whole night and he forgot the lyrics on most of the songs. It was great to be in the presence of a legend but man that was a terrible show.

Best: MMJ at Red Rocks 2019 probably. Doesn’t need much explanation.
 
Finally opened up ATLiens, Wu and PE last wkend and all 3 were fucked:
  • ATLliens had noise on 4 sides,
  • Wu: same + multiple skips on side D,
  • PE: noise on A/B.
CS immediately ordered replacements for Wu and PE, but told me the vague stuff re: "adding me to the list" for a future resolution on Outkast & "be on the lookout for news on that," etc. -- so when I pressed them on what the hell that meant exactly, they said they are "likely" doing a repress of sides C/D of ATLiens and "sending it out to everyone who was affected". I reminded them that all 4 sides of my ATLiens were fucked, so that wouldn't really resolve it for me, so yeah now a replacement for that is otw too. But sounds like that might be the most they've divulged re: repress plans, right? They also said "no timeline from the label or pressing plant just yet". 🤷‍♂️
 
mitchwagz said:
Best: MMJ at Red Rocks 2019 probably. Doesn’t need much explanation.
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MMJ wasn't my best overall, but one of my happiest surprises. I saw them at one of my favourite venues in Vancouver (Commodore Ballroom) back in 2005. Saul Williams was opening and tickets were a good enough deal that I paid that to go see him and wouldn't have felt ripped off had I decided I didn't care for MMJ and decided to leave. Not only did I not leave, but I didn't duck out early as I would've needed to to make transit back to where I was staying. They were absolutely amazing!

Best overall for me would be Tool & King Crimson on their second night at the Paramount Theater in Seattle back in August 2001.

Hard for me to say what would categorically be the worst I've been to. One of the biggest letdowns would've been Lauryn Hill a few years back - but it was nowhere near the level I've heard some people have experienced with her shows. It wasn't an awful show by any means, just obvious she wasn't feeling it. And the people in front of me at the theatre were pissing me off most of the night. Watching my friend open for her was well worth the steep ticket price though. That was super cool!
 
oldjollymon said:
Finally opened up ATLiens, Wu and PE last wkend and all 3 were fucked:
  • ATLliens had noise on 4 sides,
  • Wu: same + multiple skips on side D,
  • PE: noise on A/B.
CS immediately ordered replacements for Wu and PE, but told me the vague stuff re: "adding me to the list" for a future resolution on Outkast & "be on the lookout for news on that," etc. -- so when I pressed them on what the hell that meant exactly, they said they are "likely" doing a repress of sides C/D of ATLiens and "sending it out to everyone who was affected". I reminded them that all 4 sides of my ATLiens were fucked, so that wouldn't really resolve it for me, so yeah now a replacement for that is otw too. But sounds like that might be the most they've divulged re: repress plans, right? They also said "no timeline from the label or pressing plant just yet". 🤷‍♂️
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I guess I should actually listen to the rest of my ATLiens and make sure. I shelved it as soon as I'd established and filmed the common defect.
 
avecigrec said:
One of the biggest letdowns would've been Lauryn Hill a few years back
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Alternatively I saw Wyclef during the free Pan Am Game shows and it was a total dud, but hey it was free.

During that same stretch I had tickets to Kanye and for whatever reason decided to stay home and ended up missing a completely entertaining meltdown.
 
My "Best/Worst" concerts were:

1) Courtney Love showing up at an Evan Dando concert in 2001. He was drunk and argued with the audience the whole show which was impressive in its own right. Then Courtney showed up and made him replay "Into Your Arms" (since she missed it earlier), then took his guitar and played Doll Parts and Jennifer's Body, flashed her breasts, told us how she got high with Oasis, and flipped off the audience.

2) Cat Power w/ Dan Bejar opening, also 2001. Dan and Chan both had major tantrums/breakdowns (seemingly both from equipment malfunctions and bad monitor levels) on stage. I love their music, but I left that night thinking that both could be musically transcendent or they both could join the 27 Club. Glad it worked out for the best.
 
TCell said:
My "Best/Worst" concerts were:

1) Courtney Love showing up at an Evan Dando concert in 2001. He was drunk and argued with the audience the whole show which was impressive in its own right. Then Courtney showed up and made him replay "Into Your Arms" (since she missed it earlier), then took his guitar and played Doll Parts and Jennifer's Body, flashed her breasts, told us how she got high with Oasis, and flipped off the audience.

2) Cat Power w/ Dan Bejar opening, also 2001. Dan and Chan both had major tantrums/breakdowns (seemingly both from equipment malfunctions and bad monitor levels) on stage. I love their music, but I left that night thinking that both could be musically transcendent or they both could join the 27 Club. Glad it worked out for the best.
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Still not sure which was the best and which was the worst ;)
 
Decided to give my Wu another spin as I felt mine was clean but seems to be another one where everyone mentioned the sounds. So decided to go with headphones this time as opposed to my shitty speakers. Definitely noticed the noise throughout mostly Side A/B but still minimal enough that it's just not worth the hassle to me. But is making me think about just stopping membership and checking for reviews on this next quarter and pickup secondhand if need be.

The one thing that was more concerning though was that twice the record skipped / needle jumped forward. I thought the first time was just from the bass too high as it jumped all the way onto the label. The second one just jumped forward in the song a couple of times. For both I went back and played through again and didn't skip the second time (nor did I have any skips at all when I played it pretty loud the other day when I got it).

I am on just the stock needle so is it just telling me it's time to actually replace it?
 
frodo-pkt said:
The one thing that was more concerning though was that twice the record skipped / needle jumped forward. I thought the first time was just from the bass too high as it jumped all the way onto the label.
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Did something bang your player because that sounds a bit cray.

I mean, definitely try cleaning it as there's probably debris that's not apparent, but that seems like a pretty big jump.
 
Well fuck. I was expecting the worst for Wu Tang but side A played through and sounded fine. I was happy. Turned it over and there is a half inch scratch that causes a pop throughout the skit and about 30 seconds of the actual song 😢😢

Plus they fucked up and sent me an MF Doom x BBNG 10” that I didn’t order 😏

But seriously I’m now worried about getting a bunk replacement 🙄
 
dirty hands said:
Well fuck. I was expecting the worst for Wu Tang but side A played through and sounded fine. I was happy. Turned it over and there is a half inch scratch that causes a pop throughout the skit and about 30 seconds of the actual song 😢😢

Plus they fucked up and sent me an MF Doom x BBNG 10” that I didn’t order 😏

But seriously I’m now worried about getting a bunk replacement 🙄
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Good luck! I was 0 for 2 and just took the credit. Maybe you can superglue two LPs together.
 
TCell said:
My "Best/Worst" concerts were:

1) Courtney Love showing up at an Evan Dando concert in 2001. He was drunk and argued with the audience the whole show which was impressive in its own right. Then Courtney showed up and made him replay "Into Your Arms" (since she missed it earlier), then took his guitar and played Doll Parts and Jennifer's Body, flashed her breasts, told us how she got high with Oasis, and flipped off the audience.

2) Cat Power w/ Dan Bejar opening, also 2001. Dan and Chan both had major tantrums/breakdowns (seemingly both from equipment malfunctions and bad monitor levels) on stage. I love their music, but I left that night thinking that both could be musically transcendent or they both could join the 27 Club. Glad it worked out for the best.
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BEST CONCERT: Too many to list, although Thursday, Yo La Tengo, Low, Hot Rod Circuit, GBV on the "farewell" 2004 tour... these hold a special place for me.
WORST CONCERT: Saves The Day. Sound as good as the record, but SOOOOOO boring to watch. Last time I saw them, they were equal billing with The Get Up Kids and easily wore out their welcome 12 songs into a 27 song set.
BEST SOUNDING CONCERT: Yo La Tengo at FTC, September 2016. I was right in front of Ira's amp, yet you could hear EVERY instrument, every nuance; their sound people deserve a metal.
WORST SOUNDING CONCERT: Glassjaw. It was just a flurry of sound. I couldn't even make out what song they were playing half the time.
BIGGEST PLEASANT SURPRISE LIVE: Jewel, August of 1996 opening for Neil Young with Afghan Whigs. She played 4 songs from Pieces of You and 10 other songs that I supposed were supposed to be for her second album but never saw the light of day. Shame... They were quite good.
MOST SPECIAL CONCERT: Rainer Maria with Mates of State and Selector Dub Narcotic (Calvin Johnson). It was right after my daughter was born. It's great to see local bands that have left a mark come home again and it seemed like everyone in there new each other or was friends with each other. It was almost like a house party.
 
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