Explosions in the Sky, Neumos 5/6

We arrived at the venue just before the opener, Aluvium, came on stage. Aluvium consisted of one dude sitting in the corner of the stage messing with a guitar, keyboard and some pedals (there was also an apple laptop involved). The whole production was pretty unassuming-- there was a projection of swarming birds, and you could hardly see the performer. Visual aesthetics aside, the swirling reverb and feedback that blanketed the room during his long compositions, took most of the crowd's eardrums at the brink, with many (maybe 25% or so) covering their ears for most of the set. Although I respect his artistic styling, and courage, the feedback was a little much to say the least.

Although the opener was a little unsettling, the Texas quartet finally came out to the stage, and very humbly announced themselves, along with a short anecdote on why it had been so long since they had toured in Seattle (their van blew a tire). With that they dove right in and started playing. As most Explosions in the Sky songs begin, they started out slowly, building up subtle chords into a deafening and powerful crescendo. As if moving as a single entity, they mashed on their guitar and bass strings with pure emotion.

Emotional is really the only word that can describe their performance, and they used it as their only source of energy. Explosions in the Sky use are able to use silence as their secret weapon-- an instrument that they play perfectly as they build their emotive crescendos which finally explode sonically in all directions, and collapse only to be built up once again.

As I walked out of the venue on Sunday night I can honestly say that the Explosions in the Sky concert was easily in my top two along with Sufjan Stevens earlier this year, it was that good.

Although this can't compare to the live show, I'll give you a taste of what it was like:
Explosions in the Sky - 'The Birth and Death of the Day'

In other news, due to an illness affecting someone close to the band, they will be cancelling the rest of their tour through Europe, read about that here (where you can also buy their albums).

Decemberists, Red Square 5/5

Red Square at my school was transformed into a 'music festival' as the Decemberists stopped by for the last date on their tour. Although I've seen them twice already (plus Colin Meloy solo), I was excited to see their new material live for the first time. They opened with 'The Crane wife III' and next they played 'The Island', which is my favorite track on the album, and sounded great live by the way. Highlights of the show included an inspired theatrical performance of "Crane Wife" B-side 'Culling of the Fold', in which Colin transversed the stage with only a microphone and cord acting out parts of the song as he sung. Probably the coolest moment of the show was when he asked the audience to sing the chorus of 'Sons and Daughters', which came off beautifully. The only misstep occurred during the encore, when Colin messed up the lyrics to 'Eli the Barrow Boy'--long tour I guess. Overall, it was a great show and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the new material live.

Here's the B-side they played:
Decemberists - 'Culling of the Fold'

Bright Eyes, Paramount Theatre, 5/1

Is it just me or is Conor Oberst beginning to look more and more like Jack White lately? Fortunately he sounds nothing like him. A lot has changed since I last saw Bright Eyes in November 2005, Conor has surrounded himself with a 'permanent band' and the production that is their live show has vastly improved. Their set was heavy on the new tunes form Cassadaga, which I like, but I'm not sure it's as epic as 'Wide Awake'. Conor only dipped into his back catalogue briefly, playing only two pre-Digital Ash/Wide Awake tunes-- "Method Acting" and crowd favorite "The Calendar Hung Itself (with bongo drums added in?)".

The visuals behind the band were both inventive and intriguing, and added a lot to the show. Basically, there was a dude in the back playing with shit on a document camera that was projected on a screen behind the band, the idea seems simple, but it turned out to be pretty awesome (dripping food coloring into water has never looked so cool). Unfortunately, there weren't as many drunk Conor moments this time, so I didn't walk away with a new guitar which kind of disappoints me. During the final encore ('Road To Joy'--by far my favorite song of the night), Conor jumped off stage--as his band mates looked on with that 'Oh shit what's he going to do now?' look on their face, as he threw flowers from the stage into the crowd for about 3 minutes as the rest of the band improvised before the final verse. Overall, it was a great show, and I'm definitely in the camp that supports Connor's movement toward folk/Americana, hopefully I get to see them live again soon.

Bright Eyes - Road To Joy (live from the Motion Sickness LP)

Finally, TODAY is the Decemberists concert in Red Square at our campus, I'm super stoked. THEN tomorrow I'm going to see Explosions in the Sky in Seattle-- this week is shaping up to be one of the best concert-going weeks in my life, it's awesome! I'll be sure to keep you updated, as well as posting about some new music I've been digging lately...