NSW

Matisyahu - Houston Texas, House of Blues, July 27, 2010



Yes...this is one of the best shows I've been to in a long while now. Doors opened at 7:30, and by the time Matisyahu came on stage at 9:00 we were all pressed together and against the stage barrier, the smell of weed and cigarettes and beer already wafting through the air, totally energized and ready to get our reggae on.

The mood was set well before hand with the deep bass thump of some dub pounding in our ears while everyone mingled and drank. At around 8:15 the band backing Matisyahu, Dub Trio, came out and played a few songs to get us pumped up, lights out, and then we hear the beginning strains of "Youth" start up. The crowd went crazy and as the song progressed, everyone sang the chorus in unison. I've got to say, Matisyahu was not what I was expected looks wise. Really, he looked haggard and had huge bags under his eyes, and alot more gray hair than we see in pictures online, but man, can he move. He's the poppin' and lockin'-ist Jew I've ever seen in my life.



Other songs from the setlist were “King Without a Crown” (of course!), “One Day”, “On Nature”, “I Will Be Light”, “Motivate”, “Jerusalem”, and new song that I cannot remember the name of. I’d taken a friend of mine with me who had never heard of Matisyahu before, and she said she had a good time and really liked everything except for the chanting and long drawn out wailing between songs. For me, those were some of the best parts of the show, not because of the singing, but because that’s when the band really had their time to shine. These guys were fantastic. I’ve never really thought of Matisyahu as really falling in the dub genre, but having this band back him up really gave the music a great, chill, bassy dub feel that was perfect.

All in all, well worth the ticket price, and I got a few really good pics even though they were taken with my cell camera (see above). I had a blast, and I loved introducing my friend to something she wouldn’t normally have been listening to. Even better that she actually enjoyed it.

As a side note about the venue, I’d recommend if you plan on drinking to do so before getting to House of Blues. I’m not sure if they are all this way, or if the price of alcohol varies from show to show, but I actually paid $7.50 for a 12 oz can of Shiner Bock. And a double rum and coke was $18.50. No joke.

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downwardspiral

oh man, I've never seen this thread but before so I'm a bit late reviewing this but I'm gonna do the Pixies show I went to like two months ago since it's pretty much my favourite ever show to date. So yeah.


So.. managed to get a ticket for this which I was completely stoked by. I lost my shit when I found out they were doing a couple of shows down south, cos over the past few months I've been at my absolute prime with this band. So yeah, they couldn't have announced a tour at a better time for me.

Got into London, sat on a park down the street from the venue and got wasted with my friend so we ended up missing the support band. Though from what I'm told and from what I've heard, that really isn't a big deal. Amaaazing venue, sometimes the sound could be a bit off if you were under the balcony but as a whole the venue was great. Looked quite like a theatre, pretty Manchester Apollo-esque, which is such a plus for me as it's pretty much my favourite venue. Aaaanyway, I'd never been so restless in all my life, the 20-30 minutes we were at the show before the band came on felt like 30 years. I just needed to see Kim Deal and the other guys walk on that stage for me to begin feeling like this was happening, it was such a big deal for me that it didn't feel real just yet. That moment came, and something inside me just ****ing EXPLODED. That night was the first time in a very long time where I'd felt true, ****ing non-artificial happiness. It was happening and I'd just completely reached a state of euphoria.

They burst into Cecilia Ann, with SO much energy. Every person was absoribing it. They've got bags of charisma, and they know how to work a crowd without having to be all "YEAH YEAH RAISE YOUR HANDS, SING ALONG TO THIS ONE". People just done it. Frank had people eating out the palm of his hand, and it was just so ****ing good to watch and be a part of that. Kim looked real happy, which is a massive deal for me. Seeing Kim happy and hearing her sweet voice felt like somebody was feeding me a unicorn wrapped in a rainbow. And they had that absolutely perfect balance of crowd interaction and straight up performing. Some bands find it hard to find some middle ground with the two, nobody wants to to a music concert and listen to somebody talk all the way through about politics and the like. I saw REM once and Michael done that a helluva lot (although I dont know what else I was expecting).

Back to this though, they just stormed through a completely killer setlist. The concert was one where the fans got to request songs. We got an e-mail asking us which songs we wanted to hear, so there were a couple of tunes on there that they weren't expecting to play like The Holiday Song. Kim even said we picked the weirdest of tunes, but by the looks of things they done their best to accomodate it, there's really nothing I'd change about the set 'cos it worked so well. Sure one or two of my much preferred songs weren't played but it was sublime how it was. They encored with Where Is My Mind? into Here Comes Your Man. The friend I went with wasn't a Pixies fan beforehand but her jaw was touching the floor by the end of it. Everyone in the room was singing in unison to Where Is My Mind? which, admittedly, got me pretty emotional.. and one or two tears were shed . Everything about this show just oozed brilliance, and I'd be very shocked if I ever see a band better Pixies. Even really small things down the the e-mails we got, they sent us one giving us the opportunity to request the songs, one on the day telling us they were really looking forward to seeing everyone later that night, and one a couple of days after with a video recording in <33333.

This was their setlist anyway:

Cecilia Ann
Rock Music
Bone Machine
Monkey Gone To Heaven
Gouge Away
Hey
Velouria
Dig For Fire
Allison
Debaser
Planet Of Sound
Alec Eiffel
Caribou
River Euphrates
Cactus
Is She Weird?
Break My Body
The Sad Punk
Head On
U-Mass
Tame
Isla De Encanta
Broken Face
Wave Of Mutilation
Nimrod's Son
The Holiday Song
Gigantic

Encore:

Where Is My Mind?
Here Comes Your Man

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jackhammer

Glad you enjoyed Matisyahu NSW. Nothing like a healthy dose of deep bassy dub making the earth tremble. Even if it's not peoples favourite music, a dub/reggae band live should be seen sometime.

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Astronomer

I saw Muse last night and they were unbelievable. Easily the best concert I have ever been to so far in my life.

Pictures:

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Astronomer

And more...









It was seriously amazing. Not only from a visual point of view but Muse just sound so good live! It was an amazing atmosphere and the band were so awesome and friendly/nice and chatty with the crowd at times... it was a really great gig. They only thing I'm disappointed I missed out on was seeing Butterflies and Hurricanes being performed on piano by Bellamy... but seriously. Wow.

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RVCA

That's exactly what our show looked like in LA. As a whole, the show was fantastic. The only complaint I had was that they played almost all of the Resistance and NONE of Showbiz.

Astronomer

I was expecting this, but we didn't really get THAT much of The Resistance considering most bands flood the most recent shows with their most recent stuff... while we only got Sunburn from Showbiz we got heaps from Absolution (love that album) and Origin of Symmetry so I was pretty happy with the setlist. I just wish Matt did a little more piano stuff, it's usually pretty epic.

But yeah, very satisfied with the songs they chose to play.

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katrine

Now I'm not a huge fan of muse, but i like them. i saw them at a festival this summer and while it was a great concert they couldn't have any of the lights in your pictures because of the way the stage was set-up.. that was i little disappointing.
do you think it contributed to your experience of the concert?
(i'm contemplating seeing them again, if their set-up makes a big difference!)

Astronomer

I saw Imogen Heap about a week ago and it was seriously one of the most inspiring live shows I've ever been to! When I came home I was inspired to just sit at my piano and write music. Here is a review of her show that I wrote for a local publication if you're interested:

A Heap of Inspiration (tee hee puns)

Sitting in a cozy chair surrounded by ornately beautiful furnishings and listening to a close friend chat and sing about old flames, new loves, things lost, and the strange peculiarities of life. That is what it felt like to be at the Imogen Heap concert at the Palais Theatre last night.

Heap is easily one of the most accessible pop stars in an industry saturated by disgustingly glamorous, paparazzi-fleeing unobtainables. Before the show, she casually strolls on stage and politely says hello to the audience as if she’s greeting good friends. Not yet stage ready and still in an old t-shirt and flip-flops, she doesn’t care in the slightest, happily explaining to the audience that she wanted to make sure she introduced the support act (Pikelet, a quirky array of clever little sounds from Melbourne) who she hand-picked herself.

The stage set-up for Heap’s show is charming; a hollowed out grand piano surrounded by an interesting exhibition of other strange and wonderful musical instruments. Suspended above the stage is an old willow tree branch littered in fairy lights and accommodating an assortment of cymbals hanging down from its limbs, making for a beautifully curious image. However, when Heap officially breezes onto the stage for her set, you realise that it is not only her delightful charisma and pretty props that make her an amazing artist.

Musically, the show was a truly unique experience. Somehow, Heap manages to conduct her electronic wizardry and musical looping in a spectacularly organic manner. Equipped with a wireless vocal microphone and wireless wrist microphones, Heap meanders amongst the stage and unveils her talent for making such captivating sounds on a fascinating variety of instruments, both conventional and unconventional – at one point even using crystal wine glasses filled with water. Joined on stage by an adroit percussionist and cellist, together with Heap’s enchantingly unique voice, the room is simply laden with beautiful sounds.

Playing fan favourites such as ‘Hide and Seek’ and ‘Let Go,’ Heap manages to reach into her fanbase in the most intimate of ways, teaching the audience to sing the harmonies to ‘Just For Now,’ creating a choir of voices backing her magnificent acapella version of the song, and having profound conversations before each track about each one's inception. Such a unique and engaging performance left little doubt for Heap’s eccentric musical talent and enthralling personality. Imogen Heap; a truly enchanting and inspiring performance that I will remember for a very long time.

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