As I watched The Sea and Cake play their set to a smaller than expected crowd last Thursday at Lees Palace, I couldn’t help but feel that given different circumstances, the group would be playing to a much larger group.
You see, the Chicago based band have been making records for years now. It all started with their self titled debut record in 1994 and continues to this day with their latest record Runner, released early this year. Through it all, the Sea and Cake have maintained a fairly consistent sound – mellow jazz influenced rock (think rhythm wise) buoyed by Sam Prekop’s breathy non-chalant vocals. To me, it all sounds very French. The Sea and the Cake will forever remind me of a soundtrack to a cigarette filled summer adventure through 70’s era Paris. Which brings me back to circumstance. I’m pretty sure if the band had been French, young and hip that Lee’s Palace would have been packed.
Be that as it may, the crowd at Lee’s certainly enjoyed the group’s set on Thursday. Working without their original bassist, who was ill, the trio of Sam Prekop, John McEntire and Archer Prewitt more then made up for his absence with an impressive set that highlights just how strong musicians they are. Armed with drums, guitars, the occasional synth and effect pedals, the band has such a simple yet complicated take on music. Their riffs are subtle and ever flowing and it all just rhythmically blends together into a lovely little package. Prekop’s vocals aren’t going to blow anyone away but works well with the mellow rock that is the Sea and Cake. A pleasant night on a pleasant night.
If you would have told me last year that in 2012, I would see Bruce Springsteen live in concert not once, but twice, I would have laughed in your face.
Well, there I was on Sunday night, in a fully packed Copps Coliseum waiting for The Boss to take the stage wondering just how the hell it came to this.
Curiosity is a son of a bitch and it’s what led me to go see Springsteen for the first time in April. That show was good… real good and as humans, we are generally conditioned to repeat experiences that are good so when the opportunity to see him again came up, I couldn’t resist.
Three hours later, I was completely glad I did. I have now spent six hours with The Boss this year and let me tell you, he’s an expert at putting on excellent concerts. If throwing concerts was a video game, Bruce Springsteen would be rated 95 or something. He’s got so much experience and pulls out all the moves to make a show feel special. What moves you say? I’m glad you asked.
Here are the top ten moves of Bruce Spingsteen, in no particular order:
Playing a really really long time
Really, who else plays three hours every night? You know you are getting your money’s worth with the Boss. He gives it up for three straight hours without a break. I don’t even work an hour without a break most of the time.
Pulling a girl from the crowd to sing part of a song.
During the song Waiting on a Sunny Day, it appears Bruce always pulls a cute little girl from the crowd to sing part of the chorus. The girl always sings it perfectly and everyone feels warm and tender inside. Great moment. By the way, I’ll bet money that all parents who have a pit ticket for their child have been training that kid for weeks, if not months, to nail that part. Book it.
Variety of set list
Most bands seem to have a consistent set list for their shows. I know this because I obsess over setlist.fm before a show. Bruce doesn’t. Each time is different, you never know what you’ll get. For example, this show featured Terry’s Song, a track that my buddy hadn’t ever seen live before and he’s seen Springsteen like 20 times. A downside of this is that there ARE so many songs such that I still haven’t heard Glory Days despite seeing six hours of the Boss.
Lighting
The Boss has phenomenal lighting for the show, perfectly tailored to every moment. There’s the dark single spotlight moment for the tender moments and then there’s “the turn every bloody light on in the arena on so you realize the scope of the show” moment when he plays something epic like Badlands. Light is often an enemy for bands it seems but the veterans know how to use it.
Signs get rewarded
It was probably part of their set list anyway but throughout the set, Bruce would pull signs from the crowd and sing the song that was on it. Effort = reward. Nice touch and a good life lesson for the kids.
Crowd surfing
Everyone loves Bruce and Bruce lets them crowd surf him from one part of the floor to another. Those people’s nights were made, and really, it just looks cool.
Good stage coverage
The man and his band just have very good awareness on stage and try to get all people from all sides of the arena involved. It’s nice to see someone make a concerted effort to get the whole arena involved. If Bruce Springsteen was a cornerback in the NFL, he would be Champ Bailey or a in his prime Deion Sanders. That’s how good his coverage was. Weird reference, I know.
Excellent backing band
The E-Street band are amazing musicians. Even new comer Jake Clemons is amazing and the crowd made sure he felt appreciated. He definitely had big shoes to fill. There’s so many musicians and one of the aspect about Springsteen’s music that I enjoy is that everyone in the band has their time to shine. There are plenty of instrumental solos within the context of a concert that just highlights how good each individual is. Quite the communal band.
Guitar throwing
Bruce likes to throw his guitar to his roadie. It seems dangerous but never gets old.
Really good songs
It’s hard not to get wrapped up on the music of Springsteen. The man has got some classic tunes. Dancing in the Dark, Badlands, Born to Run, The Rising, Out in the Street …. It’s hard not to come away satisfied. He didn’t even play Thunder Road. It didn’t even matter.
In conclusion, the show was good. I don’t think it could necessarily replace the sheer awe of seeing him the first time, but it’s nice to see a second three hour show still holds up in entertainment value. My advice is simply: see him, the man is 63, he won’t be around forever.
My Love Will Not Let You Down
Out in the Street
Hungry Heart
We Take Care of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Death to My Hometown
My City of Ruins
Spirit in the Night
Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
Jack of All Trades
Trapped
I’m Goin’ Down
She’s the One
Because the Night
Working on the Highway
Shackled and Drawn
Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
Terry’s Song
The Rising
Badlands
Land of Hope and Dreams
I’m a Rocker
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
The Royal Concept are a young Swedish four piece band whose energetic hook ladened debut ep has been in our rotation for a while now.
It turns out we weren’t the only ones.
Playing for the first time in Canada, the group rocked out to a good crowd at the Wrongbar on Monday prompting me to wonder where the kids get their music thee days. It was a pretty young crowd.
As one might suspect, the group played tracks off that ep but what surprised me was the thundering pulse at which the group played those songs. With multiple members on keyboards it was pretty clear that the group is well verse in electronics and mixed with their jangly guitar pop sound, it all sounded rather well. For such a new band, lead singer David Larson has already developed some rock star moves, including this one (2:00 mark):
Epic. Crowd pleaser Gimme Twice ended the short but energetic set. Im pretty sure it won’t be their last show here.
The naysayers will point to all the obvious things when you mention you are going to 2012 New Order show – Bernard can’t sing, there’s no Peter Hook and it’s not the original lineup.
Here’s the real question – does any of that really matter?
Let’s start with Bernard Sumner. Anyone who has listened to any New Order from their inception will say that at best, he is a decent sounding front man capable of penning extremely catchy tunes. Nobody will listen to a New Order song and think , hmm the vocal work here is amazing, surely this is a track someone will sing on X Factor to become the next star. Nope. So should you expect something better at the live show? I don’t think so.
As for Peter Hook situation, yes, he is no longer part of New Order and yes there is some awesome bass work on New Order tracks but really if that is stopping you from seeing a band, maybe you shouldn’t see them in the first place.
The people who did go see New Order on Monday night (and there were a lot of them) were treated to greatest hits set that was sure to appease any fan. Just take a look at the first three tracks:
Crystal
Regret
Ceremony
Amazing. Only in moments like this do you take a step back and realize just how big a band like New Order is. Three tracks from three different decades that in their own right are exceptional… and that was just the first three songs.
Playing the hit tracks with it’s corresponding music video as the backdrop, the newly formed band sounded tight and for most part, performed each hit song as you would have expected them to sound. The only misstep in my opinion was the track True Faith, which sounded like a muddled mess with the instruments drowning out Berard’s voice for the most part. It was disappointing to hear that song messed up since it featured one of my favorite lines ever:
When I was a very small boy, very small boys talked to me.
Genius.
New Order, for most part, elected to play the songs straight through. There was very little dancing among the band, and let’s face it, when Bernard dances, it’s like that drunk uncle at a wedding. There wasn’t much conversation with the audience but really, why talk when you could play Bizarre Love Triangle?
Perfect Kiss, Temptation and the iconic Blue Monday were the highlights among a flurry of hits that ended off the non encore portion of the set. It would have started a dance party, but this was a seated venue which is always tricky with dancing and also, half the crowd probably qualified for the seniors menu at Albert’s fine dining.
The encore portion of the show featured these two tracks
Transmission
Love will tear us apart
I guess if any band had the right to sing these two tracks, it would be New Order and while the music sounded great, Bernard’s voice just doesn’t hold up compared to the deep baritone of Ian Curtis. I still sang out the tracks so whatever. As you can probably deduce by now, I’m a pretty big fan of New Order/Joy Division but really, no one is just casually going to wait on their computer at 10 am on the morning of the concert sale, and pay seventy dollars to see a band they kind of like/are interested in. This was a show for the fans.
All in all it was an amazing set list. When New Order took the stage to start off the show, Bernard said to the crowd in a joking manner “told you we’d be back “. When they finished off this set, he simply said thank you. If this was their last show here, I am most certainly glad to have been part of it.
Crystal
Regret
Ceremony
Age of Consent
Isolation
Here to Stay
Your Silent Face
Waiting for the Sirens’ Call
Bizarre Love Triangle
586
True Faith
The Perfect Kiss
Blue Monday
Temptation
