Rock n Roll Audit, Q3 2015

I used to go to shows. About ten years ago it felt like I was going to four concerts a week. But in the past two months (or so) I've been to four shows. It's a veritable renaissance of concert going for me!  Here are four micro reviews of those shows.

True Oakland Doom Metal with High on Fire

One August week night I snuck off to Williamsburg to see High On Fire. I'd never been to a metal show before but I am, to some tiny degree, a closeted metal fan, and High On Fire I like a lot, so I went. The moment they took the stage they were so intensely loud and powerful I wanted to take off my shirt and wave it around in the air and yell. I'd never had a feeling like that before! Shirt stayed on though, and I lasted the show. But they were so loud, I feel like the ringing of tinnitus counts as one of their instruments. Like, their music is meant to be heard with an underlying ringing throughout.

High School British Invasion Nostalgia Warm Up with Ride

Then a few weeks later I saw Ride at Irving Plaza (pretty sure I hadn't been to Irving Plaza in ten years...man, I have been here a long time). Ride was a band I liked in High School as I gathered as many British bands (be they Brit Pop or shoe gaze) to like as I could. They were on a little reunion tour and were very tight. I was never a gigantic Ride follower, but a fan in principle. It was a situation where I recognized most songs but knew the names to only a few.

Ringo Deathstarr Round 2 with Ringo Deathstarr

Sometimes you find out day-of that a band you saw before and liked are back in town so you go and see them with just your iphone handy 'cuz, hey, it's just 5 bucks and they're pretty good.

Full-On High School British Invasion Nostalgia Night with Blur

Last Friday night I headed down to Madison Square Garden and ate my customary MSG chicken fingers because, after a roughly 23 year wait, I was finally seeing Blur live. I've mislead by labeling this a High School nostalgia event because I listened to much more Blur in college than in High School and never fully stepped away from them...just spent a lot of time wondering if they were still officially together or not. Anyway, my seat really wasn't so bad and the show just had me over the moon and feeling so lucky to be there. They played for a solid two hours and I could have easily watched them play for four. Most of the time my favorite part of a show is the beginning and then I begin to hope the band won't play too long. Blur, however, I wanted to hear every song they ever wrote...or Country House, in particular. Don't know why, but that night I showed up with a craving for Country House. I'll settle for a girl from the audience being brought on stage to sing (and crush) the first verse of Parklife in place of a celebrity guest, though. Because that's what we got.