Monday, September 27, 2004
Last night I went to the Hollywood Bowl to see Air with orchestra, Stereolab, and Sondre Lerche. Before I discuss that I want to discuss a topic which the Chromewaves site posted a few days ago and that is the subject of going to concerts alone. I would have to guess that of all the shows I've gone to at least 65% of them I went alone. There was a time in the late eighties/early nineties when I met some really cool girls and I went to a lot of shows with them, but that was the relatively brief exception to the rule. I don't really mind going alone, if anything I've become used to it. While a band is playing I'm focussed on the music and my surroundings don't really come into play. It is the time before a show starts or between bands that are a bit rough, though. That's when I just stand around doing nothing and hope that the minutes will fly by until the next band goes on. It's nice having someone to chat with during the down time and that is the only thing I really miss sometimes. Sometimes I will go to a show in a down mood and the loneliness is just intensified. Those are the times when I would've been better off just staying home. You look around the venue and you keep seeing people talking and laughing or couples enjoying each other's company and you wish you were in their position. If I'm lucky, though, the music will be great and my lonely mood will be forgotten and I will have a good time. My tastes in music are all over the place and these tastes are not always shared by my friends so I foresee more solitary concert going. I will just have to cherish the times that I can go to a concert with a friend(s) and chat, laugh, and have a drink.
So, need I say, I went to the Hollywood Bowl alone last night. It's a huge place, but it is actually a pretty nice place to see a concert. You can bring food and wine in and basically have a picnic while you watch the bands play. The sound is great there as well. I was pleasantly surprised by Sondre Lerche. He was the one act that I didn't care if I missed, but I'm glad that I was able to see him. He came out on the stage and it was just him and his guitar. Most of the time this type of arrangement leaves me cold. Accompanying one's self on guitar can really show the shortcomings in one's musicianship. A lot of times this type of arrangement can simply be boring, but this was not the case with Sondre Lerche. He had songs. Very nice melodies and a good voice to match. On the last few songs he was joined by some other musicians and he added to his nice, lush, orchestral pop sound. I think I might have to check out his records now.
Stereolab were on next and I have to admit that I wasn't that impressed during some of their set. I'm starting to think that they should leave leave some of the brass instruments at home when they play. Some of the times that they seemed to be moving into free-jazz territory didn't really do much for me. I was very pleased to hear them play "Harmonium" and "Lo Boob Oscillator" which were a bit surprising to me. Towards the end of their set they were joined by part of the orchestra and I really enjoyed this. They played "Diagonals," "Cybele's Reverie," and another song, which for the life of me I can't remember right now, and it all sounded amazing. The band combining with the sounds of strings and horns and everything else was great and it really made me glad that I went to this show.
Air were the finale of the night and they were accompanied by a full orchestra. This was the first time I saw them and like the other bands they sounded great. They did a great version of "Remember." It was basically a melding of the regular version of the song with an orchestral version that was a b-side called the "D. Whitaker Version." This alone could have probably made my night. The band was also joined at one point by both Jason Faulkner and Beck on one song. I was unfamiliar with the song so it was possibly off Air's second album, which I don't have. It was a nice set in which they played songs from every point of their career.
Even though I went alone to a huge place I still had a good time and I'm glad that I didn't keep going alone from keeping me from going at all. It's nice to have people around you, but one negative is that people found the need to talk loudly to all their friends throughout the band's sets
I forgot to mention that I took the metro all the way up to the show and this made my day very interesting. At one point from Hollywood to downtown I had the chance to watch some guy maniacally trying to sell chocolate bars. He would walk down the aisle basically begging people to buy some chocolate. He was very hyper and he kept repeating, "Cadbury for a dollar," "Cadbury is the best," "This one fell on the floor so it's fifty cents." Thankfully he was on my train for only one stop. On the trip from downtown to the Slauson stop I was able to hear a conversation about modelling and drug dealing amongst other things. Fascinating stuff, so I can say I had a pretty entertaining evening.
So, need I say, I went to the Hollywood Bowl alone last night. It's a huge place, but it is actually a pretty nice place to see a concert. You can bring food and wine in and basically have a picnic while you watch the bands play. The sound is great there as well. I was pleasantly surprised by Sondre Lerche. He was the one act that I didn't care if I missed, but I'm glad that I was able to see him. He came out on the stage and it was just him and his guitar. Most of the time this type of arrangement leaves me cold. Accompanying one's self on guitar can really show the shortcomings in one's musicianship. A lot of times this type of arrangement can simply be boring, but this was not the case with Sondre Lerche. He had songs. Very nice melodies and a good voice to match. On the last few songs he was joined by some other musicians and he added to his nice, lush, orchestral pop sound. I think I might have to check out his records now.
Stereolab were on next and I have to admit that I wasn't that impressed during some of their set. I'm starting to think that they should leave leave some of the brass instruments at home when they play. Some of the times that they seemed to be moving into free-jazz territory didn't really do much for me. I was very pleased to hear them play "Harmonium" and "Lo Boob Oscillator" which were a bit surprising to me. Towards the end of their set they were joined by part of the orchestra and I really enjoyed this. They played "Diagonals," "Cybele's Reverie," and another song, which for the life of me I can't remember right now, and it all sounded amazing. The band combining with the sounds of strings and horns and everything else was great and it really made me glad that I went to this show.
Air were the finale of the night and they were accompanied by a full orchestra. This was the first time I saw them and like the other bands they sounded great. They did a great version of "Remember." It was basically a melding of the regular version of the song with an orchestral version that was a b-side called the "D. Whitaker Version." This alone could have probably made my night. The band was also joined at one point by both Jason Faulkner and Beck on one song. I was unfamiliar with the song so it was possibly off Air's second album, which I don't have. It was a nice set in which they played songs from every point of their career.
Even though I went alone to a huge place I still had a good time and I'm glad that I didn't keep going alone from keeping me from going at all. It's nice to have people around you, but one negative is that people found the need to talk loudly to all their friends throughout the band's sets
I forgot to mention that I took the metro all the way up to the show and this made my day very interesting. At one point from Hollywood to downtown I had the chance to watch some guy maniacally trying to sell chocolate bars. He would walk down the aisle basically begging people to buy some chocolate. He was very hyper and he kept repeating, "Cadbury for a dollar," "Cadbury is the best," "This one fell on the floor so it's fifty cents." Thankfully he was on my train for only one stop. On the trip from downtown to the Slauson stop I was able to hear a conversation about modelling and drug dealing amongst other things. Fascinating stuff, so I can say I had a pretty entertaining evening.
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