I have never been into jam bands. I remember a time when I was an intern at the Boulder Theater where some jam band, String Cheese maybe?, who played five straight nights at the venue. We sold tickets for each night as well as a 5 night pass. The majority of the tickets sold(and all shows were sold out) were of the 5 night pass variety. That just blows my mind, and as I attempt to comprehend it I understand why drugs are a large part of that culture.
This past week I had the pleasure of seeing Wolf Parade on back to back days. It was great, and they did the little things that make it possible to see a muti-night stand from a band. On Sunday at Sub Pop they continually put over the record label and the festival. It made their performance feel like a very special moment, which it was.
On Monday they varied the set list just enough to keep things interesting. In most cases, I never want to see the exact same show back to back.
It also got me wondering what bands I have seen on back to back days. Here is the shortlist:
1998: I saw Pearl for the first and second time on the Yield tour. The first show was in St. Louis and the second was in Kansas City. The St. Louis show was infinitely better. Again, these shows had vastly different set lists which was great- especially for a band that I was so excited to see.
2005: Bright Eyes. The second of these shows was a radio show taping for E-Town Live. I was so glad that I was there for that. Conor Oberst was so hilarious during the interview portions and it was edited to all hell for the actual broadcast. The E-Town people were not as impressed with his humor as I was. This is my favorite band, my longest tenured friend Mike Vallely came out to Colorado for these shows, and we hung out with the "Trees" girls. It's one of my favorite concert experiences just because Mike was there.
2006: Built to Spill. They opened both shows with, "Car" and I hope they play that song every time that I see them. They didn't vary the set list too much, and Radio 1190's Jonny Trash complained afterwards that he felt the shows were too similar. I was just excited to finally be seeing Built to Spill live!
Also in 2006: Sonic Youth. Sonic Youth didn't go on until after midnight, so technically this was two shows on back to back days. Earlier in the day was Lollapalooza and I was fortunate enough to be in the wings for their performance(I have a couple awesome pictures from this that I will try to find). Then around 1am they took the stage at a small venue in Chicago. Feist actually opened for them. After the late show is the first and (so far)only time that I have attempted to party like a rock star. From there we headed to a Lolla post show party, and my friend Dan Gaytan and I were driving east towards the Sears Tower as the sun rose behind it. Then we passed out for the rest of the day.
A few months ago I had attempted to see local Seattle band, Hey Marseilles, on back to back nights, but the second night I was going alone to a place I had never been. I got horribly lost and never arrived.
What bands have you seen on back to back days?
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8 comments:
I have seen Radiohead (1st night George, WA, 2nd night Vancouver, BC) and The White Stripes on back to back days (drove both nights from Seattle to Vancouver, BC and back… should have just spend the night in Vancouver!). I have also seen Modest Mouse (multiple times), Built to Spill, Murder City Devils, At the Drive-In, Nomeansno, and recently Wolf Parade on back to back nights.
I was at those same Wolf Parde shows, OMG!
I have never seen the White Stripes, or Radiohead for that matter.
I also saw Belle in Sebastian back to back a few days after 9/11. I had a friend back out at the Seattle show, so I had an unused ticket. I drove to Olympia the next night to see if I could use the previous night’s ticket -- and it worked! This was before tickets had barcodes. They probably would not allow that anymore.
If all goes well I hope to see The Raconteurs (Portland/Seattle) back to back this summer!
Sons & Daughters, as per RL conversation.
In 1996 I saw Stone Temple Pilots on a Monday, then a radio thing that Friday, followed by a show that night. It was the best week of my life.
The White Stripes, Fiona Apple, Ani Difranco, Counting Crows (well, Adam Duritz...secret middle of the night shows at a very small club that he loves doing down here...AWESOME.), several little-known New Orleans brass bands (Trombone Shorty, Kermit Ruffins, Rebirth...)and um, of course Jewel. Like, alot. Why do people like me again?
I like you because you've seen the White Stripes. Also, because you drooled over Bright Eyes on the albums of your year list.
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