This is an update to an earlier post from last year, with the complete set from St Vincents show in Denton, Texas.

Ventured up to Denton Texas to catch Annie Clark, aka St Vincent, on the opening night of her first headlining tour in support of her new record, "Marry Me".

She was playing with a full band last night, as opposed to her atypical solo show and it made for a very different experience. I'd seen her 3 times by herself and had always been awed at the sheer emotional power of her performance. The full band brought a different (but just as stunning) vibe to the songs - a more subtle sweeping grace to the songs that now featured layered instrumentation as opposed to the rythmic pounding of Annie's stomp box.

Picture found at Three Pink Monkeys Flickr account. Check them out for more St Vincent pics.

Check out Gorilla vs Bear for photos and a write up on the gig.

Live MP3s:
Intro
Jesus Saves. I Spend
Human Racing
Now. Now
Intro to...
Marry Me
Landmines
Your Lips Are Red
All My Stars Aligned
Bang Bang
Paris is Burning
The Apocalypse Song
Encore Break
What, Me Worry
Outro

Labels: concerts, denton, haileys, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, tour dates

Here's the companion set to the Cadence Weapon show I posted a few days ago.

Now, Final Fantasy and Cadence actually had some significant competition the night they played in Dallas. Spoon was playing a sold out show at House of Blues, and Girl Talk & Bus Driver were playing down at the Loft (or was that the Palladium...). Either way, there were several excellent shows in Dallas, and Final Fantasy at Haileys in Denton. Which let me point out is 45+ minutes away...

Now - I had a chance to see Final Fantasy a few years ago in Houston (you can read about and listen to that show here) and seriously, seriously impressed me. I had seen performances using loop pedals before - but no one could touch the pieces that Owen Pallett, aka Final Fantasy, could create using his violin. Playing one part, looping it, then playing another, and another - soon Pallett has 4, 6, 8 unique parts playing - creating symphonic backgrounds which he then sings over. Awesome.

He was just as good, if not better at this show. I would definitely say its a better recording. He played tracks from his new sold-out 7inch, as well as old favorites, numerous covers and some brand new tracks which will be featured on upcoming releases.

Elsewhere - Gorilla vs Bear is hosting some Final Fantasy and Cadence Weapon videos from the show in Abilene, TX, which was a day or two before the Denton show.

Enjoy - and for our friends in the US, Happy Thanksgiving. After the Holidays you can look forward to Dan Wilson and Sondre Lerche sets.

Live MP3s MP3:
Intro
He Poos Clouds
Flare Gun
Many Lives
What Do You Think Will Happen Next
Horsetail Feathers
Paris 1919 (John Cale Cover)
Hey, Dad!
ABC Auto Industry (OMD Cover)
Telegraph (OMD Cover)
This Lamb Sells Condos
Song Song Song
Encore Break
This Is The Dream Of Win & Regine
This Modern Love (Bloc Party Cover)
Outro

Labels: denton, haileys, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s

Isn't this a killer graphic? When I saw it on Cadence Weapon's website I knew I'd have to grab it for this post.

I'd never heard of Cadence Weapon before they played with Final Fantasy in Denton Texas last week. When we showed up for the show we saw the turn-table and mic set up and figured we were in for something interesting.

Here's Cadence Weapon's bio from his site -

Cadence Weapon is a writer, rapper, producer, remixer, and media darling.

Couldn't have put it better - it was a fantastic show with Cadence teaming up with DJ Weasel to deliver some seriously crunchy hip-hop tunes. The highlights - Cadence's rhymes and delivery stayed on a constantly changing path and Weasel was one of the finest DJ's I've ever seen. Everything was done by hand on vinyl. Nice to see proper DJing in the age of the iPod.

The show was so good that my darling girl wanted to step in and write the review. I think thats the first time she's ever brought that up... ;)

For our friends in the UK and Canada - there are a few shows coming up in the next month - see below. Check out some studio MP3s here.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Lifesaver
Real Estate
'Friday is Saturday'
Sharks
Black Hand
Oliver Square
Vicarious
In Search of the Youth Crew
Isolation (Joy Division)
House Music
Outro

Tour Dates:
15 Nov 2007 YOYO @ Notting Hill Arts Club
London

16 Nov 2007 Electrowerkz - Big Dada 10th Anniversary Show
London

21 Nov 2007 Tripod w/ The Go! Team
Dublin

23 Nov 2007 Adventures Close To Home @ Amersham Arms
New Cross, London and South East

28 Nov 2007 Hi-Fi Club
Calgary, Alberta

30 Nov 2007 Richards On Richards
Vancouver, British Columbia

1 Dec 2007 Sugar
Victoria, British Columbia

Labels: denton, haileys, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, studio mp3s, tour dates

I had the great joy of seeing Bishop Allen a couple of times over the weekend.

On Saturday they played at Haileys in Denton, and were kind enough to record a little exclusive track for Lullabyes a few hours before the show.

Recorded in a parking lot down the street from Haileys - Justin, Christian and Colly crowded round some stereo mics and played a stripped down acoustic version of Click Click Click Click against the gentle hum of traffic cruising down the nearby street.

Click Click Click Click

Labels: audience mp3s, denton, haileys, indie, live mp3s

Ventured up to Denton Texas last night to catch Annie Clark, aka St Vincent, on the opening night of her first headlining tour in support of her new record, "Marry Me".

She was playing with a full band last night, as opposed to her atypical solo show and it made for a very different experience. I'd seen her 3 times by herself and had always been awed at the sheer emotional power of her performance. The full band brought a different (but just as stunning) vibe to the songs - a more subtle sweeping grace to the songs that now featured layered instrumentation as opposed to the rythmic pounding of Annie's stomp box.

I had the opportunity to tape the show, and it came out beautifully. I'll post the whole show after the tour ends, but wanted to give everyone a taste of the band's amazing sound and performance by posting a few songs. Check out the MP3s and see the tour dates below. If she's coming through your town do yourself a favor and go see Annie and her band play.

Picture found at Three Pink Monkeys
Flickr account. Check them out for more St Vincent pics.

Check out Gorilla vs Bear for photos and a write up on last nights gig.

Live MP3s:
Landmines
Your Lips Are Red
All My Stars Aligned

Tour Dates:
Sat 07/07/07 Austin, TX The Parish Room
Sun 07/08/07 Houston, TX Walter's On Washington
Mon 07/09/07 New Orleans, LA Parish At House Of Blues
Wed 07/11/07 Atlanta, GA The EARL
Thu 07/12/07 Asheville, NC Grey Eagle
Fri 07/13/07 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
Sat 07/14/07 Washington, DC Rock And Roll Hotel
Sun 07/15/07 Philadelphia, PA North Star Bar
Tue 07/17/07 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
Wed 07/18/07 Cambridge, MA Middle East Nightclub
Thu 07/19/07 Montreal, QC La Sala Rosa
Fri 07/20/07 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern
Sat 07/21/07 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom & Tavern
Sun 07/22/07 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
Tue 07/24/07 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
Wed 07/25/07 Omaha, NE Waiting Room
Thu 07/26/07 Kansas City, MO Record Bar
Fri 07/27/07 Denver, CO Hi-Dive
Mon 07/30/07 Vancouver, BC The Lamplighter
Wed 08/01/07 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
Fri 08/03/07 San Francisco, CA Cafe Du Nord
Sat 08/04/07 Los Angeles, CA Echo
Sun 08/05/07 San Diego, CA The Casbah
Tue 08/07/07 Phoenix, AZ Modified
Wed 08/08/07 Tucson, AZ Club Congress
Thu 08/09/07 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad
Sat 09/01/07 Seattle, WA Bumbershoot

Labels: concerts, denton, haileys, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, tour dates

So I took a little break, but anytime I stay away for too long I start to get restless.

I still have a slew of SXSW shows to post, but I thought I would take a moment away from SXSW and post this beautiful little gem that I taped a couple of weeks before we went down to Austin.

As I've mentioned a couple of times before, I listened (however briefly) to every song that was part of the massive 700 mp3 song SXSW bittorrent. While I was going through the "A"s I ran across a band called Art in Manila. It caught my attention and I listened to the whole track.

Hmmmm, I thought - that sounds a lot like Orenda Fink from Azure Ray. I google'd the band, and sure enough Art in Manila was Orenda and her new(ish) band.I was pretty excited for the show, especially since I'd seen Maria Taylor (the other half of Azure Ray) a few weeks prior - and have wanted an Azure Ray reunion tour ever since they broke up.

Now its probably not fair to compare Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink - but considering the circumstances, its fairly hard not to. The verdict after seeing both the shows? I'm not waiting for a reunion anymore. I love Maria all by her lonesome.

I drove an hour to go see her play in Denton, and it was worth every minute. She played a beautiful set that included the best tracks from her new record, Lynn Teeter Flower as well as reimagined tracks from her first solo record, 11:11.

Editors Note - My lovely girlfriend just reminded me that SHE drove us to Denton so that I could have a few drinks. She's good like that. ;)

Easily emerging as the best track, Leap Year was played as a delicate ballad, in stark contrast to the original beat-driven version. Other stand out tracks were Clean Getaway, Speak Easy and Light House.

Note - there's a slight buzz during the chorus of Replay, unfortunately this was coming over the speakers at the show and was related to some issue with the way the bass was plugged in. The sound man fixed it after Smile and Wave and it went away. Unfortunately it detracted from one of the best songs fom Lynn Teeter Flower - but hey, what can you do?

Here's to the next Maria Taylor. Hopefully she'll play Lost Time and Irish Goodbye next time...

Enjoy -

Live MP3s:
Intro
Leap Year
Replay
Smile and Wave
Birmingham 1982
No Stars
Xanax
The Ballad of Sean Foley
Clean Getaway
At Last (Etta James)
Small Part of Me
A Good Start
Song Beneath The Song
Encore Break
Speak Easy
Light House

Labels: concerts, denton, haileys, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s