Just Announced Commentary - 2011 Edition

(I was going call this Tiger Blood edition, but thought better of it)

Re: The Cars

They weren't terrible in concert in their heyday, just did rather lifeless versions of their songs live.  They managed to write catchy Middle of the Road pop songs that sounded great on the radio, or seen in video form.  But live they pretty much just went through the motions recreating their recorded material.

Plus, with the passing of Benjamin Orr they lost the singer who sang lead on a good number of their biggest hits.

Regardless, there is plenty of evidence of them live during the 80s and they were pretty much the Arctic Monkey's of their time…

The Cars were my first non Merriweather concert back in the late 70's.  Saw them at the Capital Center and again at Merriweather.  Loved their early albums up to Panorama.  After that they got a little too poppy. But you hit the nail on the head regarding their live shows.  They just recreated the album versions of their songs with no stage presence.  And your Arctic Monkeys analogy is spot-on.  But who knows….maybe they've changed.

Changed for the better, performance-wise, after aging 25 years?  Doubtful.

I don't get the Arctic Monkeys analogy.  "They were the Arctic Monkeys of their time."  Meaning……they were discovered after posting tunes on MySpace?

Brian

Don't get me wrong "Drive" is  one of the best pop ballads ever written, but is Ocasek going to sing it live?  And can you imagine the sight of a bunch of 40somethings dry humping when they play it.

The newer singles have the feel of their earlier records, but then again Ocasek's song were always the more new waver of their material.

I had forgotten that it was "The New Cars" that were touring recently, with Todd Rundgren taking the vocals duties….

oh well I'm sure those that will attend will wave their mobiles and take lots of pictures of four or more dudes on stage… i'm guessing the twitter traffic from the show will be lower  ;D

Did I say Arctic Monkeys?  I meant The Strokes….

I don't understand the criticism..

If you dont' like the Cars obviously there is no point to going to the show.. but if you really like their classic albums (not "middle of the road" as Kosmo wrote) which were pretty innovative for their time… they were arguably one of the first new wave bands actually…they had roots in the modern lovers..  well if you really like the classic stuff then and if it means something to you , yes, seeing 4 of the original 5 live would be pretty special… they can't help it ben orr died and from everything i've read ric is very respectful of ben orr's role with the band..

as far as singing ben's songs i think ric can do it.. honestly- and its probably just me- half the time with the cars i can't tell who is singing… but who knows how many ben songs they will do

obviously its the cars. not led zeppelin..

Who said I didn't like the Cars?  I owned their albums when they first came out, saw them a couple live, etc… I'm just sayin' they were pretty dull in concert

Plus if you compare The Cars verses say Devo then I'm going to call them middle of the road… and a drummer who played in the Modern Lovers is hardly what I'd call roots.

just added to my bucket list, mocking Strokes fans excited to see them when they hit Jammin' Java in 20 years…

kosmo wrote:
Who said I didn't like the Cars?  I owned their albums when they first came out, saw them a couple live, etc… I'm just sayin' they were pretty dull in concert

Plus if you compare The Cars verses say Devo then I'm going to call them middle of the road… and a drummer who played in the Modern Lovers is hardly what I'd call roots.

well maybe they were dull.. what do i know..

just saying if you like the Cars I think you'd enjoy seeing them…thats all.

i think thats a truism

kosmo wrote:
Did I say Arctic Monkeys?  I meant The Strokes….

I didn't get the AM reference either. The Strokes makes much more sense.

An Arctic Monkey's show is often described as songs played with little fanfare and much like as recorded in the studio.  I once went to see the Cardigans and my response was I could have stayed home and put on the CD and giggled the cover for pretty much the same experience.

kosmo wrote:
An Arctic Monkey's show is often described as songs played with little fanfare and much like as recorded in the studio. 

yup. AM @ the club was one of the dullest performances i've ever attended.  and they were pissy on top of it.  horrible, boring show. 

sweetcell wrote:

kosmo wrote:
An Arctic Monkey's show is often described as songs played with little fanfare and much like as recorded in the studio. 

yup. AM @ the club was one of the dullest performances i've ever attended.  and they were pissy on top of it.  horrible, boring show. 

I saw them twice. Neither time had a lot of jump-around showmanship, but the first 9:30 show sounded so great that it was really cool. THe second show was totally a barely-going-through-the-motions affair and it blew.

Sweetcell - which AM show did you go to that was so "horrible" the first or the second?

I totally disagree with the comments that the AMs put on a boring show. I think they are quite brilliant live. The first show at 930 and at Coachella were fantastic fun and their second 930 show demonstrated a depth to their music that went beyond them being just another puff-pop act. Although the crowd seemed unwilling to accept them evolving as a band and pulled the usual pouting/talking through the new songs routine.

Review of the second 930 Club show:
http://www.welovedc.com/2009/12/11/we-love-music-all-the-pretty-visitors/

The first Arctic Monkeys show at the 9:30 wasn't bad. They were definitely very "business" like, but they sounded good.

the last 930 Arctic Monkeys show was very good…..I enjoyed it.

I agree on the AM being one of the most boring shows. I guess I had expected so much more, but they were just bland.

BUT - if you give me Alex's other band - The Last Shadow Puppets - they are insanely awesome live. Maybe the addition of Miles Kane is the missing link.

sweetcell wrote:

kosmo wrote:
An Arctic Monkey's show is often described as songs played with little fanfare and much like as recorded in the studio. 

yup. AM @ the club was one of the dullest performances i've ever attended.  and they were pissy on top of it.  horrible, boring show. 

blipvurt wrote:
Sweetcell - which AM show did you go to that was so "horrible" the first or the second?

it was the first - 2007?  def wasn't the 2009 show.

But what's the difference between seeing The Arctic Monkeys live and Death Cab for Cutie live?  Both don't do much on stage.  Both sound a lot like their records.  The Arctic Monkeys MUSIC is actually EXCITING whereas Death Cab For Cutie's music is actually ANESTHETIZING.

It's just like LCD Soundsystem and The Black Eyed Peas.  What makes one any more special than the other?  It's both dance music.  It's music made to shake your ass.  LCD has more snarky, studied irony but that never helped anyone get down.

It's the whole: "But the person making the music is JUST LIKE ME!  An over-educated grad student who would rather watch and snark than participate!"

"Rock critics like Elvis Costello because rock critics look like Elvis Costello." - David Lee Roth





Brian