Phoenix / The Concretes Roll Calls

A weekend of bands from far flung places brought to us in part by Astralwerks Records with olde moi/mej selecting tunes from the dj booth in the back corner.

The run down!

Phoenix - France
La Rocca - Ireland

The Concretes - Sweden
New Buffalo - Australia

And what is interesting is that both Phoenix and New Buffalo are relatively new additions to the Arts and Crafts label (home to Broken Social Scene and run by Kevin Drew of BSS).

I'm not going to be able to make the Phoenix show but will be there for the Concretes and New Buffalo.

looking quite forward to phoenix

me too for obvious reasons… "United" has long be a favorite of mine, their second album was a bit to laid back but the songs rocked much more in concert. Their new drummer was key addition… Didn't realize they had a third on the way so soon, considering the lapse in time between the first and second.

I'll be there for Phoenix. Their show with Dogs Die in Hot Cars was one of my favorites last year.

will someone please tell them to come back again soon?

I'd love to see Phoenix but can't afford the ticket right now. Their show last year was indeed fun.

Now i'm getting all giddy like a school girl…. From the reviews of the new record it sounds like they have returned to what made "United" such a fun little record. I'm of course rethinking what to spin…

i.e. from the observer

"Whatever, It's Never Been Like That reunites the quartet with the kind of jubilant, foot-pumping power-pop that, at best, is informed by the brevity of new wave and the breeziness particular to pre-punk West Coast rock."

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/reviews/story/0,,1756921,00.html

http://www.thetripwire.com/reviews/2006/4/5/phoenix-i-its-never-been-like-that-i-astralwerks

yeah, i've listened to some of the new songs. the ones that i heard felt much more United than Alphabetical. both albums are excellent, so hopefully they've found a bit of a happy medium…

phoenix was just … everything

Indeed they are… The rock band inside Phoenix has once again arisen, can't wait for the new record!

did they say anything about coming back after the new record?

no, but here's hoping eh? maybe then i'll hear party time.
playground love was a real treat.
http://flickr.com/photos/musslerock/

THEY PLAYED PLAYGROUND LOVE??????

aye, acoustic

Well, I'm going to go shoot myself in the face now.

Very good show. Phoenix writes good songs but there's something even better about hearing their arrangements live that is very satisfying…they really get the most out of every song. I only wish the set had been longer - they barely played an hour. Surprising given that it's a saturday night and they had plenty of material. The lead guy said something about breaking in a new keyboard player but you would think with 5 other guys in the group that they could have played a few tunes without it.

The Concretes were fantastic live. Musically very tight but visually kinda creepy in a grown-up children of the corn kind of way. One of this year's best show. I'd imagine most of the small crowd would agree with me. However, I was disappointed with the absence of "Diana Ross" from the setlist.

Wow! Someone else was at The Concretes show! I really like them, too. Definitely light, catchy pop. Loved the horns/woodwinds, too. There certainly is some kind of "lolita-ness" to some of the band members, which is kinda weird.

One of the bartenders told me that advance tickets sales were only around 80. I think I estimated 120 people or so. I felt bad for the band. Hopefully they'll be back soon.

yeah thats weird…they are huge in LA