hello Idlewild posse

jackson c?

Originally posted by kurosawa-b/w:
Well, as you all know, I've seen Idlewild multiple times, and that is one of the best shows I've ever seen them do. I think there were about 18 songs? Which is an incredibly long set for them. I got to hear two songs that I've never seen live and always wanted to hear. (The last two of the encore.) Kick ass show! You all should have come down to the afterparty in the Backbar. The band members were mingling and were excited about the show as well. They like DC and it showed.

What were the last two songs? The friend with me was convinced the very last was a cover, because it had such a different sound – the screaming and the angst! (Thanks, LuLu, for the set list.)

And I absolutely agree with the raves over Idlewild. I was surprised at how Idlewild could really rock the place, especially for two or three songs that were almost punk in their energy. I never remember sets (and I just got two albums so I don't know the songs yet), but about midway through they took my breath away with a real rocker – I looked at my friend and said, "I never thought they could rock out like this!"

And though the place wasn't sold out, the people who were there were real fans. The floor was packed in pretty tightly toward the stage, and from my balcony vantage point I was quite happy and amazed to see so many heads bobbing, a bit of pogo-ing in order to move in a small space, and *so* many people singing along. Even at the 9:30 Club, that's pretty rare. As we've pointed out before, DC audiences aren't always the most lively or engaged.

Loved the show – my first Idlewild, as some of you know, as I was just convinced last week (1) to go, and (2) to buy a couple albums (Remote Part and 100 Broken Windows). SO glad I did – thanks to the folks encouraging me!

And I really enjoyed the Put Outs too, though a couple of slower numbers didn't grab me completely. But we were down on the floor for them and had a great time. That last "one and a half" song they played, I thought that this is the kind of song that could be one of your favorites and you're just praying they play live when you see them. So are they working on an album, will they play more, what's their story?

I thought last night's show was even a little better than the Fletcher's show. It was good to see a much, much larger crowd than when I last saw Idlewild at 9:30 – an active and involved crowd no less.

The Put-Outs seemed a little rusty at points, but were as good as expected. Nothing like some good old American indie rock with masturbatory guitar licks and a viola.

Thanks for the disc Kosmo. It made for a nice ride home.

Originally posted by redsock:
jackson c?

this one i figured out with a google search…

the song is "Blues Run The Game" written by Jackson C. Frank.

Well I thought it was poptastic.

did anyone else enjoy the quiet songs and two guitar intros more than the rest of it? I guess it is easier to hear Roddys voice on those.

They played a very fan friendly set. Every great single and happy tune and not just the new album.

Other bands (placebo) could learn a lesson from that.

Whis is Jackson C Frank, or should I just go to allmusic and stop being so lazy?

outta curiosity who saw Idlewild when they played the DC's Garage in 1999?

the last song was off their first EP "Captain" … Kosmette knew members of Idlewild in their early days at Edinburgh Uni and saw an earlish gig when they were still on the punk side of things.

can't say exactly what the Put-Outs future is, although the new four song ep they were selling last night was produced by Don Coffey Jr. drummer for Superdrag and producer of their record.

i always enjoy shows more when the audience treats every song played like it's a hit single. the audience are always totally into show, there's no audible yacking when the bands are on stage. it's those shows were people show up to hear the hit or just to be seen are the worst…

so who wants to predict which bands career will last longer placebo, supergrass or idlewild? of course i would love if idlewild would stay at their current level of fame… enthusiastic fans in club verses theatres etc.

Originally posted by bags:
I never remember sets…but about midway through they took my breath away with a real rocker – I looked at my friend and said, "I never thought they could rock out like this!"

That was Film for the Future off of their Hope is Important album. One of my favorite songs, and I think it's their best live song.

Originally posted by kurosawa-b/w:

Originally posted by bags:
I never remember sets…but about midway through they took my breath away with a real rocker – I looked at my friend and said, "I never thought they could rock out like this!"

That was Film for the Future off of their Hope is Important album. One of my favorite songs, and I think it's their best live song.

Well, it was great, and now I will go and buy the Hope is Important album. Man, in a coupla months I'm gonna be so upset that I saw them just before I knew all the songs!!

Thanks for the info.

Idlewild played an amazing show last night…just teriffic, with an excellent setlist. Redsock, I'll see your Put-Outs comment and up you one: I thought they were very very blah. They were the really poor man's Replacements, if that. Not talentless, just very boring. Maybe at the ripe old age of 17 I'm getting a little too old for that dated geetar rawk.

Laguardia weren't bad, but I agree with Kosmo - they should keep the mouths closed. By the way, Kosmo's mix is FANTASTIC. You can DJ in my parents' basement ANYTIME.

Originally posted by walkman:
Laguardia weren't bad, but I agree with Kosmo - they should keep the mouths closed. By the way, Kosmo's mix is FANTASTIC. You can DJ in my parents' basement ANYTIME.

lots of dj's get their start doing house parties… i got two turntables and no microphone (actually one turntable and two cd players). all i need is a rockin' (stereo)soundsystem to hook up to and a bunch of peeps to enjoy the tunage!

as an fyi… all the artists on that disc appeared on "Where The Action Is" a late 60's tv show which aired afternoons during the week. it's interesting to note that now classic garage bands were appearing along side soul acts of the time. something you would never see in this day age of musical segmentation. i have a hard time seeing the mooney suzuki and beyonce appearing on the same edition of trl. hell the classic rock stations can't even dare add modern day artists that might fit into their rotations.

Originally posted by poorlulu:

Originally posted by Fico:
[qb] I'll be there with my missus…haven't been to 9:30 since Paul Weller I believe.. wait Sigur Ros came after Weller???.. anywho it's been a long time and I'm looking forward to tonight…

missus?

she better be hotter than meg white else we will all point at her and go eugh………

She is…..but that doesn't take much doing.

Good seeing you last night. Sorry I didn't get close enough for a proper hello and a chance to meet your lady. You two looked good together. ;)

Thanks for the compliments all around Markie and Jag… many people think we are cousins or brother and sister.. i guess it could only be the hair or color of skin that makes us similar, but you wouldn't be the fist people to point out so I digress..

On the other hand it be stupid to state again the overall sentiments of the board that last night's show was mega… I wanted to stick around for the backbar but we rushed out as soon as they left the stage after the encore to catch the train.. to no use, the train left while we were entering the station… it's been too busy as of late as everyone wants to pencil in time with the missus before she leaves so we decided to call it a night… maybe if yer going to the Blur show we can pencil in a beer an' that..

well I'll be there.

doesnt you g/f just hate it when the train leaves just as you are entering the station? ;)

Because this is a cool article generally on Idlewild, I'm posting this from today's NY Times.

July 18, 2003
'The Next' Is Ready for 'Here and Now'
By HUGO LINDGREN

Last month the five members of Idlewild, a rock band from Scotland, were in Fargo, N.D. The official reason for their visit was to open for Pearl Jam at an indoor football stadium called the Fargo Dome, but they had another agenda also. As the 25-year-old singer Roddy Woomble put it, the band was hoping to find "normal people."

Idlewild had recently ended its own headlining tour, which included a packed house at Irving Plaza in Manhattan and several other strong turnouts. But Mr. Woomble could not help noticing that the crowds had a parochial quality. "They were like us, you know â?? freaks who probably care too much about music," he said. "It's a very comfortable environment for us, but you can fool yourself into thinking the whole world is like that."

On the strength of three critically acclaimed albums, a string of hits in Britain and an enthusiasm for wasting their youth in tour buses, the members of Idlewild have maneuvered themselves into the general proximity of American success. Like the other imported acts appearing with them tomorrow at the all-day Village Voice Third Annual Siren Music Festival at Coney Island â?? the Datsuns from New Zealand, Sahara Hotnights from Sweden, Hot Hot Heat from Canada and the Kills from England â?? they arrived in the United States with radiant confidence born of home-grown fame and faith that talent and hard work are all it takes to make it in America.

Which, it turns out, is not exactly true in the music business.

Before Idlewild's latest record, "The Remote Part," was released in the United States by Capitol this spring, the band and some of its contemporaries shared the tag of "the next Radiohead," though not because of musical similarities. Idlewild plays big, well-constructed songs that have clear antecedents in American indie rock of the 1980's and early 90's. It has not yet shown an interest in disassembling rock music and putting it back together.

But like Radiohead, Idlewild is both culturally literate and ambitious, and some critics felt that this rare combination might enable the band to slip into the fickle American mainstream. When "The Remote Part" met with stateside reviews as strong as those it received in Europe, Idlewild seemed poised to have its moment, like the one Coldplay had three years ago when its first American single, "Yellow," became an instant last-dance-at-the-prom classic.

Idlewild is still waiting. Capitol, which puts out Radiohead's records here as well as Coldplay's, elected not to spend the several hundred thousand dollars it takes to get a single on radio playlists and give it a shot at the charts. So while Radiohead and Coldplay have both broken into the ranks of normal people and solidified near-superstar status with popular new records, Idlewild is trying to do it the old-fashioned way â?? by touring. In the bigger cities and some college towns â?? places where the quotient of music freaks is high â?? the group does well. It's everywhere else in the great wide-open mallscape of the United States that it has problems.

"You start a rock band because you don't understand how business works and you don't want to understand," Mr. Woomble said. "But then you find yourself awake at night analyzing how Coldplay got so popular here."

And how, he neglected to add, his band has not.

From their earliest days at art school in Edinburgh, the members of Idlewild had a precocious charm, much of it from Mr. Woomble, who looks like a stylishly unkempt graduate student and can comfortably work Gertrude Stein's name into a chorus. He is known to disappear after gigs and go home with . . . a book. The band even takes its name from a book: the peaceful meeting place in "Anne of Green Gables," a favorite of Mr. Woomble's. He also commented in his online tour diary recently about "how Pittsburgh was just like the Michael Chabon novels say it is."

Idlewild's first full-length record, "Hope Is Important," released in the United States in 2000, was practically a homage to Nirvana, but an inspired one. Rod Jones's crunching guitars were a perfect match for Colin Newton's explosive drumming, and Mr. Woomble sang as if trying to split the difference between being in a punk band and a church choir.

When "100 Broken Windows" came along in 2001, Idlewild had evolved: the Nirvana explosiveness was still there, but the tunes had the depth and richness of R.E.M. The sound of the two bands that bracket American indie rock were fused into one, and on the strength of this record, Idlewild became stars in Scotland, developed a cult following in England and made a reasonable dent in America.

"The Remote Part" adds the epic qualities of U2, making elaborate use of keyboards, strings, and multiple layers of guitars and vocals and inviting the octogenarian Scottish poet laureate, Edwin Morgan, to read on the last track. With this Idlewild had decided that "recording an album and playing live are not the same thing, and we've gotten past the point of having to pretend they are," as Mr. Woomble explained it, adding, "We can do more than just blast the guitars."

With its new record Idlewild hints at the kind of transition U2 made many years ago when Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois produced "The Unforgettable Fire." But the finely buffed studio polish of "The Remote Part" did not sit well with some of Idlewild's core fans. It also did not sit well with the core bass player, Bob Fairfoull, whose attendance became spotty during the recording and who later had a well-publicized drunken confrontation with Mr. Woomble after a gig in Amsterdam. Mr. Fairfoull's ensuing dismissal was "the hardest and most important thing we ever did," Mr. Woomble said, "because it meant we all finally agreed on how we were going to move forward."

Which included becoming a lot more popular. In Britain a handful of singles from "The Remote Part" reached the charts, including "You Held the World in Your Arms," which made the Top 10. Coldplay's singer, Chris Martin, declared Idlewild his favorite band and invited the members to open on a European tour, playing for spectacular, arena-size crowds. The German film director Wim Wenders made a video for the single "Live in a Hiding Place," in which he dressed the band up as cowboys. Momentum, it seemed, was building.

Then Idlewild arrived in the United States, starting with its own club tour. "It was a very weird experience," Mr. Jones, the lead guitarist, said. "We'd have 1,500 people at a show in New York, and two days later we'd be playing Sunday night in North Carolina and there would be maybe 100 people, counting us. I don't mind 100 people. We'll happily play if nobody shows up at all. But it's hard to get a sense of where you stand."

Without regular radio play, the only Americans who find out about Idlewild are those who believe in record reviews or listen to college radio, and these days such people are less tastemakers for the masses than citizens in their separate nation. Record-industry experts estimate that on critical buzz alone, a record can sell maybe 100,000 copies. The heavily praised "Lifted, or the Story Is in the Soil" by Bright Eyes, for example, has topped out at 90,000.

Idlewild, however, has never come close to that in the United States; "100 Broken Windows" sold about 35,000 copies, and barring a late spending spree by Capitol, "The Remote Part," which went gold in Britain, may not duplicate that. Meanwhile, Coldplay has all but cornered the power-ballad market; the band's "Rush of Blood to the Head" is climbing past two million.

Even if Capitol coughs up the radio money, Idlewild may have trouble picking a single. The song that could equal the prom appeal of Coldplay's "Yellow" is a ballad called "American English." But it's not representative of Idlewild's sound, and its refrain â?? "You've contracted American dream" â?? introduces a perhaps unwelcome political notion.

That night in Fargo, though, Idlewild got a very warm reception. The crowd was so pumped for Pearl Jam that they took their seats early, and so the Fargo Dome was almost two-thirds full when Idlewild went onstage. And in a 45-minute set it elevated the crowd's sentiments from polite indifference to genuine enthusiasm. When the band closed its set with a recorded track of Mr. Morgan, the poet laureate, reading in his thick Scottish burr over a crash of guitars, the crowd raising plastic cups of Bud Light to the unlikely combination of rock and poetry, it seemed as if Idlewild might have converted a few of Fargo's normal people into freaks.

Which put the band members in a good mood when they returned to the cinder-block cell that was their dressing room. "We have to be believers in the idea that if you're good enough, people will come around to you if you just keep at it," Mr. Woomble said, jumping onto a skateboard and trying to ride it with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

One of his bandmates offered an alternative strategy for achieving fame in America: Mr. Woomble should date a Hollywood actress, following the example of Chris Martin of Coldplay, who goes out with Gwyneth Paltrow. "It can't hurt," somebody suggested. "And she might have friends." Mr. Woomble demurred, saying, "I'm afraid I don't know enough about modern cinema." That was promptly rejected as a lame excuse.

A celebrity girlfriend might not care for his current lifestyle in any case. After the band members showered where the football players usually do and made sandwiches from a tray of wilted cold cuts, Idlewild and its crew of five piled into the bus that has been their motel on wheels for their three months in America and drove all night to St. Paul, where they woke up the next morning in a parking garage under a hockey arena. For now, this is the good life.

Originally posted by bags:
"100 Broken Windows" sold about 35,000 copies, and barring a late spending spree by Capitol, "The Remote Part," which went gold in Britain, may not duplicate that.

So sad…

Leave it to Mark Jenkins to slag Idlewild while saying their songs are great:

washingtonpost.com
At 9:30, Scotland's Idlewild Never Really Takes Off

Friday, July 18, 2003; Page C08

"Support your local poet," implores Idlewild's latest CD, "The Remote Part," and the shaggy-haired members of this Edinburgh quintet do look like the kind of guys their working-class peers would label – using one of those exquisitely modulated British put-downs – "students." Indeed, "The Remote Part" is the band's gentlest, most lyrical album yet. Yet Idlewild started as a punk band, and in concert it still is. No one would have mistaken the group's Wednesday show at the 9:30 for a poetry recital.

Whether playing galloping rockers such as "A Modern Way of Letting Go" or such lilting, more R.E.M.-ish material as "Live in a Hiding Place," Idlewild didn't take it easy. Rubber-legged guitarist Rod Jones bounced as high as ever, and singer Roddy Woomble paced the stage eagerly. The musicians' nervous energy was reflected in the structure of the songs, which tended to start and stop abruptly, showing little patience for intros, solos or asides. For all their tunefulness, such numbers as "Little Discourage" had the urgency of suddenly blurted confessions.

Ultimately, an Idlewild set turns on the material. Despite their vigor, the band members don't really command the stage; they lack the authority to make a slightly boring tune sound more exciting than it is. That the show experienced only a few lulls is less a tribute to the band's showmanship than to a remarkably consistent repertoire of restless yet immaculately melodic songs.

– Mark Jenkins

I find it hilarious that the Post finds a way of slagging anything British…