Belle & Sebastian Rollcall

I thought Ted Leo was great but his set was way too short.

Broken Social Scene had their moments but, all in all, I found them pretty dull. Apparently "collective" is the new euphemism for "jam band." Not that there's anything wrong with jam bands.

Belle and Sebastian were enjoyable. I think I was just expecting more after hearing all the superlatives about their live show.

Just got back from LA where I got to see the Shins and Belle & Sebastian at the Hollywood Bowl. Aside from being one of the very best concerts I've ever seen, I also have to add a few things:

1) Sound at the Hollywood Bowl is top notch
2) How cool to be able to order bottles of wine and enjoy the superb weather while the Shins were playing
3) Belle and Sebastian put on the best show I've ever seen them do
4) The audience was one of the best I've ever seen and my hats go off to them.

Even for a sold out show, the people were reverent, respectful, and for the first half of Belle and Sebastian they treated the show for what it was: an actual performance of musicians. They didn't really even need the LA Philharmonic, but it made a huge impact on some of the songs and just elevated them even more. But by the last half hour or so, the audience got so into the show that they were running down from the nosebleed seats, getting up and dancing, even at one point storming the stage and dancing up a storm. Hopefully they did a good job at Merriweather (sounds like they did), but there's no way in hell you could top the Hollywood Bowl show. What an amazing night.

Here's the rough setlist:

Fuck This Shit
I Fought in a War
Le Pastie de la Bourgeoisie
The Model
Sukie in the Graveyard
If She Wants Me
I'm Waking Up To Us
Don't Leave the Light On Baby
Jonathan David
Lord Anthony
If You're Feeling Sinister
Your Cover's Blown
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
The Wrong Girl
I'm a Cuckoo
Dirty Dream #2
If You Find Yourself Caught In Love
Sleep the Clock Around
—————————
The State I am In
The Boy With the Arab Strap

Hoya is raining on B&S fans' parades on last.fm.

http://www.last.fm/music/Belle+and+Sebastian

March was my first B&S live experience and last night's show didn't hold a candle to it. Have to agree with whoever said it wasn't loud enough and they seemed very disconnected. They just seemed uncomfortable in a bigger venue like MPP.

The drunken Brit yelling "softlad!!" didn't make the evening any more enjoyable either.

<img src="http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/409/img28426kk.jpg" alt=" - " />

This picture is funny. Look at all the dark hair. It could've been a show in Baghdad.

Originally posted by eros:

The drunken Brit yelling "softlad!!" didn't make the evening any more enjoyable either.

How about "YOU'RE NUMBER ONE!!"??

Originally posted by Graace:

Originally posted by eros:

The drunken Brit yelling "softlad!!" didn't make the evening any more enjoyable either.

How about "YOU'RE NUMBER ONE!!"??

Yeah, he was annoying too. The guy near me just got drunker and drunker as the evenimg went on and started in with "just play the guitar ya fookin scottish wanker". He kept referring to Sarah as Stuart's "mum".

i also, was in awe at how much beer people were drinking at such a "mellow" show! little ladies with beers in each hand, walking past, over and over again!

Originally posted by Graace:
Hoya is raining on B&amp;S fans' parades on last.fm.

i had really high hopes for this show, these 3 groups are among my favorites, and it was a pretty disappointing night (musically, i still had a great time there) … caught the end of ted leo, who was great (but only 30 min set? need to go at least 45 there)

ggw is totally right, broken social scene sounded like a run-o'-the-mill jam band with little to no intensity … the first time i saw them at black cat, they blew the fucking roof off the place with how determined they all were (ask rhett, he'll confirm) … a perfect example of the difference is "anthems for a 17yr old girl": at BC, the female lead was writhing on the floor by the end of the song, just yelling the chorus over and over … here she just looked vaguely disinterested … seeing them in broad daylight in central park last summer was even better than this set

belle & sebastian just never got a head of steam, it seemed like their set was pleasant enough, but they didn't really connect with the audience until near the end ("arab strap" is a great closer) … but they just didn't fill up the amphitheatre with their sound, they're not built for a big place like that, and their last show at 930 was just infinitely better

speaking of which, merriweather was maybe 1/3 - 1/2 full (that's being generous) … absolutely nobody on either side of the pavilion and the lawn was pretty sparse … the sound from the center-front of the lawn was pretty weak, it never got very loud, and BSS was all drums and bass (for a meandering low-key jammed-out set, not a good mix at all) … but one of my friends was in the pit for BSS and he liked their set, so maybe it was just a matter of perspective

but that's just nitpicking the music, it was a beautiful night and it was fun sitting out on the lawn for a few hours and drinking beers

Originally posted by bearman:
Just got back from LA where I got to see the Shins and Belle &amp; Sebastian at the Hollywood Bowl. Aside from being one of the very best concerts I've ever seen, I also have to add a few things:

1) Sound at the Hollywood Bowl is top notch
2) How cool to be able to order bottles of wine and enjoy the superb weather while the Shins were playing
3) Belle and Sebastian put on the best show I've ever seen them do
4) The audience was one of the best I've ever seen and my hats go off to them.

Even for a sold out show, the people were reverent, respectful, and for the first half of Belle and Sebastian they treated the show for what it was: an actual performance of musicians. They didn't really even need the LA Philharmonic, but it made a huge impact on some of the songs and just elevated them even more. But by the last half hour or so, the audience got so into the show that they were running down from the nosebleed seats, getting up and dancing, even at one point storming the stage and dancing up a storm. Hopefully they did a good job at Merriweather (sounds like they did), but there's no way in hell you could top the Hollywood Bowl show. What an amazing night.

Here's the rough setlist:

Fuck This Shit
I Fought in a War
Le Pastie de la Bourgeoisie
The Model
Sukie in the Graveyard
If She Wants Me
I'm Waking Up To Us
Don't Leave the Light On Baby
Jonathan David
Lord Anthony
If You're Feeling Sinister
Your Cover's Blown
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
The Wrong Girl
I'm a Cuckoo
Dirty Dream #2
If You Find Yourself Caught In Love
Sleep the Clock Around

So you loved the Bowl, eh? Good! It IS the best.

Originally posted by bearman:
Just got back from LA where I got to see the Shins and Belle &amp; Sebastian at the Hollywood Bowl. Aside from being one of the very best concerts I've ever seen, I also have to add a few things:

1) Sound at the Hollywood Bowl is top notch
2) How cool to be able to order bottles of wine and enjoy the superb weather while the Shins were playing
3) Belle and Sebastian put on the best show I've ever seen them do
4) The audience was one of the best I've ever seen and my hats go off to them.

Even for a sold out show, the people were reverent, respectful, and for the first half of Belle and Sebastian they treated the show for what it was: an actual performance of musicians. They didn't really even need the LA Philharmonic, but it made a huge impact on some of the songs and just elevated them even more. But by the last half hour or so, the audience got so into the show that they were running down from the nosebleed seats, getting up and dancing, even at one point storming the stage and dancing up a storm. Hopefully they did a good job at Merriweather (sounds like they did), but there's no way in hell you could top the Hollywood Bowl show. What an amazing night.

Here's the rough setlist:

Fuck This Shit
I Fought in a War
Le Pastie de la Bourgeoisie
The Model
Sukie in the Graveyard
If She Wants Me
I'm Waking Up To Us
Don't Leave the Light On Baby
Jonathan David
Lord Anthony
If You're Feeling Sinister
Your Cover's Blown
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
The Wrong Girl
I'm a Cuckoo
Dirty Dream #2
If You Find Yourself Caught In Love
Sleep the Clock Around

They didn't play dear catastrophe waitress did they? Did I totally space out during that song? Cause I love that song. And where was electronic renaissance. That was the highlight for me from their 930 club show. Maybe doesn't work as well outdoors, though.

Originally posted by Graace:

Originally posted by eros:

The drunken Brit yelling "softlad!!" didn't make the evening any more enjoyable either.

How about "YOU'RE NUMBER ONE!!"??

Were you near this guy? I was just behind and to the left of him.

Someone post setlists if you got 'em.

b&s setlist

fuck this shit
dog on wheels
dirty dream no. 2
the model
sukie in the graveyard
don't leave the light on baby
if she wants me
jonathan david
we are the sleepyheads
lord anthony
for the price of a cup of tea
if you're feeling sinister
funny little frog
if you find yourself caught in love
summer wasting
i'm a cuckoo
the wrong girl
white collar boy
sleep the clock around
(encore)
judy and the dream of horses
the boy with the arab strap


i thought they were fantastic…it was clear they seemed a little less comfortable at such a big venue and with all the drunk frat-boy action but i really doubt belle and sebastian could ever put on a less than great show. highlights for me were sleep the clock around and of course, boy with the arab strap. I also really liked broken social scene, first time I've seen them live so I don't have much to compare them to, but I look forward to seeing them headline a show sometime. unimpressed by ted leo…I enjoy his albums but he tends to bore me live, and I was relieved that he only played 30 minutes.

I'm not surprised the BSS were somewhat out of sorts for this show. I've been in Ottawa to catch the BluesFest here and BSS did a headlining set on Friday night, before going to DC for the B&S show. They did indeed leave alot of people behind since they were also in Jason Collett's and Feist's band (who played the BluesFest on Sat night).

Wish I had seen the show at Merriweather but it's a heck of a festival here. So many bands that it's hard to decide who to see. Calexico were on at the same time as BSS. Kevin Drew did an impromptu rant about firing the guy who did the scheduling and then got the whole crowd to start chanting for Calexico.

Originally posted by mutmup:
i really doubt belle and sebastian could ever put on a less than great show.

are you serious? are you that much of a fan-boy that you really think they are incapable of being "less than great"?

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa08:

Originally posted by mutmup:
i really doubt belle and sebastian could ever put on a less than great show.

are you serious? are you that much of a fan-boy that you really think they are incapable of being "less than great"?
&lt;img src="http://www.harraway.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/cargirls3.jpg" alt=" - " /&gt;

Yeah, who do you think they are anyway, Kasabian?

mr. murdoch didn't seem to like it much either;

So last nights show was not so enjoyable. I thought it was going to be a great one. I actually had leisure to take time shaving, pick something to wear, and then walk to the amphitheatre along a lakeside, looking out for terrapins on the way. Sometimes, though, as Robert Burns pointed out, oneâ??s plans and predictions go to the dogs. I donâ??t know what happened; maybe had too much fun at the other shows.

Two journalists, one after the other asked me, after the show in LA,

â??Youâ??ve played the Hollywood Bowl. Where do you go from here?â?
â??Downâ?, I said, both times, like it was funny the first time.

What is Tupac, who died in 1996, doing next to a Mercedes that could be no older than the 2001 model year?

Originally posted by Wolf N.Eagleburger:

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa08:

Originally posted by mutmup:
i really doubt belle and sebastian could ever put on a less than great show.

are you serious? are you that much of a fan-boy that you really think they are incapable of being "less than great"?
&lt;img src="http://www.harraway.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/cargirls3.jpg" alt=" - " /&gt;

Yeah, who do you think they are anyway, Kasabian?

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
What is Tupac, who died in 1996, doing next to a Mercedes that could be no older than the 2001 model year?

well, 2pac is incapable of doing anything wrong, and an ancillary benefit of that super-power is the ability to conjure up cars that haven't yet been designed or built