Murder by Death @ The Bowery Ballroom, NYC 3-1-11
If you’ve been on this site over the past year, you probably already know that I’m a fan of Indiana-based band Murder by Death. And if they come around, I’ll be there. Last week, they returned to NYC. This was no exception.
I got in a little late, so I missed a lot of the openers. First up was Buried Beds whom I missed completely. This is usually when I would say that a band likely wasn’t very good anyway, but a friend said they were good so I’ll give them a free pass from my wrath and judgement.
Unfortunately, the opener that I do like only played the first half of the tour (although I should have plenty more on them in the upcoming month), and the East Coast is left with Fake Problems. They get no pass. Listening to them is a real problem.
Anyway, Murder by Death came out and opened up with the pair of whiskey tunes from their most recent album which is cool. Because, seriously, fuck Jack Daniels. They played a handful of songs from Magpie including White Noise which is one of the few songs I really like off of it.
It seemed like the setlist was pretty evenly split up from their last three albums. Nothing from Exorcist. Kind of a shame, but I guess it doesn’t really what they’re doing now.
About midway through the set, Adam Turla brought out the flame guitar. About a year ago, when someone requested that particular guitar, Turla claimed that it was off boxing like Mickey Rourke and would make a comeback. So I guess this is it. After that, he ripped through Boy Decide with a “dirty” solo that he apologized (but not really) for.
There were a couple surprises. Turla played The Moon is Up (a b side from Brother now on their rarities collection, Skeletons in the Closet) solo. They also played The Organ Grinder,which doesn’t make it into live sets very often.
Personal highlights were Sometime the Line Walks You, Coming Home, and the closer, Spring Break 1899, which is one of my favorites that doesn’t get played nearly enough.
Live Review: Lylah Crying @ The Carousel, Longview 10-29-10
Nestled in the a far corner of southwest Washington, a couple hours south of the alternative music capital of the world, and only a few dozen miles north of the indie capital, there lies a city that many Northwest dwellers may not know, but have likely passed through the fleeting and somewhat abandoned of all hope community that is the twin cities of Kelso-Longview. A once bustling industrial town that acts as the unofficial home to famed Mt. St. Helens, as well as the non Highway 101 gateway to the longest beach in the country. Although the times are tough for folks at the heart of Cowlitz County, for every sense of hope that becomes lost, at least two more dreams are formed. And on one startling October night in L-Town, five young dreamers known simply as Lylah Crying hit the stage of a bar you’ve probably never heard of, and managed to inspire a bit of much needed hope amongst a crowd of folks in desperate need of some sort of non-theological salvation. Or at least a momentary escape from the real world as they guzzled down watered down and overpriced shots of whiskey and became lost in the glory that was one local group of musicians’ attempt somehow, in some way, at least begin to achieve their goals.
Longview doesn’t exactly hold too much significance in the land that created grunge. Green Day once wrote a song about unemployment and chronic masturbation, and named it after the city. A short lived pop punk band who will remain nameless made their way out, and disowned the city almost entirely (even to go as a far to make a song about Oregon, and film a video in Longview?) And the Dandy Warhols have managed to gather a few of Kelso’s talented youth to be on their sideshow act. But, overall, not exactly a place marked on any map as having any musical significance. But, this does not mean the talent is not there. It truly is, you just have to know where to look. And you might try The Carousel Beachway Bar (as a local, they will still tell you it’s “Henri’s”), where Lylah Crying has almost an unofficial residency there. If Henri’s is anything, it is definitely the finest place to hear live music in all of Cowlitz County.
Lylah Crying is the sort of band you might think you know already. Bland and eroded stereotypes have demonized our senses so much these days that we tend to feel elated by the idea that we can know everything about someone before we really give them a chance. If LC had to be boasted in a categorical genre, let’s simplified everything and call them a indie modern rock group. Though some might consider the terms “indie” and “modern” when used in musical terms to be polar opposites, there is no real way to explain their sound. And no need to really. Just understand that when you find yourself miserly drinking in front of this band of hard rock pranksters, you are going to feel at least a bit better than when you sat down.
With 4 hours to burn through, and only a handful of original songs on their playbook the band had some improvising to do. Kicking things off with their sort of heavy original cut, “Pieces”, which has lead singer Ronnie Jones screaming (at times a bit inappropriately) his heart out over catchy and blistering hooks, and borderline nu-metal meets neo-punk guitar riffs courtesy of the genious of lead guitarist Shawn Plampin. Their corresponding singles would prove to be a bit mellower, and a bit more accessible in nature for actually hearing keyboardist Brittney Hartsoch and drummer Kenny Nichols blast away at their respective stations. But 5 or 6 songs obviously can’t cover the time needed. So a few (dozen) covers were in order. They pulled out the obvious punches from bands like Clapton, Sublime, or Pink Floyd. But it was the band’s alt-rock versions of Dylan classics “One More Cup Of Coffee” and “Shelter From the Storm” that really portrayed their wonderful versatility and overall ability to play any and everything they want. And with a couple sets of acoustic intermissions from Shawn, Brittney, and Ronnie, the early morning hour came sooner than anyone would have wished for.
October 29th might serve as an extremely significant date for Lylah Crying if history serves them night. It could be the night they will always celebrate as their first live appearances as a full band, with the introduction to newbie bass player Rodney Carr, and became at the very least, a local sensation with ambitions that could take them up and down the west coast for a while, until they saw the shimmering reflections of the Atlantic ocean after crossing the Missouri river and officially tackling the country. Or, maybe it will be just another day that a few friends got together and rocked a crowd of familiar faces (everyone knows everyone in Longview) and had some people laughing and smiling are at least a few hours. If Lylah Crying accomplishes very little in the time to come, the performance they gave on their opening night is one that portrayed each individual’s spirit and desire to entertain and be merry. With the hearts of rock n’ roll soldiers and folklore warriors, this is a band that can bring out the best in you, by showing the best of themselves.
Ginsberg once wrote that he “saw the best minds of [his] generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked”. Yes, he was speaking of the post Atom bomb times. But, here in the distraught city of Longview, at this very moment, his words could ring just as true for the impoverished society of beings who are lost and torn in this New Depression. But, much like the beat authors and jazz aficionados who inadvertently saved our nation from falling into a Perry Como-esque miserable existence, Lylah Crying has emerged from the banks of the Columbia river to inspire that little bit of hope that can guide us into better times.
Kylesa @ Webster Hall, NYC 10-24-10
Part two of my Kylesaganza: The show I saw last Sunday night. By the way, High on Fire and Torche were also there. Not a night for amateurs.
Kylesa played first. They had about forty minutes. I’m terrible with song names, but they played a lot of stuff from their last couple albums and a few older tunes. They sounded great. Their live sound is a more stripped-down metal kind of thing as opposed to their intricately layered albums. They were still psychedelic, but with more of a punch-in-the-face thing going on.
Next was Torche. I missed most of their set. “Missed” isn’t really quite right because i did hear it through the wall, but I was doing an interview. They were good, though. Although, their beards really didn’t seem mighty enough for them to be a Hydrahead band. I never much cared for what I heard off of their albums, but they were a good live band.
Finally, High on Fire hit the stage. They opened with Frost Hammer, a popular track off of their recent album, and pretty much thrashed nonstop for a little over an hour. Except for maybe the one time when guitarist/vocalist/Oakland native, Matt Pike, told us that The Raiders kicked The Broncos asses (the final was 59-14). They also played mostly songs from their past two albums. Baghdad was the only really old tune. Highlights for me were Blessed Black Wings and Bastard Samurai (their “ballad”). They closed the night off with Snakes For the Divine.
I found a couple of the setlists:
Torche
Piranha
Sandstorm
UFO
Arrowhead
In Return
Safe
Mentor
Lay Low
Face the Wall
Cast Into Unknown
Hideaway
Rockit
Out Again
Charge of Brown Recluse
Tarpit Carnivore
High on Fire
Frost Hammer
Turk
Waste of Tiamat
Blessed Black Wings
Fire, Flood, and Plague
Baghdad
Bastard Samurai
Rumors of War
Silver Back
Snakes for the Divine
Murder by Death @ Union Pool, Brooklyn 9-24-10
I got to the Union Pool in time to catch the last few songs of Ninja Gun’s set. They were OK. They closed with a T-Rex tune, 20th Century Boy; a little cliche, but nonetheless a good song. After that was Samantha Crain. She wasn’t terrible.
Anyway, I went down the block to drink imperial stouts and play Donkey Kong. Unfortunately, Murder by Death started earlier than I was told and I missed the first two songs. I’m going to guess that they opened with ’52 Ford, because they do a lot, and I didn’t hear it throughout the rest of the night.
They played a pretty good set. Mostly stuff from their two most recent albums. For the most, I could only hear the drums and vocals, but poor sound is to be expected at Union Pool. It was still a good show. According to singer Adam Turla, it was the smallest venue (yet largest city) they played on the tour.
They played their pirate song, Dead Men and Sinners. They dug out a couple of old tunes, I’m Afraid of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and Until Morale Improves, the Beatings Will Continue. They closed the night off with Rumbrave.