Exceelent concerts I've been to

[Grinch]

I saw The Decemberists Monday at the Beacon Theatre NYC-----Great show!!!

[DMT]

Railroad Earth blew the roof off here last Sunday. They definitely have a Grateful Dead vibe going but they mix it up more with traditional Irish songs and pure bluegrass numbers. Highly recommended.

[swampdragon]

I saw The Decemberists Monday at the Beacon Theatre NYC-----Great show!!!

I am very jealous - I have been listening to them frequently lately - I couldnt go on a school night

[Grinch]

I am very jealous - I have been listening to them frequently lately - I couldnt go on a school night

I believe this may be one of the last times they may be playing a small venue. I can see thenew album propelling them up big time.

[johnnya24]

Saw The Hold Steady and Belle and Sebastian recently. Both excellent shows. The Hold Steady gig was one of the loudest gigs I've ever attended.

Decemberists played Dublin last week ... didn't wanna go down by myself so I gave it a miss ... which I already regret.

[senorsheep]

Just picked up my tix for The Flaming Lips at Red Rocks August 3rd. They're playing Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety. Why? F*ck if I know. Primus is opening. Rawk!

[bryanbutler]

asking why the Flaming Lips are doing anything is like asking why the tide goes in and out. oh. wait.

i'd love to see that show tho - sounds awesome! love both FL and Primus.

[senorsheep]

Just picked up my tix for The Flaming Lips at Red Rocks August 3rd. They're playing Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety. Why? F*ck if I know. Primus is opening. Rawk!

Oops, forgot to post my review. That was the most fun I've ever had at a concert. Red Rocks was sold out - 9,450 freaks came out to see this show. Great night - we had a little rain shower an hour before showtime that cooled things off nicely, then we never got precipitation again. We did get a really freaky-looking rainbow, though - you could only see one end of it descending out of some heavy clouds. Boy, was that a portent.

The pre-show tailgate was a trip. People came from everywhere to see this one-off show - I saw plates from Maryland to Washington. There wasn't a lot of crazy drinking, but there were several visible clouds of pot smoke hovering over all the parking lots. Some very good Colorado medical stuff, too, judging by the smell of it - there must have been a lot of people there with, uh, "chronic" back pain (those benches can be uncomfortable). Lots of hippies and freaks cranking Flaming Lips, Primus, Dark Side Of The Moon, and a host of other trippy stuff. Lots of people selling acid and mushrooms. Lots of people doing acid and mushrooms. Lots of dancing. It was a very positive and friendly vibe - people were there for a good time. Somebody really should have filmed this scene - it would have provided a fantastic visual counterpoint to all the dishonest, hysterical War On Drugs anti-marijuana propaganda.

So, all good and toked up, my crew and I hit the amphitheatre just as Primus took the stage. Damn, they were good! Their stage set-up was fun - kind of a sci-fi theme, with a huge screen that was pumping out all kinds of random trippy visuals that were timed to their instruments, bookended by two giant astronaut-robot things that were spewing out weird Star Trek sound effects and imagery of their own. Les Claypool was having a blast doing weird sh!t with his stand-up bass just to see what would happen on the screen - lol. They played a good mix of old favorites and new stuff from their upcoming album. Their playing was very loose and unstructured - a lot more experimental and jam-my than last time I saw them (could be their new drummer, or more accurately, their original drummer from the late 80's). The musical interplay was top shelf, and the synergy with the crowd was fantastic. The band was into the crowd and the venue, and the crowd was waaaaay into the band - everybody was on their feet dancing and rocking out the entire time. Great, great set - most of my friends had never seen Primus, and they were blown away. We're already making plans to see them when they return in October to play two nights at a great 1500-seat club here in Denver.

So, how could The Flaming Lips possibly follow up that set? By not even trying to out-rock them. Instead, they went with a show that was more of an avant garde audiovisual freakout. They chose The Wizard Of Oz as the video theme to accompany their performance of DSOTM. They started the show by picking random audience members to come onstage and be their dancers. They took them backstage and dropped the lights. The screen lit up and set the stage for what was to come - an image of giant, terrified-looking Dorothy spewing out strange, unintelligible dialog, interspersed with all kinds of weird visceral psychedelic imagery, against the audio backdrop of the pumping heartbeat that opens Dark Side. The lights came dressing, revealing all the onstage dancers dressed up as Dorothys, Scarecrows, Tin Men, and Cowardly Lions. The band broke into Somewhere Over The Rainbow, then segued into Breathe. The crowd went nuts - it exploded into one big awesome sing-along. And that's pretty much how the show went all night long - tripped-out visuals from Oz and the band's imagination (they obviously created special film imagery just for this performance); snippets of live music from the movie (yes, we all sang If I Only Had A Brain and did the flying monkey chant) weaved into the songs and musical interludes from Dark Side; Broadway-style stage-and-costume extravaganzas (a chick in a wild butterfly costume belting out The Great Gig In The Sky); the usual Flaming Lips concert shenanigans (Laser Hands and Wayne crowd-surfing in the giant hamster ball); and huge crowd sing-alongs for Breathe, Time, and Us And Them.

There was still a little time left before the curfew after the wild Eclipse finale, so the band came out and encored Do You Realize? for us all.

Truly, it was a magical night. Y'all shoulda been there.

[swampdragon]

I am confused after just watching this - the concert must have been just plain weird (and fun)

[senorsheep]

I am confused after just watching this - the concert must have been just plain weird (and fun)

Heh. It was really nerve-wracking, watching him do his hamster ball thing in a venue where the angle of the seats is so steep. I thought for sure he would go hurtling down 30 rows of Red Rocks benches and injure himself before we got our show.

Breathe kicks in at 9:26, for the impatient...

[Erik]

I love the Lips, but sometimes Wayne talks too damn much during their live sets. Was that an issue this time?

[senorsheep]

I love the Lips, but sometimes Wayne talks too damn much during their live sets. Was that an issue this time?

Nope, not at all. I think he was too obsessed with presenting his spectacle. And with all the interwoven musical segues, there wasn't much space in between for stage chatter. I really give them credit - they tried something bold and crazy and madly artistic, and they pulled it off seamlessly.

[Fresno Bob]

this sounds awesome, Primus always delivers, I've seen them in co-op living rooms tripping on acid, and in 200 person venues, and they always frakking rock!

[senorsheep]

this sounds awesome, Primus always delivers, I've seen them in co-op living rooms tripping on acid, and in 200 person venues, and they always frakking rock!

I've never really been a huge fan of Primus' recording output, but every time I've seen them live, they have absolutely killed. If last week was any indication, they're still inspired. Like I said, I'm going back for more in October.

Go see'em play, if you haven't. It's quite a spectacle. I've got think fans of Rush and Zappa would really like what they're doing.

[jackzayum]

Glad you have seen it. Maybe someday, if I have the time.