Thighs Wide Shut

Badly Drawn Boy
Le Poisson Rouge
December 4th

How did we forget about Damon Gough, aka that shaggily beareded British dude who wears a tea cozy on his head and goes by the nom del stage Badly Drawn Boy?  And more importantly, why?  Sure, we skipped a couple of his albums over the past decade, but this is the guy that created probably one of the bestestest original soundtracks ever done did: About A Boy!!!!  After grooving like mad to his latest It’s What I’m Thinking: Photographing Snowflakes [mp3|CD], leading up to his show at Le Poisson Rouge, we weres really dangs ashamed at how little we’ve let his incredible voice and indelible melodies climb into our ears over the years!!!  SHAME ON WE!  Shame on you too?

Said show was a mess, mainly cause Drawn Boy was a drunken mess.  He was a not so happy camper to be away from his daughter on her birthday (guess he didn’t look at the calendar when he scheduled his US tour dates), and got rather surly with his audience, even quitting on some songs 30 seconds into em, but by the end of his 90ish minute set of ye olde and ye new goodies (+ a Stones Roses cover with Andy Rourke from The Smiths!), no one seemed to mind the low-jinks that accompanied this ultimately delightful and moving show, especially those fans he was shaking hands with as he sung his hero Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Thunder Road’ when exiting stage right

set list for Friday’s show looked better than ours.  SCHUCKS!!!

newish BDB tune we can’t get out of our heads and don’t want it to: ‘Too Many Miracles’

Gorillaz
Madison Square Garden
Rocktober 8th

Damon Albarn was once simply known as the frontman for the Brit-pop band called Blur, who were popular worldwide, but moderately successful in our neck of the shore (unless you count the amount of times ‘Song 2’ has been used in adverts and other stuffs).  Then something happened, something moist incredible: Albarn and his flatmate, renowned animator Jamie Hewlett,  cooked up an idea to make a virtual cartoon band, a Banana Splits meets a hodge-pudge of every musical style conceivable, that could possibly conquer this brave new world

Three albums later, the latest landing at #2 on the US Charts (with the other two within the top 20!), and the furthest thought is that the new world conquerers Gorillaz are a joke.  The combination of Albarn’s voice and vision, Hewlett’s visuals, ingenious producers (first Dan the Automator, then with Danger Mouse, and then Albarn alone!),  a large array of rappers (Del The Funky Homosapien, De La Soul, that dude from the Pharcyde), worldclass world musicians (Buena Vista Social Clubber Ibrahim Ferrer), and long loved, but lately ignored legends (Ike Turner, Bobby Womack) has equaled and continued to equal nothing short of brilliance.  People from the future (we pity you) will look back at marvel at these talents collaborating on what each album has become: a once in a lifetime opportunity, which will stand the test of time

Damon Albarn had finally cracked America, and we were better for it.  The Gorillaz’ first tour in 2002 was a rawkin, yet curious hocus pocus act, featuring incredible theatrics and toons, but left many a concertgoer befuddled and remote from the musicians, since they played the entire show behind a sheet in silhoutte.  Then came the landmark residency shows in Manchester and at the famed Apollo Theater, but 10 masterful shows in total isn’t really reaching your entire audience.  That was a mistake Albarn & Co wouldn’t let happen again, as their latest jaunt to support Plastic Beach is a global one, including multiple stops all over our country

And so, how is the show?  Uh, we saw Roger Waters’ can’t miss Wall show earlier in the week, and our early collected thoughts have the Plastic Beach extravaganza topping it!  Yes!!!!!!!  Sure, the other stops won’t include Lou Reed, Mos Def or Cibo Matto’s Miho Hatori reprising her Noodle ways, but that won’t make the show any less memorable or can’t can’t can’t can’t miss.  This show cannot be missed cause this show will never exist as it is again.  Ferrer, Turner and Dennis Hopper are all dead, and can no longer monkey around with Albarn on stage.  We hope and pray for the long life of Bobby Womack, but lettuce juss say you won’t be able to here him belt out ‘Stylo’ in 30 years time.  Also, how often will Clashers Mick Jones and Paul Simonon play together again, and with Albarn, and with the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble!!!!  O M GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blur was never big enough to play Madison Square Garden, and probably never will (booooooooo!!  although we’re glad we saw em at Hyde Park last summer), but the Gorillaz are, and they did, and even if the show wasn’t sold out, they owned the place and everyone’s attention in it.  Sure, not everyone was digging Def’s ‘Sweepstakes’ entry, but as we left da Garden, heading to the usual White Castle afterparty, people couldn’t help but shout ‘SWEEEEEEPSTAKES!!!!!!!!!’  We’re still screaming it

Gawd bless you Damon Albarn.  Now figure out a way to get Graham, Alex and Dave to the Garden Party

setlist

Orchestral Intro
Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach
19/2000 (with Miho Hatori)
Last Living Souls
Stylo (with Bobby Womack)
On Melancholy Hill
Rhinestone Eyes
Superfast Jellyfish (with De La Soul)
Tomorrow Comes Today
Some Kind of Nature (with Lou Reed)
Empire Ants (with Yukimi Nagano)
Dirty Harry (with Bootie Brown)
El Mañana
White Flag (with Bashy)
To Binge (with Yukimi Nagano)
DARE (with Rosie Wilson)
Glitter Freeze
Sweepstakes (with Mos Def)
Plastic Beach

Encore
Cloud of Unknowing (with Bobby Womack)
Feel Good Inc. (with De La Soul)
Clint Eastwood (with Bashy)
Don’t Get Lost In Heaven
Demon Days

more pictures

+ watch the Gorillaz’ 44 minute triumph on Live On Letterman

Fran Healy
City Winery
Rocktober 7th

We wined, he shined.  He being Fran Healy of Travis fame, and of being the newly (hopefully only temporary) solo artist behind a mos eggsalad album, which was released this past week.  He played the songs from said album (they sounded juss as good! even if Neko Case was a no show for their duet), tossed in some Travis classics (‘Love Will Come Through’, ‘My Eyes’), and even took requests from the sometimes rowdy, sometimes subdued crowd (we were too far in the back to scream for the ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ cover).  We’ve now seen him and the boys, him and juss Andy, and now juss him alone, and honestly, one doesn’t rule over the other, cause they all rule!  Hell, we’d see him play underwater, in sign language, on Uranus!

Fran will be supporting Brandon Flowers on some solo dates next month!

bonus: peep this hot youtube clip he shared with everyone!

Roger Waters: The Wall Live
Madison Square Garden
Rocktober 5th

TEAR DOWN THE WALL!!!!!

ON SECOND THOUGHT, DON’T, EVERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!  KEEP BUILDING THEM, ROGER WATERS!!!! ON STAGE AFTER STAGE, CITY AFTER CITY, UNTIL YOUR RESTLESS 67 YEAR OLD LITTLE HEART IS TIRED OF DOING SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!  IT’S BEEN A LIFELONG DREAM TO SEE THE WALL PERFORMED IN ITS ENTIRETY LIVE AND WHAT YOU PULLED OFF LAST NITE AT DA GARDEN WAS NOTHING SHORT OF A DREAM COME TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TRULY AND REALLY AND SINCERELY, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU MR WATERS!!!!!!

There was no David Gilmour (guess this wasn’t that one lucky show) or Pink (he wasn’t well, he stayed back at the hotel), but Roger and the sent along surrogate band brought The Wall to life in a moist spectacular fashion (juss like he did with his Dark Side of the Moon tour, which we saw twice! but this was even more spectacular!!!), combining elements of the original 1980 tour, the 1982 Alan Parker film and some new dazzling theatrics!!!!!  It was more than just a big arena concert, and more than just an ultra-elaborate stage production that bests any piece of theater playing 8 blocks north on Broadway!!!  It was an experience like NONE OTHER, and once Mr Waters departs this earth (unless we find the cure to death soon!), there won’t be another chance to experience this, so do whatever you have to do to see this show as it tours the globe, 9REALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Price shouldn’t be a factor, cause this sh$t is PRICELESSSSSSSS$$$SSSS!!!!!!  We plan on seeing this show at least once more, if not 1383838 times more!!!  ANOTHER BESTNESS IN THE WALL PART III!!!!  COMFORTABLY FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mo photos from Jonathan Bayer

Rock The Bells
Governors Island
August 28th

Bells were rocked at Rock The Bells, and sometimes they weren’t rocked at all, this past Saturday on Shutter Island.  Was it all a 7 layer dream, or was DiCaprio the killa bee on the swarm?????  What are we talkings about?  Dunno.  It was a hazy shade of a summer day out there on that isle, where we stayed awhile and did Coke in the Coke Den

no silly, it was the kind of Coke that you dranks, not that powdery shit you put up your nose that does nothing but keep you up til 6am and makes yer jaw twitch more than that dude’s head in Jacob’s Ladder

check out these other hot photos of Coked up Bells Rockaszzz

Boy oh boyzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!  Slick Rick was slick AND Rick.  KRS-One was like KRS-2.  Rakim paid us in full.  Jedi Mind Tricks didn’t work on us.  THOSE AREN’T THE DROIDS WE WERE LOOKING FOR!!!  Maybe these two were the ones we were looking for…

Lauryn Hill’s set was an absolute mess, but think that had more to do with the fact that she used a live band to support her jams and that band sounded like scooby DOO-DOO POOP POOP.  Very disappointing, but at least she showed up (late), as opposed to snot at all, like she did in MD yesterday (stop making excuses Talib).  No worries dun sun, cause Tribe Called Quest KICKED IT, YES THEY CANS.  No doubtttles they dids!!!!!!!!!!  5ft assasin wit the ruff neck bidness, and then the Clan took to the stage and we all screamed PROTECT YA NECK, cause our necks were so rockings the bells from THEIR AWESOMENESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!  think we’ve now seen em in concert like 5 times and everytime it’s like water for chocolate and a touch of heaven and a touch of mink!!! WU-TANG 5EVAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!  we skipped Snoop cause West Coast is the durst coast and Nate Dogg wasn’t there and we had to escape Stutter Island before the movie got too out of hand

here’s a gross and phillaic and sugar coated image of me and Joe E Tätä Esq for your indigestion…

DINNER OF CHAMPIONS!!!!!!

Perv-e-us-lee on Bells Del Rock:
2008, La Di Da Di We Like To Party Like It’s 1992-1995