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Archive: May, 2009
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Uplifting and melancholy
Headlining ain't all it's cracked up to be. By the time Norwegian guitar-pop group I Was a King hit the stage at the M Room on Thursday, it was almost midnight. The healthy throng that turned out for the prior band, locals The Elevator Parade, had thinned to 20 people at best. Nevertheless the band delivered a respectable performance, full of guitar crunch and energetic drums.
I Was a King occupy a noteworthy spot in the current musical landscape; with their mix of Dinosaur Jr. and The Apples in Stereo, they come very close to willing the catchier end of '90s indie rock back into existence. On their new, sophomore self-titled album (The Control Group), the hooks come fast; most songs end satisfactorily around the two-minute mark. At the M-Room, the band tore through songs like 'Golden Years,' 'Make it Clear' and a closing cover of Guided by Voices' 'Your Name is Wild' with gusto and aplomb. Frontman Frode Str'mstads' look is a little bit Dwight Schrute, a little bit Billy Bob Thornton in A Simple Plan.
But there's always that one song; the song you came for. The title of 'Norman Bleik' is a hilariously nerdy Teenage Fanclub joke ' a reference to Fanclub member Norman Blake, who wrote their classic 'Neil Jung.' 'Norman Bleik' the song is a perfect slam of buoyant melody; uplifting and melancholy in an intangible way. It was the sixth song of I Was a King's set on Thursday. If I were them, I would add it nearer the end; this is a song they should be building to in their live show. Alternately, they could play the song over and over again for the whole set.
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| Photo by benmistak.com |
| Sweat Heart (the kickers) |
4:30 Sir Charles Latham
5:15 Parsnip Revolt
6:00 Social Hall
6:45 Twisted Kites (R.E.M. cover band!)
7:30 Bloody Catholics
8:15 Audible (See CP's recent interview!)
9:00 Sweat Heart
And have you seen Liberty Lands recently? Beautiful. Permanent stage, too. Beer and cups for the fest provided by Philly Brewing Company. No rain date is currently given, which is either delusional or optimistic given this great festival's long history of not-so-great weather.
Sat., June 6, 3 p.m., free in No-Libs' luxurious Liberty Lands Park, Third and Wildey sts.
Admit it, you want want more from this week's Movies section.
Sam Raimi's return to horror Drag Me to Hell didn't screen in time for publication but that didn't stop the impenatrable Shaun Brady. Here's what he had to say on the matter:
Drag Me to Hell - C+
Sam Raimi may be returning to his genre roots with Drag Me to Hell, but he does so in the manner of someone rolling up to the ramshackle family farm in a stretch limo. As giddy as the Fangoria crowd may be that this isn't another Spider-Man sequel, Raimi hasn't left comic books behind ' he's simply switched imprints, from Marvel to EC. At the same time, he's taking a winking look back at '40s-vintage Universal and RKO horrors, seemingly unaware that Val Lewton atmospherics and the cruel humor of Tales from the Crypt are wholly incompatible. The scare tactics ' gypsy curses, horned demons, creeping shadows ' come wrapped in quotation marks, not witty enough to be satire, too self-aware to actually be frightening, and therefore ineffective even as homage. The whole thing peaks far too early, with a fight sequence in a car involving a stapler and some loose dentures, but the pace slackens after that, lingering for long, dull stretches on the simpering leads (Alison Lohman and Justin Long), punctuated intermittently by gross-out setpieces that diminish in impact and eventually feel like Raimi simply quoting himself (down to a floating demon dancing a brief Bruce Campbell shuffle). Hopefully this is proof enough that an Evil Dead 4 would be a very bad idea.
See movie showtimes and buy tickets here.
Pixar's movies usually tug delicately at the heartstrings but Up opens with a headlong lunge in their direction. Carl Fredericksen, initially voiced by Jeremy Leary, is an awkward, earthbound tot obsessed with the newsreel adventures of a Zeppelin-borne explorer. While playing airship with the aid of a single bright blue balloon, he encounters Ellie (Elie Docter), an equally gangly, equally obsessed girl, who has transformed an abandoned house into a make-believe aircraft of her own. The montage that follows compresses an entire life into a matter of minutes, from a youthful flirtation to marriage, pregnancy, adulthood and old age, including Ellie's miscarriage and her eventual death. Keep reading'
Pixar has a track record for making movies marketed toward children, so the idea of a septuagenarian being able to hold a young theater-goer's attention is a daunting one. So Docter and Rivera simply tried to make him as funny and relatable as possible. "We've done it with mice ' well, rats, which is even more extreme. Bugs and fish and monsters and all that other stuff, so why not a man?" says Docter, who adds that Carl is modeled after the likes of ultimate curmudgeon Walter Matthau and Spencer Tracy (the likeness to the latter is uncanny). Rivera calls Carl the "greatest hits of our grandfathers."
Movie Shorts
Enlighten Up - B
Rudo Y Cursi - B-
7 a.m.'8 a.m.
The real question is: what don't you know about Tony?
Featuring: A lot of shooting but not enough closure.
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It's light out all at the airport all of a sudden. Kim and Renee are freaking out about finding Jack.
Speaking of Jack, he is currently squeezing his way under a partially closed garage door so he can hide from Tony. Aw, remember when Tony was sliding under a garage door to SAVE Jack in season 4? This Tony simply shoots at Jack, but Jack manages to close the door. Jack sees some road flares and some spilled gasoline, and he desperately tries to pull a Bill Buchanan (weep). Tony gets in and stops him, though, knocking him out.
Aaron and Ethan go to Livs' office and play her the damning recording. She is all googly-eyed about Aaron knowing her secret. Livs cries and tries to bribe everyone, but Ethan says the president has to decide what to do now.
Tony cuffs Jack to a fence in the warehouse, and Jack tries to talk Tony out of his terroristic ways. Most of all, though, Jack wants to die in peace instead of being used as a big exploding pathogen. Tony says that he has no intention of launching the Jack Attack. And here we finally get Tony's (somewhat predictable) endgame: it's not about terrorism; it's about Michelle. Turns out Alan Wilson was the guy who ordered David Palmer's assassination and then gave death orders for Michelle. Tony argues that he was doing fine, using Bill and Chloe to get to Wilson, but Jack screwed everything up. Jack tells Tony to eff off, and reminds him that he killed tons of innocent people in this screwed up revenge fantasy. Tony informs Jack of his real plan: Jack will meet Alan whilst strapped up with C4. Tony will detonate Jack, and Alan Wilson will die. Jack is not thrilled with this plan. He ignores his impending explosion long enough to give an awesomely gravely delivery of the line: 'you're not honoring Michelle's life. You're reveling in her death, and she would despise you for it.' You speak the truth, Jack Bauer.
Tony leaves Jack all C4'ed up and goes to talk to Cara. Cara informs him that Alan Wilson doesn't know about Cara being Tony's special lady friend, and that they should keep it that way. Oh, Cara, the real question is: what don't you know about Tony?
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Alan Wilson rolls up with tons of cars and guards. The guards search Tony and Cara, but let Tony keep his cell phone, which he clings to so eagerly that they probably should have realized it is a detonator. Cara is allowed to approach Wilson, and she kisses him on the cheek in a way that makes one wonder if she is his girlfriend or his kid sister. The guards bring out Jack, and Tony gets ready to text 'detonate' from his phone. Right at the last minute, though, we hear a helicopter and the FBI, led by Renee, comes blazing in yelling, 'you're surrounded, drop your weapons!' The head security guard responds to this demand by telling his men to 'fire at will.' Oops. It's like the airport all over again. There's shooting, fighting, and Tony sets off a big explosion, though not the one that includes Jack and his infected organs. Gagged Jack starts seizing and runs off into a corner. Renee goes super badass and hangs off of a car shooting, then does a nice roll off of the moving vehicle. Nice, Renee! She finds Jack and immediately disarms his bomb. She is earning her paycheck today, people. Jack tells her they have to keep Tony from killing Alan and ruining any chance of finding out about the rest of the conspirators.
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Inside the warehouse, Alan and Cara run into Tony. Cara lovingly expresses her happiness that Tony is ok, and Tony responds by shooting her point blank in the chest. Clearly you were no Michelle, Cara. Tony holds Alan at gunpoint and indulges in his own Inigo Montoya moment: 'Hello, my name is Tony Almeida. You killed my wife and unborn son. Prepare to die.' There's a lot of crying and spitting. Let's give Carlos Bernard an Emmy! Just as Tony goes to shoot Alan, Renee appears and shoots him. Tony keeps trying to get to Alan, so Jack shoots him in the hand. Ouch. Tony is dragged off by officers, while he screams at Jack for siding with a government that, arguably, has been less than nice to him. He even insinuates that Jack failed Teri's memory. Yikes. Jack collapses. Alan is arrested.
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Renee goes up to Alan and tells him that a lot of people died today because of him. She tries to convince him that the only way to avoid the death penalty is to spill about the conspiracy, but Alan very coolly tells her there is no conspiracy and no evidence against him. Renee gets her turn to say, 'son of a bitch.'
Jack is prepped to go to the hospital (finally). Renee goes to him and complains that Alan won't talk, and that she knows she can make him talk, but she doesn't know if that's the right thing to do. Oy, more torture talk. Jack wisely suggests that he is not the best example of how one should make ethical decisions, and he reminds Renee that she took an oath as an FBI officer. 'These laws were written by much smarter men than me,' he says. The two share some longing looks and Renee cries.
At the White House, Livs gets Skelehubby out of bed and calls for her mother. The leader of the free world is reduced to tears and a cry of, 'oh, Livvie' as the first daughter tells her parents about the whole murder-for-hire problem. Henry tells the president not to yell at Livs. The whole thing has a weird 'Mom, Dad, I wrecked the car' vibe not at all suited to a discussion about homicide. Skelehubby wants to protect Livs and cover up the murder, and Madame President isn't so sure that's a good idea. Skelehubby snits that the president's job already cost them their son. Tim Woods comes running in with 'good news' from the FBI about Wilson, but everyone is crying and it's very uncomfortable. As the president prepares to leave, Skelehubby warns her that she needs to destroy the recording to save their family.
Janis and Chloe wrap up their time together at the FBI and have a moment of awkward understanding, and Chloe even compliments Janis for not being a total idiot. It's sort of beautiful.
The president weeps over a picture of her family in the Oval Office.
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At the hospital, Dr. Macer tells Jack that the disease is now at an advanced stage, and that all she can do is administer morphine. She tells Jack he has a visitor. We all expect Kim and her crispy arm to come in, but no, it's Jibraan's imam! Apparently Jack called him for a deathbed confessional. 'You don't know what I've done,' Jack tells him. 'We live in complex times, Mr. Bauer. Nothing is black and white,' the imam replies. He and Jack hold hands and pray. It's unbelievably out of character and yet ridiculously moving. 'Thank you, it's time,' Jack says and closes his eyes.
Henry and Livs are waiting for the president's decision. She comes in and takes Livs' hand and kisses everybody a bunch of times. She apologizes for hurting the family, but she says she has to arrest Livs. Yay! Skelehubby is mad and won't speak to the president. Livs just looks sad and still crazy. The president goes out into the hall to have a good cry, and Ethan walks by. He consoles her, telling her that Skelehubby will come around. 'I've lost everyone,' she cries. 'Not everyone,' he says, agreeing to take his job back. You can cut their sexual tension with a knife. It's gross.
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Alan Wilson is waiting in an interrogation room at the FBI. Janis comes in to get Renee to sign his transfer papers, and Renee goes batshit. She handcuffs Janis to a pole and puts her badge down, symbolically getting out of that pesky 'oath' that Jack reminded her she took. Janis tries to stop her, telling her that Larry would not have wanted this. Renee stands in the doorway, looking at Alan, and then goes in to his room and closes the door.
Kim runs into the hospital looking for her daddy. The imam tells her that Jack has accepted his death. Kim says, 'I haven't' and calls Dr. Macer to insist on the stem cell treatment. Next season will be full of hilarious mishaps as Kim's dumbass stem cells wreak havoc on Jack's system. Jack is in a medically-induced coma and Kim goes to sit with him, telling him, 'I'm sorry, Daddy, but I'm not ready to let you go.'
Death Watch:
- Lots of security guards and some FBI agents in the warehouse fight
- Livs' career/relationship with her mother
So, it's over, again, this time with more cliffhangers than usual. Will Renee disembowel Alan Wilson with her bare hands? Will Jack survive the experimental treatment? (Duh.) Will Kim run out of potential dangers and just kidnap herself? What's gonna happen to Tony? Guess we'll have to watch again next year. Sigh.
On their third studio album, the Grizzly is witnessed in a comfortable habitat. Embracing a slightly cleaner production style than 2006's Yellow House, the group's distinct vocal harmonies benefit from an absence of the ambient reverb-laced recording of their previous album. They borrow from folk and Americana, while addressing personal topics such as loss and isolation. At times, Veckatimest is reminiscent of self-titled album frmo their mammal cousins Fleet Foxes. But while the Foxes garner praise for their return-to-roots approach to folk, Grizzly Bear could not sound any more modern on this release ' unless they swapped their guitars for synthesizers.
Full of sweeping melodies and sparse rhythms, the album is a collection of well-crafted, lucid pop songs. The steady slow-strum of the guitar in "Hold Still" sounds like a harp, swaying the track back and forth as if it were a lullaby. Similarly, many of the lyrics use natural imagery to create a parallel to the wavering aural textures. The first line of the album ' "Our haven on the southern point is calling us" ' leads the listener out of civilization and toward a forest; on the track "Dory," the line "We'll swim around like two dories, let loose in the bay" captures the peace of sea.
Even at Veckatimest's heaviest moments, the music is still soothing. On "While You Wait For the Others," the chorus is overwhelming in its dynamic change within the song, but it's still quite moving and delicate after the initial shock. The song is perhaps the defining moment of the album ' it's honest in content and clear in production, but possesses a subtle, ethereal undertone that marks the effort far more clever than your typical indie folk record.
Tue., June 2, 8 p.m., $18-20, with Here We Go Magic, The Troc, 1003 Arch St., 215-922-LIVE.
The "Hell"-town you're referring to is one I know well - Braddock, PA. Once bustling with mill workers, the collapse of the steel industry left it for dead. Many of my Black and white friends live there, most in abject poverty. It looks rough with its industrialized ghosts and Black folks, but most Pittsburgh-area shootings happen elsewhere. If you want Hell, try Centralia, PA, not a city full of poor Black folks - that's Philadelphia.
FYI: http://screenrant.com/weinsteins-altered-the-road-trailer-kofi-10604/#comments
Jack, predictably, kills them all.
6 a.m.-7 a.m.
Featuring: Aaron and Ethan's dynamic crime-solving duo, and yet another attempted Kim-napping.
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We open at the White House, where Livs is lying her face off in her deposition to the Attorney General's office. The AG rep is played by Angela's boyfriend on Who's the Boss (before she realized Tony was her true love). Angela ' Bower? TONY? Just sayin', there's probably absolutely no connection here. Anyhoo, Livs is assured by Angela's ex that this interview is just a formality, but Livs still looks pretty close to pants-crapping territory.
Meanwhile, the president and Tim Woods are talking once again about the Jon Voight leak obviously coming from inside the White House. Tim gets a look on his face that clearly says, 'my money's on your heinous witch of a daughter.' They enter a briefing room so that the president can remind us what happened in the previous 22 episodes. We even get a photo montage behind her, complete with pictures of Juma looking rebellious and Dubaku! looking angry.
Jack is busy trying to get the energy for one last 'I've got to be the bad guy to protect my totally helpless family' moment. In the van with Renee, a Red Shirt agent, and Tony, Jack is told via earpiece by Tony's lady friend, Cara, that now is the time to act. For good measure, she once again threatens Kim.
Speaking of Kim, our gal is still hanging out at the airport with the bad couple who were obviously evil from minute one. The bad husband is forced to turn off his Kim Cam because an old lady needs him to move his computer so she can sit down. Apparently terrorists have a soft spot for old ladies. When bad husband goes to move his stuff, Kim sees a bloody scratch on his neck, a memento from the murder he committed moments ago. Bad wife immediately jumps in with a really dumb story about him getting hit in the neck by a cab door. Kim seems to buy it, though, because she's been injured in much more bizarre ways. Bad husband runs off to call Cara to complain that Kim seems to be on to him (clearly he overestimates her intelligence). Cara tells him to be patient but also to kill Kim if necessary. Can we maybe vote on the necessary part?
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The sharper half of the Bauer family pulls off a seamless transition between calm, helpful Jack and screaming, gun-pointing Jack as he takes Renee, Red Shirt, and the driver (whom Jack actually calls 'driver') hostage. Renee is all, 'am I on Punk'd?' but Jack assures her he is serious by shooting Red Shirt in the leg. He then commands 'Driver' to break off from the motorcade and go into a tunnel. Renee asks Jack why he is doing this, and he actually tries truthtelling for once! Seriously, this is probably the first time in 24 history that Jack just explained to someone why he was acting like a total lunatic. Tony is not pleased to hear Jack spilling the beans about Kim, though, and he tells Jack to shut up. In the tunnel, Cara meets the van and Tony makes Jack handcuff Renee and then himself. Jack tries a classic 'I made it look like I cuffed you but I kept it open just a little so you can escape' trick, but Tony has totally watched all 7 seasons of this show so he goes over and tightens the cuff. Jack whispers to Renee, begging her to save Kim. Tony drags Jack along with him, which surprises Cara. She wants to shoot Jack, but Tony reveals his insidious plan to harvest Jack's organs to make another bioweapon. No, that last part was not a joke.
It's strange to go from this scene directly to a commercial where Kiefer Sutherland narrates about family and friends over cutesy scenes of babies and puppies for Bank of America. 'There's nothing more important than family ' too bad the terrorists are going to make me go around the country coughing on your family members and making them all die terrible deaths.'
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At the White House, we have the triumphant return of Ethan, aka Chief Maybebad, who at this point seems to be definitely good. He is now partnered up with Aaron against Olivia, so that makes him a winner in our book. Aaron wants Chief Nowmostlikelygood to break into his old office and steal a digital recording that probably has incriminating evidence against Livs. Ethan is skeptical, but Aaron says, 'decide if you're going to help me,' and who can resist helping Aaron? In the office, Ethan moves a frame on the wall and reveals a high-tech recording device, complete with fingerprint identification.
Livs finishes her meeting with the Attorney General and runs back to her office while Ethan is still looting. Aaron plays it cool and pretends that he was trying to reach Livs to tell her that Ethan was here, and Ethan lies brilliantly that he was just getting some old files that he left. Despite the two turning in Oscar-worthy performances, Livs is a cold dirty liar and therefore recognizes her own kind. She gives Ethan the boot and then yells at Aaron for letting him in. Alas, mid-lecture she sees the frame Ethan forgot to push completely back on the wall, and she finds the recorder. She bangs on it for a while and Aaron hilariously asks, 'can I get you some help with that?' She orders her minions to arrest Ethan as her eyes verge on catastrophic levels of crazy.
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Now that Renee is free, she calls Kim's gate at the airport and subtly lets Kim know she is danger. Kim, for her part, does a pretty good job of remaining nonchalant, though when Renee tells her that good old Uncle Tony is behind all of these shenanigans, Kim can't avoid looking incredulous. Kim is able to figure out that the couple she has been sitting with is evil, though she figures this out about a week and half after the rest of the world. Bad husband appears over Kim's shoulder to 'make sure everything's ok' (seriously, these terrorists need some training in subtle stalking ' even a dimwit like Kim knows this is not normal behavior), and Kim covers with an awesomely stupid story about leaving her electric toothbrush on in her luggage. Kim gets credit, though, for returning to her airport-gate-seat-of-impending-death and chatting coolly with the couple, even showing bad wife pictures of lil' Teri. Perhaps to end fan speculation, Kim also confirms that lil' Teri is not a bastard child, and the man she spoke to on the phone was indeed her husband. Also, Kim manages to grab a pen from the gate counter before she sits down. That might come in handy.
Renee and Janis have given the order for airport security to gather around Kim's gate, but not to arouse suspicion. This apparently translates into 'approach the gate really obviously with your guns drawn, but walk really slowly.' The bad couple catches on immediately, and bad husband starts to move away while bad wife grabs a knife from her bag. Bad husband says, 'take her' in a really scary way, and all hell breaks loose. Bad husband starts shooting the guards, and bad wife grabs Kim and puts the knife to her throat. Kim channels her dad's spirit and stabs bad wife with the pen. As bad wife staggers away from Kim, the guards shoot her, and bad husband runs away. Kim grabs her cell phone and calls Renee to tell her what is going on, but her cougar-karma kicks in and the cell's battery dies. Kim gives us a 'dammit' worthy of a Bauer and runs off herself after bad husband.
At the White House, Livs has Ethan in custody, where she grills him and then lies to her minions that the president authorized them to search Ethan. They do and find the data card. As they escort Ethan out, Livs breaks the data card in half and looks either relieved or just another shade of crazy. As Ethan is leaving, Aaron catches up with him for a little heart-to-heart. They reveal that the card Livs crushed was empty, and that Aaron was hiding the real card for Ethan. These two totally need to go on a crime-fighting tour or something.
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Tony and Cara take Jack to a warehouse with a creepy doctor waiting for him behind ET-style plastic sheeting. Jack is strapped face down on a table and injected with an anti-seizure med to immobilize him. Tony asks Cara to call Alan Wilson, the head of the Secret Red Dot Society, and ask for Tony to get a promotion for all of the super-evil awesome job skills he has displayed today. Cara is skeptical but Tony gives her lovey eyes and she folds. Creepy doc gives Jack an un-anesthetized spinal tap and Jack starts screaming. Yikes.
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Livs reacts to the news that she was secretly recorded talking to Martin by' calling Martin from the White House. Smart. Martin tells her to chill out since she destroyed the card. OR DID SHE? Ok, we know she didn't so that wasn't very suspenseful, sorry. Tim Woods comes out to tell Livs she is supposed to be in a meeting with her mommy, and he gives her a look that clearly says, 'I think you are such a douche.'
Renee gets to the airport in record time, but she can't kind Kim. This is because Kim is currently huffing and puffing her way around the baggage areas of the airport, following bad husband as he makes his escape. She manages to avoid his notice, despite her occasional grunting noises and the fact that her shoes are really loud. As bad husband runs up to the parking garage, Kim finds two cops and tells them what is happening. She's about 30 seconds too late, though, since bad husband decides to drive through Kim and the cops to get out of the lot. Everyone starts shooting and the cop is shot, but it looks like he will live. Bad husband is shot and his car goes out of control, flips over and starts to burn.
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Kim runs to the burning car and reaches in to grab bad husband's laptop computer. She is pulling it out when bad husband regains consciousness and grabs her arm, Carrie style. Kim fights him off, but not before her arm is set on fire. That's right, folks, we can add 'set on fire' to the list of bizarre things that have happened to Kim Bauer in the course of seven seasons. Renee finds Kim right after she stops, drops, and rolls, and Kim then drops some CTU-analyst science on Renee (in case anyone forgot, Kim had a forgettable career at CTU several seasons back) and tells her that they can use the computer to find bad husband's boss. Renee calls Chloe; Kim looks relieved.
Outside of the White House, Ethan gets in his car and sets up a player he has for the data card. The car, shockingly for this show, does not blow up. The recording, however, blows up any chance Livs had of weaseling her way out of this one. It's hella damning.
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Back at the creepy medical warehouse, creepy doctor tells Tony that Jack is even more virus-filled than they had 'hoped.' That's just mean. Doc explains that they need to extract the virus from his body while he is alive, and that their evil labs can do this easily. Maybe Dr. Macer needs to add the evil labs to her contact list. Cara calls Alan Wilson to beg for him for a meet and greet with Tony. Alan agrees to come to the warehouse in 30 minutes. The creepy docs unstrap Jack right after they push a big tray of scalpels within his reach. Have they ever seen this show? Jack, predictably, kills them all. He busts out of the plastic-wrapped room and out of the building. Tony gets his 'son of a bitch!' moment and then and runs after Jack.
Death Watch:
- 3 creepy doctors
- Bad wife
- Bad husband
- Lots of airport security people
TOMORROW: Part 2!
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| ilovestvincent.com |
"I threw flowers in your face on my sister's wedding day."
St. Vincent's normally sized guitar practically hides her entire sinewy, tiny body. Or so it looks from the back of the First Unitarian Church, where she started Thursday night with Actor's first track, "The Strangers," a dreamy tune that veers into major chords and pop harmonies sometimes, and dark lullaby territory in others. Undoubtedly, it's the album's catchiest song.
I'm never quite sure why bands often don't save the best for last, or at least for middle, but St. Vincent (n'e Annie Clark) has a problem with scheduling the entire night. The band cranks out many of the well-known favorites first, before people are riled up enough to properly enjoy them, and then saves the more dancey songs for the end, at which point we're all stampeding over one another to get to the closest handheld fan.
But these are all minor, nitpicky issues. St. Vincent is perhaps the best performance I've seen all year ' Clark's throaty voice is gentle enough to put a Surge-drinking teen to sleep, her backing band is even more polished in person than it is on record, and their combined stage presence' is perfect: It's straight songs, no talking bullshit most of the time, until the end, when Clark makes funny, dry jokes. "He plays basketball," she says of one of her bandmates. "But only with people 12 and under." In this case, at least, the timing's perfect.
It's also more apparent in person how well the band can transition from one genre to the next. They're playing fantastical, violin-heavy music one second, and dark Led Zep-inspired stoner rock the next ' literally ' and it sounds absolutely flawless. In the midst of doing this, they linger and draw out their classical side more often than they do on their albums, to the point that it almost becomes the length of a jam at times. On Actor and Marry Me, you' definitely know this classical side ' it's an acquaintance, let's say ' but you don't know it well. On the other hand, its cohort ' a bunch of no-nonsense pop melodies ' is something any St. Vincent fan knows well.
After the show, my boyfriend, who had never listened to the band before, has an interesting critique. "It was great, but I think the band sells itself short sometimes," he says. "I wish they would develop their classical side more." Indeed. By making the show better than its albums, the band leaked out a somewhat obscured part of itself. And now I want more. But what I got still left me satisfied.
Nine was simply one of the best musicals ever made. Ever. I converted to Italian after seeing it in New York when it first opened. I've never looked back after that.
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