What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: Dr. Dog Live: A Three Part Perspective - Part 1

So, Darren, Rob, our new Columnist Eric and a few of Rob's friends all went to The Bluebird last night to see the one and only Dr. Dog play to a pretty packed house. Since all three of our core Bloggers/Columnists were there we decided that we could do sort of a three part perspective of the show. There were two opening bands, one of which I had seen before and another which I was unfamiliar with. The evening started with Darren, Eric and I getting there and hour before doors and accidentally wandering in on soundcheck ... it was pretty cool. So, we went and got dinner at Union Station (I had an Asiago Cheese Bagel Dog from Einstein's Brothers). By the time we made it back to the venue things were starting to look pretty lively and we found a place to sit on a nice comfy couch where we spent most of the evening. The first opener was Marlow Honey, which sounded a whole lot like Kings of Leon, even moreso when they played a cover of The Bucket, they were pretty good and had some fun originals and I would like to see where they are in like 5 years. Next up was The Feed, who I saw at Off Broadway at an all covers night (they were The Clash and who I coincedentally saw at the last Dr. Dog show last year), They are an incredibly unique band that is a ton of fun to watch and even more fun to relax and listen to. The crowd at The Bluebird was a whole lot of fun and was rather diverse. And when Dr. Dog hit the stage it was time to stand up and move around a little bit. They put together a really tight set, taking into account that their second lead singer and bassist Toby Leaman suffered an injury to the throat prior to the tour beginning and is under doctors orders not to sing thought it didn't stop him from doing just a little bit of back up singing. The show was peppered with really memorable songs from previous albums as well as some great tracks from the new one. I haven't sought out seeing a band live a second time all that often, Ours, Man Man, Citizen Cope, The Bureau, and now Dr. Dog, I only really care to see a band live a second time if I really enjoyed the first time I saw them. One of the most frustrating things about most concerts is that most venues don't understand how to properly mix the audio and you can't hear the vocals of the band and so a majority of the enjoyment of the experience is lost. However Bluebird is clearly run by people who know how to make a concert a much more engaging experience The mix on the audio levels were perfect and despite being a small venue abd there being a large crowd it never felt claustrophobic like some other small venues can become. If anything can be gleaned from this experience it is that Dr. Dog is a band worthy of going to see more than once and even more than twice, and that The Bluebird is an absolutely fantastic addition the the Saint Louis Concert Venue Scene. Just remember, We all Belong.

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: Trying to Tune in to Radio Heads

So, Rob called me out (technically he called Darren out too but Darren doesn't have a functioning keyboard right now so I guess it is up to me). Yeah, last week Darren and I and a group of our mutual friends went out to see Radiohead, live, at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater ... and despite the performances being amazing, and the set list being stellar I just couldn't enjoy myself. Every song was awesome. The stage was beautiful, couldn't have been a nicer night to go to a concert outside ... but. What this show did, in all it's magnificence and glory, was show me just how much I hate (HATE) big concert venues. Everyone on the stage was like a centimeter tall, all these people kept moving through the crowd, the ground was still a little wet from the previous night's rain, there was an abundance of smoke (of both kinds) in the air, it was the last thing I want from a concert. When I go to a show I like to be able to sit down and enjoy something resembling an intimate experience with the band I have paid my hard earned money to see. But none of that was to be had. When I go to shows at The Pageant, The Creepy Crawl, The Blue Note, The Duck Room, The Billiken Club, hell even at The Red Sea ... I feel like I am in the same headspace as the crowd and the artist and the music itself. When I go to big venue shows I barely feel like I am in the same Zip Code ... but that's just me. I understand that there is no other way to see Radiohead anymore ... I understand that I could have paid more money and possibly have been closer ... I understand, trust me ... it doesn't mean I have to like it though. And as much as I appreciate Radiohead shucking the man off their back and releasing their record themselves and doing it in such a way as to be the opening shot in the revolution (Even though Harvey Danger did it first) against the way that music has been made available to the masses I still don't think that gives them the right to charge $40 for a t-shirt ...

But anyway.