Archive: 2009

After The Fiery Furnaces left the stage on Veteran’s Day, I couldn’t help but think that their live show wasn’t what I had imagined going in, only slightly familiar with their catalog. With their latest studio work featuring rollicking keyboard-laden, post-modern soundscapes that allow singer Eleanor Friedberger to be the group’s centerpiece, I assumed there would be someone behind the ivories at some point. However, as The Fiery Furnaces took the stage at The Magic Bag on November 11th, their set up was noticeably stripped down. Not to say this is a bad thing.

The duo of siblings Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger, were joined by bassist Jason Lowenstein and drummer Bob D’Amico. Signature keyboard lines were taken by Matthew on guitar, who was armed with merely one effect pedal to add select noise to his vintage telecaster. Eleanor’s voice, which laid so heavily over the layers of sound on the last record I’m Going Away, was occasionally lost in the energy of the power trio thrashing away behind her.

The choice to replace studio keyboard work with guitar made for some unique and different interpretations. The opening Rub-Alcohol Blues replaced the calming, smooth keyboard backing with prickly guitar pings from Matthew. On other songs, Matthew’s guitar added some extra speed as he punched out riffs on songs like Keep Me In The Dark, which was given a shot of energy. The trio of instruments stripped the songs down to their bare bones, and on occasion it caused a few of them to blend together, sounding very similar. D’Amico and Lowenstein created a throttling rhythm section for Matthew to accent. The short set was complete with an encore featuring a few crowd requests as Eleanor sheepishly said, “We’ve got a lot of songs under our belt, so hopefully we can make someone happy…” as a fan screamed for “Japanese Slippers.”

READ ON for more of Pietro’s photos and thoughts…

As we previously reported, during their swing through California earlier this summer Wilco stopped by Beck’s recording studio to lend a hand to his Record Club project – which has already featured albums by The Velvet Underground and Leonard Cohen. For the third installment, the combo took on Skip Spence’s cult masterpiece Oar. Here’s Beck, […]

Kinks founder Ray Davies, one of the most underrated rock and rollers around, will visit The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS this Wednesday. Davies, who recently appeared with Metallica at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concerts at Madison Square Garden, will play two shows at NYC’s Town Hall on […]

MuteMath performing at Amos Southend in Charlotte, NC on November 7th, 2009.

The drama between lead singer Steven Tyler and the rest of his Aerosmith band mates exploded this past week. As of press time we’re still unsure as to whether Steven Tyler is still in the band he helped form. We thought Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry had kissed and made up when the mercurial vocalist […]

Dan Deacon has had to cancel the remainder of his US tour after being hospitalised with back problems. The Maryland musician who as been touring in support of his latest album ‘Bromst’, has got acute sciatica which this week has worsened leading to his hospitalisation. "On wednesday evening the pain had come to a peak," […]

Carbon/Silicon have announced they are giving away their latest album. Called ‘The Carbon Bubble’, the album was made available after midnight (November 14), with the cover artwork and booklet also going up on the band’s website for fans to download. This isn’t the first time the former Clash man and his band have given away […]

The leader of a western Pennsylvania church is settling a federal lawsuit by pulling the plug on jam band concerts he says were religious services. William Pritts sued Fayette County in 2006, saying zoning restrictions that stopped the concerts years before violated the religious freedom of his Church of Universal Love and Music. The church […]

The Avett Brothers have  confirmed several months full of performing dates running well into2010 as the band continues to support its recent major-label debut. Tour Dates December 200930 – Knoxville, TN – Tennessee Theatre31 – Asheville, NC – Thomas Wolfe Auditorium January 20101 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre3 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater […]

No live recordings can truly capture the cumulative effect of the famed festival, but these five selections illustrate the range of performance from brilliant to mediocre.