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Derek Bailey and Milo Fine at the Flim Flam Club London..... I had wanted to see Bailey forever, and when I finally did he was as amazing as I would've hoped. When Fine was on drums their level of interplay was amazing.
Alan Wilkinson, Steve Noble, and Marcio Mattos at the Flim Flam..... Total fire breathing free jazz. it brought to mind the Hession/Wilkinson/Fell Trio but this trio might of been even more impressive in that great tradition of energetic noise. Seeing Wilkinson doubled over blowing his guts out into a barritone sax is exhilarating.
High On Fire/ Mastodon at Underworld in London..... Mastodon destroyed the room. Most of the crowd was there for High on Fire, but Mastodon kicked them off the stage. Controlled chaos, and the most rock I've ever heard live; my ears rang for a couple of days.
The OOPS Tour w/the Flying Luttenbachers, Erase Eratta, Locust, Lightning Bolt, and Arab on Radar in Minneapolis, Minnesota..... All the bands were excellent, and it was one of the noisiest shows I've been to. The Flying Luttenbachers were a crushing weight of sound (I read later that the this show was their best and loudest on tour), and Arab On Radar buzzed out their magnificent coked out blues.
The Boredoms in Minneapolis for the Vision Creation New Sun tour..... Just amazing, the energy put out was immense. Tremendous hypnotic drumming, and Eye jumping off stacks of amplifiers to pounce on the microphone like some dreadlocked rabid animal.
From Ashes Rise and Born Dead Icons in a basement in Menominee, Wisconsin.... Both bands rocked in that dirty, angry, and very punk way. One of the greatest basement shows I've ever been to. I saw From Ashes rise again in some club a month ago and they had little power. They need a basement and bunch of drunk crusties in order for their darkness to fully erupt.
Ex-Models with a couple of shit London bands I don't remember..... Possibly it was because the other bands were so god awful and the Ex-Models were so great that this was an awesome show. They were more energetic than any punk band I've ever seen. All the guitars had broken strings by the end of the set; and I had to run to catch the last tube home.
Sunny Day Real Estate in Chicago sometime before their last LP.... Just beautiful. I'm not hestitant I like them despite all the "emo" bull shit thrown about when mentioning them. This show was absolutely amazing, Jeremy Enigk's (or however you spell his name) voice was desperately powerful.
Evan Parker, Steve Beresford, Mark Sanders, and John Edwards at the Vortex.... This show was probably a pretty average show for Evan Parker(which most would say is great), but it was the first time I saw him play with a standard group and I had been wanting to see him play in a more improvised jazz setting for a long time. It ended up encompassing all of what I like about English free improv- A wealth of ideas, and energy, while not simply making as much noise as possible. Beautiful, intense, and thoughtful. I loved every minute of it. |
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