Random Music Talk CXXIX: Gump attends a concert

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On the other side, I find it hard to fathom St. Vincent being bigger than Spoon, :lol:. Seems like a fair double-billing to me. I've seen plenty of them at the Bowl and most of the time everyone does the same length set.

I have now almost completely rescheduled all of my concerts from 2020. Beach Fossils/Wild Nothing don't go on sale until Friday and I have my new tickets to Cruel World (which has almost the exact same lineup, but is now not until summer 2022). The only show that hasn't been rescheduled yet is House of Love. Unfortunately, the band broke up during quarantine, so now it's just going to be one member and a bunch of other people, but I think I'll still go.
 
What are you basing Spoon being bigger than St Vincent on? I don't think that's the case at all, I would say the opposite is far more true.

Man, I wish we were getting concerts back too (well, we are, but only Aussie artists really). What are the covid protocols gonna be for these shows? Will you all be seated? Have to wear masks? Limited capacity? Or because most of you are vaccinated it's all sweet?

I am listening to Phenomenal Overview on Nature and it's gorgeous. Very cinematic. It's cool seeing how Kaputt still influences.
There aren't really any remaining Covid restrictions here. Everything's open and places aren't requiring masks if you're vaccinated.
 
Here's the rules for California, as pertains to concerts:
Mega-events
Mega-events are indoor events with 5,000 or more people and outdoor events with 10,000 or more people. This includes events like:

  • Conventions, conferences, and expos
  • Concerts, shows, and nightclubs
  • Sporting events
  • Live events and entertainment
  • Fairs, festivals, and parades
  • Theme parks, amusement parks, and water parks
  • Large private events or gatherings
  • Large races, marathons, and endurance events
  • Car shows
For indoor events with 5,000 or more people, attendees must confirm proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 status in order to attend.

For outdoor events with 10,000 or more people, it is recommended that attendees confirm proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 status in order to attend.

All attendees must follow CDPH’s Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings. These public health requirements and recommendations will be reviewed and reevaluated no later than September 1, 2021.
 
That being said, the concerts I am attending are all next year, so I don't really have a clue what the rules will be by then.

EDIT: Oops, Wild Nothing is in November.
 
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the thundercat concert says on the ticketmaster page that the limit is 2,500 and it's an open floor, but the venue is brand new so i have no idea if that's full capacity. nothing else is mentioned about covid restrictions but by then it'll be months since i've been fully vaccinated so it won't matter to me either way. if they tell me at the door to wear a mask, cool. if not then i won't.

i'm really pleasantly surprised that american artists are booking shows in canada already. i figured we wouldn't get anyone crossing the border until at least next year.
 
What are you basing Spoon being bigger than St Vincent on? I don't think that's the case at all, I would say the opposite is far more true.

Well, they've been around for 25 years, for one. I don't have a lot of hard numbers but I'm pretty sure they've sold more albums on average (Ga x 5 sold over 300,000 in the USA alone), and I suspect they've headlined more festivals and tours than she has.

Spoon is about as big an indie band could get without totally breaking through to the mainstream, along the lines of Wilco or The National. They had a minor hit with The Underdog which has already been used on the soundtrack of 5 different films and I don't know that St. Vincent has had a particular track that registered as much culturally.

To put it another way, St. Vincent is just more of a niche artist. She's artsier. she's weirder, she doesn't follow traditional song structures. Spoon has a somewhat left-of-conventional approach but they're not that strange

So I don't know why it's such a shock to say she's more obscure. Maybe not in Hollywood, but that's its own universe.

The vaccine rollout in Australia has been a fucking joke.

At least you guys are killing it with the mouse rollout!

too soon?
 
I feel like the Spoon crowd is older than St Vincent's these days, and less likely to go to a concert? So a double bill is kind of fair.

I'm so looking forward to seeing concerts again. I have Sleater-Kinney/Wilco (another double bill) in August, Waxahatchee in Oct, and The Weather Station in Jan. The Spoon concert here sold out before I made up my mind, but I might try to grab a ticket off stub hub closer to the date. And thinking about Japanese Breakfast in October too.
 
Spoon may be more established but St Vincent gets more press/hype. The order of the bill is no surprise. Seems like money well spent regardless.
 
I feel like the Spoon crowd is older than St Vincent's these days, and less likely to go to a concert?



The Spoon concert here sold out before I made up my mind

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Well, both of them sell out concerts all the time. Just saying that popularity and longevity do not necessarily translate into who has the hottest ticket. Spoon selling out a 1,800-capacity venue in the old-with-children hipster part of Brooklyn for one night a few weeks after the shows were put on sale is hardly a measure of popularity. Japanese Breakfast, for example, added not one but two additional nights to accommodate the demand in the same venue, and she is a much more niche artist.

Also, St. Vincent is actually touring for a new album, whereas Spoon is touring for...their best of?
 
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They both rule and I'm going to have a great time at my first concert since Destroyer last February.
 
This Britney Spears situation is disturbing to say the least.

Its way beyond f'ed up that a nearly 40 year old adult is having so much of her life controlled.
I'd assumed it was just finances, which is bad enough, but seems its a lot more than that.
They are forcing her to keep an IUD in place?
I mean if that's true that's some crazy Orwellian shit.
 
I can’t imagine they’re legally not capable of forcing her to have an IUD. Probably more like a clause where if she has another child she loses all of her money. At least, I hope they can’t legally force her to do something like that.
 
Its way beyond f'ed up that a nearly 40 year old adult is having so much of her life controlled.
I'd assumed it was just finances, which is bad enough, but seems its a lot more than that.
They are forcing her to keep an IUD in place?
I mean if that's true that's some crazy Orwellian shit.



I was shocked when I read that. And legal control over whether she can or cannot marry? Is this freaking Gilead?
 
This is why I try not to think too much about it, though, because we're hearing a lot from Britney, but I don't know enough about why her father was granted conservatorship in the first place. She's allegedly had so many breakdowns, I can understand in a sense why she would be put in this position, especially with how badly things could go with the access to funds and people who want to take them from her, potentially.

It's a sticky situation and she's such a public figure it's hard not to want to side with her because what we're hearing sounds so awful.
 
I laughed at Pink Floyd and Roger Waters playing separate dates a month and a half apart. Also, Roger solo was big enough to play the Garden by himself? OK!

Knowing what I know now, Bowie would have to be one of the two, even if Never Let Me Down is crappy. It will always hurt that I never got to see him. The other would probably be U2 because Joshua Tree is a classic and that was a bastardized version of Pink Floyd. The Cure would be right up there, but I'm not a big fan of the album they were touring that year.
 
Saw this on Twitter

View attachment 12891

U2 and Bowie?
Getting SUPER analytical with my answer here. And making some assumptions.

If I KNOW that David Bowie is going to keep touring for the next 13 years and the choice is to see him tour this album or Heathen, I would pass on the Bowie show because of what album he's touring.

If I DON'T know that Bowie keeps touring, it's tempting.

Whether I know the future or not, the U2/Pogues bill is too good to pass up.

My second choice would actually very likely be Bryan Adams / The Hooters. I'm more into a lot of these opening act gigs and all of my favorite artists are touring some of my lesser favorites of theirs.

Tom hadn't released his two best albums yet. Erasure hadn't released some of their best music yet, plus I'm not sure I like that billing with DD.

Tina Turner / Wang Chung is probably too hard to pass up, though, now that I Think about it.

So yeah, U2/Pogues & Tina Turner/Wang Chung has to be it.
 
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I think my next choice might be Depeche Mode. That was the same tour they filmed Depeche Mode 101 from the Rose Bowl. That would have been a fun tour to see them on.
 
I just went and found some video from the MSG show, there's a bunch of good footage of it. Fun times, this is one of the broken arm shows.
 
Tina Turner / Wang Chung is probably too hard to pass up, though, now that I Think about it.

So yeah, U2/Pogues & Tina Turner/Wang Chung has to be it.

Ha I'd be down for Wang Chung. I think they were pretty big in '87. My older sister had that album (Mosaic) and we took a trip that summer to Disneyland. I have distinct memories of Wang Chung playing over and over in the car as I experienced seeing southern California for the first time.
 
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I agree with Ashley's thinking. If this is the only chance I have to see Bowie, sure (I never did get to see him because I was in Europe while the A Reality Tour was in the US). But if not, I'd wait until a better era. Hell, I'd even see Bowie/Nine Inch Nails over this.

I actually did see Iron Maiden in 1987 (at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago) so I don't have to consider that as an option. Amazing show. But I would have preferred seeing the previous Powerslave tour which was famously documented with a live album and video release.

I was thinking about Madonna, but she was still touring True Blue/Who's That Girl since Like A Prayer wasn't until 1989. If we were talking that later Blonde Ambition tour, I'd be picking that, easily, as in real life I didn't see Madonna until the Hard Candy tour.

Depeche Mode and The Cure are two acts I did see in the early 90s, so I'm not totally desperate here, but as Utah said, DM was touring Music For the Masses which was pretty major. The Cure also touring a big album with Kiss Me x3. And I'd give them the nod over DM just because of the musicianship, they are a towering live act. Also, get a load of this setlist:
Eyemou (Intro film)
The Kiss
Torture
All I Want
A Japanese Dream
Catch
Just Like Heaven
Hot Hot Hot!!!
If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
Like Cockatoos
The Walk
In Between Days
How Beautiful You Are...
The Perfect Girl
The Snakepit
A Forest
Fight

Encore:
Close to Me
Let's Go to Bed

Encore 2:
One More Time
Charlotte Sometimes
Shiver and Shake

Encore 3:
Three Imaginary Boys
Primary
Boys Don't Cry
Why Can't I Be You?

That's insane. Most of the new album (which Ashley wouldn't like) but also a Murderer's Row of classics.


So my answer is either U2/Bowie or U2/The Cure.
 
Also should tip my hat because there are a number of other great shows at MSG that year. Paul Simon touring Graceland, Eddie Murphy at his peak, Petty, and while I'm not into them, Yes and Rush probably put on great performances.

And you have to be impressed that Grateful Dead was still doing 4-night stands at a venue that large.
 
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