Random Music Talk CXXIX: Gump attends a concert

[iron yuppie]

I have a hard time thinking of a better greatest hits collection than Madonna's Immaculate Collection.

 

[namkcuR]

I have a hard time thinking of a better greatest hits collection than Madonna's Immaculate Collection.

Thought about it, but...for me, her best work came in the 90s, after that comp. I'd probably take her later "Celebration" comp over it.

 

[lazarus]

I love her 90s work too but Immaculate is just banger after banger and the fact that it's only a 7 year span of recording is insane.

The collection that probably had the biggest impact on me was probably Sly & the Family Stone's Anthology (not to be confused with their shorter Greatest Hits). toI used put that on every time we had people over in college and it never failed to make it a better time. Look at this thing:

1. Dance to the Music
2. M'Lady
3. Life
4. Fun
5. Sing a Simple Song
6. Everyday People
7. Stand!
8. I Want To Take You Higher
9. Don't Call Me N****, Whitey
10. You Can Make It If You Try
11. Hot Fun in the Summertime
12. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
13. Everybody is a Star
14. Family Affair
15. Runnin' Away
16. (You Caught Me) Smilin'
17. Thank You For Talkin' To Me Africa
18. Babies Makin' Babies
19. If You Want Me To Stay
20. Que Sera, Sera

And all that fit on one compact disc.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' greatest hits compilation was my real introduction to their work . I'd been familiar with and liked some of their big hits prior to that, but listening to that compilation was what made me finally go, "I gotta check out these guys further!"

 

[cobl04]

The best greatest hits that come to my mind are Paul Kelly's Songs from the South, Crowded House's Recurring Dream and Pavement's Quarantine the Past.

 

[iron yuppie]

I love her 90s work too but Immaculate is just banger after banger and the fact that it's only a 7 year span of recording is insane.

Yes, and it's compact and moves fluidly, which makes it something you can actually listen to in one sitting. Unlike some of these 2 or 3 disc compilations that are hours long.

 

[phanan]

It’s a good collection but it’s mostly remixes. Give me the originals every day.

 

[the tourist]

The Best of 1980-1990 is my favorite hits collection, but I would put Immaculate and the 1993 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers right next to it.

 

[gump]

So I’m attending my first concert post-pandemic and half an hour into Sleater-Kinney they asked us to shelter in place underneath the stands because a thunderstorm is coming. Lovely. COVID and social anxiety clearly weren’t enough.

 

[iron yuppie]

The thread title has come to fruition.

 

[gump]

Well let’s see. They are calling us back now.

 

[lazarus]

The thread title has come to fruition.

 

[gump]

So this is what happened:

According to the NWS, nearly 4 inches of rain fell Saturday night in Central Park. With 1.94 inches between 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., it was the rainiest hour in 150+ years of recorded history. There have been several reports of multiple vehicles stranded in floods in parts of the city, northern New Jersey and on Long Island.

 

[LemonMelon]

Peef must have paid the area a visit.

 

[Jerry Dunk]

I have bought tickets to at least a dozen shows over the next six months, it's bound to happen to me as well at some point.

 

[iron yuppie]

I have a few shows I want to see, but I missed out on presales and the secondary market is absolutely insane. Case in point: Dry Cleaning at the Empty Bottle, which is a small venue well-known for hosting up-and-coming indie bands. Original ticket price: $11. Cheapest re-sale price: $110.

 

[cobl04]

What % of the US is vaccinated right now? Is that how you're measuring things? What's life like? The fact you can go to concerts makes me so jealous. My city of Melbourne just passed 200 days of strict, stage four lockdown

 

[the tourist]

I’m really hoping my debut show happens. Turned a one-person album into a 5-piece live act, and we got a spot in a local music festival that’s being headlined by Built To Spill and Mt. Eerie. Also have tickets to a show that’s already been rescheduled that’s a reunion show from a band I considered my favorite around the turn of the millennium and they haven’t played these songs live in 18 years.

 

[iron yuppie]

What % of the US is vaccinated right now? Is that how you're measuring things? What's life like? The fact you can go to concerts makes me so jealous. My city of Melbourne just passed 200 days of strict, stage four lockdown

The short answer where I am (Chicago) is people are behaving as though Covid never happened. It was utter madness to allow Lollapalooza IMO - and not surprisingly a few weeks later we have rising cases and have entered a mask mandate again. Our public health agencies messed up royally in ever rescinding the mask recommendation in the first place. It was terribly premature.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I'm going to Friday night of Pitchfork in a couple weeks to see Phoebe Bridgers. Very excited. The Delta Variant is serious and a big music festival is probably not the wisest thing in the world. But I'm fully vaccinated and it's an outdoor event which makes me feel better. I just really want to see PB. There are some other good bands on the bill, too.

Big Thief who I've seen before. Animal Collective who I've seen. But there's also Fiery Furnaces, Black Midi, etc. who I have not see. Fiery Furnaces has some bangers.

Then the day after I'll be driving to see Wilco at another outdoor music festival. Gonna be a great 48 hours of music for me. Rock and roll.

 

[cobl04]

I genuinely think that the number one thing I'm most upset about with regards to the pandemic is that it meant we missed out on seeing The National x Phoebe Bridgers last year. We had tickets to three shows, all within the first five rows of an intimate seated venue with max capacity of 2,896 (The National has been too big to play there for years, the last time I saw them there was High Violet). Those shows will never be rescheduled, partly because the time since IAETF has passed and Phoebe is way too big now.

 

[LemonMelon]

Really hope St Vincent/Spoon doesn't get canceled. A number of acts are postponing tours lately, which I get, but this show is outdoors with a full mask mandate. Make it happen.

I saw Caroline Polachek with Alex G as an opener a few weeks ago and it was an amazing, emotional night. Charli performed!



My spot was a lot closer than this, a couple people from the stage, but way off to the left so I could socially distance as much as possible.

 

[DaveC]

vacation

 

[gump]

Hope y'all have fun with your upcoming concerts. I missed live music.

For now, I have a few things lined up for the next few months: Waxahatchee, The Weather Station, Cassandra Jenkins and possibly Japanese Breakfast. But these are all indoor shows, and unless things get better I will probably not feel comfortable to go. Even the outdoor show I went to made me a little anxious on the COVID front (just no mask compliance at all, although it was only for vaccinated people or people who tested negative). So I can't imagine being in a small, unventilated space right now. I'd be ok if I didn't have an unvaccinated child at home, but will be careful until things improve.

 

[gump]

Also: not feeling the new Kacey single, though I'm looking forward to her album. Very curious to see in what direction she will go.

 

[lazarus]

Recently listened to a podcast where she talked about the inspiration for the album/songs, working her way out of a dark period following her divorce she went on some hallucinogenic trips guided by a physician, and apparently it’s a bit of a concept album with a 3-act structure.

I’ve decided not to listen to anything in advance because I’d rather just hear the piece as a whole.

 

[gump]

Interesting. It makes sense, as the "single" did not really feel like a single at all. This makes me more excited for the album. I really enjoyed Golden Hour, so I have high hopes for the new one.

 

[Jerry Dunk]

What % of the US is vaccinated right now? Is that how you're measuring things? What's life like? The fact you can go to concerts makes me so jealous. My city of Melbourne just passed 200 days of strict, stage four lockdown

We're not measuring things by vaccination rate any longer because the vaccines are available to anyone who wants them. Everything is essentially being measured by case rates and hospitalizations, which means that we're using lagging indicators. It's less than ideal, but it's probably the reality for the US at this point. I don't think there's any political will to put a lockdown measure in place beyond mask mandates. The problem is that the people who would be willing to do that (governors in safe blue states) don't have the money or authority to do anything that would result in lockdowns actually changing anything, since there's freedom of movement between states and municipalities. They'd put a lockdown in place and then would have to lift it when ... nothing's changed? It's impossible. The cat is out of the bag here. But the Delta Variant is raging, we're probably where the UK was at its worst point. Some signs indicate it's probably going to drop off a cliff in the next couple of weeks and settle down before another surge in the winter. We'll see.

Most of the artists/venues are, at bare minimum, requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to enter venues, in addition to everyone having to wear masks. And now I'm seeing more artists/venues say that the negative test isn't enough, and that everyone must be vaccinated. And Phoebe Bridgers just re-did her tour itinerary to only play outdoor venues. I have been to one show so far (Japanese Breakfast/Mannequin Pussy) and actually felt comfortable and not anxious due to the precautions that were put in place.

My state (Pennsylvania) does not have a mask mandate at this time, but my city (Philadelphia) does for anything indoors.

 

[david]

RIP Charlie Watts.

 

[cobl04]

We're not measuring things by vaccination rate any longer because the vaccines are available to anyone who wants them. Everything is essentially being measured by case rates and hospitalizations, which means that we're using lagging indicators. It's less than ideal, but it's probably the reality for the US at this point. I don't think there's any political will to put a lockdown measure in place beyond mask mandates. The problem is that the people who would be willing to do that (governors in safe blue states) don't have the money or authority to do anything that would result in lockdowns actually changing anything, since there's freedom of movement between states and municipalities. They'd put a lockdown in place and then would have to lift it when ... nothing's changed? It's impossible. The cat is out of the bag here. But the Delta Variant is raging, we're probably where the UK was at its worst point. Some signs indicate it's probably going to drop off a cliff in the next couple of weeks and settle down before another surge in the winter. We'll see.

Most of the artists/venues are, at bare minimum, requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to enter venues, in addition to everyone having to wear masks. And now I'm seeing more artists/venues say that the negative test isn't enough, and that everyone must be vaccinated. And Phoebe Bridgers just re-did her tour itinerary to only play outdoor venues. I have been to one show so far (Japanese Breakfast/Mannequin Pussy) and actually felt comfortable and not anxious due to the precautions that were put in place.

My state (Pennsylvania) does not have a mask mandate at this time, but my city (Philadelphia) does for anything indoors.

Thanks Peef. Are sane Americans happy with how it is at present? That you largely have the freedom to live life as you please while high case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths linger in the background? I feel like that's quite typical of the US (ready to get reamed again here for this view) that every municipality can enforce its own rules, making any lockdown or restrictions other than a mask mandate futile.

I'd hate to wear a mask at a concert (and I assume all concerts are seated at the moment? Which I would also fucking hate) but I could live with it if it means I can go to concerts again (I managed to get to one earlier in the year).

Delta is raging in Sydney. Last year Melbourne/Victoria was the only city/state in Australia heavily impacted by COVID, we had up to 750 cases a day and at one point about 45 people were dying a day. We were in strict lockdown for some of autumn, pretty much all of winter and well into spring. Sydney/NSW has now eclipsed those figures due to Delta and their stubborn refusal to go into lockdown earlier (they're governed by the more conservative of our two major parties and they saw how much shit our slightly more left-wing govt copped for locking down for months). Unfortunately, it spread south, and so we're now at around 50 cases a day and we're back in strict lockdown, meaning we've now set the world record for the city with the most number of days in lockdown.

It fucking sucks so much, it's absolutely devastating. I work in high schools with teenage boys and the damage lockdown is doing to kids' socialisation, as well as pretty much everyone's mental health, is huge. I support lockdowns as one of the best measures to fight the spread but I wish there were more open conversations about the damage lockdowns are doing.

It's why I asked about how things are in the US. I am now prepared for our govt to start focusing on vaccinated population % as the metric for lockdowns vs case numbers, and we've been told that once we hit 80% restrictions on people who are vaccinated will lift and lockdowns won't be used. I am just seeking reassurance from other countries with high vaccination rates like the US that I'll be able to get back to living my life somewhat normally. I'm pretty sure I saw Laz go on holiday to Paris because he's vaccinated. What I'd give to be able to just fucking travel interstate. At the moment, we can't travel more than 5km from our homes and most businesses and venues are shut except for click-and-collect and takeaway.