Okkervil River thread

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Pretty decent cover of Money Changes Everything as well.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't know The Brains recorded the original version of this song. :reject:

Incidentally, Steve Lillywhite apparently produced the re-recorded version for their debut album, so the inclusion of this track is obviously Okkervil's homage to U2.
 
I feel like if he were going to do that somber intonation then he should have dropped the synthy background at least a little.
 
Seriously great gig. Came away really impressed. It's been a while since I've been to a gig where I enjoyed the songs I didn't know as much as the ones I did. Having seen a number of photos and videos of Will Sheff I had formed an impression of him that he was a massive douche, but as the night wore on I found that hate dissipating rapidly. The dude on bass was way more of a douche anyway... had a stuff t-shirt tucked into cream pants with a belt, a creepy moustache, and he didn't manage to crack a smile for the entire night. It was the drummer's last gig with the band, he was great, and the chick playing electric guitar was awesome.

Opened with It Was My Season and On a Balcony, two of my favourites off the new one. It was a great start and the night really didn't let up from there. After a few songs Sheff went on a rant about microphone stand design, which was really funny and endeared him to the crowd. I didn't know that he is like just about blind though, you can really tell it affects him when he doesn't have his glasses on.

Not really sure of what they played, I only recognised songs from Stage Names and Silver Gymnasium. There was one song they played that was really fucking amazing, it had a harmonica (what an underrated instrument by the way) and lyrics about Kansas City. Sheff introduced it by saying that it was the first song he played for his parents that impressed them, and he loves playing it but Jonathan Meiburg made them drop it. Glad they played it, it was probably the highlight of the night. He broke a guitar string during it.

It was essentially a perfect setlist for me... they played all my favourites including A Girl in Port (my fav Okkervil song), Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe, John Allyn Smith Sails, Pink Slips, Where the Spirit Left Us, Stay Young. There was one track that was much heavier than the rest, pretty sure it had lyrics saying "rock and roll"... I assume it was Can't Hold the Hand of a Rock n Roll Man?? but I'm listening to the album version now and it doesn't sound a great deal like it. Whatever song closed the main set was great, it had a Lust for Life bass line.

Down the Deep River was the penultimate track and it fell a bit flat, would work better early on in the set I think. Closed with Unless It's Kicks which was fucking wicked. Bass man and the lovely lady on electric guitar played to each other as Sheff shredded, and it just looked awkward, bass man with his furrowed brow and pursed lips. But a great fucking ending, Sheff was extremely engaging.

So yeah, a really good show. Might have to check out some other of their albums now. :up:
 
cobl04 said:
There was one track that was much heavier than the rest, pretty sure it had lyrics saying "rock and roll"... I assume it was Can't Hold the Hand of a Rock n Roll Man?? but I'm listening to the album version now and it doesn't sound a great deal like it. Whatever song closed the main set was great, it had a Lust for Life bass line.
Click to expand...

Okkervil River- The Valley. - YouTube

Glad you had fun. You really need to check out Black Sheep Boy if you haven't heard it.
 
Kansas City certainly isn't played regularly.

Lost Coastlines? It looks like that's closed the main set at some of the shows before yours.
 
So I still really like The Silver Gymnasium. Perhaps this is blasphemous, but I like it more than The Stage Names, although Movie and Girl in Port remain my fav Okkervil River songs.

But yeah, love The Silver Gymnasium. It Was My Season is such a joyous start, and it's followed up by two more really fun tracks. I think Pink Slips is my favourite track from the album, love the lyrics and the big ending. Lido Pier Suicide Car is a nice change of pace and it too has a great ending. I'm a huge fan of Walking Without Frankie.

How's it sitting for everyone else? And where to for me next?
 
Then that should definitely be your next stop. The title track, For Real, A Stone...too many Okkervil classics there. It had to grow on me some because it's a bit darker and more abrasive than Stage Names, but every listen improves it.

And if you love Black Sheep Boy, don't forget to check out Black Sheep Boy Appendix, which is full of great outtakes from that era.
 
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I don't like black sheep boy very much. It's ok, but I'll take any of the other albums of theirs I've heard over it. And the stage names suffers pretty badly from the opinion I've developed, that is Our Life is not a Movie or Maybe > anything else. I thought Down Down the Deep River was pretty good last year when it came out, but I generally get the impression they're just not the band for me.

Side One Dummy records has been pushing the hell out of the new Andrew Jackson Jihad, so I cobblered things and checked it out with no knowledge whatsoever of the band. It was really, really bad, but interestingly enough after I got done with the, "what Mumford and sons bullshit is this, these lyrics are absolutely awful, do they have any songs that don't sound virtually identical?" I really wanted to listen to okkervil river for whatever reason. I think it was the lyrics. I was like man, these are shit. Lemme go listen to someone who does it a million times better. And that was what band I came up with.

So i'm liking the silver gymnasium a lot right now. Down down the deep river could present the same sort of problem that Our Life... causes, because it's just so good. And I have been listening to it on something of a loop the last couple days, but for as good as it is, it was my season, lido pier suicide car, stay young, and a couple others are very good in their own right that DDTDR doesn't eclipse them.

So yeah, I like it a lot.
 
Silver Gymnasium was pretty good but it was too warm and comforting to my taste. There's always been something about Will Sheff's vocals and songwriting that leant a very abrasive, insular sound to his band despite the melodies, but they sound like they're trying to be the band of the people on Silver Gymnasium and it rubs me the wrong way. I Am Very Far had very creative arrangements, but that album got a lukewarm response, so they pulled a 180 and made a relatively uplifting, sunny record. I appreciate what they were trying to do, but I like angry Sheff more.

Deep River is a top notch Springsteen homage though, one of those undeniably great pop songs. It should have been a huge hit.
 
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Coincidentally, I listened to The Silver Gymnasium for the first time in ages today. I enjoyed it less than I thought I would though. It's all very safe and uninspiring compared to past OR albums. The only songs I love are It Was My Season, Down Down the Deep River and Pink Slips. The rest ranges from okay to meh.

And you should seriously check out Black Sheep Boy, cobl. It's one of my absolute favorite albums. Sheff's always been one of my favorite lyricists and that album contains most of my favorite lyrics of his. The songwriting is great as well of course.

Speaking of lyrics, On Tour with Zykos is my absolute song lyrically. Aren't they just perfect?
How come I shout "goodbye" when god knows I just want to
Make this white lie big enough to climb inside with you
 
Nothing like taking a visit to Interference to read a bunch of shitty opinions and negativity. Yay!
 
They're pretty much one of mofo's favorite band (or were at least his most listened to on last.fm band several years ago), I think. It doesn't seem like a stretch for him to take me not being a huge fan of black sheep big boy, cobbler never having heard it, lm's take on silver gymnasium, etc a little personally.

:shrug: weird band for me. The songs I do like, I absolutely fucking love. The songs I don't love, I could happily never hear again. Can't think of too many bands where my opinion is along those lines, but whatever. Maybe some day I'll change my mind, it's not like I've never done that before.
 
Most things that were posted were pretty positive, no? Or are we supposed to love everything? Okkervil River is one of my favorite bands but I think their latest album is only decent. Big deal.
 
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