Posts tagged with bruce springsteen

depeche mode live

after much waiting (it seem like i bought my tickets six months ago, which may have actually been the case), lollapalooza is finally upon us! well, tomorrow at least. since ill probably be out of pocket (god bless corporate lingo) for the next 9 days or so, and since ive eliminated the sunday posts for the sake of my own sanity, im going to feature one artist from each day of the festival for the next three days, each a day ahead of when they are actually performing. saturday throwback will also be thrown out the window this week in order to accomodate. the very first feature this week is depeche mode, the group i am most excited to see this weekend by far.

ive always had a sort of fascination with depeche mode ever since i became obsessed with “enjoy the silence” many many years ago. they were in town maybe two or three years ago and i didnt go to see them and later regretted it, so this show has been a long time coming for me. i knew that most of their hits were from the 80s and early 90s so i was extremely excited back in 2005 when i heard a brand new track that i quickly became obsessed with, “precious”. i recently heard the song while waiting for handsome furs to start their set back in july and added it to my list, but i knew i had to wait for lolla to post it. i love the darkness in most of the stuff they do (clearly “just cant get enough” doesnt fit into this category) and “precious” is yet another great example of that. its also ridiculously sultry (seems to be my favorite buzz word these days to describe songs) and sexy, even though its kind of a sadder song. plus it will be another classic band thats been around forever to cross off my list of people ive seen live, the latest being the overly dramatic but entertaining bruce springsteen. for the second year in a row, the band im most excited to see falls on night 1, but if last year is any indication, it will by no means bring down my excitement for and enjoyment of the remainder of the weekend.

depeche mode – precious

Depeche Mode - Playing the Angel - Precious buy this track on itunes
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the national live

getting ready for the second day of pitchfork, and the first full day of music. there are tons of crazy good acts at this years festival and many of my personal favorites, but luckily none of the favorites are playing at the same time so i have less difficult decisions to make than in previous and future festival scenarios. if i hadnt already written about yeasayer, i would definitely feature them again today, because i just cant get enough of them. im kind of curious to see if i still love their weird and unique performance as much when its not at 1am immediately following 3 hours of bruce springsteen, but im pretty sure i will like it as much if not more this time around since im much much more familiar with all of their music. so instead i decided to talk about another favorite band of mine and yours, the national, who will be headlining saturday night.

ive seen the national a few times and its always fun. what do i like most about the national, other than their versatility and the deepest voice by a lead singer ever? probably the honesty in their lyrics. they are just very true to life and real. i think this is especially evident in todays track “baby we’ll be fine” in which the story is told of a man who feels like he just cant do anything right and who is struggling with making something of himself. probably my favorite song by the national. just listen to the lyrics in this one and tell me if they sound like a familiar struggle. and the music is so great too. i love the ends of each verse, starting with “all we gotta do is be brave and be kind”. it also mentions my favorite drink, the jack and coke, so bonus points for that. and the music aint too bad neither. if you arent convinced about brutally honest lyrics, just listen to “karen”.

the national – baby we’ll be fine

The National - Alligator - Baby We?ll Be Fine buy this track on itunes
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these modern socks

now that im finally back to some sense of normalcy after a weekend of insanity and sleeplessness, its time to present this years bonnaroo lineup with some awards:

best show of the weekend – tie between wilco and phishs second performance

sweatiest performer with tightest clothing – bruce springsteen

best performance i didnt want to go to that turned out to be awesome – amadou and mariam

performance that was as eerie and unique as i hoped for and lived up to all my expectations – yeasayer

biggest disappointment – mgmt. im sure the show was great in the tent but we were so far back and there was some malfunction with the second set of speakers so we couldnt hear any bass. all the people in the tent looked like they were having fun and i heard it sounded great in there.

favorite bar of the weekend – the fruit bar. we subsisted mostly on bars for the weekend. granola bars, fruit bars, all bran bars, etc. but the fruit bar is ridiculously good. its basically a really soft fruit roll up thats about an inch thick. i need to find out if its available in america.

best footwear for the weekend – sanuks – wore them all 3 days with no problems whatsoever.

favorite vendor food – the chicken kabobs from the areppa stands.

shows i most wanted to see but missed because of exhaustion/conflicts – band of horses, phoenix, crystal castles, paul oakenfold, yeah yeah yeahs, grizzly bear.

any other categories youre curious about?

so that about sums it up. the rain was pretty bad on the drive down on thursday but after that it didnt rain again the whole weekend and the mud was minimal and very avoidable which made things about a zillion times better than they would have been. now that bonnaroo is over, you can get excited to hear me talk nonstop about my next getaway to pitchfork festival in chicago for my second year there.

back to the music. todays track is no ones gonna miss me by minneapolis band these modern socks. this group is pretty much electro-pop goodness. i especially like the spaceyness (fake word alert), the the unassuming drumbeat, and the bass explosion near the end of the song. its kind of a pretty sad song, both pretty and sad. kind of like my return home after bonnaroo. pretty because i get to take showers and sleep in beds now, but sad because the excitement is over and im going back to work tomorrow.

these modern socks – no ones gonna miss me

These Modern Socks - Picking a Lock At the Speed of Light - No One's Gonna Miss Me buy this track on itunes
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