From: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org (support-system-digest) To: support-system-digest@smoe.org Subject: support-system-digest V8 #83 Reply-To: support-system@smoe.org Sender: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk support-system-digest Wednesday, July 27 2005 Volume 08 : Number 083 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [support-system] sessions at 54th ["john kim" ] [support-system] RE: lollapalooza reviewza -was anyone else there? ["Eri] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 02:02:24 -0400 From: "john kim" Subject: [support-system] sessions at 54th does anybody have a quality bootleg of this PBS thing? please email me off-list. i have a few liz shows to trade for it. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 01:15:19 -0500 From: "Mark J. Foxx" Subject: [support-system] lollapalooza I was at Lollapalooza! First off, I must say, if you've never seen the Pixies in concert: find a way to see the Pixies in concert. I can't really explain how awesome they were except that I'd been completely sick of them for years, but now suddenly I can't get enough of them. They mostly just stood their and performed their songs, but they were absolutely mesmerizing. Also, they played them all really hard and fast, so they ended up getting out like 30+ songs in an hour and a half, which was awesome. They all seemed really happy to be there. Kim Deal looked good, dressed preppy, and smiled from start to finish. She kept lighting cigarettes between the songs and smoking them no-hands while she played. Adorable and badass. (See the Pixies.) But ANYWAY, on to Liz. Liz was fine: not spectacular, but nothing bad. She had her hair pulled back in a way that was pretty cool, and she looked pretty nice except for the bizarre, too-long cut-offs she was wearing. She played two news songs: "Somebody's Miracle" and "Everything to Me". "Somebody's Miracle" is kind of a depressing song about the power of love but how it hasn't happened for her. "Everything to Me" is this surprisingly bitter song about how she's putting everything into the relationship but he doesn't do anything. They're both a little hard to listen to, but you can still see the Liz in them (which is more than I felt like in songs like "Red Light Fever" and "Why Can't I"). They both seem to reflect where she is in her life very well, and, while I can't really relate to her attitude toward love and life, her songwriting is still in surprisingly good form... and it'd be unreasonably to expect anything else from an artist. She promoted the album a little, saying it was coming out in October but that "If you know anybody within six degrees of me, you'll have a copy by the end of the month." I personally don't see myself loving it, but I'm much more prone to give it a chance than I was after hearing those bland samples from it a while back. She was playing with a rock band for this show, which was appropriate given that it was Lollapalooza and she would've been drowned out without it; however, I feel like so few of her songs benefit from a band. They kind of blow away any subtlety, and her songs just seem a little dissonant and confusing without subtlety. Like... the band tells you exactly where a song is going the whole time and leaves out anything that isn't musically necessary to the backbone of the song, and I feel like it's kind of detrimental to her music. I think acoustic tours are a bad idea for most artists, but it's definitely a very good idea for Liz. Also: Liz should seriously rethink her set list. I loved basically every song she played, but they sounded annoying put together. Like... the song choices just made her seem really one-dimensional and desperate because they were basically ALL about self-esteem. Like... "Extraordinary", "Perfect World", "Polyester Bride", etc. I realize it's a pretty major motif in all of her music, but... it felt like she was playing that same song over and over... especially since they were all being blasted by a rock band. Her band kind of messed up at one point between songs, so she had to choose one at random, so she did "6'1"", and... much as I love that song, I remember thinking that it was the worst possible choice she could've made. Something like "Help Me Mary," "May Queen," or "Shitloads of Money" that puts her in a different kind of situation lyrically would've helped out her set immensely. (Actually, given how honest she was about her desire for popularity, it's actually kind of lame that she never plays "Shitloads of Money." It'd show a really awesome sense of humor. But... whatever.) I think "Supernova" and "Never Said" were probably the highlights of the show for me--they sounded great with a rock band, and they weren't about self-esteem. Still, the rest of the show was very good and fun, and I'm definitely being overcritical. I'm basically only complaining to explain to myself why it wasn't as memorable as the Pixies or the Arcade Fire. Anyway, she's doing an acoustic tour next, which will require both a different set list and the removal of said rock band, so I don't really think most of my complaints are particularly pertinent. I hope it goes well! She was playing her guitar WAY more this time than when I saw her two years ago, so it seems like she might be set to blow us all away. - -Mark ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 01:24:08 -0500 From: "Mark J. Foxx" Subject: [support-system] RE: support-system-digest V8 #82 !!! To the guy who wrote the other Lollapalooza thing: Did you see that ULTRA-creepy old guy in the blue blazer watching from the left side of the backstage? He was stoned out of his mind, and was flipping out and playing air drums backstage for half the bands at Lollapalooza. I took a picture because it was just so bizarre. Who the hell WAS that? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 08:28:51 -0400 From: "M.C. Hackney" Subject: [support-system] DC Shows Anyone headed to the DC shows? I'm headed that way from NC... What's the deal with Birchmere? MC ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 09:01:14 -0400 From: "Eric Ginsburg" Subject: [support-system] RE: lollapalooza reviewza -was anyone else there? From: lilrussiangirl@aol.com >Subject: [support-system] lollapalooza reviewza -was anyone else there? >So- is it better to be "heard of" by loads of people for WCI - played in >movies, at Bennigans and baseball stadiums, or respected and loved by a >smaller group of fans and your artistic peers? > >Could she fix things now even if she wanted to? > Well said. I, myself, am in denial. I do expect this Saturday's show to be the last time I see Liz. ------------------------------ End of support-system-digest V8 #83 ***********************************