en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices http://www.last.fm/user/mitchgo1961/journal The Last.fm journal for mitchgo1961. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. http://www.last.fm/user/mitchgo1961/journal/2012/06/30/5ivzkd_van_der_graaf_generator,_regent_theatre,_arlington,_ma._62812 Sat, 30 Jun 2012 23:33:02 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/mitchgo1961/journal/2012/06/30/5ivzkd_van_der_graaf_generator,_regent_theatre,_arlington,_ma._62812 Thu 28 Jun – Van Der Graaf Generator

Climbing Everest. Walking on the moon. Seeing VDGG live. Just a few of the things i never thought i would do. OK the first two i never really dreamed about...but I missed VDGG on their short 2009 tour (knew they were in NYC but couldn't go...didn't even know they were in Mass that tour...DOH!). The 09 shows were the only US shows other than one show in 78 towards the end of the final lineup of the 70s. When VDGG reunited in 04 i figured they'd never play here. Even in their 3 piece lineup (to be clear, the original version of the band on the debut album) it seemed unlikely i'd ever see them. When i saw that NEWEars were promoting a show in Mass...I couldn't pass it up.
 
Arlington is another weird Boston suburb but once you get to the Regent and park in the free lot, it's a sleepy little town. Guys in kilts, old folks with Heep shirts, and a guy with a SQUONK plate all converged on the tiny theater. I took my seat in row 9 during the opener Helmet of Gnats, about whom the less said, the better. The theater looked sparsely attended but by VDGG time it was probably 3/4s full.
 
The NEWEars guy came out to thank everyone for coming and to mention how they'd never thought they'd get VDGG to play a show here, let alone, now, their second show. Amazing. To no fanfare Peter, Hugh and Guy walked onstage to thunderous applause. Pete was overwhelmed and thanked everyone, sat at his keys, and started shuffling papers. (Mr Old School...had lyrics and notes on sheafs of paper he shuffled all night.) It got pin drop quiet as it did after every number...."gosh it's gone all quiet  now" Pete said beaming. He hit the staccato riff to Interference Patterns from TRISECTOR and the trio were off and running.Interesting arrangements. NO bass guitar at all during the show...Hugh played bass lines with keyboard pedals and other effects. He never left his massive keys setup all night. Guy is fucking incredible. He uses a jazz grip with his left hand and his drumming is just amazing...like watching a great dancer. He FLOATED over the kit. He never missed a beat and these are hard beats to perpetuate. He was the machine that made VDGG work. The three of them are so dialed in together it's uncanny. How three humans can play this music is beyond me.
 
Pete was amazing. To see this aging legend smiling like a kid, playing his keys effortlessly, and singing like you'd never expect a guy in his 60s to sing...his voice was worth the 50 buck ticket all by itself. He held notes and bent them to his will and anyone who thinks all he does is shout and declaim should watch him perform. It was an honor to just listen to his voice and lyrics.
 
Your Time Starts Now from GROUNDING IN NUMBERS was next and what a sublime tune...that gorgeous organ bed, it has its roots in oldies like House with No Door (oh to see them play that!). Every song was characterized as much by its space as by its notes and this was a perfect example.
 
During the rapturous applause afterwards Pete shuffled papers and said "you can tell by all this paper...this next one is a long one". He explained it had been "rediscovered", got a few hoots for his mention of the BLACK BOX solo album, and they launched into all 22 minutes of Flight. Holy, and might I say, Shit, it was a journey of epic proportions...from the opening Flying Blind segment, the mind-bendingly weird White Cane Fandango section, all the way into the final (seventh!) piece A Black Box, this was an epic worthy of the best of VDGG, easily up there with Pioneers over C or Plague of Lighthouse Keepers...pure weird brain-melting Hammill prog. And a huge standing ovation ensued.
 
Pete got up to strap on a guitar for the first time of the set. And a very weird free form jam followed. What the hell were they doing? I had no idea but it was awesome. After several minutes Pete hammered the Lemmings riff and we all knew where we were. And what a version...Pete ripping our faces off with his primitive but amazing garage punk prog approach to the guitar (when he plays guitar he's like a completely different animal than when he's playing keys). The whole piece just got more and more intense as it went on. When it ended i checked my phone during another standing O...holy shit, it was 18 minutes! From the opening of Flight to the end of Lemmings 40 minutes passed. This was easily the meaty centerpiece of this set.
 
Pete stayed on guitar for TRISECTOR's Lifetime, replete with gorgeous melodic guitar lines in the end section...very non Pete playing.  One more guitar tune, GROUNDING's Bunsho (yes, great) followed (Pete screaming at the end "I can't SEE MY STREAM!!"...whatever that lyric means!).  Pete then retired to his keys again.Another quiet moment..."you get so quiet when we stop"...audience member: "Then don't stop!" Pete: "easy for you to say!".  Someone else yelled out "thanks for making new music guys". And this triggered Pete..."you know someone was asking us if we enjoy the new songs or the old ones more...and to us, it's all the same. The last album, the one from three years ago, something from the very old days...we just pick some songs to play for you in a given evening, and then we do our best to take a really good crack at them...i think that's the best way...it's certainly the Van Der Graaf way!"
 
Next up was TRISECTOR's Over the Hill, a real highlight, stretching out over 15 minutes, lots of great drum interplay. Just gorgeous. Pete thanked everyone for coming, said "speaking of old songs...our last song of the set is an oldie for you". And yes, the beautiful organ intro of Man-Erg started up. VDGG are rotating a handful of oldies on this short tour, but this was one i really wanted to see. (frankly i'd like to see all of them!). Wow it was amazing, and i can't describe it but it was majestic and moving and Pete's vocal was perfect and even at 12 minutes it was over in an instant. Another standing ovation and the set proper was done.
 
I considered yelling out "SLEEPWALKERS!!" or "STILL LIIIIIIFE!!" when they came back for an encore but in light of Pete's statement about songs i figured it was obnoxious. Instead we got GROUNDING's Mr Sands, a very intense and appropriate show ender. How Guy navigates the rhythm of that tune is beyond me. It got very loud and intense and then was over. And to a final bow and another thunderous ovation, they left the stage.
 
Oh sure I could bitch that i wished the show were longer than 1 hour 42 minutes. But that has nothing to do with how amazing it was. (reminds me of old PT and KC shows...they were never as long as we wanted, and we always left in awe anyway).  I could wish for more old material, but to see TWO songs from Pawn Hearts, and the spectacle of Flight...that's plenty of classic material. (and comprised half the show.) This was only the 16th US show *ever* for VDGG.  And likely my only time I will get to see them. I beat a hasty retreat and got home in less than two hours, just before 1 am, very tired, very happy.
 
And yes, it was way better than walking on the moon.
 
Setlist (9:10-10:52):
 
Interference Patterns
Your Time Starts Now
Flight
Lemmings
Lifetime
Bunsho
Over the Hil
Man-Erg
 
Encore:
 
Mr. Sands]]> http://www.last.fm/user/mitchgo1961/journal/2012/06/19/5ifmjk_marillion_at_the_paradise,_boston._61612 Tue, 19 Jun 2012 20:54:26 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/mitchgo1961/journal/2012/06/19/5ifmjk_marillion_at_the_paradise,_boston._61612 Sat 16 Jun – Marillion, Sun Domingo


I am fucking fried after getting home at 230 this morning but what an incredible show by Marillion last night at the Paradise. We even parked on the street right around the corner for free, didn't get lost getting back to Storrow drive (thanks to me studying maps the day before...the GPS was giving us st names that weren't on signs...fucking Boston...). Paradise was packed if not sold out. we fought for sightlines from the balcony but were RIGHT above the band on the side...i literally saw every note Rothery played clearly. (also brushed past him in the balcony before their set...he was hanging with three hot chicks!). I could bitch about no Strange Engine (swear i saw it on the soundboard setlist but they swapped out new setlists right before coming on...damn)...but it's bitchy to complain when we got THREE Fish era tunes in one show, an amazing AoS, the tour premiere of Quartz (one of my top five Marillion faves) and 3/4s of the show was different than the Marbles show in 04. It wasn't as epic as that show which clocked in at 2:45, but it was stunning. several vets from the UK who made the show (one who's seen over 100 shows) said it was one of the best shows they've ever seen the band play. Too many highlights...the segue into Slainte, Somewhere Else (surprised how good it was)...AoS of course (goosebumps...holy shit...)...Quartz...Beautiful played for Mark Kelly's aunt in attendance...Sugar Mice crowd singalong....Man of 1000 Faces!...H's theatrical biz man breakdown stage antics during Invisible Man....a killer 3 Minute boy with Rothers bringing down the house with his solo. Just a fucking incredible night from one of the great bands of all time. I know we'll probably never see them again in the US but i hope we do, and maybe then I'll get my TSE.....

10:21-12:30

Splintering Heart
Cover my eyes->
Slainte
Fantastic place
Somewhere else
Power
Afraid of sunlight
Quartz
Beautiful
Sugar mice
Kayleigh
1000 faces
Neverland

Invisible man

3 minute boy]]>