Setlist: Punch Brothers, The Sugar Club, 11 July 2008

Great night had by all at The Sugar Club last night. I'm still feeling the effects (well, not really, but Bluegrass does equal Whiskey!) The above picture you see is a handwritten setlist by Chris Thile, a great entertainer and very, very funny man. I'll write a full review on Monday. I woke up this morning singing 'Punch Bowl'. That's always a good sign about how good a concert was.

Setlist:
The Eleventh Reel
Punch Bowl
Heart in a Cage
The Blind Leaving The Blind: First Movement
The Blind Leaving The Blind: Second Movement
Ophelia (The Band Cover)
O Santo de Polvora
Wayside (Back in Time)
---
Nothing, Then >
It'll Happen
Watch 'at Breakdown
The Blind Leaving The Blind: Third Movement
The Blind Leaving The Blind: Fourth Movement
Cazadero
----
If the Sea Was Whiskey
Ninety Nine Years (And One Dark Day)

Lists: Not Paul's Musical Genealogy

Indulge me if you will, for I have stumbled upton an idea of genius. Well, other Irish bloggers, UnaRocks and Nialler9 have shown me the light!

The idea (spreading through the blogging world like wildfire), is to name your favourite album from every year you were alive in. Pretty cool, right? Note I probably didn't hear most of these until well past the 80s, but you get the gist!

Picking one is tricky, do I go with The Smiths (who had two albums) or U2 or Talking Heads in 1984? Do I pick or Bruce Willis The Return of Bruno from 1987 or Rick Astley? Seriously though, 2003 was tough: Postal Service, Kings of Leon, Greendale. Tough.

I also wanted to pick Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Live 1975-1985, but greatest hits and live albums have an unfair advantage. It's fantastic though. My favourite live album.

Note: these are my favourites. There may be better albums out there, but these are the ones I listen to most often.

1984: U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
1985: Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
1986: The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
1987: Michael Jackson - Bad
1988: Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
1989: Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
1990: Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Ragged Glory
1991: Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
1992: Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
1993: Counting Crows - August and Everything After
1994: Jeff Buckley - Grace
1995: Radiohead - The Bends
1996: Dave Matthews Band - Crash
1997: Radiohead - OK Computer
1998: Mercury Rev - Deserter's Songs
1999: Chris Cornell - Euphoria Morning
2000: Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man
2001: Mic Christopher - Skylarkin'
2002: Badly Drawn Boy - About A Boy OST
2003: The Postal Service - Give Up
2004: Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell
2005: Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
2006: Seth Lakeman - Freedom Fields
2007: Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
2008: Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams (This could change, we have half a year left)

Live Recommendations: 11-13 July 2008

Not much to recommend this weekend. Oxegen is on, so every artist in the land is gone to play that (before flying to/from T in the Park to do the exact same). The only night there's really anyone you may have heard of is tonight.

P-Square are an American rap/hip-hop duo, if that's your thing. It's not mine, I'm more of a bluegrass man myself, and thus intend to see Punch Brothers at the Sugar Club. Chris Thile is their mainman, and he used to be the main man in Nickel Creek. Punch brothers are more instrumental than Nickel Creek, and if you've heard any of Thile's solo material, you know what to expect.

Sorry for the briefness of this recommendations, but I more than made up for it, with my Oxegen previews:
http://swearimnotpaul.blogspot.com/2008/07/live-oxegen-2008-preview-friday.html
http://swearimnotpaul.blogspot.com/2008/07/live-oxegen-2008-preview-saturday.html
http://swearimnotpaul.blogspot.com/2008/07/live-oxegen-2008-preview-sunday.html

This Weekend's Gigs: 11-13 July 2008

Friday, 11 July 2008

Mugison, Carly Sings	Whelan's		20:00	€15
Powderfinger	The Academy		19:30	€39.60
P-Square	Ambassador Theatre		21:30	€39.20-€44.20
Punch Brothers	The Sugar Club		20:00	€25.50

Saturday, 12 July 2008

Alyanya	CrawDaddy	20:00	€10
Heritage Centre	Whelan's Upstairs	20:00	€10
Pugwash	Whelan's	20:00	€16

Sunday, 13 July 2008

Tadhg Cooke

Whelan's Upstairs

20:00

€10

Setlist: Counting Crows, Ambassador Theatre, 10 July 2008

The 'Children in Bloom' returned to Dublin last night with an extra-special intimate performance at the Ambassador Theatre. There were a few sound issues to begin with, but then the band really hit their stride with excellent versions of 'Cowboys' (its Irish debut), 'Children in Bloom', and a 'Round Here' up there with the Across A Wire version.

A signed setlist is being auctioned for the Greylist Foundation, you can bid on it here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Counting-Crows-Signed-Tour-Setlist,-Dublin-Ireland_W0QQitemZ320271641429QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL0807081589r28414

When I Dream of Michaelangelo
Up All Night
Hanging Tree
Mr Jones
Black and Blue
Cowboys
Good Time
High Life
Catapult
Sundays
Insignificant
Colourblind
Washington Square
Children in Bloom
Round Here
Goodnight LA
Come Around
Big Yellow Taxi
A Long December
Hangin' Around
----
On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago
Hard Candy
Holiday in Spain

Here's a mildly amusing Counting Crows live video:

Album News: Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul tracklisting revealed

A user of French forum http://www.nrj.fr has released the tracklisting of the brand new Oasis album Dig Out Your Soul:

To save you from translating it yourself, they say "it's an excellent album, the best from Oasis.

After an absence of three years, the band from Manchester presents its seventh album. The English press did not lie when they proclaimed it an excellent album.

Dig Out Your Soul is a treasure trove of music and is undoubtedly the best studio album of their career. Liam Gallagher said he would compose songs out of the usual construction and move towards a new sound. It's done!

The progression of songs is very consistent. From the raw energy of the first titles to the more sophisticated pieces at the end, the listener discovers new sounds, as if the group wanted to guide him throughout the hearing. The Gallagher brothers put aside their usual Britpop sound to focus on a sound much more rock, sometimes folk. And it's very heavy, especially the track '(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady'.

Never in excess, the rockers introduce arrangements of all kinds with the precision of a goldsmith. In addition, the guitar holds a prominent place in songs and provides real effectiveness on the record."

1. Bag It Up
2. The Turning
3. Waiting for the Rapture
4. The Shock of the Lightning
5. I'm Outta Time
6. (Get Off Your) High Horse Lady
7. Falling Down
8. To be Where There's Life
9. Ain't Got Nothin'
10. The Nature of Reality
11. Soldier On

Live: Kid Sister rescheduled gig

Just a quick note to say that the previously cancelled Kid Sister show, mentioned here:
http://swearimnotpaul.blogspot.com/2008/06/live-kid-sister-at-crawdaddy-cancelled.html
has been rescheduled for August 15th at CrawDaddy. It's on late, at 11:30, and tickets cost €15. Worth a look if you've nothing better to do on that Friday night! Me, I'll be in Rome. Might be listening to some hardcore Europop at that time!