Blog Archive for February 2006
We've Got To Come Together
Last night I went out with my parents and saw the Third Day/David Crowder Band concert. It was pretty chill.
Although we didn't really get there until 7:10, if they started right at 7 Crowder's set was just too short. It was great, though. They did a great job with their "rock opera", "You Are My Joy". And, of course, we had fun with "Foreverandever Etc..". They only played 40 minutes or so, though, but oh well. The opening band never gets any respect.
Third Day came out after a half hour. The lights were fairly cool, even though we were up on the second level of the Target Center. Third Day had the guy who has played keyboards on their studio albums on tour, and dang, he was good. At the end they redid "Come Together" with an entirely different melody that sounded more like a Gospel/piano-rock tune. They also did their rockin' cover of Rich Mullins' "Creed", which I always like.
Mac Powell said they were doing some stuff for old-school fans, but of course they were just songs that were re-recorded for Offerings. No songs from one of my favorite albums, Conspiracy No. 5 were played, and only the obvious, slow hits from Time were present. It still rocked when they "took it to 11" for "Rockstar", so much that my mom and dad had to leave the arena for a minute. ;-)
The best moment though was inviting David Crowder and his band back onstage during the set for Crowder's bluegrass Gospel tune, "I Saw The Light", where Mac sang the second verse. It was awesome. After that, Mac said, "If you buy one album this year, buy the new Third Day album. If you buy two albums this year, buy the latest from David Crowder Band." In my opinion, he shoud have said, "If you buy one album this year, buy David Crowder's. If you buy two, get our old album, Time." But that would be too gutsy.
All in all, though, it was a great evening with my family and that's what is important. That is, even if the service at Old Chicago was less than stellar.
I Was Thinking / Over Thinking
Where have I been? Well, that will probably be the discussion of the next couple blog posts. But first, where have I been in music?
Well, the last three days or so I've spend lots of music listening to my Paste Magazine samplers. I've got the entire collection, and it's not easy to randomly go through some 400 songs. But it's an eclectic ride, to be sure. I've definitely been listening to more country and classic music than in a long time. And it's pretty darn fun.
Unfortunately, it makes me want to take advantages of sales at PasteStore.com. Darn it.
Who Put Rock 'n' Roll In Your Blood?
Speaking of rock 'n' roll, just a side note that May 2nd is going to be a great day. Not only do we get the long-overdue rock 'n' roll release from The Elms (I mean, who wouldn't want a rock album called The Chess Hotel?), but I just noticed that the album a year and a half in the waiting, mars ILL's Pro*Pain is finally gonna be released. That is, unless the EMI good music Nazis have their way....
It's not exactly The Elms-style, but tonight I witnessed the tour de force that is Mute Math. Not only did they play almost every song from their EP and most of their new album, but there was tons of impromptu instrumentals, great crowd interaction, and non-stop intensity. By the time they left the stage, we were all clamoring for everybody's favorite track, "Reset". It was a non-stop amazing show, and I got a T-shirt and their new album. Maybe I'll give more thoughts on the new album later.
The opening band, Vedera, was pretty good. Lead singer Kristen May was very captivating and had easily the best female voice I've ever heard in a rock group. Let's hope the rock 'n' roll machine doesn't chew her up and spit her out like they did wiith Amy Lee of Evanescence.
On the more personal side, it was great to go to the concert with a couple friends from my house. None of them were Mute Math fans, but they enjoyed it nonetheless and made it fun by giving me the oppertunity to share one of my favorite new bands.
Now, if The Elms would just abnounce their album release club tour already, then we could schedule an awesome show!
Take Control of the Atmosphere
Interesting. According to an article republished on Mute Math's MySpace Blog, Mute Math is no longer on Warner Bros., and that's why they can distribute the record at the show if they want. The show mentions their Teleprompt label as still being theirs, but they didn't like the "Christian band" status that Warner was giving them, so they dropped the label.
Good for them. With the huge media attention (like being on Late Late Show tonight and a tour de force at MySpace) that they are getting, they'll have a label begging to sell the album in no time, if they want. At least, from everything I can tell, they are going to make it big.
After watching their performance on the Late Late Show, I figured out why they're doing so well without the help of a major label. It seems their publicity company has worked with a lot of big names in independent music, including The Decemberists as well as lots of other bands I've started hearing more and more about. Now it's starting to make more sense.
I'll see for myself next weekend, though. A week from tonight I'll see their live show. And you'll get a full report here.