Interpol with Twin Tigers and The Postelles at Northern Lights in Clifton Park, NY 8/6/2010

Posted on September 1, 2010
Filed Under friends, music, photography | Leave a Comment

The Clifton Park show was bittersweet for me. I had SUCH a good time at the Interpol shows this summer, and I knew Clifton Park would be my last for a while. Even more than that, I knew that it would be my last time seeing Twin Tigers on the tour, and I feel like we became friends. I know when I’ll see Interpol again; with Twin Tigers I’m less sure. They’re a band with a lot of potential and they’ve done a lot of touring, so they’ll get up here eventually… But anyway, I knew it would be weird to say goodbye to everyone and it was a bit.

After the late night in Boston on Thursday I was pretty wiped out on Friday and had much to do. We would be heading down to Pennsylvania for a family visit immediately after the Clifton Park show, and in addition to needing to get myself ready for the show and to take pictures I had to pack and try to get the house together for our trip. It was a little bit of a struggle, but I managed to get on the road in time to make it to the venue just after doors opened.

I was on the guestlist in Clifton Park, and my photo pass for the night was actually labelled an all-access pass—though there was a note with it that specifically forbid me from photographing Interpol’s set. Alas. Northern Lights is a weird venue. It’s in what looks like an old strip mall kind of in the middle of nowhere. The stage is back in a corner and seems like it was just sort of dropped in the space. There’s a large bar that takes up almost half of the venue, and the whole place has an odd atmosphere (or lack thereof). There was a bathroom attendant—at least in the women’s room. My memory of the place is that all the walls were painted blue, there were glass doors at the back through which we could see the bands and crew walking past in between their sets, and the place was really cold. Whereas at some shows I end up sweating and frizzy, at this show I was very glad I’d grabbed a cardigan at the last minute. They had the a/c cranked the whole night. It just added to the weirdness of the night for me.

Some of Interpol’s gear was off to the left of the stage in crates and I could see labels on various drawers… things like “Paul’s strings,” “Daniel’s strings and cords,” and then a drawer labeled simply (if I’m not misremembering it) “Shite.”

The Postelles The Postelles at Northern Lights.


The PostellesThe Postelles at Northern Lights.


The Postelles
The Postelles at Northern Lights.

Even in this relatively little venue there was a tiny photo pit. I managed to photograph The Postelles’ entire set. I think I was only supposed to do three songs, but there was another photographer shooting them and he just kept going, so I did, too. The reception for The Postelles was a sharp turn from the reaction they enjoyed the previous night. People clapped politely but briefly after each of their songs, and their perky singer seemed to be almost apologizing for everyone’s lack of familiarity with them and with their music. Before launching into one song, he said, “This is a new one,” and then paused and said “but everything is new to you.” They played with their usual verve, but it was clear that they had to work for it.

beerTwin Tigers, running with the devil (a.k.a. Hoo-ray beer).

When Twin Tigers came out on stage, I wonder if I was the first person ever in the history of the world to feel a tiny bit sad to hear the opening notes of Van Halen’s “Running with the Devil.” They played well, and while it wasn’t as amazing as the previous night in Boston, I think they sounded good and a decent portion of the audience got into what they were doing. I photographed the first three songs of their set and then took my spot up front behind the barrier.

ForrestForrest Hall of Twin Tigers.


AimeeAimee Morris of Twin Tigers.


TTTwin Tigers.

Interpol’s set was really tight, but seemed to go by so quickly. My friends agreed that it felt short. The band played very well, but it felt business-like. During the encore, one song blended right into the next. The setlist was a good one. We got “Mammoth” instead of “The Heinrich Maneuver” and a beautifully played “Leif Erikson,” which I had not yet heard on this tour. During “Leif” I exchanged a nice little look of recognition with Daniel. I tried to take some pictures with my phone. It was kind of pathetic, really. Their lighting was pretty easy as far as concerts go, and the stage was on the small side so I could have managed a lot of nice shots. After the encore as they were leaving the stage both Daniel and Sam nodded, smiled, and waved at me. That was sweet! It was like they knew that this would be my last show for a while.

Afterwards my friends and I went over to the merch table to say hi to the Twin Tigers people. They were busy with merch boxes and stuff, but we chatted a little bit. As the venue was kind of out of the way, they were trying to figure out where to go to do something. I couldn’t hang around long as we were heading out for Pennsylvania, so I couldn’t help them with their plans for the night. I bought a copy of their album, Gray Waves (on blue vinyl!) and had them all sign it for me. Matthew wrote me a little message, signed the inner sleeve, and then signed on Aimee’s behalf since she had once again disappeared.

I looked up and through the windows at the front of the venue and saw Ezra standing there. I thought I was supposed to call him, but it was going on midnight and I can’t blame him for running out of things to do at that hour. I went outside and asked him if he could wait while I went to say goodbye to a few people. When I got back inside, it seemed like everyone had scattered. I headed back toward the stage and saw Matthew holding a box and talking to one of Interpol’s crew. While I was waiting for him, Sam’s drum tech came up to me and said he’d seen me at a lot of shows. I said that I’d been to a bunch and introduced myself. He asked how many shows I’d been to, and when I said twenty-something he said I won the prize. He dug into a black sack, pulled out three of Sam’s well-used (during the show, presumably) drumsticks, and gave them to me. Yay! He is really nice. I have heard people rave about what a good guy he is, and it was great to finally meet him after all this time.

CliftonParkstuffSam’s drumsticks, my pass, and signed Twin Tigers vinyl

A minute later, I got Matthew’s attention and he came over. He seemed a bit surprised and disappointed when I said that my ride had arrived. We hugged and I told him to keep in touch with me if he thought of it, and he said to do the same. Then I headed back to the merch table to see if I could find any of the others and ran into Forrest. He was kind of all over the place and asked where my friends had gone. He wanted to party! We said farewell. Unfortunately I couldn’t find either Aimee or Chris.

And that was the end of my Interpol/Twin Tigers/sometimes Postelles Summer 2010 adventures. I had such a great time and met so many cool people. I would do it all again right now if I could. My next planned Interpol show is on my birthday in NYC. And maybe… maybe… I will see some more shows in the UK in December. Twin Tigers… you need to get your southern butts up here. I’ll see you guys later.

Interpol with Twin Tigers and The Postelles at the House of Blues in Boston, 8/5/2010

Posted on August 31, 2010
Filed Under friends, music, photography | 1 Comment

This review/rundown has been much too long coming.

The Boston show crept up on me. For some reason after the New Haven show I thought I had about a month until my next Interpol show, when really it was only two weeks away.

As the show was right here in my town, I arrived very early. There was no one else in line, so I sat across the street near the WEEI studios where there was more shade. I drank an iced green tea, checked to make sure my camera, lenses, and batteries were all accounted for and working, and watched as a couple of House of Blues people played wiffle ball in the street. Eventually two girls showed up and I crossed the street to line up. Those first two girls were really anti-social, alas. They didn’t talk to me at all—one girl had her back to me in a sort of pointed way the whole time. Sigh… typical Boston. It was so unlike my experiences at all of the other shows this summer. After a while, though, two more girls showed up and they were much more friendly. At one point one of these new companions saw Paul entering the venue and went over to say hello to him. We’re not sure exactly what she said, but whatever it was it had quite an effect on him. A little while later someone poked out of the venue and gave her a wonderful hand-written note from Paul and a shirt signed by the band.

For the Boston show I was reunited with my girl Sarah. She took the bus down from Portland and made her glorious arrival around 4PM. The weather was so gross—very humid and then it started pouring. We had a little area of shelter, but it was pretty nasty weather for waiting in line. We got suitably straggly/frizzy and wandered down the street to try to hear some of soundcheck. Interpol played a couple of new songs with which we weren’t familiar, along with a nice drawn-out version of “The Lighthouse” and some of the other usual soundcheck suspects.

While we were down there the Twin Tigers guys showed up and started unloading their gear. I felt disgusting and shy (I always seem to get all shy at first), but Sarah said they were trying to get my attention—I saw Forrest and said “Oh hi.” They were looking roughly as wrecked as I was—no doubt they’d been riding in a van all day and the weather was unforgiving. Everyone was in crappy jeans/shorts/t-shirts/frizz.

Photo passesFree stuff! My photo passes (with the wrong date printed on them), the free ticket they gave me that I didn’t need, and a Twin Tigers sticker

Around 5:30 or so I went back to the car to change my clothes and attempt to neaten up. When I returned, Sarah and a few others had been moved to a different line. We were big enough suckers to go for the “Crash the Barricade” package, which gets you into the venue ½ an hour early. Oh, and supposedly the appeal of “free” water and “ice cream novelties” is also a part of the deal. Anyway, at this point I went to the ticket window, which can only be accessed from outside unless you work at the venue, to see about picking up my photo passes for The Postelles and Twin Tigers. They didn’t have the bands’ lists yet, though, so I had to keep going back to the window and checking. I ended up going into the venue with Sarah and having to go back out again twice to pick up my passes. The House of Blues staff were actually surprisingly cool about that. They’re not really supposed to allow re-entry, but they made an exception for me.

Sarah and I did manage to secure a good spot up front. Everyone around us was fine—mellow and not pushy.

The Postelles at HOB BostonThe Postelles. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

I photographed The Postelles from the photo pit. I’d been told there wouldn’t be one, which seemed odd to me. In fact, the pit was pretty sizable, and the venue let me photograph their entire set, which was great. The crowd reaction to The Postelles was definitely the best I saw on their brief jaunt with Interpol. People really seemed to like them, and I think there were more photographers covering them than there were covering Twin Tigers. They already have another date scheduled up here in December supporting a band called fun.

Postelles/Twin TigersAfter The Postelles. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

The opening notes of Van Halen’s “Running with the Devil” announced Twin Tigers’ set—they’d been taking the stage to that song for every show and I think I read in an interview somewhere that it was sort of their theme song for the tour. Uh-huh. They’d been slightly delayed as Aimee was having some kind of trouble with her gear and she was working with the Interpol crew to try to get it figured out. The crowd was really receptive for them, just as they had been for The Postelles, and they sounded as good as I’ve heard them, both in terms of their performance and especially in terms of the mix. Aimee told the crowd it was Matthew’s birthday and he looked a bit sheepish… like a little boy. Sweet! She said something about him being awesome. Aw… I’m pretty sure she invited the crowd to party with them afterwards. I particularly noticed Forrest’s guitar playing on this night and I was really impressed. At the end of their set (I was able to photograph their entire set, too) I bolted for the bar to get a drink and as I did Aimee got everyone to sing “Happy Birthday.”

Matthewathob
Matthew of Twin Tigers (with Forrest’s fluffy head in the bottom of the image). Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

Interpol’s set was good. For some reason I never feel like the Interpol shows in Boston are as amazing as they are elsewhere. Maybe it’s just the familiarity of the town for me. The first time I saw them here in ’04 was quite good, and they did sound good at House of Blues. On this night, maybe it’s the setlist that made it a little less than perfect for me. They played “The Heinrich Maneuver” (blah) and didn’t play “Leif Erikson,” which would have been nice for Sarah—and the rest of us! I managed to take a small number of photos of their set from the crowd. The House of Blues staff had told me that all cameras were going to be allowed going forward anyway (really??). They seemed pretty confused about their own policy! I took advantage as much as I could.

Daniel at hobDaniel of Interpol. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

Their full setlist from Boston went like this:

Success
Evil
Say Hello to the Angels
Summer Well
NARC
Lights
NYC
The Heinrich Maneuver
PDA
Barricade
Take You on a Cruise
Slow Hands
Not Even Jail
—
Hands Away
C’mere
Obstacle 1

They dedicated “PDA” to Wanda and made a point of giving setlists and sticks to a small group of fans that we’ve seen at a number of shows.

Interpol at hobInterpol. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

Afterwards, I said a quick hello to Twin Tigers at the merch table. We went outside, and then the TT guys came out and invited us to join them at the Cask and Flagon. I’d never been there before. It’s a big old sports bar and it’s kind of goofy. I got myself a drink (probably my fourth on the night and not my last—a lot for me!) and bought beers for Aimee and Matthew. I asked them what they were drinking and they said they’d have pretty much anything. Aimee said she’s poor and honestly didn’t care what kind of beer she had–said she didn’t even have a place to live! I got her a PBR and Matthew a Bud.

Sarah and I both talked to Chris a bit. He’s a super nice guy. I told him how good I thought they sounded that night and he agreed that it was good.

After a while I was sort of off to one side hanging out with Matthew, who had been texting a lot at first—birthday stuff, he said. He is a Braves fan… said something about being a poet—not exactly an amazing one (his assessment)—and then made some comment to the effect that the former poet laureate was nothing special. It was interesting to hear him and Forrest pulling out all this literary stuff. He mentioned that Sam is helping them—with label business, I think. I think I asked about them working on new tunes—wish I could remember the substance of what he said about that. I also asked if he thought they’d be on the tour with Interpol much longer and he said something like, “Sam likes us, but they all have their friends.” I told him that Forrest’s guitar playing had especially impressed me that night, and he seemed to get a tad defensive (!), saying that it was about the interplay of the two guitars. I was only making an observation about Forrest’s playing on that night—not saying that one or the other of them was a better guitarist. I told him they’d sounded especially good and he agreed and said that it’s hard not to perform well when you come out on stage and see all those people.

The night got pretty drunk and silly from then on. Sarah and Chris danced in the next room. Forrest and his latest girlie friend were somewhat entwined and they may also have danced a bit—not sure. Several drinks were consumed and foolishness perpetrated. Though it would probably be blackmail material, I SO wish we had some snapshots of the debauchery.

Eventually it got late enough and the bar got lame enough that the band wanted to head out. I was sad to say goodnight. The bar was lame, but we were having a good time anyway.

I had NOT been thinking and as I’d had so much to drink poor darling wonderful Sarah was forced to drive the two of us home! Medals for Sarah.

St. Vincent with tUnE-yArDs and Basia Bulat at Central Park Summerstage, 8/1/2010

Posted on August 24, 2010
Filed Under daytripping, friends, music, photography | 3 Comments

The Interpol show at Toad’s Place in New Haven was great for so many reasons, not the least of which is that the photos that I took got picked up by qromag.com and led to my being asked to cover St. Vincent, tUnE-yArDs, and Basia Bulat for them at Central Park Summerstage a week later. The show was on a Sunday, and I’m a fan of St. Vincent anyway–especially live. I’d photographed her once before, back in 2008 at the Middle East with none other than Basia Bulat. tUnE-yArDs was new to me, but came with my good friend Doug’s endorsement, so the whole thing was really a no-brainer.

We’ve decided that it’s much nicer to approach New York by car from the North than it is to approach it from the South. From the North you pass through Scarsdale and that whole area, whereas from the South it’s all Jersey and tunnels. We arrived in time to pick up my pass, scope out the food and drink offerings, and generally get the lay of the land. We got a reasonable deal on parking in a garage practically across the street from Summerstage as well. There was a pretty cool booth set up–it may be there for all the shows–where you could buy custom silk-screened t-shirts. I realized once I got home that Merrill Garbus, the woman behind tUnE-yArDs, was purchasing a shirt when I was photographing the booth.

Merrill Garbus buying a shirtThe fabulous Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs) buying a custom-silkscreened t-shirt at Central Park Summerstage before her show with St. Vincent and Basia Bulat. Merrill, I promise that I took better pictures of you that day–see below!

There was a big photo pit, and quite a few other photographers were working the show. It was supposed to rain, but nary a drop fell all afternoon.

Basia Bulat exudes a genuine sweetness. She’s the kind of performer that you can describe as refreshing and not feel cheesy or cliched for saying it. I’m not positive, but it looked to me like she was playing with the same group she had assembled when we saw her back in 2008, including her brother on drums.

Basia Bulat at Central Park SummerstageBasia Bulat at Central Park Summerstage. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

Highlights for me were “In the Night” and “Before I Knew,” both from the album Oh, My Darling. The rest was good, too, but I admit that my previous familiarity with those two songs made them stand out for me.

Basia Bulat at Central Park SummerstageBasia Bulat. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

Next up was tUnE-yArDs. I think it would be fair to say that she pretty much stole the show. That’s saying something, because both Basia Bulat and St. Vincent played well.

tUnE-yArDs
tUnE-yArDs. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

People say she ratchets everything up a notch for her live performances, and now that I’ve heard her recorded material, I can vouch for that assessment. It’s not that the recordings aren’t enjoyable, but the live performance has significantly more kick, more fire. She drew in the crowd almost immediately and had everyone dancing, at one point jumping up and down, and cheering for more. When she sang “throw your money on the ground” in “Yes You,” I swear a few people were probably emptying their pockets.

tUnE-yArDstUnE-yArDs at Central Park Summerstage. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

Her set left me wondering what we can expect from her new record, which I believe she is finishing up as soon as she wraps up her current tour. If she captures half of what she showed live, the record’s going to be awfully good. Good friend Doug (mentioned above) pointed us to a live recording of a show she did at The Rock Shop in Brooklyn the next night. I HIGHLY recommend it.

It was a long afternoon, and though I was honestly starting to feel a little wiped out by the time St. Vincent got started, her set did not disappoint. What did disappoint a little bit was the sound. From where I was standing for most of her set–kind of off to the side–I couldn’t tell exactly what was wrong, but people were calling out for the sound guys to turn down the bass. It was a bit distracting, but I didn’t notice it after a while.

St. VincentSt. Vincent at Central Park Summerstage. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

Every time I see her perform I am struck both by her cuteness and by her seriousness as an artist. She assembled quite an impressive backing band–including, I realized toward the end of the show, Ian Hendrickson-Smith, a guy I knew briefly in school back in State College.

St. VincentSt. Vincent at Central Park Summerstage. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

I’d seen her on one of her first shows in support of her second album, Actor, and at that time the songs sounded perfectly fine to me–but just fine. As I would expect, the songs sound much better now that she’s been playing them live for a while. As before, the one older tune that she pulled out was “Your Lips Are Red,” which includes one of my favorite lines: “Your skin’s so fair, it’s not fair.” I know Actor was only released last year, and it’s a good album, but I find myself ready for new material from her.

The show wrapped up slightly early–just in time for us to get back to our car before the garage rate went up. On top of the show itself and the experience of photographing it (outdoors, in the daytime, which was good practice since I’m used to shooting in smaller, darker places at night), it was nice to just be in New York on a Sunday. I look forward to doing more of this sort of thing when the right opportunities present themselves.

Interpol with Twin Tigers and The Postelles at Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT, 7/24/2010

Posted on August 24, 2010
Filed Under friends, music, photography, travel | Leave a Comment

The New Haven show might be the highlight of the current Interpol tour for me so far, though the Buffalo show and the Boston and Clifton Park shows rivaled it in various ways, too. In terms of Interpol’s performance and sound, New Haven was far and away the best. I don’t know if I’ll be able capture here what a great night is was, but I’ll try.

Paul Banks of Interpol at Toad's PlacePaul Banks of Interpol at Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

My friends and I actually drove into New Haven the night before the show and stayed at a nearby hotel. The day of the show was very warm and we were first in line by a long stretch, so we hung out in a coffee shop near the venue for a little while. Toad’s Place is in a nice neighborhood around Yale and there were a lot of beautiful old buildings and little shops and restaurants around. The guys working there were super friendly and at one point they let us look through one of the stage doors to get a feel for the size and setup of the venue.

We again heard most of soundcheck, which on this night included “Success,” “Barricade,” “Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down,” “The Heinrich Maneuver” (boo!), “Barricade” (again, twice more), “Stella” (again), “The Lighthouse” (which I’ve still never heard live), and “Summer Well.”

Across from Toad's Place
Across the street from Toad’s Place, taken on my Android.

About an hour before the doors were set to open I felt particularly gross from having been out in the heat for much of the afternoon, so I drove back to our hotel and changed. I returned to the venue a new person after washing up and putting on a dress. When I got back quite a few more people had lined up. Twin Tigers were moving their gear into the venue, and Matthew came up to me and said hello. Nice to know they hadn’t forgotten me.

I’d heard that Toad’s Place is a legendary club—that heavy hitters like the Rolling Stones have played classic shows there and that a show at Toad’s Place was not one to miss. At one point I wasn’t sure I was going to make it down for this show, but I am SO GLAD that I changed my mind and went. The venue has a great feel—laid back in one way but full of energy in another. It’s a good size—it holds something like 1200 people but retains a sense of intimacy. Everyone there—from the people attending the show to the crew to the guys at the bar to the bands—seemed to be in good spirits that night.

Right when we got in the venue and took our spot at the front I noticed a woman behind me holding a nice-looking camera. I tried to ask if she had a photo pass, but I don’t think she heard me. A girl behind me said that she used to work there and that they didn’t care about cameras. That was all I needed to hear. I’d been wanting to photograph an Interpol show for ages, and my DSLR and lenses were just waiting for me a few blocks away in my car. I ran out to get them.

On my way back from my car I ran into another friend of mine from New York who was also going to the show. More happy goodness on this night!

One of my companions for these shows likes to buy cocktails—sometimes for me and sometimes for herself—but one way or another she usually makes sure that I get plenty to drink and am feeling fine. On this night she accomplished her mission with flying colors. I was in a great mood.

The Postelles at Toad's PlaceThe Postelles at Toad’s Place. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

By the time Twin Tigers took the stage I was on cloud nine. I had my camera, the sound at the venue was tremendous, I was surrounded by friends, I had a perfect spot up front, and I’d had a few. I took lots of pictures and made a number of silly comments during their set.

Aimee of Twin Tigers at Toad's PlaceAimee Morris of Twin Tigers. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.



Matthew Rain at Toad's PlaceMatthew Rain of Twin Tigers. Photo by Terri Wise.

Interpol’s set was electric. The lighting was probably the best I’d seen on the tour up to that point, and it might have seemed even more that way to me since I was paying particular attention as I was attempting to take pictures–and because I was feeling giddy and more than a little tipsy.

Paul at Toad's PlacePaul Banks of Interpol. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

I alternated between dancing and snapping away.

Daniel Kessler of InterpolDaniel Kessler of Interpol. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

They played “Barricade” live for the first time and I was thrilled—love that song. Paul was literally dripping with sweat by the end of the main set and changed his shirt for the encore. I was very pleased that they chose not to play “The Heinrich Maneuver,” even though they’d checked it.

The night’s setlist looked like this:

Success
Evil
Say Hello to the Angels
Summer Well
NARC
Lights
NYC
Mammoth
PDA
Barricade
Take You on a Cruise
Slow Hands
Obstacle 1
——–
Hands Away
Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down
Not Even Jail

As far as this tour goes, it was a great setlist for me. I much prefer “Mammoth” to “The Heinrich Maneuver,” and think it works much better live–it has a much better intensity and was a much better fit on this night. As mentioned before, I love “Hands Away” and I don’t think they’d started swapping it out for “Leif Erikson” (which I also love) at any of the shows yet. “Stella” again fit the intensity of the night. It was just right.

Daniel Kessler at Toad's PlaceDaniel Kessler of Interpol at Toad’s Place. Photo by Terri Wise, www.qromag.com.

Afterwards I wandered over to the merch table to say hi to the Twin Tigers people and we gabbed for a while. We talked to Forrest about The Smiths and Stereolab, and found out that they had scored a swank hotel (Down comforters! A big flat-screen TV!) for cheap–maybe less than we were paying, while we had ended up in a fine but pretty boring place a short drive away. They wanted to hang out more, and I very much would have liked to, but my friend wanted to get back to the hotel and wasn’t sure she could find it on her own, so I had to go. Matthew made me promise to hang out after the Boston show on his birthday and I said I definitely would.

Interpol with Twin Tigers and The Postelles at Pearl Street Ballroom in Northampton, MA, 7/23/2010

Posted on August 23, 2010
Filed Under friends, music, travel | Leave a Comment

I ended up arranging to meet up with friends for the Northampton and New Haven shows. Originally, I thought I would just drive home after each show, but it would have been incredibly tiring to do so. In the end it’s a very good thing that I stayed over both nights.

Northampton is a little over two hours from Boston by car. I arrived quite early and as it was a misty day I went to a coffee shop called The Yellow Sofa to get a drink and charge my cell phone. I ended up going back there twice during the day for various purposes. The people working there were great, so they all deserve a shout out. Yo, Yellow Sofa peeps, if I am ever back in Northampton, I will see you for sure. I was wearing my Devo t-shirt and two or three people commented on it, as is usually the case. Later on during the changeover between bands I noticed that the first guy who had commented on my Devo shirt was working for the venue. Unsurprising, really.

I got hungry after a bit and headed over to the discount natural foods shop across the street from the venue. They had some great stuff for cheap! I ran into Brandon and one of the roadies in the shop. I hung out by the venue for a while, eating my snack and scoping out the place. A friend of Sam’s from Florida came up to me thinking that I worked for the band. She was really friendly, but I didn’t catch her name. Thanks for being cool, old friend of Sam’s!

I was able to hear most—maybe all—of soundcheck. Pearl Street is a pretty old building and not terribly soundproof. I’m not complaining! They checked “Success,” “Summer Well,” “Barricade” (twice), “PDA,” “Lights,” “Barricade” (again), and I think “Summer Well” (again). It definitely seemed like they were working hard on “Barricade,” trying to get it right.

Some people I remembered seeing at the Bowery show in ’07 showed up and we got to chatting. We talked a little about Twin Tigers, and when I said I was having a hard time putting my finger on my first impressions of their sound, they said that TT remind them a little of early Smashing Pumpkins. They were going to the New Haven show the next night and will be at the United Palace show in New York on my birthday, too. Yay for new friends! My show companions arrived shortly after that.

Inside, the venue felt quite small—a little like Bowery Ballroom, but with less impressive sound. Alas, drinks in Massachusetts are not as cheap as they are in upstate New York.

The Northampton show was the first night that a second opener, The Postelles, was added to the bill. They struck me as eager little folks, and their music struck me as being quite happy. It reminded me of a certain segment of 80s college radio pop… sort of like the Rave-Ups, but that’s not quite it. A few of them wore hats. I thought they sounded pretty tight, but they’re not really my taste. My friend liked them a lot, though.

This was my third time seeing Twin Tigers, and some favorite songs started to emerge for me—“Red Fox Run,” “Gray Waves,” and “Everyday” in particular (and I still love all of those TT tunes, among others). My friend couldn’t stand their set because it was so loud—I can’t remember who told us, but apparently they were late to this show and had to use all their own gear (?). It was pretty much a wall of fuzz. I think I wore earplugs for their set, so it all sounded perfectly normal and good to me, but it probably wasn’t the best introduction to Twin Tigers for most of the people there. I’m not sure the guys recognized me right away, but my friend and I liked Forrest’s old-school U2 t-shirt (War-era) and told him so.

Interpol’s set was good, though not a standout performance for me. The setlist was the same as the first night in Rochester, and in fact I think they repurposed the one they’d used for the Allentown show on June 25th. I noticed that Dave Pajo seemed to be doing a little minor backing vocals during “Summer Well.” Either that or he was noiselessly mouthing something to the sound guy during that song. “Narc” was brilliant, as usual. A big cheer went up as they started into “Lights,” and after that song Paul said, “I’m hot as shit.” It wasn’t nearly as hot in the audience as it’s been at some shows, but the place wasn’t all that well ventilated. Anyway, the next night he would be hotter. Paul dropped his pick during “Take You on a Cruise” and played guitar with his fingers for a while before grabbing another pick. Sam looked unhappy about something during that song, though I never figured out what it was.

I didn’t get any pictures of note on this night except for a picture of Paul’s pedal board.
Paul Bank's pedal boardPaul’s pedal board in Northampton–taken on my Android

The crowd was remarkably tame after the show. People just sort of filtered out, and hardly anyone hung around. I thought about approaching the Twin Tigers guys to say hi, but I was feeling shy and thinking that maybe they didn’t remember me. My friends were pretty tired and wanted to get on the road, so after we hung around for a while and found that there was nothing going on we just left.

Interpol with Twin Tigers at Town Ballroom in Buffalo, NY, 6/22/2010

Posted on August 23, 2010
Filed Under friends, music, photography, travel | Leave a Comment

We all dragged ourselves out of bed the morning after the Interpol show in Rochester and drove to Buffalo. It’s only about an hour away, and we arrived pretty early in the day.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Buffalo, but it’s a really friendly town. Lots of locals chatted us up around the venue–and gave us tourist literature! It was a little bit rainy, but the cooler temperatures were more than welcome and the rain was sort of refreshing after the warmth of the previous day. Close to show time some of our friends from the previous night arrived in line and we got to chat a bit. A photographer for www.mybuffalo.com took our picture as we were waiting.

JayneMeJimmyMariaJayne, Me, Jimmy, and Maria outside Town Ballroom in Buffalo. Photo by Eric Syty, www.mybuffalo.com.

Town Ballroom in Buffalo is much nicer than the previous night’s venue, Water Street Music Hall in Rochester. It’s newer, cleaner, and air conditioned! Drinks were cheap. We love Buffalo! Jayne once again had a photo pass. I paid a little more attention to Twin Tigers’ set and found myself really enjoying their tunes. Initially I got a sort of 90s feel from their music… a tiny bit of Sonic Youth, a bit of My Bloody Valentine (Isn’t Anything, maybe), and something else that I couldn’t put my finger on. They’re noisy but melodic, heavy but pretty. In my mess of things from this trip, I have a map of Buffalo on which I’d written during their set, among other things:
m–a bit slack-jawed
the shame
but it’s OK bc he wears good shoes
what to expect from a hawks fan?

AimeeofTwinTigersinBuffaloAimee Morris of Twin Tigers at Town Ballroom in Buffalo. Photo by Jayne Yong, www.qromag.com.

Interpol’s set was excellent–so much better than the first night in terms of energy and the overall performance. Sam seemed way happier. I think Dave Pajo and Brandon Curtis improve with every show, and it was really apparent to me that they were sounding better already with the guys on this night.

I had my point-and-shoot with me and figured I’d take a stab at snapping a few pictures. They’re not terrible, considering.

PaulDaveBrandoninBuffaloPaul Banks, Dave Pajo, and Brandon Curtis. Photo by Terri Wise (me!).



DanielKesslerinBuffaloDaniel Kessler of Interpol at Town Ballroom in Buffalo. Photo by Terri Wise (me!).

Setlist:
Success
Evil
Say Hello to the Angels
Summer Well
NARC
Lights
NYC
Mammoth
PDA
Take You On a Cruise
Slow Hands
Obstacle 1
—–
Hands Away
Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down
Not Even Jail

I think it was on this night that Jayne and I were really hamming it up during some songs—particularly “Slow Hands.” We crooned and held hands and made Daniel laugh.

After the show everyone spilled out from the ballroom into a large bar area. Jayne ran into The National’s tour manager (Jayne has been to a ton of their shows over the last year or so) and they had a chuckle. We stopped by the Twin Tigers merch table to say hello. Some girl was totally coming on to Matthew—like in his face practically kissing him right there. I could see him writing down his phone number on a piece of paper. What a player! He continued flirting with me after she left and when we were walking off to find Sam and the guys he asked if we were coming back. Later on behind the venue Jayne saw him walk by and shouted “Matthew’s getting laid tonight!” It was pretty funny.

Anyway… We hung out a long time and got a chance to say hello to all of the Interpol guys except Paul. Brandon and Dave were both really nice. Brandon seemed very genuinely interested in our opinions on the performance. Jayne told him she thought Daniel messed up too much! And he looked as though he were going to be sure to tell Daniel that. (For what it’s worth, I thought it was a cleaner performance overall than the one in Rochester.) Dave was incredibly humble and seemed a little more shy than the others. He said he knew he had big shoes to fill. I assured him that he was doing a good job. Then Sam came out. He looked so good and seemed about 1000x happier than he had the previous night. He said the show felt good. We took a bunch of pictures with him. Actually, Brandon took a bunch of them for us.

MeSamJayneBuffaloMe, Sam, and Jayne after the show in Buffalo. We danced our butts off at the show and you can tell we were a little wrecked here (especially me). I love this picture, though. Taken on Jayne’s camera by Brandon Curtis (of Secret Machines and now the touring keyboardist with Interpol).

We got to talk to Daniel briefly as well. I hadn’t had a chance to speak to him like that in a long time. Also got a picture with him, which I think is very funny. His tie kind of matches what I’m wearing and I think the picture looks like we’re coming from a wedding.

DanielandMeinBuffaloDaniel and me coming from a wedding… well, actually, no… Just hanging out after the show in Buffalo. I look pretty terrible. Jayne took this (but is in no way responsible for me looking terrible).

Sarah was there with us after the show, but she kind of hung back. I think she felt a bit weird about approaching the guys as she’s only met them a few times before. After Sam spoke to us, he made a point of walking over to Sarah, introducing himself, shaking her hand, and thanking her for coming out to the show. He’s so great!

We were so hyped after everything that we stayed up and ordered food to be delivered to our room. I had a great time with mah girls! It was a little like a slumber party, and I would do it again right this second if I could. Didn’t get to sleep until probably 4AM.

The next day, Sarah and I continued the girl times in the car on the long ride back to Boston. I was soooo sad to say goodbye to Jayne. I miss her! Maybe maybe maybe I will get to see her in the UK later this year.

Interpol with Twin Tigers at Water Street Music Hall in Rochester, NY, 6/21/2010

Posted on August 23, 2010
Filed Under friends, music, travel | Leave a Comment

This summer I went to six Interpol shows, and a handful of other shows, too. In the next couple of days I’ll be posting my rundowns of the shows and my experiences. Since I use this blog partly as a diary, each of these will be a mixture of a review and my own babblings. Names have not been changed to protect anybody!

My friend Sarah and I drove out from Boston for the Rochester and Buffalo shows. We met up with our British friend Jayne in Rochester. Outside the venue we could hear Interpol’s soundcheck and got our first taste of tracks from the new album–”Success,” “Summer Well,” and “Barricade”–though at that time we didn’t know that’s what we were hearing. It was warm waiting in line on the sidewalk, but not as bad as it’s been for other shows. Everyone was really friendly and in a good mood, and there were a few trees for momentary patches of shade.  Now and then we wandered around the side of the venue to catch a bit of breeze. 

Twin Tigers in RochesterAimee Morris, Matthew Rain, and Forrest Hall of Twin Tigers in Rochester… It was weird to have so much daylight coming in through those big windows during their set, but that’s what you get on the longest day of the year, I guess. Photo by Jayne Yong, www.qromag.com.

I ran into some old friends inside the venue who I hadn’t seen in ages, and it was nice to catch up. It was stuffy and hot inside the venue, just as Harro East Ballroom in Rochester had been for the Interpol show in 2007. Jayne had a photo pass for opening band Twin Tigers, so we held her spot at the front while she took pictures.

Jayne_Sarah_Me_Rochester
Jayne doing her photographer thing at Interpol in Rochester. You can see my friend Sarah and me in the audience–we’re the last two whose faces are lit, right next to Jayne. Photo by April S. Engram, www.blurt-online.com.

Interpol played well. It’s always a bit tentative and exciting and weird when they play for the first time after a big break, but it was good. So good to have them back! There were some glitches, of course. Daniel stumbled (musically) a handful of times… nothing major. Sam was visibly annoyed that some part of his drum kit was not attached properly, and for more than one song he was trying to get Daniel’s attention so that he could stop long enough to get Bobby (his drum tech) or somebody to help him fix it. We were all dripping with sweat in the audience. Sometimes that’s a good thing, because if you’re hot and gross you lose any inhibitions you might have and just go ahead and have a good time. Well, I usually do that anyway.

Interpol_Rochester_meHere’s another one with me again at the bottom of the photo. Silly. That’s my friend Jimmy with his arm in front of the barrier next to the skinhead guy. Photo by April S. Engram, www.blurt-online.com.

Setlist:
Success
Evil
Say Hello to the Angels
Summer Well
NARC
Lights
NYC
Mammoth
PDA
Take You on a Cruise
Slow Hands
Obstacle 1
—
Hands Away
C’mere
Not Even Jail

PaulinRochesterPaul Banks of Interpol. Photo by Jayne Yong, www.qromag.com.

The setlist had an Antics-heavy feel to it, which was fine by me. I love “Hands Away,” so was very pleased to hear that.  During the first few notes of “C’mere” I thought they were doing “The Heinrich Maneuver,” which I really don’t like.  I was very happy to discover that it was “C’mere” instead. I thought the new songs sounded pretty good–they definitely had the signature atmospheric Interpol quality. I knew “Lights” from the online release. Of the other two new songs they premiered live in Rochester, I think “Summer Well” left the most significant impression. It’s just got more going on–more complementary parts, more structure, more to chew on.

Afterwards we hung around behind the venue, talked to some of the Twin Tigers guys (I think this is when I met Aimee, their bassist), and got to say hi to Paul. He seemed to be in really good spirits, as he has since the Julian Plenti tour. We teased him about the new Interpol armbands and he defended them, saying that they serve a purpose–to prevent chafing when playing the guitar. Then we wandered over to the front of the venue. My friend Sarah had gone back to the hotel at this point… I think the heat and travel and not eating and hydrating properly had wiped her out and she needed to just crash. Dan walked by and waved to us, but he was clearly in a bit of a rush. A guy leaving the venue stopped just to tell me that he thought it was cool that I really got into the show and that it made it more enjoyable for him. Nice.

A bit later on we stopped and talked to Sam. He is the nicest man. He did seem a bit glum, though. With this being the first night of what is likely to be a pretty long tour, the prospect of being away from his daughter for such a long time was really weighing on him. We hugged and told him we were concerned about him and hoped things would get better. He seemed tired. Poor Sam!

After chatting with Sam we headed back to our hotel. The Twin Tigers guys were a bit in front of us, followed closely by three noisy giggling teenage girls… Oh boy. It turned out that TT were staying in our hotel. Somehow we ended up on the elevator with Forrest, their second guitarist. The others must have gone up ahead of him. He asked Jayne what we were up to and when we said nothing much he invited us to join them in their room and hang out. I figured… what the hell, might be fun… And it was. Forrest was being a total host and asked if we were hungry. I hadn’t eaten anything pretty much all day and was starved. He made us sandwiches with soft pitas, cheese, and olives… and he just kept talking. Jayne looked at his ID and saw that he is 30… used to have longer hair and looks a lot better, we think, with his current haircut. Aimee kept asking Jayne to say things so she could hear Jayne’s British accent. It was pretty amusing. Matthew teased me about the Celtics, who had just lost to the Lakers in the NBA finals. (He’s a Hawks fan.) We eventually took off, but not before I got a bite of what they told us was “Interpol chocolate”—apparently from Interpol’s tour bus.

A slice of January

Posted on February 3, 2010
Filed Under christmas, collections, family, friends, me and my brain | 1 Comment

Most people probably agree that the cold months following Christmas and New Year’s can be a little bit of a letdown. But there are always good little moments. Here are some of mine so far in 2010.

One long weekend I finished up the Santa puzzle my mom gave me for Christmas in 2008. It was a lot of fun… a really good cozy winter activity. I think it looked better put together than it did in the picture on the box.

During our holiday visit to the farm, Ezra’s sister Abby introduced us to Bananagrams. It’s so completely up my alley–a word game, sort of like Scrabble and Boggle put together, but better (well, definitely better than Scrabble anyway). So on that long weekend I mentioned we gave Bananagrams to Amy and Doug for Christmas. Of course, we played several rounds.

Bananagrams
Amy’s fabulous creation with the Bananagrams tiles… not a part of the actual game

And, of course, we had to get it for ourselves shortly after that.

I’m still going through my Christmas postcards. I promise to share more about them soon (take that as a “coming attractions” or a warning, as you wish).

A Visual Montage

Posted on April 22, 2009
Filed Under Blather, craft, daytripping, friends, knitting, photography | 3 Comments

I promised a picture of the little hat I knit over the weekend, so here it is!

Knit hat

And while I’m at it, here are a few others to catch you up on the last several months.

Union Square, New York January in New York’s Union Square

doorway, Portsmouth
A Doorway in Portsmouth, NH

And the obligatory picture of a cute baby, Lydia, who we finally met over the weekend.

Lydia and JohnLydia and John

(Feels like) a long weekend in New York

Posted on February 1, 2009
Filed Under Blather, art, dining, family, friends, sports in general, wide world of vacation | 1 Comment

It’s been a long and very good weekend.  Ez and I spent Friday and Saturday in New York.  On Friday Ez worked and I wandered around, checking out Tinsel Trading Company and spending a couple of happy hours browsing (and eventually buying) at The Strand.


Spotted after lunch

On Saturday Ez was kind enough to walk with me to the vegetarian cafe S’Nice in the West Village, where I know they have delicious steel-cut oatmeal with all the trimmings.  There I ate said oatmeal with dried fruit and honey and enjoyed one of the tastiest glasses of apricot-orange tea ever.  We went to The Strand again because Ez needed to get his fix (he didn’t really have to twist my arm to get me to spend more time there), and then Ez took me to the Chelsea Market, where the New York Lux office will soon be moving.  It’s quite a nifty building.  I’ll have to upload a picture or two.

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I fell in love with this spot at the Chelsea Market.

Then we met up with Ezra’s old friend Jen Williams in the Cooper Union area (Jen went to Cooper Union and now teaches there).  I’d never met her before, though I’d heard a lot about her.  She seems pretty great, and we had a really nice time chatting with her, wandering around the Lower East Side, popping into a small gallery to check out her friend’s show, and just basically hanging out.  For dinner, the three of us went to the tasty Pan-Asian vegetarian (and largely vegan) restaurant Wild Ginger (it’s just as good as Ez and I remember).  We’re hoping it won’t be another 10+ years before we see Jen again.

And oh, hey, the Steelers won their NFL record sixth Super Bowl (that’s about 14% of all Super Bowl games that have been played).  And the game was actually exciting.  I am not a big NFL person, but we’re Steelers people in this house.  (And, incidentally, it was a day of more pleasant sports news, as PSU men’s basketball upset ninth-ranked Michigan State, the Celtics won again, and Rafael Nadal beat Federer to win his first Australian Open title.)

Every time I go to New York I want to spend more time there.  I like its energy and pervading spirit of creating new things.  I think it improves my health to be around that vibe more often!

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Autolux-Robots in the Garden 

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The Knitting Turnip

On My Needles

Rhapsody in Tweed cabled pullover for Ezra! using Tahki Donegal Tweed in Forest, from Fall 2004 Interweave Knits. I've just picked this one up again, so it's moving up in the queue!

Sweater with Cable Patterns pullover using Araucania Nature Wool Chunky in Mauve, from Rebecca Magazine Number 28

Heather Pullover using Classic Elite Wings in Larkspur, from Rowan’s A Season’s Tale... This needs the knit doctor. I'm going to have to frog back a little bit and redo the shoulder area. Long story.

Hush Pullover using Jo Sharp DK wool in Wine, from Rowan’s Calmer Collection

More scoop on my knitting endeavors can be found at my home on Ravelry (clicky here).

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