morricone was amazing.
for an 81 year old, he moves around so well.
everything was just great. they did everything you'd expect.
once upon a time in america theme/deborah's theme/poverty,
the untouchables, the good the bad and the ugly/ecstasy of the gold, a few from the mission.

I had a good time at the insanely long Cat Power show (during which she definitely lost the track of time -- prompting Matt Sweeney to inform her that "the show's over, let's go home"), but I hope that's it for Hiro. I have to imagine that they broke every fire code in the book after asking the crowd to squeeze together so they could let even more people in. If there weren't candles at every table and along the walls of the bars, along with Chan tossing out lit cigarettes prompting the hipsters to think "gee, the performer is smoking -- we can smoke too!" I wouldn't have consistently inched closer to the exit (being a good story underground). When you've got people lining the staircases to the balcony at four-deep, you know you've oversold.

Also, and I don't mean to sound redundant (as the issue tends to pop up in every goddamn review thread), but good christ, while I realize that all of you kids have cameras now and some even have blogs and photoblogs, that's no excuse to constantly fire your flash in the faces of those around you (especially in a very dark venue). And by constantly, I mean every ten seconds for two hours straight. Along with the talking and the pushing, it's turning into a serious problem at shows. You pigeons.

The Morricone performance was indeed incredible. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that this was my first ever time to Radio City Music Hall, and was incredibly impressed with the acoustics (duh), not to mention our fantastic seats (first row in the top mezzanine.

He really seemed to be enjoying himself up there. I'd have to say the highlight for me was the spaghetti Westerns suite--fantastic!

Cat Power was great last night. The mindless banter only got slightly old after a while. We left a little early because we weren't the folks sitting down the whole time and we were cranky and hungry after a while, but we really enjoyed what we saw. Also, my friend was coughing from Chan's (and everyone else's) cigarette smoke. Ha. I have to say, throwing the lit cigs into the crowd was sliiiightly alarming.

Also, I was standing next to an older man who was videotaping nearly the entire thing and kept elbowing me to get a better angle. So check youtube later this week, I guess.

I agree with the comment about the cameras and how awful they were. Somehow, those flashes are even more blinding in a dim room than a completely dark room. I was seeing spots by the end.

It was definitely a good time, but I wish she'd come out a little earlier than 9:40. The guy who opened seemed to be rushing for time by the end, but then it took another hour for Chan to appear. Her talent made up for it, of course, but she was kind of pushing it there.

I became a big fan of Joan Osbourne when I saw her song with the Funk Brothers on the amazing documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown". Very few people have a voice like that.

David Byrne is a breeder?!

I saw Cat Power @ the MoMa - It was a great show up front. She played a short set, just like Seu Jorge did.

http://www.creativetime.org/itunes/audio/seujorge.mp3

All of the talking was rude, but it's not a real concert - it's an "art happening."

I wish Rufus W. would have gone on stage and sung with her! - He was in the audience.

"I became a big fan of Joan Osbourne when I saw her song with the Funk Brothers on the amazing documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown". Very few people have a voice like that."

EXCELLENT DOC, especially for someone who grew up outside the Motor City. She definitely had the best performance w/ the Funk Brothers.

Listen to Cat Power sing Satisfaction (night 1).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twc7MPan_XA

The audio is good, the video is not so good.

enough with the cameras!

the chick next to me recorded the entiiiiire cat power show on sunday. her camera would beep, she would put it down and then continuing filming.

me:"this is a joke, right?"

gotta love Joan Osbourne! Hello, "St. Theresa"? The video where she takes a bite of the throbbing strawberry and fills up a bathtub with goldfish? so so beautiful.

Also, saw my girl CP last night and I loooooved her "that was artistic, it was like an art thing" after every wacky thing she did. HA, such a 180 from the woman i used to see (heckle) many moons ago. So wrong when she was making fun of that japanese girl's laugh? Oh Oh, so great.

I made it out to two of David Byrne's shows: Songs from the Knee Plays on Thursday, and Here Lies Love on Saturday.

Thursday night the music itself was very good. David's parts were mainly spoken word, singing only one song at the end. In any case it was amazing just to see something he put together. The only other time I'd seen him was performing a few songs at the 826 NYC benefit back in August. It was interesting to see something more complete that he had created. I'm not sure how to say it...but I left feeling like I had really experienced something.

Saturday night was amazing. You could tell how much work everyone involved had put into it. The performance was flawless. The two female vocalists were very good. The percussion and band were dead on. From the beginning you could tell it was going to be good. David was dancing and playing the guitar. Everyone was moving and it was all very upbeat. David prefaced pretty much every song with a little bit of background information...in a very "entertaining, without trying to be" David Byrne-esque way. At the end of the night I was very moved by the whole experience. It was extremely entertaining and well performed. It also had a great narrative quality. Despite it being a "song cycle" and not a full musical or "disco opera", you really came out it with a picture of Imelda Marcos and some of her life. It's probably one of the best shows I've been to.

i thought cat power on friday was lovely. she played a long enough set for a museum event, with both class and grace. it was a bit annoying that everyone was talking, but since i was down on the floor it seemed mostly to be coming from the balcony and in their defense i dont think they knew how loud they were being or how the sound carried-afterall, it was a musuem. and the opening drum session along with the free bar definitely made it well worth the $10.

here's drew on snl w/ the pb&j t-shirt:

http://www.babyjesus.se/blog/wp-content/pbj.jpg

ive seen cat power a number of times now (at town hall, hiro ballroom last summer, moma and one of her infamous breakdown performances years ago at black cat in dc) and i definitely think she's best with the band. that town hall show was phenomenal.

but i really just love seeing cat power, no matter what kind of a 'night' it is. even seeing her break down and perform fragments of half a dozen songs is worth seeing once.

let's hope in future tours that she atleast plays with a 3-piece band or something. i think it helps to keep her focused.

^^^^^^

And the free passes from folks like this are exactly why CP will continue to nearly sell out all her performances despite the fact that they predictably suck.

A shame, really, because there's so many other amazing (live) bands out there that draw tiny crowds and can't move the fickle, follow-the-crowd hipster/indie crowd to step outside the blogosphere and check something out that MIGHT not have a scene there, or may have not come with an indie blog seal of approval.

Does anyone know the first song Cat Power played Sunday (and probably Monday)? I'm sure it was a cover.

amazing what anti-psychotic drugs can do for you?
just please everyone out there- chan marshall included, don't mix with the booze.

amazing what anti-psychotic drugs can do for you?
just please everyone out there- chan marshall included, don't mix with the booze.

I went to Welcome to Dreamland- I was sitting in front of Jonathan Demme.
CocoRosie got a standing ovation. I also really liked Adem. All the acts sounded amazing in Carnegie Hall.

i saw the "welcome to dreamland" show. There was a lot of tension between the artists. people were worried about Devendrahe was acting weird and drinking A LOT on stage. Cocorosie did an amazing set!! Their mother sang with them and it was theatrical and appropriate for carnegie...adem was not so great.....vetiver sounded amazing.

I have two tix I need to unload for Vetiver at Southpaw this Saturday. anyone interested. they're playing with Vashti Bunyan. mslvrmn@gmail.com.

"And the free passes from folks like this are exactly why CP will continue to nearly sell out all her performances despite the fact that they predictably suck.

A shame, really, because there's so many other amazing (live) bands out there that draw tiny crowds and can't move the fickle, follow-the-crowd hipster/indie crowd to step outside the blogosphere and check something out that MIGHT not have a scene there, or may have not come with an indie blog seal of approval."

sorry to say but CP has more talent in her left pinky than most of those no-name bands...

chan was brilliant last night. she rambled on about things (pigeons, ms. peachez) but the awkward pauses and the intimate performance made it seem so humble. almost like watching a rehearsal in a basement.

right on donatello. what strikes some as unprofessionalism, strikes me as a more authentic performance. I felt like I was in CP's living room last night. Maybe some might find that to be an unsettling place, but I say embrace that unset. It's where you find emotion. and art.

I attended the Welcome to Dreamland show organized by David Byrne on Friday at Carnegie Hall.

David Byrne seemed unusually nervous and at a loss for words when he came on to introduce the artists. All he really needed to say was that here was a bunch of musicians that he really likes. Rather he stumbled over his lines, paused pregnantly and tried a joke that fell flat. Hasn't this guy been onstage for over 30 years? I suppose I would have felt bad if this was his first foray into hosting events. However, for myself, and pretty much the entire audience, David Byrne can do no wrong - despite his apparent lack of preparation for this intro.

First up were Coco Rosie, a good start to the program, as they, as much as anyone, put the Freak in this folk. The Casady sisters are an amazing pair - one sporting a painted mustache singing in a pinched warble that sounds like a voice on a faded phonograph from a distant era, the other operatically trained who also plays the harp. They were joined at various points by a pianist, two human beatboxes and a string section. The highlight was a stirring sweet soul song, passionately delivered by Bianca Casady. I'm not sure if this song has already been recorded, either way I can't wait to hear it again.

Instead of pauses between acts, the artists would blend musicians and carry on as a segue to the next act. So Adem came out and joined with other musicians to finish up Coco Rosie's set and begin his own. Adem's music is a bit more straightforward folkly, his cheery and clear-eyed delivery suiting his songs about interplanetary love. He was also the only musician onstage that night with hair shorter than mine.

Adem gave way to neo-hippie folk rockers Vetiver. Andy Cabic's band can rock on record, but tonight was quiet(er) time, with lots of strummed acoustic guitars and Andy's winsome voice, occasionally punctuated by some beautiful electric guitar playing from his bandmates. I would have preferred a bit more rock, but that would come later when Vetiver teamed up with Devendra Banhart. Looking at the stage full of long-haired, bearded Vetivers, one would think they stepped right out of 1975. Except they were all dressed really sharp.

Next up was Scottish songstress Vashti Bunyon, rescued from the obscurity of a quiet, idyllic English-countryside life by Devendra and his cohorts. She sounded, and pretty much looked, as if the last 40 years had hardly passed since she first made recordings. She sang the title track to "Just Another Diamond Day" and a handful of other sweet, lullabylic gems, while spinning between-song stories and thanking the younger musicians at her side. Vashti is not so much a den mother to this large hippie family, as she is a guiding light.

Finally, with Vetiver backing him and faithful guitarist Noah Georgeson at his side, Devendra Banhart emerged from the shadows for the evenings final installment. Actually he wasn't hard to spot in the shadows, while partaking in some of the earlier proceedings on guitar or backing vocals, what with his massive head of dark hair and Manson-like beard atop a stick-figure body, tonight dressed in a natty burgundy velvet suit. Opening with "Little Yellow Spider", Devendra had us mesmerized with songs of animals, children, getting high and being free. Something for everyone. He produced a flask from his jacket and sipped liberally, wondering aloud between songs just how the hell did he end up on the Carnegie Hall stage. One song was about flags was sung in Spanish, another song was (allegedly) about the first person to promote non-classical acts at Carnegie Hall. Maybe I was imagining it, but Devendra seemed to adopt a slight Dylan inflection while singing this song. To close his set, he got up and discarded his folding chair, removed his suit jacket and he and the band finally got the amps up to 11 for the first time in the evening, rocking out to a number (unfamiliar to me) with almost prog-rock chord changes tinged with a bit of tropicalismo psychedelia. Another tune I look forward to hearing on record.

At the encore the evening's entire ensemble, including David Byrne, who finally appeared comfortable, came out for a version of Moondog's "Be A Hobo". Somewhere on a street corner in a Dreamland far away, Moondog was smiling.

"sorry to say but CP has more talent in her left pinky than most of those no-name bands..."

You're a total fucking idiot. If you're a CP fan, fine... but "those no-name bands." What the fuck does that even mean? God, you fucking indie sheep are the worst. Seriously.

"check something out that MIGHT not have a scene"

Bitch, this ain't a scene, it's a goddam arms race!

Joan Osbourne is completely underrated. It's unfortunate that she had such a lame hit.

She was mesmerizing when she sang with the Grateful Dead (post Jerry) a few summers ago.

why are there no comments on how insanely hot byrne's daughter is?

I went to the last night of David Byrne's deal at Carnegie. "One Note" was amazing.

Haale was the least inspiring of the three, definitely could have skipped that.

Camille was a really nice surprise. It was like watching Bjork with a digital sampler. Too cute.

Alarm Will Sound, performing Aphex Twin's "Cliffs", lying on their backs on the floor in low lighting: pretty much made my life.

I've seen David Byrne riding his bike on the steets of the city. Seeing him try to blend in behind the likes of the "freak folk" (not my term)folks on friday night at Carnagie hall gives me an additional surreal memory. What will he do next?

BTW,,,I Loved every freaky minute of it!!!!!!

"why are there no comments on how insanely hot byrne's daughter is?"

Because she's not

here they are younger:

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/partypictures/2003/10.03.03/images/DavidMaluByrne_090903.jpg

http://www.style.com/fashionshows/collections/F2007RTW/backstage/slideshow/MJACOBS?loop=0&event=show1543&designer=design_house57&iphoto=29&play=false&cnt=74

how bout this one? front row at marc. we sat behind j. mascis and kim gordon.

I should have figured there would be a good David Byrne discussion here. A friend just sent me a link to this thread. I'm sorry I missed most of it in real time. BrooklynVegan is a great blog for music lovers.
If anyone is interested, I've posted reviews of each of the four Carnegie shows at my own blog jeffstrabone.blogspot.com.