Yo BV, thank you for posting my video on your blog. You had a choice, and you chose my video. This is the first time that any major website has shown me any love. HUGE thanks.

Eli Stonberg

I don't think I'll ever forgive Menomena's 2 hour sound check debacle at SXSW 2007 at 1am.

Webster? Good thing I saw them for free at the Seaport.

illinois has opeend for exactly everyone and their mother this summer. i don't mind, i love them.

LOVE ILLINOIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

umm sorry guys, but this show kind of sucked. i love menomena's albums, but could the guitarist at least try to sing on key and there wasn't even an encore. disappointing show all around. i'd never see them again live, even if it was free. what a shame.

It was a good show by my reckoning, however what was up with the balcony being VIP only (and btw it looked like about only 20 people were up there?) was it something sponsored by Village Voice since that banner was in the hallway? If it was I think that was bullshit, to close off that whole sections for the sake of 20 people, fuck that.

also the bass for Menomena was ridiculous, the drummer at one point between the songs begged the sound guy to turn it down, but to no avail, this was at about mid point of the show. Every time he hit the bass drum it was just overpowering, even with plugs (my clothes were vibrating, it was that loud). This was only for Menomena, during Illinois it was fine. Anyway, I now think the sound guy is either deaf, an idiot, or someone with an interest/grudge in making bands look bad. In any case- fuck him

yeah bass was ridiculous. eventually i just went to the back of the place and watched from there and it was much better. saved the show.

it wasn't even just the bass though. it's true that the lead singer in the middle just has a very thin and off pitch live singing voice. i think they tend to mask this in the studio. the drummer actually had the best voice, though i couldn't sing lead because he was to preoccupied with drumming. i left this show feeling very underwhelmed and even disillusioned with a band that i was really looking forward to seeing. their dense studio sound, which initially drew me to this band, is all but lost in their live set. you can't just blame it all on webster's sound system. i wish you could. but you can't.

i would probably agree for the first half of the set. obviously they use the studio on a lot of their songs and it's difficult to replicate that sound with a three piece live. they did also seem to be having other sound problems as well, besides the bass. i think at one point the sax just cut out entirely. but once the choir came on and i was away from the bass everything seemed perfect. i don't regret going. if they play at a different venue next time i will probably see them again. rotten hell and evil bee were amazing.

I think everyone should be a little forgiving. I've seen some great Menomena shows in the past. I think the band are just tired from so much touring this year. I wasn't at the Webster Hall show (I hate hate that venue), but I think this is the third major tour they have embarked on for their recent album. I was really surprised to hear they were coming to NY again. They must have played here 5 times or so this year alone. I would imagine they are just exhausted but needed another tour to make money so they could go home and record another album... that's my hypothesis. They are really great, down to earth guys in person. when they are rested, their live show is great and the singer is on key.

Webster Hall always fucks up the bass it seems but Menomena were pretty awsome even if off key at some points. My problem's with the show was that crazy loud bass, they were off key sometimes, no encore, and my car got towed(got it back though). The one thing I do enjoy about the venue (some might have opposite opinions on this) is that they don't care about ppl smoking pot unlike some other venues like bowery ballroom and that takes away from the fun of a rock concert for me. Also Cough Coughing was amazing live! anyone have the set list?

they mentioned that they started recording their new album a week and a half ago i think

let's hope that the new album is a good one, though i'm not going to see them if the tour again. it was not a good experience. they just didn't bring it.

ah no i think they said another week and half of tour and then they would record the new album early next year or something like that. Yes it did seem like they were having problem with the sax sound, but thats again the fault of the sound board guy or whoever to make sure the mic on the sax was live. I would go see them again though.

It seems their music is so technical that the slightest mistake or sound problem makes a song sound sour. For this reason I'm willing to forgive them for the first half of their set.
And yes it was in "Late Great Libido" where the sax cut out completely - very disappointing.
Rotten Hell was simply orgasmic though - Good God!! That was a great ending.
Oh... and what the hell was up with the Ibankers/mid-life crisis audience.
I usually welcome a break from hipster audiences, but at least hipsters don't TALK through the set.

i didn't see mid-life-crisis peeps? where were they? seemed to me like the usually hipster fanfare to me. i find that there are drunk talking idiots at most of the shows i go to, regardless of social standing, social stratification, or labels. if you go to a show and talk through the whole fucking thing, what's the point? just go outside and talk. by the way, menomena is NOT good live. don't blame it on the sound. they're just not a very good live act.

the only reason the second part of their set was even half way redeeming was because they had vocal backing from 8 other people who came out to sing the last three songs with them. this helped to mask the lead singer's crappy, thin, off pitch voice. every time he opened his mouth i wanted to cringe, it was like a faint sound of nails on a chalk board and managed to sour the whole set for me.

what? i thought they were simply awesome. their sound is huge for just three guys.

Yes saw and heard some technical problems there. it's pretty easy for those things to take the air out of a performance even if the crowd doesn't know they are happening. that said, I thought the show was pretty excellent- the second half was revelatory . Their songs are so good that even on a bad night you're seeing something special.

well said

i work at at an investment bank so i take those barbs personally.

i see a bunch of "hipster" fucks talking at every show i go to and usually it's be telling them to shut the fuck up and go outside.

so to you sir i say to the pain...

Well I'm glad y'all liked us (I conducted the choir).

I love Menomena. The 8 of us were thrilled to work with them. Having been backstage with them, I can attest that they were def upset by the various technical issues they encountered, but they were certainly true pros about the situation.

Glad you all came.

Soren
Shimmerplanet