Oh, man, I would see these guys every fucking night if I could! One of the best five shows I've ever been to -- I seriously wish it could have gone on all night.
They were unbelievably tight, something that may not come across well via the YouTube, and the more atmospheric stuff was so pretty. Honestly, that's the stuff I sometimes skip over if I'm listening to an album, so hearing it live was kind of revelatory.
I think this was the last stop on their tour, but they're, like, the hardest working "ambient / drone / doom metal / noise / rock band"in the business, so there'll probably be another album, more collaborations, and another tour just around the proverbial corner. BUY THEIR ALBUMS GO SEE THEIR SHOWS MAKE THEM HAPPY.
Okay one more video.
They played this song, too. I wish I'd grabbed some merch.
So my train adventure has wrapped up and I thought I would share some of my observations with you nice people. Like I mentioned before, it was pretty positive, with just a few caveats to advise you of.
First of all, and this is the main one, they kept the trains friggin' cold! Especially the overnight train I took from Atlanta to D.C. It was cold enough that it kept me from sleeping (granted it wasn't the only thing keeping me from sleeping, but it was maybe the biggest part). Most of the people on the train were better prepared and had blankets and/or hoodies, etc., to wrap up in. I was reduced to tucking my arms back through the armholes of my t-shirt, which helped a little but not enough. And are they really hot during the winter? Are the conductors just overzealous with the thermostat? I don't know, but I have a feeling this may be the case.
The seats are similar in design to your standard airplane seats, but with way more legroom and a little more lateral room. So this is more than enough, especially if the train is not very crowded and you end up with two seats to yourself (all the trains I was on had two seats on either side of the center aisle). But if the train is packed, like the ATL to WAS train was, and you end up next to a pretty big dude, and if you, like me, aren't exactly small, things end up being a little claustrophobic. Given all of that, though, if I'd just been warmer, things probably wouldn't have been nearly as bad.
So here are some perks of which you may or may not be aware: there are plug-ins all over the place, so if you want to bring a laptop or dvd player (or even if you need to plug in your cel, or something) those are easy to find. I wasn't planning on bringing my laptop -- and then it broke right before I left, anyway -- but if I'd known then what I know now I probably would have wanted to. Part of what this means is that if you're in a billable-hours type profession but need your laptop to do your work, you can take it with you and not worry about your battery tanking. And you'll have lots of time, too. Most of my trains left acceptably close to on-time, but the actual travel is slow. It's comfortable travel, though, with only a constant light jostle that makes even light airplane turbulence seem dramatic.
There's also the carbon imprint issue, which is a great point but one I'm not going to shove down anyone's throat. It's very much in line, though, with the general idea that mass transit offers both economical and environmentally friendly travel options. It's pretty cheap, too, for the most part. The Crescent Line that starts in New Orleans and ends in New York can get an individual back and forth between NOLA and Atlanta for a little less than $60, one-way. It pays to plan ahead, though, as some tickets can rise pretty dramatically in price as the trains fill and departure time looms. (The only ticket I felt like I paid too much for was the ATL to WAS leg, which is yet another reason it was kinda miserable.)
I'm not sure what the future holds for Amtrak. It's in a weird grey zone as a government agency in that it's expected to be run like a business but almost by default can't be successful or profitable. It definitely has its fair share of powerful critics, including John McCain, which may or may not explain why the entire state of Arizona is devoid of Amtrak stations. Ideally, it would be great to have Japanese/EU-style bullet trains one day, but that seems kinda unlikely to happen anytime soon. Even just an east coast one, or maybe a New York-Chicago-L.A. express would go over pretty well, I think, trading off a little bit more travel time for a lot more comfort and reliability -- maybe even productivity.
Saw of Montreal at a very swank bar called The Roxy last night. It was a great show, despite the fact that they a) didn't play their cover of The Fiery Furnaces' "Tropical Iceland" and b) played lots of new stuff -- which is great and all, but who goes to see a band they like for songs they don't know? of Montreal is semi-famous for doing great covers, but I don't think they played any last night. And actually, if I end up with a torrent of the show, it might be interesting to hear the new stuff again.
Here's some YouTube, but be advised that they had a much cooler and more elaborate setup (multi-tiered stage, light boxes that lit up when people walked on them, winged guitarist, ninja battles).
Also procured both the new Radiohead and the new Fiery Furnaces. If you haven't heard about the new Radiohead, please crawl out from underneath your rock and check this out: it's called In Rainbows and you can download it, right now, from this website, at a price of your own choosing. Including for the completely frizzle. I coughed up seven pounds fifty cuz I'm like that, but I don't think anyone's getting the stinkeye for being supposedly cheap. Here's a clip of "Bodysnatchers"; kind of my favorite song going in, ever since I heard their Bonnaroo performance, but it's reworked just a bit on the actual album, so it's still my jam.
Last but never least: Here's a video from Widow City, the aforementioned new Fiery Furnaces. I haven't absorbed much more than the two cuts I was already familiar with ("Navy Nurse" and "Duplexes Of The Dead") but I feel okay relaying you the Pitchfork review, which seems on the money at least about the album's mixed debt to 70's era rock.
Well, take care kids! -- and if you're good, I'll tell you about the lovely young lady I met last night.
So, I've paid some rent, signed a lease, and bought a computer -- I guess I'm officially moved in (although I am still sleeping on the futon in the living room, but hopefully that situation will be remedied soon). Now I've just got to buckle down on the job search, and it will be almost like I have a real life going on. Whee!
One thing that's nice about a pretty big city like Boston is the opportunity to find things to do that I used to do down in Mississippi. For instance, I've gone to a bar called Atwood's that has trivia on Wednesday nights. My team hasn't won yet, but we've placed two out of the three times I've gone and won some nice bar glasses. The first place team gets cash, of course, and in a neat twist the last place team gets a round of shots with the emcee -- a comely burlesque dancer who always dresses up in sexy costumes. No joke! The first time I went, she was dressed as a saucy teacher, the second time she was Princess Leia -- no, wait, let me rephrase that: Slave Outfit Princess Leia -- and this most recent trip she was Raggedy Ann. The last one's not so hot, I guess, although apparently she strips out of it during her burlesque act sometimes. It also inspired the night's best team name: So Does The Carpet Match The Yarn? As you may have suspected, plenty of people throw their own games in order to "win" last place. I've got to find out where and when she performs!
I've also been meaning to post about my experience with Amtrak. That's not going to happen now, but I hope to in a day or two. I'll go ahead and say that it was pretty positive, with just a few caveats. If anyone has any questions about train travel (or whatever!), please post them in the comments, and I'll try to make sure they get addressed in the actual post.
Ok, so here's a clip of Justice, um, "performing" a song on Jimmy Kimmel.
Fun stuff, but why have Rod Stewart on keys? I wonder if whoever they really wanted had the flu or something.
