As we've told you before, No Age's recent stay in Portugal didn't go that well. First, they were beaten up in Lisbon and the day after they had a tepid night in Porto. Anyway, the LA duo -- actually they're touring as a trio with a guy simply called William Kai Strangeland Menchaca doing some noise projections -- played three new songs, including, according to them, a really brand new one (the third one below). So, in case you're curious to hear what No Age are trying out on stage but you don't want to download the whole recording, have a sneak peek here.
No Age + The Oh Sees Plano B, Porto, Portugal Recording Equipment: CA Cardioids > STC 9000 > Tascam DR-07 26.05.2010
I don't know if it was because of the tough night in Lisbon the day before, but I guess No Age's sound engineer Scott Cornish missed something during the band's first gig in Porto. The sound was a bit messy and it was difficult to hear Dean Spunt's voice. I wouldn't say it was that big of a deal, but apparently people here are kind of sensitive. The (small) room wasn't full from the beginning -- the fact that the incredibly dull The XX were playing a long-time sold-out gig that same night in Porto may explain something --, but at the end it was almost reduced to half. And that was a pity because despite all the setbacks, No Age were actually playing with intensity and devotion. Unfortunately, this is the kind of concert that needs to be fueled with sweat from the crowd, there has to be a physical connection between both parts, otherwise it doesn't work -- as it didn't. During "Miner", the last song of their short set, Randy Randall even passed his guitar to the crowd, probably expecting people to have fun with it, but all he got was a very shy reaction. I mean, it wasn't bad and of course there were a few people actually having fun, but it lacked the energy you're expecting in a No Age concert. Guess this trip to Portugal was just doomed from the beginning and I really hope they come back soon in other circumstances. Lo-fiers Thee Oh Sees, on the contrary, gathered a lot of sympathy from the audience, surprising everyone with a killer opening set of flippant psychedelic rock songs.
You'll get all this if you hear the recording.
Setlist - Thee Oh Sees 1. Enemy Destruct | 2. Meat Step Lively | 3. I Was Denied | 4. Block Of Ice | 5. Tidal Wave | 6. Ghost In The Trees | 7. Crack In Your Eye | 8. Mega Feast | 9. Dead Energy | 10. Warm Slide
Setlist - No Age 1. Losing Feeling | 2. Teen Creeps | 3. You're A Target | 4. [New Song] | 5. ??? | 6. Instrumental | 7. Sleeper Hold | 8. Every Artist Needs A Tragidy | 9. [New Song] | 10. Eraser | 11. Boy Void | 12. Depletion | 13. [New Song] | 14. Miner
Shellac + Mission Of Burma Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal Recording Equipment: CA Cardioid > STC 9100 > Tascam DR-07 25.05.2010
Shellac don't tour a lot, you know, so getting the chance to see Steve Albini, Bob Weston and Todd Trainer play in my hometown, 5 minutes away from my house, is kind of pure luck (and persistence from the promoters). Now add to the lineup post-punk legends Mission Of Burma and I guess you can't really ask for more. This was my first Shellac gig and certainly one of the best ones I've been to. Mission of Burma were awesome, combining the rawness of punk with some more sophisticated elements -- somewhere between the Ramones and the Wire -- but Shellac are Shellac. All I can say is that if you've never seen them live and you happen to catch them, don't think twice, 'cause it's true what people say about them: they're the best live act around. Three immensely talented, eccentric guys improvising a setlist of fucked up minimalist rock songs, a mix of brutality and velocity, style and sarcasm, guts and brains. As for the recording, it's probably our best one so far, the sound is very clear and natural. I'm missing 4 songs of the Shellac setlist, so in case you spot them, drop us a line. Also, if you're interested in the FLAC files of the audio recording, I will trade them for video footage of this night. Finally, I've included the traditional Shellac Q&A for streaming below plus two songs from each band. I guess this will whet your appetite.
Setlist - Mission Of Burma 1. 1,2,3 Party | 2. 1001 Pleasant Dreams | 3. Good Cheer | 4. Donna Summeria | 5. That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate | 6. Them Two | 7. After The Rain | 8. 2wice | 9. Let Yourself Go | 10. This Is Not A Photograph | 11. Academy Fight Song | 12. Max Ernst
Setlist - Shellac 1. Ghosts | 2. Copper | 3. My Black Ass | 4. ??? | 5. Canada | 6. A Minute | 7. Squirrel | 8. ??? | 9. Steady As She Goes | 10. Prayer To God | 11. Killers | 12. Il Porno Star | 13. The End Of Radio | 14. ??? | 15. ??? Boycott | 16. Poke
And if looking always for fresh sounds will make us forget about what we really like, about what really makes us dance, sing, dream? This mix has no claim of collect the last music avant-garde. But it's about thoughtless, nostalgic, easy-listening and honest songs, the ones that will last in your mind, soundtrack of this passing time.
As you've may noticed before, the two persons behind this blog are from -- and live in -- different countries. I am from Portugal, while charlie is from Italy. The reason why we (try to) write in english is because that's actually the way we (try to) communicate with each other, as my attempts to speak in italian are pathetic and charlie's portuguese is, well, funny. As if our communication problems weren't already enough, we met last week in Barcelona, Spain, spicing up our peculiar vocabulary with some lousy spanish and catalan.
We're still licking our fingers from those delicious patates braves, but here's a small recuerdo we brought to you. The Intelligence are one of our favourite lo-fi american bands and they played a gig in Sala Monasterio, a sort of basement near Port Vell, that we couldn't miss. There weren't many people there, but there was a great, sweaty atmosphere in the room with the crowd responding frenetically to their flipped out, incendiary garage songs. The sound was loud as it should be and we left the place with the feeling it was a very special night.
Setlist
1. Moody Tower | 2. Like Like Like Like Like Like Like | 3. The Universe | 4. Debt & ESP | 5. ??? | 6. Block Of Ice | 7. Dating Cops | 8. ??? | 9. Virgos | 10. The Unessential Cosmic Perspective | 11. Moon Beeps | 12. Tubes | 13. The World Is Not A Drag | 14. Thank You God For Fixing The Tape | 15. Universal Babysitter | 16. ??? | 17. Pony People | 18. Males | 19. Confidence | 20. Cheer Up Switch
