Reviews

When I found out that +Live+ was going to be playing in Austin on the 20th of September, I was ready and willing to pay whatever amount they expected of me in order to see them in concert again. I saw them a couple years ago in Houston when they were out on their 'Throwing Copper' tour, so knew that I could expect a great show. And I was not disappointed. When I got to the show in Austin, one of the first things, I noticed was the +Live+ is a band that appeals to all sorts of people. There were people there with their young children, there were people who were obviously in college (like my friends and I), and then there was the younger set. Overall, it was a good mix. Then came the actual show. The opening acts, in my opinion, started out okay and then travelled on down to worse. I liked Man BREAK okay, but then they were followed by the oh so condescending Luscious Jackson. I really didn't care for their music, nor did I care for their whole chick band thing they had going on. The thing I disliked about them most was their attitude towards the audience. There are a few things I like less than having a band tell me "Okay, guys! This is a pogoing song!" Okay, now I know EXACTLY how I am supposed to react to this song. Boy, thanks for letting me know that. I think that I would have been thoroughly confused without THAT information. They then left the stage. My friends and I applauded them, mostly because that meant that the people we came to see. +Live+, would soon be onstage. Forty-five minutes later,I had made friends with those around me and heard quite a bit if music by the Police. But no +Live+ yet. Everyone in the crowd was getting a bit anxious, and somewhere in the crowd the chant of "Live, Live, Live" started and carried throughout South Park Meadows. As the crew got closer and closer to having the stage all ready to go, the crowd was getting antsier and antsier (myself included). Finally, forty-five minutes after Luscious Jackson got off the stage, +Live+, the ones we had been waiting two hours for, came on stage and started to play what was an overall excellent show. It being Texas, Patrick come out onstage wearing a spiffy black cowboy hat which didn't stay on his head very long. Chad T. , on the other hand was sporting a nifty little do-rag. They opened with two songs from 'Secret Samadhi', 'Rattlesnake', and 'Lakini's Juice'. I have always loved the fact that the first tracks on +Live+'s CDs make the perfect opening songs for their shows. Anyway, they then moved on from there. My fears were allayed .. They did not play the entire CD in order. I was getting a little bit worried after they played the first two tracks of 'Secret Samadhi' together like they did. I am not one to pay attention to set lists, nor do I stand at concerts keeping a mental tally of what they played. I like things to be a surprise, and I like the ability to go home and listen to the CDs and think to myself, "Hey, they played that at the concert!" So, anyone looking for a complete set list of the Austin show is in the wrong place. I was happy with he songs they played off of 'Mental Jewelry'. It being my favorite CD from +Live+, I think that they could have played anything and make me happy, but the fact that they played 'Operation Spirit' and 'Mirror Song' absolutely made the show perfect for me. 'Mirror Song' is my favorite +Live+ song, and the new arrangement of it was even better than the version on the CD -- they are appropriately named in that respect. 'Operation Spirit' was also well done. I can honestly say that my favorite part of them playing 'Mirror Song', was that it was probably the least known song they played that night. Sure, they played songs from 'Secret Samadhi' that have not been released as singles ('Heropsychodreamer', 'Merica'), but it is nice to hear them play something that fans that have followed them for a long time would recognize. It was also interesting to see all of the people who thought that 'Mirror Song' was a new song. But, no, +Live+ played their new song that they have been playing at their shows this summer, and I liked it immediately. +Live+ also played many of the tunes that most of their fans have heard on the radio. They played a good mixture of the songs from the 'Throwing Copper' and 'Secret Samadhi'. And, although I have seen +Live+ perform 'Turn My Head' on Howard Stern and The Tonight Show (I saw them on David Letterman, but I can honestly say that I cannot at the moment recall what song they played), I think that seeing them performing that song up on the stage is an experience that cannot be beat. There is something about +Live+ that just cannot be expressed completely on their CDs. I think that a lot of it has to do with their attitudes and charisma. Nothing beats watching Patrick up on stage jamming away on his bass guitar. That's what I love about them. They look like they are having fun, and, as a result, so does the audience. And, they are not a sullen group either. They interact well with the crowds - regardless of how many critics attack them or how hot it is. I have been to shows where bands cut back the amount of crowd interaction there is simply because it is too hot. It IS Texas, but we, as the crowd, love it when the band is willing to sweat off a few pounds during the show in order to make the experience that much better. Anyway, back to the show itself. At the end of the show (before the encore), there was no doubt that the crowd was ready for more. And then the band delivered. They came back out and played some more for us. Then, when it came time to end the show with 'White, Discussion', I and a friend decided after the show, that every band that wants to end a concert well should end their show with that song. It rocked! Especially when Chad T. and Patrick were up on stage blasting our ears out with the feedback. I could faintly hear Ed singing over them from backstage, but I honestly did not know what was going to happen next (maybe if I had read more of the reviews I would have known). But, the next thing I knew, Ed came back out onstage to finish the song (who knew that it wasn't over in the first place, but there was no way I was going to leave until the band left the stage and they started playing the 'Let's go home' music). There he was, up on stage in a purple sequinned jacket looking shirt and a purple feather boa. It was great! They finished the song, and there were many in the crowd who were upset that he threw the boa down on the stage when he took it off rather than into the crowd. After that song, the show came to an end. I am sure that the band was tired, but I would have loved it if they had been able to stay on all night and keep playing their music for us. But, some very lucky people in the crowd got their own souvenir official Chad Gracey drum sticks. As a personal aside, watching him play has made me decide that I want to learn to play the drums so that someday I could play as well as him. He rocks! Ed is still my favorite (and always will be), but Chad G ranks second in my book! As a final note, as we were walking out of the concert, I noticed a bit of irony in the music they were playing. After all of the discussion about the similarities between the video for 'Freaks' and the movie 'A Clockwork Orange'. I could not help but chuckle when I realized that the music being pumped out through the loudspeakers was music from none other than the 'A Clockwork Orange' sound track. It was definitely a great way to the end the evening. And, I also left the show with something to tell my friends when they tell me I am a freak because I love +Live+ as much as I do. In the words of Ed, quoting a poster from the Phoenix show, "We are all freaks!" So, thanks to this great show that I saw on the 20th of September (or as I told other people, "Two years and 45 minutes after the last show I saw them play!"), I now have some happy memories and more reason to anxiously await the day that they put out a new CD and the next time they visit my neck of the woods. +Live+ just keeps on rockin'!
KATIE ENGEL