That said, I like a lot of their recorded output, and would maybe think about going to see them live if I could be sure of what I was getting. Of course, part of their artistic adventurousness or whatever is that you probably never know what you're getting with one of their shows, so I guess I'll stick to the records and leave the shows for the uncritical weirdos who really "get it."

trivia: very cool connection to Tullycraft Eric is. keep logging in over there to piece together the story.

Plus, it was too goddamn loud.

In The City- The Jam
"all those golden faces are under 25...the kids know where it's at"

and the kids you want to be knowin are over at tullycraftnation, and at last night's show - it was kid-riffic!

maybe their tracks didn't have the same quality as studio recordings, but it was still quite the experience. it was just one of those shows where you have to let go of preconceptions and give in to the music. maybe it was the pot, maybe it was my love for fireworks, but i haven't felt that alive at a show in a long time.

And yes, it did sound better after I smoked some really strong weed halfway through.

But still. Samples bore me live. They were great samples, don't get me wrong, really crafty and well-done, but if you're gonna do that at least show some cool video or something.

In all, I wish I'd gone to Medeski Scofield Martin and Wood instead. Might have been boring funk jams, but at least they'd have been playing real instruments.

Another friend of mine hid a field mic in a dr suess hat and recorded the whole thing. I just started naming the songs for the first time today. Suddenly I know nearly all of them, and I can tell what's coming next by the tiniest sample in a wash of noise.

Friday my ears hurt during the first half and I was a little frustrated with my position and lack of understanding. I shifted to the center and then to the front of the stage, I started recognizing songs, I found a friend and danced endlessly with him. I was all three of the people described here:experiencing but not embracing, 'freaking out' because that's what one "should" do, and truly merging with the moment and having a transcendent experience. Thankfully it was in that order, and thankfully each phase wasn't so rigid.

I think their live shows are like their albums. You've got to give it some time (unfortunately hard when it's a one-time live deal), and you have to make some compromises with your own arm-crossed, Stranger-writing pretensions before things fall together and you get swept up.

I recommend it.

but i can just feel down in the bottom of my soul, that they are not going to be remotely as good live.

they just seem a little too amateurish. the recorded stuff is "best takes", the live stuff will suffer from non-editing.

but i genuinely do like the band.

Hmm?

You should smoke a fat bowl and listen to track 1, Did You See The Words, off their album Feels. Then come back and say that they're 'garbage', you unenlightened moron.

To add my own perspective, I don't "get" them. Period. I have never thought that anything that they've done has been any good, and I've listened to them more times than I'd like to count. All of their music is shapeless to me, connecting with some primal feeling within that means absolutely nothing to me as a listener. It doesn't relate to my experience nor any interior buried feelings that I have for wanting to run through the woods or reconnecting with nature. I like concrete and orange night-lighting.

Even when I was toking a lot, this isn't what I listened to or wanted to listen to. Just because this isn't what I want to listen to doesn't mean that I'm unenlightened. I'd think those awards I got in college or a discussion with me about music would help to cancel out such an argument. It's just a difference of taste. I think they are trash. Other people people would say the same thing about my preference towards shoegaze and drum n bass. But, as I always say, to each their own.