Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Florence and the Machine

Tuesday, December 14th 2010:

Aah, Irving Plaza...the last time I was here was...um, maybe an industry (as in advertising) party with Chris Isaak back in 1999? So long ago, I can't remember - the shows back then kinda blend together in terms of venue...


And I certainly forgot how small the venue is. At the last minute, I decided not to go with my usual concert boots, and we pretty much hung out in the back for most of the show since again, the place was packed and from our previous concert experience at Hammerstein, we opted to avoid being near people...which worked nicely for this show.

happy Brian

Civil Twilight opened the show and was already onstage when we got there. Cool t shirts again, but the music, at least the part of the set we heard, was a bit too somber for my taste.

That's Vincent D'Onofrio, who announces that this is his kids' first concert, and he's very excited to see the show. 101.9 RXP DJ Leslie Fram on the left

101.9 RXP DJ Matt Pinfield

Florence and the Machine - her 60's-style flowing dress, which illuminated beautifully when backlit. Voice was just as powerful and gorgeous live. Great Britain's Janis Joplin...

This is taken NOT facing the stage: monitor above the bar and the mirror behind the bar - both gave a nice view of what we couldn't really see, but luckily the acoustics were still good

1. Howl
2. Drumming Song
3. My Boy Builds Coffins
4. Girl With One Eye
5. Cosmic Love
6. Blinding
7. I'm Not Calling You A Liar
8. Between Two Lungs
9. You've Got the Love (The Source cover)
10. Strangeness & Charm
11. Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

Encore:
12. Heavy in Your Arms
13. Kiss With a Fist
14. Dog Days Are Over





Friday, December 03, 2010

Brandon Flowers

Thursday, December 2nd 2010:

Woo hoo! Another concert in the cit-tay...yes, I really need a slush fund for concerts...


Last time we were here was the April 2000 Smashing Pumpkins show, the one weeks before they announced that they were breaking up. And look-y here, Brian's wearing his Pumpkins shirt ala Halloween costume...


We were introduced to the great sounds of the band Transfer (I actually had to look them up since I couldn't hear who they were...) which would have been just peachy if it hadn't been for the group of German? girls shoving me pretty much the whole set...grrrr!! And of course, probably one of the tallest people there with the biggest afro - don't get me wrong, her hair was ridiculously awesome, but she was like 6'3" or so...concert boots to the rescue.



After the set was over, we didn't hesitate to move away from that section, unfortunately just to find ourselves next to even bigger a**holes (drunk women, mosh pit-mentality spanish-speaking men...). We didn't discover this until after Brandon Flowers comes out onstage. Since I'm the one taking/dragging Brian to shows, I try to make sure he's having a good time, and like Mumford, big asses just happened to be near us - can't escape them for some reason.

In any case, we try to enjoy the show...



1. On the Floor 

2. Crossfire
3. Magdalena 

4. Bette Davis Eyes 
(Kim Carnes cover) - this was just lovely...
5. Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts 

6. Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas 

7. Was It Something I Said? 

8. Hard Enough 

9. Losing Touch 
(The Killers cover)
10. Swallow It 

11. Playing With Fire 


Encore:
12. Read My Mind 
(The Killers cover) (partial)
13. Only the Young 

14. Mr. Brightside (Jacques Lu Cont Remix) 
(The Killers cover)

I pretty much lost it during the encore...Read My Mind AND Mr. Brightside remix?! loved it!!!