I've seen the Decemberists, U2 and local favorites Morwenna Lasko & Jay Pun since my last update.
The Decemberists were a lot better live than I expected them to be. I tend to run hot and cold with their studio stuff, as sometimes their jaunty nautically themed tunes take the leap from novel and interesting to lame as hell. It doesn't help that Colin Meloy's voice is a bit of an acquired taste.
Live, they rocked a lot more than I expected. We only stayed through the first set - a complete performance of their newest disc, Hazards of Love - and left before the encore of assorted old stuff, but I was impressed enough to pick up Hazards when I got home. Yeah, I said it - impressed enough that it got me to buy music. Some accomplishment!
A week later, U2 landed their giant space crab in Scott Stadium. It was the first show at Scott since the traffic, power and bomb-threat marred Rolling Stones show in 2005.
There are two ways to look at this show. First, if you take away the pageantry and bluster and look past the elaborate production, U2 is a pretty killer band that still puts on a captivating live show. Second, sometimes that aforementioned production teams up with the size of the venue to make it feel more like you're seeing some kind of multimedia U2 revue than the actual band.
The show was a bit bloated - we didn't need No Line on the Horizon dud "Moment of Surrender" as a second encore, and could have lost thirty minutes somewhere and still been satisfied - but overall, they're still a band to see.
I left the show a pretty big fan of The Edge, whose ability to generate a guitar sound that fills an entire stadium as the lone lead instrument in a three piece band really impressed me - much like Andy Summers did when the Police came to town.
Finally, my friends Morwenna Lasko & Jay Pun (who are the house band for Jess and I's wedding next year) released their new CD on Tuesday and accompanied it with a release party at the Live Arts space downtown. They played a roughly 90 minute set showcasing a lot of the new material and featuring a lot of their friends from the local scene, and I felt like it went over very well. Highlights were "Machine Gun," the heartfelt tributes "A-Tip" and "One Moore Farewell," "Live Wire," and finally the funky and unique sound generated by guitar, electric, violin, accordion, upright bass, drums and vocals on the single "B-Loose."