Wanna go and hear it for yourself …
To steal a line from the last time I saw Moon Duo Friday night was ‘a perfect way to pass through the Vale of Tears that is employment, to break on through to the other side’. A Rubbish, disappointing day at work was all balanced out by a very good gig.
I don’t really do live reviews any more because I started to find it distracted me from head banging, dancing, singing along, pogoing and/or enjoying myself hugely, which is the whole point of gigging; or living, when it comes to it. So this is only a mini one.
In essence I had a great time, getting my retinas fused to the back of my skull by Ripley Johnson’s gliding, sliding, speeding guitar, Sanae Yamada’s driving keys and the fabulous light show, blasted right at eye height. I was right at the front and the stage only came up to my thigh height and so I could see just how much Ripley used all his pedals, gizmos and whatnots*, it was really instructive.
I had a fine, fine time Moon Duo played most of both volumes of 2017’s Occult Architecture LPs, plus a few other faves, a great spooked cover of Alan Vega’s ‘Jukebox Babe’ and they finished with the Stooges ‘No Fun’**, which is interesting as I think, keys driven as they are, the Stooges are actually the nearest touchstone for their rhythmic sound.
Vale of Tears = transcended, thank you Moon Duo.
829 Down (still).
PS: I loved District as a venue too, cool little place in an old industrial unit.
*some guitar freako-s were leaning over and taking photos of it, which seems an odd do to me. Is it important that he uses a 1986 Destruct-o-Warpatronic 47 Devastator flange pedal? not to me it ain’t.
**both of which covers are on their new tour only 12″, which I totally failed to buy. Although I find their take on ‘No Fun’ far too mannered.
14 September – Wooden Shjips – a heads up if you haven’t seen the announcement – Invisible Wind Factory; tickets already purchased – see you there? Moon Duo at District was a belter – I was also there too early – me and my mate within the first dozen but will worth the wait, and enjoyed the supports too.
Great tip off, cheers Macca. I need to sort dates, but I should be there – I’ve not seen WS before.
I was the solitary dweeb, about 4th in! The DJ guy was okay but I was less keen on the two dudes.
I love your one sentence descriptions of the articles above the “continue reading” link.
Cheers Harrison! I suspect you may be the first person ever to notice them! They’ve become one of my very favourite things to do.
You must trust me when I say Harrison rules.
I take that on trust.
Thanks guys
Well obviously the pedals are vital, so you can see how close they come to the metal. Last brain-melting space-rock wig-out duo gig I went to, the guitarist used the 1989 Destruct-o-Warpatronic 47 Devastator flange pedal. Obviously most of us walked out in protest. True story.
Once I saw a band use a 1537 brassiere offer pedal and it had quite the effect on the ladies in attendance.
Now outlawed thanks to those meddling UN weapons inspector bastards! Huh, what do they know about partying, or anything else?!
The ’89?! Jesus, some people just have no class. That’s not even ironically retro futuristically cool. yet.
Two things: First, I stopped reviewing gigs for much the same reason you described. I found myself spending too much time trying to get a perfect picture and “scribbling” thought on my iPhone to really enjoy gigs, Second, I’m more than a little jealous you got to see this group. I imagine some face-melting joy went on.
I get increasingly annoyed with fellow gig goers who spend 90 minutes taking photos and/or videoing the thing. JUST FLIPPING ENJOY THE MOTHER-FLIPPING THING!!
Third time I’ve caught them, he’s just got such a great crystalline guitar sound. If I’m beign honest, really good as this was, it would rank third out of the times I’ve seen them.
Freaking mother flipping phone photo and video takers. A bleeding nuisance they are.
Public Service Broadcasting played this before they came on when I saw them:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOlmjrGhZvo&w=560&h=315%5D
Brilliant. They should show that video before every concert instead of outright banning “all recording equipment”.
Poor Geoffrey, it didn’t end well for him.
Cool writeup and glad you washed work from your back to go and have a good time!
I just had to … it’s that or turn into a grouch all weekend.
Some nifty pictures taking there… small venues and low stages are ideal for that kinda thing, eh?
… cannae believe you didn’t buy the tour 12”. I bet you’ll regret that when you buy it on Discogs, eh?
He didn’t buy the tour 12″.
My view of the world is completely askew.
I know – I thought I’d get it after the show but I sort of forgot, in the rush to get the last train home. Oops.
Not too pricey on Discogs tho.
Thank you, I love bands of this scale – few LPs out, decent back catalogue and a few hundred friends (at most) to celebrate it.
Third time I’ve managed to see them too, yet I’ve missed Wooden Shjips every single time they’ve played.
I love Wooden Shjips, but I’ve never seen them either.
New LP our soon, so I’d imagine a tour to go with it too.
Yas! I didn’t know this, so that’s made my morning!
I spend most of the concerts I attend watching the guitar player(s) to learn the chords – next time I’ll try to get close enough to see the pedals!
Almost as cool as a covert 1537 selfie.
… but not quite.
Is anything really?
It was interesting to be able to see it so closely, because I was sort of looming over it (no mean feat at 5’11”). It was all very intricate.
I’ve seen my people checking out the guitarists’ setup. Probably trying to get that elusive tone.
My guess is these people were pretending to take pictures of the setup but were really trying to take selfies with you in the shot.
I saw some tweets to that effect…
A buddy of mine was hammered to the sky and bumped into Gordie Johnson pedal board when he was fronting Grady. Gordie gave my pal Dennis Lee Roth the stink eye all night…hahaha
Kudos to Gordie for not losing his shit on him
Ur friend so shady
Maybe it was just the Hammer in his Hand?
(love that album)
That’s what she said
I did meet Ben Richardson a few years back. He signed all my Grady stuff.
Has his woman still got his devil?
Oops.
Not only has she got his devil, she once hid his cowboy hat before he was to go on stage.
Man …
That’s it – damn, so obvious when you think about it.
P.S. I see what you mean about the lights.
Yup, if I hadn’t kept Ripley Johnson and his magnificent beard between me and them I reckon I’d still be having trouble driving.
I like those mice. The song sounds good too.
“Vale of Tears” is tragically funny, and a strong prescription of live music is the best medicine.
Maybe you should form Leathermöuse straight away?!
Vale of Tears, that’s the law, right there.
You’re reading my mind!