Sabato 18 Mar 2006, 19:44

Louisville, KY
The Brown Theater
http://ww2.kentuckycenter.org/

Opening Act:
The New Pornographers

The opening act…The New Pornographers. If you want to call them that. An opening act. This show started at the crack of 7:30pm because they more or less are giving TNP a full set. This made it a little bit rough for people coming from out of town. But we made it in the nick of time…traveling from Cincinnati…and arrived soaking wet. About 15 miles outside of Louisville it started raining in sheets. It was a long walk from the garage to the venue.

The New Pornographers…we had seats in the third row center…so the band was basically on top of us. Newman and Co. played heavily from the new album Twin Cinema but picked all the highlights from their prior two albums. "From Blown Speakers", "Testament To Youth In Verse" and "The Slow Decent Into Alcholism"…they were all there. And sounded just as good live as they do on album.

The only down side to this performance was that Neko Case is not on tour with them. I hear she has another album to support. And not to take anything away from Case, but the female keyboardist in the band (I believe a cousin of AC Newman) who took Case's place vocally is a dead ringer for the position. If we weren't looking at them I would never had know that it wasn't Case singning. She more than just fills the shoes on tour. Even on tracks such as "These Are The Fables" in which Case is the recorded lead, the keyboardist belted the tune out as though it were her own. So after all was said and done it wasn't that much of a down side.

And I had the hardest time taking my eyes off the drumer. The guy is beyond entertaining to watch play. Drum sticks twirling in the air…I don't think he caught one of them. But that didn't stop him.

…enter Belle & Sebastian…

I had only hear of the name Belle and Sebastian up until a few months ago. It's unknown to me how this band had never really crossed my stereo. And seeing as how I am a fan of bands such as…oh, I don't know…The Smiths…I figured I would check these guys out. It's my understanding that Belle & Sebastian is a pretty elusive group and that they don't do much state side touring. So when my friends (of the hardcore B&S fan variety) said they were purchasing tickets I figured I would tag along. Tickets went on sale at 10:00am and I believe the purchase time of my friends online ticket order was 10:01:30…hence third row.

What's the best way to hear an established band that you're unfamiliar with? You buy their most current album, of course. I was in luck too, becuase they had just released The Life Pursuit…so this was some BRAND NEW material. And my introduction to the band if you will…hardcore Belle & Sebastian fans, I apologize. I mean do songs get any better than "We Are The Sleepyheads"?…***cue hardcore B&S fans rolling their eyes***

I am completely impressed with this album. I think it's great front to back…and of course some of my friends say things like…"it's alright, but I really prefer If You're Feeling Sinister…which is what any hardcore B&S fan has to say. Know your roots…but I digress.

So then I do what any posing fan will do…(well for starters, you don't just buy the regular relase of TLP…oh no…you buy the limited edition packaging with the bonus DVD material)…so I start to buy their catalog backwards. So the next album I buy is Push Barman To Open Old Wounds…again, the limited editon packaging. (I'm a sucker for that shit…why oh why do the lables keep taking advantage of me? Why?)…anyway. This album (or EP compilation) is great too. So I contiue with Dear Catastophe Waitress…and this brings you up to speed with my B&S collection. I've only stopped here just because. More than likely I will keep going. So I really can't wait until I get to If You're Feeling Sinisterto see what all the fuss is about…but that's a couple months away.

The show…I'll tell you what…I only own three B&S albums and I knew about 80% of what they played live. They actually pulled quite a bit from the EP collection which I found to be quite a surprise. Guess it's not all that bad to be just the posing B&S fan in training. But I was informed that the songs I wasn't familiar with were from their earlier releases…If You're Feeling Sinister to be exact.

But anyway. As the show starts the crowd is politely sitting in their seats. The Brown Theater is a seated venue…and if you give someone a chair then tend to stay planted. Except those hardcore B&S fans. There were pockets of them here and there dancing away thru the first two songs annoying the shit out of the people right behind them…(I was neither a dancer or annoyed) So Stuart Murdoch addresses the tension in the crowd…he could tell that most of us wanted to stand…but we were just waiting for the proper invitaton to do so. Once this ice was broken the show rolled on with ease.

What I enjoyed most about the performance is the amount of insturment trading that was done by the band. I think the only person not to take on another instrument at one point or another was the drummer. But these guys are all talented muscians and this rung out clearly over the course of the next two hours.

The show wasn't without the witty commentary of Murdoch as well. He did much comparing of Scottish culture to ours. We lost. But it was done with humor. So I didn't feel as bad having my shortcomings outlined by someone that I have know of for only a couple of months. Maybe he was dead serious, but the Scottish accent can make just about any comment amusing.

At the close of the show I felt like one of the gang…still years away from being one of the hardcore…but I apparently experienced something the many long time fans have not. A live performance. So with that I have something to hang my hat on.

They played an encore in which they took some suggestions from the crowd. Of course everyone is shouting a different song…hell, I'm sure I was yelling for something from the new album…which you know they won't play…but it was worth a try. Yeah…I was that guy…but I had to stick with what I knew. This is where they played some of their early material and sent a lot of people home really happy. Including myself.

Little known fact…In one week I saw two groups from Glasgow, Scotland (the other being Mogwai) perform in the state of Kentucky…both venues about an hour and a half from Cincinnati. Coincidence?

Completley.

cb