The Scrabbled: Making Fun of Each Other since '99

no, I don’t really get them either. Especially when the band they are paying tribute to is still touring.

the appeal is probably that you can hear the songs live for $5 instead of $200. at a bar instead of a stadium.

however, i’d just call them cover bands. tribute is silly. i want to start an erasure or r.e.m. cover band.

But it’s not the band. I mean, what’s the goal here? Perfect replication of the album tracks? Why not just listen to the album then? I go to radiohead shows because a.) they have an incredible stage presence and energy and b.) they tend to vary their songs from the album tracks quite a bit and play with them and make them new.

What good is watching some band that can’t even write their own songs attempt them? They’re not going to have the energy or the inventiveness. All your left with is a headache.

mandy said:

the appeal is probably that you can hear the songs live for $5 instead of $200. at a bar instead of a stadium.

i don’t see it this way. but i DO see it this way:

mandy said:

it’s cheap, live music. at least you know you’ll hear a lot of songs you like while you’re at a bar without fearing some moron is going to fill up the jukebox playlist with shit for 2 hours.

don’t overthink it, john. it’s not a radiohead show, it’s an inexpensive night out.

I don’t get the big deal about live music. Unless it’s someone like radiohead or at the drive in or the boredoms or someone doing something interesting or exciting with the whole idea of performing music, it’s boring and I’d rather listen to a CD.

with regards to the first comment, i am just so adamantly against large live shows these days. i would love to see R.E.M., but even with them playing the Mann this summer, it’s still way too fucking expensive and large of a venue for me to really appreciate them. i’ve seen them there from the lawn once already. oh, yippee.

i would pay the price of an expensive ticket for a much smaller and intimate venue, or pay much less for a larger one, but not the crappy combination of both.

live music in small bars is awesome. Twilight Sad and Micah P Hinson at Johnny Brenda’s was loud and rocking and one of the best shows i have been to in the past 2 years. i like being able to interact with the performer, buy them a beer afterwards, and get their cd from a box they bring out after they play.

hahaha yeah this has turned into a LIVE MUSIC post. i only go see bands that i’m REALLY TRULY into anymore. i’ve seen hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of bands. tonite is different. i’m meeting an old friend. we’re both huge radiohead fans. the band is legit. ’nuff said.

Yeah, I shoulda been clearer. I meant the deal with live music getting a free pass just because it’s live music. Like, I wince when I hear someone go “let’s go to such-and-such-a-bar! There’s a band playing!”

So? Who gives a fuck? If anything, that’s a reason NOT to go because chances are they’ll be playing a bunch of songs I hate or ruining the songs I love.

And then there’s the actual bands that I enjoy who just get up on stage and play their songs straight off the album. Booooooring.

Seriously. Meat Loaf’s “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” 7 times in a row, baby. That’s what it’s all about.

seven times in a row is not enough for jamie.

if it’s for the sake of seeing people leave out of frustration, i can fully back that.

I don’t get tribute bands to bands like Radiohead or REM or bands whose fans are a tad more cerebral and enjoy music on a more specific level and who likely still tour. I can see fans of classic rock and metal who enjoy more of a spectacle enjoying them. Not my bag, but I can at least understand people going to see a Zeppelin or Beatles or Guns and Roses tribute bands.
As for live shows in general, yeah I mean unless a band has a great dynamic and moves around a lot or improvises then I’ll enjoy a live show but it’s not overly compelling. Some of the best live performances I’ve ever seen have been by bands or artists whose music I had no interest in but got dragged to see (examples Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, etc.) or who I saw when I was young and into those bandsbut now don’t listen to as much (Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, etc.)because they put 120% of themselves into the shows. Every member of the bands were moving constantly and interacting with the crowd and playing every song faster and more aggresively. It was compelling to watch the performers do what they do and to see the crowd react to it regardless of the sounds coming out of the speakers. It was definitely visually and sonically engaging and it must have taken a shit ton of work for these performers to learn to both play the music they were playing well and also do everything else that they were doing. On the other hand some of my favorite bands recorded have bored me to tears live. And not to gratuitously counter John and Radiohead as I often do and which is at least 75% of the time just calculated internet message board shtick, but Radiohead is a prime example. I’m moderately into their music in general so I’m neither an unconverted hater, nor a blindly allegiant fan. But when I saw them early on after Pablo Honey they were the former type of band I described. They moved around constantly, they engaged the crowd as part of what they were doing, they played every song faster and with more passion and they poured gallons of sweat into it. I wasn’t a fan beforehand but they won me over. When I saw them on later tours they were barely half as active and half as mobile, they played the songs more or less how they were on record (if anything slower), and unless you were a 120% already converted fan of theirs there was absolutely nothing you would see that would change your mind. I know John disagrees with me on this, and we agree to disagree. And when I chide him on their recorded output it’s largely gratuitous shtick. But when I talk about the difference in those live shows it’s 100% sincere and true and where I would say his bias makes him an untrustable eyewitness.

Kev, go to youTube and look up the SNL performances of Idioteque and National Anthem and tell me that’s not an amazing live performance.

I’ve seen those countless of times and those clips are pretty indicative of how they are live. I’m just not sure what’s compelling about any of it. Watching him twitch around up there is not anything that makes the performance in any way better since the song more or less plays the same way it does on record. And the other dudes just kind of stand there. Horrible? Not at all. And there are many more boring live bands out there (I’m looking in your direction Interpol). But Nu-Radiohead are in no way an amazing live band for someone not already completely enamored of their music, which I think is the true test of a great live band. Let me use the flip example of 2 of your other favorite bands. Nine Inch Nails and Tool both do nothing for me recorded. In fact they do much less for me recorded than Radiohead does. In Tool’s case their records downright put me to sleep. However I’ve seen both bands live several times and they are both AMAZING live acts. Spectacles in every way and total heart and soul performances that do not in any way rely on an enjoyment of or familiarity with the bands music to appreciate.

I don’t like supporting tribute bands because I don’t like helping a bunch of dweebs (that aren’t me) in their attempts to get laid.

Kev, I totally agree about NIN and Tool. And while Radiohead’s performance may not be as jaw-dropping as theirs, the actual music is far more so. Radiohead is one of those bands I love live because of how they transform their music to a live setting. It’s amazing and it crackles with energy.

mandy said:

John said:It’s amazing and it crackles with energy.

would you rather watch a live radiohead performance or a pair of tesla coils?

WOW. That’s a tough one.

It’s quite possible.