robs
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Post by robs on Nov 16, 2022 10:43:59 GMT -5
Really enjoying it (except for It's Dawn - too jazzy for me - my problem!).
First-Person Spectacular = T-Shirt Tux!!
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robs
Hoodrat
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Post by robs on Oct 21, 2022 5:20:45 GMT -5
Glad folk are managing to get. The Facebook group has people getting direct through Colours. It has to said the official links have been a bit of a shambles.
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robs
Hoodrat
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Post by robs on Oct 21, 2022 4:06:18 GMT -5
Get yourself onto TicketWeb, the Crosstown COncerts link says sold out but got from TicketWeb (thanks to my awesome daughter!!)
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robs
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Post by robs on Oct 19, 2022 4:28:27 GMT -5
I’m surprised they’ve booked somewhere so small for the Sunday night, especially with Moth Club selling out so quickly last year. I’ve never missed a night of a Weekender and this is making me anxious. I’ve probably got about as much chance of snagging one as I have of getting a Glastonbury ticket a fortnight later! It makes sense having seen their Facebook post - it was their first London show 20 years ago so it completes the circle - but it adds to the lottery of getting a ticket, as I've found out today!
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robs
Hoodrat
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Post by robs on Oct 19, 2022 4:18:08 GMT -5
Well that was brutal. Fair to say I'm looking for a Sunday ticket!! There'll be more tickets for Colours going on sale on Fri at 10am. Hope you make it in. Thanks! I've been lucky in previous years, my turn to wait and see. Gotta stay positive!
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robs
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Post by robs on Oct 19, 2022 4:06:00 GMT -5
Well that was brutal. Fair to say I'm looking for a Sunday ticket!!
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robs
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Post by robs on Oct 18, 2022 11:06:08 GMT -5
Presale from 1000 tomorrow - good luck everyone!!
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robs
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Post by robs on Oct 18, 2022 5:54:14 GMT -5
So dates and venue confirmed. 10-12 March with the Sunday gig at Colours in Hoxton. Eyes peeled for the pre-sale!
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robs
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Post by robs on Sept 30, 2022 3:39:41 GMT -5
#4: TRAPPER AVENUE (Faith In The Future) Trapper Avenue is a little bit of both. But everytime I hear it, I can’t help thinking about Van Morrison. Absolutely. It has a "St Dominic's Preview" feel to it , and for what it's worth, my favourite CF song. I was quite surprised (and briefly disappointed) it dropped off the live set this time around. Very briefly disappointed, as it was a great night in Glasgow.
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robs
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Post by robs on Jul 20, 2022 10:30:10 GMT -5
Craig advertising "Dad Grass" - awesome...
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Post by robs on May 24, 2022 4:01:43 GMT -5
I haven't thought deeply about this (and I appreciate that the majority of THS songs are not written by CF), but is there a case of a bigger difference (musically) between a band and solo "offshoot"?
What keeps me coming back is stories as much as the music. I happen to like ALOR musically quite a lot, but I suspect it will settle in my personal ranking below WAWTST and FITF. I don't think it holds a candle to INANW for bleakness!!
My view is that Craig's solo career as a whole has been very ambitious, in the UK building up from the odd solo show for FITF, a Living Room "tour" for WAWTST, to a full band for INANW. As I said above, I'm wondering if the band will be upgraded again this time around given the amount of strings and backing vocals on ALOR.
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Post by robs on May 24, 2022 3:15:58 GMT -5
Thanks for starting this thread jimmyswagger. It's a really good reminder of where we are.
I was fairly late to the party - my first THS gig on the HIW tour was at what felt like a pretty packed Glasgow ABC (1200+ capacity). By 2014 and the TD tour they originally booked the ABC then moved to the Garage (capacity 700, felt quieter than the ABC on the HIW tour). I was also at the same gig sequesteredinuk did at the Riverside in Newcastle (600 capacity, pretty crowded as I remember). Incidentally, it's the first time it's registered that was their most recent and probably final UK gig outside London.
I obviously really enjoyed all of the these gigs, but come 2018 and their first London Weekender, I hadn't fully appreciated how much they missed and needed Franz. And without any firm evidence to back this up, I reckon he would be the least likely to go on a full tour, and is probably key for the residencies to continue?
Much as would love to see THS at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen, I love the London Weekender for a number of reasons. It was a bit different this year as I had my family in tow (first trip to see southern family since before COVID), but next year it will likely revert to my annual "me time" where I get to kick back and do as much or as little as I want. I am fortunate to be able to afford this and my family know how much it means to me. I'd love to do Brooklyn once but can't afford it (on any level) at this time in my life.
I think there's still a hangover from COVID (I'm probably not the only one who managed to avoid getting a dose until the Covid Moth Club), and the financial crisis obviously isn't helping. I noticed that Frank Turner cancelled Austrian shows at short notice as it wasn't financially viable, and took a fair bit of flack for it - unfair in my opinion, the guy is indefatigable and one of the few who consistently recognises that Scotland exists north of the Central Belt (apologies, parochial rant!).
If the residencies give us the best version of the Hold Steady live, and free the time to record more THS and solo stuff, that's more than I could have hoped for in 2015 and selfishly works for me. I do appreciate that there will be many who feel cut out though.
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robs
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Post by robs on May 20, 2022 2:47:17 GMT -5
Just finished listening right through for the first time (whilst working so not with full concentration). I very much enjoyed it. As you say Muzzle, very bright and airy, which personally is relief after the bleakness of I Need a New War.
I'm wondering if a backing vocalist and strings will feature in the live band this time around.
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Post by robs on May 9, 2022 9:57:25 GMT -5
#30: BLANKETS (I Need A New War) Blankets is one of the songs I think it’s hardest to rank properly in the entire countdown, and maybe that’s why I subconsciously placed it right in the middle of the list. The song feels weirdly singular to me, like I remember it mostly as a single, not as a part of I Need A New War. And when I think of that album, I don’t think about this sound at all, even though it’s not a particular outlier of the record either. Thinking back, I think it might have something to do with the song being released before I traveled to Munich to catch Craig opening for Brian Fallon, and the album not being on my mind then. Like the trip separate the single from the album. There’s a particular twang to Blankets that I don’t really care much about in general. This is hard to explain, but while I love lots of americana, country and everything in between, I’m not a fan of, eh, this type of blues-y, cold, electric… well, twang. It sounds dusty, but in a colder, more unwelcoming way than more wholesome americana. More western than country? I don’t think I have the vocabulary to describe it any better. It reminds me of how Calexico always sounded like a band who should be perfect for me, but never really got under my skin. That doesn’t mean I don’t like Blankets. It’s just that this is the starting point for me, approaching the song: That it’s draped in a sound I’m not that fond of. Cause this IS a good song. And it’s probably in the semi-large category of songs who maybe impress me more than they warm my heart. There’s a certainty and sternness to Craig’s style here, like he’s asked to tell a story he don’t really want to tell, and does so with a few drops of bitterness in the mix. And it ends on a very bleak note, summing up life as the path to the place you’re gonna die, which is pretty god damn sad. This might be an unfair and wrong assumption, and I don’t anyone want to read this as condescending in any way, but still: I get a feeling that Craig by 2019 was so eager to show off his development and skills as a songwriter and solo artist that this somewhat outshined the heart and soul of his songs. This is all down to personal preference, of course, but listening to Messing With The Settings and Birthdays, I hear so much more personal presence in every note and word. Like, on I Need A New War, he was able to show everyone that he was capable of writing and recording a big, classic sounding album, something left to impress and admire. And Blankets is that kind of song, something classic sounding, hitting so many right spots in theory, but still leaving me a little cold emotionally. It sounds like an important piece in the big arc about Craig’s solo career, but not a song I keep coming back to enjoy. It’s good, though! And I probably have written enough by now. #30 it is! Probably my favorite from I Need a New War - the "You travel your whole life just to get out to the place you're gonna die" is devastating but genius in its absolute truth.
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robs
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Post by robs on Apr 29, 2022 4:07:38 GMT -5
Not for London 24th, if I'm checking the right page? That one is showing as kicking off at 11 for me. Was able to buy for Dublin just there now at 10am local time. Glasgow not up yet either
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Post by robs on Apr 25, 2022 4:42:58 GMT -5
Great news! Even though these fall dates are notoriously hard to combine with family and spare time. I've kinda been looking at that Berlin show, who's a part of Frank Turners Lost Evenings, but I'm worried about it being a short set. London on a Saturday is also manageable. I would imagine the Frank Turner support would be short, but you would get to see Frank Turner as well! If you can make Glasgow on a Thursday I'll get the drinks in!!
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Post by robs on Apr 25, 2022 3:09:40 GMT -5
Great news - selfishly, I'm pleased he's coming to Glasgow again, and to such a great venue!!
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Post by robs on Apr 7, 2022 6:21:07 GMT -5
#43: JACKSON (Clear Heart Full Eyes) Jackson was actually a UK single from Clear Heart Full Eyes, and while I understand its potential, I think it was a little strange decision. It’s a song placed inside one of the best run on the record, from No Future throughout Terrified Eyes, all within a sound I feel characterize the whole album. I like Jackson, but I think the verses promise a lot more than the choruses are able to live up to. It feels a little too subdued and muted, which also plays into the very Craig-y story about a named character with some issues. The story is a good one, perfectly calibrated between saying enough to give us an idea about both Jackson, Stephanie and the narrator, while also leaving gaps to fill in for ourselves. The melody is decent, but a little underwhelming. But I think the main reason for ranking Jackson below some of its album counterparts, is how it serves as an example of a general tendency on Clear Heart Full Eyes: That either the band, Craig or both, lack the confidence to pursue ideas all the way. There’s a sketch of a better song here, but everyone seems to hold back a little. Like they don’t really dare to push the song all the way through. Does that make sense? I actually knew a Stephanie who was long on looks and short on mental health. Killer line…
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Post by robs on Mar 25, 2022 10:49:45 GMT -5
I see the pre-sale is up. Can anyone remember from previous albums whether there is separate UK pre-sale?
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Post by robs on Mar 23, 2022 8:42:40 GMT -5
I haven't listened to either for a while, but is the version on the Plattsburgh EP different? Great question, which prompts this embarrassing response: I don't think I've heard it! I'm not quite sure what I was up to in the spring of 2019, but I can't remember either downloading or hearing the EP at all. Hah! I'll try to do something about that.[/quote] It sounds like the last five tracks on All These Perfect Crosses are the Plattsburgh EP (albeit in a slightly different order and labelled as "acoustic")
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Post by robs on Mar 22, 2022 4:33:24 GMT -5
#52: PLATTSBURGH (All These Perfect Crosses) I was a little unsure about including Plattsburgh on this list. It was released on All These Perfect Crosses, labeled as “acoustic version”. You would think that implies a non-acoustic version somewhere, but I haven’t been able to find it. Still, it’s obviously more than a demo, and it’s a fully formed song, included on the compilation along with other fully formed song, so I will (under doubt) treat it as a regular released song. I don’t really have that much to say about Plattsburgh. It’s nice and fine, and it’s a song very much in the vein of the rest of Craig’s production. And there’s great moments in it, where the raw emotions shine through and drag me into the song. Lyrically it’s one of those songs that’s almost too sad for me. I can’t pinpoint what it is, it’s just that general feeling of a tale of a life that didn’t match the hopes and dreams of the youth. Like so many lives, really. And where I might have heard this as almost romantic back in my early 20s, I’m sitting here in my late 30s and let those stories get to me. I don’t think it’s the best in that category either, although it has a few of those amazing lines that paint a full character with just a couple of words (that one with “baseball” and “monster” are particularly strong), it doesn’t quite hold up to some other, it’s just a little too light. Maybe it deserves a higher ranking, but I think this is as far as I can go right now. I haven't listened to either for a while, but is the version on the Plattsburgh EP different?
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robs
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Post by robs on Mar 15, 2022 7:44:08 GMT -5
Really looking forward to following this. It's certainly inspired me to revisit the entire CF catalogue. Especially I Need a New War, which I stopped listening too - not because of the quality - it was just too downbeat, too sad, for me at the time. Maybe this was where I was with the lockdown etc. Anyway, bring it on!!
Edited to add I wonder if and when we see any more CF solo material - it looks like THS's current productive period shows no sign of slowing down.
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robs
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Post by robs on Mar 3, 2022 15:01:11 GMT -5
Due to a last minute change of plan, I have to get back to family after Sunday's gig. So, I have a room in the Hackney Travelodge spare - let me know if you are interested - I booked it way back and it's only 35 quid. I will be in Hackney for the pub quiz.
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Post by robs on Mar 2, 2022 12:26:25 GMT -5
Emails about the quiz have gone out, its in a pub 10 mins away from Moth Club. Fingers on buzzers.. (there won’t be buzzers) 3 o'clock start - I'm going to have to pace myself...
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robs
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Post by robs on Mar 2, 2022 9:46:45 GMT -5
I'm in the Hackney Travel Lodge too and going the quiz. Given it's day 3 it should be easy enough to spot me looking rough as fck. Ha, ha! I remember I was running on fumes by the time Bush Hall came around last time. I'll be comparatively fresh as a daisy this year!!
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