sometimes i need a revelation...

sometimes it's all too much to take

sometimes i need a revelation

this time i'm making my own...

the swell season in portland, oregon 8-21-10

So much has happened since I last wrote in this sadly-neglected blog that I don't think I'll ever catch up (and I want to!), but I'll start with the most recent: seeing the swell season in Portland and Seattle this past weekend.

If you know me, you know that my two favorite bands - and my yardstick for that is that they are the only two bands i would ever consider traveling any distance to see (as you will come to understand in subsequent posts) - are Pearl Jam and The Frames. and my two favorite singers are Glen Hansard and Eddie Vedder. Really, I think that, money and time willing, I would eagerly follow either of those men to the ends of the earth. And still want be left wanting more.

The Oregon Zoo was, surprisingly to me, a GREAT venue for a concert. I walked past the people sitting on the lawn to the small standing area in front of the stage, where I positioned myself on what I affectionately refer to as "Mike's side" (as in McCready) for Black Francis and my beloved Glen and Marketa (and the rest of The Frames).

Glen and Mar began the show with a solo cover of Cactus; this was the first of many moments during this concert that reminded me of why I love this group so much. It must take guts to show up on stage and not only play but open with a song by the man who played right before you and whose music you love (in fact, later in the concert, Glen said that Surfer Rosa by the Pixies changed his life). I hate to bring up Eddie Vedder again (ok.. full disclosure: that's a lie, I love any opportunity I can find to talk about Ed), but it reminded me of him singing on stage with Bruce Springsteen or Pete Townshend.

Seeing Glen Hansard perform - whether it be with the Swell Season or the Frames - reminds me of why I love music so much, and of the transformative, cathartic power of witnessing songs performed live. One of my favorite songs from the Swell Season's first album, Leave, starts off with Glen strumming his guitar quietly and sounding like a man who is resigned to his fate; by the end of the song, it feels like he is purging his demons, or something, as he screams and plays his guitar so fast that strings break and pieces of wood go flying. And I'm serious when I say that; that's what happens. You can't take your eyes away, nor do you want to. This is what music is about. Joy, pain, happiness, anger, frustration... rolled up into one and delivered by a master storyteller.

At this point in writing this, I'll pause and admit that I actually wasn't looking forward to this show because I don't really like the last Swell Season album. In fact, more than once on Friday morning I almost talked myself out of driving to Portland for this concert. So it's a testament to the group that I can honestly say that, while I'm still not a fan of Strict Joy the album, I loved the songs performed live. And I'm not giving Glen an easy pass here because he's Glen (well, maybe I am), but honestly when Low Rising started, I wanted to do nothing more than close my eyes, sing along and pretend that I was the only person in the audience.

"This is an old Frames song," Glen said, before they started Revelate. This is one of the first Frames songs that I heard, and hearing it instantly brings a smile to my face. And when Glen sings, "My open arms, my lucky charms," I just want to reach my arms into the sky and hug myself all at the same time. I think of Revelate as a plea to god, a list of grievances to the world, and an embrace of life all put together into one song.

One of the best moments of the concert was at the end when they did the Pixies' Where Is My Mind? There is a video of this song taken from a concert at the Henry Fonda in LA on youtube that I have watched countless times. Before they begin, Glen says, "There is a song that we allow ourselves to play when we're in a really good space, and we're in a good space now." And I'm guessing they must have also been in a good space in Portland. Anyway, somewhere during the second verse, Black Francis came out on stage to sing with Glen. And it's apparent that these two are really good friends - there is something really amazing and cool about witnessing musicians who obviously have mutual respect for each other perform together.

And the most exciting part of all? Before the show even started, I noticed a postcard at the merchandise table that listed the North American cities on the Frames' upcoming twentieth anniversary tour. As they have now officially announced, the Frames will be playing in both of those cities in late November. And as luck will have it, the Seattle show is on the Friday after Thanksgiving and Portland is the following Saturday. Another perfect weekend? Yes, please.

i'm feeling the pull...

some random notes on a sunday evening...

1. a friend told me about this thing called pandora radio, and i have been having way too much fun with it this week. you can make your personalized radio stations based on bands that you like. for instance, i have a pearl jam station, a minus the bear station, an REM station, a frames station, and an afghan whigs station. the whole thing is based on something called "the music genome project" which groups music that is similar, and so stations play artists that are relatively alike. my minus the bear station plays tons of band of horses and postal service (you can also tell it which songs you like, so that it plays those bands more often); and my REM station plays u2, wilco and radiohead. in short, i enjoy it and it's cool to have a visual aid that shows me how many of the bands i like sound like each other. it's a good way to pass the time until the new pearl jam album is released. :)

2. on tuesday, i went to see the cave singers at easy street where they did an in-store performance for the release of their new record. their songs are good for listening to on a cold, rainy night, and i am finding the singer's voice quite comforting. looking at their tour schedule, they are playing at bumbershoot and then again at neumos in october. i think i might have to be there.

3. i don't know why i didn't see this sooner, but i literally dropped everything i was doing when i read that the swell season did a set for npr's
tiny desk series and that video was online. i recommend that you do the same and watch it immediately. although, having said that, i must also say that i am a little underwhelmed by the "new" (many of which they played in concert last year) songs (save low rising and feeling the pull. i've listened to that one about 5 times). however, it is great to see them together again, and i am loving that glen is still playing his beat-up guitar. and i have missed hearing him say "brilliant." plus, they play an absolutely stunning version of when your mind's made up. i mean, wow. and, it's awesome to see their little sidelong glances and grins. i love watching musicians who are obviously loving playing their music. it makes me happy.

however, i will also say: dear swell season, please play in seattle. preferably at the moore theatre. love, megan

megan is going to pee her pants

ok, i like summer a lot, but i officially cannot wait until september! not only is pearl jam going to be playing in seattle, but the swell season will release another album! (no word of US tour dates from them yet. boo hoo!)

from the latter's website:
We are happy to announce.....Thursday, July 9th, 2009
The Swell Season, the Oscar-winning duo of Frames frontman Glen Hansard and Czech ingénue Marketa Irglova, are putting the finishing touches on ‘Strict Joy,’ (Sept 29/Anti- Records), the follow-up to their beloved, surprise hit 2007 film and gold-certified soundtrack ‘Once.’ The twelve new, original songs on ‘Strict Joy’ were recorded last year and document a time of great change.
‘Strict Joy,’ which borrows its name from a work by Irish poet James Stephens, was co-produced by Hansard and Peter Katis (The National, Interpol), and recorded mostly at Katis’ Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, CT. In addition to Hansard and Irglova, the album features Frames members Colm Mac Iomaire (violin), Joe Doyle (bass), Rob Bochnik (guitar), Graham Hopkins (percussion) plus guitarist Javier Mas (Leonard Cohen), pianist Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), percussionist Chad Taylor (Chicago Underground Duo), horn players Steven Bernstein and Clark Gayton from Levon Helm’s band, and others.
‘STRICT JOY’ TRACK LISTING
1. Low Rising
2. Feeling the Pull
3. In These Arms
4. The Rain
5. Fantasy Man
6. Paper Cup
7. High Horses
8. The Verb
9. I Have Loved You Wrong
10. Love That Conquers
11. Two Tongues
12. Back Broke

i know 5 of those songs! and i love them! i'm so excited!!

i think that i used more exclamation points in this post than i have in my whole life!!!

.. pictures and writing about hawaii/eddie vedder coming soon. i will just say now that i wish with everything that it was last week at this time. what a magical state. what a magical man. i could literally spend hours staring at the ocean and walking in the sand.

you've been running so fast

one of my favorite videos on youtube. i heart glen hansard.

this makes me SO HAPPY: from the swell season myspace page.

Hi everyone, So, the first bit of the long awaited tour dates is here. Please find the details below for the upcoming Irish concerts of the Swell Season. These gigs will be seated theatre shows with the full band of Glen, Mar, Rob, Graham, Colm and Joe. The new album will see a late September worldwide release (no date confirmed yet) and the band will return to tour the U.S. around September/October and Europe around November/December this year. As soon as we have the dates and venues we'll post it.

it's not the frames, but it's close enough. i'm already excited to see glen hansard again. new albums/possible tours from pearl jam, minus the bear, AND the swell season this fall?

favorite things, part I

oprah has a list of her favorite things. i thought i'd try one.

twilight - a friend gave me this book in october, and i remember calling my mom and saying, "it's a book for teenagers! i'm sure i won't like it, but i have to read it because i don't want to offend her." that was on the friday before i went to LA (to see the swell season), and by monday morning, i had finished twilight and its sequel, new moon. i don't know what it is exactly about these books (there are 4 in the series, but i don't recommend the last one) that make them so hard to put down. they're not always well-written, but the story that stephanie meyer tells is interesting, funny, sad and happy all at the same time. it's like a fairy tale with some fantasy and mythology thrown in. and, really, what woman does not want edward to come sweep her off her feet? i realize he's fictional, but he's ten times better than any man i've met in real life. speaking of, if you by any chance agree with me about the wonder that is this book, you should read midnight sun on stephanie meyer's website. it is twilight told from edward's point of view. sadly, only chapters 1-12 are online, but it is fascinating (seriously. i think i like it more than twilight. almost)

although the movie based on the book is not great, the line i had an adrenaline rush, you can google it has provided me with endless amusement. also - cue teenage girl reaction - rob pattinson, the actor who plays edward, is GORGEOUS. i wonder if he will marry me? hehe.


minus the bear - this is the band that i first saw at bumbershoot and was blown away by. three months later, the love affair has not ended - in fact, it has grown. i even have a minus the bear sticker on my water bottle sharing space with eddie vedder. their new ep of acoustic songs is, as i discover every time i listen to it, beautiful. and i think i have decided that pachuca sunrise has got to be one of the prettiest songs ever. (well, i'm sure that's an exaggeration, but let's go with it anyway)

pearl jam - of course. the highlight of my year was my vacation to boston, and that would not even have happened (i'm sure) if it had not coincided with a pearl jam concert. my next goal is to see them play in europe. it WILL happen... better yet, a joint pearl jam and frames show in dublin. where both bands play two hour sets. please??

eddie vedder - he gets his own category, because seeing him in vancouver last april was one of the best shows i have ever been to. and i just realized that he can be connected to twilight (which i'm sure thrills him), since kristen stewart (bella) was in into the wild. hee!

the swell season - last on this list, but certainly not least. i saw them three times this year, and every time was better than the last. i love it when i can combine a concert with a trip to another city - if seeing pearl jam in boston was the highlight of my year, seeing the swell season in san francisco is probably the second best.

we have all the time in the world to get it right

the swell season, los angeles, october 4, 2008


the swell season concert was AMAZING. kristine and i got to the greek theatre (after a LONG but fun walk from our hotel in hollywood) just in time to buy t-shirts and get to our (second row!) seats for iron and wine. i got a shirt and colm's new cd, the hare's corner (which i highly recommend by the way. i'm listening to it now. perfect music for cold, windy nights when all you want to do is cuddle in your pajamas and read a good book). so here are some of my personal highlights and pictures (which will, as usual, probably end up not so much "highlights" as "a complete rundown of what megan remembers from the show." sorry. i'm not good at editing my thoughts)

into the mystic glen and marketa came out at exactly 8:50. (before i continue, i will note for the record that i feel stupid calling them by thier first names but what else should i call them?) i know because i looked at my watch right before that and gauged that i had enough time to go to the bathroom and make it back before the show started. i got out of my seat and started walking out when suddenly the lights dimmed and glen started singing. i love this song - everything about it; the joy it seems to bring to them to play it, the way their voices harmonize, i want to rock your gypsy soul... in the middle of the song, i'm pretty sure that someone yelled, "kiss her," and i'm equally sure that a few seconds later, glen smiled and said, "i think i just got what you said." after the song, someone yelled, "you look beautiful marketa and glen." and glen smiled again, and said "you're lucky you included glen in that." hehe. he never fails to entertain me.

the moon this song, along with sleeping, is my favorite song on the swell season. i love the way it starts out so quietly and ends up in another dimension with everyone on stage playing so hard that you wonder if the world is about to end. i think that it's easy to see that these musicians have become a band in every sense of the word. in fact, glen himself said that the frames had been at the point where they felt like they needed to take a break and try something else. and now what has happened? the swell season are touring, but the frames have become the band that are playing with them, so it's almost like the frames have just expanded to include marketa. on one hand, i'm kind of sad about that because even though i LOVE the swell season and adore just about anything glen hansard would want to do, the frames are one of my favorite bands and the thought of never seeing another FRAMES concert is a bit disconcerting... on to happier thoughts..

astral weeks my mental setlist is not in any order here, as this came later in the show. but, this song.. what can i say? i've seen videos and heard recordings of glen playing it, but i think that until you witness it in person you never quite believe the intensity that one human being can have. i've been to a fair amount of concerts, and i don't think that i've ever - excluding pearl jam, because i can never objectively consider them - seen another performer play his guitar like that. WOW. and when he sang, "will you kiss my eyes?" someone from the audience yelled, "yes!" (of course) quite enthusiastically, and glen smiled.

say it to me now glen came out onto the edge of the stage with no amplification for this one. i know that he does that a lot, but it is quite one thing to be in the 8th row during that song and another to be literally right underneath him. i snapped a picture and thought i might die.


new songs! after seeing glen and marketa in april, i wrote about how much i LOVE the new song she sings. time hasn't changed that. it's still beautiful. and i especially love the ending, when the song gradually fades until everyone on stage is singing, "always on my mind" in perfect harmony. gorgeous. another new song is called low rising, and i don't really know how to describe it except to say that i am falling in love with the sound of glen's guitar and marketa's piano. plus, as a girl particularly, i must confess an unexplainable love for the lyrics ("i want to drink with you all night until we both fall down") and the way that glen's voice has a teasing smile in it. sigh.. i just watched a video of that song on youtube so that i could get the lyrics right, and now it will be in my head all evening.


the hill this song by marketa opened the first encore. this is the song she sings in once when she and glen's character are alone in the recording studio. i never really thought much about this song on the album, but it really fit in a live setting. marketa really does have a beautiful voice and it is awesome to see her confident enough to take the stage by herself. not that i know much about the technical side of music, but i love watching her play piano during songs like when your mind's made up and fitzcarraldo.

mary poppins during the month they were in LA for the oscars, glen became friends with the man who wrote the music for mary poppins. he came out and played piano on that song-that-is-impossible-to-pronounce. i include it in my highlight list because it was absolutely awesome to watch how the rest of the band looked while they were playing with this man. it was like a mixture of "holy cow!" and "am i gonna get caught for sneaking into a party i wasn't invited to?" i can relate to that feeling..

my girl during the second to last song (fitzcarraldo), glen broke a string on his guitar, and while he was trying to fix it, someone else in the band started playing a bit of my girl. a guy who was sitting a few rows from me took out his harmonica and started playing along, and eventually glen and the audience joined in. it was just a great moment of audience-performer interaction.

my friend kristine commented that glen would not be out of place on a comedy stage. somewhere around here, he started talking about how sorry he was for the people that had listened to their soundcheck (don't be sorry you idiot. if i hadn't wanted to do all i could during my weekend in LA, i probably would have been camped out there listening) because they had played some bad, easy-listening songs from the 80s. then he started singing, "sailing, take me away..." haha. it was funny at the time.

people all get ready if there had to be a last song, this was a perfect one. it's almost unbearable when the entire audience sings along. this is one of those songs that i can believe in.
and we have all the time in the world to get it right
to get it right
and we have all the love in the world to set alight
to set alight
just look up

*sigh..*i take pen and paper with me to every pearl jam/swell season/frames show i go to, but not once have i remembered to take them out. i try to write things down when i get home, but we had such an ordeal getting a cab (seriously, i had no idea it could be that difficult to get ahold of a taxi company in a big city on a saturday night) that i crawled into bed as soon as we got back to our hotel. maybe i'll remember more later... all i know is that, during the third song (the moon), i turned to kristine and unequivocally said that this was one of the 5 best concerts i've ever seen.

5 days

until i will be in LA seeing the swell season. i'm excited, but that goes without saying. i've been following their setlists as closely as i can and it seems like they're mixing stuff up a little bit more and playing a few more frames songs every night. i think my chances of seeing red chord, people all get ready and, perhaps, 7 day mile (i can hope, right?) have just increased.

since the swell season are touring (i do this when pearl jam and the frames are touring, too), one of my daily routines is to look online for reviews/videos/pictures of their shows. this video is, i think, from one of their concerts in the czech republic this summer, and it is one of my favorite frames songs.
headlong


i met some people from work today for lunch and a movie at SIFF (seattle international film festival) cinema, and, as i walked through the seattle center on a gorgeous fall day, i thought about how much i love this time of year. the air was warm but not hot and it had that edge of crispness to it. cool enough for a sweater but still sunny enough for sunglasses. in my last post, i wondered what it was about certain bands/songs that make my heart stop and that i keep wanting to go back to over and over until i know them so well that i can close my eyes and sing along without concentrating or missing a beat. well, i think that it is close to the feeling i had walking outside today. for a while, everything is alright and all you want to do is wrap yourself up in life.

i also accomplished one of my goals for the weekend today - buying the new blitzen trapper album. i'm in the middle of listening to it right now, so i can't write a review yet, but so far i am really liking it. they played a bunch of the new songs at bumbershoot, and i'm actually glad i have heard most of the songs live before hearing the album. buy it.

you're every now and then on my mind

i'm going to LA in 13 days to see the swell season! the way it usually goes when i'm traveling to see a concert: i get excited when (usually months ahead of time) i buy the tickets, my interest wanes in the ensuing weeks, and i start to get giddy with anticipation again about two weeks (give or take a few days) before the show. or, in the swell season's case, when they start their fall tour. i swear, the frames are one of my favorite bands and i CANNOT WAIT for a new album from them , but the news that glen and marketa are recording together is incredibly awesome. after watching the videos on youtube from their shows in new york, boston and toronto, i have again remembered that magic that they have on stage together. these pictures are especially awesome.

as is this video of a new song from a concert in northampton, ma last month:



i almost want to watch once again. who knew that going to see that film at the seattle film festival in 07 would start such a wonderful love affair with the frames/swell season (swell frames, perhaps?) out of all the music that we hear every day, what is it about certain bands that stops you dead in your tracks?

hey, don't write yourself off yet

yay! my swell season tickets came today!! i can't wait. god bless ducatking. not only do they not charge half the face value as a "convenience charge," (like, ahem, these people), but they included with the ticket a card to download 25 songs for free. i have to admit that i was a little annoyed at first that i had to drive all the way to the fedex warehoue in south seattle, but i'm over that now.

in honor of glen and marketa, here is a video that i am loving lately:


and play this song, please:


argh. i have to stop myself before i post all of the frames videos i can find on youtube (i've seen them all, i'm sure)

clouds roll by; or, the crazy accordian man

kristine finally (!!!) put her pictures of boston online; she said i could link to them, so here they are.

this picture

makes me think of the crazy accordian man we met while we were sitting outside the T station in cambridge on a sunday night. we had ended up in a discussion about music, and being the person that i am who constantly is trying to convert kristine to a pearl jam nut like myself, i'm sure they were the subject of our conversation, which somehow drifted to bugs , the PJ song that ed plays on accordian. i think that i was first telling her that i read that at one of ed's solo shows someone yelled a request for vitalogy, and ed said something like, "ok, but i need 45 minutes and an accordian." (i have absolutely no idea if that really happened, but i think that it's funny).

i think that it was at this point that the elderly gentleman sitting beside us spoke up. (maybe accordian piqued his curiousity). he became very animated, telling us emphatically that american music is "no good," because it doesn't have any soul (hardly a new idea, and one that, with a few exceptions, i am hard-pressed to argue with). what i liked (and feared, a little) about this man was his passion in trying to win us over to his point of view. kristine asked him where he was from; i forget exactly where - somewhere in eastern europe, i think. he kind of reminded me of my grandfather; he was this very curmudgeonly old man who liked to argue more than anything, i think. he told us we should listen to indian music. i gathered that he didn't like the sound of guitars, and preferred pianos (or accordians i guess. maybe even ukeleles? i should have told him to check out pearl jam). "american music bad."

kristine also has some pictures of the scariest ever holiday inn in mansfield. in a vacation where i found some great deals on priceline, this was by far the most expensive hotel (i use that term loosely) we stayed at. first, we arrived around 4:30 and all i wanted to do was take a shower before the concert, but our room didn't have any toilet paper. that's kind of a necessity no matter who you are. so i called the front desk, and 20 minutes later a maid brought us one (!!) roll. we also happened to be in a wing of the hotel that was i guess under construction -there was plaster falling from the ceiling, and when we finally got back to the room after the show, kristine decided she had to take pictures of the crumbling walls and a random styrofoam cup tied to the ceiling. (it was funny at the time).

we got back after the PJ concert around 1 AM, and i hear kristine say, "uh, megan, there's blood on my sheets." "come again?" "THERE'S BLOOD ON MY SHEETS." we probably should have called the front desk, but didn't, and poor kristine had to sleep on top of the blanket. sorry about that....

i think that my favorite memory of that trip (not counting pearl jam) was the restaraunt we ate at on newbury street. i think it was called joe's diner. i remember that we argued about going there, but i'm sorry, when my watch says it's time for a meal, i need to eat (it's a personality defect, i guess. i blame my parents). again, i don't recall how this joke exactly started, but kristine and i started saying that if she ever ordered a drink in a restaraunt, she would ask for a "pint of whiskey." i told her that i didn't think that would taste very good, and we started laughing and somehow the waiter (who, as an aside, was sort of cute) overheard us and i told him that kristine wanted one (a pint, that is) to give to a small child. crap... i totally messed up the joke, but trust me that it was funny, and thinking about that dinner is making me crack up again.

since i haven't posted about my love glen hansard in a while, here is some goodness from a swell season show the other day in the czech republic.

can't let you roam inside my head...

a few things that are amusing me this evening...



for some reason, i think this is hilarious. at about 5:40, some lady with a terrible voice starts singing along and glen kind of stops and wags his finger and keeps going. a few seconds later, she starts again and glen says something, the beginning of which i cannot for the life of me decipher and marketa cracks up. then the lady says something like, "if people would sing i wouldn't have to sing so loudly." glen has a blank look on his face for a second, but without meeting a beat he says, "jesus. do you talk to your tv too?"

this website. while it is not about music, it is about being a fan (of the red sox, in this case). i am finding that i enjoy reading people's blogs about things i don't even care about, because it is interesting to read about the way others express thier fandom (is that a word?), if that makes sense. plus she seems to have a little obsession with josh beckett, of which i approve, and the graphic of him in her post for today is cracking me up.

the grand archives. i especially like the song swan matches. sometimes i feel like i don't listen to enough new music (i need to expand my musical horizons, me thinks). it seems like every time i listen to KEXP, for example, i hear a new band and think to myself that i should check them out but then i get discouraged because there is never enough time to listen to all the stuff i want to, so i don't. but, seriously, of all the bands i saw at the subpop thing a few weeks ago, i think that they might have been my favorite.

this is our heyday baby

and we're not gonna be afraid to shine
cause we can make our heyday last forever
and ain't that what it's all about?

the swell season/frames at bonnaroo, june 13, doing a mic christopher song.


i love how happy everyone looks. i love glen's dance moves - watch out, new kids on the block. most of all, i love how glen is able to get the crowd to sing the chorus to a song most of them have probably never even heard. i also like what he says before the song - "it's a dance song - i don't really care about you dancing in terms of our egos; i just care in terms of your enjoyment." ha!

i found a little blurb with glen in the new york times (he really gets around).

When the band was in Louisville, word came that it was invited to hear Barack Obama speak. “It was amazing, just like everything else that has been happening for us,” he said. Mr. Hansard is contemplating a move to New York from Dublin. “I don’t really live anywhere right now, but Dublin is where I keep my stuff,” he said.

while i find it insane that someone would want to move from europe to the united states, may i suggest seattle? not only do we have coffee and music, but we are also colder than siberia (according to an article in the seattle times this morning). if you need a place to stay, i even have some room on my couch. (kidding!)

recommendation #2

first of all, i think i may have to eat my words about death cab for cutie. i bought their new album today at easy street because it was on sale. i'm listening to it right now and, although it's my first listen, i think i like it. a lot, even. in the future, perhaps i shouldn't be so quick to judge something based on its creepy song titles. the award for best lyric about my life is you can do better than me but i can't do better than you. that ben gibbard sure is good at writing depressing love songs.

but here's something i can judge. today, i went to a movie called strangers (it was at the uptown theatres, as part of the seattle international film festival). i first heard about this movie because, a couple of months ago, glen and marketa sang on its title song, which i now think is interesting because strangers and once do share some intriguing parallels. both movies are great at evoking the feeling of living in the moment, but knowing that the moment can't possibly last forever.

strangers is about eyal and rana, an israeli and palestinian, who meet each other during the 2006 world cup finals in berlin. the film actually has lots of funny moments, especially at the beginning, when eyal and rana meet by accident - their bags get mixed up on a subway train and there are a couple humorous scenes of them going through each other's things. during the next few days, they start falling in love (although their feelings are never given a name), but then rana has to return to paris (where she has lived for 5 years) and, despite her telling eyal not to follow her, he does. some other stuff happens - which i won't write about in case someone happens to get the opportunity to see this movie (which you should!) - and it's all set against the backdrop of news reports about bombings in lebanon. even though the film is about the relationship between two people, those two people cannot separate themselves entirely from their political realities. when she first realizes their bags have been mixed up, rana (who has figured out that eyal is from israel because she finds a hebrew book in his bag) hesitates calling eyal because of who he is. later, eyal and rana joke that the palestinians and israelis both have crappy soccer teams because the best palestinians become terrorists while the best israelis join the army. in paris, eyal argues with rana's friends about which side shoulders more responsibility for the war. however, rana tells eyal that, if they got married, she would live in israel (which kind of reminded me of the scene in once when the guy and girl are sitting by the piano talking - dreaming - about moving to london together). can they ever really be together? the ending is pretty ambiguous.

the acting in this movie was GREAT. especially the woman who played rana - i want to see everything else she has ever been in. i love seeing foreign films that i would never otherwise see (everyone reading this should support the seattle international film festival! they have films all year long, not just during the festival).

i took the 405...

death cab for cutie is on soundopinions this week and i would say that it's definately worth a listen. i STILL don't have narrow stairs (i have a gift certificate for amazon.com. i should order it). that tells you how excited i am about their new songs, huh? although, they play - obviously - some of the new stuff on the show, and i have to say that i really like grapevine fires. however, i will possess your heart still creeps me out. i don't like the song, and the title reminds me of that weird guy in high school who used to leave me plastic roses in my locker.

the interview itself is worth a listen, too. i think that the funniest part is when the interviewer says something about how no band is great when it first starts and then ben says, "well some bands are. we were pretty good." the interviewer laughs but ben doesn't. ha! i think that he's probably right, if he means that they were better then than they are now.

on a totally unrelated note, this review of the swell season show at radio city music hall is, despite its faults (when did the frames become a "tasteful decaf coffeehouse band"? what does that even mean??), worth reading for this: the best frames songs share the same DNA that made once so magnetic: "what happens when the heart just stops" is one long, graceful crescendo, expertly threaded out a measure at a time, until glen's pounding on his beat-to-crap guitar and howling 'disappointment' over and over like it's the most optimistic word in the english language.

you're every now and then on my mind...

i know that i post way too much about the swell season/the frames, but this video is perhaps the most beautiful thing i've seen in a long time. i've probably watched it about 6 times since i found it an hour ago. i don't think i ever really realized what a gorgeous voice marketa has, and when she and glen sing together at the end.. WOW. i don't even know what to say:



does this song make anyone else cry??

this is from their concert at radio city music hall yesterday. because i have a slight obsession, i have read every review i can find online of that show. sigh. why am i never at concerts like that? it seems like it was absolutely amazing. i read on the frames messageboard, that interference (an irish band who opened the show) came out to do gold , which is one of my favorite songs on the once soundtrack. if you're interested, you can find more videos on youtube, including the best version i've ever heard of glen singing astral weeks . unfortunately, it's not the complete song, but it's long enough that you can hear how wonderful he sounds. and my favorite part of the video is the little grin he has during the middle of the song. it's like he's thinking, "we made it, we're playing a sold-out show at radio city music hall." which, regardless of how you feel about the swell season's sudden popularity, is pretty darn cool.

i really need to quit my job and win the lottery so i can follow the frames/swell season/pearl jam from city to city. sometimes i doubt if anyone would miss me.

i finally bought my ticket to for the subpop 20th anniversary in july. it's july 12 and 13 at marymoor park. i was only going to go on saturday, but green river is playing on sunday and i don't want to miss that so i just ended up buying a two-day pass. and now i notice that on friday the 11th, they are having a comedy show at the moore theatre and david cross will be there. the one time i saw him, in 2004 at the showbox as part of vote for change, he told a joke about finding an ad for a schoolbus on craigslist that is probably one of the funniest things i've ever heard. i wish i could remember it exactly, but it must have been funny because just thinking about it makes me laugh. really, who needs to eat when there is so much to do??

also, i've been meaning to post about this: a few weeks ago, my mom sent me a brochure for this company that does walking tours of ireland. i think that would be a really neat way to get to know a country. my only trepidation about something like that is that i would be traveling with a group of people but would ultimately be alone. does that make sense? a while ago, i checked an ireland travel book out of the library and made up the itinerary of my imaginary trip. it was fun. also in my mind, i am going to go to tibet, italy and spain.

hold on to the thread, the currents will shift..

there's another nonsensical lyric for you.

i thought of another reason i dislike summer: allergies. specifically, i think there's something right outside my bedroom window that forces me to sleep with my mouth open all night and wake up with a really bad sore throat. grr...

but here's a reason for liking summer... street fairs and festivals. i went to the university district street fair on saturday (when it was about a million degrees, and i got stuck in a huge line at starbucks because i didn't have any cash left and they were the only place where i could get an iced tea with a credit card). i love walking around lost in the huge crowd of people. i bought a really nice shirt too as well as some good bread ("dave's killer bread" does sound sort of ominous, but it's quite yummy). next weekend, aside from being memorial day and a blessed 3 days off work, is the northwest folklife festival at seattle center. i have to admit that i enjoy that. my favorite part of summer festivals is getting henna tattoos, because i am way too chicken to get a real one. but for a few weeks, i can pretend that i'm not.

stupid things happen to me during the day, and i think, "oh, i have to write about that on my blog," but by the time i get home, i have forgotten. so instead, i'll post this video, which i have probably watched 50 times since it was put up last week. honestly, i love it. here you go, glen doing say it to me now , but watch the way he is singing. i swear, that man can pack such intensity and emotion into a minute and a half. yes, he's sitting on his knees at the ledge of the stage playing the song. sigh. he and eddie vedder are, sadly, (the only) two singers who i would probably pay good money to see perform the alphabet song. preferably together. in irish. with interpretive dancing.



on that dvd that kristine got at the seattle show (i'm still waiting for you to make me a copy of it, missy), glen says that he wrote this song about his grandparents who fought all the time, but had a deep love for each other. and in once, it is made to be about his ex-girlfriend (which i totally do not get). to me, the song is about being angry with god for making life so... impossible, sometimes. as these shadows fall, i'll win somehow . if you haven't heard the version of this song on fitzcarraldo, you really should seek it out. it's a little different lyrically and musically, although i must say when i hear 2008 era glen play this song i get goosebumps. everytime. there's something about him and his acoustic guitar that is just pure magic.

go with happiness...

this makes my night.

and this i know

i love this...



i guess that glen invited a middle-school choir to join them on stage for falling slowly as well as this, a pixies song. i read about in in the chicago tribune, and my favorite part is:

Many of the kids described it as the best night of their lives.

"It was unbelievable...The best thing was this boy came up to me and it was after they performed. He said, 'This is the first concert I've ever been to, my first concert and I got to play the guitar,' and he gave me a hug. It was the best thing."

what an awesome memory for those kids. and it's kind of funny that he got them to sing along to a pixies song. ha. i love him.

scratching at the surface now

it's a mistake to look for tickets to see one of your favorite singers in los angeles during a presale while telling yourself that you won't buy any, because what are you supposed to do if you find two GA tickets? not get them?? a better person than me could do that, perhaps.

the swell season at the moore

the swell season 4/30/08


where to begin? this was an AMAZING concert, and i'm pretty sure words can't possibly do it justice.

i saw the swell season last november, also at the moore theatre (which will forever be famous to me as the place the video for evenflow was shot. i can't go to a show here without picturing eddie vedder jumping from the walls), and that show had a much different feeling to it than the one on wednesday. for 5 months, i've been saying that that was one of the best concerts i've ever been to and i really didn't think it could be eclipsed. but it was. everything from the opening chords of say it to me now to the end of forever young was absolutely perfect. i have to say that the show in november felt a bit more intimate (probably for obvious reasons.. this show sold out i think in about 15 minutes. damn that oscar!) but now, glen and marketa (especially) seem a lot more confident and at ease with their performances. plus, the fact that all the members of the frames were there was icing on the cake (if you have been reading, you may know that the frames are one of my favorite bands. more on that later)

in oakland, glen did say it to me now without any amplification, but he plugged in his guitar and used the microphone in seattle. he said later that he was getting sick, but you would never be able to tell it. he's an incredible singer; what i love so much about the frames and, to a lesser extent, the swell season is that so many of the songs start out quietly but then build and build until the end when glen is almost screaming.

i don't remember the exact setlist; it was a little different from oakland, but not by a whole lot. marketa played her new song again, and it was even more beautiful than i remembered. although i kept my eyes on her and colm (the violinist), i did look at glen a few times, and the way he was watching her sing was really sweet. after she finished, it seemed like glen was going to play his new song (which i was hoping for), but marketa left the stage for a few minutes, and they played suffer in silence (a frames song) instead. very nice. it actually took me a minute to realize what it was, because i wasn't expecting them to play that. (it's from burn the maps, if you happen to care).

speaking of frames songs, they also did your face again, which i think is a perfect song for glen and marketa to sing together. i have to mention here that i love her voice. it seems to me that i can hear her more than i could in november, and i think that's probably because she is starting to get more confident in herself onstage. the three songs she sang by herself were great, and she really adds something wonderful to the songs she and glen do together.. especially falling slowly , and one of my favorite songs from the swell season album, this low.



ok, now i'm going to sound like a teenager for a minute, so bear with me: the best part of the concert actually came after the show. my friend kristine and i decided to wait outside the theatre and we met glen and marketa. i've never wanted to meet one of my favorite musicians before, because i've always thought, well what would i say, and what's the point of having an autograph? i guess i never realized how completely star-struck and like a teenager i would feel if that ever happened. my heart was pounding, and the only thing i could think of to say was "the frames are my favorite band." it was just completely surreal to be face to face with this person whose music i listen to almost every day and whose lyrics make me feel better when i'm sad. /end teenage gushing.



highlights

what happens when the heart just stops like falling slowly, no matter how many times i hear this song, i can never seem to get tired of it.

glen's storytelling i think this is always a highlight of frames and swell season shows. he cracks me up even with the jokes i've heard before. his comic timing is awesome (he always pauses before the punch line) and kristine was saying that the way he moves his hands when he's telling a story is really funny too. i think that must be an irish thing or something. this is what a dork i am: i noticed that during star star after colm plays the bit from willy wonka and the chocolate factory glen said "you're turning violet, violet; off to the juicing room." ha! i found myself saying something similar to a girl in my class today who was eating all the cantaloupe at lunch.

fitzcarraldo this is another song that i can't seem to get tired of no matter how many times i hear it. and i especially love to watch marketa play piano on this song; man, her fingers fly!

... there were other highlights i'm sure, but this week has seemed so surreal that i can't even really think straight. i'm going to watch last night's survivor and then go to sleep.