Post by JoS on Mar 22, 2004 10:00:50 GMT -5
What: Xiu Xiu
Where: The Fire, Philadelphia, PA
When: Sunday, March 21, 2004
Before I get to the music i thought it would be helpful to give a visual sense as to what the stage looked like. In the front on stands were 2 Bina Harmoniums and an unidentifiable Synth. Behind that 4 amps were set up on top of chairs with a drum machine plugged into one of em, Jamie's guitar in the other, Caralee's Synth and another for vocals (i think). The harmoniums were miked as well (obviously). It was a small stage (8' x 8') and the room was probably 15'-20' x 50'-65'. There were about 100 people (i am bad at guessing crowd sizes) but it felt slightly packed. Onto the music...
They opened with a haunting version of Fabulous Muscles - very diff from the LP. One thing to note is that Jamie whispers alot of the lyrics - so try to get up front for the show. I forgot what was next (i have the set list and will scan it and post it later) but the song after that (or that song after that) was 20,000 Deaths and like FM didn't stay true to the album which was fantastic and what i really like about Xiu Xiu's live shows. They closed with I luv the Valley. The music oscillated between very quiet and schizonphrenic but never seemed out of control. 110% emotion from Jamie naturally.
I think that people who love FM and wanted a poppier show were prob a bit disappointed but who really cares about them anyway...
One of the finer shows i've seen in awhile.
Cheers,
Jos
Where: The Fire, Philadelphia, PA
When: Sunday, March 21, 2004
Before I get to the music i thought it would be helpful to give a visual sense as to what the stage looked like. In the front on stands were 2 Bina Harmoniums and an unidentifiable Synth. Behind that 4 amps were set up on top of chairs with a drum machine plugged into one of em, Jamie's guitar in the other, Caralee's Synth and another for vocals (i think). The harmoniums were miked as well (obviously). It was a small stage (8' x 8') and the room was probably 15'-20' x 50'-65'. There were about 100 people (i am bad at guessing crowd sizes) but it felt slightly packed. Onto the music...
They opened with a haunting version of Fabulous Muscles - very diff from the LP. One thing to note is that Jamie whispers alot of the lyrics - so try to get up front for the show. I forgot what was next (i have the set list and will scan it and post it later) but the song after that (or that song after that) was 20,000 Deaths and like FM didn't stay true to the album which was fantastic and what i really like about Xiu Xiu's live shows. They closed with I luv the Valley. The music oscillated between very quiet and schizonphrenic but never seemed out of control. 110% emotion from Jamie naturally.
I think that people who love FM and wanted a poppier show were prob a bit disappointed but who really cares about them anyway...
One of the finer shows i've seen in awhile.
Cheers,
Jos
