US Dates - Nov/Dec 09 - Supporting Mountain Goats

[Blue Imelda]

I'm actually not sure if he ended up playing with them. I assume he joined them for at least a couple of songs, but I ducked out a few songs into the Mountain Goats set. I hadn't really heard them before, and the combination of the small venue, the loud guitars, and my head reeling from the incredibly intense Final Fantasy set made it incredibly hard for me to actually enjoy them. I'm sure they're a great band under the right circumstances, and they seemed like really nice people, but I was tired and not particularly impressed.

Enjoy the Boston show! We had tentative plans to drive the six hours to Boston to see that one, too, but we realized that we would probably end up leaving right from Philly, and it seemed a bit excessive.

[Richie]

ahh Blue Imelda, your fun review gave me happy flash backs from the 11th in Portland.

I'm nearly an equally big tMGs fan so when Owen did go back on stage, oh boy.

I don't think you need to be familiar with John's stuff to appreciate Owens rendition of Going to Bristol. Hawow. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAXpBKbX03U

[vestenet]

I was at the Philadelphia show last night too! Finally, I got to see Owen live, and, despite my familiarity with my bootlegs, being there in person was sublime. Owen played spectacularly, and I couldn't have asked for a better set--E for Estranged, The Butcher, The Miner Becomes Forgetful(!), Midnight Directives (I agree with Blue Imelda--you do not appreciate how ridiculously impressive that song is unless you've seen it live), The Great Elsewhere (this, I wanted to hear above everything else, and when I saw Owen mouth "great elsewhere" to Thomas and then begin talking about the critical mass of polyphony, my heart leapt. Oh, and I think I heard you scream, Blue Imelda. I gasped myself), Lewis Takes Off His Shirt, and, to top it all off, The Man with No Ankles! Seriously, I was disappointed when that song got cut from Heartland, but it was such a pleasant surprise to hear it.

And Thomas was an excellent addition, yes. The falsetto conversation between Owen and him was priceless. I really liked The Mountain Goats, too. I had never much listened to them before, but they put on a great show. And, to much cheering on my part, Owen did join them for several songs, which was beyond cool (I think one of them was Owen and John doing "Going to Bristol").

The best part of the night, however, has proof now in my Heartland T-shirt bearing both Thomas' and Owen's signatures. Thomas was so nice, but Owen especially went above and beyond, coming out after the show was done, when pretty much everyone else had left aside from me. I couldn't really do much else other than thank him more times than was probably comfortable, but I am still giddy from the experience.

In fact, thank you again, Owen and Thomas, for the truly wonderful show. The long wait was proven worthwhile and then some. Oh, and my mother is now a fan as well, so congratulations!

[Thomas]

OMG MINER BECOMES FORGETFUL WAS PLAYED HOW HAS NO ONE RECORDED THI--

OMGFOGMGOMGOM THE MAN WITH NO ANKLES PLEASE TELL ME SOMEONE HAS A RECORDING OF THIS.

[vestenet]

Nov 29, 2009 13:37:19 GMT -5 Thomas said:

OMG MINER BECOMES FORGETFUL WAS PLAYED

OMGFOGMGOMGOM THE MAN WITH NO ANKLES

THAT WAS MY REACTION.

Actually, I did attempt to record the show's audio with my camera. It's not a very good camera, so the sound is pretty poor and does the quality of the show no justice, but I am working on processing and posting it.

[Thomas]

WORK MAN.

WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK.

also thank you.


WORKWORKWORKWORKWORKWORKWORKWORK

[Blue Imelda]

I was actually a bit upset that we didn't stay long enough to hear Going To Bristol (which I really enjoyed in the video), but I was even more upset by all of the chatter in the back about skipping the "opening act." The really hardcore Mountain Goats fans weren't being too nice about Final Fantasy, and I was just too tired to handle it.

Vestenet, where were you standing? I may have seen you/heard you gasp. I couldn't even believe that he played The Miner Becomes Forgetful (which was amazing) AND Man With No Ankles (which I'd only heard in bad quality recordings). It only just sunk in that he did because I was SO excited that he played The Great Elsewhere. I'm actually pretty embarrassed about my reaction because...well, it is completely unlike me. I do not scream with excitement at shows, but it was really the only one that I was hoping for, and my excitement kept building as he mouthed it to Thomas and played the first few notes, and I just could not keep it in when he actually announced it. Also, their "Why You So Obsessed With Me?" rendition was amazing. I could not stop laughing. "That was beautiful, Thomas. Thank you for sharing that moment with me."

I didn't even attempt any recordings, but it would be awesome if you would upload yours! It would be amazing to hear them again, even if the quality is poor.

I'm a little disappointed that I didn't stay for The Mountain Goats, only because I really would have liked to hear them with support from Owen, and perhaps talk to Thomas some more and meet Owen. Although, Thomas did claim that he was going to tell Owen about us because we were "special fans." I'm not sure if he actually did, but it did make me feel a bit better about not sticking around.

[vestenet]

Okay, the audio is pretty pitiable, but here it is regardless. Please excuse also my whooping and laughing, as I was unable to contain myself at the time.

Final Fantasy Live @ Theatre of the Living Arts

Oh, and here's the setlist:

E is for Estranged
Lewis Takes Action
Midnight Directives
Flare Gun
The Butcher
The Miner Becomes Forgetful
Many Lives -> 49 MP
The Great Elsewhere
This is the Dream of Win & Regine
The Man with No Ankles
Lewis Takes Off His Shirt


And here's the raw audio, in case anybody more adept at post-processing wants to work their magic: www.mediafire.com/?xy0kytazmmd

[Richie]

Haha Wow!

Oh, last night I watched the videos I took for the first time since the show.
They turned out Pretty decent, I was expecting the volume to be gone being i was resting the camera on the stage monitor...

If people really want, I'm contemplating 'youtubing' the Love Song to an Empty Room -> Midnight Directives. Besides Keren's video, I don't think these have been filmed...

[eeaabb]

Leaving in about an hour for the Boston show... I've been waiting SO LONG to see both FF and MG. I can't wait!!!!!

[Thomas]

I have the edmonton version of Love Song -> Midnight. Its pretty dece.

[Richie]

thats right, I apologize
-xox

[Thomas]

Its okay Richie.

i still love you.

and I also will work on this audio.

xoxo Gossip Girl

[Alyssa!]

Just got back from the Boston show...what a wonderful set. I don't remember the specific things, all of the songs were also on the Vienna show recording (as I pointed out to Thomas), except for I Wish I Were A Carp (I think?). Owen was very much so in his groove. His interplay with Thomas was sublime, I didn't realize that he was that good of a guitarist, but man. That was just fabulous. Most of the crowd was there for Mountain Goats, so I felt kind of alone in the front row, doing my creepy playing/dancing thing that I do. But I barely even had a thought, I just let the music flow through me. I wish I wasn't slightly sick, that would've been a lot sharper of an experience. But still...like freed silver, that night was. Freed silver.

I had a short conversation with Thomas between acts. He's very, very open and amiable, and so I felt really comfortable talking to him about the music and about myself a bit. I stuck around after and saw Owen walking (alone! with no one following him) back to the bus, thank goodness someone pointed him out. I had a short conversation with him which was...a lot more awkward than I would've hoped. But you know? It was ok. I didn't totally groupie out on him. I recieved a hug and a compliment on my hair and went on my merry way.

A very, very good night.

[sarpedon]

I was gonna go to the DC show on the 27th and leave when Mountain Goats came on, but I WAS TOO SICK!!