Should I go see The Books live?

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Friend has an extra ticket. I like some of their recorded stuff, but seeing as it's all cut-and-pasty, I imagine their live show must be different. What's it like?

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 2 May 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

i don't know but their new album is excellent

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 2 May 2005 21:20 (twenty years ago)

It's also weird because there's only 1 extra ticket, and it's with a cute girl who is not my girlfriend, and who is friends with both me AND my girlfriend, but she asked me to go.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 2 May 2005 21:21 (twenty years ago)

I'm sure they live just like regular folks. Life isn't always like the movies, dude.

― Aaron A., Monday, 2 May 2005 21:22 (twenty years ago)

you should go have sex with that girl

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 2 May 2005 21:22 (twenty years ago)

But I should do it at the show, right?

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 2 May 2005 21:24 (twenty years ago)

I saw their first live appearance ever -- at the Third Coast Audio Festival -- and they were extremely charming. Yes, you should go.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 2 May 2005 21:25 (twenty years ago)

absolutely! i understand that they have a space in the setlist for people who want to do this (xpost)

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 2 May 2005 21:25 (twenty years ago)

Then they record your coital grunting and moaning and build a song out of it for their next album.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 2 May 2005 21:28 (twenty years ago)

Moral implications notwithstanding, Dahlen said the show was incredible...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Monday, 2 May 2005 21:59 (twenty years ago)

Oh well, I missed my chance and she "gave 'it'" to someone else.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 2 May 2005 22:17 (twenty years ago)

ps Just so you know, I wasn't waiting on ILM to give me an opinion before I got back to her. I was waiting for something else.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 2 May 2005 22:23 (twenty years ago)

Yes! but only because I got all worked up to see them on May 5th, but then realised I wasn't going to be here for it.

― Tokyo Ghost Stories (Tokyo Ghost Stories), Monday, 2 May 2005 23:20 (twenty years ago)

ps Just so you know, I wasn't waiting on ILM to give me an opinion before I got back to her. I was waiting for something else.

"it"?

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Monday, 2 May 2005 23:28 (twenty years ago)

GO GO GO GO.

A lot more of it is live instrumentation that you would ever think. Either that or the live players have learned to play cut + pasted clips.
Cellist is unstoppable.

― Matt Boch (Matt Boch), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 00:15 (twenty years ago)

yeah they were great live on friday - the non-studio setting really brings out the folky side of their instrumentation, but the song structures are still all choppy which is cool. at one point their keys person sang to a jar of mayonnaise on stage.

― swvl (vozick), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 01:05 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, definitely check them out if they're coming near your town. They've got a great live set, it's more raucous than the albums but it still uses the loops and clips really well. They figured out which songs will work well on stage, and they play the hell out of them. Lots of fun.

The Lost and Safe songs especially sound better live (and with Anne Doerner's vocals on top of Nick's) - they played "Be Good To Them Always" and the cello was almost painfully loud. It was superb.

― save the robot (save the robot), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 01:16 (twenty years ago)

I was actually surprised not to see more threads and reviews of this show. Boston Globe's useless, of course, but I thought I'd see this all over the message boards. People were really excited at the show on Friday. Everyone was making sure to get their stubs back from the tickettaker, and the kids sitting behind me actually had someone take their picture.

― save the robot (save the robot), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 01:20 (twenty years ago)

Damn, now I'm sorry I missed this when they were in Boston, it sounds great.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 01:28 (twenty years ago)

fuck, go to the show. If it sucks, well, whatever, you wasted a night. If you don't go and it's good, you missed a good show. Plus, if she's a babe there's that too. Plus the Books are pretty sweet. Not that I've seen 'em live. Or know anyone who has.

― Will M. (Will M.), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 01:57 (twenty years ago)

GUH NVM I MISSED THE PART WHERE YOU SAID THERE IS NO MORE TICKET STOP
SORRY STOP

― Will M. (Will M.), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 01:58 (twenty years ago)

Just saw them last night... amazing. Gang Of Four last Friday and LCD Soundsystem three days ago blew my mind away. The Books helped restore it, the blew it away again. :)

Points of comparison: hmmm way too many... Laurie Anderson? Steve Reich's "The Cave"? Efterklang? early Penguin Cafe Orchestra? Negativland, or at least the vocal sample cut up element? Pinback -- ur, or maybe Systems Officer or early solo Rob Crow?

Anyway, they had really neat home made videos to go with the performance. All of these guys are highly skilled instrumentalists/players but were very humble about it and never showboated how AWESUM their skills were. They just played. I felt very warm after the performance. (Well, the place was PACKED, so it was literally very warm! the band seemed pleasantly shocked at the enthusiasm of the audience).

They pretty much did stuff from all three albums, though stressed the latest one a little more.

The "Meditation" piece was a highlight. Well, all the songs were great. Good times all around. :)

Don't miss The Books live.

― donut debonair (donut), Saturday, 14 May 2005 20:47 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, and Mikey Bass was there. Yes, Mikey Bass is the kid brother of the main singer, and that song on the first album is named after him. He was there playing along about four or five songs into the set.

― donut debonair (donut), Saturday, 14 May 2005 20:49 (nineteen years ago)

and OMG.. Anne's piece where she was about to perform "a live cross product of two 29 dimensional vectors while dual-channing a female centurian(?) from the 18th or 8th century, and a jar of mayonnaise".

!!!!!

I love these guys, because they were not afraid to show off how incredibly nerdy they are about their high level math knowledge. :) Between that and the videos, I'm guessing either Anne and/or other(s) in the band have at least a Bachelor's in math at MIT or something. Hurray for true math geekism!

― donut debonair (donut), Saturday, 14 May 2005 20:53 (nineteen years ago)

why because she did a cross product? yawn

i think we have deviated worringly from the primary question which is yes hurting i think you should still try to have sex with that girl

― Josh (Josh), Saturday, 14 May 2005 21:02 (nineteen years ago)

Great show seconded, donut. I hope they release the home-made videos at some point. Really brilliant. If someone were to have told me before the show, "there's a video where they flash the words on the screen as the guy sings them," i would have thought LAME but it was very wonderful.

Also, they did good by the crowd. Chop Suep isn't the easiest room on a Friday night with the talkers in back, but they took over and shut a lot of people up.

― jergins (jergins), Saturday, 14 May 2005 22:25 (nineteen years ago)

eleven months pass...

They're playing tonight in Seattle at the UW Pub(?).. have no idea which UW pub.. but it's happening, and I'm going.

They play Vancouver tomorrow acc. to the Tomlab site, and then lots of empty space until Milwaukee WI. Anyone have complete Books dates? I just got back from a major vacation and I'm completely out of sorts, so sorry for the laziness.

― DOQQUN (donut), Saturday, 22 April 2006 00:19 (nineteen years ago)

Never mind. Sold out. I'm at the lobby computer terminal. Around 50 kids are outside, some who drove from Portland, waiting for people to sell tickets. ah well, karma's a minor sidetrack I guess. Hope y'all have fun.

― DOQQUN (donut), Saturday, 22 April 2006 02:48 (nineteen years ago)

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