Bunch of cowards

If not formidable, at least like they mean it and they know each other

for some reason I thought this post would be about pitchers facing Barry Bonds.

"Who was the most pathetic and unimportant band you have seen?" - Bright Eyes, easy.

"give examples where not being formidable has worked" - Beat Happening vs. Henry Rollins (see Our Band Could Be Your Life)

most formidable act I've seen? I guess either Public Enemy (I guess the S1W's were formidable(?)) or Wynonna Judd.

I was really looking forward to seeing Tahiti 80 a couple of years ago. The Puzzle album had been introduced to me by a lovely, mysterious woman. The sleeve art and general aura suggested they quite possibly came from a different planet. Imagine my disappointment when they turned up on stage looking like four very ordinary guys in t-shirts and jeans. I suppose I ought to resist getting sucked into an image in this way, but I really felt they could have been exciting and WERE NOT.

double ditto on Bright Eyes. have never gotten so physically angry at a show ever as I did when he played Seattle last February w/Crooked Fingers & Azure Ray. bad enough most of his lyrics essentially scan to "I'm the only important thing in your world, you stupid little girl, and you are SCUM" but when he sneered, "I guess I should thank Azure Ray for playing with us, but I thought they kind of sucked," I had to physically restrain myself from jumping onstage and beating the living shit out of him. scumbag.

I saw a Royal Trux show where they were too shy or fucked up to face the audience so they just played the whole thing turned around. I don't know if it "worked" or not but RT makes that whole distinction kind of hard to make anyway.

I had to physically restrain myself from jumping onstage and beating the living shit out of him.

You are a wise man, Michelangelo -- in the impulse, rather than the restraint of it. ;-) Lord, was the one Bright Eyes show I saw excruciating -- said it before, say it again: Godspeed you Black-Wearing Emo Poet!, only with zilch appeal.

Oh god, that would be CAT POWER. I saw Cat Power (just Ms. Marshall) open for Man...or Astroman?, which was an all-around bad idea. For most of the performance, she had her back to the audience and would individually pluck open guitar strings. E...A...D...G...B...E. E...B...G...D...A...E. Over and over. And over. I honestly felt like I wanted to die. Okay, I understand that she is a very shy person. That's fine. Then don't perform live - it inflicts pain.

I honestly felt like I wanted to die.
Ernest, had you not contemplated leaving? Dying for Rock, it's never really *worth* it. It's so... final.

Ernest, had you not contemplated leaving? Dying for Rock, it's never really *worth* it. It's so... final.

Oh, but it's all an unavoidable part of the circle of life. (cue to Elton John, who appears out of nowhere and starts singing with his 2- dimensional furry friends)

I did contemplate leaving, many times, but I had staked out a great seat for Man...or Astroman? and didn't want to give it up. (Their performance made up for Cat Power, fortunately)

"Or give examples where not being formidable has worked..."

Daniel Johnson, at some outdoor festival in Dallas in '92 or '93.... it was his first show after three years of being hospitalized or in a halfway house or something. He was a bundle of nerves, and played the same song twice... but it was pure magic, he could have coughed and you would have heard somebody choke a sob. We were eating out of his shakey, sweaty palms.

i'll second Cat Power... saw her in 96 or so, i guess - her first UK show, when she had steve shelley in her band - and she was wonderful. then, a coupla years ago, i saw her at some weird studio, playing at a piano, and the venue had these rickety auditorium seats which made a huge clunking sound whenever people got up to use the bathroom (which was often) and chan was perpetually on the brink of quitting the show because she thought people were leaving the show completely. then, at last year's garage show, she stood right at the back of the stage because the lights were too hot, and just generally fretted about everything. if she's shy, yeah, its not her fault. but people are PAYING to see this schtick.

not that you need to SEE Cat Power to think that about her... see this , for instance

I was almost going to mention Cat Power as an example where not being formidable has worked, kinda. I'm always torn between disgust and amusement at her shows, largely because of her but also because of her fans. Athens, Georgia crowds are horrible at shutting the fuck up during shows (Jonathan Richman was nearly drowned out this past Valentine's Day) but during Cat Power shows you can hear a pin drop. Now this may be somewhat due to her being so quiet (and, um, "fragile" is the term I've heard bandied about at gigs) but mainly it's just the bizarre reverance accorded her by her fans, and one thing that's always fun about a Cat Power show (other than shouting out "Bill Callahan!") is watching this reverance drain away (usually during the third attempt at "Sea of Love"). Every time I go to a Cat Power show there will be one point during the night when I'll tell myself "I'll never go to another one of her shows" and another point I'll tell myself "There is no way I'm going to miss one of her shows". It should be noted though that when she plays Athens the shows are very cheap. $3 to watch a pretty trainwreck? - I'm there. Strange I should defend Cat Power and loathe Bright Eyes, but I think this may be because Chan Marshall really is a flake while Coner Oberst is just an egomaniacal indierock "star". And the IndieRock band-a-minute list (which I'd link to if I had the wherewithal; Chunklet reprinted it) remains the most succinct analysis of her (topping Christgau even): "I am one fucked up chick."

I too survived a shitty Cat Power show. During the "concert" she was fussy about the lighting and about her guitar, she would stop in the middle of every song she was performing just to tune her guitar. It was incredibly annoying but I couldn't be angry with her because she had a bad cold which I thought at the time was the reason for her strange and unprofessional behavior, but now knowing that this is a schtick of hers I am pissed off.

I too survived a shitty Cat Power show.
Shockah in gloom town: Rock can KILL yah!

(I saw Bright Eyes open for Cat Power and both were excellent. (Also I find it interesting that both ILM and Pitchfork despise Conor and co. It must mean he is doing something right.))

The fuck he is. But I've gone on about him enough already.

If by "something right" you mean feigning melodrama over hackneyed melodies then yeah.

what kinda logic....