[Raveonettes performing "Forget That You're Young" during the encore at Music Hall of Williamsburg, 4/21/11]
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- This was the eleventh time I've seen The Raveonettes live / I think they're on the short list of Greatest Bands in the World / Chain Gang of Love is my single favorite album OF ALL TIME. Their new album Raven in the Grave is one of the two finest albums I've heard so far this year. Yes, they are awesome. [OK, that's out of the way. Click here for a lengthy post / show review re: The Raveonettes from a few years back.]
- Pregame: many bowls, and a healthy portion of Cindy's seizure-inducingly great pot brownies.
- If y'haven't seen this yet, have a gander. It was purchased 11 days ago by my good buddy Beaf at the Dallas Raves show. [If you look closely, you'll notice that the poster is from their 2007 "Loud and Intimate Electric Duo Tour," which consisted of 6 total dates, of which I saw two. After the Southpaw show, I saw a guy get run over by a taxi. Ask me about it sometime!]
- OK. Very glad they're playing at Music Hall... almost exactly a mile from my doorstep. After a nice brisk walk I got to the venue at about quarter after 9, and, thankfully, said aforementioned brownie had already kicked in by the time I got inside. Took a squeege and headed upstairs, where I found plenty of room along the left side of the floor... no house lights between sets, which (believe me) is going to be noticed by the dude who's practically tripping face.
- I enjoyed the opener, Tamaryn, whose shoegazy-meets-dreampoppy bag was the *perfect* soundtrack for me at that moment, what with the loopy, reverby goodness being augmented by my very own auditory hallucinations.
- Setbreak revealed the Raveonettes' new stage setup: dueling 3-piece drum kits at both sides of the stage, with one of the drummers switching off between drumming and rhythm guitar for most of the set. Also, they brought their own special light show, being comprised of 6 vertical white fluorescent lights and 3 little groupings of multicolored light thingies.
- Raveonettes opened their set with "Recharge and Revolt," with both of the drummers playing guitar, Sharin on bass, and Sune on vocals... this was probably the first time I've ever seen the Raves perform a song without Sune playing an instrument.
- Setlist included songs from their entire recorded career, with the wealth of new stuff [6 new songs!] sounding awesome amongst the old chestnuts. When a band has as many great songs as the Raveonettes do, it's easy to get wrapped up in the "man, why didn't they play..." game post-show, but the setlist was pretty fucking solid. [See below for said actual setlist.]
- Set highlights for me were Chain Gang's "The Love Gang;" hearing two of the best new songs, "Apparitions" and "Evil Seeds," played back to back, Sune's solo during "Love in a Trashcan," and the awesome little noisy jam they did in "Attack of the Ghost Riders."
- If I had to submit an entry into the fictional "What Do You Think Is the Perfect Song?" survey, it would probably be "Dead Sound."
- Stuff that complimented my brownie buzz nicely: the massive "wall of sound;" the flawlessly executed light show; the disco ball (I've seen probably damn near a hundred shows in this room. How the hell did I never notice the disco ball before?!); the patient, attentive crowd. It's pretty tough not to fall at least a little in love with Sune and Sharin when you see them live.
- The set ended, appropriately with "My Time Is Up," from the new record, and the encore closed out with Sharin switching over to guitar for "Aly, Walk With Me."
- Probably the best show I've seen all year.
- go HERE if you want better pics from this show. Tuddd out for now......
Setlist:
1.) Recharge and Revolt
2.) War in Heaven
3.) Let Me On Out
4.) Dead Sound
5.) Noisy Summer
6.) Love in a Trashcan
7.) Lust
8.) Apparitions
9.) Evil Seeds
10.) Ignite
11.) The Love Gang
12.) My Tornado
13.) Attack of the Ghost Riders
14.) Heart of Stone
15.) My Time Is Up
ENCORE:
16.) Forget That You're Young
17.) Aly Walk With Me
"How the hell did I never notice the disco ball before?!"
It's not you; the disco ball normally isn't there. It was leftover from the show before and the Rave's lighting guy asked if he could use it.
Posted by: superfan | May 03, 2011 at 10:14 AM