音乐-现场 - Crikey!

2009-11-16 - [音乐-现场]

11月10日和11日，我在伦敦的Union Chapel看Andrew Bird。两场的票早已全部告罄。之所以打定主意两场都来，纯粹是因为自己夏天在爱丁堡看他的现场后轻而易举的爱上了这位大眼鸟。而现在，看过这两场演出后，我猜想，未来若有Andrew Bird的演出，而自己力所能及，便一定会奔去。在小妹这里达此标准的音乐人天底下只有两个，另一位是Graham Coxon。（你这是在讨好谁？）

心得写了个开头，便写不下去了，然后就糊里糊涂索性都写成了英文（惊）。可是为了方便大家阅读，还是在此简要概括一下。

说简要概括并不确切。其实英文心得是认认真真的写演出写音乐；中文心得是随随便便发发花痴。

不过也没什么特别可花痴的，无非是此人浓眉大眼，睁眼时令人害羞，露出笑容时脸上出现两个酒窝。总之一个字：杀。

10日的演出中有个瞬间尤其值得自己珍藏：鸟先生忘了Mx Missiles的歌词。当时我坐在第一排，喊出那句歌词给他提了醒，他才继续唱了下去。搞得我非常荣幸又进一步陷入紧张，一副要时刻做好提词准备的提心吊胆状态。

演出依然很精彩，可惜曲目不多。鸟先生似乎有些游离，两处忘词，两首歌重新开头，也有一处忘了和弦。然而忘了词儿的鸟先生糊里糊涂的站在台上，显得无比可爱。

好，欲知更多细节，请看英文（殴殴殴）：

Mr Andrew Bird has spent the whole of 2009 flying around the world putting on shows.

He did 28 dates in 31 days with St. Vincent in October. I wasn't lucky enough to be a resident of the United States during that time to witness their collaboration on stage, but from what I heard, those shows were regarded as the best shows ever by many, even Mr Bird himself. He gave a little speech at the last stop of their tour together (in 9:30 club Washington DC), saying it was the best tour ever for him, that he was able to “jam” with Annie Clark of St. Vincent. It was also described that these two performed St. Vincent’s hit song “Marry Me” with eyes fixing on each other the whole time. It is no coincidence that people wish they were more than collaborators onstage. The comments I’ve seen include “Andy and Annie should date”, “make babies” and even, “have lots of super-skinny, musically talented children”.

Anyway, his “best tour ever” ended on Oct 28th. After 10 days’ break, his second round of European tour began. Andrew was booked for two dates at Union Chapel in London, an active church / music venue most suitable for small, intimate shows. Both nights were sold-out. I had intended to come for only one date, but after being entranced by his live show in Edinburgh this summer, to go to both dates seemed a must.

Union Chapel is beautiful. I would go as far as saying it’s my favorite music venue in London. The acoustics are fantastic. I particularly love the wooden benches. Yes, unnumbered wooden benches. Queuing outside for more than 1 hour, then going inside and sitting in the front row, this is all very great.

Supporting band Moriarty consists of band members from New York and France. They are probably the best supporting act I’ve seen this year. Old school jazz and American folk might be their most obvious influence. The lead singer's voice reminds me of those diva ladies in the 30s. Their music is complex and multi-layered. Their stage performance is most distinctively old school style, with all band members huddling in front of the same microphone. There's a mystic air about the lead singer. At one time she greeted the audience with a low whispering "Good evening, bird watchers." Her eyes could talk. In other words, there was much captivity in them. She was seen often exchanging glances with the guitarist, who bears a striking similarity to Ewan McGregor. By the way, this is NOT the reason why I think highly of them. I've never seen any band give a theatrical stage performance as interesting as theirs.

Moriarty left the stage at around 8:30. When Andrew’s roadies were busy setting up instruments, I noticed his sock monkey lying at the edge of the stage. I believe its name is “the night-hanger”.

When Andrew got on stage holding his sock monkey, the crowd gave the warmest applause and cheers. He was wearing jeans, green checked shirt, dark sport coat, and a scarf, which, later I knew was a present from a fan a couple of weeks ago. No glittering shoes were seen. Mr Bird didn't bring them to Europe. He started with instrumental violin looping. Layer upon layer, soon the chapel was filled with intricate violin melodies, which evolved to be The Happy Birthday Song. Half way through the song, he made his horn revolving by hitting a pedal. Then he removed his shoes. His socks are red.

After the second song Water Jet Cilice, he greeted the audience with some Bird-esque talking: “Hello…I don’t know…I’ve just got off the boat…I’ve got sea legs…That’s what you have while on a boat…I don’t know.” At the same time his left hand is seen making occasionally nervous gestures in the air. :)

He introduced “Sweet Matter”, a previous version to Dark Matter. “Recently I’ve started to mash-up my own songs…not intentionally.” He had a false start due to a looping problem and had to start it a second time. The line “That’s the taste of neuron blinking” evoked some laughter just as it did when he performed it in Edinburgh.

He launched into “Why?” straight after that. This is a song I could never get tired watching him play. I could never get tired watching him play anyway. He mentioned in a previous interview that he had been playing this song on almost every show for the last 7 years and hadn’t got tired of it. The way he plays it, his facial expression during that song always get me under a spell. I’ve seen people declaring this song to be the sexiest song they’ve ever heard. Well, I’ve also seen people commenting “Andrew Bird’s voice is like sex with a violin.” Hmmm…I’m not sure. You tell me.

“I always feel better after playing that song. It’s like it got something off my chest.” Andrew declared. “But I’ve changed the pronouns to protect…myself. I get people throwing things at me because sometimes I don’t give enough…emotional response. I’ve been playing that song for the last 7 or 8 years…It’s still true. Maybe that’s why it still works.”

I giggled. He once admitted that he often takes the other person’s point of view when writing a song consists of dialogues. I suppose he had been damned for being easy-going. :P

“Oh No” was played following “Oh Ho”. It’s interesting how he arranged the set in this way so that the palindrome still works. The audience that night was quiet, which probably lead Andrew to ask if everybody is alright. “Normally you’d expect the British audience to be a bit more … heckling”. (lol)

When giving background to the song “Effigy”, his talking was constantly interrupted by a woman’s laughter from the balcony. “It’s my birthday!” She shouted. It felt a bit weird at the time, particularly if you take into account that Andrew was talking about “a guy, sitting at the end of a bar/pub (‘you guys go to pubs here’ He said), blurted things out that have nothing to do anything, making people really uncomfortable.” So we have a song about loneliness and awkward social behavior, illustrated by some awkward social behavior from a member of the audience. (OK I’m being mean. I just hate seeing Andrew interrupted.)

“Wake Up” was introduced as an unfinished song, “It’s been there for so long and starting to become an old song.” It occurred to me as a variation of “Trimmed and Burning” with the line “Jesus made my dying bed”. Like the other mashed-up song “Sweetmatter”, he had a false start with this one and had to start a second time.

Mr Bird said he forgot to put something on the set list. “It’s very important. It’s about what kind of animal you become.” It took us no time to realize the song was “Anonanimal”, one of my most loved tracks on Noble Beast, and a song you can expect on every show in Andrew’s Noble Beast tour. When he played this song in the US last month, there were times when he forgot that he had to get ready for switching to the guitar. And this was what happened exactly. In the middle of the song, he put down the violin and hurried over to pick up the guitar, while gesturing to the audience with a lifted finger and a half apologetic face. “I always forget to switch to the guitar.”

What I especially love about “Anonanimal” is that he sings “Don’t tell me this one I know I know this song I love this song” with his eyes wide open. Mr Bird has giant dark eyes. You don’t see them wide open during his live shows that often. He usually keeps them half closed, at the same time swinging his head into all directions. But occasionally when he opens his eyes, there’s so much clarity in them and it makes one shy to stare. He sometimes reminds me of an owl. Indeed there is something bird-like about him.

Also included in the set were new song Lusitania and Tenuousness. During the latter he had to make a gesture to the engineers at the mixing desk to kill the track of the Moroccan instruments. At the end he commented, “I was amazed that things don’t fall apart … that was before I did that song.”

After that he treated us with an old song “Mx Missiles” from the 2005 album “The Mysterious Production of Eggs.” I would be thrilled to hear him play any of his old songs, what thrilled me even more was – I was able to help him when he forgot the lyrics.

He didn’t remember all the lyrics, which hit me as a surprise. The song appears on his 2005 album and he played it last month in a radio session, so it hasn’t been that long! He wrote that song after all! Anyway, he got confused during the first few lines and had to start again. I felt a bit relieved when he picked it up the second time. The audiences gave knowing and forgiving laughter. But he stopped again during the bridge. “I didn’t know what you were…?” I shouted out the lyrics. He got it. The song continued. I felt absolutely honored to have been the one who could give him a hand. There was similar situation in his US tour last month when he forgot the lyrics and was reminded by a member of the audience. I just never dreamed that it could happen to me.

The cheers and applause didn’t get less warm. Indeed, it’s still a brilliant show, even if it’s not perfect. I once said “A bad day at fishing is better than a good day at work, an imperfect show from Andrew Bird is way better than a perfect show from many more”.

“There’s only time for one song.” He said. “But I’d like to let you decide what that is.” All of a sudden suggestions poured down. The guy behind me even went as far as shouting “Anything you remember!” Oh that was really rude! But we laughed. Mr Bird laughed too. “That was fair” He said. In the end the choice was between Scythian Empires and Plasticities. There might have been more demand for Scythian Empires, but I was in the front row and I kept shouting Plasticities. :P

So we had Plasticities. That just made the night perfect for me.

That was the end of the main set. On his set list, he put down “I’m going home” and “Weather Systems” for encore, but he only played the first one. It’s an American folk type of cover song I believe. When he waved and bowed to the audience, then took his monkey and walked off stage I was still waiting. I didn’t expect him to play just one song for encore. Probably he was too tired.

There was a fight over the set list (obviously), since Andrew was the only performer there was only one copy on the stage. A friend I met earlier that evening congratulated me on the little rescue I’d done for “Mx Missiles”. I could not help but smiled, and secretly thought, I bet Mr Bird would remember his lyrics well tomorrow. Well, judging from my experience the next day, I was very wrong.

Like I said, it was still a good show. But I wish the set could be longer. He played 15 songs in total, including the instrumental “On Ho”. I think he was tired, probably due to his traveling across the Atlantic, plus he didn’t put on any show in the previous week, he might need some adjustment.

I had prepared a gift for him. After the show I waited by the back door, and was soon joined by 3 other people. It was really cold outside. We felt even colder when we learnt there’s a fireplace in the lighted room by the street. It’s a room with art deco windows. I didn’t want to peek into the window but other people did. It turned out that Mr Bird himself was in that room. During the time we waited there was at least status updates. We knew he ate sushi, drank milk from a glass, and then a beer. Mr Bird ate sushi and then drank milk. What an adorable man. We waited for 1 hour 40 minutes. We waited until the lights were out, until doors to both the front and back of the building were locked. Mr Bird didn’t show up.

I secretly blamed the other people, who were noisy all the time. Andrew knew there were people waiting outside, but he didn’t come out to meet us. I still can’t believe it. That’s just so unlike him, who is generous and sincere.

Maybe he was tired. But I’ve got a present for you Andrew! How can you do this to me?! It was later suggested by a friend that Mr Bird didn’t feel like meeting the person who knows his lyrics better than he does. Well, this is comforting thought.

That was how my Tuesday night ended up in chaos. Come to think of it, that was the first time when my wait by the stage door turned to nothing.

Set list:

The Happy Birthday Song

Water Jet Cilice

Sweet Matter

Why?

Natural Disaster

On Ho

Oh No

Effigy

Wake Up

Anonanimal (not on the set list)

Lusitania

Tenuousness

Mx Missiles

Plasticities (chosen over “Scythian Empires”, which is actually on the set list)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’m going home

Weather Systems (on the set list but left unplayed)

Tag：AndrewBird gig

exhilarating 发表于10:17:49 | 阅读全文 | 评论 1 | 编辑 | 分享 0
2009-11-01 - [音乐-现场]

Phoenix是个法国的独立摇滚乐队，然而从他们1999年出道开始，就一直用英文写歌，到如今居然也已经10年了。孕育了Phoenix的文化氛围也同样孕育了Air和Daft Punk，然而Phoenix似乎远不及这两个乐队有名。

他们的音乐旋律感和节奏感都很好，要是给贴个标签，“令人振奋的独立摇滚”再合适不过。2000年他们那首Too Young应该不会有人觉得不好听吧。那真是如假包换的好听哇。很多人知道这首歌是因为电影Lost in Translation (迷失东京)。

喜欢他们那么久，终于看到了现场，开心自不用说。然而，更开心的是，他们现场演出的精彩程度完全超出我的预期！我很高兴见证了Phoenix的巅峰时刻。This band is completely on top of the game.

------------下面插播八卦贴图-----------

你大概晓得新锐女性导演Sofia Coppola是著名导演Francis Ford Coppola的女儿，不知你是否晓得Phoenix的主唱大人Thomas Marr就是Sofia Coppola的老公呢？名人夫妻总是出镜率最高，所以google"Thomas Marr"，找来的十有八九是夫妻照：

一对璧人，嗯？

----------------------------------------

Brixton Academy是相当大的场地。年初的NME颁奖典礼就在这儿举行。而Phoenix这样的独立乐队居然会卖这么大的场地，不禁令人为他们捏把汗。好在票是今年4月就开始卖了，于是真正到半年之后，演出开始之际也终于sold out。

来看他们的乐迷大多不是英国人。除了欧洲大陆国家的面孔，居然也有很多日本人。颇多雅皮兮兮的小青年，然而Phoenix一出场大家就爆了。从第一首歌Lisztomania开始，前排的尖叫和大合唱就没停过。

Thomas Mars的滑润嗓音充满年轻小伙子的精气神儿，此刻觉得这嗓音真是独立摇滚的标志。论长相他大概不是天底下第一号大帅哥，但是人家看上去很有型，又是宽肩细腰的好身材。而且，他作为乐队主唱的风范儿非常好。好到令我惊讶。他握着话筒唱歌，俯下身或是拿起麦克风架子的动作，大概只能用潇洒二字来形容。他喜欢唱着唱着就踩上监视器，很青春。他跳下台来那几次前排观众都疯了。我被后边的人挤得差点没站稳。只怪自己大意，低估了Thomas的感染力。他第二次从台上跳下来后扶着栏杆从一头走到另一头，无数只手伸向他，哦托马斯主唱大人！于是我也拍了他的肩膀，算是膜拜。

他们的舞台设计做的很用心。背景是Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix的logo，而且会变颜色。中间演到器乐的Love like a Sunset时Thomas就躺下来，隐藏在监视器后边。然后白光投在台上，照出闪亮的几何图形，并随节奏变幻。

我左后方的男生一直跟唱所有歌词，丝毫没有磕绊。我虽然已经很熟悉他们的歌，但和其他人的功课比起来...还是逊色了许多。当一个乐队的主唱坐在监视器上都能引来一阵尖叫和欢呼，你就知道，这个乐队成气候了。大家热爱Phoenix。气氛热烈极了。我可以看得出当晚Thomas开心死了。他无数次鞠躬，无数次感谢大家。

演出的曲目以Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix为重，但回顾了前几张专辑中倍受喜爱的歌，比如Too Young, Run Run Run等等。

他们的音乐是明快，悦耳和动感的。Truly upbeat and uplifting. 用两个字概括这场演出给我的感受便是：欣快。

等待返场时，大家都猜想一会一定会唱1901。当初这首歌是他们放在网上给大家免费下载的。Phoenix真慷慨。

等到Thomas终于回到台上时，我们发现和他一同回来的只有吉他手Christian。似乎他们之前没有完全拿定主意返场演什么。于是在他二人商量了一阵之后，我们得到了最大的惊喜：不插电版本的Everything is Everything和翻唱Air的Playground Love.

由他们来翻唱Air别提多合适了。他们本来就是一伙的。大家也禁不住跟着唱那熟悉的不能再熟悉的旋律：Love is all, all my soul. You're my playground love.

紧接着全体乐队都回到台上：If I Ever Feel Better和毫无悬念的1901。Thomas把前者的chorus部分留给大家唱。而他唱1901时，居然自己投身人群（！！），我没有看清他被搬运的过程，只看到他突然间神奇的出现在另一端人群的上方，和大家挥手。这个令人喜爱的巴黎小伙子（小伙子吗？！）小伙子的称呼也许不合适，然而Thomas肯定不是叔叔。

这大概是我目前在英国看到的最精彩超乎预料的演出。想来自己和Phoenix的缘分很波折。他们今年在伦敦的演出只安排了三场：4月的Hoxton Bar& Kitchen，6月的Koko，和10月的Brixton Academy。然而4月的那场因为Thomas嗓子坏掉被临时取消，Koko那场又被我错过了，还好终于还是看到了Phoenix的现场，而且是那么棒的现场。

后来问起看过Koko那场的推友，他们之前的现场也这么棒吗？回答说，Brixton这场太棒了，Koko那场远没有这么好。

嗯，那么这预示着Phoenix还在走上坡路吗？真不赖耶。=)

然而我现在只有他们一张专辑Alphabetical，还是在国内淘打口碟时买的，谁让他们每张专辑都不超过40分钟呢？！大概我该去把Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix买了。

曲目：

Plus encore:

Everything is Everything
Playground Love
If I Ever Feel Better
1901

Tag：Phoenix ThomasMarr

exhilarating 发表于06:04:09 | 阅读全文 | 评论 1 | 编辑 | 分享 0
2009-10-30 - [音乐-现场]

去年9月30日我第一次看Brett Anderson的现场，那时他正要发行Wilderness。如今一年过去了，现在他马上要发行他的第三张solo专辑Slow Attack。一年的四季更迭似乎成了他的创作周期。他说冬天给他带来灵感，"the cycle i have slipped into seems to be a winter/summer loop of creation then pause and regurgitation....well, it suits me for the time being even if it does mean that i seem overly obsessed with seasonal change"。

The Tabernacle在诺丁山。我有点纳闷这音乐场馆是怎么会选在这等上流人士聚居的好地段的。它的官方容量是400人，但排队依然不轻松。虽然大约70%的观众会在Brett上场前半小时才到，然而总会有5%的观众（aka真正的死忠）恨不得提前3-4个小时去排队。说到底也就是那二三十人在竞争前排。对于Brett Anderson的情况，这二三十人里至少有一半是东方人。

我们站在舞台左边，我正对面是钢琴。因为之前考虑到Brett只要唱Wilderness里的歌，就一定会坐过来弹钢琴。

当我看到歌单时，还是觉得有点失望。没有Suede的歌。

然而当Brett真的走出来，挺拔摇曳的走出来，站在台前开始唱歌的时候，我所有的失望都化为零了。

开场是Hymn，也是Slow Attack的第一首歌。他穿细条纹的衬衫，一双闪亮的皮鞋。他的身材真修长。可是天哪，他怎么那么瘦！哪有这么瘦的42岁的大叔哇！那一双修长的小细腿！他依旧喜欢唱歌时支在话筒架上，重心前倾。那姿势我们都太熟悉了，是不是？他也会在器乐段落拿起铃鼓，在原地转圈，扭动，把铃鼓打在自己的胯/臀部，让人想起他Suede时那个拍打臀部的标志动作。安大叔扭的煞是好看耶。他精致的面部轮廓一如从前，也许脸颊略微深陷了些。在暗的灯光下，有些瞬间，我看到的似乎还是年轻时的Brett，清秀俊美的。而他那个嗓音，他那个有特点的“uh-uh”，让人无论如何不可能不激动。

他新专辑的风格总体说来不如Wilderness那般统一，有些歌灵动而令人神往，有些歌纯粹是落寞的美。这次演出对于新歌的处理比录音室版本热烈而摇滚了许多。演出这些新歌时，台上伴奏的乐器有吉他，贝斯，鼓，钢琴和大提琴。Brett只管唱歌，偶尔打打铃鼓，却依然有乐器给足的效果。

观众对新歌的反映很热情。有几首歌曲终了，Brett在尖叫欢呼和掌声之中向观众行礼，我看到他低头看着地面，嘴角却泛着笑意。我们爱他，他因为我们爱他而爱我们。

Swan的结尾有一段较长的器乐，Brett紧闭双眼，很投入的扭。这首歌结束后，除了Amy，其他乐手都呼啦啦的下台了。Brett说，"that's the end of that record now." 转而来到钢琴边坐下，他离我好近哎。“下边这首歌可比刚才那首安静很多。”于是便开始只有钢琴和大提琴的Wilderness session。他连演了三首：A Different Place, The Empress, Chinese Whispers。个人以为Wilderness最出色的就是这三首。

接下来乐队又上台来，Brett也站回舞台中间。毫无悬念的，他开始了上上张专辑的歌，To the Winter, Love is Dead, Song for My Father. 这些应该是大家最熟悉的，有些观众也会忘情的跟唱。

结束了Song for My Father这首对Brett意义颇深的歌之后，他向大家道谢。“感谢大家来，今晚真的很棒。”他用的词是"fantastic"。"This is just splitting distance from where I live."他说。啊哈安大叔我们都知道你住在这附近，问题是，具体地址在哪？

我们目送他走下台，Brett走路的姿势真好看。

等到他再次出来，唱返场曲前，居然先到我们这边和大家握手！我当时正在录影，看到Brett就怎么笑着走过来，实在太惊诧了。据握到他手的M君说，他的手很冷（什么？？？？？）。他可是流了许多汗啊！怎么手还是会冷！这么瘦削，手又是冷的，多么惹人疼的大叔！

开唱之前他喝了两口水，还特意把剩下的小半瓶水放在离这边观众很近的台前。也不知散场后被谁拿走了。

唱返场曲Funeral Mantra时，他有站在监视器上，和前排中央的观众握手。临了，他说，下面真的是今晚的最后一首歌了。大家发出悲号。Brett就装可怜的调侃道：可是我已经没有歌可唱了。（"I've run out of songs".）“你们要理解，作为一个新艺人，因为没有多少歌，准备演出曲目时真的很难。”我们笑。现在回味这句话，他是在暗示他不想唱Suede的歌吗？

其实也没有关系，我知道他并不抵触Suede的歌。那些也是他的歌。而且去年我也听他唱过。大概他只是想让大家把注意力放在他的新作上。

最后一曲Back To You时，他又走过来和这边的观众握手。我被身后的激动人群挤了一下，想不碰到Brett都不可能。他出了许多汗，他的胳膊湿漉漉的，他的衬衫也湿漉漉的。我闻到他身上的古龙水味，这才突然意识到，怪不得整场演出中我都觉得有古龙水味隐隐飘来，原来就是Brett你本人呀！

最后一曲也最终结束后，他微笑着和大家招手，那笑容真好看，跟一朵花儿似的。谁见过笑的跟花似的大叔呢？

这是一场很棒的演出。Brett到底还是有气场啊！然而若说遗憾，大约是他的嗓音稍显弱了一些。而那个拉大提琴的Amy，居然有一处非常明显的拉错了，连我这样的外行都听得出来。

对了，我拍到他左手无名指上的戒指了。简单朴素的金环一枚。

更多照片见flickr或photobucket相册。

上传的视频：

Youtube:

Ashes or Us + Julian's Eyes
The Empress + Chinese Whispers
Swan + A Different Place

Sendspace:

Ashes of Us + Julian's Eyes
handshake before the encore
hymn
end

Tag：BrettAnderson

exhilarating 发表于00:52:41 | 阅读全文 | 评论 9 | 编辑 | 分享 0
2009-10-19 - [音乐-现场]

Kings of Convenience来自挪威Bergen。尽管他们之前的专辑Quiet is the New Loud和Riot on an Empty Street封面上都有一个女人，其实这个乐队的成员只有两个：两个男人，Eirik和Erlend，后者是戴眼镜的那位。

仅有两个男人的乐队...容易令人浮想联翩...（滚！）

看上去甜蜜哇？！

他们的音乐是怎样的也不用多说了。提起Kings of Convenience，应该没有人不喜欢。优美清凉的旋律，带点Bossa nova味道，怎么听怎么舒服，极适合消暑，乃居家旅行必备。虽然不会到疯狂跟随的地步，但他们那两张专辑总是会让人想隔阵子就翻出来听听的。

此乐队到目前为止的三张专辑发行时间分别是2001，2004和2009。如果这些数字里真的存在规律，那么他们出下一张的时间应该是2016年（阿苗对此论断的确实性不具有任何责任）。

总之能看他们的现场是很幸运的事情。

暖场乐队是Taxi Taxi，可惜我去晚了，完全错过他们，只来得及赶上Kings of Convenience上场。

2000人的Barbican Hall座无虚席。台上就他们两个休闲打扮的小子，每人手里一把吉他。2000人看2个人弹2把吉他。你们还真压得住场面。Kings of Convenience清新悦耳又错综复杂的吉他旋律无疑是最拿得出手的。哎嗨嗨，这架势就让你们听个够！他俩身后有一台钢琴，Erlend整晚弹过几次，但不多。

我坐在二楼，超级远超级远。然而坐得远的好处是：音效无比好无比好。令人心醉的吉他旋律充满Barbican Hall偌大的空间。每次我在大的音乐厅看演出，都要对建筑师肃然起敬。

至于两位表演者，他们给我的第一印象可以概括为：awkward hipster。他们聊些小天，弹些小琴。演了两三首之后Eirik说：哦，我意识到你们还没听到新专辑呢。之前几周我们在欧洲巡演来着，专辑在那边已经发行了。它在英国发行还得等到...他一时迟疑。此时二楼某位先生大喊一声：18号！！！全场大笑。我心想，嘿嘿，你们只管唱歌，商业头脑不过硬啊。

两人喜欢在曲目之间频繁交换吉他，整晚互换了大约10次。看着令人觉得好笑，一共就那么两把吉他，再换也是那么两把。大概是太穷买不起吉他，只好不断互换以过过瘾（殴飞）。

既然他们的风格那么清凉，也少不了要调动观众的积极性，免得场面显冷。Erlend会穿插着讲些玩笑。“嗯...现在我眼前看到的，不是黑暗中闪亮的点点星光，而是黑暗中的闪亮的....安全出口灯。它们一共有八个，左边四个，右边四个....嗯....我觉得现在的问题是，假如真的着火，我会不知道该跑向哪一个....which one should I go for? If, when, why, what? How much have you got?" 我被他随便说出的后半句震惊，然后听他补充道: "London, the original place of Pet Shop Boys." 全场哗然。这大概是我当晚听到的最好笑的笑话。

观众是热情的。大家熟悉他们的旧作。这次演出的曲目偏重新专辑Declaration of Dependence，几乎每首必演，然而他们也演了Homesick, Cayman Islands, I Don't Know What I Can Save You From, Know-How, I'd Rather Dance with You，都是一响起就得到观众热烈的反应。Know-How中间他们还调动大家合唱chorus。

他们果然没有仅用两把吉他从到演到尾，后半段加入了一把小提琴和一把低音大提琴。音色丰富了许多，观众也更加热情了许多，但依然需要他们的呼唤才肯站起来。全场起立一齐拍手时，我想，音乐家和观众的互动是现场演出中多么重要的元素。有什么样的观众群，就会有什么样的演出。这话真的不是虚谈。

Boat Behind是新专辑中我最爱的。从中场开始，就盼着它开头那漂亮的小提琴响起。没想到他们把它安排在最后一首，而且加入了小提琴和低音大提琴各自的即兴独奏段落，现场感十足，很出色。

他们返场了两次。第一次时Erlend甚至跑到前排站着的观众中间舞动了几步。他周围的观众都很冷静，没有人抓他。笑。他们真的令人喜爱，却无论如何令人疯狂不起来。

在伦敦的夜色里离开Barbican，地铁上看到有人小心的拿着Declaration of Dependence大幅海报，然而自己连哪里卖merchandise都不曾注意。自己毕竟不是他们的大粉丝，其实看演出时曾经走神，那位小提琴手演奏时也喜欢用拨弦的手法，让我实在无法不记起Andrew Bird。而且，想到11月28日还会在这个音乐厅看Graham Coxon，便又憧憬了一回。啊，方便王，我实在是对二位不起。>//<

Trivia: 我当晚穿Andrew Bird tee，遇到一位穿Iron & Wine tee的仁兄。看来去看Kings of Convenience演出的观者音乐喜好都差不多，然而为什么我们穿的都不是Kings of Convenience的tee？再次对方便王那二位说抱歉。

Tag：KingsOfConvenience

exhilarating 发表于00:35:52 | 阅读全文 | 评论 4 | 编辑 | 分享 0
2009-10-04 - [音乐-现场]

随便写写。其实我当然没有去现场看，只是看了实时的webcast而已。

然而即便这样，依然激动到不能自已。Andrew Bird太迷人了唉。他的表演又一次那样完全的忘我投入，作为观众很难不被感染，即使是隔着大洋坐在电脑前的观众如我。

他的衣装怎么还是sportcoat加那件粉/红/紫细格子衬衫？似乎和我见他那时穿的同一件...？应该不可能，大概他有很多件类似的衬衫。话说这件衬衫出境频率实在太高，已经持续近4个月了！（下图）大概他真的太忙，没有时间去买衬衫。Andrew仅10月就有20场演出呢！他目前美国东部巡演的暖场乐队是St Vincent。唉，为什么我不在美国！

Austin City Limits是一个音乐节。Andrew的set有一个小时。他以前曾说，自己有种迷信，认为如果只演单场而不演音乐节会带来坏运气。"I always think it's bad luck if you don't go into the grounds. It's a superstition I have. I always feel that I have less than good shows if I don't go into the grounds." 至于在音乐节上表演和个人的单独演出有什么区别，他说，在音乐节上的演出有时会没有足够多的时间调试乐器以达到完美的声音，而且观众不大容易领会微妙的细枝末节，所以更要求一些现场的变通。至于曲目选择，他说，"We've got a fair number of high energy songs, but if you play all of them back to back they tend to get bored. When we did festival shows in the past, we used to do a 45-min set, with pure adrenaline...playing like the end of the world...but we need to reset for that."

那这次音乐节呢？为什么我觉得Andrew的表演仍然那么倾其所有，就好像世界末日就要到来一样？

曲目如下：

1.Intro
2.Masterswarm
3.Opposite Day
4.Fitz and the Dizzyspells
5.On Ho
6.Oh No
7.Effigy
8.Not a Robot, But a Ghost
9.Anonanimal
10.Scythian Empires
11.A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left
12.Fake Palindrome

可见以新专辑Noble Beast为主，但回顾了大众喜爱的Opposite Day, Nervy Tic, 尤其是Fake Palindrome. 演绎后者时他把小提琴高举过头顶时淋漓的宣泄让我替他担心——我真怕他再把小提琴掉下来。话说这首Fake Palindrome后半段的处理和专辑里完全不一样，不仅他的人声旋律不同，连乐器安排也都完全不同，然而实在很痛快。

Anonanimal里居然除了开头的单簧管，中间还有萨克斯风。萨克斯一度是Andrew不太喜欢的乐器，比他不喜欢木管乐器还甚。曾有人问：你为什么在Anonanimal的album version里加入单簧管？你不是不喜欢单簧管吗？Andrew答：我用单簧管是因为...它比萨克斯风强。晕。结果这次他两个都用了，大概他扭转了一些自己先前的看法。

Not a Robot But a Ghost里他略改了唱词：Time strips the gear until we forget what they are for. 录音室版本里他唱的是“until you forget what they are for”。嗯。。。大有深意（谜）。

Fake Palindrome之后他们在热烈的欢呼和尖叫声中退场。我的妈呀，Andrew下台那几步走的跌跌撞撞。他所有那点能量都在舞台上燃烧尽了。他就是这样台上台下判若二人的矛盾体唉，曾经在演出时跌坐在某俱乐部的舞台上，因为“我累得完全站不住了。”

哎。我心疼他。

此刻想起自己看演出时那种心跳像是停了似的感觉。

Tag：AndrewBird

exhilarating 发表于01:19:18 | 阅读全文 | 评论 0 | 编辑 | 分享 0