Atlanta,
GA - Masquerade - 7/14/2000
by Bud Shea
First let me say that
for people unfamiliar with The Masquerade, I'm
sorry to say, but I couldn't think of a worse place to see a concert.
I've been there many times for various bands, and never have I seen a
show there that was free from some sort of x-factor that just kind of
dragged the show down, be it overzealous security (that's being kind) or
ambiance that befits Pro-Pain and Korn, but not the sort of music I
enjoy. The outside of the place is painted black, and just sits there in
the hot Georgia summer sun all day long cooking, so by the time the
shows start it's about 100 degrees inside and deathly hot. It's located
in an area of Atlanta that resembles the worst aspects of that endlessly
sprawling urban wasteland. It's gotten so I can barely enjoy a concert
there without distinguishing the band's performance from the bland
acoustics (more on that later) or the pathetic surroundings.
That said, I must say
Sunny Day nearly transcended the assorted strikes
against them at The Masquerade. They really put on a show for the ages,
in spite of it all. For openers, No Knife were very well received, and
the crowd seemed to be more into them than your average "just waiting
around for the headline band" crowd. Many were singing along and really
getting into it, which was nice. When Sunny Day was setting up, the
sound system was playing the old funk-rap band ESG, a real treat!!! Lots
of folks where I was were getting busy with the funky drummer and it
sort of set a good tone, very relaxed.
The set was the standard
set they've been playing with all tour. The
crowd was absolutely immersed in the band from where I was. "Fool In
the
Photograph", "Pillars", and "One" were like consecutive
knockout punches
that, by the time "The Ocean" rolled around, it was hard to believe
they
were just three songs into the set. Incidentally, I'd say "The Ocean"
was the highlight of the show.
Then something happened.
I think they started "Killed By An Angel"
before everyone was ready, because the guitars just didn't sound right.
I didn't even know what song it was until Jeremy started singing, and it
was sort of difficult to get into after "The Ocean" had blown everyone
away. "Guitar & Video Games" was next and started getting things
going
again, followed by "Snibe" which was intense as expected. Then "ESTYA",
which I must say is a jewel as well: the harpsichord-sounding part on
the bridge sounded perfect, as well as the added piano during the "you
ariiiiive" part. Very amazing sound! The whole package was so rich and
full it blew away the version I heard back in '98. Come to think of it,
the entire evening's sound job sounded incredibly thick and full of
instruments. "Disappear" followed and by then things were cruising.
But of course, try
as they may, Sunny Day couldn't totally conquer this
club. See, the concert hall is atop a dance club below. All evening
long, the basement techno-rave club sound had been thumping along,
totally loud as hell and annoying but not really distracting during the
songs. Of course, during the quiet parts between the songs it was so
loud and noticeable you could feel it in your feet, and this prompted a
few funny remarks from the band. William even played a little "generic
disco beat" for a few seconds along with it. But by the time "Tearing
In
My Heart" came along, the throbbing bass of The Chemical Brothers or
whatever the heck was playing totally destroyed the quiet introspective
moments of the song. As they were up there playing what amounts to the
most impressive of the Sunny Day slow, quiet numbers, we had to tolerate
what sounded like a fucking airplane taking off below. It really, really
stunk. Thankfully, the band's finish of "J'Nuh" was so freaking
loud I
think a million techno beats couldn't have finished it off.
The break before the
encore was pretty long, it seemed like forever
until they came back. "8" prompted a maniacal response. Also, the
end
jam part of "The Rising Tide" has almost morphed into a song all
its
own, very interesting. One thing I must say I thought about after the
set: it seems like the band is in a little bit of a live-set identity
crisis right now, alternating between heavy, bashing older numbers and
the incredibly complex and admittedly hard-to-reproduce-live newer
material. For instance, "Snibe" was nowhere near as heavy as, say,
"Pillars", because the band just seems to be unable to reproduce
its
incredible power onstage to that effect. Since "TRT" came out alot
of
people have pointed to The Beatles as a comparison in terms of career
stages, and I think in light of the show that's appropriate. Remember,
while The Beatles were recording "Revolver", they were jet-setting
around playing all their crowd-pleasing numbers while their hearts were
in the studio with the songs they knew they could never reproduce live.
It's hard to imagine had they not stopped touring what "Tomorrow Never
Knows" would have sounded like next to "Can't Buy Me Love".
I think SDRE
is going through a likewise growing stage, because the newer material
just sounded, well, sort of like a completely different band. Not a
better or worse one, just different. I think it might have been better
received and better realized in a much different setting, such as
sit-down seating (Carnegie Hall?) or someplace where room for a bigger
setup could be accomodated. And by saying that, I'm a little hopeful,
because they do have the power and imagination to make something like
that become a reality, with even a string section. It was incredibly
interesting, and this I will never forget, seeing up to SIX members of
Sunny Day Real Estate performing onstage at the same time. The old
guitar-bass-drums thing is definitely over, and I think the band needs
to figure out just what they want to do with it now that the door has
been blown wide open.
I must say, this wasn't
the best Sunny Day show I've ever seen, but it
definitely was (for a while) the best show I've ever seen at The
Masquerade. But the cheesy rock-star lights and swirly spotlight crap
just didn't belong (even though it did look nice during the intro to
"The Ocean"). Surprisingly, this didn't seem to bother either the
band
or the audience, many of whom were flashing devil-horns hand signs all
night anyway (what's up with that?) as though they were transformed by
the RAWK PALACE they were in. And even the security gestapo were not as
bad as they had been in past shows, when they have been known to be
beyond rude. So I guess all things considered, this was a very good
show.
Atlanta,
GA - Masquerade - 7/14/2000
by Kyle Vanderneut
Sweet Jesus! Anyone
who doesn't think the new songs
rock is in for a surprise when they see the band live.
Wow.
First of all, let me just say that The Masquerade
pretty much sucks. We got there at ten. Doors opened
at nine. We figured we'd get there just as No Knife
was starting. We arrived to a line around the entire
building - there was ONE guy selling and/or taking
tickets (one line for people with and without
tickets), checking ID's, and give people those stupid
bracelet things. ONE GUY!! It was ridiculous. About
forty-five minutes later someone must have realized
that there were more of us than there were of them and
that if we didn't all get in before Sunny Day started
playing, a riot would happen. So they got more help.
I saw one No Knife song. I would have liked to have
seen more, but I'm not too upset. They were
entertaining, if only for the one song.
Sunny Day was freakin' incredible. The Masquerade is
a very large place and the crowd was insane — Dan and
Jeremy seemed to be constantly in awe. The uproar
before the encore was unbelievable. There were
moments when the mix wasn't the best — Dan's guitar
needed to be louder in lots of spots and the mix in
vocals between Jeremy and the keyboardist weren't
always on (that guy was unbelievable!) — but it was
still really powerful. Here's the specifics:
Fool In the Photograph - great first song - the
choruses on this new one are so triumphant!
Pillars - It's amazing to me how many people get
excited for songs off of the last album considering
how many people didn't like it back then.
One - Soooo rockin'.
The Ocean - Wow.
Killed By An Angel - Most obvious song where Dan
needed to be louder. The opening riff was lacking,
but everything still rocked pretty hard.
Guitar and Videogames - And the Dan needing to be
louder thing rolls on. Still a great song, though.
Snibe - My choice for rockinest song of the night -
yikes.
Every Shining Time You Arrive - My second least
favorite song by SDRE (behind Television) - it sounded
better on this tour because they actually have the
piano part there.
Disappear - Really good, but overshadowed by what I
knew was next…
Tearing In My Heart - Beautiful. My girlfriend, who
I introduced to Sunny Day Real Estate a few months
back, was pretty stunned by this song.
J'Nuh - Where's the dive bomb? Why did they get rid
of it? The song rocked out and drove the crowd nuts -
it was incredible. But after the first J'nuh part
everyone's head banging was off because they removed
the dive bomb! I know they did that last tour, too,
but I didn't understand it then, either.
After much insanity,
the encore:
Eight - SO cool to see this song live - did they
change this one? I could have swore it was different.
The Rising Tide - the new stuff at the end totally
ruled! Damn! So cool.
In Circles - I knew this was coming and warned my
girlfriend: "Prepare yourself for total chaos." It
was. Great stuff.
Overall, the show
ruled. My friend said he wished
they'd played more older stuff but I thought it was
perfect. The new songs are so good live - just so
good. I'm seeing them again tonight Athens at the 40
Watt. It's supposed to be a better venue so hopefully
I'll be able to get closer. Whew!
=====
-Kyle
"We lack the motion to move
to the new beat."