uglyredhonda

He hasn't said for certain, but he implied that it was going to happen in the fall (he mentioned it as something that would happen after the Squamish show). I was a little surprised - I half-expected him to do another tour before recording.

Matt said it was terrible, and that he wouldn't release anything that he wasn't 100% behind. The director said he was planning to repurpose some of the footage into another project. (If that sounds harsh - Matt and/or Universal funded the video to some degree, so they certainly had the right to request it not be released.)

I'm still trying to figure what should and shouldn't be shared off M+, but I think the title is "In a Place of Lesser Men". And I'm having trouble tracking how many songs he has so far, since he's posted multiple versions of the same song, often with different titles. I think he's got seven songs so far - but I can only specifically recall five. (He's typically posted a new song and deleted the previous one, so there's usually only one song up at a time.) He's also posted lyrics on many of the entries. It's been a fun ride through the songwriting process. I personally haven't been listening to the demos too intently. I'm trying to enjoy the teasers without spoiling the final record. I believe he's aiming for ten songs. Warne's been giving him reactions and suggestions thus far. EDIT: He did post the lyrics for "In a Place of Lesser Men", but, again, it's part of that "don't know what's supposed to be shared on and off M+" problem. EDIT 2: Ahh, screw it, you're 95% there. (Anton - if you wouldn't mind leaving your version so I don't look like a total jackass.) She goes about her day And keeps her cool until the weekend In a place of lesser men Order in some food, turn on the news Hear some fool say the world is gonna end Best spend the night under your bed When she was a girl she learned the words every boy couldn't say It's not your currency that spends In a place of lesser men She walks from work at night Blood on bait But I don't worry How come I don't worry? She goes about her day And keeps her cool until the weekend When she was a girl she learned the words every boy couldn't say There's nothing worthwhile to defend In a place of lesser men I sleep on nails at night And I can hear her thinking Don't you worry Baby, don't you worry…

New date: July 1: Oshawa, ON - Status Lounge http://www.ticketweb.ca/t3/sale/SaleEventD...ERRAL_ID=tmfeed On sale 5/14 at 12:10am(?). The Spades are opening.

That's the same day/location as the Salmon Festival: http://www.salmonfestival.com/schedule Their website has artists listed (not Matt), but it looks like those might be last year's artists. (From what it says on their website, it sounds like they may be having issues booking acts.)

Yeah, it's under the confusingly-titled thread "Free Toronto Show". http://www.nearfantastica.com/bored/index....showtopic=13387

So much for "day or two" - he's already yanked it.

Update: he yanked the last demo tonight and posted a new one called "Lights of Endangered Species". He says it'll be up for a day or two. I haven't listened to any of the new demos, so I can't gauge if it's something that was put online previously. Yeah, but anything he released, even if just to the M+ community, would wind up going out to the public at large, if indirectly. Plus, I'd hate to be the artist who's work gets released as, "Meh, this wasn't good enough, but here it is." He didn't say that specifically, but there were hints of that possibility. Without going into too much detail (it was a long-ish post), he basically noted that he and Warne felt they hadn't accomplished what they'd set out to do when they first started working together. Matt's always mentioned being a fan of the last two Talk Talk records - Livesey produced Mark Hollis' (Talk Talk's lead) solo album, and it sounds like Matt's got his eye on that as an influence for some of the new stuff.

Oh, and Matt's apparently had a few conversations with Warne Livesey.

EDIT: basically repeated what johnny said in less detail. I'll add this, which popped up in the M+ Forums. The "Great Whales of the Sea" video isn't happening. (Matt apparently didn't care for how it turned out.) The director is repurposing the footage into something else.

Bala show has been announced and is on sale now: http://www.ticketbreak.com/event_details/3737

Completely unconfirmed/unannounced, but Pollstar has Matt listed as playing Centennial Field in Grand Falls-Windsor, NF on July 17. That's the same day/location as the Salmon Festival: http://www.salmonfestival.com/schedule I wouldn't advise buying tix until it's confirmed. Pollstar also has a July 2nd Kee to Bala show, but I don't really trust it (yet). I'm assuming there will be a day coming soon that a bunch of dates will leak out.

Official capacity is 2753. It definitely doesn't feel as large as that - I think it may be the size of the balconies and that the building is taller and less deep than similar venues of that capacity.

That, and by comparison - Massey Hall holds closer to 3000, and tickets in December were $40-$55 plus fees.

The M+ posts are the fun, goofy ones rather than just opinion stuff. He's talked a bit about recording the albums and offered alternate tracklists for AoB and WLRRR. He's posted a few anecdotes from the current tour. Today, he posted a list of the gear that he's got. As far as content, I far prefer the M+ content to the regular blog. If it stays even generally like this throughout the year, I'll be more than happy at having paid $25. (Honestly, if it stays like this for the year, $25 is a bargain.) But, in fairness, it is pretty early - it'll be fun to see how things progress, especially once Matt gets home.

I was lucky to catch Everclear in small clubs back in 1995 and 1997, and both were unreal. The first one in particular - it was sold out and the crowd was completely freaking out. They extended their 75 minute set to 85 minutes because the crowd was going so ballistic. I would definitely take quality over quantity. The only bands who should go two hours are the ones who can sustain it for the entire length. Nearly all of my favorite all-time shows were in clubs. The best cheap club show I ever saw was Mike Watt's tour in 1995. He had Dave Grohl and Will Goldsmith on drums, Eddie Vedder and Pat Smear on guitar. Foo Fighters opened (it was their first tour). Ticket price: $6. It was unbelievable. (And, yep, Mike Watt played about an hour.) And just to keep from getting too far off the topic - when I went to see Matt in Charlotte on New Year's, my expectations were 75 to 90 minutes, and I got an hour, which was a bit of a disappointment. But the ticket price was half of what I paid for the Massey Hall show two weeks prior, and it was a fantastic hour. Plus, I had the chance to videotape several songs (which I couldn't really do at Massey, save for "Fake Empire") - every time I watch them, it makes me that much happier that I went. I'd look at the current setlists and see if it's something you'd enjoy. If it is, I'd go. I can't imagine him doing another US tour like this - the combination of his pre-tour announcement that he wasn't making any money on this tour and his several blog comments of being home-sick. Touring the US is a long slog (and he's got another week to go). Having said that, I could see him doing a much shorter US tour, hitting specific areas. But it's really hard to predict that. After missing Nirvana (who knew Kurt would be dead six months later?), I've always tried to hit whatever shows I really want to see if I can feasibly make it. On the upside, if you're near Boston, you're only a six hour drive from Montreal. So if you miss this one, it's only a road trip (and a $20 passport card if you don't already have one) away. I last saw them in 2007. It was a decent show - it was nice seeing them play songs that they didn't play before (eg, "Learning How to Smile", "White Men in Black Suits"). But it didn't have much energy, and the half-step tune-down makes everything seem sluggish. I probably won't see them again.

You can say that you know it's apples and oranges, but you're still comparing them anyway. Why are you pushing so hard to set yourself up to be disappointed? If you're that pessimistic about it, don't go. You won't be disappointed by the show because you won't see it. Seriously, when Matthew Good is big enough to tour arenas and charge $90 a ticket, he's going to play for two-and-a-half hours. Until then, you're going to get a shorter show. I know Everclear. If you saw them on their 2001 tour, they played for two- or two-and-a-half hours. But that was only in bigger venues. In clubs, even during the same tour, they didn't play that long. And, anyway, if you're paying to see Everclear now, you're only going to be disappointed, and not because of the show length. Art's voice has never been the same since he had vocal cord surgery in 1999 - he has good nights and bad nights, and the bad nights are terrible. (Their peak greatness was in 1997, when they were truly one of the best bands on the planet. Their last tour with the original lineup in 2003 was sad and awful, and it's been only marginally better since.)

Matt posted the SXSW setlist on Twitter. He only had 40 minutes because it was part of a Showcase and not a headlining set. For those who missed it, he joked that he could play five longer songs and be done, and posted a setlist that matched the idea. He let Twitter folks choose between "Champions of Nothing" and "Apparitions" for the last song. There was apparently a tie. He ended up playing "Apparitions" and had time for "Great Whales" at the end. Setlist: On Nights Like Tonight, Avalanche, Weapon, Born Losers, Apparitions, Great Whales of the Sea

Sadly, I know Mark Kozelek best as the bass player of Stillwater (from Almost Famous). "Let's just go out and find some barbeque or something..." ;) I'd say Matt's show is kind of medium-high intensity. Some of it depends on the setlist - in the last couple of years, I've seen intense and I've seen medium-mellow. He doesn't really jump up and around, and his back's been fucked up lately. But his voice sounds amazing live, and his current band is tight and awesome, so even if he's feeling like shit, there's still some good intensity. As long as you're not expecting the spazzy Matt of 1999, you should enjoy it. This is more-or-less what the show might look like (shot in Charlotte in December): Historically, during his Canadian shows, Matt has met folks out at his bus. He didn't do that during the last Canadian tour because he's got a crappy immune system and didn't want to risk getting sick and having to miss shows. If you read through this thread, it sounds like he's been hanging out here and there, so you might be able to catch him. (Probably depends heavily on the venue.) I doubt there will be "official" meet-and-greets, though.

They've changed "this week" to "soon", so probably not this week.

Actually, Matt's 11-song setlist runs longer than an 11-song setlist would for the bands that you listed. He's got a number of 6-7 minute songs in the list. It should run about an hour and twenty minutes. But keep in mind - the four bands you listed are the exception, not the rule. All four of those bands are huge. All of them have been around for 20+ years, all of them play major venues (arenas, amphitheaters). For them, you're paying $60-$100 a ticket (at least). That's why they play 2+ hour shows. (Actually, I'm not sure if the Pumpkins are still on that level - it's hard to tell these days - but Corgan's never been known for his brevity.) It's not really a fair comparison. Most bands don't play that long, especially in clubs this size. And, despite the drive, you're paying less than $30 a ticket. (Matt's Canadian sets do run a bit longer - typically an hour forty-five to two hours - but those shows are in bigger venues and run $40-$50 a ticket.) The story would be different if Matt were a known performer in the States. But, at the moment, he's not, so he's playing venues and sets that match the level of where he is. And what's he's playing is pretty typical for headliners at this level.

Matt said before the tour started that the US shows would be shorter than his usual Canadian shows. An hour-twenty is probably about right for venues this size and the price of the ticket. Having said that, keep in mind that Matt's songs often run 5-7 minutes, as opposed to the typical Hip song running 3-4 - the posted setlists aren't as short as they would seem to be based on song count.

1) He's said previously that Massey Hall being a union venue would require him to pay extra to release anything recorded there. 2) He might be able to work around the union issue if he were to release it completely for free. Releasing it for free to M+ members - there could be legal issues (since it would kinda be paid content), but maybe not. 3) He would probably have to get permission from Universal to do so, especially since two of the tracks are currently for sale on iTunes (Canada). I'd like to see it get released somehow, but I'm not holding my breath. He's said previously that it was unlikely he'd release anything other than a couple of tracks here and there.

It probably works through a US-based VPN, which would work for Canadians looking for US content (Hulu), but not the other way around. I've used TheFreeVPN for something like this in the past, but the last time I tried it, their Canada-based VPN was down. Plus, I didn't like how it changed my browsers' home page to something that served me their ads. (Then again, it was free.)

The issue wasn't HM and Vancouver - it was Massey and Vancouver. Matt wanted to put Vancouver out in the spring of 2009, and Universal balked because Massey was released at the end of 2008. For them, a release is a release - they want to make sure the last one's dead (and there's some downtime) before starting up on another. If history's any indication (I seem to say that a lot), we probably won't see Cold Harbour until March of 2011 at the earliest. (I'd say that depends on if he tours again in the fall and/or when he records it - if that's late this year or early next.) Matt's ability to do the "almost annual" schedule is largely because he's been focused on Canada. Any band trying to break the US can't do it. It takes a full year to adequately tour the entire US - eighteen months if the first year went well. Add six months to write / record / prep an album - pretty much a two-year schedule for most bands.