Ian Returns!/Pink Mountaintops!
Sorry for the long hiatus from posting. Over the past two weeks, my time has been evenly divided between socializing and swimming, with little left over for work or internet procrastination. But now that I'm back and supposedly working, I'm pretty sure my posting frequency will pick up.
While in Vancouver, I managed to luck out and catch a solo-Steve McBean Pink Mountaintops show at Pat's Pub. It was the kind of show that I used to go to every couple of weeks when I lived in Vancouver, attended by a fair dose of art-school scenesters and friends I haven't seen in a while. I probably would have preferred to see Pink Mountaintops playing as a full band, with the usual cadre of 10 or so people on stage, but the solo show was still amazing. The audience was invited on stage to play whatever instruments they wanted, with someone ably taking drum duties at one point but mostly with a lot of enthusiastic tambourine playing and backup singing. But what I enjoyed most was the way in which the solo-show managed to emphasize the fact that the songs are at once both tongue in cheek dirty sex songs and genuinely sincere love songs. This was definitely true of the newer songs, which were noticeably absent of pornographic imagery, but even some of the raunchier songs off of the album like "Rock'n'Roll Fantasy" somehow seemed kind of sweet when delivered in a public setting. The song posted below, which is an unreleased cut that was played at the show, perfectly combines sexual imagery, declarations of monogamous love and great VU inspired rock riffs.
The Pink Mountaintops - Erected
Another bonus from the show was the fact that McBean also played some classic, but rarely performed Jerk With A Bomb songs. I haven't heard the song below played live since the first JWAB show I attended back in 1999, but it is easily one of my favourite songs. I almost crapped my pants when I heard the first chords. Enjoy.
Jerk With A Bomb - Summertime
While in Vancouver, I managed to luck out and catch a solo-Steve McBean Pink Mountaintops show at Pat's Pub. It was the kind of show that I used to go to every couple of weeks when I lived in Vancouver, attended by a fair dose of art-school scenesters and friends I haven't seen in a while. I probably would have preferred to see Pink Mountaintops playing as a full band, with the usual cadre of 10 or so people on stage, but the solo show was still amazing. The audience was invited on stage to play whatever instruments they wanted, with someone ably taking drum duties at one point but mostly with a lot of enthusiastic tambourine playing and backup singing. But what I enjoyed most was the way in which the solo-show managed to emphasize the fact that the songs are at once both tongue in cheek dirty sex songs and genuinely sincere love songs. This was definitely true of the newer songs, which were noticeably absent of pornographic imagery, but even some of the raunchier songs off of the album like "Rock'n'Roll Fantasy" somehow seemed kind of sweet when delivered in a public setting. The song posted below, which is an unreleased cut that was played at the show, perfectly combines sexual imagery, declarations of monogamous love and great VU inspired rock riffs.
The Pink Mountaintops - Erected
Another bonus from the show was the fact that McBean also played some classic, but rarely performed Jerk With A Bomb songs. I haven't heard the song below played live since the first JWAB show I attended back in 1999, but it is easily one of my favourite songs. I almost crapped my pants when I heard the first chords. Enjoy.
Jerk With A Bomb - Summertime
posted by ian at 12:13 PM
2 Comments:
I appreciated the JW a B song as much as you did. Did you also notice that is was only you, me , L, and S that were grooving to that track at the show. Everyone else looked dumbfounded. That was my impression anyway.
Most of the crowd seemed to have no interest in being there to see music at all. Which, I guess, is par for the course for a vancouver show. Little do they know how lucky they are.
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