Black Francis"The Holiday Song" (10.4 MB)from Come On PilgrimHigh Noon SaloonMadison, WIJuly 11, 2009It's sort of fitting that this podcast should end with Frank Black playing an early Pixies song, since seeing the Pixies in late 2004 was what prompted me to get a small digital camera I could take into shows. This show provided as much excitement a…

Black Francis"Angels Come to Comfort You" (19.1 MB)from BluefingerHigh Noon SaloonMadison, WIJuly 11, 2009It was an odd coincidence that our last two High Noon shows were of the intimate, semi-acoustic variety. Opening for Frank Black was Mark Waldoch of Milwaukee's Celebrated Working Man, kind of the mirror-image of Jon Auer. While playing he was …

Black FrancisMedley: "Brackish Boy," "Crackity Jones" and "Two Reelers" (34.8 MB)from Frank Black, Doolittle and Teenager of the YearHigh Noon SaloonMadison, WIJuly 11, 2009I never would've guessed this show would be such a blast, especially considering how little I know of Frank Black's solo material (and yet, he'll always be Frank Black to me for…

The Hold Steady"Stevie Nix" (27.3 MB)from Separation SundayMajestic TheatreMadison, WIJuly 10, 2009One nice thing about Hold Steady is that they frequently pull out deep cuts from their first two albums, which were a little under the radar. Last time we saw them I recorded "Modesto Is Not That Sweet," an Australian bonus track from their first reco…

The Hold Steady"Yeah Sapphire" (18.1 MB)from Stay PositiveMajestic TheatreMadison, WIJuly 10, 2009If I'd ever gotten around to writing up my top albums of 2008, the Hold Steady's Stay Positive would've been their second-straight #1. Though not as instantly enthralling and masterwork-level as their previous effort, it was a hugely engaging, progress…

The Hold Steady"Girls Like Status" (16.7 MB)from Boys and Girls in AmericaMajestic TheatreMadison, WIJuly 10, 2009I hate the Majestic and I love the Hold Steady, and love always wins. I'd wanted to shoot video from the main floor for this show, but for a variety of reasons (mainly the woman in front of us who kept whipping her arm back into my face…

Fountains of Wayne"Hey Julie" (13.9 MB)from Welcome Interstate ManagersHigh Noon SaloonMadison, WIJuly 8, 2009What do you do when you bring people up out of the audience to play incidental percussion parts, but then one of them starts singing unsolicited back-up vocals? Apparently, you just go with it. The guy on the right sang, I think, the entire…

Fountains of Wayne"Cold Comfort Flowers" (23.1 MB)High Noon SaloonMadison, WIJuly 8, 2009I liked this one the best of the new songs that they played, and everything seemed to get a positive response from the crowd. The only one that was really a miss to my ears was the last one they played, "A Road Song," which, despite name-checking Wisconsin, fel…

Fountains of Wayne"The Summer Place" (18.6 MB)High Noon SaloonMadison, WIJuly 8, 2009I wondered before this show if Fountains of Wayne had ever played Madison before -- I knew they hadn't since I've been here -- and Chris Collingwood remarked during the set that he thought they hadn't. So it's kind of odd that their first visit, a decade and a half…

White Rabbits"Company I Keep" (19.2 MB)from It's FrighteningHigh Noon SaloonMadison, WIJune 30, 2009This is a song where you can really hear the difference the band's two albums. Fort Nightly didn't have anything this stripped-down -- even the slow, ballad-y stuff was deeply layered. It's actually kind of odd to see, because on stage there are stil…

White Rabbits"They Were Wrong/We Were Wrong" (24.2 MB)from It's FrighteningHigh Noon SaloonMadison, WIJune 30, 2009After seeing Spoon and coming away with a greater appreciation for their later material, I wondered if a live White Rabbits show could get me to like their somewhat-disappointing new album a bit more. It's a weird record, in that it so…

Canasta"Tony's Song" (23.8 MB)High Noon SaloonMadison, WIJune 30, 2009Another solid new one from a too-short set -- sadly, I missed recording any of the trombone numbers. This is one of the Chicago bands that I could imagine making a stop in Carbondale at some point, and I hope they do. They seemed to impress the crowd at this show and I think they…

Canastanew song (26.0 MB)High Noon SaloonMadison, WIJune 30, 2009Way back around the time I started doing this podcast, I went to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. At the time, I only had a little over six minutes of recording time available with my 128MB memory stick, which meant I could only recording opening bands if I was there specifically to see …

Spoon"The Underdog" (18.2 MB)from Ga Ga Ga Ga GaSummerfestMilwaukee, WIJune 29, 2009When a recent hit single is missing from the set, you can generally bet it's in the encore. And there it was! Closing out probably our last Summerfest for at least a while, this show was a terrific way to leave things. We nearly got stampeded trying to make our way …

Spoon"Writing to You in Reverse" (24.6 MB)SummerfestMilwaukee, WIJune 29, 2009We got a treat in this set with this new song, and I'm glad I searched for it online before listening through the Spoon back catalog trying to find it. They also played their newly released single, "Got Nuffin," which has a couple of new b-sides. Hopefully, now that I'm b…

Spoon"Don't You Evah" (19.2 MB)from Ga Ga Ga Ga GaSummerfestMilwaukee, WIJune 29, 2009This is one of those new songs I've come around on. After the show I found myself thinking I hadn't really changed my mind about the last two Spoon records -- the stuff I liked I liked maybe a little more, but the stuff I didn't like I still didn't like. But I did…

Spoon"Me and the Bean" (18.1 MB)from Girls Can TellSummerfestMilwaukee, WIJune 29, 2009So I'm 30 now, as of this show. And even though the last two Spoon records had disappointed me, I found myself liking a lot of that material at this show. Maybe it's because I'm entering my middle-age rock phase, but I hope not. It could be because they threw thi…

Archie Powell & the Exports"Moving to the City" (16.8 MB)from Loose Change EPHigh Noon SaloonMadison, WIJune 24, 2009This is the lead track off the Exports' debut EP, which is available for free download at Bandcamp (and since I'll probably not get the chance to feature them before the podcast ends, you can get Direct Hit! there as well). The band …

Archie Powell & the Exports"Enough About Me" (13.3 MB)High Noon SaloonMadison, WIJune 24, 2009This is another late-model Box Social holdover, and it's one where you can really hear the difference between the two bands. Last time I heard this song it was a lot more raucous and careening (also it was in Madison's loudest venue), now it's got a distin…

Archie Powell & the Exports"All Tuckered Out" (12.6 MB)High Noon SaloonMadison, WIJune 24, 2009I believe this is the first instance of someone's new band being in the podcast, when that someone's previous band had also been featured. Indeed, I even recorded this song as performed by the Box Social (well, two of the Box Social in an acoustic set) la…

Pale Young Gentlemen"Our History" (19.2 MB)from Black Forest (Tra La La)Marquette Waterfront FestivalMadison, WIJune 14, 2009Even though, to be frank, we never went to a lot of Madison's many summer festivals, I was always really glad that they were there and will miss them when we move. They're great outlets for local music and give bands a chance…

Pale Young Gentlemen"Coal/Ivory" (19.2 MB)from Black Forest (Tra La La)Marquette Waterfront FestivalMadison, WIJune 14, 2009This one provides a nice opening to the PYGs most recent album, and apparently it's also great to dance and spin around to. A section of newer stuff came up in the set starting with this song, but overall the set seemed to be …

Pale Young Gentlemennew song? old song? (18.5 MB)Marquette Waterfront FestivalMadison, WIJune 14, 2009OK, Pale Young Gentlemen, I give up. My iPod has your two albums and your cover of "Paper Planes." If you have some stock of secret other songs that includes this one, I don't know about it. I do like this one, though.…

Pale Young Gentlemen"Up North" (11.4 MB)from Pale Young GentlemenMarquette Waterfront FestivalMadison, WIJune 14, 2009Experiment time! Since the Marquette Waterfront Festival is an outdoor event, I decided to try out shooting a clip with my Nikon D90, knowing the dissipated sound wouldn't overwhelm its little mic. The potential advantages to this: …

Locksley"The Way That We Go" (16.5 MB)from Be in LoveMajestic TheatreMadison, WIJune 13, 2009Thanks again to my tipster, I've got the name of this one and now know that yesterday's song is, in fact, called "21st Century." Just in time to correct them for YouTube!As I noted previously, I was kind of surprised by the low-ish turnout for this show. Th…