tour feedback
Go see Marbles!
The show in Madison was fantastic. Here is the setlist.
(acoustic set)
Television
Glacier
Follow the Skyway (new Apples in Stereo song, not sure of the title)
The Afternoon
(Marbles set)
Circuit
Magic
Hello Sun
Out of Zone
Move On
Prepare to see Robert Schneider's boxers in the fantastical transformation sequence.
Also, for the record, I think Expo is the best thing since Discovery of a World Inside the Moone. Very fun stuff.
I saw the show in Minneapolis Saturday and thought that it was good...but not great. To start, the show started an hour and forty minutes late. Not a great way to start an evening of rock and roll. Sort of a buzz kill to begin with. Serves me right though for showing up “on time�. ... or maybe I'm just getting old. It was not advertised much if at all around town so there were at most 25-30 people there for the Marbles portion of the show and most of them had no idea who he was. Some fans of the other two bands and some probably just the collage kids who head out to the bars to drink and smoke and talk loud and wear their backwards baseball hats. Once robert finally hit the stage and got going the sound from the PA was awful. It was a muffled jumble sort of sound, but loud. Kind of like shouting into a cup. The crowd noise was louder than Robert and it was tough to hear him talk. The acoustic songs were good and I think he said something about a new Apples song but then when he slipped out of his normal clothes (literally...right there in stage) into his Marbles space themed karaoke outfit things started to fall apart. I thought it was silly and clever and fun to watch but I felt a little bad for him as the crowd chatted over his antics. At one point it almost seemed as if people were mocking him by shouting jeers and sarcastic comments. It would have been nice to see him actually playing instruments or been backed by a band. Of course afterwards he was kind enough to talk to some of the “fans� answering for probably the 1000th time questions about his interview with Brian Wilson and if the Apples had broken up or not. (duh!, he played a new Apples song that night) I bought the new Marbles cd and though it was OK. No where NEAR the quality or enjoyability of the last one or ANY of the Apples stuff but MUCH better that the Ulysses CD which I was pretty disappointed with. The Marbles CD has the depth and quirky-ness I like about his style but lacked energy and the Ulysses had the energy but lacked the depth. I tried playing them both at the same time to see if that would help. Sort of a Dark Side of the Moon/ Wizard of Oz sort of thing...but no luck. These albums didn’t magically match up to make one great sounding CD.
Archer Prewitt was good, seemed a little sleepy and Clem Snide were awesome. This show was pretty much the exact opposite of what I expected. I actually wanted to go to see Robert as I am a pretty big Apples fan. (The kind that buys the import albums just to get the one bonus song on each, kind of fan) and my gal-pal wanted to see Archer as she is a big Sea and Cake fan. We both own all of the Clem Snide albums also but had not listened to them in quite some time. Never would consider myself a big fan and probably would have gone to see them if Robert or Archer wasn’t opening but they actually were the best part of the whole show. Loud, energetic, and spot on!
If they come to your town...or I should say, if you search out there on the internet and stumble across a listing for these groups in your town, go see them.
I was at that show and I thought Robert was great, especially once he took his pants off and put on a cape! I liked his faux-rockstar antics, especially with the guitar, and how he kept saying "we are Marbles," like the Darth Vader cutout with the blowup keyboard was his backup band. I thought "The Skyway" (the new Apples song) was great, and I liked "Magic", from the Marbles portion of the show. There was chatting in the early part of the show, but once he became Marbles a knot of people gathered in front of the stage, awestruck. The shouting was supportive, I think I remember shouting about Robert being a rockstar. Everyone should catch him on the rest of the tour!
Archer Prewitt, however, bored the hell out of me, sounding very adult alternative and wearing all black and not talking to the crowd (at one point people applauded and he mouthed 'thank you,' couldn't even open his mouth--how pretentious is that?)--what a contrast to the goofy energy of the Marbles set. Me and my girlfriend had to run away to the back of the club where we could unfortunately still hear them but at least could sit down. Clem Snide were fun. They have white tuxedos embroidered with their spirit animals!
i went to the show in DC a couple weeks ago. i thought it was great. that show started almost 2 hours after the advertised start time too (must be a trend). there were alot of people there but it seemed most were there for archer prewitt or clem snide. but there were a lot people crowded up front when Robert played. people were really enjoying it. even people who talked through the acoustic part of the set were paying attention after the "transformation". i thought it was fun and entertaining.
i think the marbles cd is not so far off musically from the last apples record really. i was disappointed with the ulysses cd but i LOVE this marbles cd.
I'm with you there. The only thing I don't like about Expo is its brevity. Why can't anyone in Elephant 6 make a CD longer than 30 minutes these days? I told my wife I'd have to make a CDR that combines Expo with something else, because otherwise she won't listen to it--maybe Velocity of Sound, since she didn't like Ulysses either.i was disappointed with the ulysses cd but i LOVE this marbles cd.
Man, I don't know what you guys are talking about. The Ulysses CD is great. It has great melodies, lots of energy, and probably Robert's best lyrics with some great synth work. The new Apples song has me really excited about their next album, too. And the upcoming b-sides and unreleased cd... it's a great time to be a fan of Mr. Schneider.
Off the top of my head, Green Imagination, Amok, Songs About the Ocean, Satanic Panic in the Attic, and the Sunlandic Twins are all about 40 minutes. All those came out last year, except the twins (due in April). Maybe new E6 albums are shorter than older albums (I'm not ready to start plotting data on a graph), but it's hard to top (e.g.) Dusk at Cubist Castle in length.Originally posted by el topo
Why can't anyone in Elephant 6 make a CD longer than 30 minutes these days?
Not really related, but worth mentioning: I love all those CDs. (I have the Sunlandic Twins pre-ordered because my good friend downloaded it. But not me. I wouldn't do that.) Apparently I'm the only person who liked Green Imagination. Except that other dude. You know the one.
I would have listed Dressy Bessy's self-titled too, but I don't like it much. To be fair, Walking With the Beggar Boys was only about half an hour too. I guess it depends on what you've been buying, and how long something has to be for you to be satisfied. I don't mind if a CD is short (unless it's short and expensive). It's better than the alternative ("Le Roi-Soleil").
I also like the Ulysses CD, sort of. "Frustrated" and some of the other songs ("Glacier" and "The Falcon" and "Her Silver Veil" and maybe more) are awesome, but with a few of the others I don't like the lyrics (especially "Pusy You Away," which tainted the first listen for me). The music sounds good even if I don't care for the lyrics. And I got a nice poster for free, so I can't complain. I don't have any Marbles so I can't comment there. Heck, why am I posting in this forum?! That's got to stop.
I guess I'm that "other dude" who liked Green Imagination. You made me sound very creepy. I'm going to go take a shower now. And I liked all those other albums you mentioned too.
I was only lukewarm on Ulysses, but the album has sounded better the more I listen to it. I still prefer Expo by a long shot, but the style is more up my alley.
I was exaggerating about the 30-minute thing, and I would take quality over quantity, but then I see all these B-sides and weird things popping up on different compilations released only in Belgium, and I think--I could use a LITTLE more padding on our CDs. They do hold 80 minutes, you know! (Bring back the Olivias...they filled 'em out!)
hey! circulatory system is still giving you bang for your buck!
Oops, sorry!
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