Slowdive - Everything Is Alive

https://townsquare.media/site/838/files/2023/06/attachment-Slowdive_everythingisalive_CoverArt.jpg

1 Shanty
2 Prayer Remembered
3 Alife
4 Andalucia Plays
5 Kisses
6 Skin in the Game
7 Chained to a Cloud
8 The Slab

I'm assuming at least one of those songs is epic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9RpHfPyEx8

New song is good, so hard to believe the last album was six years ago. Where has the time gone?

New song sounds great, like the pop vibe.

totally great, actually. and a very comforting band to still have around. hoping the rest of the album is more of the same.

Got a ticket to the Toronto show, new single is fantastic

Pre-cover anyone?

Perhaps, perhaps...

Kisses is great, need to stop watching the video

Philly and D.C. shows sold out way too fast for my liking. Snoozed on it this morning, and by the time I thought “oh yeah, gotta grab Slowdive tickets” this evening, they were gone.

An extra show was added to Los Angeles right after the sale this morning and I was able to get tickets for that.

Tried all day for SF, a cluster. I should check again.

couldn't get tickets for the austin show because THERE ISN'T ONE

y'all don't do presales? the Toronto show had like two different presales (Spotify and promoter)

The pre-sale in LA was only for the first night and a tiny number of tickets were made available. I tried, but it quickly sold out.

Looks like I will miss the LA shows. :Sadface:

If Shanty doesn’t have a bunch of bearded fishermen in chunky sweaters I’m going to be very disappointed.

Sounded great at Glastonbury

Ummm so either this band is a lot more popular in the States than I realized, or they booked too-small venues. The Cleveland show sold out in like ten minutes.

ha yeah, Denver is the same ... and yes, they should probably be playing places twice the size?

New song is gorgeous and sounds like some of the 00s/10s bands that took influence from Slowdive, kind of a full circle thing. Strong tune plus Neil and Rachel's voices plus those guitars... can't wait for the album

New song is really growing on me. Got my ticket for Chicago (still available, BTW). I'm so psyched!

how was the Glastonbury set?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0ftbbgd/glastonbury-slowdive

Crap, sold out in SF. Alas. Glad I saw them for the s/t tour at least

Agreed there! But I'll make my way into that show yet.

aw, was hoping for a few more new tracks in the Glastonbury set... they're being coy!

I think both LA shows are sold out. When I checked last they only had $200 tickets for the second night.

Gotta admit, this song is indistinguishable from 500 other bands that bang around the gazey landfill of the last 5 years. Full circle? Maybe, but it wish it had ANY personality.

I saw them just before they released the s/t, I think maybe it was at the Mayan in downtown LA. Absolutely great. Really kinda floored me, as did that album. Getting the sense I won't see them this time around, but glad they're selling out the venues.

Disagree that "Kisses" has no personality. Next to the flangy guitars, I clearly hear the singer of Mojave 3 and no one else. (The synthesis of those two strands of Halstead's career is a nice touch on the 2017 record and now this.)

That said, this was presumably chosen as the first promotional track because it is straightforward pop. I'm curious to see how challenging the other tracks are, since the press release mentions electronic experimentation.

second show added on Oct 16 in SF. hyped to see them again.

Oh nice! On sale now?

Answering my own question: yes they are! Thanks for the tip, just got GA floor.

ehh, I find the new song completely forgettable. Like something he'd write in his sleep.

Nice I'll be there as well!

Babe wake up new slowdive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWtlDuzHc4g

Liking this one better than the first single. Love the guitar sound.

listening to these new songs while it thunderstorms outside… bliss

I really like this one. It's a lot more instant than Kisses. His voice sounds a bit like Alasdair from The Clientele on it.

This is great, this album might even be better than the last one.

this one's much better than "kisses"

Much better than kisses but still..

interesting track although the chorus vocal sounds like a pisstake. The guitar part sounds like the first EP!

Yeah not fully sold on the vocals but guitars sound amazing

Saw their gig last night, brilliant show, they are an absolute powerhouse live (loud!). Weirdly they only played “kisses” from the upcoming record—I was half-expecting some more new tracks but I guess they’ll add them to the setlist for the autumn run of shows, once the album is out? Rachel stole the audience’s hearts btw

New song next week: The Slab

The Slab.

Coming next week. pic.twitter.com/HNSBYRyNSx

— Slowdive (@slowdiveband) August 4, 2023

It’s out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiQUd6F6_kw

Alright, this is the first track that offers the more ambient, electronic stylings that the press release augured. I admit, I didn’t expect Slowdive 2023 to sound like Seefeel 1993. Still, nothing at all wrong with this tune and I still look forward to the album.

That is about fifty times better than “Kisses” and now I’m keen to hear the album

I just hope that the album is released in a digital format that isn’t brickwalled like this YT upload. Rachel Goswell is famously partly deaf, and the other members are getting on in years. Hopefully they listened to younger engineers who could ensure some room to breathe in the tracks.

yeah this is definitely the best so far

They are releasing a third song from an album of eight? I'm going to wait to hear the full album.

Sadly the mastering on iTunes download is as awful as on YouTube, one of the loudest files in my library.

Waveform of The Slab is literally a slab. Maybe it’s conceptual.

Rachel Goswell is famously partly deaf, and the other members are getting on in years.

Jesus, they're only in their early fifties. This isn't the Rolling Stones we're talking about!

they're of a generation that should hate brickwalling since they know what a real mastering job sounds like

Jesus, they're only in their early fifties.

As anyone in their early fifties could tell you, one’s ears aren’t what they were in one’s twenties or thirties. And all those changes in hearing are well known even for ordinary people, let alone members of a loud concert scene.

I'm in that age bracket myself, and while my ears' frequency range certainly isn't what it once was, I am still plenty capable of discerning a brickwall-limiter job from something with decent dynamic range. I just think it's kind of presumptuous to imply that Halstead and co. can't tell the difference any more?

Alex Lifeson brickwalled Rush’s Vapor Trails album at the age of 49. It seems a reasonable presumption that any rock artists are going to need younger ears to serve as a check.

really love all three of the advance tracks, i listen to them every day

I don't think younger ears would really help with brickwalling, it's more just a question of realizing it sounds like shit and you should allow for some headroom for dynamics

Apparently there's an ATMOS mix of this?

https://thequietus.com/articles/33300-slowdive-rachel-goswell-interview-favourite-music

(the thing that jumped out at me from this is neil having to pawn his guitar)

that and Rachel being BFFs with Wayne Hussey!

the phone call thing was a bit creepy

Yup

feel like if it had been creepy then adult Rachel wouldn't have wanted to meet up and hang out with him so I will go with her take on it

Are Jadu Heart any good?

https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/slowdive-rachel-goswell-everything-is-alive-album-tour-1235403397/

The angst that was there between Neil and I at certain points in the ’90s — that isn’t there anymore. We were together from about the age of 18 to 22, and split up just before Souvlaki — that is kind of seen as the breakup record — and it was obviously not an easy time for either of us. To have to remain in a band together post-that was very difficult. Normally you distance yourself, and we weren’t able to do that. It wasn’t easy, and I mentally probably quite destructive — certainly for me during those bloody years.

All of that is gone. Thirty-odd years has passed, and a lot has happened. I do feel like we have a genuine friendship within the band.

they've done it again!

maybe doesn't reach the same highs as the s/t and the sequencing is a little odd (mostly just "prayer remembered" is in an odd spot) but it's another great album from them. i'd even say their post-reunion discography > pre-reunion discography now! it's drawing a bit more on pygmalion and 5 than the s/t but also pushing into somewhat new territory with modular synth arpeggios everywhere

Xxpost: the new Jadu Heart album is probably their best yet. I like it, but your mileage may vary… they’re a bit generic indie rock… nothing special, but nothing offensive.

I think the phone call bit feels creepy with so many bad stories regarding musicians interacting with underage fans…, but I chose to believe this was actually innocent and sweet and that Mission dude wasn’t doing anything sexual and really just wanted to talk and thank his fans.

Relistening the Jadu Heart quickly to see what shoegaze influence she listened to and forgot there’s actually a couple of songs round the middle that sound shoegaze-y so I can see now why she liked it.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m an inch from falling asleep but It’s actually sounding really good right now.

“Shimmer” is the one that sort of sounds like mbv. Maybe check that out?

“Blame” and “freedom” are the songs I liked on first listens and haven’t really listened to it in the past months but realizing the middle of the album is actually good.

Also listened to the new Slowdive album.

Shanty is the highlight on first listen.

"shanty" is massive

best ever

really digging this

i'll have some more concrete thoughts in the next few days. in the meantime this is about... oh idk, 20 times better than i had expected?

"kisses" has become my so-far SOTY in case anyone was wondering. definitely one that belongs on my shoegaze makeout playlist.

oh for all the wickedness in the world, and yet here they still are. jfc, what a band.

and yeah-
on first listen, it's hard to say where it falls in the bigger picture. i will say this: if you even remotely liked the last album, you're gonna like this one too. a lot.

random outburst of thought-
john martyn's influence on just about fucking everything has been severely underestimated.

Listening now, glad this is out. Just found out they played last night in Hollywood.

This is really good, it does sound like their third album at times. Too short in my opinion.

they said there's two more tracks finished from these sessions but they cut them to keep it fitting on one lp. maybe those will show up somewhere idk

One more album, then it's time for the Mojave 3 reunion.

title isn't on the cover art all, only the spine (of the cd anyway). and i had a sew-on patch in mine.

lp was in the window of hmv but the cd was only in the new releases s-t bin with everything else released in the last month.

and no, you can't have my email to send me a receipt.

CD was similarly hidden at Newbury Comics in Harvard Square, and there was only one copy. There's barely any CDs there at all. I try to avoid Amazon but my local stores don't make it easy.

title isn't on the cover art all, only the spine (of the cd anyway).

this was fantastic on first listen, not a weak track. "Shanty" and "Andalucia Plays" were my favorites among the new tracks

I gotta hand it to them, Slowdive make some of the best opening tracks ever and "Shanty" kills. Irrespective of time, if Pygmalion is the hinge point in their sound then I like the last three albums more than the first three.

Great album

as good as every other slowdive album.

this album is so beautiful

Did this turn out to be as brick-walled as the previews sounded? Liked the music, but some of the drum hits sounded like sucked-air rather than a hit, and just one song left my ears fatigued...

i'm not sure, I've only listened to the streaming version (lossless) but via apple tv and my receiver and it sounded fine to me.

Looking at the waveforms, "The Slab" is still brickwalled and some of the other tracks have brickwalled sections; the peaks don't look clipped so there must be some other process at work. The previous reunion album was brickwalled to hell, by the way.

DR of 5

This album is great, this post reunion stuff is so much better then it has any right to be.

Just to say that this is the first album I have listened to from start to end in one go this year. It flows nicely, no filler at all. My favourite is "chained to a cloud" a fitting title to an extraterrestrial beauty of a song. This album is an antidote against the depression which the terrible current state of the world induces.

yeah, i've been listening to it nonstop since it came out. "skin in the game" is still the standout for me. the harmony/ backup vox on that track (as he sings the title) are just outstanding, spooky and beautiful.

beach house is heavily indebted to cocteau twins but maybe even more so to slowdive. slowdive mk 2 is kind of interesting because now they sound a lot like beach house

"This is a sound Beach House stole from 90s us. we're stealing it back"

It's funny how I wasn't too impressed with the singles on their own but hearing the full album totally changed my perception of them. Agree that the whole thing flows so nicely

10 Shoegaze Albums Slowdive’s Simon Scott Thinks Everyone Should Own

a friend did kind of ruin Kisses for me by saying it sounded like Coldplay

Thanks for the link, Hideous Lump. Did he get All I Need mixed up with No More Sorry?

I passed on Loop years ago because they called Slowdive and Young Gods "inept", but I should check them out soon.

a friend did kind of ruin Kisses for me by saying it sounded like Coldplay

― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Wednesday, 6 September 2023 20:44 (three days ago)

Perhaps. But it reminds me more of Cali by Ride, the only new era Ride track I can really vibe with

This record is fantastic, Slowdive has it dialed IN.

I’ve wondered if they had Cali in the bag from the early 90s and just never went anywhere with it. I also always hear the bridge from time after time in that little bridge around 2:25 lol

a friend did kind of ruin Kisses for me by saying it sounded like Coldplay

Also you can just screw with your friends and send them this song in response:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5Gg-50RsVQ

not trying to start anything here but saying that they sound like the bands they influenced seems to me an unnecessarily wordy, and mildly malicious, way of saying that they sound like themselves.

"Why should we change our sound? Coldplay is the one who sucks"

Our imago compared "Sugar for the Pill" to Coldplay last time around. There's certainly some shared sonics between the bands, hate it or not

Liking this but wish there were more variety in the vocals. I knew not to really expect Rachel singing lead at this point but Neil seems stuck on his whispered cozy-sweater voice he started when he went solo.

There's certainly some shared sonics between the bands, hate it or not

― Vinnie, Monday, 11 September 2023

No, not really. Even if Imago says so.

I'm liking this new LP. I'm not as keen as others. But it doesn't sound like Coldplay, that's just lazy.

What I do love is some of the guitar tones that are so recognisable from the early EPs and first LP. It's obviously them, despite some of the more mellow changes.

I’ve wondered if they had Cali in the bag from the early 90s and just never went anywhere with it.

Yes, they did. There was a YouTube video where Andy showed how to play it and said it was a riff / chord progression he'd had kicking around back in the original days of Ride but never got round to doing anything with.

Finally properly listening and it's a beaut and a half, long may they thrive.

Separately, a 2017 tape from Simon Scott just got a formal digital release:

https://datworm.bandcamp.com/album/stuk

"kisses" and "sugar for the pill" are both fairly boring as far as slowdive songs go (i would take "chinese sleep chant" over both, sure) but that is the extent that the coldplay comparison makes sense

Love Sugar for the Pill, but I also dug Chinese Sleep Chant during my brief dalliance with taking Coldplay semi-seriously.

it’s not just that they “sound” more like a Coldplay band now… these new songs are more treacly, not enough moody minor chords. also one thing I loved about souvlaki was that it kinda still sounded like an 80s album at times, like zero apologies for turning the chorus pedal way up <3

that album is from 30 years ago, imagine comparing Souvlaki to an album released in 1963

someone's gotta tell me which coldplay record sounds like this

New stuff sounded a bit stilted to me at the Toronto gig, but it was the first night of their tour so. Crowd was SOOO excited, huge age range, and typically diverse for a show here, thankfully not just a bunch of old white dudes like me nursing a beer.

yeah, i want to know which excellent Coldplay records I've been missing out on!

I was also at the Toronto show and was also pleasantly surprised at the diversity of the crowd

The only Coldplay similarity I’m hearing is that the new also contains arpeggios on the guitar

*stuff

Friend’s boyfriend forgot he had a one-off show so she offered me a free ticket for the Philly show tomorrow night. Pretty stoked!

Full Webster Hall show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW2XW-sqmVA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb8pMcAqdss

they were excellent in Philly last night

the new stuff was good, too— “Prayer Remembered” particularly beautiful

folks on twitter still discussing Slowdive appeal on tiktok but also noting they reunited before tikkok love and have long had legacy rock coverage

Just saw their show tonight at a bowling alley in Cleveland (actually it was Lakewood but never mind). I’m really not much of a concertgoer in my old age but goddamn this band puts on a great show! Sounds amazing, great sounds, perfect acoustics, great tunes… if only I had somewhere to sit! Fuck, they make you stand up the whole time! Hmph!

Meantime, want to hear a show I was at in 1993? Of course you do.

https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/730258076121415680/slowdive-the-roxy-los-angeles-california

Can't wait for next week!

Ned's the guy talking throughout the whole show 😆

but seriously, very psyched to have weaseled my way into the denver slowdive show this week ... cannot wait.

Oh wow. I was at that 93 show at the Roxy!

Oh wait , that might be a different show as they were not supporting Catherine Wheel when I saw them. Did they play twice at the Roxy behind Souvlaki?!

I actually didn't make that Catherine Wheel and Slowdive show because I saw Slowdive the night before. They played a solo show on top of a store front on Hollywood Blvd but could have been Sunset. This wasn't a normal concert hall, it was some restaurant without anything in it. Never saw another show there as the whole things did seem unusual. My girlfriend at the time, Amy, actually had a few moment with Rachael. She just told me afterwards that Rachael was so in love with Neil, lol. Yes Raaderonixx, I saw Slowdive at the Roxy but not sure which tour. I have seem them a lot, along with Mojave 3 and maybe around 20 times give or take. Why I'm so bummed about missing this tour when they come to LA next week. It will be the first time that I will miss a tour. Checked Saturday Night tickets today and they were $250.

I saw Adorable at the Whiskey the night before this Slowdive show. That was probably the best show of 1993, I thought they were going to be massive.

Found it: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/slowdive/1993/hollywood-auditorium-los-angeles-ca-73d1dea1.html

Yeah, the venue was only used 12 times.

Found it baaderonixx, they came back for this tour and played the Roxy April 11, 1994:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/slowdive/1994/the-roxy-west-hollywood-ca-7bd1dec4.html

I was also at that show.

Yeah that was the 94 tour where they played a separate show at Cal State Fullerton and I went to that instead as it was closer.

I saw Adorable at the Whiskey the night before this Slowdive show.

Argh, THAT show I wish I saw because IIRC Underground Lovers opened on the back of Leaves Me Blind. Still wish I had seen them live around then.

https://images.kerrangcdn.com/Sick-New-World-2024-poster.jpeg?auto=compress&fit=crop&w=1008

we see you hiding down there, Drop Nineteens

(hmv update: piles of the new lp in store on Saturday, probably because it is in some sort of chart. a pound cheaper than my copy too)

You've met Count Dracula, but have you met his snarky teenage daughter, Kim Dracula?

Is that Sunn O))) on the bottom line? what an absolutely bizarre lineup. Excited to see Slowdive opening for Slipknot.

I'm guessing that is actually Ultra Sunn, an "EBM" duo from Belgium.

my 17y/o was telling me how awesome this will be and reading the band list and got to slowdive and i just sorta "lol you joshing me" and she was 'nah numetal crossover'

Hell black metal crossover more like. Alcest had Neil on that one album for a reason.

My mind keeps exploding every time I get to a new line of that poster.

Lords of Acid?!?!

I wanna see your pussy, show it to me

Remarkable alternate lyrics to "Catch the Breeze" there.

Different setlist last night - pretty sure several people fainted (if metaphorically) during "Avalyn"

good lord… plus “sleep”! “golden hair”!

making the second SF show tonight, kind of last minute; had to buy resale tix which were marked "GA" but when delivered say "GA: balcony"; hoping they don't actually care and I can make it onto the floor (then again....I may be praying for a balcony seat 20 minutes into the show).

I tried to go to the LA shows at the last moment but failed, now I'm pissed that I did.

"golden hair" in denver was radical

great show in SF last night, I hadn't realized this was the last one of the tour so we were lucky that they added this on due to demand. Only issue: my god it was loud. I would have turned down the bass and indeed the entire volume by 1/4. Some of this was MBV-level loud. Have all the shows on the tour been like this?

they weren't any louder than an average act when i saw them a few months ago

maybe it was a Warfield special.

they definitely were not loud when i saw them in Philly

Both times (Slowdive and Panda Bear/Sonic Boom) I've been to the Bellwether here in LA, the sound was outstanding. New venue, new sound system... they seem to know what they were doing.

In contrast, I saw The Mars Volta at the Fox Theatre in Pomona the night before and that was screeching frequencies loud (took earplugs for that)

Huh. Can't say the show on Thursday was especially loud, wore my usual earplugs, did just fine.

Okay, new set of American dates for next year:

Thu. Apr. 25 - Ventura, CA @ The Majestic Ventura Theater
Fri. Apr. 26 - Pomona,CA @ The Fox Theater Pomona
Sat. Apr. 27 - Las Vegas, NV @ Sick New World Festival
Sun. Apr. 28 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
Tue. Apr. 30 - Albuquerque, NM @ The Historic El Rey Theater
Wed. May 1 - Denver, CO @ Levitt Pavilion Denver
Fri. May 3 - Kansas City, MO @ The Truman
Sat. May 4 - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
Sun. May 5 - Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
Tue. May 7 - Louisville, KY @ Old Forester's Paristown Hall
Wed. May 8 - Pelham, TN @ The Caverns
Fri. May 10 - Dallas, TX @ Longhorn Ballroom
Sat. May 11 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
Sun. May 12 - Austin, TX @ ACL Live at The Moody Theater
Tue. May 14 - New Orleans, LA @ The Civic Theatre
Thu. May 16 - Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewing Company
Fri. May 17 - Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
Sun. May 18 - Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit

Kinda surprised there haven't been any remixes from the new album yet...

would def welcome that!

The Atlanta venue is pretty intimate. Definitely worth going to.

Gotta figure out whether Atlanta or Asheville work better for me. Would love to see them.

Looks like I'm not going to miss this tour after all. I just got two tickets and this will mean I have seen them on every tour. Saw Majove 3 many times too.

BTW, Spotify presale code for today only is ALIVE

Thanks! Snagged some good seats for the Austin show

Thanks for posting the code. See you in Pomona

^ can't wait, will have to exchange info before show.

Went on site for that Pomona show and they're already sold out. They sold out the day tickets went on sale like Taylor Swift, lol. They're playing too small of venues.

Ventura Theatre date just added: April 25

Ultimately this is step below the self titled album. There are too many instruments overall for my taste, I just love Rachel and Neil vocals on Slowdive's songs. To be fair, the last album is probably their best.

souvlaki > s/t > everything is alive > pygmalion > just for a day

uhhh no

everything is alive > pygmalion

aaaaahhhhh

anyway, spoon & rafter > all of the above. a very good day to you all!

well actually pull pygmalion to the top and I can live with the other rankings

I don't like the new one much tbh. it's fine and maybe it will grow on me but currently it's my least favourite

they were very loud when I saw them recently, probably the loudest gig I've been to this year. regretted not bringing earplugs at times

i only really care about half of pygmalion, and that half is fantastic but the other tracks do nothing for me

I'm with your ranking, UFO, and concur with your feelings about "Pygmalion".

Surprised we haven't mentioned some of their side projects - my favorites are Black Hearted Brother and Minor Victories.

i still love this album, ranks very high for me. but thanks, col. poo, for also noting how fucking loud they are now live

I probably rank Just For a Day higher then most of you and rank Pygmalion lower. Was Just For a Day a bit of a let down after their first three EPs? Sure, but it was no different then The Boo Radleys, Swervedriver, or Catherine Wheel. I don't know, living through that and experiencing everything that came out at time of release was spectacular. Probably the best time of my life. Yeah, just wanted to throw some love to Just For a Day.

It actually has my favorite overall sound of their albums, it's really magical and I always wonder if any other band successfully emulated it. It's one of those albums like Garlands by Cocteau Twins that has this deeply special world I need more of and I wonder if it's just futile trying to create more of that?

Pygmalion is my favorite though.

this is funny, i am pretty firm in my ranking :

just for a day>souvlaki>pygmalion>everything is alive>s/t

but i also only got into them in my senior year of high school (2002) and so don’t really have any memories of feelings upon their release except the new one.

also i was expecting them to be exceptionally loud when i saw them in September— it
wasn’t loud at all?!!

April 26, 2024
Slowdive at Fox Theater Pomona, Pomona, CA

shanty
She Calls
Star Roving
Avalyn
Catch the Breeze
Crazy for You
chained to a cloud
Souvlaki Space Station
kisses
Alison
When the Sun Hits
40 Days
Sugar for the Pill
Dagger
Golden Hair (Syd Barrett cover)

Slowdive were phenomenal last night. Rachel looked like Cruella De Vil as half her hair was white and the other half was black. She also wore something fluffy and white which would not have been out of place in the Disney movie. The place was packed with the crowd being very young. Resale tickets were around $250 each last time I checked. They are a band on top of their game, so happy for their recent success.

Five Souvlaki songs!

Seeing them next month. Psyched about She Calls making the setlist

Updated set list from last night: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/slowdive/2024/fox-theater-pomona-pomona-ca-6ba8ae4a.html (“Dagger” wasn’t played)

Terrific show - Rachel called a halt to “She Calls” and the band’s crash into the restart was one of the greatest sounds I’ve heard anywhere

Sounds awesome! They’ll be playing at some festivals up here later in the year, hoping for another standalone set.

anything other than Outside Lands? I haven't been there in like 20 years, and there have been plenty of better lineups than this year, but I'm half inclined to go this time just because of them and Grace Jones

Thanks for the correction Elvis Telecom, we should have met up to say hi.

I drove 170 round trip last night, the place that I live is just so huge.

*miles

So I'll be a little nitpicky... the sound at the Fox Theater last night was uncharacteristically moderate? I brought earplugs this time, but didn't use them. I keep thinking of the Bellwether show last year with all the sound coming at you at once - literally on fire burning Teengazers in their tracks like moths to flame. Last night was just amazingly great. As mentioned earlier, they are at performing peak right now and if you're on the fence about going, this is your push.

Thanks for the correction Elvis Telecom, we should have met up to say hi.

BTW, it's complete bullshit that Slowdive isn't playing the Las Vegas Sphere right now. I can't think of anyone more perfect for it. How do we make Spheredive happen?

Anaheim
Moreno Valley
Pomona
Moreno Valley
Anaheim

2 hours 30 minutes
170 Miles

Not going to Kraftwerk, unfortunately, going to fewer shows these days. Sad, because it's one of the funniest things in life.

anything other than Outside Lands?

I know I saw them listed for something else -- and not around the same time either, which was kinda odd but interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1MB86_2PyM

I'm surprised they're even doing Outside lands; they're in Sweden two nights before and then back to Portugal two nights after. Crazy schedule!

slowdive more like quickflight

i assume they're renting or borrowing equipment for the SF gig

(worth the watch)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmSrHCUBLQ0

holy shit the version of "When the Sun Hits" there is IMMENSE

I was looking at the members names of 90s shoegaze bands a while ago and it seemed like a lot of them had names like "Scaz, Biv and Smithy". But when I think on it there's a lot of british musicians in the 80s-90s with short names (presumably nicknames): Lol, Loz, Gaz, Bez, Boz... I'm sure there's a lot more.

There was a drummer for Swervedriver named Jez

Since Morrisey was nicknamed Moz, I like to think Boz Boorer's real first name is Borrisey.

not many "biff"s in this scene iirc. breaking the three letter format, not welcome.

Related - here's a recent-ish interview with three-latter named Slowdive drummer Ian McCutcheon
https://wordsontape.com/remembering-the-view-ian-mccutcheon