Stereolab: Classic or Dud

Ha, thank you! :)

Got a ticket for the Dublin show!

v tempted by the glasgow show

I’ll be there but don’t let that put you off. Just don’t stand behind me

brb gonna buy a ticket and will stand in front of stet all night

I only saw them once, in 1996, and that was at a festival. Dunno why really. They did play in Reading a couple of times when I lived there but I didn't go for some reason. Oh I know why, because I didn't know anyone who would want to go with me and back then I hadn't yet realised it was possible for me to just go to gigs on my own.

Only saw 'em when they were touring Fab Four Suture, a collection of songs I don't particularly like, and I thought they were fantastic.

I didn't know anyone who would want to go with me and back then I hadn't yet realised it was possible for me to just go to gigs on my own.

missed so many good gigs in the 90's/00's because of this kind of thinking

I think it took until I was about 27 for me to stop worrying that people would think I was weird and had no friends. I mean I'm sure they do think that, but at least I get to see bands I like

Seen them many times, every tour since MAQ. ETK tour was easily the best, with Sound-Dust and Dots & Loops fairly memorable as well.

I missed one cleveland show because I had too much college work to do but my friends went and they got me the Speedy Car split with Tortoise, so whatever tour that was for. I remember thinking wow, Stereolab doing Soft Machine!

Saw them in 1994 (MAQ) with Trumans Water(!!!) and then in 1996 (ETK) with Prolapse & Sonic Boom/EAR. Good times.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, February 28, 2018 1:03 PM (eleven months ago)

Forgot I also saw them in 2002 at ATP with.....

.....Aphex Twin, Asheton, Mascis and Watt, Bardo Pond, Big Star, Black Dice, Boredoms, Bride of No No, Califone, Cannibal Ox, Cat Power, Cecil Taylor, Krasp, Christina Rosenvinge, The Dead C, Deerhoof, Destroy All Monsters, DJ Olive, Eddie Vedder, Erase Errata, Fred Anderson Trio, Fursaxa, Gerard Malanga, Ikue Mori, Ira Cohen, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Jim O'Rourke, Kevin Drumm, Leah Singer, Lydia Lunch, Madlib, Mats Gustafsson, Merzbow, Mike Watt and the Secondmen, Nathaniel Mackey, Neil Michael Hagerty, Nels Cline, Papa M, Peaches, Pita, Quix*o*tic, Renee Gladman, Saccharine Trust, Satans Tornade, Sleater-Kinney, Smog, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Stereolab, Television, Tony Conrad, Unwound, U.S. Maple, White Out, Wilco, William Winant

you saw Stereolab with Stereolab!

Caught them in a tiny tent at Coachella in 2003, which had q similarly sick lineup including The Cure, Radiohead, Belle & Sebastian, Pixies, Air, Flaming Lips, Beck, Muse, !!!, The Rapture, etc.

Are tickets really $134 or did I click on some dumb site? Was looking into NY show.

I love Stereolab but only the front-end of their discography and will be passing on these shows as I have no real love for anything after Ketchup

brooklyn tix were like $40 + fees

yeah kind of hoping that the reissues of transient and mars audiac will lead to more of that stuff being played

I bet these shows will be packed with early groop material. Tim won't want to do "just the hits" but … it'll be mostly the hits.

It seemed like they warmed up to playing stuff from TRNBWA more in their later tours. Outside of "Crest", I don't think I ever heard them play anything from it in the 90s.

Wish I still had my shirt from the Too Pure showcase thing at Happy Jax with PJ Harvey and Th' Faith Healers. The venue otherwise mainly familiar at that time to my demographic as the site of regular Weatherall-facilitated debauchery. I'd seen 'em quite a few times before that though.

I love Stereolab but only the front-end of their discography and will be passing on these shows as I have no real love for anything after Ketchup

― flamboyant goon tie included, Friday, February 22, 2019 12:36 PM (nineteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Feel the same way but I never got to see them so was interested... per mookieproof post I suppose I did click on a "dumb site" after all.

It seemed like they warmed up to playing stuff from TRNBWA more in their later tours. Outside of "Crest", I don't think I ever heard them play anything from it in the 90s.

At that time they seemed pretty heavily invested in a churn of showcasing new material as much as possible, which given their pretty insane work/release rate was justifiable enough. Combine that with the fact that Transient, which I admittedly do love, was almost overdetermined as a starting point thanks to it being the first proper US major label release (as opposed to the slightly delayed American Recordings-via-Too Pure licensings), and I don't blame them for going "Uh...we're over here now?" I'd argue it was probably after Cobra Plays they started to lean into that era of their back catalog some more, a little distance never hurts -- and after Mary's death, it almost became part homage.

They also just had a lot of negative feelings about it because the recording process was so messed up. I think they finally warmed up to it because it was such a persistent fan favorite.

Wow, both Brooklyn shows sold out, Atlanta sold out, Boston sold out, Philly has about 100 tickets left. I didn't expect this level of interest honestly.

I love Stereolab but only the front-end of their discography and will be passing on these shows as I have no real love for anything after Ketchup

ATX appears to be sold out too, guess I made a good choice about buying concert tickets for once.

Looks like SF sold out both nights as well.

gen x nostalgia is filling the clubs, if not the stadiums

Shows at the Mohawk often sell out! Especially touring acts.

Yeah, I've had a bad run of waiting too long to buy tickets for a string of gigs, but I'm slowly learning.

gen x nostalgia is filling the clubs, if not the stadiums

― mookieproof, Friday, February 22, 2019 2:35 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark]

Any advice for someone's first time at the show? Many thanks from an unexperienced high schooler who's been knocking myself out to Lab songs for the past three years or so and has pledged my allegiance to the band forever.

― alexsuponya, Thursday, February 21, 2019 7:33 PM (yesterday) Bookmark

It seemed like they warmed up to playing stuff from TRNBWA more in their later tours. Outside of "Crest", I don't think I ever heard them play anything from it in the 90s.

Probably the biggest takeaway from seeing them live was how loud and massive "Golden Ball" is/was.

just jammed "golden ball" three times in a row this morning — amazing tune.

ha, nothing will ever top the first time that skip faked me out and I ran over to the stereo in terror

great tune

hoping for ‘jenny ondioline’, anything else is gravy

I think I've seen them 3 times - once for Cobra, for Sound-Dust, and Margerine Eclipse. They were never anything less than a blast. If they never make another record, I'm fine, but I'm very glad to get a chance to hear them again. I could hardly call it nostalgia because I never stopped listening to their music.

I have Glasgow tickets, will be my first time seeing them live.

hoping for ‘jenny ondioline’, anything else is gravy

That pretty much is their "Stairway to Heaven"/"Freebird" so you won't have to worry.

Anyway, sharing a little something...

A lighter note, given the @stereolabgroop US tour dates going on sale -- one of my earliest stories, from 1993 in UC Irvine's student paper, interviewing Laetitia ahead of their _Transient_ tour stop. pic.twitter.com/IZnRcfh4nI

— Ned Raggett (@NedRaggett) February 22, 2019

i figured xp. i wonder if they add an additional mpls date if they will change up the setlist at all? for a lot of classic band nostalgia reunion gigs, groops don't seem to do so

except for WEEN lol

hoping for ‘jenny ondioline’, anything else is gravy

That pretty much is their "Stairway to Heaven"/"Freebird" so you won't have to worry.

They didn't play this when I saw them and kept screaming for "Jenny"!

For me it would be The Way Will Be Opening

Um, as a song I'd love to hear. Not as an expected stand out or anything

I just remembered this song that samples "Crest."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e310Daluio8

Fuckin hell, all these shows selling out already! Just got my tix before they were all gone.

except for WEEN lol

when I saw 'em last year they played like, 9 songs off The Pod. it was nuts. what I'm saying is, there's some hope...

super bummed the ny shows already sold out

I may have an extra ticket. Check back in september I guess. My wife really doesn't like Stereolab. It's a problem.

yeah I’d def take you up on that / also sorry to hear about your difficult marriage

they added another fillmore date for SF folks