the chills c/d?

I see they're playing at Sleeping Village which actually feels like a venue for rock music whereas City Winery in NY is almost too posh and gentile, especially the new location which makes it feel more like a sprawling restaurant on the Hudson that happens to have a stage in the main dining room.

Menus alone couldn't be more different. A ton of beer (Pabst Blue Ribbon on top) vs. lots of fine wines and $30 salads and entrees.

Yeah, Sleeping Village. It's kind of a pain for me to get to.

DC show is at a City Winery that wants to be posh, but is simply overpriced for everything

Do people avoid City Winery because of the expensive menu? I know you don't have to buy anything, but I wonder if people do feel pressured into ordering something off the menu. As mentioned, it's not cheap beers or anything, you can easily spend more on food and wine than the show itself.

I like the City Winery, it's civilized! I don't order alcohol and get one dish and the cost is acceptable.

they played Austin last night it was pretty great... wish more people had turned up because they sounded really good. hope they get to tour again over the next few years so I have to chance to experience some different set lists. a lot of the newer songs sounded better than the classics!

It's been low turnouts (and as a result some bargain ticket promotions - $15 in L.A. IIRC) which is disappointing but I think the tour wasn't publicized well. I didn't even know they were playing at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn until I saw a post from someone else who's been following them closely. Unless you're actively following the Chills on social media, it's probably easy to miss word of these shows.

I noted somewhere else I think but that's been another effect of the death of alt weeklies and music journalism in general. no press, no previews, no listings or ads ...

If I didn't have another commitment on the 17th, I'd probably see them again, even if the setlist is likely to be the same. Who knows when they'll fly to the US again.

There are potentially lots of reasons why they may never tour the US again, unfortunately.

Saw them in Tucson on Friday. Not a great crowd, but bigger than I feared it would be. Band seemed in good spirits. Phillipps sounds great, especially for a 60 year old who has been through some significant health issues.

Just saw them in Boston, a fun gig, he's got a great young band that can add violin and trumpet as needed. He was in good spirits, very talkative from the stage but chose not to mingle after the show due to covid concerns. He said next year brings "Braver Words" and an album of old unreleased 80s material recorded by the current lineup.

They're playing tonight in Brooklyn at Baby's All Right. (Seems to have plenty of tickets left too.)

City Winery in Boston was only about half full, unfortunately.

It really is a shame, especially with ticket prices so low. (Tonight's show is only $20.)

On FB I saw someone saying that it was a mistake to have the Chills playing so many City Wineries as that club is less known for having pop rock bands like the Chills. Potential audience doesn't follow their schedule. City Winery wasn't able to reach out to the potential audience and as noted above less alt-weeklies. Younger arts editor of local online alt-weekly near me didn't highlight the show

Bingo. I only knew they were touring from this thread but couldn't make the show. They played a City Winery in DC with poor metro access on like a Monday, I can't imagine the turnout was good.

I'm sure they just went with places like City Winery for the money.

As I hypothesized on a couple of other threads, the death of free weeklies/music journalism/publicity etc. has I suspect taken a huge toll on touring bands. Especially with so many bands touring at once, it's just really hard for the average music goer to know what's going on, or what's worth seeing.

My wife has a co-worker who has taken up regularly going to concerts again, with the catch being she only buys tickets the day-of. She'll decide to see a show, look online and see what she can find, which sounds fun. Of course, if you're a relatively obscure band like the Chills, the odds of getting random concert goers are slim without someone bringing it to your attention.

Apparently Martin and several people in their crew came down with COVID after the opening NY shows, hence the cancellations in Toronto and Detroit due to illness. There was even a chance they'd cancel the entire tour for the same reason, but fortunately they recovered enough to do the remaining shows. Martin apologized for cancelling the Toronto and Detroit dates but said they'll be back - not sure if that means another tour is definite, but they will have a new release to promote fairly soon.

That’s rough, flying from so far and then getting sick.

"Party in My Heart" from the Brave Worlds remix/remaster released today. Comparatively sounds like someone just took a huge pile of dirty clothes away the front of my speakers. Really looking forward to hearing the new version of "Speak for Yourself".

(it's on Spotify)

Brave Words is sounding like a really good record today, via streaming. I doubt I would even have contemplated whether the sound quality was better if not primed by the years of chatter about the mix, but I'm prepared to believe that may be a subtle but significant factor?!? (I only previously had mp3 rips and it was less well imprinted on my brain than most of the early stuff as result, so I am not the best test subject.)

Just streamed the two tracks and it's definitely got more clarity and oomph compared to my CD. I'm probably alone in this but I'm slightly disappointed that it's seemingly not going to get a CD release.

You're not alone, mate.

all the recent new albums have turned up on CD... maybe they'll do it eventually?

I know it's not fashionable but woo hoo 'Brave Words: Spoken Bravely' is getting the 2 CD treatment!

Right there with you, happy to send Martin some dosh.

that's the stuff... will preorder CD and vinyl so they get some cash

Fashionable in my household.

Nice! I was wondering if that would happen. Besides the new mixes, a few "new" songs he was unveiling on the road were really good (basically finishing old songs that he kind of set aside and later included as-is on Secret Box). I imagine they may be included on this new deluxe set. Will definitely spring for it.

For some reason I never bothered with the Chills after "Submarine Bells" so today was the first time I ever heard "Soft Bomb" and my first impression is that it's really not very good at all. It's misleading because it's starts off with "Male Monster From the Id", which is great and sounds like the Chills, thereafter the album sounds like Martin Phillipps and some other people (which is apparently what it was) and there's a dearth of memorable songs. Winds down all the way to "Water Wolves", which is horrible.

Robert Christgau gave a good recommendation for an alternate tracklist. Here's a playlist on Spotify that sets it up.

I heard this for the first time this year, my only picks would be "Ocean Ocean" and "So Long".

Winds down all the way to "Water Wolves", which is horrible.

You wonder why, before enlisting Van Dyke Parks and a big string section, no-one told Phillipps "look, for this song, don't bother". Unless he was thinking that he was Brian Wilson, Scott Walker, Nick Drake and Randy Newman all in one, and wasn't taking advice from anyone.

wasn't taking advice from anyone

Based on the (excellent) documentary, this seems to have been the case. Ego, drugs, a misbegotten belief that the Chills had real commercial potential ...

“double summer” from soft bombis pretty

Yeah Double Summer is one of their best songs you goons.

17 songs is WAY too many songs to have on an album though, unless you're GBV or Wire.

The Chills were in that awkward position of being a great band with a small but dedicated fanbase, but it was probably too indirect to ever cross over to the mainstream so they kind of got caught in the middle. Not unlike like the Replacements, Hüsker Dü and all your other faves in fact.

Missed this - an interview with the producer behind the new Brave Words remix:

http://www.apessimistisneverdisappointed.com/2023/09/it-was-manic-street-preachers-that.html

Weird (or polite?) that that article never mentions Mayo Thompson?