Feist: Boston 7/8/08

Tuesday night, I saw Feist perform at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston. It was a beautiful evening, and Feist put on an amazing show. The opening act was Juana Molina, an incredibly talented Argentinian musician. Feist opened with “When I Was a Young Girl,” which she sang behind a screen for a dramatic entrance. After the first song, a fan in the front row presented her with Columbian bells. Feist handed them to a band member and challenged him to incorporate them into the show, which he managed to do. Throughout the concert, an overhead projector displayed shadow puppets and other images to accompany the music, which I think was far more effective than a flashy set and light show would have been. At one point, someone came on stage and tossed flower petals above Feist as she sang.

A reviewer for the Boston Herald argued that Feist’s intimate style wasn’t appropriate for such a large venue. I think it would have been a better show in a smaller venue, but she was still able to connect with the audience and give an incredible performance. Some highlights included “The Limit To Your Love, “My Moon My Man,” “Sea Lion Woman” and “1 2 3 4.” Before one song, Feist announced that she had envisioned us all lying on the grass licking ice cream cones, and strove to set the tone for that kind of setting. She also marveled at the “wide scope” of the venue and got everyone to do the wave, which is always fun.

Here is the video for I Feel It All. Happy belated 4th of July!

The National

I recently started listening to The National, who are currently touring with REM and Modest Mouse, and now I wish I had heard of them sooner. Here is a video of a live performance of About Today, which is an incredibly sad and beautiful song from the band’s 2004 EP, Cherry Tree. The video was shot by Vincent Moon at la Guinguette Pirate in December 2005.

Zac Hanson and his wife Kate have baby

Zac and Kate had their first baby, John Ira Shepherd Hanson, on Tuesday May 27, 2008. Following family tradition, the baby will go by his middle name, Shepherd.

Zac told People Magazine, “There is not an audience or concert that could ever stand up to the feeling of meeting your baby for the first time.”

The proud parents haven’t released any photos of Shepherd yet, although fake pictures (and fake baby registries) have been floating around. Zac explained on the band’s blog, “We are so happy that he is finally here, and when the time comes we will show him off proudly, but for the moment know that all of his pictures are in an air tight underwater vault.”

Other Hanson kids include Taylor and Natalie’s children, Ezra, Penelope and River, and Issac and Nikki’s son Everett. According to People Magazine, Isaac and Nikki are expecting their second child in June 2008. Who else thinks that Hanson is building an army and planning to take over the world? Or maybe the little Hansons will start their own band?

I’m glad the arrival of the newest Hanson has been deemed newsworthy by People Magazine, but I hope non-fans won’t be left with the impression that the Hanson brothers are putting their music careers on hold to raise children. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Hanson will be touring again in fall 2008, although dates have not yet been announced. While I wouldn’t blame them for taking some time off, I don’t think they would stop making music and playing shows if they had enough babies to fill a tour bus.

Hanson to tour again this fall

I found out from the Hanson Livejournal community that Hanson will be touring again this fall. They sent out this newsletter to fans:

Thank you so much to everyone who come out over the course of the Walk Tour this spring. We had a lot of fun playing those shows and felt really blown away by the amount of people who joined us on the walks. The amount of people who came out to each walk was almost double on average from the first walks we did last year. We have big plans for this summer, and hope that The Walk is only the beginning.

We are planning on getting back on the road in the US this fall, and plan on touring in Europe at the same time. We will let you know more as all the details come together.

– Isaac, Taylor, Zac

Apparently they’ve figured out how to clone themselves and will be touring two continents at once! Woohoo!

And so it begins

Antithodoxy = antithesis + orthodoxy

Credit for this silly yet brilliant word combination goes to Taylor Hanson. In the second episode of Hanson’s Taking The Walk podcast, Taylor exclaimed, “Forget ‘The Walk’…the new title of the album is ‘Hanson: Antithodoxy…slash hot dog flavored water!'” And that is how antithodoxy came to be.

I created this blog to discuss current events, books, movies, music, and whatever else interests me and the other bloggers. Some discussion of Hanson will, of course, be included.