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Stone
09-15-2004, 04:02 PM
I saw Fiery Furnacers live last night in Cleveland. To sum it up in one word: WOW!

The show was at the Beachland Tavern, and I'm bad at estimating these things, but I'd guess you can maybe fit 150 people in there. At any rate, the place is small. I got there early and got the best seat in the house (which total 2 booths and about 20 seats at the bar). We were maybe 15 feet from the stage.

The first act was The Gris Gris, who I assumed were a local act, but they weren't. I (as well as the person I was with) enjoyed these guys. A lot of "Sister Ray" type stuff with some Nuggets garage/psych rock thrown in. They were fairly noisy and they could refine their style some, but they were pretty good.

Next up was White Magic. The only thing I heard about this band was that it had a female lead and that they opened up for Cat Power. About 30 seconds into the first song, I saw why they opened for Cat Power. Some of the songs could have been Cat Power songs. Granted, the lead singer didn't have quite the voice Chan does, but there was a striking similarity in style. Good, but not great.

Finally, Fiery Furnaces were up. We were contemplating before the show whether they would play with a full band, or just as a two piece (brother and sister act). They started setting up and it was clear they were playing as a full band. The other two members of the band were two really young guys, who played drums and bass, and the bass player threw in a little keyboard from time to time too. I had heard only generally about their live show, and that it was different from their albums. Understatement of the year, that is. I had no idea what I was in for. Their main set was about an hour, non-stop (with the exception of about a 5 second break that I don't think was planned). Those of you who know Blueberry Boat know how many of the songs are actually multiple songettes (I just made that word up) melded together to tell the whole story of the song. This was how their entire set was, but they did not play one song from the albums from start to finish. Instead, it was pieces of the songs all (seemingly randomly) strewn together. The snippets were anywhere from 15 seconds to a few minutes, and then they'd move right into the next snippet. The sister did about 95% of the singing, even singing some of the parts that her brother handled on Blueberry Boat. It all pieced together well and they actually played a couple of the snippets multiple times, but in different styles. And about the styles, for the most part the style(s) of the music wasn't close to the style on the albums. In fact, a couple of the songs, err, snippets, I only recognized because of the lyrics. They styles varied from synth/guitar pop like most of Blueberry Boat is to an all-out Ramones' style punk. Crazy. Early on, they played part of the title track to Blueberry Boat, and my friend hit the nail right on the head with that one: it sounded like Devo. Some were done slowly, some fastly, some new-wavy, and others straight ahead rock. The drummer was really good, and full of energy all the way through (and he'd have to be to play like that for an hour straight). All in all, they probably played most of most of the songs on at least Blueberry Boat, but at three or four different places in the set. For an encore, just the brother/sister duo came out and played two real songs with just guitar and vocals. I had heard neither song before.

I can say this with certainty: I've never seen anything like that show - ever. It was quite entertaining and I really enjoyed it, but if you are considering seeing them, do not expect to hear anything close to what is found on their records.

Jim Clark
09-15-2004, 04:09 PM
Sounds like a ton of fun. I'm wondering why I've never heard any Fiery Furnace's? Have I not stuck my head out of the palatial Clark estate enough? Have I not being paying attention to comps? I"m going to dig through my comp books and see if there's a track or two that I missed. Dang, and I just got back from BB, not that they would have had it anyway.

Nice review!

jc

Davey
09-15-2004, 04:17 PM
I'm wondering why I've never heard any Fiery Furnace's? Have I not being paying attention to comps?
Most of us around here just found out about them in the last month or so ourselves, even though Blueberry Boat is their second album. But there is a comp on the way to your house right now, as we speak, with a couple Fiery tunes to busy your balls ;)

Stone
09-15-2004, 04:22 PM
I'm wondering why I've never heard any Fiery Furnace's?

Have I not being paying attention to comps?
jc

They're really just beginning to get hyped. They're quite different, and do an almost rock opera style, on their latest, Blueberry Boat. That album is really not for everyone, and I really don't know if you'd like it or not. When I get some time, I'll hit you up with a sampler. If you don't get something in the next couple of weeks, remind me.

Don't think you'll find Fiery Furnaces on any comps, 'cept for Davey's latest.

EDIT: Oh, and I think Delusion of Adequacy states it well:
Honestly, there is no precedent for this album.

http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/fieryfurnaces/blueberryboat/

Swish
09-15-2004, 05:18 PM
Fri Sep 17 @ Empty Bottle / Chicago, IL w/ White Magic, Manishevitz

Sat Sep 18 @ The 400 Bar / Minneapolis, MN w/ White Magic

Sun Sep 19 @ The Annex / Madison, WI w/ White Magic

Tue Sep 21 @ Blind Pig / Ann Arbor, MI w/ White Magic

Wed Sep 22 @ Little Brother's / Columbus, OH w/ White Magic, Catalpa Boys

Thu Sep 23 @ Modern Formations / Pittsburgh, PA w/ White Magic, Charles Bissell

Fri Sep 24 @ Black Cat / Washington, DC w/ White Magic, Inouk

Sat Sep 25 @ Bowery Ballroom / New York, NY w/ White Magic

Mon Sep 27 @ Norva Theater / Norfolk, VA w/ Wilco

Tue Sep 28 @ Meyerhoff Symphony Hall / Baltimore, MD w/ Wilco

Thu Sep 30 @ Burlington Memorial Auditorium / Burlington, VT w/ Wilco

Fri Oct 1 @ The Wang Center / Boston, MA w/ Wilco

Sun Oct 3 @ Calvin Theater / Northampton, MA w/ Wilco

Tue Oct 5 @ Radio City Music Hall / New York, NY w/ Wilco

Wed Oct 6 @ Radio City Music Hall / New York, NY w/ Wilco

Sat Oct 9 @ Larimer Lounge / Denver, CO w/ Low Flying Owls

Tue Oct 12 @ Crocodile Cafe / Seattle, WA

Wed Oct 13 @ Doug Fir Lounge / Portland, OR

Fri Oct 15 @ Bottom of The Hill / San Francisco, CA

Sat Oct 16 @ The Echo / Los Angeles, CA

Sun Oct 17 @ The Echo / Los Angeles, CA

Tue Oct 19 @ Club Congress / Tucson, AZ

Wed Oct 20 @ Paramount / Santa Fe, NM

Fri Oct 22 @ Emo's / Austin, TX w/ Rilo Kiley, Tilly & The Wall, Now It's Overhead

Sat Oct 23 @ Rubber Gloves / Denton, TX w/ Deathray Davies, Record Hop

Sun Oct 24 @ The Proletariat / Houston, TX

Mon Oct 25 @ One Eyed Jack's / New Orleans, LA

Wed Oct 27 @ Echo Lounge / Atlanta, GA w/ Hidden Cameras

Thu Oct 28 @ Cat's Cradle / Carrboro, NC w/ Hidden Cameras

Fri Oct 29 @ Ottobar / Baltimore, MD w/ Hidden Cameras

Sat Oct 30 @ The Khyber / Philadelphia, PA w/ Hidden Cameras, Chromeo

Sun Oct 31 @ Maxwellís / Hoboken, NJ

Swish, at your service.

Dusty Chalk
09-15-2004, 05:22 PM
Stone -- Sounds cool!

Swish -- thanks for posting that. I'm going to try to make the Black Cat/DC date, and I have a second chance at the Ottobar/Bal'm'r date.

DariusNYC
09-16-2004, 05:54 AM
Tue Oct 5 @ Radio City Music Hall / New York, NY w/ Wilco

Cool. I guess I'm seeing them then. I have tix to this show.

audiobill
09-16-2004, 06:22 AM
I can say this with certainty: I've never seen anything like that show - ever. It was quite entertaining and I really enjoyed it, but if you are considering seeing them, do not expect to hear anything close to what is found on their records.[/QUOTE]

Hey, Stone
Thanks for bringing to life the evening you just outlined. Sounds like a great time. I need to definitely get me some Fiery Furnaces.

The only band I can think of that I've seen live play "snippets" and launch from one to the other in quick progression is Guide By Voices -- although I think the entire band was pretty drunk by the time they hit the stage.

Thanks-a-ton for the review,
Bill