Feist w/ Jason Collett @ Sattellite Ballroom, 2.07.06
I had the pleasure of seeing Feist last night at Charlottesville’s Satellite Ballroom, which was monumental not only because of the fact that Feist is incredible, but also because it was the first show I’ve seen at UVa since arriving here last August, which is somewhat inexcusable. Hopefully that will change in the near future though, as the Ballrooom have really outdone themselves, booking Of Montreal (for the second time this year), The Fiery Furnaces, The Books, The Silver Jews (on their first tour ever… sold out already though), and Mogwai all in the next month. But anyway, in keeping with the matter at hand, I got to see Feist last night, with the surprisingly enjoyable Jason Collett opening.
Collett, whose songs I had heard before but hadn’t really loved, turned in a great performance and really developed a nice relationship with the crowd, despite his apparent shit faced-ness. Feist even came out to perform “Hangover Days” with him, a song that on the album features Metric’s Emily Haines. She also played drums on another track, though it was one I didn’t recognize. It was also a notable evening because yesterday marked the release of Collett’s album here in the states, though it’s been out for over a year in Canada. Highlights were “Hangover Days”, which Feist came out to join him for, as well as “Fire” and “Blue Sky”, but Collett put on an all-around enjoyable show from start to finish. On the album “Hangover Days” features Metric’s Emily Haines, as well as backup vox from Feist, while “Fire” features the incredible voice of Stars’ and Broken Social Scene’s Amy Millan, whose solo album, which I can’t wait for, should see a release this Spring. Definitely download those two tracks below if you’d like to try on Jason Collett for yourself.
“Fire” - Jason Collett (ft. Amy Millan)
“Hangover Days” - Jason Collett (ft. Emily Haines w/ Feist)
As for the main event, Feist put on an absolutely lovely and very interactive show, to the delight of everyone in attendance. She introduced what she referred to as a “ladder system” for her setlist, in which she would alternate between playing songs from her fantastic 2004 release (2005 in the US) Let It Die and new songs she’s written for her upcoming third album, due out in mid-2006. This system was great, because I got to hear all the highlights from Let It Die as well as her exciting new material, which sounded great. From the looks of her live show her next album will introduce a lot of new elements, as Feist toyed a lot with looping her voice and even introduced some experimental aspects to her new songs, which sounded great. Most notable was “Sea Lion”, the final new song she played (and I only know the title because I nabbed the setlist), which was one of here more full, lusher songs more along the lines of “Mushaboom”, which is definitely a good thing, considering the fact that “Mushaboom” is definitely the pinnacle of her career so far (for a testament to this fact, see the results of the poll to the left, where “‘Boom” got the most votes of any of the songs on M3 Volume 6 in the favorite song poll). Unfortunately I don’t have an mp3 of “Sea Lion”, live or otherwise, so if anyone can hook me up that’d be absolutely splendid. As I previously mentioned, I was able to get Feist’s setlist, and you can go here to view the whole thing, complete with all of the new songs and their titles. All in all this was a great show, and if Feist and Collett (anyone know if they’re dating, I kind of got that vibe, I could easily be wrong though) roll through your town anytime soon I’d definitely recommend that you go and check them out. Download Feist’s chart-toppers below, as well as her wonderful video for “Mushaboom”.
Also, now’s a good time for me to draw attention to one of my new favorite blogs, The Rich Girls Are Weeping. I really love her site and I feel like it’s the closest thing GWFAS has to a sister blog, in that she obviously prides herself on finding obscure material from already-big bands (which is what I’m all about), as well as also finding hot new up-and-coming buzz bands to keep the readers coming. Granted, you might say every blog tries to do that, but yeah, I just feel a connection. Maybe it’s love. Who knows? ANYWAY, the whole point of me bringing The Rich Girls up is the fact that she recently posted a bunch of great Feist remixes, which you can and should go download right here (for the DoRight’s “Gatekeeper” Vocal Mix) and here (for VV’s “Mushaboom” and “One Evening” remixes), as well as check out all the other great stuff she has there.
UPDATE: Pitchfork just published their own review of the Feist/Collet collective’s Chicago stop, which you can read here.
MP3s:
“Mushaboom” - Feist [highly recommended]
“Inside & Out” - Feist
“One Evening” - Feist
Video: “Mushaboom” (Version 2) - Feist [highly recommended]
{Directed by Patrick Daughters}
Also, in a complete genre 180, I also attended the emo show on Sunday, featuring The Academy Is… and Panic! At The Disco with the ever-precious Adrian from All Things Go, and despite the superfluous punctuation in both bands’ names I was actually pretty impressed. Panic! At The Disco was actually pretty incredible and I’d definitely recommend checking them out (only if synthesizer-laden emo is your thing of course), and for a full run-down of the show, which also featured Hellogoodbye (fun) and Acceptance (lame), check out Adrian’s review over at ATG.