September 6, 2007
The Frames live in S.F.
So, it all started when I discovered the movie "Once" a few months ago, via Apple's movie trailers site. I was really intrigued by the music, so I dragged the resident movie critic out to see it. We both really liked the flick, and the music really stuck in my head. My rule is that if I hear a song one time, and I still remember it 24 hours later -- I had better buy the album.
So, I bought the "Once" soundtrack on iTunes, and have been listening to it constantly ever since. I had a dim awareness that this movie grew out of a band called The Frames, but didn't really do anything about it. On Saturday, while hanging out in my hotel in Portland (which I still need to write about), I discovered someone sharing their iTunes library on the hotel WiFi. Even more interesting, they had some Frames songs.
I listened to what I could, and made a mental note to check out The Frames the next time I was in a good record store.
A few days later, it's Tuesday the 4th and I'm back in the office, and getting caught up on my RSS feeds. I noticed that there were some photos of the Bumpershoot festival up in Seattle, that apparently happened while I was in Portland. Looking through the photos, I saw that The Frames played that weekend.
"Huh", I thought. "If they were up in Seattle, I wonder when they're coming to the Bay Area?"
The answer: the very next day, Wednesday the 5th. And of course, its completely sold out.
So, a lot of frantic Craigslist work later, and I was able to secure a ticket, and go to the show:
The Frames, live at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, CA
The show was completely amazing, and well worth the effort on my part to go. I've been to a lot of concerts, but there are only a chosen few that stand out in my memory. Seeing Far back in '98 at Peabody's in Cleveland is one of them, and the first time that I saw Tool is another. Now I can add The Frames to that list - the show was just that good.
Not only are these guys all talented musicians, but they really look like they're having fun, and enjoying what they're doing. To give an example, there was two times during the night where the front man, Glen Hansard brought the crowd in, and made them an instrument in the song. The first was during the song "The Blood". He basically sang a few bars one time, and just had us all repeat it on cue. It worked out really, really well. It's pretty amazing how loud a whole group of people can be, and how well they can all sound, when you figure that the the vast majority of them don't have any musical training (I know I don't).
Musically, this band is amazing (I bought three of their albums on my way out - and have been listening to them all day), and live, they just have tremendous presence. I can't say enough good things about The Frames right now, and I can't wait until I get an opportunity to see them again.
More pictures (from my iPhone, forgot the "good" camera) after the break.
-Andy.
Posted by andyr at September 6, 2007 6:28 PM