Alan also indulged my request for a Husker Du tune .. I can't remember what song it was, but it was most assuredly a Grant Hart penned tune, not a Bob Mould one.

I never really liked Grant Hart.

oh well.

well, last night was without a doubt my best musical experience so far. I can't quite pin down all the reasons, but 90% of it was due to the incredibly flawless and beautifully executed set by the best band in the whole world, Low. Also, the fact that it was a fairly small and intimate venue, and I was with a couple close friends, just made it that much more wonderful.

Low seemed quite tense at first, perhaps due to in part to not having played in portsmouth before, and they may have wondered what kind of reaction they would get. but their worries were certainly laid to rest when the crowd (and it was a huge crowd) erupted with applause after each song. I was really amazed at the turnout, since the other times I've been there almost a third of the people listening were members of bands that were playing. during the first and second acts most of the people were either sitting towards the back or in the bar area, but in the time that Low took the stage everyone seemed to push up to the front, with others still wandering in to fill the back.æ luckily, my friends and I got there pretty early, before the soundcheck, and secured ourselves one of the tables up front.

it was funny how the bill fell into place, the first act was just a guy (guy scramble was his name actually) with a banjo and an acoustic guitar, the second, was two fellas calling themselves audio explorations, and then the holy trinity of Low as headliners. audio explorations was actually pretty interesting, with guitar, drums, and the occasional synthesizer. they kind of sounded like they would have fit in on that spacemen 3 tribute. that's about all I can think of to describe them. these are the songs Low played, though I'm not really sure of the order:

- I Remember
- Starfire
- Immune
- Missouri
- Weight of Water
- Don't Understand
- Violence
- The Plan
- Lust
- Joan of Arc (requested by jon whitney...hint..hint..hint...) :)
- Soon
--------------
- Tomorrow One
- Stars Gone Out

I was asking for both Tomorrow One and Stars Gone Out, and miraculously got both! it appeared that Alan didn't hear me ask for Tomorrow One, but Mimi did and she wanted to play it. then I was battling with someone in the back who wanted to hear Will The Night (was that you jon?) but more people were calling for Stars... so I guess we won.

even the length of the set seemed perfect, not too short and just long enough to leave with a feeling of calm satisfaction.

there were points at which Alan's guitar was a bit loud, as jon had remarked after, I think it was Don't Understand, but only when he strummed forcefully. the new songs sounded much better, less rushed (i.e. Starfire, Immune) than the other recordings or performances I've heard of them.

one thing that was bugging me a bit, was this girl with one of these fancy schmancy digital cameras who kept flashing them over and over while they were in the middle of songs (I think I counted 3 or 4 just in Don't Understand). it occurred to me a long time ago that this sort of thing must be very distracting to the band, especially Low, and is certainly distracting to the audience. I know I'm probably just whining and maybe I'm the only one this bothers, but please, I beg of you, if anyone out there is the picture taking at shows type (as I am), please have consideration and either use high speed film without a flash, or, if you must have a flash (like with these digital things) take them in between songs, so as not to jar the audience out of their blissful trances.

ok, I'm done. sorry about that rant. could you tell I'm anti-digital? :)