Tours of Note: The Stills
September 5th, 2008 - by Eddie
When The Stills came out with their first album, I was intrigued. I gravitated to their soft “Let’s Roll” and the rest of the album eventually fell into place. Then I heard their followup, the dreadful “Without Feathers” and thought I was done.
I should have known better than to doubt former art students who are probably experts at reinvention.
Their latest release, “Oceans WIll Rise,” is an animal and presents the band we all knew was hiding inside the artistic hearts of these cannucks. There are soaring vocals, Cult-like guitars and a steady flow that’s been absent in the previous Stills albums.
There’s even a laid-back outro to one of their songs, as if they knew people would be riled up and needed to calm them down (if “Layla” didn’t have an outro, I’m convinced people would be running mad in the streets).
But there’s something else, something that gives the band more depth. On the song “Panic,” there’s a sense of the band diving into the somewhat negative feedback they received on their second album, but instead of spiraling out into a post-modern shame cycle, embraces the experience.
This is the backbone for “Oceans,” and proves the band still has a pool of creativity they can dip into. Sure, their past album garnered comparisons to other bands (and on this one they will no doubt be compared to The Cult among others), but that’s what this band does best.
Like artists, the reinterpret music in their own eyes and we can only reap the benefits thanks to their endeavors.
And as for their dates with Kings of Leon (have you heard “Crawl”? Put the Lean Pocket down and get it now), those shows will be a match made in rock heaven and shouldn’t be missed.
9/12/08 – Quebec City, PQ @ Envol & Macadam Fest w/ Bloc Party & Metric
9/18/08 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
9/20/08 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
9/27/08 – Montreal, PQ @ Cabaret
10/11/08 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint *
10/12/08 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues*
10/15/08 – Los Angeles, CA @ Nokia Theatre *
10/17/08 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre *
10/18/08 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre *
10/20/08 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre *
10/21/08 – Portland, OR @ Schnitzer Hall *
10/23/08 – Denver, CO @ The Fillmore Auditorium *
10/25/08 – Austin, TX @ Austin Music Hall *
10/26/08 – Oklahoma City, OK@ Bricktown Events Center *
10/28/08 – Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theatre *
10/29/08 – Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom *
10/31/08 – Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom *
* With Kings Of Leon
The Stills – “Being Here”
[audio:http://www.52shows.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/04-being-here.mp3]
August 13th, 2010 at 3:44 am
She never mentioned family, and I did not ask. I have thought about her timberland mens custom often over the years and how she struggled in a society that places an incredible premium on looks, class, wealth and all the other fineries of life. She suffered from a disfigurement that cannot be made to look attractive. I know that her condition black timberland boots hurt her deeply.