I saw Marnie Stern (and her bassist and drummer, e.g. the, uh, band) last November, but since I'm really into her music, I checked out their set last night at the 7th St. Entry.
I swiped a setlist, and this is what went down (corresponding albums in parentheses):
- Cinco De Mayo (Marnie Stern)
- Transformer (This Is It...)
- This American Life (In Advance of the Broken Arm)
- Vibrational Match (In Advance...)
- Nothing Left (Marnie Stern)
- The Crippled Jazzer (This Is It...)
- Shea Stadium (This Is It...)
- Prime (This Is It...)
- Transparency Is The New Mystery (Marnie Stern)
- Risky Biz (Marnie Stern)
- Building A Body (Marnie Stern)
- For Ash (Marnie Stern)
I hate having to make these little comments, but it needs saying in case the 7th St. Entry sound guy is reading: As with last November's show, there was criminally little guitar in the mix, which is, well, half the draw of Marnie's songs. It might have been my position and the odd stage setup: I was front and center, which put me in the direct path of the bassist's very-loud amps; Marnie's drummer plays with such an intensity that a huge drum sound is unavoidable; and Marnie herself, for whatever reason, played nearly up against the wall of stage right, with her amp behind her and not in my direct ear path. I stand in forward of the venue's speakers, so that might have something to do with it. And while, fortunately, Marnie's vocal mic was louder than last time, I mostly heard her bassist instead of that sweet, sweet tapping.
But yeah yeah if I wanted it to sound like they do on record I would've stayed at home. Live shows are to let loose all the raw immediacy that you don't get when you're in the studio trying to nail a perfect take. And, sure, if I stood by the sound booth I'd probably get the best sound, but the live experience is so much more heightened and fulfilling if you're in the front row, mere feet from the performers. (It's also why the 7th St. Entry is my favorite MPLS venue: you're right up there versus, say, First Ave. or the Varsity.)
This wouldn't be a show "review" without a breakdown of the post-show, would it?
Last time I saw the band I got Marnie's self-titled third record and had it signed by her, so with my slightly-better cameraphone I wanted to get a picture with her. Like last November, they didn't play an encore, so while everyone was waiting around for one, I made a beeline to the merch area and was probably the third dude in line.
I exchanged the usual sort of pleasantries with Marnie and her drummer (I want to say it's Zach Hill of Hella fame but I'm not certain; I know he was the drummer on the record, though, since it's says so on the vinyl sleeve. [Update: A few people have told me that they're pretty sure Zach Hill isn't the band's touring drummer.). Marnie agreed to a photo op, and while no less than five people offered to take the picture (that's the spirit of Minnesota and MPLS hipsters), I make it a point to document my band-meeting encounter with a off-center, poorly-framed, self-taken photo. It's like using Instagram to fuck up your pictures. The result, with the brightness waaay up because of the cave-like 7th St.'s dimness:
I tried to get the drummer (again: Zach?) in the photo but my arm length can only get self-portraits with two people. If your monitor brightness is really high, you can see the reflection in his glasses on the left edge of the frame.
Also, I'm 6'4" and Marnie is not, and I did some serious knee-bending to get down to her height. People in line actually elicited an audible "Awww!" when we took the picture, like it was an episode of Full House or something.
