Yesterday, for the most part, was a travel day for us. We arrived downtown at midnight, making for some quick decisions on what to do and who to see. We listened and watched through cracks in a fence as we deliberated strategic maneuvers/trickery to elude security, but the end result was that we heard (barely) about five songs from R.E.M.’s show at Stubb’s. Those shut out, or tuning in from home have NPR to thank as they are currently streaming the entire performance. The band sounds great, as does the recording, and now the everyman reviews of the Accelerate material can come forward. Thoughts?

We played it safe and low-key for the rest of the night catching the 1am Bon Iver set at Maggie Mae’s, whose crowd and popularity continues to swell. It’s pretty great seeing a Wisconsin native succeeding on such a national scale. Other than that, I caught exactly three songs by Frightened Rabbit, whose last release Sing The Greys, was well received at MoB, and, in my opinion, rather under appreciated. Their upcoming record, The Midnight Organ Fight awaits my return home where it will certainly see some attention on this site soon.

Myspace: R.E.M.
Myspace: Bon Iver
Myspace: Frightened Rabbit
MP3: Bon Iver – “Skinny Love”
MP3: Frightened Rabbit – “Modern Leper”