pacificlectic : concert reviews & eclectic music news

(photo: Rebecca Blissett, from Vancouver show)

I saw Sunny Day Real Estate in Oct 2000 on the Rising Tide Tour (Bogart’s in Cincinnati), which would ultimately be their last.  I had a few chances to see Jeremy Enigk solo or The Fire Theft, but the shows never meshed with my schedule.  Seeing as I count the 2000 SDRE show as one of my favorite shows of all -time (Top 25 at least), I was soooooo stoked when it was announced that they were getting back together for a tour.

This was only my second time at McMennamin’s Crystal Ballroom.  The room was packed with tons of Music Fest Northwest (MFNW) people; so I’m hoping the hardcore SDRE fans got in.  The venue was set-up like most Portland venues with the odd barrier between the drinkers and the youngins’.  This was one of the rare shows of late where I don’t think I saw anyone younger than 25.

The opener, The Jealous Sound, were pretty good.  I listened to them on MySpace before the show and they seemed like a pretty good power pop/rock band.  At the show, the sound was a little muddled, but I could still get a good feel for their groove.  Maybe like a slightly less hooky Heatmiser?  I don’t know… they’re definitely worth checking out.

No cameras were supposed to be allowed in the venue last night (I asked).  Yet, when I get in (without my camera), I see a few people with cameras.  Damn me for asking. :(  Anyway, Rebecca Blissett’s photos from Vancouver will suffice as my pictorial show of the reunited SDRE…

SDRE’s set went by blisteringly fast.  They played a solid hour plus before leaving for a short break before their 3 song encore.  Jeremy’s voice was on top of its game, yet as indecipherable as usual.  I think he ranks up their with Karin Bergquist of Over the Rhine as misheard lyric contributor. :)  The rest of the band seemed really tight.  The “muddliness” of the opener’s set seemed to be cleared up.  And while Sunny Day haven’t been a cohesive unit for 8-9 years, they sure seemed like one tonight.  It seems like they didn’t miss a beat at all.

Setlist: 80+ mins

• Friday
• Seven *a fave of the night*
• Red Elephant
• Song About An Angel
• Grendel
• Shadows
• Inscarabaid
• 47
• Theo B
• 10 [new song]
• 48
• Sometimes
• Encore: In Circles *a fave of the night*
  
• Spade & Parade
• J’Nuh *a fave of the night*

They only played material from their first two discs at this show (they have played at least “Guitar & Video Games” off of How It Feels to Be Something On on this tour), which was kind of odd.  And I know, this may be heresy, but I really love their last album the best (2000’s The Rising Tide).  It’s probably just a factor of when I got into them as a band.  So, as far as the only downside, that was it.  But the fact that they wrote a new song as recent as a week or so ago… well, that bodes well for future album(s) & tour(s).

Sunny Day Real Estate’s Diary & LP2 (aka Pink) have been remastered and re-released by Sub Pop in 2009 (click pictures for info).  No word on a remaster of How It Feels to Be Something On, though… hmm…

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Sunny Day Real Estate‘s Official Site
• Sunny Day Real Estate on MySpace
• Jeremy Enigk on MySpace
• The Fire Theft on MySpace
• Spin‘s SDRE – Vancouver Review(2nd reunion show, 9/17)
• The Jealous Sound
• The Jealous Sound MySpace
• Crystal Ballroom
• Music Fest NW

SDRE on Jimmy Fallon (9/29/09)

~Dan – np: Pearl Jam – Backspacer

no free download or torrent available here

SDRE Reunion Tourdates

09-17 Vancouver, British Columbia – Commodore Ballroom
09-18 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom (MusicFest NW)
09-20 Murray, UT – Murray Theater
09-21 Denver, CO – Ogden Theater
09-23 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
09-24 Chicago, IL – Metro
09-25 Detroit, MI – St. Andrew’s Hall
09-27 New York, NY – Terminal Five
09-28 Boston, MA – House of Blues
09-30 Washington, D.C. – 930 Club
10-01 Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero
10-03 Atlanta, GA – CW Center Stage
10-05 Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
10-06 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live – Ballroom
10-07 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa
10-09 Tempe, AZ – Marquee
10-10 Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
10-11 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theater
10-13 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
10-15 Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
10-16 Seattle, WA – Paramount Theater