If you haven't seen The Dodos play live before, do yourself a favor and check them out when they hit town again this week. Comprised of principals Meric Long and Logan Kroeber, the band plays folk, but with a kick to it.
It's no skiffle or twee -- it's just good.
Supporting their fourth album, this year's No Color, we wanted to ask Long about his first show experiences. He has fond memories of seeing Peter Gabriel and Stone Temple Pilots, but his first time seeing Prince.... Well, we'll just let him tell you after the jump
What was the first show you remember seeing? Were you with your parents?
I'm pretty sure the first show was Peter Gabriel. It was either him or The Posies. Both were with my older sister. Peter Gabriel was one of those megaplex concerts where we had seats way up in the rafters. It was part spectacle, part concert. That made quite an impression as far as my idea of what a concert was. I was really young. I think I was 8. It was just me and my sister and she leaned over and asked, me "Do you smell that?" And I said, "Yeah. What is that?" She's like, "That's marijuana." [Laughs.]
Was this in the early '90s or late '80s?
It would have been '89 or '90.
So you would have heard "Sledgehammer" or "In Your Eyes."
"In Your Eyes," for sure.
What was the first show you remember paying your own money for?
That was probably Stone Temple Pilots when their first record was out.
Was this in California?
Yeah, it was in Oakland.
Anything pop out about it that you remember?
Yeah: The two opening bands were much better. The Meat Puppets and Redd Kross.
Were Stone Temple Pilots really sloppy?
It was just kind of cheesy. It just sounded like the record. They had big lava lamps. I remember The Meat Puppets played literally in front of the curtain.
What was the worst show you've seen so far?
Um, that's funny. Nobody ever talks about the worst shows. Everybody talks about the best ones.
You learn something from both ends of the spectrum.
Yeah. I can tell you what the worst show we've ever played in a heartbeat, but I can't tell you what the worst show I've ever seen. Actually, you know what? I don't know if it was the worst show, but I left very pissed off. It was Prince and it was a long time ago. I think it was '95, maybe '94. He got up there and literally played for 30 minutes. We snuck into the show with some friends. I didn't like paying too much money. I'm sure tickets were like $80, but I was pissed off. The half hour that he played was good. He might have played two songs and then he played a 20-minute version of "Purple Rain." Everyone in the audience was like, "What the fuck?"
Then, years later, I saw him at Coachella and it was the most amazing thing. He played for like two hours.
Do you remember the first time you played Dallas?
Oh yeah, I can absolutely remember that show. I don't remember the name of the venue, but it was on a little strip which I'm sure is probably a major strip by now. The venue had a circular bar in the middle of the room and a small stage in the corner. I think there was a metal sort of venue next door that had a patio on top of the roof where people were hanging out.
Sounds like you played at Club Dada.
Yeah, that's it! That was our first Dallas show, for sure. It was us, this singer-songwriter girl from Austin, and then it was this other band that I can't remember their name. There were two people there. It was probably a Sunday night, and it kinda sucked.
