First Ebba, now this?

My body went numb, my legs fell asleep and gave out on me. As I lied on the ground of the Irving Plaza Monday night, under people's feet, beer spilled on me, I found it to be a more enjoyable sensation than looking at that horrendous cacophony of nonsense happening on stage during Ed
Harcourt's set. Never have I been as bored, or suicidal, at a show. Neil, of course, made up for it, but that still doesn't excuse Ed's existence.

Where is the dude with the tape recorder? Do share.

I could not agree more.
And what the hell is up with a ten song opener?

Puhlease.

I have Ed's first album and the preview thing he released and i think he's quite good. But you guys make it seem like he sucks live. AKA 0 personality.

What's he doing wrong?

Please judge him on the Phil Judd-o-meter:
(If you're familiar with the original Enz member)
1- So lively it would make Phil get upset and refuse to perform with you

to

10- Makes Phil Judd look like Mr. Excitement

Judd-o-meter- 4.5

I can only speak for Chicago. He did seem buzzed so his vocals seemed slurred, and hard to understand. He mostly sat behind the piano and sang, but he did play the guitar lefty (right hand guitar, not modified except for being strung upside down). He needs a rhythm section. As far as openers for the other incarnations of Neil/Tim that I have seen, he was better than most, especially The Farm, Morley and Ron Sexsmith (sorry if I offended fans of the aforementioned).

Bwaa haa Chris - so you've seen Phil live then ?

Aaah well. To each their own. You'll catch up one day buddy boy - trust me.

-----------------------------------------------

Here's a really pants signature.
No seriously. It's really worth reading.
It's so great to add things like this on every post.
But there's not even a reek of jam - man.
Hooray for me and my long exit.

Lozza.

Ed seemed to have a major attitude on Friday night and he was a bit better last night. There was a lot of Ed-bashing going on around me. I would describe the crowd nearby as hostile. It was kind of upsetting actually, that Neil Finn fans could be so rude.

I was not the only one looking at my watch a lot during his set though, which is also very telling.

I wish I could contribute with a Phil Judd rating but having almost no knowledge of the man, I don't feel qualified.

Well,my 2 friends and I were front row last Thursday for the show in DC and I have to say that we all were rather impressed with Mr. Harcourt.I'd never heard his music before..and we found him to be really talented and entertaining.I'd definately be interested in buying his album.He and his band played really well together,and we were further impressed that he's so young.So thumbs up for Ed Harcourt from 3 die hard Finn fans in MD!

Brandi

Interesting how there are those of you who do like him. Unfortunately (which I've aired too often, perhaps), I have to agree completely with the feelings expressed by h7, at least for me at the San Diego concert.

quote:

My body went numb, my legs fell asleep and gave out on me. As I lied on the ground of the Irving Plaza Monday night, under people's feet, beer spilled on me, I found it to be a more enjoyable sensation than looking at that horrendous cacophony of nonsense happening on stage during Ed Harcourt's set. Never have I been as bored, or suicidal, at a show. Neil, of course, made up for it, but that still doesn't excuse Ed's existence.

All except the beer bit, thank G-d! I sat on the ground amongst the feet. That's an odd thing to do, btw, looking at all the feet. You start to think about stampedes and all and hope no one crushes you. But I felt safer there than standing having to watch or pretend I was enjoying myself.

It sounded like I was underwater; perhaps because I had my fingers plugging my ears - literally. If I had a watch, I'd have been checking it. It seemed to drone on and on and on endlessly and when it was over I found myself greatly relieved.

Admittedly, it seemed better each time, but never good, only improved disaster. I only experienced the suicidal feelings the first time, perhaps because the second time I was up on top and I strolled around while my husband held my seat; women's restroom, patio, bar, resaraunt. By the third time, he had improved enough that I could just sit there and let it go in one ear and out the other without too much irritation. The fourth time, I stood, leaning on the barricade in front of the stage and listened, while my mind wandered off somewhere else, safe.

I wonder why this guy provokes such polarized reviews by Neil's fans. Odd, isn't it?

As I stated before, I wish I didn't feel this way, but I must be honest. I do wish him well, and hope he learns whatever it is he needs to, in order to do so.

shalom,
Kim

I agree....I had a hard time dealing with his set. First off, its awfully hard to entertain a crowd being the opening act....unless you get lucky, chances are the opening act is someone not that good. 2) Ed, add some more instruments to the mix...the piano, guitar and horn player (who I thought was good) need to have some drums or something added. 3) His setlist was somewhat long. I think the people in Philly were patient with him but by the time he was off stage I know I said to myself "FINALLY!".

Count me as another clock-watcher to his performance.

I'm with most folks here. I wanted to like him, but found nothing unique about him. He looked like the little I've seen of Elliott Smith... actually, I started thinking Duran Duran/Robert Smith hair. If you guys don't like Lisa's hair, check out Ed. He hasn't combed it since cars had to be cranked. Not that he's about his hair.

He's supposed to be about his music, but there was nothing unique there either. At times, I felt like he was impersonating people I could recognise... like hey that sounds like that piano-playing Wainright guy what's his name. And at times it sounded like some sort of 80s reject with the whining and mumbling and trumpet and dense musical texture with no message.

I also remember feeling like the words I could make out didn't match the feeling of the song. I think one thing many of us like about Neil is that we don't just have catchy songs and nice words. We often if not always have songs that are a mood, tell a story, and the music matches what he's trying to say. I didn't get that sense from Ed. My sense was that he's torn between the 3-minute popular song and 12-minute jazz wandering but he really didn't approximate either.

But those are just my feelings!

you all should see him w/ a full band before you fully judge him. i'm not sure why he doesn't have his band on this opening tour, but he did earlier this year in his small US tour, and they sounded brilliant.

y'all are being pretty harsh. sure i wasn't like jazzed during his set at Chicago, but it was FAR from bad. i genuinely like his music, so even tho it was missing the full band element, i really enjoyed it. had a nice jazzy feel to it, and was a good way to open for neil imo.

sorry not everyone dug him, but wait'll you see him in his element before you fully write him off.

not that i travelled so many miles to check out the opening act, but i was afraid that ed would suck so bad because of all the horrible things i read about him...

i was surprised, with relief, that he didn't suck so bad.....

...i couldn't care less about his hair

...i love attitude

and his music actually got me moving....

(~~~unlike school of fish, sheryl crow or ebba forsberg (previous openers i've seen for ch or n. finn)~~~)

...and thinking and listening....i was up front. i'd heard he mumbled alot and didn't know what to take into account, his own supposed apathy or a bad sound system on the venue's part...i really wanted to give this guy a chance!!!!

just had to chime in my bit in defense of this guy who's actually doing it, rather than talking about it....

...just another opinion from someone who's talking about it, rather than doing it....

Did anyone see the shows Neil did with Dave Dobbyn? Now he was a good opener. Dave writes good songs, Ed Harcourt writes bad ones. With or without extra musicians to cover it up. All of his songs come across as insincere and self-indulgent.

Sorry about all this bitterness, but I think it's terrible when someone with such little talent gets such exposure. But so goes popular music for the past fifty-or-so years...

Also, I really didn't appreciate his little Tom Waits rip-off song. Tom should sue him (thanks Josh).

Sorry, but not being mind readers or clairvoyant, we're not able to judge anything more than what we've seen.

Just remember Neil is great with a large band, trio, and acoustic solo. True talent doesn't need a lot of window dressing, IMHO.

We're not saying that you have no right to like him, because you do. We're only stating our opinions thus far. It's possible they could change under other circumstances, but not at this point.

Please don't take this personally. It's certainly not an attack on you or anyone else who likes him. It's actually not even an attack on him, either. It's our opinions, right or wrong.

Have you ever heard the expression, "Feelings are neither right nor wrong, they just are"? It's the same thing with opinions, because they're based on feelings.

It's not a big deal, really. Chin up. Diversity is what makes the world go round.

shalom,
Kim

quote:

Originally posted by h7:
[qb]Did anyone see the shows Neil did with Dave Dobbyn? Now he was a good opener. Dave writes good songs, Ed Harcourt writes bad ones. With or without extra musicians to cover it up. All of his songs come across as insincere and self-indulgent.
[/qb]

It's really not fair to compare Ed to Dave Dobbyn. DD should be incredibly popular if the world was a right and fair place. It'd be great if DD made more shows outside NZ. DD's Hopetown album is incredible, and unavailable in the US. :-( I did see David Kilgour (of the Clean) a few months back. He'd have made a great, if really strange, opening act for Neil.

I've got to admit though, EH, was far from the worst opening act I've seen.

quote:

But so goes popular music for the past fifty-or-so years...

only 50 years? wow...

yeah, i now remember seeing dave d. as an opener... (had to travel just as far to see that show, also...)i had forgotten....boring=OPINION

kim, who is "you"? the people that didn't find ed so horrible? well, of course it's all based on opinion, there are no right or wrongs, that's why we're speaking, to share our opinions, that we didn't find him so horrible...JUST OPINIONS ~~~ good grief....i agree, nothing to get so uptight about, that's why i initially started posting in the first place... diversity...a truly beautiful thing

this shouldn't be in neil's category anyway....that's what i'm feeling so guilty about right now

quote:

I've got to admit though, EH, was far from the worst opening act I've seen.

Oh you are SO RIGHT!!!!! WAY BACK in the LATE 70's, my husband and I went to see The Cars at the Universal Amphitheater and their opening act was two guys called "Suicide" and BOY DID THEY MAKE YOU WANT TO DO IT! OY!!!!! So I guess, I can SAFELY say that Ed isn't the WORST opening act we've seen, haha.

Afterward we decided that they (The Cars) chose to have them open for them, to make them look all the better. Unlike Neil, who can do any variation of any of his songs and be totally creative and spontaneous, they played every song EXACTLY like they were on their ALBUM! It was SO STERILE!

NO ONE gives you a concert like NEIL!

shalom,
Kim

"even" were the openers when neil played the forum in melbourne last year. now THAT was a support gig.

i've said this on the list - i really like ed. i'd have to agree that he's not on par with neil, and i don't always think his lyrics fit, but i think he writes some really gorgeous songs. i think a big part of the adverse reaction to him is that people largely don't know him or his music, and given that his material tends to be pretty lo-fi, you really benefit from knowing it from the album first.

that said, my grrl saw him play before neil at the filmore and was charmed off her feet. and she has excellent taste. what can i say

During EH's set in DC, I actually started to wonder: What is the purpose of an opening act?

If it's to render more than half the audience comatose, he did a great job!

Snore.

Seriously, he wasn't horrific, but was he supposed to be getting us ready to see Neil? Never-ending, droning ballads don't seem to be logic choices for that assignment, ya think?

I respect that it takes guts to get on stage, and that all performers can have a bad night. Unfortunately, he bored the hell outta me. Very monotone slow songs for the most part that seem to go on, and on, and on. He did have a full band for a couple songs too, so that wasn't it. When he tried Ed's voice was alright (kind of a Pete Yorn meets Jeff Buckley).

I thought the Philly audience was more than polite to him, but when one person yelled out something that he didn't like (I didn't hear it personally) Ed was offended, and mockingly said "I piss on you". I got a kick though outta him also starting his set by saying this was the first sober show he had ever done. Maybe that was his problem.

A few of my friends have said that his cd is really good, and they don't understand why his live act was bad. Dunno if I wanna drop the $ for his cd. I'll think about it though.