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The Official Riverside Thread


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So my wife and I went to Isle Of Palms (essentially Charleston), South Carolina to see Riverside on Tuesday night and it turned out to be a great little trip. Julie makes all of our travel arrangements and spent just a few bucks more than normal to book a hotel room right next to the venue (actually there’s a VFW building between them) for convenience. I was pleased. Both the Windjammer and the hotel also are RIGHT on the Atlantic ocean, so the views from each are awesome. Had Riverside cancelled it would still have been a wonderful (though quick) trip. We checked in at about 4 PM and walked to a common corridor balcony and quickly ran into another couple in from Charlotte, NC to see the show. The fellow mentioned that the doors to the venue were open, so we went next door to check things out.

 

The first thing we noticed was how SMALL the club actually was. It was probably 30-feet from the face of the bar (against one side wall) to the face of the stage (then plus the depths of each) and maybe twice that in length parallel to the stage (plus an outdoor deck overlooking the ocean). We also immediately noticed Duda and the other fellows setting up and milling about, so we hunkered down at the bar, ordered some beer, and waited for something to happen. For the next two hours we drank a lot of alcohol and watched Riverside run through all of their new tracks (the ones that would be played that night) multiple times. Very cool. I’m not the interloping kind, so I didn’t bother them to sign things, take pictures, or even introduce myself. They were busy and I was quite content to be nursing a beer and being able to watch it all, uninvited.

 

AT one point Mariusz mouthed from the stage “this is so f***ing boring” as the drum levels were checked and re-checked. At another point Duda, over the noise of the drums, mouthed to his tour manager “what time does it start?”, holding up his fingers guessing at a time. His manager flashed back 10-fingers (and this was the opening act’s start time, mind you)….and Duda’s eyes got big and he mouthed “TEN??” holding up ten fingers back. He subsequently mimed taking a stiff drink and shooting up and whatever else it would take to get him to such a late start time. Pretty comical to watch. While Riverside rehearsed, drummer for opener Jolly sat at a set of practice pads right in front of me and could often be seen playing along with Piotr from Riverside. At one point his movements became really exaggerated -- complete with the arena rock stick twirling -- and some of the other members of Jolly, who had been playing a game of pool, came over to him with sticks in hand and, standing over their drummer, overplayed along on bass and guitar with their “air” instruments, also in a very over-the-top way.

 

As the sound check finally wound down, my wife and I went for a lovely beach walk just before dusk and then back to our room to freshen up for dinner. On the way back out of the hotel, Riverside’s keyboardist Michal was sitting on the breezeway floor (confirmation they were staying in the same hotel) listening to music. As I passed he looked up and I held out my hand, shook it, thanked them for coming, and wished them good luck that night. He seemed surprised that he’d been recognized and asked, “Oh so you’re going then?” He was quite pleasant. On the way back from dinner I noticed Duda was directly behind me walking up the hotel stairs. At the very top landing I turned around, smiled, and extended my hand as I had with Michal. Mariusz was gracious and said it was a pleasure to be playing for us.

 

After dinner and a good 45 minutes or so before Jolly was to take the stage, Julie I found our way out to the club’s oceanside deck. A few minutes later Mariusz came out with Piotr (guitarist, not drummer Piotr) and Jolly’s manager and the three sat around smoking and talking just a couple of deck chairs away. Liking my place as fly on the wall versus interloper, I did what any good fan would do and eavesdropped for the next 30 or so minutes and was entertained by talk of travel, the projected size of the upcoming US tour venues, the time they needed to depart the next day, etc. Mariusz talked about the oddities of the United States, such as their first attempt to buy beer in a grocery store (unsuccessfully)…and how certain states have beer and wine stores and others have state-owned stores that sell hard liquor, but not beer or wine in the same place as liquor, etc. (Yes, it’s a pain in the ass, especially in the south. In North Carolina you can only buy beer and wine after noon on Sundays, but hard alcohol establishments can’t be open. In South Carolina no alcohol at all can be sold on Sundays, etc). Anyhow, nothing earth-shattering…but some whimsical stuff that’s pretty cool to hear when you’re not supposed to be listening to begin with.

 

The show was great and that included opener Jolly, whom I knew NOTHING about prior. In fact just moments before they took the stage I asked my wife why the heck they needed an opener at such a late-starting show and at such small venue. Seemed to be a waste. By the third or fourth song I yelled “I take it back.” The band was quite good, weaving very melodic lines with a heavy under-current and melodic vocals. At times they ventured off into the weird (strange pre-recorded voices sounded out during interludes and breaks in the songs), but I never got bored and was anxious to hear the next song. At set’s end I found my way over to their merch table and picked up one of their (three) albums. They also had a fine sense of humor throughout the night, often joking about the audience’s size (there were maybe 40 people watching them) and encouraging the shy crowd to venture closer to the stage. (I’ve seen larger crowds watching terrible cover bands). But they didn’t let it damper their enthusiasm.

 

Riverside was rock solid all night long. They played only 11 cuts, though entirely the same set list otherwise as their European shows. They dropped Driven To Destruction and almost inconceivably omitted their new single, Celebrity Touch, which shocked me. Thankfully I’d watched them perform this one a couple times during sound check. I don’t know if it was the late start time (Isle of Palms has a noise curfew) or the small crowd (maybe 50 by the time Riverside had begun) that led to the abbreviated set….but when they were playing it was quite good and they certainly in fine form. For 50 drunk southerners, we were all pretty loud and into it too, although I felt terrible for them that the crowd was so small. Still it made for a truly intimate night (felt like they’d been booked for a private party to which I’d been invited), preceded by an unexpected 2 hour sound check preview I never thought I’d see, so quite a fine night by any standard.

 

The next morning when Julie and I checked out of the hotel (whose lobby also served a continental breakfast), we once again ran into the entire group plus the fellows in Jolly. I nearly knocked a bowl of cereal out of Mariusz’s hands trying to slip past him to get to the front desk. As we departed I raised my hand to get their attention and thanked them a final time for coming to play for us and wished them safe travels.

Great review!!!

 

Only two more days before I see them. I think RosFest sold about 500-600 tickets, so it'll be great seeing them in front of such a (comparatively) large crowd.

 

Listening to ADHD right now, in preparation for the show!

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They were awesome the other day!! I believe they played the same set that they've been playing for the tour, but added Celebrity Touch as an additional encore, which was great live. I loved the new material, especially Feel Like Falling and Escalator Shrine. I know that some people have complained about the lack of a lot of older stuff, but SONGS is my second favorite Riverside album (after ADHD), so there was no opposition from me. I met the band afterwards, and they were very pleasant and appreciative of the audience. The crowd was really into them, which was not surprising.

 

Hopefully they'll tour the States again soon!

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Really wanted to see them in Chicago but I'd already made that trip the week prior for SW. I think I picked the right show to see, since SW was phenomenal but DAMN (!!!) I wanted to see them. Had the show been on a weekend, I would have made the trip from STL again. F'ers should have coordinated with SW ;)
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Got the new album, Love, Fear and the Time Machine, yesterday. After four listens I think it's a melodic, moody masterpiece. Not a bad track on it.

 

Favourites at the moment:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4QsbPV-n_M

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHU-LeDpR14

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mxYAHaKL4k

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=C1xhyBoSUwA

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It's definitely more moody than heavy and the lyrics are a bit hit or miss, but I'm really enjoying this and it improves with each listen. Favourite track at the moment is Time Travellers - spine tingling stuff.
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If you're not into the mellower, headier, melodic stuff of theirs you're going to be disappointed. Nothing resembling ADHD. If anything more like moments from the first album,,,(which they've stated). Had a friend tell me one if the cuts reminds him of Alan Parsons. Edited by Presto-digitation
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Anyone got the 2 disk version? The 2nd disk - Day Session - is very interesting. Mostly instrumental, ambient, spacey tracks. The first one (Heavenland) sounds like a cross between early Porcupine Tree and Tangerine Dream.
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I didn't. Ever heard Lunatic Soul? That's Duda's

Side project. Very ambient and meandering melodies....often less songs and more instrumental tone poem.

Certainly have - love Lunatic Soul.

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Just listening to the new album for the first time, and must say, I like what I hear. Never was a big fan of these guys, but this one sounds very smooth and mature (from my first impression).
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Just listening to the new album for the first time, and must say, I like what I hear. Never was a big fan of these guys, but this one sounds very smooth and mature (from my first impression).

 

It is definitely a more mature approach. Last album was too.

Oh OK. Thanks for the hint. :cheers:

Just heard the last track (three times), and it's so good. Love it.

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