Oh Darling...ton!

Distance - Approx 7km time Approx 31mins

Dropped my wife, Sharon, off at a clinic on the outskirts of Darlington to get her sinuses checked. Teesside is not a great place to live if you already have trouble breathing, what with the smog and all that. I headed off for a run while she was taking it wheezy (I'll stop the puns). My iPod has been playing up loads lately so it needs a good looking at / bang on the table. the run was a bit of a struggle as the sun has finally decided to wake up for the summer. I ran to the town and back (with a bit of a strategic "sort the iPod out" walk thrown in)
Went to see Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros last night at Leeds Irish Centre, which a great medium sized venue although the lead singer Alexander (Why not Edward Sharpe? Who knows/cares?) initially said it was like playing at a Bar Mitzvah. Sound problems dogged the gig but the sheer joy that they brought to proceedings more than made up for it. I can trace a pretty clear route to how I came about them. Mercury Rev/Flaming Lips, Polyphonic Spree, Arcade Fire, Phenomenal Handclap Band and then these who have buckets of the Spree's hopeful outlook but sonically resemble a sunnier, hippie-er version of Arcade Fire. The lack of any set list left the moodswings in the lap of the gods, or rather the audience as Alex asked the crowd for requests which they, pretty much without exception, duly played. It was only the call from a band member to play "Black Water" that sullied the mood mid-set after a rollicking country-hoedown heavy first half hour or so. Alex questioned the request at first but magnanimously called for the band to play it. Democracy is not always the best way. The sound continued to deteriorate with feedback from vocals and I suspect the overhead drum mics but just about recovered, if a little quiet, for the finale of "Home", one of their better known songs. The crowd sang, danced and just let it all out throughout the show and one of the highlights was when Alex took a short break as another member led a slow but funky song which I'd never heard, delivered in falsetto a la Justin Timberlake. Much better than that might sound though. Alex jumped into the crowd to sing at one point, hugging and kissing the, predominantly young student crowd. If I did that at work I'd be done for sexual harrassment and I doubt I'd receive the level of reciprocation he did or it might be worth the risk.
There's only so many bands that can get away with such a loose approach to what they do but still retain great musicality, spirit and joy whilst soldiering on with a smile through the shortcomings and niggles with the sound.
Anyway, the idea was that I would revisit their first album on my run today. It would be perfectly timed for the distance I wanted and definitely helped me along for the first four songs that played but I ended up fiddling away as songs skipped and disappeared. Any tips on how to sort that would be appreciated.

Buy this...

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Watch this...

40 Day Dream - Live

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