Anybody here ever heard of these guys?
Two young men from Ireland...
Oppenheimer
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ElfDude
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Oppenheimer
Aren't you the guy who hit me in the eye?
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Walkinghairball
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ElfDude
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Okay, I?ll tell you about them now.
Over in that ?Things We Do For Love? thread I go on and on about my daughter?s experience at a They Might Be Giants show. When we got there I learned that there would be an opening act. This saddened me. I?ve really gotten spoiled by Yes concerts and Rush concerts with no warm up band. I love those. Last time we saw TMBG there was no warm up band. So why did there have to be this time? I?d been driving for six hours and then standing around for three. Couldn?t we just see what we came for?
The act was called Oppenheimer. My daughter told me that they were a duo from Ireland. That?s all she knew. When we got into the theater, from our awesome seats we were able to check out their equipment. There was a small drum kit and facing it a nice programmable MOOG synthesizer. Facing the audience was an old Roland Juno 6. Behind them were two very ugly guitars. In my state of fatigue I had forgotten that we?d kinda heard them sound checking.
So, finally, out came two young men. One was skinny and had a shaved head and the other was chubby, had a baby face, and bangs down to his nose. The chubby one put on a guitar and fiddled with a keyboard while the skinny one sat down at the little drum kit, pulled up a vocal mic and quietly said, ?Hello. My name is Sean. This is Rocky. And we?re a very long way from home. We?re from Belfast, Ireland, and we?re called Oppenheimer. This song is called, ?My Son The Astronaut'?. And off they went.
Drummer was doing lead vocals, Rocky would alternate between his ugly guitar and either the MOOG or he would step up and start singing into the Roland which he was using as a vocoder. It was obvious that they were playing to a lot of tracks that they had pre-recorded, but it didn?t bother me. What?s a duo gonna do?
By then end of the first song they had won me over. Their genre was a kind of European electronic pop music. It sounded familiar but as I tried to think of what band they sounded like I couldn?t do it. Pet Shop Boys? No. New Order? No. Between songs Sean would talk briefly? shyly? subtle sense of humor. After the second song when the applause had died away, ?They?re very quiet Rocky.?
What?s weird is that I don?t really like this genre, but these guys were magical. I absolutely LOVED their set. As soon as they finished and started to tear down I left my seat and ran to the edge of the stage where I caught Rocky?s eye and called out, ?That was tremendous! Thank you so much!? He thanked me and I let him get back to work. A few minutes later I headed for the lobby and bought their CD. Since they were there I ripped off the cellophane and had them autograph it and chatted with Sean for a few seconds.
I?ve listened to that CD multiple times since then and I love it, but I can?t figure out why. This stuff just isn?t what would normally interest me. Maybe it?s because my introduction to them felt personal. Dunno. But I wanted to share.
There?s actually a music video of my favorite song of the evening. It doesn?t really capture the magic but I still like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOygoHSsN_A
Over in that ?Things We Do For Love? thread I go on and on about my daughter?s experience at a They Might Be Giants show. When we got there I learned that there would be an opening act. This saddened me. I?ve really gotten spoiled by Yes concerts and Rush concerts with no warm up band. I love those. Last time we saw TMBG there was no warm up band. So why did there have to be this time? I?d been driving for six hours and then standing around for three. Couldn?t we just see what we came for?
The act was called Oppenheimer. My daughter told me that they were a duo from Ireland. That?s all she knew. When we got into the theater, from our awesome seats we were able to check out their equipment. There was a small drum kit and facing it a nice programmable MOOG synthesizer. Facing the audience was an old Roland Juno 6. Behind them were two very ugly guitars. In my state of fatigue I had forgotten that we?d kinda heard them sound checking.
So, finally, out came two young men. One was skinny and had a shaved head and the other was chubby, had a baby face, and bangs down to his nose. The chubby one put on a guitar and fiddled with a keyboard while the skinny one sat down at the little drum kit, pulled up a vocal mic and quietly said, ?Hello. My name is Sean. This is Rocky. And we?re a very long way from home. We?re from Belfast, Ireland, and we?re called Oppenheimer. This song is called, ?My Son The Astronaut'?. And off they went.
Drummer was doing lead vocals, Rocky would alternate between his ugly guitar and either the MOOG or he would step up and start singing into the Roland which he was using as a vocoder. It was obvious that they were playing to a lot of tracks that they had pre-recorded, but it didn?t bother me. What?s a duo gonna do?
By then end of the first song they had won me over. Their genre was a kind of European electronic pop music. It sounded familiar but as I tried to think of what band they sounded like I couldn?t do it. Pet Shop Boys? No. New Order? No. Between songs Sean would talk briefly? shyly? subtle sense of humor. After the second song when the applause had died away, ?They?re very quiet Rocky.?
What?s weird is that I don?t really like this genre, but these guys were magical. I absolutely LOVED their set. As soon as they finished and started to tear down I left my seat and ran to the edge of the stage where I caught Rocky?s eye and called out, ?That was tremendous! Thank you so much!? He thanked me and I let him get back to work. A few minutes later I headed for the lobby and bought their CD. Since they were there I ripped off the cellophane and had them autograph it and chatted with Sean for a few seconds.
I?ve listened to that CD multiple times since then and I love it, but I can?t figure out why. This stuff just isn?t what would normally interest me. Maybe it?s because my introduction to them felt personal. Dunno. But I wanted to share.
There?s actually a music video of my favorite song of the evening. It doesn?t really capture the magic but I still like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOygoHSsN_A
Last edited by ElfDude on Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:15 am, edited 3 times in total.
Aren't you the guy who hit me in the eye?
How in Ged's name are you able to get folk interested in a band and I cannae!
24 views on my 'Newton Faulkner' topic and not one bloody reply! AND I submitted a video link thankYOU
Hmmm, inoffensive sugary sweet pap...I mean 80's pop. Where's the feel? Where's the substance I ask myself, sorry Elfie. I watched the 'Analysis - Men In white Coats (Live in Belgium)' clip...oh dear
ps: Thought of you today Elfie...they aired the 'birdhouse in your soul' song on national radio and my thoughts turned towards you...in a manly way of course
24 views on my 'Newton Faulkner' topic and not one bloody reply! AND I submitted a video link thankYOU
Hmmm, inoffensive sugary sweet pap...I mean 80's pop. Where's the feel? Where's the substance I ask myself, sorry Elfie. I watched the 'Analysis - Men In white Coats (Live in Belgium)' clip...oh dear
ps: Thought of you today Elfie...they aired the 'birdhouse in your soul' song on national radio and my thoughts turned towards you...in a manly way of course
You know I'm just funnin widja Elfie. To each their own an all that.
Perhaps you'll venture here http://www.by-tor.com/temp_forums/viewtopic.php?t=2796 now?
Perhaps you'll venture here http://www.by-tor.com/temp_forums/viewtopic.php?t=2796 now?
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ElfDude
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I read what you had to say. I'll have to check out the videos from home, rather than work (where I am now).Ogg wrote:You know I'm just funnin widja Elfie. To each their own an all that.
Perhaps you'll venture here http://www.by-tor.com/temp_forums/viewtopic.php?t=2796 now?
Aren't you the guy who hit me in the eye?
ElfDude wrote:I read what you had to say. I'll have to check out the videos from home, rather than work (where I am now).Ogg wrote:You know I'm just funnin widja Elfie. To each their own an all that.
Perhaps you'll venture here http://www.by-tor.com/temp_forums/viewtopic.php?t=2796 now?
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ElfDude
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And I watched, and commented briefly over in the Faulkner thread.Ogg wrote:ElfDude wrote:I read what you had to say. I'll have to check out the videos from home, rather than work (where I am now).Ogg wrote:You know I'm just funnin widja Elfie. To each their own an all that.
Perhaps you'll venture here http://www.by-tor.com/temp_forums/viewtopic.php?t=2796 now?
Aren't you the guy who hit me in the eye?
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ElfDude
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[quote="Ogg"]
By the way, the other day my daughter drew this picture of them and sent it to Rocky. He wrote back and complimented her. I think he got a kick out of it.
The guitarist is now using this picture for his facebook profile. And he recently wrote to Stesha and asked her if she'd be willing to do some work in color for them.
By the way, the other day my daughter drew this picture of them and sent it to Rocky. He wrote back and complimented her. I think he got a kick out of it.
The guitarist is now using this picture for his facebook profile.
And he recently wrote to Stesha and asked her if she'd be willing to do some work in color for them.
Last edited by ElfDude on Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Aren't you the guy who hit me in the eye?