Video of 'Here come the spacemen" from Philly :
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=48N2O52B

Here's a picture I took after the gig in Philly.
From left to right : Sibyl Buck, Jen Turner, Greg Wiz, JA, Kraig Johnson

The first gig of the tour was in Philly in this odd venue (anyway for us, frenchies ), World Cafe Live, where you can eat and watch a rock gig! Despite the table noises, the venue was great with a really big stage where Joseph could run all around! Indeed, the most surprising thing with this band tour is to discover a new Joseph, liberating of playing guitar on many songs, running, jumping, dancing, playing tambourine in a silly way and make many other oddities from outer space.

From the first song, we could feel the fun the musicians had.
They played Nuclear Daydream in its entirety as everybody knows.
Among the highlights:
Slide away : with the final where Joseph sings in an incredible way
Electrical storm : some people here know that I'm not a big fan of the song in its studio version. I mean it's a good song but on the cd I find it too long and I feel bored after 2 minutes. This live version is totally different with a great G.Wiz drumming without sticks at the beginning and the chorus with the guitar riff sounds so good. And Joseph shouting at the end... It rocks!
Don't tell your eyes : Joseph asked to forget the meaning of the lyrics about Jesus and to sing the chorus with him. Kind of a gospel mood. Rock'n roll is a church!
Woman : one of the song I prefer on Nuclear Daydream and one of my favorite in this gig too. Really rhythmic! Nobody can't resist to dance or move on this song. These seated gigs really suck. Joseph is on tambourine on this one.
Nuclear daydream : a beautiful song, I'm sure everyone knew it before. Kraig played the acoustic guitar and Joseph is on vocals only. Everyone should go to a concert just to hear Joseph sing 'the days when I would die for you are now gone'. That are not only words but it gets a deep and fully emotional meaning in the way Joseph sings this line. Plus a haunting guitar by Jen Turner.
Tattoo : with a great guitar riff
Here come the spacemen : the new song of the gig. Watch the clip posted above.
Cocaine fit/fiend : the song was played in Zurich last year but the live version gets revised lyrics. This is a great moment with the band playing all together.
Honey and the moon : with Joseph making the audience sing along with him.

Joseph was really talkative and joked all the gig long about people having dinner, about bangers & mash or Lost (the TV serie)... and many other things that unfortunately I couldn't understand because of my knowledge in english
He joked and introduced the band as the "Forget me not's" and also proposed 'Bangers & mash'
For the encore, Joseph came with his white suit and Sibyl changed his long white dress for sexy 'rompers' naked legs and red boots. The encores were definitely really great Even Joseph was amazed and joked about the fact Sibyl had to stay behind.
There was a big screen behind the stage and they projected Stanley Kubrick's "2001 : A space oddity" during the gig (the same film was projected in Hoboken & New York but in Boston the film was Stanley Kubrick's "Clockwork orange").

As a long basic JA fan, I was first a little scared to see Joseph touring with a band but after this gig I'm now totally under the spell. It's really confusing at first because this Joseph is not the one we're used to see on stage. But this is real fun.
The 5 guys came after the show at the merch table as you can see on the picture posted above. Joseph is still available for the fans, even signing on the chest of a guy, holding the pen at the fingertip and drawing with a grimace. Really funny moment

It was also great to meet and chat with people on table with us. Hello to you all if ever you come and read this !

End of day 1...

Great picture! Too bad the girls didn't come out in Boston.

Thanks for the video! Much better than my Boston Spacemen Love that song!

I've never been to the World Cafe. What capacity does it have? Those small venues often have dinner service attached. It's the same in the Paradise Lounge (which is a venue with a capacity of 150). Joseph's rock show just screams for mid-sized venues with no tables.



Totally agree on that - that is incredible

The Cocaine song reminds me very much of HTV, btw. It would have fit well on that disc. I really enjoyed that one.

So interesting how everybody has different favorites on ND. I'm the reverse with Electrical Storm and Women. To me Woman is the weakest track on the album and it didn't convince me live either.

Thanks for the review!

There's a short interview piece that was recorded in Philly for WXPN here.

(I've also added a link to the radio sessions thread.)

Also coming up on World Cafe from WXPN/NPR -

Joseph Arthur ( Oct. 18 )

From previous sessions it looks like this could run for 30-40 mins and include interview and (hopefully) live performance from World Cafe. Something to keep an eye on!

This show is being aired on WFUV tonight approx 10-11PM ....

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18
10 PM-Midnight, The World Café: Singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur joins host David Dye on the World Cafe. He has just released his fifth album, Nuclear Daydream, which seamlessly weaves themes of love and loss. Arthur is also celebrating the launch of his new label, Lonely Astronaut. In the second hour, there's an outstanding session from Mavis Staples as part of our 15th anniversary celebration!

.... and should be available from the NPR World Cafe page soon-ish.

It's here now .... from the sound of it the tracks are in-studio performances, so perhaps the only link to this Philly thread is the World Cafe title(?). Here's the blurb including setlist anyway - Joseph talks about the Uganda project and lots more new names for the band come up!!

In Performance Joseph Arthur: Ethereal Elegance
by David Dye

Set List
"When I Was Running Out of Time"
"Don't Tell Your Eyes"
"Nuclear Daydream"
"Spaceman"

World Cafe, October 18, 2006
Joseph Arthur's music has an ethereal elegance to it, featuring simple melodies and soaring vocal harmonies. Each song has its own driving force -- a wistful backup groove, a driving guitar riff or Arthur's own mournful voice. His music sounds heavily influenced by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and Coldplay's Chris Martin, but the inspiration may not be entirely one-sided.

Arthur was discovered by Peter Gabriel in the mid-'90s, at which point he left his native Akron, Ohio. Since then, Arthur has released several albums and toured in support of a remarkable list of musicians, including R.E.M., Coldplay, Ben Harper and Tracy Chapman. He won a Grammy in 1999 for the artwork and packaging of his EP Vacancy; this year, Arthur presented his own art exhibit at a gallery in London and performed on The Late Show with David Letterman. His fifth album, Nuclear Daydream, came out in September.

The World Cafe is a radio program produced by WXPN in Philly, at the University of Pennsylvania, and distributed nationally by NPR.

Folks can look up their local broadcast schedule here. In Boston it will be on tonight from 9 to 11pm on WUMB 91.9.

Does anybody else find this as funny as I do? That David Dye makes me giggle.

Maybe someone else wrote the blurb. It better be!