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Don't Ask Me. Have a question about OK Go/Paracadute? Come on in and ask away!

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  • Hi Guys!
    I've been a lurker here for a while and haven't posted anything here (I'm a bit shy!) but I'm so excited to see OK Go when they tour in Australia next week! I'll be going to the Sydney show and by reading this thread (yes all 37 pages!) I've noticed that quite a few of you have had luck in meeting the band before/after concerts.

    I was wondering what is the best way to increase my chances of meeting them? Should I hang around the stage door before/after the concert or do you think they'll be at the front entrance of the venue? Also, how long before/after the concert did you meet them?

    Thanks in advance!
  • QUOTE (jota @ Feb 8 2010, 12:53 PM)
    Hi Guys!
    I've been a lurker here for a while and haven't posted anything here (I'm a bit shy!) but I'm so excited to see OK Go when they tour in Australia next week! I'll be going to the Sydney show and by reading this thread (yes all 37 pages!) I've noticed that quite a few of you have had luck in meeting the band before/after concerts.

    I was wondering what is the best way to increase my chances of meeting them? Should I hang around the stage door before/after the concert or do you think they'll be at the front entrance of the venue? Also, how long before/after the concert did you meet them?

    Thanks in advance!


    in my experiance, its easyest to meet them BEFORE their sound check, which is an hour or two before show time, after the show is a mixed bag these days. if you know where the tour bus is, you can hang around there for awhile..

    best bet is before the show =]
    around the venue, if it has a bar, in the bar, or out the front/back where the stuff is taken in
  • Great thanks so much!

    I'm guessing the tour bus might just be a small white van rather than a big bus since they're only in Australia for a few days in 3 states?
  • i can only assume so =]
    it wont be the regular tour bus they use, unless they sailed it over there =p
  • Is is just me, or is the background for these boards white?
  • its not just you, i imagen it was taken down due to that being the old image, from album 2

    and when the forum gets moved, we will have shiney new backgrounds
  • Hey guys...

    So I've been trying to console myself that I missed OK Go's visit to the UK by watching live videos from the tour. Except it hasn't really worked, because if the live videos are to be believed, Damian loses all ability to sing in tune. I find it really distracting in the videos. Those of you who have seen them live, is it the same when you're there, or are these videos actually doing the performances justice? I know Damian CAN sing in tune, even live, viz TTSP with Notre Dame, What To Do, various promo performances, but in concert he just sounds different on screen!
  • What videos are you watching? Is it possible that they're just really poor quality, or from a bad night? I haven't noticed any out of tune moments and I'm pretty critical when singers are out of tune.
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45OQPpe4Rlo for example. This one really got my attention because they're selling it on iTunes...
  • QUOTE (Will @ Feb 27 2010, 01:35 AM)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45OQPpe4Rlo for example. This one really got my attention because they're selling it on iTunes...


    Okay, I just listened to it twice to make sure. He is not singing out of key but he is singing as if he were out of breath. I think that is fitting since the name of the song is "I Want You so Bad I Can't Breathe." I too have a good ear and can't stand it when singers are off pitch. Any other examples?
  • I may have been a little harsh in the wording of my last post. The tuning is mostly fine but every so often he lets it go on harder patches. And it's not quite as consistent as I made out... I think I had a run of a few particularly bad ones.

    But the one I posted does have quite a few in. Right at the start, in particular, he hits the "coat" in "raincoat" flat, and then the "and" after it is about a semitone flat from what it is in the studio version. The low note on the first "I want you yeah I want you bad" is sharp. The third "so bad" after that is flat. The highs on "running through the subway" and "in the light of morning" are also way down from what I see as the melody, although I'm not sure if that's because the guys harmonising are supposed to hit the higher note but aren't loud enough in the recording.

    The first line of the second verse starting at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_lxlqUdgoI#t=02m00s is another very clear example.

    And Damian seems to like belting out TTSP like this so that the most tuneful notes aren't really nailed but it's because it sounds more shouted than sung.

    I think the "breathless" thing is spot on. Trouble is I think he's used to sticking in pitch bends onto notes for good effect, but the way some of the new material is performed the notes are cut short before the right note is hit...
  • Damian does get a little bendy with his notes sometimes but I guess, for me, that's part of the charm. You have to understand that I spent my whole life being obsessed with everything. I was one of those kids that didn't play with her toys. I just sorted them and arranged them in rows and patterns. I always needed everything to be perfect. As an adult Of course nothing is ever perfect so I was always nervous and miserable. Then I went to an Ok Go concert. The sound was terrible because the place was a dive but their music and performance were awesome. I greatly enjoyed it even though it wasn't what I would have thought to be a perfect experience. And just like that, I don't need things to be perfect anymore.

    Yes, that line in the WTF video is off.

    He certainly is shouting TTSP, isn't he? When I saw them this past November it was not performed like that.
  • QUOTE (Will @ Feb 27 2010, 09:04 AM)
    The first line of the second verse starting at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_lxlqUdgoI#t=02m00s is another very clear example.

    Did you also notice that his monitors were not working? I know, "blame technology". But, if you need to hear something to make the right pitch and that something is not working, then...

    Another thing you have to realize is that Damian is a human being. He is not going to sing each song perfectly at every concert. If you're looking for perfection, you should probably stick with recorded music and never listen/go to another live performance again.
  • I thought it looked like he was having some technical problems in WTF too. At 1:38 or so he takes his ear pieces out. If you have ever sung with a band on stage you know it is very difficult to hear yourself.

    Beckysioux is right. If you want to hear the same thing that is on the album, stick to the album. That's true for just about any singer/band. They don't usually sound exactly the same live.
  • QUOTE (Sunnyside1334 @ Feb 27 2010, 03:20 PM)
    I thought it looked like he was having some technical problems in WTF too. At 1:38 or so he takes his ear pieces out. If you have ever sung with a band on stage you know it is very difficult to hear yourself.


    It's obvious they were having technical problems in this video. You can see Damian look over to Andy or someone off stage, as if trying to correct it.

    I mean, I think this is being far to critical. It's a live performance; it's not going to be perfect. And I actually prefer TTSP being shouted, especially live.
  • So I have to admit I was hesitant about posting my question because I know you guys clearly love to hear OK Go live, and I guess I was right to be worried. I know it's not easy, and things like the WTF performance get taken out of context, and live music isn't perfect and everything, but I was just reporting what I felt about seeing a few videos of a band whose studio records, videos, and even their live stagecraft and energy I really really love, and even though they may have been a bad streak wanted to know what people who know what enjoying an OK Go gig is like thought about watching them and whether they would have noticed the same thing at the venue. I don't think I've really got an answer about that, or if I have it's not the one I hoped I'd hear.

    It's all very well saying live music isn't perfect but I can't unhear the fudged notes and for those few videos where it does happen it's not watchable for me, and all I wanted to know was if it was common and if it sounded the same at the show. There are plenty of bands which I love to hear in the studio but do an absolute disservice to themselves on stage, and there are others who absolutely nail it live every time. Damian has set himself a high live standard with this album by writing a bunch of broody melodic songs which like other songs are fine even if rhythm or instrumentation are rough around the edges but if pitch goes sound like dodgy karaoke. He has no problem with power pop vocals or high falsettos from the previous two albums, but with the new style I have to admit being put off by a few of the live videos and am curious as to whether seeing them in person would change my mind.

    Not that I'm likely to get to see them in the UK for a while in any case...
  • All I can suggest is to watch more of the recent videos that people are posting. There are a bunch. Here is a whole set from Feb 18th and while I did not get to watch all of it, the quality of what I did watch was pretty good.
    http://www.youtube.com/user/helphaba#p/u
    No incredibly awful notes caught my attention. I think that if you watch enough of their concert videos you should get a good idea of whether you would enjoy a concert.
    Don't be hesitant about posting, Will. We don't ALL agree about EVERYTHING, ya know. I've enjoyed this discussion.
  • QUOTE (Sunnyside1334 @ Feb 27 2010, 06:53 PM)
    Don't be hesitant about posting, Will. We don't ALL agree about EVERYTHING, ya know. I've enjoyed this discussion.


    Agreed. That's what discussion boards are for. Even if some of us (definitely including myself) will defend our positions heartily, they should never be taken as a reason to not post.

    I have to be honest, I haven't really watched any live videos on youtube so I can't speak to your specific complaints above. What I can say is that I was a vocal major in college, and Damian's never been off enough to bother me in the 26 times I have seen them play. Granted, when you're in the moment and enjoying the show, it's easier to excuse little mistakes than it is when you are sitting at your computer watching youtube videos. And also, Damian's kind of a personal hero, so I'll admit bias. But I've definitely seen my share of concerts where I could actively tell the singer wasn't as good live as they were recorded, even when I've idolized the performer (and that idolization was short lived afterward).

    Live singing, I speak from experience, can be very hard. It's even harder when you consider that he's playing an instrument at the same time. I've hosted Karaoke too, and "dodgy karaoke" is way WAY worse than Damian. wink.gif
  • Hey everybody,

    I'm dying to get my hands on the songs from The Appendices... in scouring the boards I saw that okgocentral.com used to host them all- but the domain no longer exists! I also saw that there was a gmail account holding the songs, but the password cinnamonl doesn't seem to work!

    can anyone help a newbie out and send me these songs, or upload them to RS or something? It would be much appreciated!

    thanks
    justin
  • QUOTE (wrong_again @ Mar 2 2010, 09:03 AM)
    Hey everybody,

    I'm dying to get my hands on the songs from The Appendices... in scouring the boards I saw that okgocentral.com used to host them all- but the domain no longer exists! I also saw that there was a gmail account holding the songs, but the password cinnamonl doesn't seem to work!

    can anyone help a newbie out and send me these songs, or upload them to RS or something? It would be much appreciated!

    thanks
    justin


    I would greatly appreciate this also, please and thank you.
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