I am SO SO SO SO SO sad I missed this show!

Yea - they now have Thermals status... that is, no matter what... never miss a Thermals or Okkervil River show. No way. It's just not good for the soul. But at least you can take comfort in that they didn't do "Oh Dana." They did do a ton of great songs though. Oh, Okkervil.

Parental visits, oy. I hope Will's feelings weren't too hurt by my absence.

a (low res) sample of our video here.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7261953751593360431

my audio recording from Portland is available if you look around, Seattle will be ready soonish.

i would have loved to go to this...i even had a photo pass...BUT IT WAS 21+

Does TIG hate me or did my comment go into the moderation queue since it had a link?

That IS weird -- your comment did get marked as spam! I'm not sure why! We definitely don't hate you. :D

well, that's a relief! That's actually happened to me before here when I've offered audio/vid clips here but this is the first time I've noticed in time to mention it.

We'll eventually have dvds and hopefully streaming video of the whole show available for free for everyone, we just take a long, long time.

I'll fully admit that I was a little cranky last night from a lack of sleep, but I was pretty disappointed. Damien Jurado put on a good, if sleepy, set, despite a really hot mic, but Okkervil River just managed to annoy me at every turn.

Starting with the fact that we sat, packed in an under-ventilated Neumos for damn near 30 minutes after they were supposed to start their set, staring at an empty stage. Will Sheff finally deigned to meet his adoring fans, glass of whiskey in hand, with his normal bleary eyed look about him that suggests something akin to a methadone addict.

The band was great, the sound much improved from Durado's set, but I just couldn't get over Sheff's attitude. He barely acknowledged the crowd, let alone that they were in Seattle, except for sloughing off the fact that they were supposed to play KEXP earlier in the day but "just didn't" for some unexplained reason (entirely possible this wasn't their fault, I have no idea). He forgot the words to a few too many songs and basically gave off an attitude that we were lucky to have had the opportunity to pay to see him.

Don't get me wrong, I love Okkervil River, I just wish they, and Sheff in particular, came without the pretension. Congratulations, Will, you're finally a rockstar, thanks for living up to my low expectations, jerk.

Okkervil River set a tough standard for all of the upcoming fall shows to live up to. Amazing.

Sad, my comment is lost to the ether. The conspiracy theorist in me refuses to believe it's because I didn't exactly have nice things to say.

Hey Jim Ray -- I don't understand why, but our comment filters appear to be out-of-control vigilant today. As much as I disagree with your opinion about

;)

Hey, thanks, Dana (if that is your real (imaginary) name). Now crossing TIG off my list of "possible Illuminati affiliates". I hear they've got great benefits, though.

Jim, FYI the KEXP thing didn't happen because KEXP's board blew up in the middle of VHS or Beta's in-studio earlier that day.

I've never been thrilled by OR, live or on record. What can I say?

monday was the biggest bummer for me.

i've seen okkervil river every time they've played in seattle since i moved here 3 years ago (and they've been here at least 6 times?).. i was down to shoot them at KEXP.. rented out a bunch of photo gear, and walked down there in the 85 degree heat on my lunch break, only to find out it had been canceled.

i consoled myself with, "it's okay, you bought a ticket for neumo's. you'll see them without a camera attached to your face.."

back to work, then home.. my allergies were acting up, and i took some benedryl so i could rock out later.. instead, it totally knocked me out, and i woke up many hours later.. the show over.

the end.

That is a bummer, Laura. If it's any consolation, if you check around their forum in a few days (it's not ready quite yet) you should be able to find my audio recording. I know it won't make up for missing it but hopefully it's better than nothing..

I was very impressed with the OR show. I thought they had a great selection of songs, both old and new. They did a few off Black Sheep Boy I wasn't expecting and was thrilled to hear, and the encore was incredible.

They certainly took their time getting on stage, but they made it totally worth the wait.