paris webcast ?

[angeleneK]

hello there;


so, has anybody been able to see the paris webcast ? I, for one, haven't (didn't have time, not to mention real player 8 ... I hope they really put the concert available on-demand as promised, tho) and was wondering if anyone actually saw it. how was it? did the quality of webcast blow out of proportion as it did (at least for me) for the shepherds' bush clips that are posted on the same site? how was polly doing? which songs were actually broadcasted?


yeah. curiosity makes ze cat. you know. ;o


meowr.

[Mentalese]

http://www2.lesinrocks.com/inrocks/infonie/pj-harvey/index.htm#

[Mentalese]

I strongly suggest that you all click on that link. There's even an interesting video clip of PJ and her co-producers (I believe) at the studio.

[gurra]

That video clip is part of what is at the end of the Good Fortune Video + epk.

[Tethered2it]

Hello to all,

I was able to see the 'on-demand' first half of the concert on my home computer yesterday. The webcast came in much better for me this time (compared to the Toronto webcast). Even though the site is written in french, it is still pretty easy to figure out. At the top of the screen, you can choose one of two icons (of a movie camera). The first "haut debit" gave the same crappy playback as the Toronto show. But the second, "bas debit" gave much better playback, whatever the hell those terms mean..no drop-outs, of sound or video, etc., like the Toronto webcast did whenever I attempted to play it.

I paid $20+ on the RealPlayer 8 Upgrade at the time of the Toronto webcast, hoping that it would improve the quality...but it still sucked the same as without it!!..what a waste of money that was! This time it seemed to work much better though, because of that "surestream" feature, I guess, which only showed up when I chose the "bas debit" icon for playback. (a feature of RealPlayer 8.. I suppose?)

Anyways;
Originally posted by angeleneK


so, has anybody been able to see the paris webcast ? I, for one, haven't how was it? did the quality of webcast blow out of proportion as it did (at least for me) for the shepherds' bush clips that are posted on the same site?


So how do say that you like the paris show more than the shepherds bush clips, if you didn't see the paris webcast??...I'm confused :t just wonderin'

So, without further adieu, here are the songs, in order, from the first part of the webcast:
[list=1]
rid of me...polly solo, with guitar-a must-see!!
wicked tongue...after the song, polly says "merci beau cou" (yes, I know I spelled that wrong!)
this is love
good fortune
send his love to me...done slower, in sultry bluesy style-very nice
After the song, Polly answers/corrects someone in the audience, with one word, which drew laughter from the audience..couldn't make out what was said though.
hair
place called home
one line...Polly alone on guitar, for the first verse, before the band joins in.
30...yes, she uses the skull 'shakers'!
man-size
angeline...rob starts alone on piano, polly joins in on guitar, with 'caressing, sympathetic keyboard' work added by eric d.f.very nice
whores hustle and the hustlers whore
[/list=1]

won't know the rest until they put up the second half of the concert on the website.

tethered..

[angeleneK]

thanx tethered for the report;

did I say I liked the paris webcast better than the toronto? ow. sorry. quirk/bad english phrasing, I suppose. no. I haven't seen the paris webcast as of yet. I know it's on demand,
but for some reason it doesn't work for my computer (i.e. I click : nothing happens).

perhaps it's due to the fact that I don't have real player 8 on this computer, that may be ... how come you were obliged to pay for it, I thought the basic upgrade was free... I actually <i>have</i> that upgrade but do not mean to install it for now.

it doesn't bring much better features than the previous version, the 'surestream thing' isn't a software factor, not even a recent version feature, it actually depends on (a) your internet connection and (b) the (remote) server stream settings and (c) the instantaneous net congestion/cluttering; it doesn't imply you would not have a crappy broadcast either, because you can have different 'grades' of surestream (for instance, you can have a 64.kbs stream versus a 12kbs, depending on parameters a + b +c...and you can tell the difference).

anyway, I have the latest version of real.p. on my mac laptop, and thus have seen the shepherds' bush clips there. and although I have a 56k modem there, and the computer is kindly fast, the quality of the video (for these clips) just... sucked. :g

I may try to get to watch the paris webcast on here later, but I was just curious about which songs were played &so on. I suppose the quality of the video will be mightly slowered by my connection all the same, so well... but I could give it a try.

I also have a feeling that... I want to see polly on broadcasted concerts less and less as the italian date is approaching. being her concerts ummm... allthesamestuffover&overagain (which, though being remarkably awesome, is also kind of disappointing...well, at least, to me...) ... I do not certainly wish to get to the italian date of the concert and be all..."<i>yeah ok, been there, done that... so what's next... ah, sure...good fortune ...</i> ;z"

or maybe I'm getting all critical &nasty &wicked tongued, and although I have my reasons, I really should just stop &disappear, uh? ;g

sorry. &many thanks again! ;o

[angeleneK]

but by the way... I got off my lazy hazy dumb &nasty ass, and plugged the thin mac in to the phone track... 44,6k connection, and the sound is very fine. .. weird fact: I went on the highway ("haux debit" ... whatever it was...) because if I must stick with a sicky frame-rate, at least I want decently sized images, and for what I was able to see, the quality of the video undoubtfully better than that of the toronto webcast. not a matter of stream quality (I cannot judge that) but a matter of "<i>film direction</i>", ummm... in other words, I think the french camera people did a much better job than those @virtuecast (imho, no harm intended), locking to polly in the 'right moments', spinning around on her heels (yes!!), slipping grinningly on her sudden sexy-lady moves &such. and most of all, they didn't keep the camera eye staring at her chin (that angle really make her look...um funny...). that for the 'visual quality' fair apology. it didn't suck (this time).

as for the audio, I'm trying to listen thru it calmly, possibly in warm slippers &one nice of tea in hand, so maybe tomorrow. I'm just not in the right mood tonight for polly, which implies I'm in the worst possible mood for about everything, heh.

ah. one weird thing. the godspeed stream goes up to 1hr+51 mins... which I thought would mean it included the whole concerts. what bugs me is that... it doesn't. I mean, it <b>does</b> go up to <i>nickel</i> but it...cuts it about midway!!! that'd be AWFUL! please, tell me it's a 'due-to-my-eternally-ugly-connection' fact again.

anyway, I took quite a bunch of lovely screencaps, and I might take more tomorrow. I will post them on my site, soon.

'night everybody ;o

[Missed]

The "haut debit" link is the one to use if you have a high speed connection such as cable, DSL or ISDN. If you have a super fast connection the video quality is pretty amazing.

The other link is for standard phone line connection and looks like the typical Real Player quality.

The trick to Real Player quality is having a FAST connection, 56k modem just does not make the grade for streaming.

[Tethered2it]

Thanks for the info Missed.. and hey! nice to hear from you again..you started in this forum around the same time as me, then just up and disappeared w/o a trace..what happened?


Originally posted by angeleneK
how come you were obliged to pay for it, I thought the basic upgrade was free...
Actually, it was RealPlayer 8 Plus, which is a $30 upgrade. At the time of the Toronto Webcast, I was going nutty, shredding my hair ;w in frustration: so close to seeing a PJ performance, yet so faaaarrrrrr..like, I would get a 'snippet' of seamless video and audio.. then suddenly(and much more common)..it would disappear. Heeyyyyyy!!! So in desperation, I downloaded the upgrade hoping that might improve the quality. I'm afraid to look at the documentation that came with it..it will probably just confirm my idiocy, spending money on something that gives me stuff I don't need and none of what do need..DUH! ;A
I do not certainly wish to get to the italian date of the concert and be all..."yeah ok, been there, done that... so what's next... ah, sure...good fortune ... "

LOL..
yea, I can see your point..it would be nice if she could be more impulsive with the song selections..sounds like your definitely going to see her when she comes near you though, huh? I seem to recall you being unsure about it in the past.

About the concert length..remember that only the first part/half is currently being shown (for the next few days) then the second half will be available (for a week or so)...though never both halves at the same time. Hopefully, both should add up to that 1hr 51min. time.

lator gators
tethered..

[angeleneK]

a fact is: the complete setlist for the paris concert (as posted on the peej.GROUP) is:

rid of me (solo polly)
wicked tongue
this is love
good fortune
send his love to me
hair
a place called home
one line
30
man-size
angelene
the whores hustle &the hustlers whore
dry
kamikaze
big exit
horses

[encore 1]
sheela-na gig
down by the water
sombody's down somebody's name

[encore 2]
this mess we're in (solo polly)
66 promises
(beautiful feeling ? ... was on the original setlist, not sure if it was actually played)
c'm on billy
you said something
the sky lit up
nickel under foot


yesterday evening, I connected to 'haut debit' (oh, I know it's an '<i>impossible dream</i> speed for 56k modems, but even the low debt road is a funny dream for us confined to shitty phonelines... the frame-rate on 'baus debit' was kind of flimsy too... at least, the highway showed bigger, not to mention nicer, shots... and I wanted to have decent screencaps, which I actually was able to grab...) and I went listening up to 'one line'... then I fast forwarded up to 1:46 and there it was... nickel under foot!!! just it didn't went up to the real end of the song... it cut it about middle way... I'm not sure why... either it was some weird error, either it was my mac doing magics... or maybe my connection again &again... *shrugs*

I'm not sure at how they split the concert, provided they actually split it... maybe they cut it only for the 'baus debit' stream... or maybe they cut some songs in the middle...
I'm going to check it better today (possibly)... has anybody with a speedy connection been able to watch the <b>whole</b> high_Res stream?



ps. tethered, the real_plus version might have features such as recording/encoding your own real audios, although I'm not really sure about it... &i'll get back to you(r email. later... sorry for being so late ;o ).

[gurra]

I have a g4 Mac, with a cable connection -- when I click on either link, NOTHING... I got that AngeleneK is also on a Mac, are the rest of you on PC? Perhaps this is the problem? grrr... RealPlayer is supposed to make these files viewable by all, but. Technology -- great & frustrating!

And when I click the extracts from the concert below, Photoshop opens, and tells me it can't open the file because it is the wrong kind of file. So I open RealPlayer, & use it to open the .rm file, and it says it can't open that kind of file.

[Tethered2it]

Wow, I can't believe they played that many songs(25 or 26)..isn't that unusual? I don't have a lot of familiarity with her sets from the past few years, but in my limited knowledge, that seems like an unusually long set..yes??

I wonder why? was the crowd REALLY good..or were polly and the band just in a good mood to play that night..hmm?

'this mess we're in'?..
'nickel under foot'?..

that's AMAZING! ;L

btw, FYI, does everyone know that 'nickel..' is a cover..polly did not write that song. When I first heard that song, I assumed she had written it. And it struck me as being unusual..like not, lyrically,being the kind of song she would write. Then I found out that she didn't..she sounds great on it, but that verse with 'turns out to be a bastard' bugs me. It just seems awkward to me..the words or phrasing of it.. Or maybe I'm feeling a bit defensive (bruised male ego thing ;d)

To answer gurra, I have a PC only, and I haven't encountered the kinds of problems that you and AngK have experienced with your Macs.


see ya
tethered..

[melodynelson]

Oh wow, the setlist is amazing!! I wonder too why they played so many songs...
I'm from Paris (now living in nyc) and I so wished I was there, she was so cute when she said "merci beaucoup"... anyway, I'm actually watching right now and "haut debis" means "high speed" and "bas debit" means "low speed".. so I clicked on "haut debis" and though i'm on a fast speed (T1), the rendition was really bad, like 5 frames per minute, and even the music was skipping. But now I'm watching it in low speed, and it's almost perfect, the image and the sound are in sync.
A bootleg of this show would be wonderful! ;)

[angeleneK]

actually, I had no problem viewing or listening the broadcast on my mac.

I am on a PC most times (lovely but class1994), but I have an iBook (faster processor and faster modem).

actually, both my PCs (well... that's mine, &my dad's...), and my mac were unresponsive or wrong responding to the clicks coming from netscape... while the problem didn't get in my way when clicking the links thru explored... which is likely due to a bad configuration of the server and/or links... bah...


as for the how incredibly far the concert went on that night (sweet lord, she covered the whole group of songs set for this tour!!!), a reason might be that 'it was a special night for polly'... appearently she had one of her friends play with her ('helping rob on drums'), something like that... you can dig more details on my site...


anyway, I managed to actually watch the whole broadcast today. of course, the lenght of the stream today was back to 56+ mins... so no sign of nickel, down by the water, sombody's, or sky lit up, which I <b>actually did eye</b> yesterday evening. and they <b>were</b> there, I'll have screencaps later tonight... I guess the people at lesinrocks/infonie are making <i>just a bit</i> of confusion, uh?


as for the actual set... I think I'm being over-crytical with polly lately, so bear with me:


<b>rid of me (solo polly) </b>
absolutely stunning

<b>wicked tongue </b>
big girl: bad lightings (aka. I didn't like 'em)


<b> this is love </b>
hey polly, rid of me was a couple of songs away.
so please, it can be <i>much better</i> than this.

<b> good fortune </b>
so that's better.

<b>send his love to me </b>
painfully slow.

<b> hair </b>
oh. you were mine.

<b> a place called home </b>
didn't she mention she messes this song everytime she plays it? well, I think she did. not actually a mess, but polly and band seemed to go like... "uh? are we lost?" for a couple of hens, because figuring it out...


<b> one line </b>
usual

<b> 30 </b>
oh yes. I loved this. skull marakas (whatever you spell it like)... yeh!

<b> man-size </b>
beside my usual 'damn you lady SHAKE THOSE HIPS!!!' burst, this song can't just be a highlight.

<b> angelene </b>
lullaby.esque

<b> the whores hustle &the hustlers whore </b>
oh, sweet darling... have you stepped on your own foot, with those pinpoint heels? 'the 'wheeee' part sounded a bit... funny, tonight...

<b> dry </b>
would definitely be my favourite... wasn't not for the cello... jee, nothing more boring and out-of-tune... it sounded so good on the toronto webcast, and it sounds so good in my cardiff boot... but what was that? did they replace it with a motorsaw?


ah... and for the songs I previewed last night:

<b> sky lit up </b>
lots of (perfect) lightings; polly on hitching high notes like crystal bursting. a wow.

<b> down by the water </b>
everybody having so much fun that it's almost scary... I mean, the song ain't certainly the happiest one...

<b> you said something </b>
very beautiful, very sweet

<b> nickel under foot</b>
astonishing. I do know this song isn't polly's, and actually the 'turned to be a bastard' piece sounds like soft out-of-place, but I guess that's intentional... no matter how, it doesn't skip un-noticed.... no matter what, you'll remember that... that a man (not sure who he is, not sure what it seemed, not sure how it done) turned to be a bastard... maybe <i>that</i> is that 'nickel under your foot' that you really but really shouldn't forget about...uh?

[gurra]

I tried the link in Internet Explorer, and it worked! It just wouldn't work in Netscape.

Thanks so much, AngeleneK!

[Tethered2it]

Confessions of a Polly junkie:

I saw the whole Paris show today (still perplexed as to why, when it was only supposed to be half of the concert, with the second half to come days later??.. whatever)

anyhow, I must confess...

I was a bit bored by the whole thing *shrug*

maybe it was just a bad day for me...or maybe I'm burning meself out on her; like I need to get away from her for awhile.

I ADORED the Toronto webcast concert, and this wasn't all that much different, so maybe it is just a matter of needing to put Peej aside for a little while. And normally, I would, but with so much new stuff(videos, webcasts, magazines) coming out, it's too hard to just set it aside, after all, how often have we had this kind of mega-abundance of PJ booty to indulge ourselves in?

don't worry though, I'm sure this isn't a permanent condition..maybe I'll feel differently tomorrow.

And yea! what is the deal with that nails-on-chalkboard cello on 'Dry'!..a beautiful instrument, but it adds NOTHING to the song, at least the way it is tuned or being played..I dunno..just make it go away!

Goodnight
sorry if I bummed anybody out :a

tethered..

[angeleneK]

oooh, tethered, you just saved my life, my sense of sanity being brought back home, yes!

iow, it's some sense of comic relief that I'm feeling now. I thought I was the only one getting those frostbites from the stream, I thought 'so maybe it's the weather', I thought 'so maybe I should dunk my head in sand', I thought I was being turned into some sort of blank oceanic puddle as I watched the paris broadcast and felt...pretty much numb about it.

do not get me wrong... the show was pretty good itself...I don't know, it was beautiful but... cold... static... uneven... unemotional... pretentious and... definitely soul,less... to me, most of the time. :c


maybe polly herself didn't give as much as she could during that performance, uh? maybe she was herself bored ... and who wouldn't be, after having been compelled to attend to every single damned pjharvey gig!!! poor girl ... :e

however, I guess it would've felt cosiderably better if I could've have, say, this concert on vhs, or with a decent frame count, rather than that sick 200 pixelated thing... I guess that would annoy everyone, after a while... &that's the problem of streams... there's no point in allowing a concert to be cast over the internet, if (a) the server isn't fast/powerful enough to allow a good number of accesses at a time with a supernice stream quality and (b) most of the users would not be able to actually watch the concert in its supposed format anyway...wouldn't it been better (imho) and more honest to broadcast just the audio stream then? pretty much same results, and less skippings...

and for the sake of justice (things to be said must be said) , I must admit there were a few remarkable exceptions in the concert set: 30, kamikaze, rid of me, nickel under foot were absolutely amazingly rendered during that performance.

oh. and as for the cello thing: beside the fact that a cello fits about everywhere, but, tethered, have you heard the cardiff rendition of dry? or well, also the toronto one was pretty good... anyway, the cello is there to build some sort of tapestry umm... kind of carpet,ing the ground with armonics and velevety sounds... howver, during the paris webcast dry the cello was completely out of tune and sounding like a saw knife cutting old metal... just <b>awful</b>... :m

[Tethered2it]

Glad I was able to help you through a rough spell, AngK.. ;)

I harbored the same suspicion: how the quality of the feed might be contributing to my 'pollyennui'..I only loved the Toronto show webcast when I was able to see it at the library, with their mucho better connection.

Maybe that would be the case for this Paris show as well..

I'm LOL'ing about polly being compelled to attend every single damned pjharvey gig!!
Too bad it's not like the theatre, where the star can have a stand-in take their place when they need a day-off..if only polly had a stunt double!! Well, she does..sorta.. unfortunately, she resides only in your fermenting imagination, angeleneK ;)

In spite of all my whining, there were some great moments, tis true.. like '30', maybe 'cause this song is still kinda new, and still relevent to her, having reached that age not that long ago..and a few others, including 'Nickel Under Foot'... I'm glad people have gotten the chance to see her open with a solo 'RoM', just like she did for us at the Chicago show. As cool as it was to see her do it again in Paris, it's TRIPLE thrilling to see her do it live right in front of you..

I have the <font color=blue>permanent goosebumps</font> to prove it ;L

I know lots of forumz peeps like 'kamikaze' live, but I prefer the recorded version much more..it is more soft 'n seductive there, where live it sounds a bit 'shrill'y to me.

Oh, and no, I don't think I've heard 'Dry' from Cardiff..having heard only a few songs from there so far..sounds like I should, people seem to swoon over the boots of that show..
I'll add to my swelling 'to-do' list

be talkin' to ya later
tethered..

[gurra]

What Margaret played on cello in that song was really not doing the song any justice. I noticed that it didn't seem to add anything, whereas my memory of the recordings where Polly adds cello/viola, it really does add a viable texture to the song.

I'm a guitar player, too, and lately have been realizing I've grown a lot. I was watching what Margaret was doing in the Paris show, and thought, hey, that's not so complicated!!! That's easy! I could do that! Maybe it's just the way she plays, she might be 'stingy with her notes' -- which is generally a great thing, but maybe the mix was just putting the cello out there too much.

[angeleneK]

I remind I loved the toronto webcast the first time I...well 'heard' it ('saw' is a big word).

but that was so long ago, &I was very young.


oh yes, I'm absolutely serious. ;G


&what I, matter of factly, mean is that that was barely the first time that I could catch polly live online and vaguely on video, thusly special like almost every single 1#time...


however, I loved it MUCH better when I was actually able to hack and record the video stream, and then watch the full sized file sitting in my hard drive. almost no pixels, certainly no skips, no worries about being paying for your internet time, plus audio &video sync, although on a relatively small window. that was really yum.

scrolling thru the screencaps I took (not html-ized yet, but for anyone who 'd love to see 'em, here <a href="http://digilander.iol.it/igniferal/home/radio/webcasts/paris/" target=_blank>they are</a>) of the paris broadcast, it looks like polly got at least a little effort in it... I'm afraid that the chomped quality of the video stream (aka, my bad connection) did prompt some sort of negative bias for me.

also, in another thread, &also, all different context, some1 pointed that 'down by the water' has become a clichè... well, that was one of the things I've hated of the paris concert.


'down by the water' is a dramatic, intoxicatingly beautiful song. marakas, heavy rimmel, glossy lips, and coquett.ish moves are part of the scenario. they send strong, inconoclastic vibes, the necessary tragicomic look (you see, when things get really desperate, that blue eyed girl bursts in a dusty laughter). so that.

during the toronto concert, polly sang, picking notes like violets in sand, the marakas swayed and so did her hair, margaret did sound, pearly backing vocals.

in the paris concert.. oh wow. everybody was having so much fun, thankyouverymuch. I found it just a bit disrespectful to the song. :s

ok, ok. I'll stop being a whiny tiny grumpy lady now.


oh, and tethered, I love the studio version of kamikaze WAY better... but polly did a great version of it on the paris set... she didn't sound like she was taking the song much seriously but (in the specific song/case) that was ok. 't was funny and overall good.

'nough for tonight. ;o

[Tethered2it]

Hey gurra,

a big part of Margaret's 'simple' guitar playing style has to do with Polly's vision for her music.
She wants the music to be as direct as possible..minimilism has always been part of her "leitmotif"..whoo..big word there...as you know, she doesn't like long or complicated solos, and her band members must tow that line. I recall the story of Polly playfully whacking guitarist Joe Gore(from the TBYML era) when he got too frisky with the notes. ;n

Btw, that poor guy: when I see him from some TBML era performance videos, he looks like he's DYING to break out.. he isn't given much to do after all. With most of the guitar duties being handled by John Parrish, he's left standing around much of the time, trying to look cool :h

Now, for that <font color=blue>whiny tiny grumpy lady</font> ;), hey! cut 'em some slack will yaaa..

You can't really expect every rendition to be all solemn 'n serious all the time..can you?

Remembering that alot of Peej's songs deal with tragic or sad circumstances, she's bound to 'get the sillies' every once and a while. Besides, remember from the interview 'sessions at west 54th' when she said that humor and horror were very closely related. And that she has commonly experienced the phenomenom of "laughing so much that it turns into crying, and vice-versa"?

So what have you to say to THAT?
I'm feelin' a bit feisty today..don't be alarmed :p

I do love your avatar, btw..don't think that I've told you that yet..

I totally dug that picture from the magazine cover: great dress and great headline too..you've added some nice flourishes to it..
*he bows*

bye now
tethered..

[angeleneK]

Originally posted by Tethered2it
Now, for that <font color=blue>whiny tiny grumpy lady</font> ;), hey! cut 'em some slack will yaaa..

You can't really expect every rendition to be all solemn 'n serious all the time..can you?

sure I <b>can</b>!! expecially I can expect a <i>ultra-superb</i> performance in that concert I'm supposedly going to attend and for which I've certainly already paid.

and no. I'm not being particularly serious (go figure solemn!) this time. I cannot be it all the time... you know. ;n





Remembering that alot of Peej's songs deal with tragic or sad circumstances, she's bound to 'get the sillies' every once and a while. Besides, remember from the interview 'sessions at west 54th' when she said that humor and horror were very closely related. And that she has commonly experienced the phenomenom of "laughing so much that it turns into crying, and vice-versa"?

point is, during the paris performance of dbtw, humor and horror were not even related!! I mean, I <i>do understand</i> that a good dbtw perfomance might include a little cowgirl and indians dance... it sounded like look we're playing our 'big hit' song and everybody sings along and nobody really gets into it... it's not matter of being serious about it... I guess it just missed that whismical, hysterical pulse that, in fact, triggers the above-mentioned 'laughing to cry' or 'crying to laugh' reaction.

or maybe. it's just me. ow. ;g





So what have you to say to THAT?
I'm feelin' a bit feisty today..don't be alarmed :p


don't worry. I don't spook easy.






I do love your avatar, btw..don't think that I've told you that yet..

I totally dug that picture from the magazine cover: great dress and great headline too..you've added some nice flourishes to it..

thank you. I couldn't help using that pic. I pasted and layered it twice to get a lipshape trace in the back, and then, of course, I put the 'A' and the '*' as to give it some sense of a 'angeleneK. trademark'. or something. if anything. heh. ;o

so ummm... let's see if I got how this quoting thing works. and if it works.