The Church's latest tour consists of the band playing three albums in their entirety.  First they play their latest record, Untitled #23, and follow it, in succession, with Priest=Aura and Starfish. The latter two are arguably the bands two classic recordings (although Remote Luxury or Gold Afternoon Fix might be in the mis for this too). This does them a bit of a disservice as The Church have produced thoughtful and engaging music all through their career.

This is part of a trend, a lot of artists are playing complete albums, from Lucinda Williams to Cheap Trick. It isn't a bad idea but there is something to seeing a show where you don't know what record the next song is from. It also excludes a lot of great material from a band as prolific and as long standing as The Church.

On a non-musical note, the folks at Park West in Chicago, the staff, are the most pleasant at any venue in the city. Sure, most of the venues have professional staff (and some, who shall remain unnamed, have staff that act is if patrons are a terrible inconvenience) but it is noticeably a step above even the good ones at Park West.

Above I include pictures of drummer, Tim Powles, because everyone always ignores the drummer. Which is totally unfair and even though I have been known to tell the odd drummer joke (What do you call someone who likes to hang out with musicians? A drummer!) I have great respect for our stick wielding brethren.

As a note on the photography, there was no flash used on any of these, just a monopod, varied shutter speeds and ISO. Why is this? I would like to say it is totally an aesthetic thing. BUT there is one, purely inartistic, reason--It is obnoxious to blast someone in the face with a flash at close quarters while they are working.  And while I may be obnoxious, I am not that obnoxious.

One of the records, often overlooked, by The Church, that will stand as a classic, as some years pass, is After Everything, Now This. To hear songs live you will have to wait until another tour.

REMAINING DATES
Feb 15 - Philadelphia, PA. - The Trocadero
Feb 16 - New York, NY. - Highline Ballroom
Feb 17 - New York, NY. - B.B. King's
Feb 18 - Foxboro, MA. - Showcase Live
Feb 21 - Greenville, SC - Handlebar (acoustic)
Feb 22 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse