Xiu Xiu at Bottom of the Hill, 9-13-08

Saturday night I caught the final night of Xiu Xiu's current tour. I've loved 'em since Knife Play but this is the first time I've managed to catch their show. It was good! Jamie Stewart rocked out like a rocker, which I was not really expecting.

The band, once a sprawling collective, is now just Jamie Stewart, Caralee McElroy (Jamie's cousin and the muse of his mid-career rejuvenation), and a drummer. The intimacy between Jamie and Caralee is lovely -- as always at shows with my outdated camera and unpracticed hand I was continually frustrated at missing chances for photos, but this time I passed one up deliberately: the look of tenderness Jamie gave Caralee at the end of "Fabulous Muscles" -- as his part ended and she played the final bars -- was held for a long time, but it was so beautiful that I just couldn't bear to use the flash.



There are fifteen more pictures, so you should click to...enlarge them for maximum pleasure.















There is no point in clicking on the rest of the pictures as they do not get any bigger. But do enjoy looking at them, won't you?



Caralee plays the trumpet while sitting in with an opening act. The opening act's guitarist rocks the sexy, sexy tattooed androgyny.



Caralee plays the keyboards, fiddles with a laptop, and also blows into some kind of tube idk.



It's a hoedown with a zither, ladies and gentlemen!



Jamie is a rocker.



Jamie rocks out.



Another picture.



Another picture.



Another picture.