I debated whether to go to this show, because I already saw the Kings in L.A., and they have not put out any new material since that tour. In the end, my love of the Kings got the best of me and I went to the Usana Amphitheater to see what the boys would play. Bottom line: I’m very glad I did.
1. I went to a show this week, one of my favorite bands, Converge. And the entire thing is on youtube! They’re a hardcore metal band, and their shows are extremely intense. As in violent. I LOVE them. I took pictures and even video on my cell phone, but of course the video is practically useless.
I did a search on Flickr and found photos someone else had taken. I’m in several of them!
This is me while the opening band was getting ready to play. (Far right.)
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Jack's Mannequin - The Resolution (HQ)
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It’s the rare rock band nowadays that rocks a baby grand as its primary weapon of choice, but Jack’s Mannequin is that band. (more…)
Brendan Benson is a different sort of cat. He has a pretty folkie image, plays an acoustic guitar a lot, lives in Nashville. But every now and then, he picks up his electric guitar and reminds you that he grew up in Detroit and hangs out with Jack White. (more…)
You know, it’s really nice to see a band that is just genuinely having a good time playing music and is just flat great at what they do. That’s Better than Ezra.
Half of you will probably say I’m a Johnny-come-lately when it comes to U2 fandom, half will call me an old-timer. I’m a member of the “Third Round” of U2 fans, the ones who came of age and discovered U2 during the Achtung Baby years (as opposed to the First Round Boy through Unforgettable Fire fans, or the Second Round Joshua Tree fans).
The days of great U2 albums might be long gone, but I still shell out money to see the band play whenever they come to town. I saw them just a few hours ago at Giants Stadium (in the hideous freeway junction known as East Rutherford, NJ), and I have to say, while it’s been years since the band has made any relevant, interesting music, they’re still playing relevant music every night.
There are times, just a few as a rule, where a great band gets slated to play in a venue where it really has no business playing. You know, Nirvana gets contractually obligated to play the Puyallup fair, or U2 ends up playing at Kilby Court because no one in Utah has heard The Unforgettable Fire yet. (more…)
Addressing the crowd for the first time in the evening, Robyn Hitchcock announced that he would be playing “all old songs, or songs that sound like they are old.” Playing to a mostly older crowd, with a band (the Venus 3) made up of veteran musicians, including Peter Buck (REM), Scott McCaughey (The Young Fresh Fellows, The Minus 5) and Bill Rieflin (formerly of Ministry), it would have been easy for the show to slip into nostalgia, like one of those Vegas-and-State-Fair acts composed of one surviving member of a Motown band, plus others. Perhaps partly because Hitchcock’s music can’t be pegged to any one time period—it’s equal parts ’60s British Invasion psychedelia, ’80s new wave and a guitar-driven surrealism that sounds timeless—nothing about the show seemed dated. Instead, the show was vibrant, energetic and satisfying, though it could have been longer and I wouldn’t have complained.
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We got there right after the doors opened and snagged spots by the stage.
When you hear the music ringing in your soul
And you feel it in your heart and it grows and grows
It comes from the backstreet, rock & roll
And the healing has begun
The whole thing seems so surreal. I still can’t believe it happened. Van Morrison performed all of Astral Weeks at the Hollywood Bowl, two nights only, for an upcoming DVD release. And I saw it!
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On the way to see REM, I was apprehensive. Not because I wasn’t excited. I hadn’t seen REM live since the Monster tour in 1995. No, mostly it was election-year burnout. I was steeling myself for the inevitable political rant, at a point when I had pretty much sworn off all political discussions with anyone from either side. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have worried. Although the show was plenty political, there was only a single rant, short and sweet, buried late in the show’s encore. And REM’s saving grace has always been (for me, anyway) that their songs are mostly obscure and elliptic enough to ingratiate without beating fans over the head with an overt message.
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The Kings of Leon lived up to their hype and delivered a riveting 90 minute set to a star-studded sell-out crowd at LA’s sparklingly beautiful Nokia Theatre last night, where they appeared with The Stills and We are Scientists. There are few concerts in a venue like this (way too nice for a rock concert, really) where a band keeps the audience interested enough that no one ever sits down from the opening minute through the encore, and they just keep jumping around and dancing, but the band pulled it off in this show. They actually seemed a bit out of place in this setting, but with the crowd cheering their every move at full volume, they eventually settled down and seemed to feel at home. It’s a bit of vindication for this band to get this much attention at a large venue in a place like LA, because up to now, most of their support has come from Europe, and they have been relatively unknown in the U.S. After finally seeing them live, I like them even even more than I did before. If you have a chance to see them, don’t miss it.
This show was at the Wiltern, which is a sucky venue for a show like this. It`s a bigger-sized theater. I prefer my metal at small all ages clubs where if you`re against the stage you`re in danger of having the band step on you or stupid drunk guys spitting beer on you. None of this sitting-in-a-balcony, watching-from-afar crap.
So yeah, I got balcony seats. (more…)
I don’t know where to start!
OK. At the beginning…All I knew going into this show was that we had tickets way up in the balcony, it started at 7:30, and there were no opening bands.
As we were leaving after the show, my youngest son asked me, “Who is the greatest front man of all time? Freddie Mercury, or Rob Halford?” Some guy walking near us said, “Did you just ask who the gayest front man of all time is?”
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In many ways there is little to say about this film that hasn’t already been said. It is as good as you’re all hoping. (more…)
Sickening. Sickening and maddening. (more…)
Dax Riggs is an interesting guy. He started out in a metal sludge band called Acid Bath that had a pretty dedicated (if small) following. When Acid Bath broke up he formed Agents of Oblivion, a band that managed to be both heavy and hauntingly beautiful, but definitely not sludgy. Agents of Oblivion also had a dedicated if small following. Then came a band called Deadboy & the Elephantmen, which is more roots-rock. Their first album had a full band, but their second only a drummer and Dax on vocals/guitar. He now records under his own name and when he performs live will also do Deadboy material.
I’ve never seen him before. Missed him plenty of times. He’s one of my favorite vocalists, though, so I have really wanted to catch him. And his voice is just as awesome live as it is on record.
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“Asses will be rocked.”
-Justin Pierre, Motion City Soundtrack
The Honda Civic Tour delivered on Justin’s promise at Salt Air last Wednesday night (mostly through the valiant efforts of his own band), with a lineup that featured Phantom Planet, Panic at the Disco, Motion City Soundtrack and The Hush Sound. (more…)
This past weekend, I went with my wife and two oldest daughters to see The Old 97′s perform at a hometown in-store performance at Good Records in Dallas. The band, half of whom have relocated to the West Coast, was in town playing the House of Blues at the front end of the tour in support of their new album, Blame it on Gravity. I picked up the new album at the store and have listened to it through a couple of times. It’s a good mix of Old 97′s twang and power-pop. I think fans will like it. I’ll post a few songs to the Radio.blog. If I have time, I might write a full review after I’ve had a chance to listen to it more carefully.
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There’s some music that makes me want to gather it up in my arms and squeeze it so tight that it sinks into my body. I want to absorb into my bones, so I can carry the feeling it gives me around with me forever. Ladyhawk’s music is like that.
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DCFC blew into town Monday and played at Thanksgiving Point in a beautiful outdoor setting under skies that cleared just in time for the show. (more…)
News of the Death Cab album got me to looking at tickets for their Birmingham, UK gig in July.
Tickets are £15. Except they’re not. They’re £17.60 (with booking fee). Except they’re not. They’re £22.40 (with transaction fee). Now, if I can dig deep for £15, I can dig deep for an extra seven quid ($14), but something about the whole system bugs the hell out of me. So much so that I can’t bring myself to cup the balls of these ticket pimps. Alas for Pearl Jam’s failed crusade.
