Saturday night I saw The Redcoats (featuring the kiddos from Second Shift), The Silent Years, and Autovaughn at The Star Bar. It was only their first show, but The Redcoats must being doing something right already because they packed the house early. I haven't seen the Star Bar that crowded in a while! If you haven't seen The Silent Years, you really should. They were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! No wonder Spin chose them as one of the top 100 rock bands this year and they're on CMJ's radar as one of the top 10 bands to see. These guys sounded solid and they were fun. They threw percussion instruments into the crowd and pretty soon everybody was playing along. Do yourself a favor and go listen to them now. I'm not sure if The Silent Years were just a hard act to follow, but I was not blown away by Autovaughn.
In other news, you can pre-order Radiohead's new album, In Rainbows, right now. Believe it or not, you can pay whatever you want to pay for it. Always radical, Radiohead has decided that you can choose how much you value their music by how much you are willing to pay, or in other words, they're trusting you to be honest. Pretty crazy, eh?
8 comments:
This will be an interesting experiment on Radiohead's part. Are fans willing to pay $80 US for a package of CDs and LPs, or 'priceline' a digital download?
Their designer, Stanley Donwood, has made such bizarro artwork for their last few albums, I don't know whether to care enough to spend that much just for the jacket.
I'm probably going to opt paying $10 for the digital download and see if Radiohead's gotten any less strange since Hail to the Thief.
Good point. I think it's an interesting concept, to go on the honor system, but at the same time so many people are used to stealing music that this might very well just be another thing they take.
Radiohead is always a band that's up in the air for me. I dig the earlier stuff but the last few things have just been too "out there" for me. We'll see . . . I'll have to listen before I judge ;)
i was at this show. i agree that the redcoats were good. the silent years were ok but in my opinion autovaughn made both bands look like amateurs. in fact, i heard one of the guys from silent years telling someone after the show that he was glad they played before autovaughn because they would have made them look ridiculous. but whatever, opinions are like assholes right
Haven't seen the other bands, but I know that Autovaughn kicks ass. Wish I could've caught some of that, alas, Rilo Kiley pooped me out.
Ah, to each his own. Good thing there was some variety on this show so we could all be happy ;)
Has anybody noticed that The Star Bar keeps getting a lot of the better shows in town?
I went out to see Baker’s new band @ Star Bar tonight & I was pleasantly surprised to see the AutoVaughn guys roaming the floor. Needless to say, it was a good evening.
Baker & company, collectively known as the Redcoats (so new they don’t even have a myspace), opened the show. It was their first show, technically, but not really… it’s just Second Shift with a new bassist. But also a new sound. A new old sound, borrowing much from 50’s/60’s rock. Short & sweet, the band played a few new tracks, a couple of reworked Second Shift tracks, & cover of the Films’ Belt Loops. Cover the Films & you’ll have me eating out of your hand (not to mention singing along), but tracks like the Pinkerton-inspired slow-dancer The Art of Compromise (”Livin’ on the outside of your world… Leave if you don’t wanna be my girl… Can’t you see? I’ve been beggin’ you, ‘love me like I love you’ but a good song is still a sad song…”) & that one where Baker played the tambourine (I like to call it “the second song”) make it a no-brainer. You can catch the second show on 10/16 at the Roxy opening for Hanson. Mmmbop badooby dop.
The Silent Years followed, visiting all the way from the Motor City of Detroit, Michigan. I’ll be honest… for all the hype these kids get (not limited to Spin Mag’s Underground Artist of the Year & Top 10 Must See CMJ Bands by the NY Times), I wasn’t totally sold. It was good, but only a couple of songs had melodies that really stood out from all of the noise. They were well received, however, so maybe I’m just missing something.
Finally AutoVaughn graced the stage & once again blew me away. I love this band. Onstage they do everything right. You have to really do things well to win me over with such a mainstream rock sound, but these guys have the songs, the chops, the chemistry, the charisma & the energy. These guys are more than just talented, they’re the total package. If their Epic Records debut (which should be finished up soon) isn’t a smash hit, SonyBMG is more fucked up than I ever imagined. Their new material was fantastic & they played all of the best tracks from Space. Their performance of Hell Of a Place even moved me to pay for a copy of the old record. There was also an old dude rocking out in the corner like I’ve never seen in my entire life. Slightly overweight, Hawaiian t-shirt, white mustache, balding, & dancing like no one was watching. Arms cocked, knees bent, spinning in circles… I wanted so badly to take a photo but I felt it would be rude. But that’s what AutoVaughn will do to you. Good times, for sure.
wtf... I was going to comment & there's my blog on the show? Weird.
But yeah, I've almost had it out with several people that I know & love over this band, but for my money AutoVaughn is one of the best acts around. The bassline in the chorus of One More Time kills me every time.
And the Redcoats rocked it, too.
I've been really impressed w/ the Star Bar lately, too. I find myself over there more & more these days.
Thanks so much for being at The Silent Years show and saying such lovely things!!! I know they are great and I'm glad others think so as well. Lots of love!
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