Concert Review: Ladytron 6/13
(Photo courtesy of Karen C.)
Ladytron's Mira Aroyo (center) with Daniel Hunt (left), Reuben Wu (right) and Helen Marnie's hair (at the top right corner)
Band:
LadytronDate: June 2008, Friday the 13th
The night was young. Datarock took the floor right at half past eight and had our attention the whole time they graced our presence. It was the first time an opening band was worth seeing rather than making a beer run or a potty break (as in bathroom). The Norwegian foursome were dressed in red sweatsuits Royal Tenenbaums style and perhaps sporting the commando look (for one of them at least). We were amused with their songs inspired by Molly Ringwald and E.T. and had as much energy as they did. From devout fans reciting every word to people like me amazed with the drummer, who was a show stealer, Datarock knows how to have fun.
Shortly after sound checks from unique characters behind closed curtains, Ladytron took the stage opening up with the very fitting "Black Cat" from their newly released album, Velocifero. In their signature black apparel, they rocked out to newbies ("Runaway," "Ghosts," and "Deep Blue") along with their classics ("Discotraxx," "Fighting in Built Up Areas," "Playgirl"). The sound on the vocals heard from up front could have been raised a lot, but nonetheless we were all floored and happy.
From people-watching to trying not to gag from the funny cigarettes, it was awesome. The highlight of the night was a fan in the audience on his friend's shoulders screaming his love for group and lifting his shirt (aka: flashing)- classic. Until the next time we are graced with their presence (soon I hope), we can do nothing but wait and enjoy their music that makes us smile every time we hear it.
My first setlist - yay!
Labels: concert reviews, Ladytron
Eagles "Long Road Out of Eden Tour" 5/14
Legends are breathing the same air as us right now.
The Eagles will be playing at the brand-spankin’ new
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park May 14 (last night), 16, 17 and 20. Under the same roof as them last night, I was in rare form jumping up and down like a kid at a candy store. They played all the hits: “Witchy Woman,” “Life in the Fast Lane,” “Desperado,” “Take it Easy,” “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” “Lyin’ Eyes,” “The Long Run,” “One of These Nights,” “Love Will Keep Us Alive” and others. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention they played “HOTEL CALIFORNIA!!!!!!!!!!!!” I went nuts when they played “Hotel California!” The famous guitar duet at the end was *flawless,* everything I imagined it would sound like and more! Can you tell it was a great concert and I loved every minute of it? If you were there last night, I hope you were as excited as I was. If you’re going to see them over the weekend, enjoy! If you’re missing out, I’m sorry :-)
Labels: concert reviews
Show Review: The Swell Season 5/13
The Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre was chillaxing last night while listening to
The Swell Season. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova of the film
Once brought in a packed audience to the 2,750-seat venue. I sat with my bloody nose alllllll the way at the top balcony in the middle of the last row (but I was there, right?). People watching was a plus looking at audience members in jeans, sundresses and a case of the metros.
Hansard opened up the show with “Say It to Me Now,” belting it out like it will be his last breath of air. Members of his band
The Frames and Irglova joined him playing various tunes from the film and new songs. The most enjoyable part of the concert was hearing Hansard go off on a tangent talking about the meaning behind what they’re about to play. What’s even greater is the tangents happened on almost every song. Their Oscar-winning “Falling Slowly” was perfect. “When Your Mind’s Made Up” blew me away as it did when I heard it in the film. The random moment of the concert was toward the end where you hear “Pure Imagination” tied in to on of their songs complete with
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory quotes. They were the music makers and we became the dreamers of dreams - bravo!
Labels: Atlanta Shows, concert reviews
The Gutter Twins at The Roxy 3/21
Seeing
The Gutter Twins (i.e. Greg Dulli) on a beautiful spring night couldn't have been better for me, fellow confessor Claire and her beau. Entering the last show the Roxy would hold before the venue is closed for renovation or whatever they have in mind, we heard the last song or two from the opening band,
Great Northern. After they left, we anxiously waited ten feet from the stage for the cheesy music to stop and our boy to get up there. Finally, the silence before the "yaws!" and whistles greeted the
Twilight Singers and
Mark Lanegan (background info: The Gutter Twins is Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan. The touring band is Dulli's Twilight Singers. Put 'em together and you get The Twilight Singers and Mark Lanegan).
The funny thing about the whole show was it there were really big Dulli fans and really big Lanegan fans and rooted for their homeboy, no in-betweens. At the glorious encore, a battle for who got the loudest applause happened when they'd switch off on selections from their old stuff. But before the encore, "Front Street" closed their set and it was mind blowing. Dulli introduces it by saying, "Let me tell you a story." After that, I can't honestly tell you what happened because he took over that place left us in awe. What else can I say other than it was glorious.
Labels: concert reviews, Confessions
Rilo Kiley at Variety Playhouse.
I went and saw
Rilo Kiley play at Variety Playhouse on Saturday night. This is the first time I've had the pleasure of seeing them play live, and I have to admit, I'm a total fan now.
Through all the screaming males in the room ("Jenny, I love you!"), the band was highly personable and made the venue seem like it was more intimate than it actually is. Of course, after watching her prance around in short shorts between the guitar, the keys, and even a stint on a cowbell during "Breakin' Up," it's no mystery why every man in the room was professing their love to Jenny Lewis. Hell, even
my man friend, who was completely unfamiliar with Rilo Kiley, was asking me twenty questions about them after the show.
Performance-wise, the sound was incredible. There's nothing better than a band who back up their recorded material with a stellar live show, too. Considering the band has a slew of side projects they each do, they incorporated some of the songs from their other bands into the set, and it was beautifully done. Even the lighting reflected the songs, with blacklights (appropriate for the latest album,
Under the Blacklight, which you should make sure you own if you don't already) shining on the stage during "Dreamworld" and red lights to indicate the saucy feel of "Moneymaker."
I took a couple of pictures, but they suck so bad that I don't want to put them here, so you get promo shots instead.
Labels: concert reviews
Bjork at The Fabulous Fox Theatre
There's no denying that
Bjork's fans absolutely adore her.
I attended her performance at
The Fox last night and I left with the overwhelming feeling that despite chatter about the music industry crashing all around us, there are certain performers that are impacting their fans while still making ends meet.
In typical
Bjork fashion, the show was a visual buffet complete with oversized banners of woodland creatures, flat-screens visualizing the electronic antics taking place on stage, flames and lasers, an all-girl children's choir and horn section, confetti falling from the rafters, and Bjork in a flowing pink and white dress.
All visuals aside, the girl can sing her ass off and she looks like she's having the time of her life doing it (which is probably why there wasn't an empty seat in the house). Her beat-heavy, slightly dissonant style still remains artfully unique, setting her apart from most of the cookie-cutter bands infiltrating the music scene.
Your last chance to catch Bjork in The States on this tour is Monday, September 24th at
Madison Square Garden in New York.
Labels: concert reviews
"broken strings can't rebuild anything, just start over like each calendar day..."
“maxwell walked out on his bill at cracker barrel this morning.” -paul of
the cobbs>>i got the chance to sit down with ryan and paul cobb from
the cobbs before the show on thursday. the band is currently out on tour supporting their third album,
sing the deathcapades. needless to say, when you're touring with
black rebel motorcycle club you must be doing something right...
q: there’s not much info floating around on you guys. for starters, who plays what in the band?
ryan:
well, paul and myself both sing and play guitar. the other ryan, or r2, plays guitar, keys, and the tamborine. chris is on drums and maxwell plays the bass.q: who produced your latest release,
sing the deathcapades?
paul:
we actually produced it ourselves. ryan:
yeah, paul and i have cobb studio where we produce everything. we’ve put out all of our albums, even before we were the cobbs, and we’ve also produced several other artists. q: is producing something you’re interested in pursuing?
ryan:
definitely. i mean, i consider it my career. it’s how i pay the bills! we just got back from london where we were worked with hugo chakra bong and the getaway team. q: that's exciting. what have you guys got going on over the summer?
paul:
we'll finish up the tour with black rebel motorcycle club and then we'll play some shows around the philly area. other than that we'll just be writing and working in the studio.ryan:
we'll also have an official release at some point.q: lastly, what are you listening to right now?
ryan:
Cass McCombspaul:
arcade fire, of course.>>we all know i dig a good garage band. especially when that band incorporates psychedelic elements. which
the cobbs do... on the album. but live they are all rock. it's funny how these guys from philadelphia managed to sound somewhat southern on a few songs during the show. come to think of it, they actually remind me a lot of another pennsylvania band, illinois. the song "broken strings" stood out for me. maybe it was because they looked like they had fun playing it or maybe because the girl beside me freaked out. who knows, but the vox were spot-on. after a quick re-start, "deathcapades" turned out to be one killer song (ha, no pun intended). probably my favorite. the guitars were particularly ridiculous. let me put it this way- once the set was over, i turned to leah and said, "they can play their instruments, that's for damn sure."
and that's basically all you need to know.
Labels: Atlanta Shows, concert reviews, Confessions, Interviews
"when your name breaks on my lips, will you know the sound?"
confession #5:
"speaking of ugly celebrities... i always get told i look like some dude from the used, encino man, or charles manson. not so great."-josh tillman
i don't really know too much about
j. tillman. what i
do know, is that according to my itunes i have listened to his song "when i light your darkened door" 34 times over the past 3 days. i tend to be a bit of a sucker for folk singers, but believe me when i say that it's one of the most beautiful songs i've heard in a very long time. for me,
j. tillman falls somewhere in between ryan adams and nick drake. his latest release,
cancer and delirium, is intimate in a way that makes you want to curl up in a blanket with bottle of whiskey and just watch the rain. or maybe that was just me.
mp3: j. tillman - "when i light your darkened door">>in other news, the past two days have been pure heaven for me. watching
manchester orchestra and
brand new perform two days in a row was almost more than i could bare. overall, they all played great sets and you could tell that the guys all really get along with one another. it seemed like on every other song jesse would play with andy or vice versa. even
kevin devine danced around with them. i just wish that brand new would have played some stuff from
your favorite weapon. but i was still completely in awe.
>>i don't really care one way or the other, but
this could prove to be interesting.
>>lastly,
the futurists will be playing a "secret" show tonight at under the couch. i don't really know any details but i would assume that the show will start somewhere around 8.
it's early and i'm rambling... i apologize.
Labels: Atlanta Shows, concert reviews, Confessions, Music
"she stole my karma, oh no... sold it to the farmer, oh no..."
same old kings... just more xanax.
my love of
kings of leon goes back quite some time. believe me. so i had extremely high expectations for their newest album,
because of the times. the 7 minute opener, "knocked up", sets the tone for the entire album... arrogant. caleb's vocals sound more aged than ever (and by aged, i mean awesome) over a steady, continuous beat. in comparison to their previous releases,
youth and young manhood in particular, the album is hardly "dancy" at all. in fact, i can't recall hearing any tamborine this time around just off the top of my head. additionally, there are very few wailing guitar solos, which is something i associate with them. one exception is "black thumbnail" where caleb belts out, "...now guitar, go guitar!" and they completely cut loose.
because of the times is a step back in time for the kings by focusing mainly on vox and drums. it's very reminiscent of the early caleb/nathan country duo thing they had going on back in the day. but with skills like theirs and those followill genetics to match, they are completely entitled to be arrogant. i love this album more than life. it drops on 4/3 and you can pre-order it
here. do it.
mp3: kings of leon - "my party" (my favorite)
mp3: kings of leon - "charmer"on a sidenote- here are some quotes from the
badly drawn boy show last night:
"it sounds like the british sister hazel.""i'm so bored.""i feel like i'm at the clermont for karaoke.""wait, there's really an encore?""you know it's bad when the best song of the night was a journey cover."Labels: CD Reviews, concert reviews, Free Downloads, Music
annuals @ variety 1.26.06
last friday, i was uber excited to go see
annuals (note the absence of "the", i'm kind of anal about that) perform for a second time.
the show was at the variety, so i was kind of interested to see what kind of crowd they would be able to pull given their recent success in the blog world. i made sure to position myself up close with surprisingly only a handful of other people so i could take it all in. and because i'm a dork.
the band took the stage right on time and went right into their set. they started out dim and stripped down, but quickly progressed into something that i can only describe as completely uninhibited. lead singer and songwriter, adam baker, is one of the most talented, eccentric musicians i've had the pleasure of watching perform. there were moments, particularly during "complete or completing" and "carry around", where i literally got chill bumps as he belted out from down on his knees. naturally, given the change in venue, the sound was 10x better this time around. i will say that i was a little disappointed they didn't interact with the audience very much, but maybe that was because there wasn't much of an audience at all. everyone who decided to forego annuals' set and show up for the dears certainly missed out. be ashamed becaused annuals definitely outshined the dears. i mean honestly... what was with that shitty encore?! do yourselves a favor and pick up
be he me.
Labels: Atlanta Shows, concert reviews
(Photo courtesy of Karen C.)
