Nov 14
Indie Rock, Modern Rock, Singer/Songwriter No Comments
a former member of The Hidden Cameras and a golden frosted fairy of a man – he’s near albino – his voice was both good and interesting, but his singer-songwriter style grew old very quickly – towards the end of the set, the band moved into indie rock material that was more exciting
Oct 16
we were dubbed number one fans without our consent – they were supposed to go on at 9pm, at least in my head – they were supposed to go on at 10:30 or 11pm, at least in their head – they didn’t go on until 11:30pm but in the meantime they were a little too excited that we were the only non-band-members there at 9pm and the few of about 10 non-band-members by the time they went on – most every band member shook our hand and we were given t-shirts – and it turned out the recommendation I’d seen for them at Waterloo was posted by a buddy who works there – this all made me suspicious but they were kind of excellent – the first song was so terrible I almost left immediately but the 2nd was a dramatic turn-around into funky short guitar riffs and stiff drum beats a la Gang of Four – I remain most suspect of the lead singer’s unimpressive quiet complaint of a voice but the sound system was among the worst ever so it’s hard to say
Oct 16
Indie Rock, Modern Rock No Comments
everybody wanted to see them at SXSW and nobody saw them – they were three very young girls from Brooklyn harmonizing in a pleasantly monotonous almost atonal fashion – not what I expected but it was an acoustic set so can’t really judge – maybe a little pretentious in the Yo La Tengo way with their disregard for hitting the right note – the flatline melodies were intentional and while the FrustratedPhilosopher found it to be obnoxious hipster posturing, I found it comforting – created a pleasant drone – they were described as surfer girls which made me like their sound more – they were also described as having opened for Jay Reatard (awwww) and Sonic Youth which did not at all fit their sweetie sweet vibe
Sep 05
a caricature of a rock band, tight black jeans, shaggy hair, wan faces, slapping the microphone in the palm of the hand, they had the energy and the skill and even the diversity but whatever happened to originality?
Mar 21
Britpop, Modern Rock No Comments
really solid – chamber pop – Radiohead-esque but lighter and goofier – distinguished by a plinking xylophone (? – maybe… we were looking for a place to rest our weary feet at this point… but this was a band that was on my list through hearsay only) – had the look of British lads but looked them up and they’re California surfers which I’ll accept as fact
Mar 21
College Rock, Modern Rock No Comments
we hated it and left after a couple of songs but keep in mind that 4 days of 12 hours of music will make you a tad intolerant of average-joe rock – UrbanBiker described it as music for the 20- to 30-year-old female… heartfelt… emotional
Mar 20
Dance, Goth, Modern Rock No Comments
this band was distinctive in a quiet way – there was a girl on guitar and singing in a slinky glittery dress of large black and gold stripes – she had on black nylons and no shoes – there was a clean-cut cute urban-looking boy in black on guitar – there was a drummer in something – their music was a gothy sort of dance-rock almost approximating a poppier Bauhaus which is a pretty dramatically positive comparison to make… but there you have it – they both had good voices – too low key to go crazy over – oh and they were part of a Swedish showcase
Mar 19
Britpop, Modern Rock No Comments
paced joyful rock – from chamber pop to Radiohead (crescendong and cascading) – had a The Hidden Cameras feeling but really 80s shoegazer – 2 guitars, drums and female keyboardist
Mar 18
Britpop, Modern Rock No Comments
we were aswim in young hipsters with aching heads (at least me) – I had suffered through 2 or 3 unremarkable bands and was not even moved to take notes, which is a bad sign in a Dara – this band was the first with a distinctive sound – shoegazer a la Bloody Valentine – noise pop – mildly droney – quite liked them – NPR-recommended
Mar 18
Modern Rock, R&B, Ska No Comments
I couldn’t pin a genre on this band if I tried. Their boyish joie de vivre was incredibly infectious and we made the boys stay because we were infected. They progressed from R&B to ska to blues rock. The lead singer had the tight jeans on, like all the boys do (much to my 30-something friends’ dismay), and a mohawkesque haircut and small tattoos on his neck and grins all over the place. I googled them and got this urban definition: “A female on the snow who makes you crack a fat even in sub zero temperatures.” Maybe that helps you pin them down… Oh no, it wasn’t Ski Bunny – the band on MySpace is entirely different – the schedule must have changed – I hate when that happens. Ok, so more specifically, it was 4 to 5 very young males… that’s all I’ve got.
Mar 18
Funk, Modern Rock, Psychedelic No Comments
These kids today can’t get over the irony of including ‘clap’ in the name of your band. I’m over it. We were there because WomanInCharge said that NPR had recommended them, though we eventually wondered why we were relying on popular music advice from NPR. 7 members in the band, with stand-outs being 1) the 40-something paisley-shirted, scraggly-hair lead guitarist (it was noted that his porno appearance suited the music); 2) his 70s soul brother in big sunglasses and a polyester shirt on the keyboards; and 3) their 2 barely-legal females in 80s garb. WomanInCharge was probably correct in her observation that the girls were the attractive foil for a somewhat older collection of better male musicians. The girls, per the demands of their generation, were in high-waisted jeans and one even had horrid horrid shoulder pads on – they remained cool and unmoved by the music throughout the set – playing their tambourines like girls in a Robert Palmer music video. They started off straight disco but then devolved into psychedelia with bright moments of funk. An indie electronic / dance rock band from Brooklyn which was only evident when one of the girls did an old-school rap over a funky backbeat. 70s vibe all over the place. Liked them.
Mar 18
Detroit. Based in a dark dance-rock foundation. Good grooves of the bass and lead guitarists’ riffs added interest and complexity. The I-Am-Defined-by-My-Freakiness lead singer’s voice ranged from Nick Cave to standard indie rock. Something about them made me think 80s and goth though neither were quite their sound. Liked them.
Mar 16
Modern Rock, Rock and Roll No Comments
Butch Walker and his band put on a stellar show, rocking the house with Butch’s catalog of sing-a-long ready tunes. The set was a nice mix of new tunes, Walker is touring promoting is latest album Sycamore Meadows, and a handful of songs from his back catalog.
He took the stage solo for the first four songs, playing a gorgeous, wrenching version of Joan on the piano, and then strumming along on an acoustic guitar from Going Back / Going Home. His five man backing band joined him on Closer to the Truth and they tore through every song from there on out. Some of his best tunes made it on the setlist, including Maybe It’s Just Me and The Weight of Her and party track Race Cars and Goth Rock. They led into the song The Taste of Red with a full verse of James’ iconic track Laid with Walker noting, “I wish I had written these lyrics.”
He has a great range and knows how to command the stage. The Paradise Rock Club was a great venue for his act; his enthusiasm for the songs and for performing was contagious. He profusely thanked the audience, led a sing-a-long of Best Thing You Never Had and launched himself into the audience with the words “nothing will keep us apart.” A great cover of Elton John’s Tiny Dancer, complete with the high notes, led off the encore. A jam with The Films on When Canyons Ruled the World capped the show, with Butch letting his band wander off stage as he finished by conducting the audience into a choir of sorts.
Butch Walker setlist
ATL
Joan
Going Back / Going Home
Passed Your Place, Saw Your Car, Thought of You
Closer to the Truth and Further from the Sky
Uncomfortably Numb
The Weight of Her
Vessels
Laid/The Taste of Red
Don’t Move
Ships in a Bottle
Here Comes the Heartache
Ponce de Leon Ave
Race Cars and Goth Rock
Maybe It’s Just Me
#1 Summer Jam
Best Thing You Never Had
Encore
Tiny Dancer
Hot Girls in Good Moods
When Canyons Ruled the World (with The Films)
Oct 01
Latin, Modern Rock, Punk, Singer/Songwriter No Comments
I was silly excited to see this show – I only discovered him in the last year or so but love his work with The Modern Lovers AND his solo career – of course the post-punkness of The Modern Lovers is appealing to me but there is generally something very appealing to me about his voice and his song constructions – so he turned out to be a bit of a wack job with perpetually turned-up eyebrows in a seemingly contrived expression of innocence and goofiness that I suspect masks a deep dislike for humankind and a vicious little ego – but maybe being an odd genius results in such behaviors and feelings – the real surprise to me is that the man is a guitar virtuoso, playing songs riddled with jazz and Latin influences and then handling both the bass and lead progression in a song – he would end each song with a spin of his guitar – in my theoretical version of his life, he was the sort who got bored so easily and quickly that he had to constantly move on to new things or be suffocated, so he was a punk and then went into a prolific career as a singer/songwriter and then moved out of the US and became infused with new sounds and learned to speak French and Spanish – he sang several songs in Spanish and midway through the show got into the habit of re-singing the song he just sang, either a new version of the intro or the entire song in a different language, I found this presumptuous and pretentious and wasn’t sure if he was trying to insult the crowd or really saw value in resigning the same songs – oh! oh! the most important part for understanding my impressions of this show: $15 was charged for him alone without the standard two opening bands, he started at 9pm, he insisted on no air-conditioning at the show, it is still in the 90s in Austin, therefore eccentric or pretentious – he had something of the Mountain Goats about him but his songs aren’t as quirky or deep but rather more childlike and silly – this may have been a reflection of his poorly crafted set list for the show, at least insofar as the songs I like by him – lastly and most importantly, I figured out that my affinity for Jonathan Richman is a result of the incongruity of his post-punk voice overlaying infectious little Latin-flavored melodies
Apr 29
though seem to just be starting out they were really fantastic which I hope they know, the definition of “tight,” self-contained NOFX style punk with some Dead Milkmen (per Rockboy), the lead singer had just the right amount of passion and sincerity and the bass player was oddly and weirdly intent maybe as bass players should be, I would say much more complicated punk which is why they’re post punk and fantastic
Mar 15
punk, I really enjoyed because they were complex and melodic, reminded me of Dead Boys or Soft Boys, Rockboy described them as New York post-punk of the early 80s, from Atlanta GA
Mar 14
Hard Rock, Modern Rock No Comments
have always thought they were the poor man’s White Stripes but they’re much harder and more diversified, the shy girl’s vocals were charming, they were really good but mostly I have a crush on Detroit
Mar 05
Art Rock, Modern Rock, Psychedelic No Comments
pedal steel and drummer as before but this time accompanied by one or two guitars which possibly detracted from the purity and solemnity
Jan 09
Modern Rock, New Wave No Comments
11PM band: was supposed to be Tia Carrera but was this horrid geek band, two on guitar, one screecher on keyboards and the worst: a silly jouncy girl singing (just as the lame girl ruined WT Special), they were like those bands with exclamation points in their name, harder than you expect but then all childish and punctuated with little yells
Apr 14
College Rock, Indie Rock, Modern Rock, Prog Rock, Punk No Comments
Pixies style with a clipped voice. Lead vocal brimming over with boyish humor. Then melodic punk. Very very young – Rockboy says that besides the guitarist they look like former band geeks which may be why they were so excellent. Rockboy heard hints of Husker Du mid to early 80s. Drone rock suddenly. Still trying to find their sound. Then The Killers and then Weezer. Lot of variability. We both notice that the drummer (possibly a 12 year old girl though more likely my 30-year-OLD-feeling) is ‘kicking ass.’ Then unpretentious proggy rock song a la Trail of Dead. Officially, I suppose that they must narrow their sound down but they’d satisfy my ADD-music-listening forever if they kept doing all of what they do as well as they’re doing it.
Oct 24
Alt-Country, Modern Rock No Comments
The easiest loveliest voice in creation. Peoples’ chord music from country to croons to lite girl rock. Wise lyrics that made me tear. I just love a good female performer. Purports to be from Las Vegas but web stuff says LA but seems to be from the South. Very tiny and there was something of the annoying precious superstar to her. Watson Twins not worth their weight – couldn’t keep a beat and one of their voices broke on one of two solos.
Oct 10
Hard Rock, Modern Rock, Singer/Songwriter No Comments
first few songs had some punk chord changes but by the end he was an any-man’s singer songwriter, he was on time and played a respectable length of time – not so punk or not a poseur?
Apr 24
House, Modern Rock, Soul No Comments
they made my face smile mostly because they are indescribable, love them for the drone as in band above – they always make me think of New York diners and dark streets with car lights streaking, but they are more than that live – more black, some soul and some Seal though I won’t stand that by that, kind of a heavy rock band with a crooner singer, can’t describe them because they are that special
Apr 24
College Rock, Modern Rock No Comments
horrible, intentionally cutesy young black boy singing about finals and roommates – reflective of the crowd unfortunately
Apr 22
surprisingly good, vocals remarkably like David Gray, recorded stuff can be more electronic and dark
Apr 15
Ambient, Jazz, Modern Rock No Comments
free acoustic show that we had to arrive two hours early for, buzz made it exciting but the show was quite good, they were a little weird to me, homey . . . well acoustic I guess, bland lead singer with average voice, what was very special about them was their trumpets and the songs that were black Spanish magic
Sep 17
sounded like good complicated modern rock but felt so distant literally and by the chattering crowd that proper attention could not be paid, per Chronicle “belle of the ball at SXSW…Toronto…revolving core of members from other acts such as Metric and Stars”
Sep 17
crowd was nauseating—teenagers—possible in college and I just don’t know it, all of their music is just about like the radio hit, disco backbeats, low-growl vocals, enjoyable
Jul 24
Alternative Rock, Modern Rock No Comments
07.24.2004 Concrete Blonde Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA
Opener: Blue October
The members of Concrete Blonde in their old age are unpretentious as I have seen in a band. Jim Mankey showed up onstage before the set to help the road crew work out a few technical problems. Their stage is minimalist, just a elevated deck for the drum kit, two microphones and three guitars (the acoustic guitar was never touched.) They descended down the stairs for the start of their show and dug in to “Real Thing.” Their newest album, Mojave, sparked a ten date tour around the U.S., playing to small venues in big cities, the kind of venues that hide out in Chinatowns and on choked downtown roads where the homeless and college students alike beg for money on the street. This is the dirt under the fingernails inspiration for a lot of their music, whether the setting is Los Angeles, Mexico or the Mojave desert. The new album isn’t spectacular, it’s languid, lacking in radio-friendly melodies and is carried almost entirely by Johnette Napolitano’s vocal charms, which are considerable. Not lazy then, just unconcerned.
Their live act has gone the same way. They opened the show with the non-album track “Real Thing” which is only available on I-tunes or on a limited edition single that was being sold at the concerts. The merchandise, however, sold out before they made it to Philadelphia, so no shirts, no limited edition single, no little piece of Concrete Blonde to take home with you. Most bands make a large portion of the hard working dollars from their merchandise sales. With six more U.S. dates to go, I can only guess Concrete Blonde doesn’t rely heavily on t-shirt sales.
Almost every song during the night was preceded by a band conference at the drum kit. Surprisingly, it only resulted in three set changes. “Ghost Riders In the Sky” was pushed up in the set order because Johnette got into a long diatribe about the album inspiration and how people in general are choking the life out of nature. Which is what the song was about. “Mexican Moon” was nixed from the setlist because Johnette was apparently done playing lead guitar and wanted her bass back. “Caroline” was replaced by “Joey” to close the show because a fan somehow got Johnette’s attention long enough to have a four minute conversation about organic farming and she let him pick the last song.
On the whole, Johnette and Jim Mankey, who have been the core of the band since the beginning, are in great shape. Physically and musically. Her voice is still scorching and his licks burn down the house. But somewhere since the last tour, they either forgot or ditched the melodies to their popular songs. “Heal It Up” was completely unrecognizable until the song was over, and on the fade out, I could hear a hint of the song’s original melody. After a completely reworked instrumental introduction to “Joey” she apologized for the band saying they hadn’t performed it in a while and were going to start over and play it closer to the original. Then they proceeded to play “Joey” just like it had sounded a minute earlier. “Take Me Home,” one of my favorite studio cuts, actually benefitted from this melodic amnesia and lost that discordant twang during the chorus.
I know I use the term “scorching” too much, and probably “blistering” needs to be 86′d, but there is simply no other way to describe when Johnette picked up the lead guitar on the song “Because I Can” and tore through the song. She usually sticks to her bass and let’s Jim Mankey handle all the artistic guitar parts, but this one time, I’m glad they switched it up. “Ghost Riders” was mezmerizing, even though a fracas in the audience caught Johnette’s attention to the point that she motioned to the two people to separate, all the while without missing a note. I can tell you, as the person standing immediately to the right, that a gentlemen came with two ladies, all completely bombed before the show even started. When the two gals went for a beer run, without providing for him, he tried to grab their beers from their hands and they tried to fend him off. He disappeared from the audience shortly thereafter, although I never saw security escort him out, so maybe he left on his own legs.
Setlist
Real Thing
God Is A Bullet
Ghost Riders In The Sky
Tornado At Rest
True To This
Heal It Up
Scene of A Perfect Crime
Because I Can
Take Me Home
When I Was a Fool
Days And Days
Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)
Everybody Knows
Encore
100 Games of Solitaire
Joey
Sep 21
College Rock, Modern Rock No Comments
heard “Finest Worksong” and left, so many R.E.M. songs I love but have never ever liked their general vibe, Stipe looks like he has a disease and carries himself as insufferably cool—doesn’t work for me
Sep 21
Art Rock, Modern Rock No Comments
love them, little freaks—a gremlin and an ogre, definitely rocked more than I remember Pure Guava doing (and I checked and I was right), so twisted and made me realize and mourn the fact that you cannot combine mediocrity and art, the zone doesn’t happen easily or quickly if you are coexisting peaceably in society too, voice tricks, different styles, crazed lyrics, did a song called Zoloft and I have fantasies that he was a psychotic and has been medicated—and so is he on the art of the mediocrity side now?
Sep 19
Jam Band, Modern Rock, Singer/Songwriter No Comments
described as an “mad scientist,” at first I was terribly impressed, him alone on a stage—wickedly fast guitar, singer/songwriter mixed with jamminess and a definitive tinge of Bobby McFerrin (weird mouth moves), but then he had long moments without the guitar even in his hand and the music continued, hopefully playing to tracks of himself but happened to often to make for a pleasing stage show
new fiction by Andrew Marx
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