Succeed With MAGNA In 2014

Yes, on the successful heels of last years return to form, MAGNA is at it again at the Silverlake Lounge on January 15th.

Facebook that shit for details, and see ya there.

Maserati @ The Satellite 3/5

 

Killer show by Maserati, who are touring behind their latest album with new drummer Mike Albanese.

The Big 4!

Outside The Wall, Or So Ya Thought Ya Might Like To Go To The Show

Scarlett used her mojo to get my non-industry ass into Roger Waters The Wall Live show tonight.


UPDATE: "Lights! Roll the sound effects! Action!"

It's hard to convey the Pink Floyd experience to those who didn't spend their formative years listening to them, or the importance of The Wall as a perfect piece of art and music. But for those who know and understand, I won't have to struggle to find descriptions because already you get it. And for the novices, watch the movie and listen to the album a few times so you can at least try to get on the same page.  Then you'll easily agree the genius of Alan Parker's film was to illustrate an epic soundtrack, and that you can not separate the images from the music after 30 years of the two being so expertly married.

Roger Waters has the benefit of multiple tours of The Wall - from the album supporting jaunt to the memorial performance in Berlin, and on solo outings through this presentation - but also technology that is capable of making the show less rock concert and more performance of art.  The strength of the show, if you had to pick just one thing (and exclude the top-line musicians and production value - both integral to the success), is that it is a start-to-finish multimedia presentation which preserves the iconic nature of the images, story and songs while making the themes relevant to the present day.  There's still the anti-government, anti-war, anti-authoritarian sentiment, but it's now our modern Middle Eastern wars, not WWII, and the shadow of techno-corporate empires instead of the capitalist imperialism of the 70s and 80s.

There's no wall (sorry) between Waters and the audience: he's fully aware he's putting on a show and is slipping into the Pink persona for the performance, which is wonderfully meta, as the autobiographical content was his costume when the album first came out.  He took a few moments in the show to address the crowd, and his jovial, thankful banter echoed the referential gestures to the audience he made during the songs.  Clearly, the demons in the music no longer haunt him, and he took satisfaction in being able to present the show, siding with the fans, as if to say, "We've both made it through the years and can really appreciate the effect of The Wall".

Rather than recap the show (which is detailed here), I'll just share some of the more truly amazing moments:

• The opening w/ In The Flesh - Not only one of my favorite songs on the album, but the pyrotechnics and explosions of the air battle were great.  Not to mention the airplane that came in the length of the arena to crash into the wall and explode.

• Giant Puppets! - They had the Schoolmaster, The Wife, and Mother, all making appearances during the show.

• Comfortably Numb - Even without David Gilmour to sing and play, they did a remarkable job. Hearing the song live nearly brought me to tears...just one of those moments that tapped the pent up well of emotions from years of being affected by that song.

• Using the wall - Besides the gradual building to visually relate the music was their brilliant use of it as a screen and interaction through it.  This ended the first half of the show...it's bittersweet and gorgeous by the time he finishes Goodbye Cruel World.

It was by far one of the best shows I've ever been to, and such a treat to see an artist make the most of their skills. There are few times I've seen such an immersing experience (Peter Gabriel's UP tour and U2's Zoo TV performance), and they are absolute gifts to the fans.

Last Night At The Palladium

PWNED By An 89 Year Old

There were highs and lows at last night's performance by Ravi Shankar, and not just because our guts were full of tasty Palazzio pasta.

The show started off with the admission that Anoushka Shankar was ill and would not perform, which left her percussionist, flautist, and two tambura players to do a twenty minute number that was the first act before intermission. Not that the performance wasn't great - the call and response between flute and hand drum was a highlight, but it was a huge let down not to see half the featured attraction and to only get a brief performance before an unnecessary break. I was not the only one in the audience who was concerned of what would come.

By 8pm, the ensemble returned to the stage and Ravi Shankar was assisted out to the main center riser. Naturally, there were ovations and he bowed to audience in thanks. He was tiny and frail, and his assistant on the tambura set up his sitar and even helped him tune it. Shankar picked up a microphone and said with a raspy, soft voice "Welcome to Santa Barbara," which drew laughs, but also showed what a powerful and commanding presence he was, inviting us to his recital, not we receiving him. As he often does in his records and in concert he acted as teacher, explaining a little about the raga and counting for the particular piece about to be played. And then, mastery...

The first song was a slow, wistful tune that was like the Indian blues - lots of slow, sustained notes and string bends that he played unaccompanied. It was a warm up of sorts, and towards the end of the piece he started throwing some runs across the neck and getting into it. He must have been playing for close to 25 or 30 minutes. The next tune was shorter and had accompaniment by his tabla player Tanmoy Bose, but it was a much faster tempo and had more of the signature style of his upbeat compositions: sharp interplay with the tabla and few breaks in the winding melodies.

By the time Shankar and ensemble started the third song, they were ready to rock. He explained the 11-count of the raga, "4+4," and as if to remember what makes 11, "1 ½ + 1 ½", and then played perhaps the most fiery song of the evening. There was a lot of improvisation and space for Shankar to wail away on the sitar while passing the spotlight to the tabla and flute. Watching him play, with his skinny legs dangling off the platform instead of cross legged like the others made him look old and sickly, but watching his body and shoulders move as though he was wrestling the notes from his instrument, done with the youth and aggressiveness of an athlete. Observing his fingers plucking and sliding across the strings and frets was almost gentle, delicately and effortlessly playing with no signs of his age. Shankar would whip up a part and then point to Bose, challenging him to play the part back like a Yoda-esque version of James Brown conducting his musicians. You could see the joy they had playing together and hear it in the music.

The last song was about the same length as the second, and had more room for his side players to trade parts, to which Shankar played rhythmically in the back as the other instruments took lead, eventually reemerging at the front of the song and guiding the performance to a close. He bowed and thanked the audience three times, but what said the most about watching him graciously leave the stage under applause was him brushing away several of the other musicians who had come to his side to assist him off. After the 90 minutes he had played, he was fired up and could have floated off the stage. That vitality and intense energy that he'd coaxed from his sitar was rejuvenating, and quite a feat for the old master. What the first "half" of the program lacked, Ravi Shankar more than compensated for in the second. Quite masterful in a word.

The Nightman Cometh!

Not only did they perform the show in it's entirety, but they also added a few extra songs into the musical. And the McPoyle brothers made a surprise cameo. And to top it all off, they showed the future episode "The Gang Reignites The Rivalry" as well as an insane (as in pandemonium and a bloodied, maimed mall Santa) preview from their Christmas DVD. Just awesome.

Tonight, Los Angeles Is Howling!

A Vincent Moon clip of the band...if there's any bells rang, that's because La Blogotheque is also know as the home of the Take Away shows, that our pal Jeremy often shoots with audio by Rybot. Yeah, there's some MAGNA ones that will hopefully see the light of day.


UPDATE:
Damn, that was a great show! Having already done the first tour leg on their latest album, this time around was a more diverse and farther reaching setlist, with several first time performances for me.

Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home (Young Team)
I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead (The Hawk Is Howling)
Travel Is Dangerous (Mr Beast)
I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School (The Hawk Is Howling)
Christmas Steps (Come On Die Young)
Killing All The Flies (Happy Songs For Happy People)
I Know You Are But What Am I? (Happy Songs For Happy People)
Summer (Young Team)
Auto Rock (Mr Beast)
Hunted By A Freak (Happy Songs For Happy People)
You Don't Know Jesus (Rock Action)
Glasgow Megasnake (Mr Beast)
My Father My King (single)

The band managed to take at least one track off every album, and it was a huge thrill to see "Glasgow Megasnake" and "I Know You Are But What Am I?" played. Guitarist Stuart mentioned how much the band we happy to be playing at a beautiful theater like the Orpheum, and I think that translated on stage. The band itself, while never one to be gushing or overly-demonstrative, really expressed themselves in the most obvious way possible - through the vibe of their music. And at a show like this, that connection between the band and the audience was solid.

Most notable was their amazing rendition of "Christmas Steps". LA can sometimes be a crowd of dickheads, but this group was generous and respectful, and that was evident midway through the song, where the guitars and bass thin out to just one instrument, getting softer and softer until almost inaudible. The room was completely still, and as the notes were played, it was as though it was a challenge to see how much quieter it could get before the fans broke their silence - but we never did. I think everybody, including the band, was just stunned by the focus. The following section and crescendo were so much more dynamic because of the meditative calm of that moment.

Just a terrific show and a really inspired group of songs. It felt like a gift with such an array of songs from their repertoire, and while there's always one or two you hope the band will play, there's no complaining when a group of tunes like this is performed.

Debut Weekend

Yes, MAGNA is playing tonight at C.I.A. (as has been addressed), and it's a preview of the upcoming tunes for the in-progress album. Isn't that a wonderful way to begin a weekend?


UPDATE: A good turn out, even though it ended up being paired down to just MAGNA and Archways. For hitting the audience's ears for the first time, the new tunes went over very well, and as always, it was appreciated that folks came out to see what MAGNA was up to. What? How much more explanation do you need? Go next time and see for yourself! For nerds who check that kind of thing, here's the set list:

1 The Shaming March

2 Boutros

3 Amerasia

4 Let Our Madness Know No End

5 Jalepeno

6 Meat Jam Solution

Encore - De La Guerra (the only "old" song, from Echo Location)

Meshuggah!

Tonight, the dark, reptilian side comes out and enjoys the blast riffing and math metal intensity of Meshuggah! If I survive, I will give a review and post video...


UPDATE: Oh sweet Jesus, that was intense.

Meshuggah 1, Famous M 0. It was just about the most brutal, unrelenting concert I've been too. Ever. And that's not the 5 Jack and Cokes talking either. Those Swedish bastards showed up and claimed their stake. Period. They were ready to go another 12 rounds and I was finished. Gone.

My partners in this experiment of endurance and human punishment were H.R.M. Idle Eyes The See-Thru and (surprisingly braving the testosterone tsunami) FemBot. The House Of Blues is a motherfucker for killing cell reception, but despite the obstacles, we all managed to meet up by the second band. Let me backtrack and say that Faceless, the opening act was far better than I'd have expected. Chere Fem and I agreed that, while cliche, they were fairly strong for the typical staring act. We did enjoy their opening instrumental song more than the rest of the tracks with Cookie Monster on vocals, but still, not too shabby.

By the time Cynic started up, we had moved to the other side of the room and parked ourselves accordingly barside for more drinks and chatter. Unfortunately, they sucked pretty hard. Sure, they had the chops, but Idle Eyes thought simultaneously with me that they were rocking the Dream Theater too hard, and those guys clearly blow with their all-chops-and-no-heart wank music. Thankfully, they didn't keep me from taking care of almost a half dozen Jack and Cokes and the three of us feasting on some of the tastier french fries you'd find at a venue.

I had endured waiting in line and being crowded into the room with some of the most typical metalheads you could imagine for a set of pulverizing music, but it was past 10pm and still there was no quintet of badasses on that stage! There were tales of World Of Warcraft guilds and revelations about smuggling contraband into concerts, haircuts several months past their breaking point, and every flavor of band logo on black tee shirts, and still no band, only techies and road crew. It really felt like we'd been there the whole day, waiting for our marquee band to play, and finally...they did.

(to be continued, especially once some Youtube clips are available)

Melvins + Big Business = Awesome

Earlier this year, the Melvins put out the awesome Nude With Boots. They went on tour. That tour stopped in Los Angeles. The shows got canceled.

The rescheduled dates were over the weekend.

If you have never seen the Melvins live, you can not possibly understand the sheer rock power they possess. Over the years I have seen them many times opening for Tool and Tomahawk, but this was the first time seeing them as the main attraction, and that was driven by the two excellent albums they've done with the members of Big Business who are part of their ever changing line-up. And that commanding stature was nearly too much for the intimate size of the Troubadour.

The night itself was a rotating slate of band members who shared performance duties between opening act (The Men Of) PORN, Big Business, and the Melvins, and the stage, set with mirrored drum kits and amp rigs, was rarely empty.

Before the show, H.R.M. Idle Eyes The See-Thru joined me down the street for a damn tasty meal of Indian food. Apparently, Dale, the PORN / Melvins drummer had the same idea, sitting two tables over - not surprising given the Melvins adoption of the city (I thought Buzz (guitar/vocals) would be at the afternoon Kings game since he was in town and I'd seen him several time last season, but no such luck). With naan and masala in our collective bellies, we sparked over to the Troubadour, which is one of my favorite venues due to it's club size but arena caliber bookings.

When PORN came on stage, it was heralded by sheets of guitar noise. Soon , it was broken by hearty drumbeats, which made way for a second guitarist (? - and I question because there were pedals and it was running through the rig, but the crowd blocked my sight so I never saw the instrument), and the surprise addition of Big Business / Melvins drummer Coady. There was no break from start to finish of their set, which was very experimental, mixing ferocious beats with droning riffs and tempo shift like the songs were being stretched longer or being compressed.

The second set by Big Business was a markedly faster, more aggressive set of songs, and while I was only aware of them as a duo, they had added the guitar of a cat named Toshi who had added those extra "guitar" tones to PORN. Singing and playing bass, Jared made his stage debut of the night lighting the fretboard up with some sick melodies. Overall , their music was pretty hard rockin', but with a punk-grade speed and fury. Not having heard them with guitarist, it added a nice element of minimalist melody when the two axe players were not locked into the main rhythms. It seemed like a shorter set then their predecessors since there were breaks between tunes and not one continuous slab of music, but it was impressive nonetheless as they powered through each song without slowing the pace.

When Buzz, Dale, Jared, and Coady hit the stage together in Melvins configuration, it pushed the comfortable room to it's limits. Melvins music is as thick as cement, and hits you like a cinder block. Standing in a room full of perhaps the ugliest people I've ever seen, I realized that the Melvins is a band that attracts a crowd that is as rough and frightening as it's music. It's got not hot chicks and no cool dudes (save me and H.R.M. Idle Eyes The See-Thru) - it is every head of hair grown out five months past a cut, every scruffy beard, every I-don't-even-try-to-have-a-look-and-it-shows, every doughy, awkward person that straddles the line between creep and dork. And every person was transfixed throughout the 19 song set which ranged from simmering dirges to full-out speed jams and dissonance.

One thing that is striking about the Melvins is that they do not leave one bit of energy behind when they play. There is no way to see them play without hitting every drum as hard as possible or punching chords from their guitars. Their equipment goes to 11. And seeing the current double drum configuration was a must given their no-holds-barred playing style. Visually, they are as strange and curious as their music. Buzz still sports high collared full length tunics and his wild, ever-whitening shock of frizzy hair. Dale could have stepped out of a truck rig and stopped in on his way to a basketball game. Jared has the appearance of a guy in a small northwestern town who woke up and needs to get a 12'er before the football game. And Coady looks tiny compared to his drumkit, like a teenage boy. But as bizarre as they come across, they absolutely fit together like an odd family portrait.

Given the Spinal Tap-like revolving nature of their bassists, it's hard to say how long the Melvins-Big Business merger will stay intact, but I don't know how they are going to improve on what they have going so here's to hoping it is a long lasting venture. Seeing such a huge sounding band in a club setting was pretty clutch, and seeing that sheer power get crammed into that tight a place was like successfully threading a camel though a needle's eye. Impressive. And awesome.

A History of Bad Men/Star Spangled Banner*



Okie From Muskogee

*from the evening prior show, since there have not been many posts from ours

Been Caught Reuniting

The secret Jane's Addiction show last night turned out not to be so secret, but it was still only attended by the lucky few who could get a handful of tickets to La Cita, a tiny Mexican bar in the heart of downtown.

Eric Avery played with the rest of the band, marking only the second time since the band's early 90's split that he has joined them on stage (the first was earlier this year for an NME award). Are they reunited? Are they touring? Will there be a new record? Who knows, but I've got to get on the inside track so I can see them if they do keep up with these intimate local shows!

Yes it looks like the cameraperson was having a seizure - if there are better (and complete tracks), I'll post them...


Ocean Sized



1%



Ain't No Right



greetings / Up The Beach



Whores

Sigur Rós

Rybot, L-D', H.R.M. Idle Eyes The See-Thru, and I are going to the Greek Theater to see Sigur Rós tonight! Yeah, we're up on all the Icelandic music!


UPDATE: A very chill show and absolutely beautiful.

I'm not the most familiar with Sigur Rós and thought this would be a good opportunity to see the band that Radiohead once claimed inspire them whilst working on Kid A. What Mogwai is to visceral instrumental music, Sigur Rós is to dreamy ethereal songs. Their sound is multi-textural and dense, and the heavily reverbed falsetto vocals add an angelic tone to their songs.

It's really hard to describe what it was like, though the multitude of clips should help illustrate how similar Iceland and Mars are. It was a terrific visual presentation and there was lots to get lost in, that is, when I wasn't closing my eyes and floating on their cloud of music. Definitely one of the best shows of the year.

Gobbledig ook



Svefn-G-Englar



Hafsol



Glosoli



pre-Ny Batteri



Saeglopur



Vid Spilum Endalaust



Hoppipolla

Hawk Rock

Part two celebrating one of my favorite bands, Mogwai, and my unbridled excitement at seeing them tonight!

The Wiltern is a cool theater (the Dethklok show if you recall) and I expect the sound to be on point, along with the Mogwai multi-textural layers of sonic bliss. The last time I saw Mogwai it was back in 2004 as part of the Curiosa tour (w/ Interpol and The Cure). It kinda sucked that they went on in the late afternoon and there wasn't much of a crowd there to appreciate it, but they were still great. But my first experience with them was religious.

Scartoe (bless his heart) suggested I go with him to the El Rey way back in 2000 and watch the band, whom I had heard little about. It was a pretty life-altering musical experience, getting blasted with something so new and original. Playing some of The Hawk Is Howling for Scarlett the other day and she asked if it was MAGNA, which goes to show the influence and impact of that band.

UPDATE: Holy fuck.

What an intense show. I feel like I went to the gym, got in a fight, worked overtime, had an orgy, put my head in a jet engine, and smoked angel dust. And that was just after the first two songs.

As I had been peeking at the set lists from the prior shows on this tour, I knew there would be a healthy amount from The Hawk Is Howling. For being newly minted tour selections, I'd say they played them pretty strongly. I'm glad I had been listening to them for the last week because knowing what to expect and anticipate them, for me, was better than the surprise of hearing something for the first time. Not that I wasn't impressed with those first plays either.

There were certainly a lot of highlights to the show, but I think the most amazing moments were the performances of "Friend Of The Night" and "Helicon 1", which we just so bombastic and incredible. While there are the subtlety of layers and the swells of volume, Mogwai live is like a beast unchained. I want to keep finding superlatives, but really, it's just intense getting hit with that sonic barrage. It's a pretty powerful thing, and those who think I'm exagerating to suggest it will change you for seeing them, well, just go and you'll understand what I mean.

The Precipice (end)

Friend Of The Night


Hunted By A Freak


Batcat (middle)

The Precipice
Friend Of The Night
Thank You Space Expert
Hunted By A Freak
I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead
Ithica 27 o 9
Scotland's Shame
Helicon 1
I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School
Like Herod
Batcat
Secret Pint
Two Rights Make One Wrong
We're No Here

C.I.A. MAGNA

Congratulations, your weekend just got better!

MAGNA is coming to C.I.A. - the California Institute of Abnormalarts this Friday at 9pm to give you a musical bitchslap. The band that makes music like the soundtrack to a hallucination playing at the venue that looks like it was raped by a carnival sideshow is too good to pass up! Follow the link, get yourself educated, and see you there!

Land Of The Lost Episodes

Last night Scarlett brought me to the TV Land Awards as her arm candy.

It was a strange and fun experience, and I was surprised at the size of the show. The ceremony was held in the Barker hangar at Santa Monica Airport, which was totally decked out with elaborate lighting rigs, chandeliers, and giant fabric curtains, and filled with tables for the ceremony. The last time I was at a televised awards show was years ago when Wolfgang Puck catered the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards, and working behind the scenes is a lot different from being an attendee.

We walked the red carpet to get in, but I doubt you'll see us, because of the nifty partition they have for stars to go in front of and peons to go behind. But just in case, look around the time Kathy Griffin is getting interviewed. Or in the background of the photo line for the members of The Office.

Our table was off center to the left behind an aisle separating the celebrity seeded front of the auditorium and the industry types. Since Scarlett is in the biz, she had lots of contacts, clients, and co-workers to introduce me to and point out. I think that the entertainment suits certainly outnumbered the talent, but there was still an impressive grouping of names there.

The awards were declaring people and shows "icons" or "legends" or "innovators", and the pedigree was far reaching. For Garry Marshall's award, they had Dick Van Dyke, Henry Winkler, Jack Klugman, Penny Marshall, and Cindy Williams. Jonathan Winters was presented an award by Robin Williams, and Ed Asner and Bill Shatner stumbled through a presentation. The cast of Roseanne was there (John Goodman is massive up close), as was much of the cast of The Golden Girls (Estelle Getty was absent). Samuel L. Jackson, Mike Myers, Justin Timberlake were also on stage, plus Lionel Richie got an award and performed. Shit yeah he did "Hello", "Easy", and "All Night Long"!

The opening sequence had hostess Vanessa Williams singing and hoisted about the crowd. Several past prime celebs were also flown above: J.J. Walker, Greg and Cindy Brady, The Greatest American Hero, The Love Boat's Doc, and even Gary Coleman. We were in the flight path on the left side, and I behaved well enough to not look up Vanessa William's dress when she went by. See mom, and I can be taken out of the house.

Unlike other shows filmed for later air dates, there was no second takes, and that helped move the show along. The only downside was that the food was served prior to the guest arriving, so everything was cold. Thankfully there was an open bar, because the next option was the after party at Casa Del Mar. We got out to the valet ahead of most, so we were able to have first crack at a table at the party and gorge on the food, which was not bad. Even a few celebs came to rub elbows with us, like both the Roseanne Beckys, and Dunder Mifflin's Oscar and Creed. Sadly, Jenna Fischer did not come to the ceremony, because I had permission to get me some. John Krasinski didn't show either, so it was a wash for Scarlett as well.

Jenna, as I expected to see her in TV Land Famous M Land

The Most Brutal Way To Start The Weekend

I am incredibly thrilled to be seeing the world's most brutal band live to kick off the weekend. Hopefully Rybot and I will not end up casualties like so many fans do at their performances. I haven't been asked to sign a pain waiver yet, so there's still hope that it won't be super-dangerous.

UPDATE: Oh. My. God. What a mindblowing show.

Rybot and I missed the opening act by the time we got there, which was fine, since a lot of death metal is is the same. Second act Chimiara proved that. While they were not bad, they were typical of what the genre has to offer: indistinguishable lyrics, grinding guitars, blast beasts, and hair whipping around. Their sound was kinda muddy, but they had a kick ass light show - that guy was on it. Again, it bad, but certainly not the reason we were there.

After running into some guys from high school who had a terrific death metal band (and who were totally torn up), we ended up in the middle GA section. The floor space below was filled with early comers who had a wristband for access, but we had a fairly clear line of sight from where we stood on the cordoned off aisle on the left side. The staff had stopped letting people into our area too, which was nice, but that wouldn't hold for too long.

The lights went out, and there was a video that set up the premise of the concert - a plan to infect all the Dethklok fans with a virus that would mutate them (not much but) enough to keep them from spending money, effectively crippling the band. It would have worked too, because every time we saw the merch table there was a line across the whole foyer with at least 50 people. When Dethklok came on, the place went nuts.

Suddenly, the upper GA surged and came charging into our space, trying to get to the stage as the opening notes played. It was chaos, and the security staff couldn't contain the crush. The extra bodies found space to occupy and the rest of the show had little trouble with the crowd, allowing everybody to focus on the music instead of clawing for survival.

Seeing Dethklok perform was a nerd treat of epic proportion. Brendon Small, singer / guitarist / creator is also a Berklee College of Music grad, and he assembled hardcore musicians to play with him - legendary death metal drummer Gene Hoglan, and Frank Zappa alumni Mike Keneally and Bryan Beller. It's hard to remember a show where the skill level and musicianship was as high as this, and pulled it off so successfully. With such a technical degree of songcraft, it was great to see them pull it off, and they made it look effortless. The accompanying video was great, from the interstitial skits to the "performances". They added more original material and synced it flawlessly. It was just amazing, from start to finish.

It's strange that it was really a debut for Dethklok, but the response was closer to Metalocalypse, where they are an established group bigger than the Beatles. While there were the usual assortment of meatheads and heshers in the crowd, I would absolutely see them play again and try to convince as many people to see what an impressive production they put on.

Deththeme / Briefcase Full Of Guts / Birthday Dethday



Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle / Dethharmonic



Murmaider / Thunderhorse



Go Into The Water

Crowded Weekend

It's another weekend set to start with a concert by foreigners - this time it's Crowded House. With two more Friday night concerts to attend in the upcoming months, I have to say that it is a good transition into relaxing and fixing the ills of the week. The holiday weekend coming up is also something to look forward to, but I worry that eventless Fridays and protracted weekends may leave the weeks long and brutal, without a tangible hope to aim for. But for now, the weekend begins well...

UPDATE: Another terrific show from Crowded House, and unlike last time, a far more intimate venue. I was last at The Orpheum for the Last Remaining Seats series of films some time ago, but it was nice to see the refurbished building used for a concert. It was reminiscent of the show they did at The Arlington in Santa Barbara over a decade ago - something larger than a club but smaller than an amphitheater.

With a mix of old and more recent songs, the band even trotted out a couple of new tunes I imagine are being tested for inclusion on another studio effort. Having already done their initial touring for 2007's Time On Earth, the show was a far more relaxed experience on stage. The band, having done their lap after a long hiatus, were now having pure fun. The audience seemed to as well, as a flurry of notes and papers were tossed onto the stage throughout the show, which the band would collect and even read to the crowd.

By far the strangest moment in the banter and interaction was a woman near the front row trying to throw her paper airplane message onstage...which failed at first. As usual, YouTube documents of the night were had, and as proof:

It's dark, but she gets to dance on a PA, and then on stage. Scarlett, who braved the "old people music" was as surprised as I at the whole thing, but it was laughable and very cool to see the evening be such a laid-back and interactive show between the band and it's fans. They also performed a double encore, which stretched their set to over two hours, certainly giving we fans our money's worth. I hope that their next tour brings them back to a small setting, which singer Neil Finn hinted at before they left, or at the very least after doing their promotional jaunt, since great bands really take over cozy theater stages like The Orpheum.

Pineapple Head


Distant Sun

Elbow You In Your Weekend

As the weekend begins, it will be with a return to the Avalon to catch the tour-closing stop by Elbow.

For those unfamiliar with the band, they sound like the good parts of Coldplay, with lyrics like Aimee Mann (or Jon Brion or Michael Penn or Fiona Apple...basically any of those hanging out at Largo), and sung by Peter Gabriel. And that still may not sum them up accurately.

Critically acclimed yet sales-deficient, the band has put out four albums of of Britpop with a sentimental and solumn edge. Framed perfectly with the music, the lyrics are often pure and heartfelt, whether earnest requitings of love or juggling the complicated emotions of getting by from day to day. There is a very working class, everyman feel to the songs (like Springsteen and Mellencamp are to Americana), and if you were having a pint and looked over to see the boys from Elbow having a time, you'd think nothing out of the ordinary. While not rocking as hard as, say, Muse, Elbow still kicks it up and plays a balance of grooves and anthemic melodies with thier tranquil and delicate tunes.

After a brutal week of work and multiple 12 hour days, I'm looking forward to unwinding at their performance.

UPDATE: What a great show! I was particularly impressed with how much more intense and alive the songs were in concert. My regret was that they shied away from Asleep In The Back and Cast Of Thousands, their earlier albums, which I am far more familiar with and fond of, but having heard the tunes of Leaders Of The Free World and The Seldom Seen Kid, I certainly have greater appreciation for them. And I think that's the mark of a very good band, who can still manage a strong showcase with newer material. Scarlett came as my escort to the show, and she was also impressed with them, having agreed to go with no knowledge of their music - another strong mark for the band.

And thanks to the glory of technology, you can enjoy some of the show I did:

"Starlings"


"The Bones Of You"


"The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver"

...and more from the night.

Godlike Genius

NME, the revered English music mag, has bestowed the legendary Jane's Addiction with the Godlike Genius Award, which is worth mentioning because it got Eric Avery to rejoin Stephen Perkins, Perry Farrell, and Dave Navarro on stage for the first time in over 16 years.

The quality of the vid is phone-level, but you get to see and hear the band reunited, which is cool as hell. Will post more / better quality when they end up on the web.