Concert Pics Archives

Point your web browser over to Pitchfork to see my photos from Friday's Mountain Goats / Bowerbirds show at Sonar in Baltimore.

Let me just go ahead and put this out there so you can marinate on it for a minute.

You know all those completely overrated bands like The Decemberists, Beruit, effing Sufjan, Band of Horses, The New Pornographers, Tapes N Tapes, Andrew Bird and the like? You can have them. Go ahead and take 'em.

Just give me Kings of Leon.

Give me a band with career ambition, building their fan base the right way - releasing albums that get progressively better while touring like crazy and playing bigger and bigger venues, but most importantly a band that fucking brings the rock live. Their set last night at the 9:30 Club was perhaps the best show I've seen this year. And I think we all know it's no easy feat to impress me. I have been waiting three years to see KoL live and I built it up so much in my head I didn't think there was any way the band were going to be able to live up to my expectations.

Boy was I wrong.

They were so on point, so tight, so perfect. They made a sold out 9:30 crowd do things I've never seen before. There was a palatable energy in the room last night. The crowd gave it and the band returned it in kind.

Let me throw this out there while I'm at it. Is there a more underrated band in the land right now? A band more deserving of admiration and praise but yet gets so very little?

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club played a decent set to warm up the crowd for the headliners. Actually, they came out blazing on their first five or six songs and had the crowd (including me) eating out of their hand. But then they broke out a slow song that went nowhere and then followed that up with a song where the lead singer played trombone. At that point everyone went to the bar or outside for a smoke. I have never seen a crowd go from "Yes! Fucking Rock!" to "Wait, is that a trombone? Time for a beer" so fast.

In contrast, KoL played "Arizona" about 45 minutes into their set and instead of boring everyone, the guys in crowd busted out their air guitars and the girls kept on openly drooling at the guys on stage. Oh, I should also mention that the crowd at a KoL show is not exactly hard on the eyes ifyouknowwhatimean.

Stand out tunes last night included "Fans," "True Love Way," pretty much everything off of Aha Shake Heartbreak and a show stopping version of "Knocked Up" that seriously gave me goosebumps and induced a giant sing-a-long with the backing "ohwoah ohhhhhhh ohh ohhhhhhhhhhs." Full set list here.

So yeah, the show was pretty good. You need to go see it. They're at the 9:30 Club again tonight and then they continue touring through October and into November.

Despite being pretty beat, I went to see The National and The Rosebuds last night at the 9:30 Club, hoping that the underwhelming show I saw in June was an aberration. Friend of information leafblower R.D. came down from NYC for the June show, but caught The National recently at South Street Seaport and said the show was so good his "trust in the decency of the common man had been restored." Yes please.

Unfortunately while playing a very good show last night, the band and venue still highlighted their collective weaknesses more than their strengths. Boxer, grainy, emotional and gorgeous on CD, lacks a bit in the pacing department live and I just couldn't get past this. Matt was also battling a bit of a cold, which didn't help things.

It almost seemed that the band was holding back last night. On the few occasions they put their guard down and let 'er rip ("Abel" and "Squalor Victoria" for instance) it was truly a thing of beauty that made you think "I am so glad I'm here rather than at home watching Andy Roddick lose to Roger Federer in straight sets." But any momentum would soon be lost when they would follow up with a slowie that brought the energy in the room down again. Alligator worked because "Mr. November's" yin evened out "Daughters of the Soho Riots" yang. And "Daughters" sounds all the better because of it. Boxer lacks the songs that punch you right in the gut (sorry for the horrible pun).

That said, they played "All The Wine" (YAY!) with a wonderful new arrangement and did the slow-then-fast tempo for "Apartment Story" that worked so well back in June. The highlight of the show was definitely the venue-wide singalong to all the words of "Fake Empire."

Similarly, try as I might, I simply cannot get into The Rosebuds. They've garnered all sorts of praise on blogs far and wide, but after seeing them twice, I just can't get into them.

The Washington Post Express is going to run a few of my photos today, which is why there's no photo gallery here. Head over to Flickr for more photos.

Midlake are at the Black Cat tonight, and although I do want to see them, I need a night off. If you go, tell me how it was.

After The National played their first song at the 9:30 Club last night, they did the headlinerly thing and thanked the opening bands for playing with them. And then Matt Berninger said "Happy Birthday Kevin." Who the fuck is this Kevin dude and why is he ruining my birthday? No buzz.

Seriously though, I've had a rough last week and a half or so at work (for reasons I won't get into) and on the way to the show last night I told Ms. Smith that I hoped I would feel better at the show, watching the band play. I was wrong. I was in a much better mood before the show even started after hanging out with everyone that came out to help me celebrate my birthday and eat cupcakes. Chatting and hanging with my friends was just what the doctor ordered. So thanks everyone. I needed that.

As for the show itself, it was very good but not great. Loyal readers know that I heart The National and their new record, but it seemed last night their weaknesses outdid their strengths. Through most of the set, they just seemed like five guys onstage playing instruments. Their sound was very thin and they had problems filling up the room. The pacing of the set was a bit suspect as well. Most of the more uptempo numbers were held back for the latter half of the set, which made for a low key start to the show. The new record - full of slow, brooding numbers - certainly contributed to that effect. Also, no "All The Wine." WTF?

There were some outstanding moments, none of which I can remember directly because I was slightly to fairly drunk. There were quite a few songs that had me dancing around like no one was watching. One of the songs off of the new record got a new arrangement and it sounded great, but I can't remember which one it was. "Lit Up" and "Mr. November" got the chatty Cathy's standing all around us to shut the fuck up and actually watch the show.

Other than this Kevin fellow "ruining" my night, I hereby declare my 33rd birthday a success!

NPR streamed last night's show on the web and you can go to their site to hear the show in it's entirety.

Still numb from last night. I'm afraid to go on the interwebs. I just can't look at Greg Oden's mug right now.

The optimist in me says the Celtics will still be pretty good next year, Al Jeff is a 20-10 guy now, PP is still PP, Rajon Rondo will get the keys to the car and maybe, just maybe, Gerald Green will start to get it. Add in someone like Corey Brewer or Brandon Wright and we'll improve quite a bit. But then the pessimist in me keeps crying out "FOR FUCK'S SAKE! This is what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket!" over and over again. Well, if nothing else draft time should be full of suspense for Celtics Nation. Do we keep the pick or trade it? How will Atlanta screw up this year? Will we be able to capitalize?

I'm really, really glad I went out last night. It was much better for me than sitting at home and stewing over this all night. Many thanks to Ms. Smith for expertly talking me down off the ledge as the night wore on.

Due to the draft debacle I missed Le Loup's set. Let's just assume they were awesome and move on. I did see The Rosebuds, and they were pretty great. Very peppy and full of energy and every song had some sort of "la la la," "oh oh oh," or "yeah yeah yeah." Right up my alley! They just started their tour, so be sure to check them out when they roll through your hood. Here's a taste of their musical stylings:

[MP3] The Rosebuds | Bluebird

OK, now you're just piling on.

You too. Argh! Make it stop!

Reasons Not To Sign With The Major Labels.

William Orbit brought electronica into the mainstream and gave Madonna back her cool. Now he's ditching the synths altogether in favour of an orchestra.