Concert Reviews Archives

Last Saturday, because of the DAM!fest and some lucky scheduling I got to see five bands in three venues over a matter of a few hours. Lady Sovereign was playing the early show at the 9:30 Club so I started my night there. I arrived to see the last two songs of Young Love who were not that impressive. They're what Junior Senior would sound like if they spent all their time trying to write theme songs for all the teen dramas on the WB. Or is it the CW now? Let's move on.

I've heard not so good things about Lady Sov's live show, but I have to say I enjoyed myself. She definitely skews toward the TRL crowd and most of the people in attendance still watch MTV on a regular basis. On stage Sov is more silly than gangsta, but she can work the crowd. Her hits, "Random," "Love Me Or Hate Me" and "Public Warning" all came late in the set but they were on point.

I don't think Sov is going to radically change hip hop or anything like that. The "Feminem" tag she's been getting on this side of the pond is apropos if only because her fanbase is going to be mostly young and white. I can't see it appealing to serious hip-hop heads, but that's not a knock on her. She's tight on stage and really know how to work the crowd.

For more pics of Lady Sov at the 9:30 Club, head on over to Flickr. Be sure to check out Lady Sov on AOL's Interface if you haven't done so already.

After Sov was done, I headed over to DC9 and caught Pela (who were really amazing and totally rawked out) and Forget Cassettes (I already did). Since FC were boring me and the DC9 shows was running waaaaaay late (the second band of the five band bill went onstage at 11 p.m.) I drove out to Arlington to the Iota and caught Middle Distance Runner's set. They were tons of fun and continue to impress. They're playing The Black Cat in December with Forward Russia and Snowden, so if you haven't seen them yet, there's your chance.

Ever go to a show thinking you're on the list and you aren't? Ever have that happen twice in one night? I did last night.

Ms. Smith and I made our way to the Black Cat just after 9:30 and waited in line for a bit, where we were met by Martin and Nora. When I got up to the ticket counter I was all like "I'm on the list."
[list guy checks the list] "Umm, no you're not."
Me: "Sure I am, check again."
Him: "Nope. Don't see it."
Me: "Check again. I'm on there. Is there a label list?"
Him: "You're. Not. On. It."
Fuck. Alot of good interviewing the band did me. Still, it's not like I'm not going to go, so I went to the ATM and ponied up for two tickets and went upstairs and got a spot up front.

My beloved Nethers played a new song early in the set but their show was kinda up and down from there. They stuck to their straight up folk tunes, as opposed to the catchy, hooky goodness of "Mir Ill" and "Hung Herself In A Birdcage." That said, my love for their epic track "Migratory Birds" knows no bounds. I lovelovelove it. I think I've heard them play it at least eight times this year. It gave me goosebumps the first time and it did again last night. So, so good.

You can stream Nethers' album In Fields We Will Lie right here.

Nethers didn't finish up until about ten till 11, so Ms. Smith and I decided to rush over to the 9:30 Club to see the first few songs of The Rapture before coming back to the Cat to finish up the night with The National. So we hightailed it up U Street and ended up running into Mike Grass, Heather and Sommer at different points along our trip. Small town, D.C.

So we get to the 9:30, I go up to the window, give them my ID and tell them "I'm on the list." And I know I am because I can see my name. Whew. Then the list guy asks me, "Do you have a ticket?"
Me: "No."
Him: "Because you've got a photo pass here but no tickets."
Me: "Seriously?"
Him: "Yeah, there's a zero in the tickets column."
For fuck's sake. He was nice enough to show me the list so there wasn't much I could do. I might have thought about buying a ticket if I hadn't already bought two concert tickets I didn't plan on spending money for. But I did, so my portfolio will go without Rapture photos for the time being.

At that point we headed back to the Cat. I was even more pissed off at this point because we gave up our spot up front and I was sure we would miss "Secret Meeting," which The National generally open with (at least they did the one time I saw them previously). Fortunately that wasn't the case. They were midway through their first tune when we got back there and then they played a positively lovely version of "Secret Meeting." The night got considerably better from there.

Let me be the 3,476th blogger to go on record as saying The National are really fucking good. Transcendent at times. Last night I was struck by how U2-y their sound is. I mean Unforgettable Fire U2 (i.e.good U2), not "One, Two, Three, Fourteen" U2. I couldn't get over how beautiful "All The Wine" was. It's really understated on Alligator but live, it packs a wallop.

I'm really glad the band made the effort to come to D.C. and give us another show. It was (almost) worth the wait. And late in the set, Matt said "Oh yeah. Someone reminded me to make sure we say we definitely don't hate D.C. We spend every weekend here." So yeah, that was pretty awesome.

Some goodies I found online today:
[mp3] The National | All The Wine (live)
[mp3] The National | Cherry Tree (live)

I got home late so I didn't get many photos up on Flickr today, so watch for those sometime in the near future.

If you asked me to name the bands on the top of my "Still Haven't Seen In Concert But Am Absolutely Dying To" list, depending on the day, it would probably look like this:
1) Massive Attack
2) Mylo (obvs)
3) The La's (are they back together or not?)
4) Underworld (I saw them at Field Day but that didn't really count)
5) Kings of Leon

Well, last night I finally (FINALLY!) got to see Massive Attack. I got screwed on tickets last time they toured eight long years ago (long story) and just couldn't justify going out to Coachella to see them last summer. So being patient paid off as they played the first of two shows at the 9:30 Club last night.

I'll be honest, my expectations were sky high going into this show. The group was touring with Horace Andy, Lis Fraser and Deborah Miller but, unbekownst to me until the band took the stage last night, without Daddy G who is home on paternity leave. Not having G on stage was a huge loss for the band (speaking as someone that has never seen him live) but I feel like he would have added alot to the vibe and his absence also limited the set list a bit. However, the other singers and 3D himself made up for it. Horace Andy and Deborah Miller in particular, really shined last night. Andy's voice was magnificent, better than any of his recorded output. And Miller brought down the house with her vocals on "Safe From Harm" and "Unfinished Sympathy."

Fraser, above, didn't fare as well. She sounded horrible on "Teardrop," which was a real letdown, but made up for it during the set closer of "Group Four." The band itself, two drummers, a bassist and a few guitarists, was super tight and really breathed new life into the Mezzanine material. I've always considered myself a Blue Lines kinda guy but I may have to rethink that now. All in all, a great, but not mind-blowing, show.

Dammit Moz, quit fucking with me!

I've been waiting for the official announcement before saying anything, but it looks like WOXY is back. But what does this mean for Barb?

Speaking of returns, Jay Will is (almost) back.

Are you ready for the Doug Christie reality show? I sure as fuck am.

Last, and certainly not least, lets all wish Ms. Smith a very happy birthday!

Quite a few people were a bit derisive about the line-up for the first ever North American version of the Virgin Festvail Saturday at the Pimlico Raceway outside of Baltimore, myself included. I'm glad I thought better of it and went anyways because it was one hell of a day. I was on assigment for AOL Music. The mission: get some kick ass photos for their new music blog, obvs. Go here to see all of my best stuff.

Thanks to some fantastic directions from the Virgin crew I arrived at Pimlico around 11:45. I quickly got my passes and tickets sorted and hurried up the main stage just in time for Kasabian. I was bit bummed not to be able to see them play a local club show but I think I enjoyed seeing them in a festival setting even more. They have a huge sound and, well, it sounds great on a huge sound system. They opened with "Reason Is Treason" and just tore into their set. I was down in the photo pit and we were allowed to shoot each band for the first two songs. I'm still a bit new at shooting festivals so I was taken aback at the height of the main stage. It must have been at least seven feet tall. At this point in the day it wasn't crowded at all so there was plenty of time to move around. That wouldn't last very long.

Kasabian was on at noon and The Mountain Goats were on at ten after, so rather than rushing down to the second stage I walked around a bit and made eventually my way over to the dance tent where RJD2 was spinning. I'm so glad I did, because he was flat out tearing shit up. I am totally jaded when it comes to the DJ scene but RJD2 made a believer out of me. He was straight killing it. There were about 120 people in the dance tent at the time and they got to hear one of the best sets of the day. As I made my way back to the main stage for the next act I made a mental note to seek out as much RJD2 as possible.

Wolfmother were next on the main stage and while their sound, a mix of The White Stripes and Black Sabbath, isn't exactly new, they were still alot of fun. Big afro guy is a good frontman and he had he is very good at delivering the rock, so hey, more power to him.

Next up on the second stage were The New Pornographers, the source of so much music blog bandwidth. I have yet to download their records from eMusic, so I wasn't that familiar with them. I found them decidedly OK, but nothing really jumped out at me.

After that I made my way back to the dance tent for 2MANYDJ's but they were running late (a rarity for the day) and after waiting around for 15 minutes I made my way back to the main stage for The Raconteurs. I have their CD and thought it was catchy but a bit unremarkable, but they really impressed me Saturday. They sound like CCR on amphetamines, perfect following Wolfmother's White Sabbath stylee retro-rock. I now have to take another listen to their CD.

After my quick dose of Brendan Benson I made my way back to the Second Stage for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. I really, really hate this band but was perfectly willing to give them another chance, hoping they'd improved since last time I saw them in D.C. No such luck. They took the stage with pouty faces and acted like they didn't even want to be there. And everytime the lead singer opened his mouth to sing I wanted to stick sharp pencils as far down my ear canal as they would go. They are that bad. Truly a horrible band, they laid the first egg of the day. And to make matters even worse, four of their five members have a worse hairline than I do. The next time the blogosphere goes apeshit over them, I'm posting all of the unflattering photos of them I took during their set. You've been warned.

Hot shit hip-hop/soul outfit Gnarls Barkley and their kooky outfits were up next, and while they didn't blow me away, I have nothing bad to say about them. Sure, Dangermouse is a bit over-rated but Cee-Lo has been the best thing on the last few Outkast records and far be it from me to complain if the kids these days are listening to some Earth, Wind and Fire type shit. More please. I should note here I have no idea if The Raconteurs or anyone else on the bill covered "Crazy." Oh, Gnarls were dressed as Romans and Cee-Lo called the band "Chariots of Fire."

I'm starting to drag at this point but luckily The Brazlian Girls provided me with a quick energy boost. I was a bit freaked out by the lead singer's white face mask, but now I see why Coolfer has been telling me to drop whatever I'm doing and go see them. They are the complete opposite of Zero 7. They can pull off the trip-hoppy, world music vibe and not seem the least bit lame.

Brandon Flowers and The Killers were next on the Main Stage and even though I think they're incredibly lame, I hoped they would put on a performance that would clue me in to why they are even remotely popular. Again, no such luck. Flowers' Bono complex must have been visible from the farthest reaches of the infield because it was being thrown in my face down in the photo pit. I just can't take this band seriously. Their new album is shaping up to be a giant turd and I, for one, can't wait for them to come crashing back down to Earth. But then again, what do I know, I like The Bravery.

Despite the unsettling in my stomach from watching The Killers, I decided to skip Thievery Corporation in order to get some food, recharge my camera battery and rest my weary feet. Sure taking photos all day is alot of fun, but it's also hard work. By this point the photo pit was becoming increasingly more crowded and good spots in the pit were getting hard to come by. Moving around was really hard by the main stage because the bouncers kept insisting we crowd into the stage as far as possible so they could pull kids over the barricade.

I'm a bit ashamed to say that up until Saturday, I never really "got" The Who. Sure I liked them, but I failed to see why Eddie Vedder spontaneously blows a load whenever anyone so much as mentions their name. Well, after seeing them live, I get it. I was really nervous about taking photos of them and don't really remember much about the first song they played, but "The Seeker" was second in the set and it made me step back and just take it all in. I was about 4 feet away from Bee Thousand while he was windmilling around everywhere. Wow. I stayed around for the next four or five songs and discovered a newfound admiration for a band that everyone already loves.

I almost didn't want to walk all the way down to the other end of the infield to catch Scissor Sisters, but ultimately, I did, and by doing so I caught what might have been the best set of the day. Scissor Sisters had the advantage of being the first band on after dark and they really took advantage. They were incredible, infectious and flashy. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone better than Jake Shears and Ana Matronic to front this band. My jaw was on the ground the whole time. So much fun! And, as a bonus, they were the only band that let everyone shoot three songs instead of two. So I got a boatload of great pics from them. This one might be the single best photo I have ever taken. I walked away a new fan. Their new record comes out tomorrow.

I had half a mind not to fight the crowd in the photo pit and just skip the Red Hot Chili Peppers altogether. I last saw them on Lollapalooza in 1992 (was that really 14 years ago?) and feel like they've gone downhill ever since. In retrospect I should have because they went on 20 minutes late (the first band on the two main stages all day to do so) and then started with some wack instrumental "funk" jam before Anthony Keidis decided to grace us with his presence. I positioned myself on Flea's side of the stage, figuring he'd be a better subject to take pictures of than John Frusciante, who generally has his hair in his face like Cousin It. By then the pit was so crowded with photogs, other media types and random people trying to get shots on their camera phones that I got stuck right up on the front of the stage which made taking pictures almost impossible because the band was standing a bit back from the stage lip. The results were a bunch of head shots and me trying furiously to dodge Flea's sweat when he was twirling around.

And here's the kicker. Since the stupid Chili Peppers went on late, I missed the start of The Flaming Lips set. You know, the giant ball, all the balloons, etc. I fucking ran from one photo pit to the other but couldn't make it. I was seriously pissed by the time I got to the Second Stage and was even more so when they told us we wouldn't be getting an extra song to shoot even though the Chili Peppers went on late. So I snapped as many frames as I could for the last half of that song before the ushered us out. I did get one keeper though. All this unfortunately put a damper on my first ever Lips performance and I ended up leaving after watching the next few songs. I was dead tired and drunk teenagers kept coming up to me asking for cigarettes, so I decided to beat the traffic and head home.

All in all, a good day. I got to see some great sets and have another festival shoot under my belt. I met quite a few of my fellow photographers and got tips from alot of them. My new lens was up to the task and I took some of the best photos of my life. I was downright giddy going through them all yesterday. Good thing because it takes a very long time to edit down 1300 photos. Obviously a few are included here, and more are over at Flickr. As I said earlier, I was shooting on assignment for AOL Music, so check out their coverage for the best stuff.

I saw my favorite DC band again last night. Nethers went on late and I was a bit cranky because I haven't slept very good this week (even though I bought a new bed last week) but Nikki West and company never fail to put me in a good mood. They played another new song which I quite liked, but I think they are dropping the wrong songs out of the set to make room for the new stuff. I need (want) to hear "Mir Ill" and "It's An Islaind" dammit. Luckily for me, they played yet another great version of "Migratory Birds," easily my favorite song of theirs. After seeing the band six or seven times already this year (I'm too lazy to look it up in the archives) this song never fails to give me goosebumps. Love love love it. Here's the recorded version.

(MP3) Nethers | Migratory Birds*

NYC peeps, they are opening for Josh Ritter tonight at South Street Seaport. Go check 'em out!!

* Dot Mac seems to have changed their file naming structure, which is news to me. Please leave a comment if you have problems with the MP3. Thanks. Or just go buy the record from Insound.