January 31, 2008

[Photos] Buffalo Tom @ Black Cat

I'm a bit late on this but I would be remiss if I failed to go on record about how fucking awesome Buffalo Tom was last Friday night. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give the show a 15. Seriously. They destroyed my low expectations and put on what will definitely end up being one of the best shows I will see in 2008.

I can't for the life of me remember the last time I saw them play. I'm guessing 1997ish, which put Friday night's show at about 10 years overdue. But it was like they never left. Everything from Let Me Come Over and Big Red Letter Day sounded as vibrant and fresh as the first time I heard those songs. And the newer songs sounded right at home besides these "classics."

The best part of the show was how much fun the band was having on stage. Yes, to an extent this show was a trip down memory lane, but it was a welcome one. It was clear Bill, Chris and Tom were playing these songs because they love them and were happy to be performing them again. Their energy was infectious and the crowd more than reciprocated. They even took requests. The only (minor) downer was Chris's sore throat, which kept the band performing "Three Easy Pieces," one of the songs I was most looking forward to hearing. But he sucked it up for "Late At Night," so it's hard to complain about that.

Setlist: [via the BTMB]
Staples / CC and Callas / Sodajerk / Thrown / Summer / Treehouse / Mineral / You'll Never Catch Him / Kitchen Door / Scottish Windows / Tangerine / Velvet Roof / I'm Allowed / Bottom of the Rain / Late at Night / Taillights Fade
Encore:
Late At Night / Frozen Lake / Birdbrain / Wiser

I have serious doubts if I will see a better show this year. It was that good.

[mp3] Buffalo Tom | Larry (live)

Also, I finally saw Cloverfield last night. I liked it, but it felt like I was watching someone play a video game. I have some serious issues with the last 20 minutes of the movie, but overal...thumbs up.

**UPDATE** - Pygs In a Blanket nails one of my complaints.

Finally, Robbers on High Street have canceled their show at DC9 tonight.

Posted by Kyle at 12:33 PM | Comments (1)

January 16, 2008

[Photos] Editors @ 9:30 Club

Real quick...Editors were totally on point last night. When they came through town a few months ago they seemed a bit off. Maybe it was them, maybe it was me (Sky high expectations), I can't say. What I can say is they played an amazing set last night. Their collective energy level was much higher, and it showed through in their set. Ed Lay was straight-up attacking his drum set. I was up front for most of the night and had planned to go in the back and stand with Natalya and her friend when there was a lull in the show. Well, that didn't happen until around song # 9 or so. Great, great show. And a good way to start out the 2008 concert year.

Can't say the same for the openers. I detest Louis XIV, who have yet to write a decent song. And about 30 seconds into Hot Hot Heat's set, their tour manager came up to me and scolded me that my photo pass was only good for Editors and not his band. Oh really? If my band just released and was touring behind their third album, which was greeting with universally lukewarm reviews, and was in the process of playing a nine song set, seven of which were old tunes, I'd be begging people to pay attention to my band before they fall off the face of the fucking planet. But hey, you got it. I won't talk about or pay attention to them no more.

If you haven't read it yet, don't forget to check out my interview with Editors lead singer Tom Smith.

While we're semi-on-the-subject, there is an embarrassing amount of great shows in D.C. tonight. The 9:30 has Blonde Redhead, who I have yet to see (the 2 songs I saw them do at ACL Festival last year don't count). The Black Cat is hosting Yeasayer and MGMT in the backstage (locals read all about the brouhaha regarding the small venue yesterday) and The Red and The Black has my boys from GreenVegas, NC, the one and only Future Islands. I saw them last year at Whartscape and they were teh awesome. Normally I would be front and center at the Future Islands show, but I threw my hat into the Yeasayer ring last week. So if you're one of the "lucky" few with tickets, see you tonight.

Posted by Kyle at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2007

[Lists] Gigs of the Year 2007

Mew @ Black Cat - "The highlight of the night, however, was the encore performance of "Special," a song a few concert goers around me said they were waiting all night for. Madsen started riffing with the band's drummer while the rest of the band slowly took the stage, launching into the song's signature riff with a perfectly timed crescendo that had the audience going wild."

LCD Soundsystem @ 9:30 Club - "I wouldn't call myself a huge LCD fan by any means, and to be honest, the amount of hype they're getting from NYC was turning me off on the band a bit, but holy shit, they brought the noise last night. It was one of those shows where the band plays for over an hour and you're having so much fun it feels like only 10 minutes. And the best part of it was the usually stoic D.C. audience was totally letting their hair down and absolutely turning it loose. Most everybody in the club was dancing, even old men like me. I was proud to be from D.C. last night."

The Pipettes and Smoosh @ Black Cat - "The Pipettes are, as some are wont to say, the sound of one pan flashing, but no matter how you feel about the group, they put on a great show. There were plenty of choreographed dance moves to go along with the group's throw-back, doo-wop sound, and best of all, the girls seemed to be enjoying themselves. The crowd certainly did. Think of them as the female Art Brut. You either get it and totally love it or you don't."

The National @ 9:30 Club - "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."

Travis @ 9:30 Club - "Normally I absolutely abhor it when bands play "greatest hits" sets. But when it's been seven years since you've seen a band, those type of sets aren't exactly a bad thing. In fact, last night the set was perfect. Because they played "Back In Black." On a whim. As the last song of the night. It was INCREDIBLE."

Dappled Cities Fly @ Black Cat - "They played the Black Cat's backstage room last night and put on one of the most enjoyable shows I've seen this year. Their sound is a glorious blend of Mew, Supergrass, The Shins and Levy - art rock with perfect pop hooks occasionally sung in falsetto."

Kings of Leon @ 9:30 Club - "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. "

Voxtrot & The Little Ones @ Black Cat - "You know how I always say I love bands that do mainly verse-chorus-verse songs with a "do do do," "la la la" or "woo woo woo" thrown in there at some point? The Little Ones generally do all three in most of their songs. Think of an American version of I Should Coco-era Supergrass. Tons of energy, lots of smiles on stage and plenty of chances to clap along with their songs. And it's pretty impossible not to sing along with the "hey-oh"'s in "Lovers Who Undercover." I had a ball during their set."

Pela @ Historic Sixth & I Synagouge - "Holy hell. They were brilliant. Forced to do a 30 minute set due to the schedule, they wasted no time and pulled no punches, delivering one of the best sets of music I've seen this year. They were damn near perfect. The choruses were big and soared when they needed to and Billy showed a newfound talent for pulling back a bit and showing a bit of restraint during the slower songs."

Jen Lekman @ Black Cat - "I couldn't stay long at the Jens Lekman show last night and that turned out to be a real shame. He was brilliant. It was a cold, rainy night outside but this guy was just emanating sunshine from the stage. And he managed to turn a good show into a great show in just the second song of the night, when during the last little bit of "The Opposite of Hallelujah" he dropped in a sample of "Give Me Just A Little More Time" by The Chairman of the Board."

Morrissey @ DAR Constitution Hall - "We only got to shoot two songs and they went by in a flash(no pun intended). I had both of my cameras with me and would switch between the two whenever the buffer on a memory card would fill up. I had them placed on the stage in front of me, which was very handy. During the second song, while I was putting one camera down and picking up the other, Moz hit me in the face with the mic cord! Awesome."

Superdrag @ 930 Club - "They didn't get to the good stuff, that being everything off of Head Trip In Every Key, until the latter part of the set but it was worth the wait. "Sold You An Alibi" killed. As did "Do The Vampire." "I'm Expanding My Mind" was every bit of the sonic godhead I make it out to be in my head. So yeah, this show was good."

Posted by Kyle at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)

November 9, 2007

What About Today?

Superdrag were brilliant last night.

Yes, they look a bit longer in the tooth but they still got it.

In spades.

John Davis can still sing his ass off.

Don Coffey Jr. still plays drums like a man possesed.

And Tom Pappas still wears leather pants.

So much awesome.

The set list (which I'm still looking for online) stuck mostly to the early EP's and first two records, with a few new Davis songs thrown in here and there. They didn't get to the good stuff, that being everything off of Head Trip In Every Key, until the latter part of the set but it was worth the wait. "Sold You An Alibi" killed. As did "Do The Vampire." "I'm Expanding My Mind" was every bit of the sonic godhead I make it out to be in my head. So yeah, this show was good.

The ungodly 11:15 start time meant I had to leave before their set was over, which is a real shame because I didn't get to hear "Destination Ursa Major," which is easily one of my 10 favorite songs of all time. But I was stoked to hear my faves from Head Trip.

I have no idea if the band will do something like this again soon (or ever again for that matter) but if it comes to pass, you need to go check them out. This band is the classic example of "these guys should have been HUGE!"

The ungodly start time meant no time for photo editing last night. So look for photos this weekend or Monday.

Completely unreleated:
A compilation: McSweeney's Rockist-oriented lists

Every NBA player from the 1980's has retired.

The Washington Wizard's new offense.

Dan Dickau. Who He Play For?

Seriously: All that for four shows.

Jimmy Carter, cat killer.

Posted by Kyle at 1:08 PM | Comments (2)

November 3, 2007

Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want

Last night I finally got to shoot Morrissey. I say "finally" because I was supposed to shoot three of the dates he cancelled back in July. Three! But it was not to be. And after the show last night, I think the wait was almost worth it.

I was incredibly nervous when I got to the venue. I was trying not to put too much pressure on myself to get "the shot" but it wasn't working. I had some serious butterflies in my stomach. About five minutes before Moz went onstage, the promoter led the photogs down to the front of the house. There is no photo pit at DAR, so we had to basically shoot from the crowd. However, the bouncers were nice enough to clear people out of the center aisle which was just enough space for myself and Ryan, the other photog. I was front row! Before I could even get settled, the lights dimmed and Morrissey bounded out across the stage. I took a deep breath and went to work.

We only got to shoot two songs and they went by in a flash(no pun intended). I had both of my cameras with me and would switch between the two whenever the buffer on a memory card would fill up. I had them placed on the stage in front of me, which was very handy. During the second song, while I was putting one camera down and picking up the other, Moz hit me in the face with the mic cord! Awesome.

When our two songs were up, I stored my camera in the production office and then went back out to enjoy the show. Even though the venue was just over half full, Moz was in fine form and looked like he was enjoying himself greatly. He played a great set (although he completely ignored any Ringleaders material - save for the b-side "Good Looking Man About Town") and the crowd was mad for it.

I got my hands on the second shirt that was thrown out but a mad scramble for it ensued and I gave up on it. Besides, what am I going to do with a 1/4 of a sleeve? Moz ended up throwing three shirts into the crowd and it seemed to rile everyone up. There were something like 12 stage invaders during the last song and Moz was loving it. he had the biggest smile on his face. Security was really cool about it, letting people jump up on stage and then back down if they didn't do anything crazy. They had their hands full. Boz threw out a set list right before he walked off stage and I just missed it. Dagger. Even so, I declare my 13th Morrissey gig a success.

Oh, and I got the shot.

Setlist: (via)
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before / Irish Blood, English Heart / Interesting Drug / Death Of A Disco Dancer / Sister, I'm A Poet / One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell / Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself? / Billy Budd / Jack The Ripper / The Loop / Stretch Out And Wait / I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris / Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want / Tomorrow / I Like You / Good Looking Man About Town / The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores / That's How People Grow Up / The Boy With The Thorn In His Side / Dear God, Please Help Me / How Soon Is Now? // First Of The Gang To Die

Posted by Kyle at 10:42 AM | Comments (2)

November 1, 2007

Moz in Baltimore*

Ok, real quick. Ram's Head live is like the 9:30 Club with a capacity more akin to that of the Black cat. Only much more sterile and without any charm or personality. House of Blues Lite if you will. Still, I had never seen Morrissey in such a small venue before. The opportunity was too good to pass up and I just put the ticket price out of my mind.

I grabbed a spot stage right about 7 people back from the stage. I had the perfect sightline to the middle of the stage. I chatted with some of the people standing around me, mostly couples, and everyone was nice. I was pumped and ready for a great show.

Then during the set changeover after Girl In A Coma (who were ok, but nothing to blog about), about 10 minutes before the Mozzer came onstage, this visibly drunk older (40+ - just trying to put things in context here) couple tried to push their way through the small group of people where I was standing. This big burly guy (Who was stocky as hell) was having none of that and wouldn't let them do it. They contiunued to fight to get in front of him and a drink got spilled on someone next to the burly guy. He was none to happy and said something to the lady that spilled her beer. She basically said "Fuck off you fucking fuck" which didn;t make burly guy or the other people in the are very happy. A few people said things to older, drunk couple who kept replying "Fuck you, we paid money to be in here too," etc. More words were exchanged in both directions, lots of "Fuck Yous" flying back and forth. Finally the drunk lady said something very nasty and one of the guys that was doing the talking got in her face. She threw her (full) beer on that guy, drenching him and the causing collateral soakage to the poor sap standing next to him (Me!). So the wet guy grabs her, then her boyfriend/husband jumps into action, they grapple and then older dude throws a punch. The crowd was moving all around at that point so I'm not sure if it landed but younger dude was having none of that and he just decked the older guy. Older guy was stunned, more drinks were tossed by the lady and everyone is on their case by now. After another 30 seconds or so, older dude came back at the younger guy but the big burly guy from earlier (now wet) gave him a very hard shove and launched him back about eight feet. Dude got rocked. At that point security came over and took younger dude away. I never saw him for the rest of the night although a few bystanders went over to make sure security knew who started it.

I say all of this because after the melee I lost my awesome spot and had to stand behind this obnoxiously drink girl who (seriously) shouted "OMG! I can't belieeeeeeve it" everytime Morrissey began a song. Every. fucking. time. She sounded like a sick poodle or something. It derove me crazy. After the fourth or fifth song reality has to set in right? At some point don't you have to recognize the fact that you are in a rock club and Morrissey is singing and sound is coming out of the speakers? You have to acknowlegde that at some point, right?

They finally left just before "Tomorrow" and I got to enjoy the rest of the set in piece. All in all, it was a good show, Moz came out dressed in a tux (looking very dapper), with the band clad soleyl in loincloths. Even Boz. It was pretty awesome. Everyone in the band also had something written on their chest in magic marker, Boz's was "Disco Dancer." Moz was in fine form, although "Jack The Ripper" kinda suck because Boz's guitar was turned up too loud and you couldn't hear anything else. Moz opened with "The Loop" and it got the night off to a fantastic start. "The Death of a Disco Dancer" and "Stretch Out and Wait," my first time hearing both, were great as well.

Moz wasn't as chatty as usual (he didn't even mention canceling the July show there) but one standout part of the show was when he opened the floor up for questions and gave the mic to a girl in the front row. She took her time and eventually said"Yes, I'm curious about.." and at that point Moz grabbed the mic back and said flatly, "Stay curious." Awesome.

Can't wait for D.C. on Friday.

The set (via):
The Loop / Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before / Last Of The Famous International Playboys / Sister, I'm A Poet / All You Need Is Me / London / Billy Budd / Girlfriend In A Coma / Irish Blood, English Heart / That's How People Grow Up / Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me / Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself? / The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores / I Like You / Shoplifters Of The World Unite / Tomorrow / Stretch Out And Wait / I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris / Death Of A Disco Dancer / Jack The Ripper / How Soon Is Now? // First Of The Gang To Die

[MP3] Morrissey | The Loop

*dictated but not (proof)read

Posted by Kyle at 3:26 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2007

Bitter Hearts

You should take my absence from the interwebs (on a week where I have not one but two Morrissey shows on tap in addtion to the MLS playoffs coming to town and the NBA tipping off) as an indication at just how frigging busy I am at work right now. Lots of stuff to be said but no time to say it.

At Natalya's behest, I saw Jimmy Eat World last night at the 9:30 Club. They were good but not great. Actually they are great at what they do but I'm not really a fan of that. They tend to have two types of songs: shouty and sing-alongy. The set was more the former than the latter. Although "The Sweetness" was pretty bad ass. Always secretly liked that song. Due to the dreaded ticket snafu(it eventually got sorted), I missed 90% of Viva Voce's set, which is a shame because I really wanted to check them out. But I loved what I did get to see. I had to sign a photo waver for the headliners, so head over to DCist to see a few photos from the show.

After the show I came home all ready to watch some NBA only to have my cable and internet go on the fritz. Thanks Comcast. Also, I'm going to have to pull a Sports Guy and run my NBA preview over the weekend or next week. I got my Washington Wizards press credentials renewed this year so (assuming he's not traded for Kobe) expect more leaf v. Agent Zero posts in the very near future. Best.

Morrissey at Ram's Head (capacity 600) tonight. I decided just to shoot photos at the D.C. show on Friday (still waiting on confirmation). I hope I don't end up regretting that one.

Here's an mp3 to make up for this lame post:

[MP3] UNKLE | War Stories (The Psychopab Def Mix)

Posted by Kyle at 2:39 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2007

Sports or Concert? Concert!

I couldn't stay long at the Jens Lekman show last night and that turned out to be a real shame. He was brilliant. It was a cold, rainy night outside but this guy was just emanating sunshine from the stage. And he managed to turn a good show into a great show in just the second song of the night, when during the last little bit of "The Opposite of Hallelujah" he dropped in a sample of "Give Me Just A Little More Time" by The Chairman of the Board. The crowd went crazy, as well they should have.

I'll put it to you this way. The show was so good I had no problem missing all of the D.C. United playoff loss to Chicago and most of Boston's 2-1 Game 2 win to see it. I immediately downloaded his new album from eMusic when I got home. Think of The Housemartins with a little more bossanova thrown in. Best.

[MP3] Jens Lekman | The Opposite of Hallelujah

[MP3] Jens Lekman | Into Eternity

Posted by Kyle at 11:10 AM | Comments (3)

October 16, 2007

Photos: Stellastarr*, Pela & Exit Clov

I am super swamped at work today so I'll have to keep this semi-short. Saturday was my third time "seeing" Stellastarr*, a band I really do not care for at all. But I absolutely love it when they tour!

Why?

because they have this cunning knack of bringing along opening bands that totally blow them off the stage. To wit:

Oct. 6th, 2005 - I helped get Cedars on the bill for this show, so I went early to see their set. The middle band? Giant effing Drag, who totally blew me away and quickly shot up to "my new favorite band" status.

March 30, 2006 - I go to see this opening band from England called Editors. I walk out with my jaw on the floor. They were that good. Also worth noting, that was my very first gig with my then brand-new Canon Rebel XT.

October 13, 2007 - They play again and Pela is on the bill with them. Now, I've obviously seen Pela a few times by this point, including the year before at a DAM!Fest show. I liked that performance so much that I booked the band to play Unbuckled for DCist. That was another great show, but while it was easy to see that while the band had all the tunes they needed, they were more energy than anything else at that point. The chops still weren't there. More of the same when I caught them in San Fran a few months ago, although they showed improvement. Then the gig on Saturday. Holy hell. They were brilliant. Forced to do a 30 minute set due to the schedule, they wasted no time and pulled no punches, delivering one of the best sets of music I've seen this year. They were damn near perfect. The choruses were big and soared when they needed to and Billy showed a newfound talent for pulling back a bit and showing a bit of restraint during the slower songs. Nate supplies and endless supply of killer riffs and hooks while Eric and Tomislav keep it all in check. That was a fucking good show.

The venue certainly added a bit to the atmosphere. It was at the Historic 6th & I Synagogue, which has fabulous acoustics and and superb soundsystem. I'd go see another show there in a heartbeat.

I spoke to Nate for a minute before they went on and he said after that festival thing in NYC this week that I've promised not to mention, they'll be going into the studio and the band plan to have a new record out by middle of next year. I, for one, cannot wait.

I did stick around a bit for a few Stellastarr* songs, but I just couldn't get into it, so I split and caught a bit of Craig Wedren at the Rock n Roll Hotel. I got my "Red House" fix after a while (props for playing it mid-set) and went home and crashed. Not a bad Saturday night in D.C. Not bad at all.

Overall, attendance at this year's DAM!Fest seemed spotty at best, which I assume doesn't bode well for the future. Not sure why that was. Seemed like a lot of people were out of town last weekend, but the ones that were here didn't show up.

Posted by Kyle at 1:25 PM | Comments (1)

October 10, 2007

Photos: Klaxons & Washington Social Club

I made my way down to the 9:30 Club on Monday night to check out this "Nu-Rave" thing the kids are going on and on about. The Klaxons are the torch bearers of the movement I suppose, seeing as how they won the 2007 Mercury Music Prize for their album Myths of the Near Future. The verdict? Let's just say it's not my thing. All the kids (and there were a lot of x's on hands around me up front near the stage) were totally into it though, so I was in the minority. I had a hard time getting photos of the band because the people in front were jumping around so much.

D.C.'s own Washington Social Club scored the opening spot for the gig after Sh*t Disco was forced to cancel due to visa issues. I missed them last time they played the 9:30, so it was nice to get to see (WSC bassist) Olivia Mancini do her thing. She is quite possibly my favorite local musician. She and the Social Club played an energetic set of clever, Stones-inspired pop nuggets to the late arriving crowd. So score another one for the openers upstaging the headliners. At least in my book.

[MP3] Klaxons | Atlantis to Interzone

[MP3] Washington Social Club | Diamond Hipster Boy (via TWF)

Posted by Kyle at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)

October 9, 2007

Photos: Voxtrot & The Little Ones

Two songs into Voxtrot's set Saturday night at the Black Cat lead singer Ramesh Srivastava told the crowd he was feeling unwell, so if the band was less than stellar that night, that was why. Turns out he wasn't kidding. He had some sort of surgery after the band's gig in Philly on Sunday and the band has had to cancel at least two shows in Canada this week, although Frank says all the Canadian dates are off. As for the show, yes, the band was a little off, but they gave it their all and they get nothing but respect for that.

For me, it was the openers that stole the show. Ms. Smith has been a fan of The Little Ones for a while now and I'm finally catching on. I saw them late last year at a museum in Orange County, CA and liked them, although they didn't blow me away. That changed Saturday night. I guess it took a proper gig at a proper venue for everything to click. You know how I always say I love bands that do mainly verse-chorus-verse songs with a "do do do," "la la la" or "woo woo woo" thrown in there at some point? The Little Ones generally do all three in most of their songs. Think of an American version of I Should Coco-era Supergrass. Tons of energy, lots of smiles on stage and plenty of chances to clap along with their songs. And it's pretty impossible not to sing along with the "hey-oh"'s in "Lovers Who Undercover." I had a ball during their set.

[MP3] Voxtrot | The Start of Something
[MP3] Voxtrot | Trouble

[MP3] The Little Ones | Lovers Who Undercover (via MFR)
[MP3] The Little Ones | Face The Facts (via IA)

Posted by Kyle at 10:47 AM | Comments (1)

September 24, 2007

Photos: KoL & BRMC

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.

Posted by Kyle at 12:51 PM | Comments (3)

September 6, 2007

Tired and Wired

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.

Posted by Kyle at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)

August 2, 2007

New Favorite Band Alert

And that would be Australia's Dappled Cities (also known as Dappled Cities Fly). They played the Black Cat's backstage room last night and put on one of the most enjoyable shows I've seen this year. Their sound is a glorious blend of Mew, Supergrass, The Shins and Levy - art rock with perfect pop hooks occasionally sung in falsetto.

Two songs really stood out for me "Color Coding" - which has this insane coda that sounds like the Clash doing their best Mew impression - and "Fire Fire Fire," one of the best out-and-out pop songs I've heard this year. I was quite impressed with their show. They said they'll be back in the area in about a month or so, so keep an eye on those concert calendars. Go see them if you have the chance!

Donewaiting has "Fire Fire Fire" available for you to download. Don't forget the awesome remix that I've been obsessing over for the last two weeks.

My Old Kentucky Blog recently had Dappled Cities in on his Sirius Radio Show. Go there to download some live tracks (including a not so great version of "Color Coding").

And you can always peep them on Teh Hype Machine.

Posted by Kyle at 1:37 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2007

Travis is Back In Black!

Wow.

Yesterday I told Ms. Smith that I was "stupidly excited" about going to see Travis last night, but at the same time I was worried that I was setting my expectations too high. I shouldn't have. They put on one of the best shows I have ever seen that the 9:30 Club. I had trouble sleeping last night because I was so energized by the show. I'm still pumped now as I write this.

Normally I absolutely abhor it when bands play "greatest hits" sets. But when it's been seven years since you've seen a band, those type of sets aren't exactly a bad thing. In fact, last night the set was perfect.
Because they played "Back In Black."
On a whim.
As the last song of the night.
It was INCREDIBLE.
Someone in the crowd shouted it out as a request just before they played "Why Does It Always Rain On Me" as what was supposed to be the last song of the night. So when they were done with that song, Andy started doing the AC/DC riff. The crowd was unsure if this was for real or not, and then Fran started doing his best Brian Johnson impression and it was on from there. I'm not sure they played it as well as AC/DC could, but they definitely had more fun doing it. We got the full rockstar poses and everything. It was awesome.

Other highlights from the show:
- The band entered from the back of the venue and wandered their way through the crowd wearing silk boxing robes while the "Theme To Rocky" played over the PA. Once they hit the stage, they were soundtracked by James Brown's "Living In America." Best.
- They played "Pipe Dreams," my favorite Travis song other than "Writing To Reach You."
- Fran asking the crowd to chant the touring keyboardist's name, Claes, while he was playing the piano solo in "Good Feeling."
- While instructing the audience to do so, telling everyone that Claes was Swedish and Swedish people are anal. But not in the porn way. But wait, yes. Maybe in the porn way too. Although Fran couldn't speak for Claes in this particular matter.
- Fran played "20" solo on the acoustic. It's been years since I've heard this song. It's a b-side from the "All I Want To Do Is Rock" single and I had totally forgotten about the song until he played it.
- Speaking of "All I Want To Do Is Rock," when it was time for his "big solo" Andy climbed the PA stack trying to get to the dressing room balcony above. He almost didn't make it. He pulled himself up from the PA onto the balcony just using his arms while his guitar was slung over his back. No mean feet. Also, when he finally got up there, he flopped over the railing like Nick Frost "leaps" over fences in Hot Fuzz. Hi-lar-ious.
- The new songs from The Boy With No Name all sounded great, especially "My Eyes" and "Eyes Wide Open."
- Playing "Flowers In The Window" like a barbershop quintet. Only with a guitar. Fran was wearing it, but Andy hit the notes on the frets and Dougie did the strumming. It was like a great, big Travis reach around! "This is so close to something else," Fran laughingly said during the song. Indeed.
- Fran instructing the crowd that he wanted each and every person the venue to pogo during the last chorus to "Why Does It Always Rain On Me." And you know what? We all did. Everyone. It was brilliant. I've never seen a D.C. crowd do anything close to that before. This was a show where you left your pretensions at the door and just had fun. More concerts need to be like this.
- Nigel Godrich was in attendance!
- Back In mother-effing Black!

Plain and simple, that was one of the best shows I have ever seen in D.C. Maybe in the Top-10 Best Concerts Ever list. My mind grapes were thoroughly and completely squeezed last night.

But wait! Here's the best part. NPR webcast the show last night so you can enjoy all of this for your very own. Go here to check it out. You can also see Joel's photos from last night, which unlike my own, are actually in focus.

Posted by Kyle at 10:19 AM | Comments (3)

June 21, 2007

A Mistake!

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.

Posted by Kyle at 8:12 AM | Comments (1)

May 14, 2007

Stay For The Week

I had the most amazing weekend, mostly because I got to sleep in MY OWN BED for three consecutive nights. Bless. I also saw some killer shows.

Saturday was the DC101 Chili Cookoff, which was a nice primer for the upcoming summer festival season. Silversun Pickups, who seem to be playing D.C. once a month lately, played another great set, playing a few different songs than when they opened for Snow Patrol. If we're not careful, "Lazy Eye" could very well be the song of the summer, even though it's a year old.

The Bravery were next and I was excited to hear some of their new stuff, but sadly, most of it was fairly meh. It seems like all the new songs are a big fat chorus wrapped around some flimsy verses, like they wrote the songs backward or something. I liked the new single "Time Won't Let Me Go" better live than the recorded version, so it wasn't a total loss. They played a few "hits" from their last album too. "An Honest Mistake" still sounds great to my ears.

Buckcherry were next, and they were all flash and no substance. They look awesome but have no songs, except for "Lit Up" which brings back fond memories of the late 90's. Catherine said she had never heard of them, so here is their big hit if you're in the same camp:

[MP3] Buckcherry | Lit Up

Jet were Jet. I hate them and find them terribly derivative, but got a few good snaps of them all the same. The slideshow above is just a sampling of what I got on Saturday, so if you want to see all my photos, check out the Flickr slideshow.

I was supposed to finish up Saturday by seeing The Kooks at the 930, but upon arriving at the venue, they only left one ticket and no photo pass, so I gave the ticket to my DCist compatriot Abby and let her have at it. I went home and went to bed. I was beat.

Sunday I grabbed Ms. Smith and we headed over to Artomatic to take it all in before it closes this weekend. However, after about two hours, we gave up after only seeing the sixth floor. There's alot of art to see over there. Hopefully we'll make it back this week before the show closes. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and watching my DVR (Paul Rudd on Veronica Mars was teh awesome!) before taking in the LCD Soundsystem show at 930 later that night.

I wouldn't call myself a huge LCD fan by any means, and to be honest, the amount of hype they're getting from NYC was turning me off on the band a bit, but holy shit, they brought the noise last night. It was one of those shows where the band plays for over an hour and you're having so much fun it feels like only 10 minutes. And the best part of it was the usually stoic D.C. audience was totally letting their hair down and absolutely turning it loose. Most everybody in the club was dancing, even old men like me. I was proud to be from D.C. last night.

The only bad part of the night was the guy standing next to me, who felt the need to provide commentary to his friends through the first few songs, dropping gems like "It's like punk AND disco," along with "It's crazy. Rock and roll YOU CAN DANCE TO," like this was a concept never before introduced to society as a whole before last night. Jeezy Creezy. But I digress...Believe the hype about LCD Soundsystem, the live show anyways. Can't wait to see them again at Virgin festival in August.

[MP3] LCD Soundsystem | Daft Punk Is Playing At My House (live)

Also, they dropped "Daft Punk" with the third song last night. I love it when bands play their hits early in the set. Best.

Posted by Kyle at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2007

The Pleasant, The Better Live Than On CD & The Dude From The Clash!

Last night I was lucky enough to have my first ever (somewhat informal) photo assignment for a non-DCist media outlet (actually it was probably my second if you count this), that being photographing The Good, The Bad & The Queen at the 9:30 Club. The show was sold out, but as far as I could tell, there were a lot less people there than there were at the (insanely packed) Scissor Sisters show the week before.

As for the performance, it was...pleasant. Not amazing, not boring, mostly middle of the road. The music isn't exactly upbeat and merry. That said, the band sounds much better live than on record, but with this lineup, you'd kind of expect that. The album, to me, sounds like a band playing a bunch of Gorillaz b-sides. Not much energy or hooks to be found, just Damon whinging about whatever he's on about. Live, the backing vocals take more shape, the sound fills out nicely and you honestly can't help but get into a little groove while you're watching Paul Simonon bound all across the stage. Man, he was great. He was full of gusto and looked like he was waiting to bust into "Death or Glory" or something like that at any second. You could tell he's enjoying being back on stage. Not so for Simon Tong. He mostly stood there, looking down at his guitar the whole time. I was waiting for him to wow me, but then I remembered that was always Nick McCabe's job. Damon was/is Damon. I want to like him, but I just can't. I do give him credit though. He gave me two good shots during the first song, staring right at me in-between verses. His gaze was all like "Get your fucking photo now and leave me alone," but props for doing that. I got a decent shot the first time but my second one was too blurry to use. Also, he was ducking behind his piano every once in a while to hit his bowl and he has droopy eyes in most of the photos I took of him. Just saying.

Sadly, we didn't get their cover of "Guns of Brixton" at the end of the encore, instead we got some less-than-stellar b-side sung by some random dude named Eslam. Not the best ending to the show, but other than that, not bad overall. I still think Damon's a ponce though. There, I said it.

But hey, don't take my word for it. Thanks to the magic of the internerd, you can listen to the show and decide for yourself. You can either stream it or download it from NPR. Joel was there taking photos and they packaged his photos into a cool slideshow you can watch, so check that out too. My photos of the night are here. Some of them should be up on Read Express fairly soon. I'll update the post when that happens.

**UPDATE** - Here it is. Click through and read it, Mike wrote a GREAT review.

No rest for the wicked. I have to DVR the Duke game tonight since D.C. United are taking on Mexican power Chivas at RFK.

Posted by Kyle at 12:47 PM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2006

The City Is Here For You To Use

Three concert reviews for you in 75 words or less.

Saturday
Middle Distance Runner @ Black Cat

Another great set from what is quickly becoming D.C.'s finest. MDR has a tendency to play it too cute in front of their hometown fans, it would be interesting to see how that part of the show works on the road. The played "Naturally" late in the set and it was a nice change of pace from the delicious drone-rock that preceded it. Probably the first of many shows at the Cat for them.
Click here for more photos of Middle Distance Runner at the Black Cat.

Sam Champion @ DC9

Walked into this show having no idea what these guys sounded like, but whoever described Sam Champion as Tom Petty meets Pavement is spot on. Their live show is tight, but rough around the edges (that's a good thing) and makes you wonder why the NYC bloggeratti aren't burning up bandwidth talking about them. The lead singer's slow drawl puts you at ease, letting you listen and rock out with abandon.
Click here for more photos of Sam Champion at DC9.

Sunday
Aberdeen City @ 9:30 Club

Every time I see Aberdeen City they are playing a better set in a bigger venue than the last time I saw them. Brad, the lead singer, was playing so hard he had to take a deep breath before "In Combat" to take it down a notch. By the end of the gig, Chris was playing the cymbals with his guitar, Combat Rock steez. Keep in mind they were playing to a seated audience.
Click here for more photos of Aberdeen City at the 9:30 Club.

Posted by Kyle at 10:57 PM | Comments (2)

December 6, 2006

Them, Grass and I

What Grambo said. (Comment #5)

Best digicams of 2006. I want a 30D bad, real bad.

Hey, here's the one Top 40 copycat list that I can totally get behind. Nice work.

Torr has a new Moz B-side.

New Radiohead.

Apple iPhone?

Sox lock up JD Drew and Julio Lugo.

Go download Noel live on XFM.

From Chromewaves, The history of Pulp and the genius that is Bandwagonesque.

Last night I took in my first concert in what seems like forever, as I dragged Mike Grass with me to the Rock N Roll Hotel to check out The Changes, whose album Today Is Tonight is one of the best things I've heard all year. I got it two weeks ago and haven't listened to anything else since. To say I was looking forward to this show is a huge understatement. Unfortunately the band's live show hasn't yet reached the heights of their recorded output. They started off strong, with two of their catchiest tunes, "When I Wake" and "Water Of The Gods" but things went downhill from there. They played "On A String," a slower, twee-leaning momentum stopper that took them forever to start because everyone had to switch instruments. Then they followed that up with another song in the same vein and never really got their momentum back. The worst part was the band's (lack of) stage presence. The drummer seemed to be the only person into the show. The other three had this nonchalant, uninterested air to them that I just couldn't get past. Their lack of charisma really sucked the energy out of the show.

Locals Middle Distance Runner have a similar sound and tunes, but they ooze energy, charisma and charm onstage and when you see them play, you can't help but be drawn in to the show and have a great time. I'm not sure how many shows The Changes have played, but they're not there yet. A little work (switch up the set, talk to the audience more, less time in between songs) would go a long way for them.

All that said, I'm still a fan. "Modern Love" and set closer "Her, You And I" were uniformly awesome. "The Machine" had some of the best drumming I've heard in quite some time. The songs are there, and hopefully the live show will catch up soon. I'm definitely going to check them out next time they come through D.C.

Here are some MP3's from The Changes that I posted a while back:

[MP3] The Changes | When I Wake

[MP3] The Changes | Water of the Gods

[MP3] The Changes | Such A Scene

Posted by Kyle at 1:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 29, 2006

Gettin' Lucky In Kentucky

First of all let me say My Morning Jacket are a great live band. They are insanely tight, Jim James' voice is other-worldly, they're incredibly loud and absolutely pulverize their riffs when they feel like it. They've obviously worked many long hours on their live show. They're ready for amphitheaters right now. They wouldn't have to change their show at all, just get a few more lights and maybe a big backdrop. I'm not going to be able to say anything about their live performance that you haven't already read somewhere else. Oh wait, here is something you probably haven't read anywhere else. Those cool boots that Jim James wears? They're held together by clear plastic tape.

That said, they're really not for me. I like carefully crafted four minute, verse-chorus-verse pop songs. MMJ obviously don't play this game. I really enjoyed the few songs I recognized, "The Way That He Sings" - a complete surprise - was borderline incredible, but they really lost me when they would veer into improvised-instrumental jam land. And that's not really their fault, they just really reminded me of every one of the hundreds of truly shitty "jam bands" I was forced to endure while going to college in Eastern North Carolina. When I hear that type of music, I start grinding my teeth and looking for sharp objects to stick in my ears. Ms. Smith and I ended up leaving just before the end of the regular set.

The Slip were the perfect opener for this tour. They're like a lo-fi Secret Machines that wear funny hats. I enjoyed their set, especially the "Baba O'Reilly" cover at the end. If you're heading out to this show, go early and check them out.

I had a hard time really enjoying the show for other reasons. It was really effing hot in the venue and it was easily one of the most crowded shows I ever been to in the 9:30. It was shoulder to shoulder from the stage barrier to the sound board and from bar to bar. I did score a photo pass and after wading through the sea of people on my way up front, I was jump-up-and-down-happy when I found out there was a barrier in front of the stage. The lighting for The Slip was great. I got some good shots during their set. The lighting during MMJ was another story. They were almost entirely back-lit and when not running around the stage and head banging everywhere, JJ just stood at the mic and sang while his hair was falling down into his face. And when he did step away from the mic for a break, it was always in the corner of the stage where there was no light. For my purposes, the lighting for The Slip was much better. Oh well. I managed a few decent shots I think. Still, hooray for MMJ for the photo pit. I wish more bands would have them at the 9:30.

Posted by Kyle at 12:33 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

November 2, 2006

Lady Sovereign @ 9:30 Club

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.

Posted by Kyle at 10:21 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

October 27, 2006

The Motorocade Will Have To Go Around

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.

Posted by Kyle at 12:10 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 29, 2006

Clearly, Out Of Body Experience

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!

Posted by Kyle at 10:31 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

September 25, 2006

Virgin Festival Recap

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.

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August 11, 2006

There Is No Point Saying This Again

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.

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August 7, 2006

Common Reactor

Ah Monday. I did nothing over the weekend. Absolutely nothing. And it was good. I spent a majority of Saturday and Sunday lounging by the pool, reading my new copies of Q and MOJO and trying not to get too sunburned. So much awesome, especially after the hectic July I had.

I did, however, get my shit together long enough to go see the Silversun Pickups last night and I am glad I did. They were pretty amazing, especially given the venue. The Black Cat's backstage really isn't designed or configured to deal with a band like that. And that's not neccesarily a knock on the room as much as an observation wondering what a band as accomplished as this was doing in such a small room with its junior PA system. I knew we were in for a good show when the SSPU's wheeled their amps onstage. They were as big as the stage was.

Let me go on record now saying this band is going to be huge huge huge in a very short amount of time. They have a big sound made for large venues. They'll be blowing away the bands they're opening for soon enough. The set they played last nigth could have easily gone over like gangbusters at the 9:30 Club. The songs are fast, LOUD and tight, propelled by their drummer, a dead ringer stylistically for Dave Grohl. He was just punishing his snare drums. The band has tons of hits; "Kissing Families," "Lazy Eye," "Dream At Tempo 119," "Well Thought Out Twinkles," etc. I was most impressed with the lead singer's voice. On record it sounds uber-processed, but he has the live pipes to back it up. Bottom line: go see this band when they come through your town. And get ready for a big rock show, even if it's on a small scale. I still stand by my Smashing Pumpkins comparison, but I mean it in a good way. Gish-era Pumpkins, before Billy disappeared up his own ass. Sorry for the craptastic pictures, the light in that room is pretty much nonexistant.

Crackers United has better pictures and a smiliar review from their recent NYC show. Check Myspace for some SSPU sounds.

"I'd rather poo in my mum's Sunday roast than have Danger Mouse produce a Portishead record." I second that emotion.

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August 1, 2006

Pitchfork Wrap Up

In lieu of actual content today, I will instead provide more links to the event I attended over the weekend, which you are no doubt already tired of reading about.

Leafblower's Day One Recap
Leafblower's Day One Photos

Leafblower's Day Two Recap
Leafblower's Day Two Photos

Favorite photos:
The Walkmen
Ted Leo
Mission of Burma 1
Mission of Burma 2
Aesop Rock & Mr. Lif
Devendra Banhart
Yo La Tengo

Some recaps from other folk:
Fluxblog
Marathon Packs
Good Hodgkins
Gorilla vs. Bear
Gapers Block
Rolling Stone
VIllage Voice

PS - The National @ Black Cat on Oct. 26! I am so rerquesting an interview from them. Thanks for the heads up Ryan.

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July 28, 2006

Open Your Arms

Sorry for the lateness of today's post. I was on a plane most of the day (more on that later). First things first.

Much has been said (rightfully or not) of Editors and their sound, i.e. it's not that original, etc. And I'm not arguing that. I'm the first person to admit they aren't exactly reinventing the wheel. But they do what they do very well and they are, simply put, an amazing live act. They have poise and stage presence beyond their years. Last night was the second time I had seen them this year and they were just brilliant. No matter what you think of the record, you owe it to yourself to go see this band in the live arena. They sound huuuuge. Whatever they're paying their sound man, he deserves a raise. Last night was, sonically, one of the best sounding shows I've ever heard at the 9:30 Club. My only complaint is that they played "Open Your Arms" a bit too fast and it kinda lost its slow burn feel/appeal. That song was a big standout for me last time I saw them and this time it just got lumped in with the rest of the set. On the other hand, "Camera" which was the quintessential, "Time to go to the loo" tune last time out was much, much better due to some lively drumming. It sounded very "Columbia," one of my favorite Oasis tunes (and likely another song left of the upcoming compilation). Editors rock, go see for yourself.

Cedars played a great set to start off the night. Their new material sounds amazing and it's easy to tell they are getting more and more comfortable playing their new stuff. There could be big things in the works for these guys, so keep your eyes on them. Lake Trout were beyond horrible. Everyone that tells you they've outgrown their jamband phase is lying. They just went prog. And they still suck. Big time.

Today's flight to Chicago went smooth as could be until we landed. We sat on the tarmac for 30 minutes after we landed waiting for a gate to open up. And then took about an hour to get our bags because they sent us to the wrong baggage claim and since there are no functioning signs in that whole area, we had to wait in line for another 20 minutes just to find out what carousel are bags were sent to. It was very frustrating. So the flight took less time that than it took to deplane and claim our bags. Wonderful. But we're here dammit. And I have a gin and tonic in hand and am feeling much better, although I feel like a bit of a dork for blogging from the hotel lobby. The crowd here is weird. Part businessmen, part hipster, part jock(Cards v. Cubs this weekend).

Pitchfork tomorrow! Expect muchos fotografias throughout the weekend.

Posted by Kyle at 6:31 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

June 27, 2006

Shiver And Say The Word

I am the first person to admit that the last Bunnymen show in D.C. was underwhelming. It never got its legs and took off. Last night was much different. Maybe it was the crazy weather outside. Maybe it was the late start time (Jeebus, I'm old) but last night was everything the previous show was not. The Bunnies ripped through a set that focused mostly on their vast catalog, so much so, that I was actually disappointed not to hear more from Siberia, but I will stop short of complaining. "The Cutter" was to die for. And the transition form "Scissors In the Sand" right into "All That Jazz" was just incredible. Yes, I'm gushing. But hey, the Bunnies were in fine form last night. They are quickly rocketing up the Favorite Band Ever list for yours truly. Will Sargeant is just amazing. I could watch and listen to him play guitar all day, every day. Mac was in typical proto-Liam form. He was just oozing cool in every direction.

Going Up / Show of Strength / Stormy Weather / Seven Seas / Bring on the Dancing Horses / The Disease / Scissors in the Sand / All That Jazz / The Back of Love / All My Colours (Zimbo) / The Killing Moon / Do It Clean / Never Stop / Villiers Terrace(Roadhouse Blues) / Rescue / The Cutter / Nothing Lasts Forever(Walk on the Wild Side) // Lips Like Sugar // Ocean Rain

More pics here. I could not get a decent shot of Ian to save my life.

Boy Kills Boy were the definition of 'meh.' If Maximo Park sucked, they would sound like Boy Kill Boy.

Here's another MP3 for everyone, and oldie but goodie.
Echo & the Bunneymen | Never Stop (MP3) - This is live from Sun Plaza Hall in Tokyo, Japan on Jan. 17th, 1984. It rules.

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June 16, 2006

Just What I Needed

Sonic Youth were teh awesome last night. Jeezy Creezy. I had a very bad day yesterday and was in no mood to see a show but they, along with spunky youngsters Be Your Own Pet, turned that around real quicklike. I'm not a huge SY fan, I don't even own a single album of theirs (bye bye cool points!), but I enjoy seeing them in concert. Last night was undoubtedly the best show I've ever seen them do. BYOP were great as well. So full of energy. They only have one gear, full speed ahead, but they know how to use it.

I have pics and a review over at DCist. See all my photos from last night at Flickr.

PS - Mark Ibold! Best.

Zulkey v. Nick Hornby.

Sweet. [thanks Ms. Smith]

Be Your Own Pet

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April 27, 2006

I Don't Want To Waste Your Time

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I have a supermega important project at work that has to be done on Monday. I suspect I'll be spending most of my weekend staring at my office walls.

My new co-worker gave me his extra ticket to go see The Strokes last night. The show was good (not great) and confirmed most of my opinions about the band. First Impressions of Earth has a few good songs but most of it is cheezy metal solos (that don't sound any better in a live setting under rows and rows of strobe lights). Is This It is a classic but for my money Room On Fire is where it's at. Dceiver has a full review that's much more fun to read than mine was over at DCist.

I might be interviewing John Vanderslice for DCist tomorrow or Saturday. Stay tuned.

Gerald Green's Top 10.

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March 28, 2006

This Guitar Says BEST

I wish I had the time to do a proper review of last night's Billy Bragg show. It was brilliant. Brilliant and weird. Brilliant because it's the fucking Bard of Barking belting it out about 10 feet from where I was sitting, playing a wealth of old stuff, some new stuff and talking about Morrissey, the Magna Carta and everything (and I mean everything) in between. Weird because the Birchmere is a strange venue. It's disturbing when you're watching a show, sitting down, with the odor of BBQ chicken and pulled pork wafting through the air. Even moreso when you are likely the youngest person in the room.

Bragg was in top form (apparently his voice has been pretty ragged on this tour, but not last night) and any night that you can hear "The Milkman of Human Kindness" and "A New England" is a good one. And again, even moreso when he plays the entirity of Life's A Riot With Spy vs. Spy as the encore. Best.

Billy holds a special place in my heart (as if you can't tell). Old friend Ed Bellafiore got me into him when we did our college radio show together in the mid to late 90's and when I was interning at Epic Records, I made the shrewdest trade of my music career when I sent Mike DePippa the entire Ozzy Osbourne catalog in exchange for the entire Billy Bragg catalog. Hearing Bragg's first three albums (now packaged together as a box set) really reminds me of my first few years in New York, listening to those songs on mix cassettes I made for my walkman and later, my mini disc player as I walked all over the city. Billy Bragg, so necessary.

One of the highlights of last night's gig was a rendition of "Tank Park Salute", which was a request from a fan that came to the gig from Juno Juneau, Alaska. Like Woah. Here is the album version:

Billy Bragg | Tank Park Salute (MP3)

Also, here's a live version of Billy doing "Milkman":
Billy Bragg | The Milkman of Human Kindness (live) (MP3)

Here's a free Billy Bragg download from Billy's official site.

CNN interviews Billy [via a vacationing, but ever vigilant Chromewaves]

Bradley's Almanac has Billy's Boston show available for downloading.

No photos due to the venue's stupid no camera policy (which really is too bad because I had a great line for pictures).Oh, I almost forgot...what are you doing on April 8th?

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January 30, 2006

You Showed Me

Friday night.
Nethers, Cedars and Bicycle Thieves at the 930 Club.
Three great local acts, all putting on great shows and nary a "The" to be had.
As if the show itself wasn't exciting enough, I was also eager to give my camera another work out at the 930, the lighting there is fantastic and I hadn't been back since seeing the Super Furries a few months ago.

First up were Nethers, the one band on the bill that I wasn't that familiar with. They were formerly The Carlsonics but they broke up a year or two ago, changed their sound up and reformed as Nethers. I almost skipped seeing them and boy am I glad I didn't. Nethers is a weird hybrid of folk and shoegazer/drone rock. And by weird, I mean incredible. At times they sounded like Luna, other times like Mazzy Star and others like Sonic Youth if they went folk. It's nice to go see a band that doesn't churn out your typical indie-rock and Nethers fit the bill nicely. The lead singer was just incredible. She belted out every tune with great charisma and passion. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I liked their set so much I bought a CD after the show, something I haven't done in ages. I enjoyed them the most out of all the bands and can't wait for their next show in DC (part of their national tour *hint hint*).

Download: Nethers | Hung Herself In A Birdcage (MP3)

That last remark shouldn't be taken lightly because Cedars played the best show I've ever seen them play on Friday. Their new material breaks new ground for the group. The songs were really energetic; just leaping out of the speakers. The band has come a long way since I saw them at DC9 last March. They were trying out a new guitarist who used to be in Phaser and he added a definite rock element to the songs which is a welcome plus, because their live sound has been lacking a bit since Mark left the band. "Fleets" still needs some work but these guys are definitely headed in the right direction. Again, they looked like they belonged up there on the 930 stage.

Download: Cedars | Lo-fi (MP3)

Bicycle Thieves definitely drew a big crowd and had everyone signing along and dancing before the night was done. John Kaplan is an amazing songwriter. He has hooks for days and knows how to use them. They've also added an extra guitarist since I've seen them last and as a result, their live show is much beefier. They don't gig around town as much as many of the other local acts but strangely, this doesn't seem to work against them. It seems like people always make time to see them because they know they won't be playing again for a few months. But by the number of new tunes the band played, it seems like they've been practicing alot lately.

Go here to download some tracks by Bicycle Thieves. "Loser of the Year" is highly recommended.

I got some amazing pictures of all three bands which I highly recommend you check out over at Flickr.

Posted by Kyle at 1:31 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

December 5, 2005

Come Together

On Friday night, I dragged The Smith to my office's Xmas party to take advantage of the open bar and free food before we headed over to Bliss and Annie at the Black Cat. I was also hoping to score one of the corporate giveaways that are the highlight of the party (last year I won a $100 gift card to Borders) but that was not to be. So after quite a few G & T's and some champagna, we headed across town to catch the show. Unfortunately, we had to check our coats, which took over 30 minutes and caused us to miss Annie's first two songs. But once we were settled, we made our way up front and I got a nice vantage point in front of the speakers, stage right.

Annie tried her best but her stage presence is sincerely lacking. I don't mean to nitpick, but as my photos can attest, she doesn't really know what to do on stage yet. I'm sure she'll improve, but she has a ways to go. She spent the show behind the mic stand, only venturing out from behind it a few times. But she can sing, the songs sounded great and she's hella cute, so it's not all bad. I had alot of fun at the gig and it seemed like everyone else there did too. It was a pop show and everyone behaved as such, singing along and dancing, which is very unusual for the normally stoic DC crowd. We grabbed another drink after the gig and then waited another 20 minutes to get our coats back. The Black Cat needs to step up their coat check game, it's seriously lacking right now.

Head over to Flickr to see all of pictures of Annie at the Black Cat. Some of them look really amazing. I'm really loving my new camera. Props to the Black Cat for finally turning up the lights on stage so I can get a decent photo.

I took it easy on Saturday. I finally went and saw the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Corcoran and then caught the Harry Potter movie later that night, which i really enjoyed. I heart Alan Rickman, he's so best. This was the first Potter movie that made me want to go read the book, probably because it differed from the first three movies, which all seemed to follow the same basic story outline.

How about Sean Dockery? He totally got Shelden Williams off the hook last night. The Landlord missed the front end of a 1 and 1 that would have sealed the game and then didn't block out on the ensuing posession and let Virginia Tech get a tip-in to take the lead with 1.6 seconds left. When the shot left Dockery's hands, I thought it had a chance but I didn't seriously think it would go in. Josh McRoberts pass set everything up, so he deserves his propers too.

David Garrard makes me look good and the Panthers finally beat Mike Vick. I'm going to beat this Garrard thing into the ground, so be warned. There are only like four successful alumni from ECU out there, so I'm flying the flag while I can.

The Yankees lost anywhere from $50 to $85 million last year.

Posted by Kyle at 10:11 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

November 22, 2005

Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago

Sorry for the late update today. I have alot going on right now, but more on that later.

I had an incredibly fun, if not completely exhausting weekend. The highlights:

Bunnymen - Didn't quite reach the heights of the show I saw in Lancaster, PA but it came close. I think Will Sergeant is officially my favorite guitar player ever, he was on fire during the show. The new stuff sounded superb. The band was a bit subdued, but the crowd went apeshit when the break came in during "The Cutter". A great show all around. See my craptastic photos here.

Bluestate - We had what might have been our most enthusiastic crowd ever on Saturday night. I was feeling really under the weather all day on Saturday but I pulled it together in time for the gig and felt much better once the music started. I stayed away from the booze and DJ'ed in my scarf. It's the new style. I had a revelation during the day that I had yet to play "Peter Piper" at the Black Cat, so I dropped that in right after I played The Supremes and there wasn't even room to move on the dance floor. Also, I played Prince and the kiddies didn't clear the floor. Bonus. Peep the set lists and photos.

Chicago - I didn't get to see much of it during the 36 hours that I was there, but I loved what I did see. Chi-town has a very NYC feel. Catherine lives like 6 blocks from Wrigley and that whole area is filled with great restaurants and bars. We popped down to the John Hancock building and had a drink there and took in some of downtown. We met up with DCSOBLOOP* for dinner around 6:30, pounded some Red Bull and then went to the gig. Matt, fresh off the train back from St. Louis, had no problem finding us inside and then right before the Furries went on L Boogie appeared out of thin air. The Furries didn't disappoint and a good time was had by all. We didn't hang out very long after the gig since it was a school night for Catherine and BLOOP. But I did go say bye to the guys and thank them for taking care of me on yet another US tour. Apologies to all the people that emailed me wanting to meet up at the gig. Maybe next time.

* term coined by Pyg in a Blanket. Respect.

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November 13, 2005

On The Road With the Super Furry Animals / Chapel Hill, NC

Oi. Finally back at home and settled after a crazy weekend. I got about 10 hours sleep last night and I still feel like I'm behind. But enough of my bitching.

The Chapel Hill show was the best show I saw during my trek, with Norfolk a close second and DC a distant third. The band switched things up by putting "Something 4 The Weekend" after Golden Retriever and added "Frequency!" and "Hello Sunshine" back in. This really fixed any problems there were with the pacing of the set. It all flows really well and keeps everyone entertained. The sound at the venue was really boom-y on the low end and this lent all the songs a more rockin' feel. Best of all, since I didn't have to drive anywhere after the gig, I actually had the chance to get drunk, and boy did I ever. L Boogie was all like "Wow, now I've seen drunk leafblower!" By the time the bus left at 2:30, I was wayhasted. Hanging with Miss Boogie, Johnny English and Mike Grass definitely added to the vibe as well. A fun time was had by all I think. I also got to stay at the new casa de English/Boogie, which was approximately 437 times bigger than their former DC townhouse. And their old townhouse in DC wasn't exactly tiny. It looks like life down south is agreeing with them both, which is great to see, even if I still miss hanging with them here in DC.

Best bit of the night:
Me: (Drunkenly) Dammit Bunf! You didn't even sing the backing vocals on "Ohio Heat" tonight!
Bunf: Oh for fuck's sake. I knew you were going to say that.

I've been bugging him since DC that he wasn't singing backing vocals loud enough for my tastes. He said he had a chest cold so he can't sing as loud as he usually does. The whole bit had become something of a running joke. Just playing my part.

Another treat in Chapel Hill was an extended version of "Calimero" that had a breakdown in the middle before ramping up again at the end. It was sweet. "Laser Beam" was really working for me live too. More fun was had backstage after the gig. The band took turns DJing and I took turns drinking all of their beer. The "backstage" area at the Cat's Cradle is pretty small, the complete opposite of the opulence the band enjoyed in Norfolk.

Here are my pictures from the Super Furry Animals show in Chapel Hill on Flickr. Here is the setlist from Chapel Hill and the setlist from Norva.

Onward to Chicago next Sunday!

Posted by Kyle at 3:17 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 11, 2005

On the Road With the Super Furry Animals / Norfolk, VA

Only 105 people at the Norva last night. While that's a bad thing for the band's checkbook, it's a good thing for L Boogie and myself. I got right up front and took 158 photos. The band changed the set up a bit, dropping "Hello Sunshine", "Frequency" and "Something 4 the Weekend" but added "Golden Retriever" and played it early, which worked much better. The small crowd last night was actually much more into it than the DC crowd was on Tuesday, so the place didn't feel as empty as it actually was. The Norva was probably the nicest midsize venue I've ever been to. Think the Bowery Ballroom is it was a tad bigger and had three levels. The backstage area was twice the size of my apartment. It had five huge rooms and included a hot tub and sauna. It was easily the nicest accommodations I've ever seen at a venue.
I got some amazing pictures last night. Take a look at my pictures of the Super Furry Animals at Norva in Flickr.

Chapel Hill tonight. We'll be rolling deep with Mike Grass and Johnny English in tow. Full report (and hopefully the much talked about interview) to come.

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November 9, 2005

SFA OK!

Despite purposely not drinking too much, last night was mental. But that's not a bad thing.

I went to the venue about 7 o'clock because I had to make sure my spot on the guest list was secured. I went and knocked on the door of the tour bus and the tour manager let me on. Daf was half asleep on the couch in the front of the bus and as soon as saw me, he jumped right up and gave me a big hug. I'm always nervous to go intrude on the tour bus but the band always seems genuinely happy to see me and as soon as we start chatting and catching up, that all goes out the window. It's an awesome feeling.

Once that was sorted, I met up with L Boogie and she came with me back to my place because I left my camera battery in my charger at home. When we got back into the city, we headed to DC9 and met up with Jillian, Randi and Randi's friend Andrew. We had a few beers over there and headed to the venue at 9:30 where we met up with Gl*mrocker and Mike Grass.

The band went on promptly at 10 p.m. and played a great set. I will hopefully get my shit together and have a review up on DCist at some point today. About the show, yes, it lags in the beginning. I spoke to the guys about it after the show and they're aware of it. They're still working out some kinks and are gonna change things up a bit at future shows. But the new stuff sounded amazing (if only a bit too laid back). Once they got to "Slow Life" the set really picked up and took off. And I finally got to watch a show from the VIP balcony/dressing room at the 930, so that was cool. While I was up there I could see all the things Cian does during the set, which is very hard to see from the floor. He was either fiddling with his laptop or his keyboard the entire time, either playing a melody or setting up stuff for the next song. He's one busy dude.

After the gig the band eventually made their way downstairs to the bar in the bottom of the club and we hung out there until the bar kicked us out at last call. I love seeing SFA play live but I like hanging out with them and just chatting after the gig even more. And since I hadn't seen the guys since Feb. of '04, we had lots of catching up to do.

The best bit of the night was when Bunf mentioned the gigs they did opening for Oasis over the summer:
Me: Shit, I totally forgot about those! How were they?
Bunf: Fookin' great man. Why didn't you come over for that show? I had a ticket for you and everything. As soon as we booked that show, I said to myself "Kyle is definitely coming over for this show."
Me: (mouth totally on the floor, speechless) Are you serious? FUCK!

I had a bluestate gig that weekend and really couldn't afford to go, but damn, now I wish I would have. I also asked Gruff about those gigs and he said Oasis "treated them like kings", gave them full use of the video screens at the show and things like that. Gruff also told me the band turned down an opening slot at the shows Oasis did in Loch Lomond in 1996. That's insane. 80,000 people went to those shows. I was stunned, but the way Gruff explained it, it made sense. He said they were happy to finally be able to do a show with Oasis.

The second best bit of the night was when Daf asked Mike if he was Latvian. He is. I have no idea how Daf knew that.

I also talked to Dav and Bunf at length about the band's future plans, which could be both depressing and very exciting at the same time, and the much rumoured "techno album". I'm not sure what I can reveal about that right now (I don't want to betray any confidences) but I'm going to be interviewing some of the guys later this week so I'll see if they'll go on record about it then. Bunf said the venue in Norfolk has a hot tub in the back stage area and he insists on doing his interview in there, so we'll see if that happens or not. Hehehe.

And before anyone freaks out about the previous paragraph, Daf looked me right in the eye and said, "I've been in this band for 11 years and I'm fucking ready for the next 11." So it's all good fellow Furry fans. I'm spacing on a ton of funny stuff that happened last night. More later if I think of it.

Here are my Super Furry Animals pictures on Flickr. Because of their glow-in-the-dark track suits, the lighting wasn't optimal, but I still got a few keepers.

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November 2, 2005

Smell The Pledge

My new camera is fucking bovs. I don't even know how to properly work it yet and it still takes pictures like these. The Rufus show was great. His voice always stuns me when I hear it in the live arena. Unfortunately everyone around me insisted on singing along so it was very hard to hear Rufus above it, which was a bit frustrating, but he played "Vibrate" so I was a happy camper. Pitchfork today confirmed that Rufus will be releasing the double disc Want set here in the US (which will include a Leoard Cohen cover that was simply amazing on Monday night) on November 28th, so I might have to pick that up. See the rest of my Rufus picures on Flickr. Some of them turned out great.

OK Go, on the other hand, were a bit of a disappointment. The lead singer said he was sick, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Here are my OK Go pictures on Flickr.

The Super Furries are in North America and kicked off their tour last night, but I can't find the set list anywhere. If you find hit, holler at me.

Moz producer Tony Visconti has a blog and a new photo of himself and the mighty Mozzer!

NME reviews Gorillaz in Manchester.

The Gaurdian on that Gorillaz gig as well as We Are Scientists.

Pitchfork throws some love at the new Harvey Danger record. Actually, the review kinda trashes the record, but they give it a 6.9. *shrug*

Wow. When he;s not busy trying to sell his book, kiss Chuck Klosterman's ass or talk up Jimmy Kimmel, the Sports Guy can still bring the heat. His thoughts on Theo Epstein might be some of the best stuff he's ever done. Definitely one of his most heartfelt columns. More please.

Knicks at Celtics tonight!

Here is my fantasy basketball team:
Gilbert Arenas / Jamal Crawford / Jalen Rose / Andrei Kirilenko / Shareef Abdur-Rahim / Richard Jefferson / Nene(who got hurt last night, *sigh*) / Lorenzen Wright / Antawn Jamison / Jameer Nelson / Mike Sweetney / Derek Fisher / Brendan Haywood

Three wizards and NO CELTICS. Oh well, that's what you get with autodraft.

Speaking of the hometown Wiz, here is my season preview on DCist.

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October 24, 2005

Wha' Happened?

Not to keep harping on this subject (especially since I really don't have enough time to do it justice) but I'm getting more and more confused by the blogger buzz in NYC and who it is heaped upon. On Saturday I had the pleasure of seeing We Are Scientists open for Ambulance, LTD. at the Black Cat and they really blew me away. I left wondering why these guys have received so little blog love from the 212 and surrounding areas. I interviewed them prior to the gig (highlights on DCist tomorrow, audio on the forthcoming DCist podcast #2) and they told me they had played 150 gigs in NYC in the last four years. I had no idea.

By their own admission, the band doesn't exactly feel like part of "the scene" and they have spent the majority of 2005 in the UK due to some heavy airplay from Steve Lamacq. I went to a few of the major NYC music blogs and clicked around but none of them had done much of anything on the band. Not sure exactly where I'm going with this - "Wow, there are so many bands in NYC, some of them aren't getting the proper coverage!"...Just pointing it out I guess.

Anyways, the show was just awesome. The band sound like a punkier version of Blur if they tried to jump on the "dance rock" bandwagon. And I mean that in a good way. These guys have tunes for days, are super tight and have boundless energy on stage. I was impressed with their ferocity for being just a three piece. They are the total package. Super cute lead singer (no homo) that can belt out a tune, bass player with ultra ironic porn mustache and requisite geeky glasses and a drummer that rides the high hat like Reni. I walked out a believer. They are heading up the East Coast now and will be back in the States in mid to late November. Catch them if you can. I have some craptastic photos here. I'll save my rant on the stage lighting at the Black Cat for another time.

I stuck around for the first three or four songs of Ambulance and was less than impressed. The songs they were playing were quiet and droney and were putting me to sleep. So we went downstairs to Bliss to catch Will Eastman DJ. He played Mylo's "In My Arms" so I was a happy camper.

One band I really want to check out is Cut Copy. Onelouder has seen them twice in the last week. Be sure to check out this pic, I like it alot.

This is either going to be really cool or really, really bad. At least Coldplay aren't involved.

Ruh roh!

2006 Red Sox season schedule.

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October 19, 2005

Clap You Hands Say Meh™

Yes, I am reusing the DCist headline, because I came up with it and I am officially trademarking it. You have to pay me a penny nickel every time you use it.

Now, about the concert. Let me first query WHY THE FUCK IS NYC GOING GA GA OVER THIS SHITE? I will stop short of calling Clap Your Hands Say Meh™ the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked, but only just. Seriously, what is this mountain of hype about? Is it because they can barely play their own tunes? That it takes them 5 minutes to tune guitars in between songs? Their complete and utter lack of stage presence? That the singer sings like a stuck pig (and that's being kind)?

Now I REALLY wish I could have seen the tour they did with The National (but I didn't because The National HATE Washington DC for some reason. I sent an email to their manager asking why they hate DC, but she hasn't gotten back to me), because I'm positive they would have wiped the floor with these hacks. The next Arcade Fire? They aren't even the next Sea Ray. And yes, I'm STILL bitter they broke up.

The Black Cat was sold out but I've never seen such a lack of buzz in a packed room. Some people were dancing and were really into it, but it seemed like they were doing so because they felt like they were supposed to. There was a flock of disinterested patrons near the back of the venue.

Buzz is a powerful thing and the band has used it well, but it also places very high expectations on them wherever and whenever they perform. I likened it to going to see a movie that EVERYONE has told you is the greatest. movie. ever., but when you see it, you're all like "Ummmm....what's the big deal? Vince Vaughn has played this character four times before and it was funnier when he was Double Down Trent." I expected big things, but I went to see Clap Your Hands Say Meh™ and all I got was an under-rehearsed bunch of dorks riding this young tidal wave of undeserved hype. Purchase tickets to see them at your own risk.

Whew, I feel better now. Thanks for listening.

New Blur EP this year? First of all, let me applaud the band for thinking about releasing an EP. EP's are a great tactic for bands in between major relases and not enough bands take advantage of them, instead tacking on crappy songs to make an worthy EP a lackluster album. u2 and the Super Furries are two examples of bands that have put some of their best work on EP's. That live Radiohead EP wasn't too shabby either. That being said, Blur still sucks without Graham!

The Delays are gearing up for their upcoming record.

Reissue, repackage, repackage.

Torr has an Elbow radio session from XFM that looks tasty.

That didn't take long. Mark Cuban has a much better thought out response to the NBA dress code.

Delonte West has the early lead in the race to be the Celtics starting point guard.

Best Idea EVAH!

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October 10, 2005

A Hard Day's Night

I could really get used to four day weekends.

On Friday night I DJed my first ever wedding, something I was quite nervous about. It's a fair amount of pressure, I think, to provide the music at someone's nuptials. My mindset was pretty much "Just don't mess it up" and hope everyone drank alot. I only agreed to provide my services after being assured by the bride that she wanted an indie rock slant to the proceedings, which eased my fears quite a bit.

I played 2 hours of dinner music; AIR, The Shins, Massive Attack, Mylo, Portishead, Nouvelle Vague, Morrissey, Radiohead, etc. and followed that up with 2 hours of dance music; Outkast, Joe Jackson, Postal Service, The Supremes, The Beatles, Phoenix, Mylo, The Cure, etc. It all went really well and I was relieved that I didn't screw up Cyndi and Kenji's special day. Congrats you two! And if anyone out there needs an indie rock DJ for your wedding, just holler.

Saturday I had the unexpected pleasure of seeing the one and only Sir Paul McCartney in concert at the MCI Center. A friend scored some primo (and I mean primo) seats on Friday and invited me. We had third row seats off the side of the stage! It was pretty unreal being about 10 or 15 yards away from a Beatle while he was belting out a bunch of songs I never figured on hearing live. I really wish I would have brought my camera.

And Macca puts on one hell of a show. It was equal part Beatles, Wings and newer solo stuff. He played most of the newer material early and to be honest, it sounded just fine. After about halfway through the set, it was hit after hit after hit. The highlights for me were a killer, technicolor version of "Band On The Run"(a leafblower favorite from way back), a solo "I Will" (maybe my favorite Beatles tune) and a nice little story about NASA waking up the astronauts on the Discovery space shuttle with "Good Day Sunshine" on the day the crew were finally able to land the shuttle in California. Other Beatles tunes he played were "Magical Mystery Tour", "Drive My Car", "The Long and Winding Road", "Blackbird", "Eleanor Rigby", "Yesterday", "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window", "Penny Lane", "Back In The USSR", "Hey Jude", "Get Back", "Please Please Me", "Sgt. Pepper", "Helter Skelter", "The End". It goes without saying I was creaming my pants the entire time. "Please Please Me" was just incredible. That was a "Like, woah" moment, no doubt.

There was also a surreal moment when the band and everyone inside MCI sang "Happy Birthday" to John, who's 65th birthday was Sunday. Macca played for about 2 and a half hours. The show felt like it would never end. In a good way. The show was so good, I almost forgave him for this and the whole "McCartney/Lennon" shite. Almost. Here's the WaPo review.

It was going to be hard to top seeing Macca in the flesh so I spent the rest of the weekend drinking(wine and champagne), watching movies(The Incredibles, The Machinist and Discs 1 and 2 of Lost). I need more four day weekends like this.

Kasabian hearts Oasis. Ok guys, we get it. If this keeps up, we're going to need a few "No homo" comments thrown in just so we're all straight. No pun intended.

Shut it, you ponce.

Fuck. This makes me want to take back all the bad things I've said recently about REM. Cool as fuck.

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October 6, 2005

Cordial Invitation

Unlike Tuesday night, last night was alot of fun. Got there right before Cartel Cedars went on and went right up front to stake out a spot. They quickly came onstage, played (what I think was) a new song and followed up with "Fleets". It sounded great coming out the 930's soundsystem. The drums were absolutely banging and the keyboard flourishes sounded much more fleshed out than usual. The local boys put up a great set and looked right at home on that big stage. Hopefully this is a precursor of future 930 gigs for them. Also, they gave shouts to both bluestate and DCist, but strangely not to information leafblower dot com slash blog(kidding!), and that was much appreciated. Flickr's acting weird today so I can't link to my photos tagged with "Cedars", but just go to my photostream and check out my digital photos from last night.

In between sets, someone came up to me and asked me "Are you information leafblower?", so that was kinda wild. Ryan and his friend Marissa said they recognized me because I was using my new toy. They were both really cool and very friendly, so we made plans to go see Tom Vek at the Black Cat next month (Sunday, Nov 6th!!). I took about 13 photos with the fisheye, so hopefully I will take the rest of the roll this weekend and get them developed early next week.

Giant Drag were after Cedars and they were so much awesome. I had read somewhere that Annie, the singer, rants and raves alot on stage and she didn't disappoint last night. She was barely coherent during most of the set. It's hard to describe, but if you go read the bio on their website, you'll get the idea.

Anyhoo, they were great. So 90's alternarock, but in a good way. Annie, who is a total cutie BTW, plays guitar and Micah (who I couldn't get a decent picture of) plays drums and the keyboards. At. the. same. time. It was hard for me to decide who to watch, the do it all drumboardist or the cute girl with the guitar. I seriously recommend going to see this band if you get the chance.

I was pretty beat by that point in the night, so I skipped Stellastarr* and went home to play with The Mister.

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September 30, 2005

The Day After

Great show last night. I got a nice little buzz on and enjoyed myself quite a bit. My DCist review will be up shortly. The set from Detroit in June was actually better. They took out "Songbird", "Love Like A Bomb" and "Little By Little" and added "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" and "Acquiesce". Liam screwed up the lyrics to "Acquiesce" just like he always does. But that's not a bad thing. "Abel" was awesome. I love the loud outro right at the end. The show was just awesome. Best part?

Dude next to me: "You seem like a big fan, have you seen them before?"
Me: Yup. 14 times.
Dude next to me: "Really? No shit."

Liam actually jumped down into the crowd and mingled with the first few rows at the end of the set. I have never ever seen or heard of him doing anything like that before. Fucking Ace.
Liam Gallagher is electricity.
He IS rock n roll.
And, most impressively, he IS rock n roll when he's just standing there with his hands in his pockets.
And yes, I have a man crush on him.
No pics, sorry. Instead, check out these shots from their San Diego gig. Wowzer.

**UPDATE** Here's my DCist review.

I got into a fucking traffic jam on my back from the gig, at like 12:30 in the morning. They were putting up an overhead road sign on the highway and traffic was backed up for 45 minutes. Lovely. I escaped the parking lot quagmire at the gig only to get stuck in that. Worst.

Obviously, I missed the Sox game last night. But we're one back with three to go. Go Papi Go!

Despite not sleeping much last night, I remembered about "Forgotten Favorite" today. This is a track from a fan club show in 1994. Enjoy!

Oasis: Up In The Sky (acoustic)

Posted by Kyle at 1:48 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 15, 2005

Carnival of Sorts

Last night's cover band show was interesting. Athens 82/83 were good, but not great. I think my expectations were too high. "Stipe" had a shaved head and they mostly played stuff from their later IRS albums, skipping must plays like "Gardening At Night", "Begin The Begin", "Cuyahoga", opting for dreck like "Superman" instead. They did do a pretty kick ass version of "Don't Go Back To Rockville" though. My biggest complaint was "Stipe" didn't even sing in a Southern accent. Seriously, WTF? But I'm totally nitpicking. Bill Berry's monobrow was a nice touch. Seeking Irony has some photos. DCSOB was there too.

Mac Attack went all out for their set. Wigs, costumes, the whole nine. They got a late start so I only stayed for four or so songs but they absolutely crushed "Rhiannon" so I was a happy camper. I only know like four Fleetwood Mac songs and they played two of them right off the bat so I decided to go home and try to get one good night's sleep this week. Still, it was a fun night and the bands should definitely think about doing this again. On A Friday.

That's all I got today.

VHS or Beta tonight, general bar hopping for Saturday. That's five nights in a row I will have been out and about. Quite the social butterfly, me. Hopefully I will rest on Sunday & Monday and then bluestate on Tuesday and Teenage Fanclub on Wednesday.

BTW, I just found out I got the apartment I was looking at, so I'll be moving at the end of the month! Arlington, here I come!

Posted by Kyle at 1:18 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

July 1, 2005

Done and Done

All the fretting and butterflies in the stomach paid off last night. We had over 200 people come check out Bicycle Thieves and Cartel, both of whom put on great shows.

Bicycle Thieves, who I was not that familiar with going into the event, were just great. Really tight and upbeat pop songs played ragtag steez. The crowd loved them. More than one person compared them to Better Than Ezra ( I was leaning more towards a rockier Fountains of Wayne) and I think that's definitely in the ballpark. And yes, that comparison is a good thing. Ever see Better Than Ezra live? I did, and they rocked. Surprisingly so in fact. But I digress...Bicycle Thieves, information leafblower approved and endorsed!

Cartel was spot on as well. They didn't fuck around when they took the stage. They played Fleets first and never let up. I was running around, tending to 200 things at once so I didn't get to see as much of their set as I would have liked, but everyone was really into it. They are at Iota on Sunday. I'll be there, will you?

My pics are here, more over at flickr.

Big shout out to Catherine, who helped me put this little shindig together and was never afraid to email me and stay on me until everything got done. Nice job.

I hope everyone that came had fun and got some free CD's and posters. We had plenty.

I made some mix CD's for the before and in between bands downtime, here is a (large - 32 megs) MP3 download of what I played during the set change. Tracklist:

Idlewild - The Nothing I know
REM - Letter Never Sent
Futureheads - Meantime
Afghan Whigs - Going To Town
Bloc Party - Little Thoughts
Beta Band - Assessment
Stone Roses - Elephant Stone

I made a longer mix for the start of the night, I'll post it next week.

Again, thanks to everyone that came out last night!

I have the day off, enjoy your long weekend everyone.

Posted by Kyle at 9:34 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

June 20, 2005

Happy Bday Baby, To ME

Jeezy Creezy. What a weekend. I turn 31 today. If I have many more weekends like the one I just had, 32 is no guarantee. So instead of the exhaustive report, you get the exhausted report.

I landed in Detroit around 6 PM, turned on my cell phone upon departing the plane and had a message from Peabs waiting for me. "I have a blue shirt on, I'm tall and I'm gorgeous." Like I wouldn't remember what he looked like or something. :) We made our way downtown to my fave bar in The D*, the Town Pump. The plan was to have a beer while we wait for JP McKrengles and then head over to the game when he got there. Five beers later we finally made it over to the game (with JP in tow) during the 6th inning. Once we got inside, we met up with Grambo and Kerry SoSaysBest. And had more beers. We finally made it up to our seats in the 8th or 9th (by this point I wasn't really paying attention, I was craving hot dogs) and watched the fireworks after the game. Once that was done, we went back to Grambo's pad and drank 'til the early morn. As you do.

Saturday we slept in (glorious shut eye!), got some brunch, picked up Damore and went record shopping. I got three records by INXS so I'm sure we all can agree that the road trip was almost worth it right there. Now that Kick on vinyl had been revealed, we went over to the Grizz's house and began the pregame for the main event. CFriggs and LesCal joined us and around 5:30 we headed to the venue and started tailgaiting. Big Matt from MotorCityRocks and his crew joined us there, as did Peabs and Dr. Em, Medicine Woman. While we were tailgating, the Oasis Ice Cream truck kept driving around the parking lot and playing the Definitely Maybe DVD. It was a weird site. You can only imagine the sheer number of "I'll have a Champagne Supernova pop" and the "So, is that their new tourbus?" jokes that were flying about.

The setlist:
Fuckin’ In The Bushes / Turn Up The Sun / Lyla / Love Like A Bomb / Bring It On Down / Morning Glory / Cigarettes And Alcohol / The Importance Of Being Idle / Little By Little / A Bell Will Ring / Live Forever / The Meaning Of Soul / Mucky Fingers / Champagne Supernova / Rock And Roll Star / Encore:Songbird / Wonderwall / Don’t Look Back In Anger / My Generation

The show itself was great. Insanely so. Just like the last time I saw them, the new stuff sounded just as good as some of the older stuff in the Oasis catalog. In fact, Lyla, Love Like A Bomb and Songbird were the highlights for me. Shit, even Mucky Fingers sounded great. It was fucking mega and I had a great time. My throat is still sore from screaming like a little girl through the entire show. That and my calves are killing me. We watched he first few songs from a weird space on the lawn that has on a steep incline so I go quite the workout. After that we made our way down to the very front and had a great view of Liam, Gem and Andy, which kind of saddened me because of the venues "no camera" policy. Here are some pics from the Toronto show that I did not take, obvs.

The band was on their best behavior. The worst (best?) we got from them was Noel saying "This is from the record no one bought" before playing Little By Little. This review in the Freep really nails it.

With all the shit talking out there about Oasis (some of it deserved), I think many critics forget (or just gloss over) what a shit hot live act they are. You don't become the biggest band in the world for nothing. When Liam is focused on playing a great show, they can still reach those heights. When the band played Champagne Supernova on Saturday, Liam balanced his tambourine on his head, spread his arms out in a jesus christ pose and slowly crouched down and stood back up. The crowd went ape shit. When you can do something like that and the crowd goes mental, then you are doing something right. Andy Bell and Gem have really added a new dimension to the band's live sound (not to mention song writing). And while Zak Starkey is no Steve White, he's no Alan White either, which is a good thing. I was skeptical when he signed on for drumming duties, but he played a great show as well.

As great as the gig was, it got even more mental after the show. While we were waiting for the traffic to clear out, Grizz was walking around handing out potato chips to the cars waiting in line to leave. In between, he was running around shouting "INFORMATION LEAF BLOWER DOT COM SLASH BLOG" at the top of his lungs. It was quite literally the funniest effing thing I have ever seen in my life. He also came up with the best idea evs. Mister pink dot blogspot dot com. Mr. Pink will review albums on his blog. For everyone he likes, he will say PURR. For each one he doesn't like, he will say RAWR. Mars! Nobody beats the Grizz.

The weirdest moment of the night came as we were deciding what our post game actions would be and where they would be taking place when some random girl in a shiny union jack top came up and just started eating out of the other bag of chips we were passing around. We tried to talk to her but she was waaaaaaay too wasted to even communicate with us. The girls in our group took umbrage on her and after a good bit of coaxing we found out her boyfriend had left her and she lost her wallet, cell phone and keys during the show. Being the awesome people we are, we took her to her hotel (her boyfriend wasn't there either) and once we got the OK, left her in the hotel's care until he showed back up.

And just when I thought the night couldn't get any weirder, one of the people in our group got a call on their cell phone. On the other end of the call was none other than Chuck Klosterman. It's kind of a long story but it was fucking best.

After that we went back to the Grizz's house, started a fire and drank all his beer, tequila and champagne (obvs). I felt like ass on Sunday AM but I made my flight and returned to the DC in one piece.

Just as I did last time, I had a fucking blast in The D. The people there really know how to make someone feel at home and like one of their own. All you have to do is run around like a wildman and say "Best", "Worst" or "Dude, mars" alot. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

I fucking heart The D. Big ups to everyone there for a great weekend and an even better early birthday present. I haven't drank, laughed and lost that much sleep in way too long. Mars She. And thanks to Peabs for playing taxi and Grambo and The Grizz for being gracious enough to let me crash on their couches.

Don't forget, the birthday may be today, but the party is tomorrow. Come by and buy me a beer!

Here are all the photos from my trip. I got some really good ones of Detroit itself.

*I've been to like three bars in The D.

**Update** Check out unionjack24's photos from the gig on Saturday night. Great stuff. Thanks dude.

Posted by Kyle at 10:35 AM | Comments (20) | TrackBack

June 6, 2005

Decent Days & Nights

Summer is officially here in the DC.

Spoon @ 930
Originally uploaded by leafblower.

Spoon and The Futureheads were both fantastic this weekend. Catherine wasn't blown away by Britt and Co. on Friday, but I sure was. I was a bit aprehensive about the show since the 930 would be the biggest venue I have ever seen them play, but their sound filled the room admirably. Every time I see Spoon I think to myself "These guys are 10x better than Coldplay" and things of that nature. And I'm right, so fuck off.

Seriously, why isn't this band huge? Or at least huger? Hopefully this will be the album that sends them into the stratosphere. My favorite thing about Spoon gigs? They always play the songs I want to hear. I never leave the venue saying "Man, I wish they would have played blahblahblah" because they always do. And anyone that knows me is aware that this is no small feat. In addition to all the stuff from their last two records, they threw down rollicking versions of 30 Gallon Tank, Car Radio, Fitted Shirt and yes, even Metal Detektor. Can we go ahead and agree that Spoon writes the best songs about inanimate objects EVER? I submit to you the previous four songs as evidence. A few pictures from the show here.

The Futureheads were crunchy, kinetic goodness on Saturday, despite the midnight stage time. I don't know what to say except that I fucking love this band. Sharp dressers, biting wit, snappy stage banter, delicious songs...I'm hooked. I wonder if people felt the same way when they saw The Jam for the first time back in the day. Not saying that the Futureheads are as good as Weller/Foxton/Buckler, but jeezy creezy, just imagine the posibilities! I got some great pictures here. There also a few on Dcist.

Fucking hell. Right on cue, my iPod plays In The City. Scary.

Truer words were never spoken.

Get your free shit from bluestate.

Ha! I know one of these guys!

Sad sad sad.

The Super Furries try and get me to come to Wales over the July 4th holiday. I actually spent a July 4th with the Furries a few years ago in NYC. They came down for the day from Bearsville, where they were recording what would become Rings Around The World, and producer/mixer/engineer Chris Shaw had a big shinding at his apartment where we all got nice and toasty before retreating to a friend's rooftop to watch the fireworks in all their glory. Taking in the most American of holidays with a large group of Welshmen was a bit surreal to say the least. But alot of fun. Coincidentally, it was at that party where I was introduced in earnest to the works of Bill Hicks. A good day all around then.

Oasis enters the UK album charts at #1.

Got the new Coldplay over the weekend and I'm sorry to report it's a total snoozer. I count three good tracks overall but that's it. I think they tried to make this record too big. Every song doesn't need to be an anthem. I've heard that guy that writes things on his hand called this album their Joshua Tree, but I think it's much more Be Here Now.

Download the Ratatat remix of the Shout Out Louds.

Doves video for Snowden. Quicktime and Real.

Download There's A Fire, the new track from Longwave.

Foo Fighters eCard.

Posted by Kyle at 10:36 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 24, 2005

Here It Comes

Heed item numero cinco por favor.

Set list from Sunday night's Super Furry Animals show:

Slow Life / Rings Around The World / Horn / Ohio Heat / Hello Sunshine / Frequency / Run, Christian Run! / Zoom / Atomik Lust / Cloudberries / Colonise The World / Juxtaposed With U / Laser Beam / Something For The Weekend / Do or Die / Ice Hockey Hair / The Man Don't Give A Fuck

No Calimero(!!!!) here but we still get Run, Christian Run! and the return of Ice Hockey Hair so I will try to keep the nitpicking to myself. Still no Frisbee! Argh. I tried. :)

A little birdie told me to expect them on this side of the pond later this year. Excuse me while I check how many vacation days I have left. Have I mentioned how much I love this band? Festival goers might be interested to know they have been added to the V Fest.

Mike pretty much nailed the Doves show last night. Good but not great. The older stuff sounded superb but as the Pita says concert nirvana was not reached. I heart Doves but I doubt I'll pay $25 to see them again. But they fucking crushed The Cedar Room and Sea Song so colour me happy. The Last Broadcast also sounded superb. The new keyboardist adds alot to the live sound. It seems they don't rely on the DAT machine as much.

Mercury Rev just put me to sleep. They played the same song 8 times. Tinkly piano intro, cue noodley guitar, add crashing drums, gimme total spacerock, sing about stars and dreams, more spacerock, more space, equal amounts rock, big finish, brief coda featuring tinkly piano and singer striking poses on stage. Rinse, repeat. Boooooooring.

More over at Blog Shamblogg. Best blog name ever for those of you that catch the reference.

Stereogum has that new Teenage Fanclub that you've been craving. Frank says they are touring the US later this summer.

More Stone Roses to reform chatter. 10 to 1 no US tour.

Coolfer says Apple hearts podcasts. I'm in the lead by 14 votes for those of you counting at home.

Oh no he didn't!

bluestate is tonight bitches! 9 PM. Come get your Belle & Sebastian / Stephen Malkmus Record Release Party on! Nevermind the five other awesome concerts happening around town tonight. Our shit is free and we will give you free stuff!

Posted by Kyle at 10:14 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 16, 2005

Never Stop!

The Feist show on Thursday night was great. A very Billy Bragg like performance. It was just her and a guitar on stage bathed in red light. Her voice was amazing and the stripped down set up added a new dimension to some of the songs but she'd definitely do better with a full band behind her (something that I'd imagine is in store for her on future tours), no matter what Central Village says. What the fuck does he know anyway? :)

She was incredibly engaging, very chatty and commanded the audience to sing along or help out on the chorus of some songs. This performance did nothing to change my mind that the world is hers if she is marketed and promoted correctly. The show she performed, that had a crowd of indie hipsters (including She's Bitter, Andrew Squidpants, Skunkeye and L Boogie) eating out of her hand, would work just as well on Norah Jones fans or even my Mom.

I didn;t get any usable pictures from the performance (stupid Black Cat lighting), but She's Bitter has some at the link above as well as some short video clips. Oh, and British Sea Power SUUUUUUUUUUCKED.

But as good as Feist was, the Echo & The Bunnymen show on Friday was even better. Ten times so in fact. The Bunnymen were doing a (very) short East Coast tour leading up to their performance at this week's HFStival. I had seen them just once before, at Roseland in 1997 in support of their criminally underrated album Evergreen. I was still a new fan back then, not really familiar with their back catalog or anything other than Lips Like Sugar and Bring On The Dancing Horses.

I won't say I had low expectations for this show, (since I didn't remember much about their 1997 show); I really didn't have any expectations at all. Especially since they were playing Lancaster, PA of all places. But I've been in a serious Bunnymen phase lately and there was no way I would pass up this gig, so off I went with Miss Gl*mrocker in tow.

The Chameleon Club was much nicer than you would expect for a town in the middle of Amish country. And unbeknownst to me, Lancaster must be a nice little tour stop because bands like Hot Hot Heat and a few others are coming through town very soon. The room was long and thing, with a nice stage and a few risers in the back so people in the rear of the room can still see. The crowd was strange (as it always is at shows like this). It's always weird when I am one of the youngest poeple at a show.

We went up to the bar and got a Yuengling and vodka/cran. The total for our round? $6. Not too shabby. Then we copped a spot on the front part of the rear riser and marveled at our insanely great vantage point. We had a straight, eye level view of the stage.

Soon after the band came out and launched into two older, upbeat songs that I wasn't familiar with before absolutely tearing into Rescue and Seven Seas. Those last two just knocked me on my ass. The band was in top form and were absolutely killing it. The rest of the set was heavy on the hits and the night was all the better because of it. Ian MacCulloch was in fine form. It occurred to me during the show that he is the prototypical Liam. Attitude to spare, cool as fuck, great hair, tall and takes no shit. He also does the mumbley in between songs thing as well as anyone. Guitarist Will Sergeant is so, so underrated. His licks don't blow you away or overpower the songs, but they do an amazing job of filling in the crevices and sparkling exactly when and where they should. They played a beefed up version of The Cutter (not one of my favorite Bunnymen tunes mind you) that was easily ready for Giants Stadium and followed with a stripped down version of The Killing Moon that convinced me Richard Kelly is an idiot for opting to go with INXS instead. It's all I can do to not go to Tower Records right now and buy The Bunnymen boxset. There were a few songs I wanted to hear that got left out of the set (it wouldn't be an ILB concert review if I didn't complain about the set) like Read It In Books and Over The Wall, but we were treated to amazing versions of Nothing Lasts Forever, Zimbo and Ocean Rain.

As tinny and small as they sometimes sound on record, they sounded big and full of bollocks live. Almost exact opposites. Seeing this show clued me in on why The Bunnymen were once toe to toe with U2 for biggest band in the world bragging rights. It was that good and so were they. There are some amazing shows coming through town in the next month or so but any of those bands are going to have a hard time topping this show, which is the current front runner for best show of the year. Oh, and no photos from that show either as the club had a no camera policy.

New Mr. Pink photos for those of you that can't get enough. Sundays are always a good days for cat pictures because I'm usually around when it's nap time. Yes, I'm a dork.

V. exciting!

Boo! Oasis took out Headshrinker and added (gag) Little By Little in Edinborough. Seriously Noel, get a clue.

Peep the Gorillaz toys that will be released at the same time as the new record:

Why does David Stern insist on starting the best playoff game of the weekend at 9:30 PM on an fucking Sunday?

**Update** Apparently they had to cut short the HFstival set because of Mac's voice. Glad I stayed away on Saturday!

Posted by Kyle at 12:33 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

April 14, 2005

D'You Know What I Mean?

*sigh*

Another day, another $170 spent on tickets. That's the bad news, the good news is I'm going to see Doves and Mercury Rev in May and Oasis in September. Surprisingly, I didn't forget that Oasis tickets went on sale today (thanks to the FOUR people that sent me the ticket pre-sale info today - reasons like this are why I started this damn thing), and I actually got decent seats.

Even though their new song kinda blows (cheers to Golden Fiddle for calling Noel on his lame excuses) I am so looking forward to seeing my former favorite band on the planet again. I even went so far as to buy a ticket to their show in Detroit Rock City for the opening night of the tour in June. Yes, I am a dork. I haven't seen them since 2002 and I wouldn't be so excited if that show wasn't so impressive. I went in with very low expectations but their new material really sounded great.

By my count, these two gigs will be the 14th and 15th times I've seen this band, not counting the infamous NC gig in 1996 that they cancelled when Noel took the daily flight from Charlotte to London Gatwick and scrapped that entire tour. I drove 6 hours to go to that show only to be handed a piece of paper upon arriving at the venue that said "Tonight's show has been cancelled." Fuckers. I've been an Oasis fan for 10 YEARS. That's scary in and unto itself. My Oasis gigiography:

1995
17th February Carrboro, NC, United States,Cat's Cradle - I still have the ticket stub for this show. It cost like $8. One of the loudest shows I've ever been to.
5th March Virginia Beach, VA, United States,The Abyss - The first time I met the group. Liam and Bonehead were riding go-carts at the track next to the venue and I went right up and introduced myself. They both signed my copy of Definitely Maybe and I watched them film part of the Rock N Roll Star video. Bonehead was impressed with my extensive knowledge of their B-sides. They played (It's Good) To Be Free and Fade Away at this show and Liam forgot some of the words to Columbia.
10th October Baltimore, MD, United States,Hammerjack's - This is where the above picture was taken - check out the story behind it, that's me on the right, obvs. The first time I got to hear the Morning Glory album live. A stunner.
1996
8th September Long Island, NY, United States,Jones Beach Theatre - They played my favorite Oasis track, Listen Up at this gig. I screamed like I was at an NSYNC gig. The Manic Street Preachers opened.
1997
7th October New York, NY, United States,Hammerstein Ballroom - Previewing Be Here Now. Little did I know I'd never hear any of those songs live ever again.
8th October New York, NY, United States,Hammerstein Ballroom - Ditto.
1998
12th January E Rutherford, NJ, United States,Continental Airlines Arena - Cornershop opened. The last gig I saw Noel do one his 4 song acoustic sets in the middle of the show. I miss them. he covered The Jam's To Be Someone prompting me to go out and buy every record by The Jam that I could get my hands on.
1999
3rd December Philadelphia, PA, United States,First Union Center - First ever gig with Gem and Andy Bell. This was a radio show where they only played 5 songs, but it was still great.
2000
1st May New York, NY, United States,Radio City Music Hall - Travis opened, otherwise not much to speak of. This was the Standing On The Shoulder of Giants tour. My least favorite record of theirs. I went to this gig with Redboy.
25th August Reading, United Kingdom,Reading Festival - Worst gig I ever saw them do, although the did play Step Out.
2001
27th May Wallingford, CT, United States,SNET Oakdale Theater - The tour with the Black Crowes. A great gig. Liam was in top form. They played alot of old stuff, rekindling my love for the band. I bootlegged this show.
9th June New York, NY, United States,Radio City Music Hall - Best gig I ever saw them do. Alan White's older brother Steve (Paul Weller's drummer) filled in for him and absolutely killed it. They sounded like a new band. Just amazing. Oh, and they played Columbia.
2002
11th August New York, NY, United States,Roseland Ballroom - Every song from Heathen Chemistry got new life during this show. Better Man and Born On A Different Cloud were just amazing. The production on that record is complete shite. The songs are there, but they sound horrible.

I was sad in 2003 when my streak of seeing them at least once a year for seven straight years was broken. The only band I've seen more times than Oasis is the Super Furries (I'm guessing I've seen them 22 times), but then again I don't usually have to pay for tickets to see them and I can sometimes snag a ride on the tour bus, so it makes seeing them a bit easier. But I digress...

Had fun last night at iPod Jukebox. My set was:

Feist - One Evening
Massive Attack - Daydreaming
Cartel - Fleets

Why am I so excited about a new Depeche Mode record?

Interview with Norman from Teenage Fanclub. [via Chromewaves]

Any of my DC peeps wanna go see the Brazilian Girls in NYC? OK how about if the trip is free, courtesy of your favorite group of DJ's? I just got the CD in the mail yesterday. I've heard good things.

The Celtics clinched a playoff birth last night. Sweet. Is a first round match up against the Washington Wizards in the cards?

Posted by Kyle at 1:50 PM | Comments (3)

March 23, 2005

Dalliance

So then...Cartel @ DC9 last night. Before I get to the music, what's up with the upstairs at DC9? It was about 45 degrees outside yet it was a good 50 degrees hotter in the upstairs of the club. Open an effing window people! It's gonna take one hell of a show to get me to go up those stairs this summer.
Now then, the band. Get this my friends. There is a new band out there with geetars and keyboards that sounds nothing like The Strokes, The Killers, or Interpol. I know it sounds hard to believe, but work with me here. I was impressed with their show (despite the catatonic crowd), as was Catherine. I'm not going to waste any bandwidth trying to come up with the perfect two sentence description of their "sound", but think atmospheric space rock, the kind that shouldn't sound so good coming out of the DC9 soundsystem. Think Catherine Wheel, Doves, Velvet Teen and even Shudder To Think in their less art rock moments. I would go as far as to say you must go check them out next time they play, but they have some stiff competition that night and I know which one you'll be representing at, right? RIGHT?

Peep the new Morrissey single.

Here are some Ian Brown bootlegs.

Cali and Mass peeps be sure to check out these Ash in-stores.

Apparently people only come here for cat pictures.

Remember the 2003 NBA Draft? Check this out:
First Pick: Lebron James - Ranks 4th in NBA in Points Per Game (26.3), Ranks 3rd in NBA in Steals Per Game (2.21), Ranks 6th in NBA in Assists Per Game (7.3), Ranks 4th in NBA in Minutes Per Game (41.7), Won Rookie of the Year
Third Pick: Carmelo Anthony - Averaging 19+ points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists per game. Led team to playoffs last year and has then poised to make it back this year.
Fourth Pick: Chris Bosh - Ranks 20th in NBA in Rebounds Per Game (8.6), Scoring 16 points per game and blocking one shot per game. Toronto decided to build their franchise around him and traded Vince Carter. Big things are expected of him next year.
Fifth Pick: Dwyane Wade - Beside keeping my fanatasy basketball team afloat, Ranks 8th in NBA in Points Per Game (23.9), Ranks T-7th in NBA in Assists Per Game (6.9), team has best record in the NBA

So who did I leave out? Oh yeah! Darko! What's he up to these days?

PS - Mylo(!!!) is DJing in NYC tonight with Melody Nelson. Go check that shit out!

Posted by Kyle at 2:15 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

October 20, 2004

What A Waster

Coherent thoughts are understandbly few and far between right now so let's go to the visual evidence from last night:



OK...so The Libertines. I know Kegzies swears that these guys are the real deal so for that reason alone I went to see them last night. Our crew was rolling mad deep and I did have alot of fun overall but the gig was very, very oridnary. I think with this band you either get it or you don't. I obviously don't. A big reason why is the inordinate amount of press this band has recieved across the pond. It seems like they are on the cover of NME every damn week, and honestly I have no idea why. I liked this better when it was called The Jam. Their tunes are incredibly same-y (I joked that by touring with Radio 4, who are stricken with the same affliction, they could have called this the "All Our Songs Sound The Same Tour") and just ran together. I think this bugged me most of all. This band hasn't written a Live Forever, Common People, Parklife, Connection or anything near as good. Hell, they haven't even written Good Enough or Brimful of Asha, yet the press slobbers all over them. They were a tight live act and my toe was tapping throughout but those aren't exactly traits of the rock elite now are they? The 930 Club was close to capacity though and I do have to say that I'd much rather people listen to The Libertines than Good Charlotte. But I digress...

Yo, when I say Ted Leo effing rules, this is what I really mean. An incredibly well written article and a must read for Ted fans. [Thanks Catherine]

Noel joins King Monkey Ian Brown onstage in Manchester.

QOTSA news

Brett + Bernard = The Tears.

UNC pretty boy Rashad McCants opens his big fat mouth again. Didn't homeboy learn his lesson from last time? Apparently not.

I don't know either man.

I bought a CD last weekend! Been a while since I've done that. I picked up Stereloab's ABC Sessions and it's just brilliant. I'm really liking the cover design too. Turns out the guy who did it also did XTRMNTR.

Will a Yank soon be in control of Man U?

Don't even get me started about tonight. I'm still recovering from last night. This I know:
Joe Buck is a douchebag
So is A Rod (see the video)
So is Tim McCarver
Curt Shilling pitched his ass off
Marky Doodles was due for a big hit
Manny is due for one tonight, and
ALL the pressure is on the Yankees right now.

Posted by Kyle at 10:34 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack