Photos Archives

As promised. Like I said, although the show was great, not the most energetic band in the world. The lighting didn't help either, although once I converted everything into B&W, I got a few keepers.

*Sigh*

Back from a restful, fun-filled and Xmas flavored week in Southern California. As far as I can remember, it was the second one I've spent in the Golden State (I lived about an hour away from San Francisco for about eight months in fifth grade) and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Basically all I did was eat, drink and be merry. There's no danger in me moving there any time soon, but I sure do like to visit.

The only low point of the trip was the Celtics / Clippers game. That was painful. My heart sank earlier in the week when I got the news that Paul Pierce would be out 2 to 3 weeks due to a foot injury. I almost didn't believe it when I saw it scroll across the news ticker on ESPNews. Paul's so damn durable that he's only missed 19 games in 8 years. Perk,Wally and Kandi were back but none of them are in shape and (much like the entire team) generally played like poop. Funniest (and most irreverent) part of the night: During the pre-game moment of silence for former President Gerald Ford, someone in the crowd yelled "Kandi sucks!" at the top of his lungs that had the more respectful members of Clipper Nation nodding along in agreement.

I didn't get any photos due to the Staples Center draconian camera policy, but I was really impressed with the venue overall. It's huge but still cozy. The sightlines from pretty much everywhere were great. The food selection isn't as good as I thought it would be, however. It's mostly nachos and dogs. If you want a burger or chicken, you have to go to Mickey D's. Ugh. Also, all the championship banners for the Lakers are grouped together on two or three flags and they are placed way up in the top corner of the rafters, almost as an afterthought. That was strange and definitely made the venue feel more like a multi-purpose arena than the home of the hated Lakers. I dunno, maybe they move them into a more prominent place for Lakers games. All I know is the one time I went to the Fleet Center a few years ago, I spent half the game staring at the overwhelming number of Celtics related things hanging from the rafters there. I took some photos of them and stored them on my old laptop. I'll have to dig around and see if I can find them. But I digress...

The best part of coming home was getting to see the Mister for the first time in what seemed like ages. Here he is resting after we played fetch until he ripped my hands to shreds. Hey, love hurts.

Don't forget tonight is the last ever bluestate. Hope to see you there.

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.

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.

LeBron and the Cavs laid an egg at the MCI Center on Saturday night. Check out the write up over at DCist.

I was just downstairs at the Mandalay Bay casino and "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather was making his way back to his room with his extremely large entourage. He's in town to fight Carlos "Tata" Baldomir tomorrow. I kinda wish I was sticking around to see it even though I'm not exactly a boxing fan. All the fight fans started arriving today and there's a certain electricity in the casino now. Instead I'm flying home tomorrow so I can catch the Celtics at the MCI Center when they take on Agent Zero and the Wiz. And of course Sunday is the DC United v. New England Revolution match at RFK.

The other big thing at the Mandalay this week is the National Bull Riders Championships. They're taking place at the Thomas and Mack Center but I guess the "convention" part of the event is taking place here. So there are huge belt buckles and cowboy hats everywhere. The guys look like total dorks, but the women are pretty much drop dead gorgeous. They all have small waists and big boobs. So if any of you younguns' are pondering a career in bull riding, I say go for it!

I caught my first ever Decemberists show Monday night before I headed over to see Beck. The verdict? They're great performers but not my thing. Colin Meloy does this weird lips over his teeth thing when he sings. It kind of creeps me out.

If this doesn't satisfy your craving for all things Decemberists, head on over to DCist where we're pitting audience members against each other in a battle of concert reviews for the ultimate Decemberist prize pack. There are some great anecdotes over there. Definitely worth reading if you're a fan. NPR recorded the show for your listening pleasure. Here is their NPR show from 2005. Compare and contrast.

Also, there are more Colin Meloy pictures over on Flickr.

It wasn't pretty, but United pulled out a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls yesterday and advanced on aggregate. Matt has the words for DCist. Clint Dempsey and the New England Revolution come to town on Sunday for the right to advance to the MLS Cup finals. So my two weeks of death just added another event.

I had a pretty hectic weekend. On Saturday I saw five bands in three different venues. The best band I saw? Pela. So much awesome. More on that later.

Tonight is The Decemberists at the 9:30 Club. You can listen along on NPR around 9:30 or so. Photos and such tomorrow.

Slightly related: I'm still loving this Shins CD.

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.

Stream the Black Keys track "Just Got To Be."

Stream Mew's Apocalypso and The Zookeeper's Boy, both in Quicktime. New Mew tourdates:

16 - Seattle, CA - Neumos
17 - Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan
19 - San Francisco, CA - Popscene
21 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
23 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
25 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line
26 - Chicago, IL - Double Door
30 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl

Stream the Tahiti 80 track "Changes." I loved their first record Puzzle.

Gorilla vs. Bear has the latest mix from DJ Never Forget.

Meldoy Nelson has the details of the upcoming PJ Harvey Peel Sessions disc.

Billy Bragg on NPR. [via Chromewaves]

If you’re not stealing music, either you’re the most law-abiding person on the planet, or you’re lying.

Better. Of course, it's more like "Photo," not "Photos." That said, editing is your friend, people.

The birth fo the iPod.

Injustice at the D.C. United wards banquet.

In case you're not paying attention (or, if like me, you haven't seen a second of preseason NBA action and it's absolutely killng you), Rajon Rondo is pretty effing good. Here is the visual evidence.

Make sure you check out Matt 1115.org in full effect.