Photos Archives

Whartfest in Baltimore. Wow.

2 days,
3 huge gigs,
26 bands seen,
over 200 miles driven,
2 full memory cards
and all I have to show for it is my photo set over at Pitchfork.

As for you Pitchfork readers clicking through, welcome!

Here is some of my recent photo work:
Travis at the 9:30 Club
The National at the 9:30 Club
Le Loup and XYZ Affair at DC9
Georgie James, Middle Distance Runner and These US at the Black Cat
The Pipettes and Smoosh at the Black Cat

Also, you can always see my work over on Flickr.

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.

So then, my weekend in a nutshell:

Friday

Friday night Ms. Smith and I ventured to the Black Cat to see The Vita Ruins. They were giving away free copies of their E.P., Thanks For Your Concern (But We're OK), so I grabbed a few for you readers (more on that in a sec). The band sound not unlike Black Rebel Motorcycle Club -- swirling, feedback-drenched guitars, sinister vocals and a driving back beat. They're obviously big shoegazer fans, which is always a good thing in my book. They drew a decent amount of people to the show, many of which were photographers, causing one person to remark "I've never seen so many photographers for a band I've never heard of." I'll be sending the copies of the E.P. I snagged as a consolation prize to those that didn't win those Editors CD's. So keep an eye on your inbox if you entered.

Saturday

Saturday I ran errands during the day (I need a new camera bag) and tried to stay out of the heat. Later that night I took in the D.C. United v. FC Dallas match at RFK. Expect a short recap on DCist later today.

Sunday

Can you name a better way to spend Sunday than drinking beer, eating BBQ and watching football? I think not. My only complaint was that the Brazil v. Argentina match was such a snoozer. Oh well. I spent the rest of the night editing photos. Exciting, no?

I am insanely tired and also insanely busy today, so let's just say last night was pretty incredible. Unbuckled enjoyed its first ever sellout and the crowd enjoyed two great sets by two great bands. Le Loup actually lived up to the hype(that was like their fourth show ever and they're already signed to a SubPop subsidiary), which surprised me a bit - mostly because I am the eternal pessimist. They're very Montreal-ish, like if the lead singer from Stars was fronting a band that was channeling the Arcade Fire while playing songs from bands like Islands, Tape n' Tapes and Beirut(three bands that I hate, yet LL was very pleasing on the ears - go figure). I doubt that makes any sense, but take it for what it's worth. You'll be hearing more about them soon enough.

Top notch show on Friday that showcased some of the best local talent here in Washington D.C. All three bands played great sets but the highlight of the night was when Jesse Elliott from These Unites States joined Middle Distance Runner on stage for a cover of "The Business," a tUS tune that rarely gets played (although it got a surprise airing earlier in the night). Ummmm, maybe you had to be there.

Georgie James played some new stuff from their forthcoming Saddle Creek release that sounds great and the best news of all (for all of you) is that before the year is out, all three of these bands are likely coming to a town near you(separately, obvs.). So be sure to check them out when that time comes.

[MP3] These United States | The Business
Georgie James plays a Woxy Lounge Act
Middle Distance Runner on The Hype Machine

As I mentioned last week, all three of these bands have played DCist's Unbuckled in the last year or so. The next Unbuckled is on Wednesday, so come on out and see the next big thing.

I Am Fuel, You Are Friends has MP3's from one of R.E.M.'s recent Dublin performances in its entirety.

Related: Maybe R.E.M. haven't lost the plot after all. Although, I must say, bring your camera free for alls mostly turn into big clusterfuck of flash bulbs popping off everywhere because everyone that's bought a DSLR in the last year or two brings it and lets their flash fly because they don't have fast enough glass to take photos otherwise. On Friday, some stupid lady wormed her way up to the front of the crowd and started taking photos while aiming her external flash right in people's faces! I couldn't believe it. Not only did she stand right in front of me and block my shots, but she was firing flashes every which way and annoying every single person in her vicinity. No wonder people hate photogs at gigs. People like her give us a bad name. OK, rant over. Sorry.

PJ Harvey still has it.

Fuck yeah! The tour starts in D.C. Can't wait.

9/4 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
9/6 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
9/7 - NY, NY - Webster Hall
9/8 - Montreal, QC - Osheaga Festival
9/9 - Toronto, ON - Virgin Festival
9/11 - Chicago, IL - Park West
9/12 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe
9/14 - Denver, CO - Monolith Festival
9/15 - Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound
9/17 - Vancouver, BC - Richard's On Richards
9/18 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
9/19 - Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan
9/20 - San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
9/23 - San Diego, CA - Streetscene
9/24 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern

Ticket pre-sales begin Tuesday, June 26th at 10:00 AM.
Tickets will be available at: tix.concertmaps.com/editors.
Fans will also have the option to pre-order a Deluxe Edition of 'An End Has A Start' when purchasing tickets.
EDITORS will also be doing a special outdoor performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday, July 26th, which will air on ABC that evening at 12:00am (11:00pm central).

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.

I love this photo for so many reasons. Crowd shots of the Barra Brava and Screaming Eagles at the end of games are the best. I need to put these in a collection or something.

D.C. United thoroughly dominated a depleted Chicago Fire team at RFK on Saturday. Read all about it on DCist. Full photo set below.

Last night a few tickets to see Mika at the 9:30 Club fell into my lap, so I grabbed Ms. Smith and we went to see what all the hubbub is about. Unlike most of the people there, I wasn't that familiar with his work, I have a five song EP that I listened to a few times but his stuff never really grabbed me. Live, his show is basically what would happen if Rufus Wainwright mainlined some speed and Fun Dip and sang Scissor Sisters covers all night. I felt he was a pale imitation of this guy and really couldn't get past that in order to enjoy the show. Oh well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Ms. Smith disagreed, saying she felt the exact opposite. She doesn't get the SS at all, but really enjoyed Mika's showmanship and boundless energy. The sold out crowd at the 9:30 certainly enjoyed the show. Most people were singing along and dancing up a storm. If nothing else, it was nice to see an audience in this town enjoy themselves so much.

On a completely unrelated note, posts like this are exactly what blogging was made for. Enjoy.

Via Frank (who got to see Buffalo Tom over the weekend), and from the bandwidth of NME:

Gruff Rhys has confirmed a tour of the US and Canada kicking off September 19 in Philadelphia.

The Super Furry Animals frontman will support his album 'Candylion' which was released in the US earlier this year via Conor Oberst's Team Love label.

The dates in question:
Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brendas (September 19)
Washington, DC Rock N Roll Hotel (20)
New York, NY Hiro Ballroom (21)
Brooklyn, NY Union Hall (22)
Boston, MA Museum of Fine Arts (23)
Toronto, ONT Rivoli (25)
Chicago, IL Schuba's (27)
Seattle, WA Crocodile Café (29)
Portland, OR Doug Fir (30)
San Francisco, CA Swedish American Hall (October 2)
Los Angeles, CA Rec Center Studios (3)

This is all well and good (and I'm sure it will be a blast), but I'm waiting with baited breath for the band to tour. I'm hearing early '08. New album in August. Stay tuned....