Information Leafblower

Ra Ra Riot

I tell anyone that will listen (which usually means The Future Mrs. Leaf and Mr. Pink) that Ra Ra Riot's WOXY lounge Act is probably going to be one of my top 10 "CD's" of the year. I cannot stop listening to it. It's incredible. Seriously. It does such a better job of capturing the freewheeling energy of their live show than their E.P. does. I caught RRR opening for The Cribs and they blew me away. But now, thanks to WOXY and Vimeo, you can see the video of the band performing at the WOXY studios.

woxy.com presents Ra Ra Riot from Soft City Lights on Vimeo.

I cannot tell you how pissed I am that their tour with The Little Ones only came as close to D.C. as Baltimore. I would have gone if it wasn't on a week night. I can only hope they'll be back soon.

Log on to WOXY to get the audio and head over to Soft City Lights for some iPod video action.

New Toy!

After you load the home page, click refresh a few times to see the leafblower's newest feature - a rotating header image!

Sweet.

Hear What All The Fuss Was About

Or alternately, hear what you missed.

Radiohead Live at Nissan Pavilion - MP3's of the entire show.

A taste:
[mp3] Radiohead | All I Need (live at Nissan Pavilion)

Best. Week. Ever.

I had a pretty good day yesterday.

First the Pitchfork thing, and then late yesterday afternoon I got a call from the Washington Post asking me if they could use some of my Radiohead shots to run with J. Freedom DuLac's review of the show.

I said yes.

Obvs.

I had to rush home from work and get them edited and handed in, but it all worked out. I got quite a rush this morning buying a copy of the paper and seeing my photos in there. Front page of the Style section! Pretty exciting. Special thanks to the fine folks at PrefixMag.com for letting me send the Post some photos even though I was on assignment for them. I'm looking forward to shooting even more stuff for Prefix in the very near future.

So, enough of my babbling.

Check out my full set of Radiohead & Liars photos on Prefixmag.com.

Check out my two Radiohead photos on Washingtonpost.com.

Screenshots from the web edition after the jump.

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Testing the Limits of Rain or Shine

I had a big write up of the Radiohead show last night but MT ate it when it crashed. Bugger. Here it is in short form.

It rained.
Alot.
A hell of a lot.
More than you've ever seen.
Ever.
Almost four inches.
Seriously, it was one of the biggest storms in D.C. history.
And we stood outside during it and watched Radiohead.
The "rain down" part of the "Paranoid Android" suddenly has new meaning to me.
That's not fun to sit through when seeing one of your favorite bands.
I did not have fun.
That's not the band's fault or the venue's fault.
Although the set was too slow for my tastes.
That said, "Reckoner" and "Optimistic" were brilliant.
They played "Planet Telex", one of my favorite songs ever!
Did I mention that it rained a lot?
I bring it up again because it was hard to take your mind off of that.
The venue was basically a lake.
People on the lawn, how did you do it? Respect.
Ah, 300% soaked and miserable. Roger that.
Clothes still wet.
Shoes may never dry out.
Never been so happy to crawl into bed.
Liars were great.
Ed O'Brien is one handsome dude.
Tall, too.
Planet Telex!!!!!!
Seriously, that song saved the night for me.
[mp3] Radiohead | Planet Telex (live)

The non-musical highlight of the night happened right before Liars went on. I was introduced to J. Freedom DuLac. We both said "Hi" and then he says, "Wait...Kyle? Information Leafblower, right?"
Awesome.

I got home late. Real late. Photos tomorrow. Set list after the jump.

]]> via AtEase

01. All I Need
02. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
03. Lucky
04. Nude
05. Pyramid Song
06. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
07. Myxomatosis
08. Idioteque
09. Faust Arp
10. Videotape
11. Paranoid Android
12. Just
13. Reckoner
14. Everything In Its Right Place
15. Bangers and Mash
16. Bodysnatchers

encore 1:
17. Like Spinning Plates
18. Optimistic
19. Karma Police
20. Go Slowly
21. Planet Telex

encore 2:
22. Fake Plastic Trees
23. The National Anthem
24. House of Cards

Unexpected.

I got my first byline on Pitchfork!
Awesome.
Head over there to see my photos and gig report from The Cure show at the Patriot Center.
They played 38 songs.
Thirty Eight.

Legen - wait for it - dary

Shooting some awesome gigs this weekend. My weekend outlook:

Friday:
The Cure @ Patriot Center - Never seen them so I'm very much looking forward to it. Opening night of the tour!

Saturday:
DC101 Chili Cookoff - Yes, the lineup isn't as sexy as last year, but shooting metal bands is generally more fun than shooting indie bands that just stand around and tap their feet.

Sunday:
Radiohead @ Nissan Pavilion - Obvs.

Sadly, Kanye isn't allowing any photogs into his show @ Nissan Pavillion on Saturday.

D.C.-area concert going, FTW!

Yay!

Spiritualized Announces Electric Tour

07.19.08 - Chicago, IL (Pitchfork Music Festival)
07.20.08 - Indianapolis, IN (The Vogue)
07.21.08 - Nashville, TN (City Hall)
07.22.08 - Atlanta, GA (Variety Playhouse)
07.25.08 - Washington, DC (9:30 Club)
08.01.08 - Cleveland, OH (House of Blues)
08.02.08 - Buffalo, NY (Town Ballroom)
08.03.08 - Montreal, CA (Parc Jean Drapeau)
08.06.08 - Toronto, ON (Toronto Islands Park)
09.01.08 - Los Angeles, CA (Hollywood Bowl)
09.27.08 - Austin, TX (Austin City Limits)

Finally, A Song For Mother's Day

Just the other day I was thinking to myself, "Anyone can write a Christmas song. When is someone going to honor Mother's Day with a song?" And just like a song from local faves Middle Distance Runner, recorded especially for Mother's Day, magically appeared. And it has rapping!

[mp3] Middle Distance Runner | Momma

MDR was assisted by the following on this track:
Jason "Raw Poetic" Moore (hip hop stylings, of Panacea and RPM)
Tony "Tailbone" Acampora (bass, of Greenland)
Aaron "The Bronx Bull" Gause (trumpet, of Panacea and RPM)

My Morning Jacket Tour Dates

06/20: New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
08/16: Louisville, KY @ The Great Law at Louisville Waterfront Park
08/18: Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theatre
08/19: Council Bluffs, IA @ Stir Cove
08/21: Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheater*
08/23: Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom
08/24: Austin, TX @ Stubbs
08/27: Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre-Atlanta
08/29: Miami, FL @ The Fillmore Miami Beach@ the Jackie Gleason Theater
08/30: Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues- Orlando
08/31: Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues- Myrtle Beach
09/02: Charlottesville, VA @ Charlottesville Paviion
09/03: Washington, DC @ Constitution Hall
09/05: Philadelphia, PA @ Festival Pier @ Penn's Landing
09/06: Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion
09/19: Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre
09/21: Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
09/23: Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee
09/24: Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint
09/25: San Diego, CA @ SDSU Open Air Theater
09/27: Portland, OR @ McMenamins Edgefield
09/28: Seattle WA @ McCaw Hall
10/02: Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theatre
10/03: Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theater
10/04: Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
10/09: Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
10/10: Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre

No Blogging Today

I'm too busy listening to the new Oasis tunes. I know Noel has his lawyers trolling the interwebs, so instead of hosting them here, I'll just point them out to you.

These United States on WOXY, Iota Tonight

Sadly I have a ton of Artomatic running around to do tonight (more on that later - the Artomatic part, not the running around part), but if I didn't, I sure as hell would make my way over to Iota (not THE Iota, lest you incur the wrath of Jason) to take in These United States and the Federal Reserve Collective. tUS recently finished up a tour in which they played 30+ gigs with a different set of musicians playing as their backing band each night. Pretty cool.

Over the weekend I listened to their recent Lounge Act on WOXY and it is the goodness. Highly recommended.

[mp3] These United States - Live On WOXY.com (full session download)
[mp3] These United Sates | First Sight

Ted Leo + Spoon = Hottness

Damn you Britt Daniel. Here I am trying to move on with my musical life and go about listening to someone, anyone other than your band and you go and release a single/E.P. for "Don't You Evah" and I go and get the damn song stuck in my head. For days. Mostly because Ted Leo's "I Want It Hotter Remix" totally lives up to its name. I downloaded it a few weeks ago from here but I just got around to listening to it on Thursday. Big mistake. Been humming the melody ever since.

[mp3] Spoon | Don't You Evah (Ted Leo's I Want It Hotter Remix)

Also, in my travels to find that remix again (had it on the work computer, but not the home one) I came across this Triple J radio broadcast from Australia. You're welcome.

[mp3] Spoon | Don't You Evah (live on Triple J)
[mp3] Spoon | You Got Yr Cherry Bomb (live on Triple J)

The Don't You Evah single is out now and if you live on the West Coast you have a few chances to see the band in the coming months. Ted Leo, of course, is opening for Pearl Jam this summer.

Ugh.

DCU midfielder Ben Olsen , a 10-year veteran and 2007 all-league selection who has yet to play this season because of ankle problems, will not return to the field anytime soon, if at all. "It's not great," he told the Insider today.

Eddie Izzard Is Funny, Dangerously So

Last night, via the power of Craigslist, The Future Mrs. Leaf and I scored some great seats at the last minute to see Eddie Izzard at DAR Constitution Hall. I'm glad we did, because I can honestly say I have never laughed so hard in my life. In fact, I laughed so much that my face physically hurt when I left the venue.

His current act is a bit more meandering than his previous work like Dress To Kill, ranging from everything from the Apple Software Update window to Wikipedia to the 10 Commandments. He also did a hilarious bit on dinosaurs singing hymns in church.

The 10 Commandments bit at the very end had the entire venue in stitches. "Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's ox? What's wrong with wanting Jeff's ox? That's the basis for trade!" My words are not doing the show justice, but take my advice and go see him tonight in D.C. (should be a good amount of tickets for sale now that the Wizards are playing at home tonight) or later in the tour if you get a chance. You will not be disappointed.