All posts by G. Gordon Gritty

concert review, Music

Concert Review: Springfest (Matthews Arena)

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Bands/Rappers: Mac Miller, Taking Back Sunday, Third Eye Blind, Wiz Khalifa
Date: April 9, 2011

Mac Miller – Firstly, the sound in Matthews Arena is a shitty thing. No surprise, though. Watching good ole Mac and his crew rap was like listening to an ole beat-up boom box cranked to max volume. I have no comment on his performance other than that I’m simply not familiar with him.

Taking Back Sunday – At their best they sounded like an impressionable Head Automatica knock-off band and at their worst they made drunk kids fall asleep. It was mostly the latter. “WHO HERE GOES TO COLLEGE?” Oh gee bro I don’t know! Crowd wasn’t feeling TBS and they had a good reason not to be.

Third Eye Blind – This is the point in the show where things improved a lot more. The instruments were much more audible and the vocals mixed just right for Third Eye Blind. The band’s long-standing favorites “Jumper” and “Semi Charmed Life” drew the most notable crowd reaction. The pauses for the crowd to sing got a bit cheesy, but I guess that’s a norm for arena rock bands. For a band that I haven’t really listened to much before, I will say I was impressed. Their set wasn’t draggy and their new tune, which they closed their set with, sounded decent.

Wiz Khalifa – Wiz seemed excited and all to be performing. Opening chants of TAYLOR (GANG), TAYLOR (GANG) were excessive. Even worse was the repetitive WAKE N (BAKE), WAKE N (BAKE). When the dude started rapping for reals, it was hard to tell whether it was his own voice coming out of the PA or that of a recording. I imagine this is the standard for rap shows, though.

Conclusion: Screw arenas! I’ll take a 100 person dive bar or, on the larger end of things, the Orpheum Theatre or House of Blues any day over the distance and lack of personality associated with arenas.

Band of the Week, Music

Band of the Week: Dead Ghosts

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Dead Ghosts are from the land of the Human Serviette — that Nardwuar guy. They got some rockabilly twang, obvious dirty pop sensibility, and all that stuff that turns me on to bands like these. Heard “Off the Hook” the day before today and it was exactly that and I’m saying to myself gee I gotta look into them more. I’ve done so and this is the result: BAND OF THE WEEK!

CD Review, Music

CD Review: GB City [2011]

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Band: Bass Drum of Death
Release: 4/2011
Label: Fat Possum

1. “Nerve Jamming” – A-
2. “GB City” – A
3. “Get Found” – A-
4. “Velvet Itch” – B
5. “High School Roaches” – B+
6. “Spare Room” – B-
7. “Young Pros” – A+
8. “Heart Attack Kid” – A+
9. “Leaves” – A
10. “I Could Never Be Your Man” – A-
11. “Religious Girls” – A

Comments: Bass Drum’s schtick — appropriate term or not — is found somewhere between the regions of power-fuzz masters Death From Above 1979, Thee Oh Sees, and a bunch of recent bands that have roots in the ever-growing underground noise/punk/garage thingie. “Nerve Jamming” is a power number, noise-pop at its core. “GB City” same thing, but even better with more of garage twang. Hooks are quite ubiquitous as there are hardly any dull moments on this record. The aesthetic of “Young Pros” — the catchiest track GB offers — is reminiscent of pre King of the Beach Wavves, something like “No Hope Kids” or “So Bored” but this “Young Pros,” I’ll tell ya is something special. “Heart Attack Kid” brings me back to my early listening days of Harlem’s Hippies when I was so excited to hear the joy of two or three fantastic songs in a row. Of course other records I have heard possess this quality, but it was around this time last year that I really got into Hippies, so this is a parallel. So yes, in conclusion, this is quite deserving of many an accolade and I can surely imagine Bass Drum of Death to be quite the live band as well. Check ’em out!

Grade: A- (91)

Dinosaur Jr., Music

CONCERT ALERT: DINO JR. @ PARADISE

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On Wednesday June 21, Dinosaur Jr. will be playing at the Paradise Rock Club with special guests OFF! and Henry Rollins (as interviewer). The theme of the show will be them playing Bug, their 1988 LP of which I had zero knowledge of before finding out about it now. I’m down for Dino Jr. once again, having seen them on a bill with Built to Spill and the Meat Puppets a few years back at the Orpheum Theatre. Now if I’m going to make a wild guess, it would be that this thing is going to sell out fast. Ticks on sale this Friday at NOON. It is $33, making it approximately one of the most expensive Dise shows ever.

EP Review, Music

EP Review: Foster The People [2011]

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Band: Foster The People
Release: 1/2011
Label: Startime International

1. “Houdini” – A
2. “Pumped Up Kicks” – B-
3. “Helena Beat” – B

Comments: Foster The People is an example of a band that is obscure enough that nobody knows who they are, but known enough that their shows easily sell out (well before performance date) at mid-size clubs. The song that brought them to the forefront of attention (college radio plays, blogs, etc) is “Pumped Up Kicks,” which sounds like a bit of a mesh of The Strokes and Cold War Kids. The vocals stand out the most while the instrumentation is relatively minimal. There’s whistling, perhaps bringing to mind (in spirit) PBJ’s whistling “Young Folks,” an ‘indie’ one-hit wonder according to many. “Houdini” is the first song I heard by the band and it really stuck out to me. It’s a bit along the lines of Passion Pit with some MGMT thrown in. I really dig the spurts of electronica. It’s a very dance-able song and one of the more complete tracks I’ve heard this year. “Helena Beat” is the most club ready offering with a solid beat and a really good second half. Foster The People will be most appreciated by people who dig fun, rhythmic tunes.

Grade: B (86)