wavves: they were quite squirrely. squirrely as fuck. squirrely meaning amazing. so bored? yeah right. so fucking awesome is more like it. no hope? tons of fucking hope. we surfed our asses off. invisibly. stephen pope and billy hayes, God bless you for joining this force with Nathan. YOUR band is excellent now. king of the beach, what a fucking record.
set list:
1. Friends Were Gone
2. King of the Beach
3. To The Dregs
4. Idiot
5. Wavves
6. Green Eyes
7. Take on the World
8. Weed Demon
9. Post-Acid
10. Super Soaker
11. So Bored
12. Linus Spacehead
13. No Hope Kids (spelled ‘No Home Sids’)
—ENCORE—
14. Beach Demon
Artists: The Big Big Bucks, Uninhabitable Mansions, Thalia Zedek, and Ketman (we did not see) Location: Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge, MA Date: Friday, May 7, 2010 Comments:
The Big Big Bucks: They were a decent band and a good start to the show. The guitars were nice and loud, but not too loud. I could sense they had some pop sensabilities, but the songs did not come all the way through as major hooks. One of their jams, “New Socks,” stood out to me as a little catchy and definitely rocking (and not just because they announced its name, Glen!). Alas, there were some technical difficulties, which truncated the group’s set a teeny bit, but they dealt with the mishap with delightful humor and audience interaction. Overall, I liked them and they served as a good act to warm up for the Mansions. I think I am the only one who has ever referred to them that way lol. Maybe not?
Uninhabitable Mansions: Ahh yes the band we came to see! They created some exciting vibes without being over the top in their showmanship; the songs spoke for themselves. I really dug the adorable Annie Hart and her skillful keyboard playing, something I had overlooked previously while listening to their recordings. The group played a relatively quick set consisting of the classic, “Speed is Deceiving,” which was easily one of the best musical performances I have ever seen. I was like in a trance for a few minutes, it was really that outstanding. The vocals particularly stood out to me as they not only sounded extraordinary, but they also did total justice to the recording, which in itself is fabulous and one of the best from 2009. They closed their brief, but invigorating set with “We Already Know,” another classic from their last LP. Okay, I’ve sucked their dick for enough now, better move on before I start deep throating….
Thalia Zedek: Uhh yeah this is simply music I do not have time for lol. They suffered from the Tulsa effect of playing what seems more like a jam session than a performance of songs. The first number was ok and I was a bit interested, but after that, actually by th end of it, my focus was far from fixed! When that shit is broken, I’m mentally finished with an artist. Perhaps, it’s just me and some other musicians would find real meaning and entertainment in their work, but for me there’s nothing fascinating about it. I typically dig exciting, fun, catchy pop music (what I see as pop, i.e. Jay Reatard). So, if you can’t wow me with explicitly “stuck in my mind, sing along” tunes than you should wow me with something else really unique or mind blowing i.e the performances of Deerhunter and Sonic Youth, amongst others, whom have many catchy songs, but clearly they explore further terrirtory outside the pop landscape and do not rely on the hooks and what have you. If you’re band, as in the case of TZ cannot satisfy these two musical needs of mine than you have lost my attention. Now, that does not necessarily mean the band is bad (TZ are probably decent musicians), it just means I have absolutely no desire to listen to them. Alright, alright, I’ve ranted for wayyy too long lol. So, yeah TZ bored the fuck out of me.
Artists: Harlem, Tulsa, Girfriends, DJ Carbo Location: Great Scott, Allston, MA (not Austin, Texas as my French Professuer thought I said lol) Date: Sunday, April 25, 2010
Act I: Girlfriends: For starters, they were a notable opening band, a treat I as a fairly common concertgoer am not always acustom to. The songs were modestly catchy, meaing they didn’t hit you a la Box Elders, but they had an inviting aura, which kept me paying attention and possibly will make me check out their music further, a rare feat for opening acts, for me at least. The guitartist displayed some sweet showmanship: playing guitar with his teeth and behind his back. As a whole they rocked out and delivered a rather energetic performance.
Glen:Girlfriends are pretty special. About two or three songs deep into their set, I became convinced that they are awesome. Their flavor of power-pop/garage rock/punk was simply catchy and fun. It was nice to see the guitarist/vocalist rock out and play with a kind of passion that seems to be lacking from most openers. If I was forced to compare them to some bands I’d go with Blue Album era Weezer and The Ponys. They have a shit ton of local and national dates booked up through August. If you like this kind of music, do some reading up, yo.
Act II: Tulsa – I don’t have much to say here. About two songs in, I was mentally through with them. I just couldn’t wait for the singer to say, “this is our last one tonight.” They’re talented musicians and all, but their songs don’t come through to me. It’s more of a case of individal parts, rather than a sum. It’s the sum that matters to my ears. That’s what makes a memorable band. In other words, they bored me.
Glen: Tulsa, guys. You had me going for a little while. A little while! It’s kind of hard to describe your sound; all I know is that I was feeling all fast-paced and shit until you came on. Buzzkill, kind of. Listening to you after the fact (aka right now on MySpace), I actually dig y’all. That said, your set was draggy and maybe you shouldn’t have played that extra fan request at the end. Just saying. Random pairing I guess?
Act III: Harlem: I can see why they named their album Hippies. Looking and behaving like mellow, “yeah dude,” hippies, really enthusiastic to put on a show. They must have taken giggle juice before the show, because they were lit up with laughter and smirks, snickering the entire performance. It was amusing as a crowd member. Their joy came through in their energetic, astonishingly fast (not of the Jay variety, but pretty damn quick) performance. Unfortunately this energy didn’t seap into the audience, whom were really boring fucks! I mean I was rocking out and pogoing and what have you, and a few others were too, but most just stood and stared. Alas, the trio didn’t seem as into the show as one may have hoped and their set was under 30 minutes, if I’m not mistaken. I appreciated their humor about the situation. They constantly amused themselves and the audience with their lighthearted demeanor. I really dug the way the members switched back and forth from drums to guitar, something I rarely see live unless it’s just for fun, which of course all of this is, but these dudes were playing some of their best material, not just random strummings lol. In mellow, hippie fashion, they asked each other on stage which songs they would play, without having a big Congressional hearing about it either. So, one could find humor in it, without getting impatient with the artists. I must say they have a great pop sensability and I hear a lot of the Kinks in their music. Maybe it’s just me… Most of their songs sound the same or very similar and I DO NOT mean that in mean manner lol. It’s a great sound and it works like a charm. If it was AC/DC’s sound I can only deal with that for a few tunes, but not Harlem, it works everytime for me. In other senses, their numbers are not all the “same,” but I really dig that big ass drum beat, the jangely, garagey guitars, and the poppy, sing along vocals. But, I digress… Anyway, they played many of my favorites from their recent LP: “Friendly Ghost,” “Be Your Baby,” “Gay Human Bones,” “Torture,” and others. FG and GHB were wise openers and closers, respectively. I wish they played other Hippies tracks like “Poolside” and “Pissed,” but what are you going to do? My other complaint was the length. I expected them to play wayyyy longer, oh well, if the crowd was more engaging than perhaps we would have seen/heard more jams. They came back for what I call a “reluctanct encore” and then goodnight.
Glen: So it’s pretty known. Hippies is currently the best long-player (out of about fifty) I’ve heard in the Year 2010 and that’s that. You probably know Harlem’s deal: they got a huge ass bass drum leftover from the Middle Ages AND Michael Coomers and Curtis O’Mara alternate between drums and guitar. That’s that. It was a pleasurable concert experience for me having them bang out ditties in Jay Reatard 25 minute fashion. I also noticed that most songs were way more sped up live than on record like the opener “Friendly Ghost.” “Beautiful and Very Smart” was touching, as was the encore “Caroline” — both of these off the band’s 2008 LP goodie Free Drugs;-)
Set Included (no particular order, save the first one):
1. “Friendly Ghost”
2. “Torture”
3. “Number One”
4. “Be Your Baby”
5. “Gay Human Bones”
6. “Tila And I”
7. “South of France”
8. “Caroline”
9. “Beautiful and Very Smart”
10. “Someday Soon”
Final Grade: Chris: (B+)- I enjoyed myself and was stunned at how great Harlem sounded, but I just needed more! Overall, a good show. Glen: (A-) —–> A great show, but I wouldn’t say a top one.
Bands: Black Lips, Box Elders, Movers and Shakers Venue: Middle East Downstairs (Cambridge, MA) Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010
Pre-Show: Once a year or so the Black Lips come to town. For me, Chris, and all big fans of the best band in the world, a Black Lips show is always highly anticipated. 2 months away! 1 month away! 2 days away! The day! The excitement builds intensely and progressively as the day nears. This time around was special though; Box Elders, openers for Jay Reatard at Harpers Ferry in October and favorites among Chris and I, were opening for the Lips! So we arrived at our favorite venue, the Middle East Downstairs, way before doors opened to secure a cozy spot in front of what would be Jared Swilley’s stage monitor. Doors at 8. Show at 9:30. We’re used to that. I always thought that was kind of lame, but not on this night. Chris spotted what he thought were the Box Elders hanging around the merchandise table at back. He was right. First, we killed a good deal of time chatting with Clayton, the long blonde hair guitar player and singer. Clayton explained to us, amongst many things, the meaning of a couple of songs like “Ronald Dean” and “2012.” Chris pointed out his particular admiration for “Atlantis” calling it his favorite and Clayton agreed with him on that account. He also said that his mother was NOT the drummer for Box Elders in the early stages. All she did was sing. The internet is wrong! After a short little break from discourse, we spoke to another member of the Box Elders, drummer Dave Goldberg. Our conversation with Dave was another great one and included a short discussion about Our Band Could Be Your Life and the late great Jay Reatard.
Movers and Shakers: Pretty boring. Some pretty good songs, but still pretty boring.
Box Elders: They are one of our favorites because they play brief and incredibly catchy ditties. They don’t fuck around. If the drum beats aren’t good enough for you, then you are a sad sad person. Dave has incredible command of his set and his left side organ, which doesn’t sound as apparent as it does on record, but is definitely pretty damn obvious and fun. As I’ve said before, just watching Dave do his aerobics and drumstick biting is a joy. Listening to the songs themselves, I felt, at the moment, as if Box Elders were the main act. The crowd certainly got more into Box Elders than pretty much all other openers I’ve ever seen. Whether they actually knew the songs is a different story, but whatever! They played all my favorites, which is pretty much every song on Alice & Friends. The most memorable song for me was “Hole in My Head” for no particular reason. “Atlantis” and “Jackie Wood” were just as entertaining as well. I’m just eagerly anticipating the next Box Elders show! Hopefully it will come sometime this year.
Black Lips: Chris and I were having some discourse after the show about watching the Black Lips from a non-moshing/standing view. I looked yesterday and somebody put up a video of a recent Lips Canadian show and had in the description that the boys are getting sloppy. Accusations of their alleged musical sloppiness have been tossed around for years, be it from Raconteurs fans or sidelined cinematographers. Screw all that garbage. You haven’t seen a Black Lips show until you’ve been in the center of crowd craziness. Great tunes and fun times. As customary, the guys opened with “Sea of Blasphemy” which instantly started up the chaos amongst fans. After that they played two tracks off their most recent release 200 Million Thousand, “Drugs” and “Short Fuse.” That was it for 200 Million Thousand cuts and nobody really seemed to give a shit, considering they toured behind that last year and played more numbers from that release at that time. They made up for not playing “Take My Heart” or “Starting Over” by performing B-Side “Make It” along with “Raw Meat” (which will be off their forthcoming release). As far as their 2004 We Did Not Know The Forest Spirit Made The Flowers Grow LP is concerned, they played “Stranger,” which I did not expect. Of course, they ended their set off with usual classic “Juvenile.” More on that in a few sentences. Magic time, another staple in Black Lips live performances, began with the playing of “Hippie Hippie Hoorah” and never really ended to be honest. It was all magic at that point. The band loves re-hashing Let It Bloom/Los Valienteles Del Mundo Nuevo classics and this night was no different with “Not a Problem” (my favorite Lips song!), “Take Me Home (Back to Boone)”, “Fairy Stories,” “Dirty Hands,” and “Buried Alive” all played. As far as Good Bad Not Evil is concerned, we got to enjoy a few really great pieces like “O Katrina,” “I Saw a Ghost (Lean),” “Lock and Key,” “Cold Hands,” and the Lips most recognizable track in catalog: “Bad Kids.” By the time the first chords of “Juvenile” were struck, I was sad! The Black Lips were potentially playing their last song until next time. I had memories of last year when Ian handed beers to us, Jared crowd surfed, and the worst: security getting all uppity and dismantling all equipment on stage at the end of “Juvenile,” before the band could even come back. Normally one to just hang back and watch others climb on stage or do whatever, I decided mid-song to pull myself on stage and jump off. I was expecting this song to be the band’s last (if last year was any indication) so why not? Well, security got really pissed and got me down from people’s hands. He walked me over to the exit, but instead I made a little turn to the merch table where who else but Dave from Box Elders was sitting! Dave kindly explained to security that I was with his band and that it won’t happen again. After sitting the rest of the song out, I made my way to the front as the Lips were coming out of the back room to play the Encore. And what an encore! We got surprised with “Ghetto Cross,” a We Did Not track which one can only expect to be a live rarity, as well as a brand new ditty. That was it. Side note: this was definitely one of the most exhausting and rough concert experiences I’ve had. The crowd was as tightly packed as can be and there was a tremendous amount of contact amongst all of us. That’s fine, though. We’re troopers.
Post-Show: Fun stuff didn’t end there. Chris got to chat with Cole and Joe after the encore and I got to hang with Dave behind the merch table. He said that that night was the best of the tour, performance wise and merch sales wise. He also hooked me up with a customized Black Lips t-shirt, personally painted and presented to me by Lips very own guitarist and vocalist, Cole Alexander. Cole’s the man. Dave’s the man. I’m very grateful of their showing of kindness to a random fan.
Grade: A+ – I’m not going to lie. I don’t remember much of Black Lips set and only fragments of Box Elders set. Nevertheless, I knew I had fun. I had a lot of fun…pre, during, post. Best concert experience? Definitely. There weren’t as many song memories as in past shows, but based on everything else it’s the best I’ve had.
Chris– Yep, Glen pretty much covers my sentiments. It was absolutely the greatest concert experience! To me, concerts are measured musically, viscerally, visually, and as an overall experience. I’d say the viscreal is the key ingredient in the memorable concert dish. That’s the difference between most seated concerts and “crazy” shows like the Black Lips. It’s like an altered state of consciousness, for me at least, for others this is literally the case! Seemingly, time is suspended and everything is possible. You feel more alive than ever. An amazing feeling. If you have experienced viscreally, what I am speaking of, and if you attended last Thursday’s show and was amongst the fun, wild, bedlam, then you know what I’m saying. I’m making no exaggeration, when I say, you do not know what will happen next. That’s exactly the appeal, and yeah sometimes it’s a challenge, sometimes you get thrown back and forth and lose your spot, or sometimes you can rest your head on a smokin’ femme :) I can’t imagine it any other way. And what better a band then the Black Lips to experience this visceral abandoment with?! In short, the Black Lips are synonimous with Rock and Roll today. They are our Beatles.
P.S. Box Elders rocked as well and if I had only seen them it would still probably be amongst my top ten favorite shows.
Artist(s): Spoon, Deerhunter, Strange Boys Venue: House of Blues, Boston, MA Date: Saturday, March 27, 2010
Note: Glen and I basically came to see the Strange Boys and Deerhunter, the opening acts and some of our current favorites, not to discredit Spoon in any way, but this was most likley different from other concertgoers.
Act I: Strange Boys– These garage rockers, for lack of a better face, excuse me, word, were one of the tightest bands I have ever seen live. Considering, their garage label, one would think they were sloppy and what have you like the Black Lips (not an insult!). But, in fact, quite the opposite, the band actually resembled their recordings pretty damn well. I suppose this is kind of a weakness, because live performances are naturally better when they are different from their recorded counterparts. But, then again, the boys were rather entertaining. They played several classic dittties, such as “Woe Is You and Me,” (my favorite SB tune!) “Should Have Shot Paul,” “Be Brave,” “A Walk On the Beach,” and others. ‘Woe’ was nearly perfect; the vocals were astonishingly accurate (if you know what I mean) and the guitars roared in unisen as we all know and love it. ‘Walk’ showcased SB soft side; seriously no fucking up the vocals or anything! and the crew exceptionally erupted into the heavy part of the song. Unfortunately, it seems like most kiddies and oldies in attendence were unaware of SB existence and during the soft part of the latter number, you could hear some creeps chi chi chi chatting away. Boring fucks! Looking back, the group did a great job, that I did not fully appreciate immediately due to their somewhat short set, under 30 minutes (at least through a fan’s point of view) and the fact that they did not play as many of my favorites as I expected them to. Overall, it was great and they are now amongst the kickass artists I have seen live.
Glen: Exactly what Chris said. Also, I can’t wait to see them headline someday (or open again).
Act II: Deerhunter– LOUD! and when I mean loud, I mean reverberate through your mind, body and soul and shake real low inside the lowest drums of your ears. Seriously, loudest band I’ve ever seen! and this time, unlike Dinosaur Jr, I was standing right next to the speakers lol. It was an incredible audio assault, real gorgeous, sonically and visually. The lights were fantastic and nicely complemented the bizarre music/performance, which, by the way, was easily the most technically sophisticated performance I have seen live, with Sonic Youth as the only contender. Singer/guitarist, Bradford Cox, the “nicest guy in Rock and Roll,” as Glen calls him, demonstrated some serious skill in the field of showmanship. This included, direct eye contact, hiding behing his guitar, then pretending to gobble it up, whilst posing for the cameras, and don’t forget that he loves Boston! as he proclaimed numerous times. Musically, Cox and crew played some Cryptograms tracks, but mostly Microcastle songs including “Never Stops,” “Nothing Ever Happened,” and the title track. Unfortunately, they didn’t play many of my favorites and they played nothing from their last release, the EP, Rainwater Cassette Exchange. The Atlanta rockers finished their exqusite set with the classic, dance track, “Operation.” Deerhunter was definitely my favorite from the night, no surprise. I can’t wait to experience their Supreme Genius again.
Glen:Loudest for sure. Bradford was the man. All members of the band were. Drummer Moses Archuleta really pounded hard and with fine precision. My favorite two songs were “Nothing Ever Happened” and “Operation.” “Nothing Ever Happened” was awesome because it was loud and featured an extended jam. “Operation” was just pure dance-rock or dance-punk. It’s way better live than on record.
Act III: Spoon– Not being a fan of Spoon (actually never listening to them prior to the show), I don’t have much to say here. I enjoyed their performance very much and I thought they were quite entertaining and displayed the right chops as a great Rock act. I could tell the crowd was really engaged with their performance and the musicians were equally interactive with their audience. Usually, with most bands I see live that I don’t know well, I lose interest, but with Spoon, I appreciated what I was seeing/hearing and greatly admired their performance.
Glen: I agree with Chris. I was really only vaguely familiar with Spoon prior to this show. I feel like it’s a must for me to research their earlier discography because there were definitely some songs that connected with me during this show. Even the new stuff off Transference, which was a decent at best studio album, sounded much much better live. Songs that stuck out to me (ones that I knew from before and/or caught my attention) were “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb,” “Got Nuffin’,” “Don’t Make Me A Target,” “Written in Reverse,” “Don’t You Evah,” “Who Makes Your Money?,” “I Turn My Camera On,” and opener “Before Destruction.”
Grade: A, definitely this will go down in my top ten favorite concerts! A night of three highly diverse, exciting, independent artists, what more can you ask for?
the Black Lips! but we saw them two days earlier suckas!!!
Glen:I haven’t figured it out yet, but this is definitely a top show. In the A/A- range.
Bands: Beach House, Bachelorette Venue: Paradise Rock Club (Boston, MA) Date: March 28, 2010
Act One – Bachelorette – Bachelorette was boring. It’s not really the music that’s boring, it’s more of the process as a whole. She plays guitar for thirty seconds, turns the loop on, records into one microphone, loops that, turns on a drum pad, and then does another round of singing. She reminded me (at her best) of High Places and at her worst like your average shitty electronically styled opening act (cough Many Mansions cough). Some dude was apparently loving it so much that he thought it was wise to shout “you boring fucks need to learn how to move your body” after her first song. Yeah, maybe if I was tripping on shrooms like you…idiot. llalallalaallalala bum allalalalalal bum. Relaxing stuff, but annoying.
Act Two – Beach House – A very kind band. Kicking off the set with “Walk in the Park,” my personal favorite, was a wise choice. I could tell the sold-out crowd was made up of a lot of Teen Dream era fans so this opener definitely resonated with all of us. Lead singer and keyboardist Victoria Legrand amazingly executed her parts and that’s not without saying guitarist and back-up singer Alex Scally wasn’t awesome. He was. Speaking of Teen Dream, somebody commented that they played every song off of that. And you know what? I think they did! They also played a few old songs that many people were able to appreciate. Legrand and Scally’s between song banter was charming as they said things like “you guys are very lovely. Thank you for having us.” They genuinely seemed happy to be playing. They ended the set with Teen Dream closer “Take Care,” but that was only a little tease. It’s a great closing track and would certainly lead one to believe that was all they had left. But no! They came back for a one song encore of “10 Mile Stereo,” another great ditty off of Teen Dream. This song is the band’s heaviest offering (at least live) and I actually can’t imagine a better choice. Overall, I really enjoyed listening to one of my favorite albums of the year (and the other songs) performed in such a relaxing and enjoyable setting. If you haven’t heard Beach House, I’d recommend giving them a try.
Bands: Vivian Girls, Male Bonding, You Can Be A Wesley Venue: Great Scott (Allston, MA) Date: Monday, March 8, 2010
Act One – You Can Be A Wesley – I really liked this band. They rocked out and genuinely seemed passionate about playing music. That said, the vocals weren’t that loud and the drums really took precedent. Also, the band had a guy take care of playing videos on the screen behind the drummer. That was a bit unnecessary in my opinion and almost pigeon holes the band as just your average opening act. They weren’t just your average opening act, though. They’re better than that and judging from the audience’s response, it seems like they’ve built quite a local following. The jams weren’t exactly assaults on the ear, but they were straight up rockers. Awkward band name.
Act Two – Male Bonding – First, props to the guitarist/singer for having stickers of No Age and Happy Birthday on his little effects pedal bag. Second, I should have liked this band more than I did. They definitely had a No Age + bass thing going on. The extremely thick reverb on the vocals ruined it for me. I couldn’t make out a word (literally) that was sung, so they might as well just have put the mics aside. The drummer was getting quite a workout beating the shit out of his drum kit. The guitars were very similar in each song. Straight up punk riffs with some deviation. No one song really struck me as particularly awesome, though. It was basically a case of “oooh, this again. I get it.” Awkward band name.
Act Three – Vivian Girls – I should have done my homework. I heard most of Vivian Girls’ catalog last summer, but I never really got around to consistently listening to the Girls. It’s a shame, though, that I didn’t make much of an effort to at least re-listen to Everything Goes Wrong, an album that I awarded a really high grade to back in September. The two songs that I recognized were “When I’m Gone” and “Before I Start to Cry.” The latter was really amazing and the former just as awesome. The twelve or so other songs played during the group’s half hour set were affectionate and catchy. They showcased two new songs, which were great. I feel really bad that I couldn’t recognize the other tracks! Seriously, you don’t know how bad I feel. I feel like a casual fan! I guess, at the end of the day, that is what I am.
Bands: The Dig, The Antlers, Editors Venue: House of Blues Boston Date: February 18, 2009
Act One – The Dig –Love this band, man. When I saw them twice back in September, they rocked. The bassist/singer again stood out as an absolutely slick musician, keeping a great rhythm to compliment his singing. The amplification at the House of Blues really did push the pulse over the limit and, in fact, made all the instruments sound louder and more impacting than at the Middle East. “Penitentiary” and closer “Just Wanna Talk To You” stuck out to me as the two best songs from the band’s 30 minute set. The audience took notice of the band’s genius, as I heard a few people next to me comment on how good they were.
Act Two– The Antlers – Okay, so the Antlers. I’d say they were a good fit for pre-Editors opening band. As opposed to Hot Hot Heat, the band that performed before Editors in 2008, the Antlers relied on epicness. Keyboards, guitar, no bass, and loud ass drums. Most songs started out sort of slow, but by the end the band was in a full out jam and things really came together. The singer’s voice is powerful and as one kid said “angelic,” so definitely I got to say I didn’t mind them at all. Would I listen to them again? Probably not. They are probably great on record, too, considering bitchfuck and friends gave their last album a really high rating.
Act Three – Editors –This band has been a consistent favorite of mine for the past couple of years. Their live performance on this night definitely proved why. The light show is fantastic as always and as expected. That’s nice and all, but at the end of the day all four members gave it their all and gave the audience a great time. Classics like “Blood,” “Munich,” “Bones,” “Racing Rats,” “Escaping the Nest,” and “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors” simply got the audience into a frenzy as did new tunes like “Papillon” and “Raw Meat = Blood Drool.” In fact, the entire set didn’t really have a disappointment in it. Tom smoothly and effortlessly moved from synths to guitar to piano. It’d be a disservice not to mention his stage antics. He loves his mics, that’s for sure. Chris played a mean lead guitar as the guy next to me consistently noted. By the way, you don’t need to remind the dude that he has synesthesia by shouting “colors” after every song and demanding multiple picks. Russell’s a fun guy. The band added in several quirks that really pushed the limits on what I thought they could do live. I really realized how much fun I had watching Editors during the encore. I started to really miss what I had just listened to. That usually means I had a great time.
Set List In This Light And On This Evening
Lights
An End Has A Start
You Don’t Know Love
Bullets
The Boxer
The Big Exit
Blood
Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool
The Racing Rats
Escape The Nest
Like Treasure
Bones
Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
Bricks And Mortar
—-ENCORE—-
Walk The Fleet Road
Munich
Papillon
Fingers In The Factories
Note: Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see the kiddie masses listening to good music. It’s kind of messed up to see them outnumber every other age group. I was once a kiddie who saw Editors so I can’t hate, but that was at a sit down venue. I don’t mind it; it’s sort of shocking since I’m used to being the youngest at most shows, 18+.
Bands: Forest Fire, The Married Men, The Growlers Venue: TT The Bears (Cambridge, MA) Date: February 16, 2010
Act One – Forest Fire –Unlike most of the bands that we see, the singer actually had an amazing voice to back up an amazing band. He also did a few song solo acoustic set which was pretty sweet. Campfire folk songs mainly, both of the depressing and uplifting variety.
Act Two – The Married Men – Picture like five dudes and one lone female who just got of work, but really didn’t. Dressed up for the junior prom or some shit like that and ready to kick some ass, they banged out a lengthy six song set that admittedly had some decent points, particularly the instrumentals. The music was a bit drawn out and stuff. The only thing they seemed excited about was their CD coming out that day.
Act Three – The Growlers – Oh shit The Growlers!!! The second Brooks Nielsen made it on stage, I could tell we were in for an experience. He was a genuinely funny man during set up, asking for one of his mics to be “wet as hell” and jokingly requesting if one of the guitarists could get some piss in his monitors, because he really had to go to pee. At any rate, the band performed two songs under your average white lights: “Sea Lion Goth Blues” and “Acid Rain.” These songs were among my pre-show favorites and it was just great to see them performed. Brooks then said “I know why people aren’t getting into us. It’s because of the lights. Turn them to fucking red or something.” And just like that Brooks was “stoked” and so wasn’t the rest of the audience and groupies/band members (hard to tell because they outnumbered the hoi polloi). Their fifty minute set had a bunch of other fun psychedelic numbers that entranced us all quite easily like “Stranger’s Road” and “Something Someone Junior.” The cross-dressing percussionist is a pretty damn random member, but he gets the job done well.
Final Grade:B+ – In terms of performance, persona, stage antics, and attitude, The Growlers definitely will long be remembered. I had an enjoyable time and I’m glad I found out about them so if they ever do come back (this was their first time in Boston) I’ll definitely attend.
Bands: The King Khan & BBQ Show, The Dum Dum Girls Venue: Iron Horse, Northampton, Massachusetts Date: October 28, 2009
The Trip: We left for the 118.83 mile trek at 6:45. Traffic was so bad that we didn’t do any real moving until 7:30. At that point it was smooth sailing on the Mass Pike and we got to the Iron Horse around 8:55.
The King: Right as we walked in to the club, I noticed Mark Sultan chatting with some girl (the tour manager, I found out later). I told Paul this and he said “go up to him.” I was about to, but then he said “isn’t this King Khan right here (two feet in front of us)?” I couldn’t believe it, probably because King was so pedestrian looking with his jean jacket and hat. So I just said hey to King and then told Mark that I was the one who IM’ed him yesterday. After that, I told King that I love the new album and also a recent interview that I saw on YouTube. He couldn’t recall it, even though I told him that he mentioned some influences as “hygiene and dentistry…and you recorded an album inside of a tree trunk.” He asked Mark and even Mark couldn’t recall it. But then King asked “the one about the bearded mushroom?” Yes, King, that’s the one. I also inquired about the Almighty Defenders. He said they are going to be doing a tour in Europe. This tour, in particular, he said was 40 days long. After that he was going to go back home in Germany to reunite with his wife and two daughters. He’s on tour six months of the year (“it pays the bills.”)
The Dum Dum Girls: They are smarter than they look! Okay, I stole that one from King. They really rocked out with their psychedelic Jefferson Airplane-esque sound. They build their vocal repertoire off of this old sound and it flat out works. Some guy yelled out “you’re better than the Monkees.” “Thanks?” responded the drummer. Another lad yelled “nice cymbals,” sarcastically remarking about the absence of that particular instrument from the kit before shouting something about the floor toms. My favorite part of their set was when they jammed the first few chords of “Don’t Talk To Me.” “Just button your lips…DON’T TALK TO ME.” The utterly amazing girly harmonies make me love their version better than G.G’s or No Age’s or whoever’s. And what would be a concert review without my remarking on the appearances of these ladies? The bass player is probably the hands-down sexiest and prettiest female I’ve seen on a stage.
The King Khan & BBQ Show: Ah yes, these guys. They did their set-up in their regular clothes (Mark Sultan had on his flat cap, per usual) before hiding behind a gold giant rectangular rug thingy. They came out a short time later; Mark had on his classic Turban and tight spandex: “It’s too fucking early to be wearing spandex…are you guys ready to dance?” King had on an exotic uniform and of course the teeth necklace. They played a six minute warm-up that was wholly instrumental. After that they burst into “Fish Fight,” but they had to stop for a few seconds because their guitars weren’t tuned properly. They came back and “Suzie’s in the corner” was sung. The crowd, made up mostly of college age hipsters, was going pretty ecstatic, but not wildly so. After that came the Halloween dance-esque “Hold Me Tight” which saw even more dancing. At this point one guy was going fucking nuts in the front row besides me. He didn’t give a shit about anyone, he was just in his own world. Something wasn’t right though after this song. The audience couldn’t tell. In fact one girl kept blurting out “I still love you.” Mark seemed pretty pissed. His guitar was messed up apparently. He switched with King Khan, but that guitar wasn’t even suitable. While Mark was fixing his six string, King sang a country song that I couldn’t recognize. Mark explained that his guitar was messed up and one middle-age folk besides me commented, “It’s a comedy from where I’m standing.” Mark slyly responded, “Well that’s not good because it’s a fucking tragedy up here.” After that, Mark sung a clap-a-long, snap-a-long A Capella ballad. These technical difficulties/re-tunings lasted about 20 minutes. After an interlude in which the duo went behind the “curtain,” they unveiled a humongous specialized Invisible Girl curtain. After that they played, of course, “Invisible Girl,” which turned out to be pretty damn awesome live, despite King’s slight fucking up of the little instrumental part. He smiled it off, though. :). They played another one off the new LP called “Lonely Boy,” which is straight up garage. I’m pretty sure they played another new one (or maybe a cover) about running out of time, but I couldn’t conjure up the name of it. In terms of oldies, “Treat Me Like A Dog” was amazing. This is when the pussy moshing started. I call it that because the crowd was so hammered/ on something that there wasn’t much contact. People were just spinning around and tapping people on the shoulder. The dancing was top notch, though. They played “I’ll Never Belong” which has the classic slow introduction before speeding up, before Mark’s powerful vocals enter. Then…”I DON’T GIVE A FUCK” which created more “moshing,” involving a bit more contact this time around. “Zombies” was a great sing-along, most especially during the “If I told you…” verse. Great stuff. “Dock It #8” was also played. I couldn’t think of its name at the time but obviously it is a classic looking back. “Blow My Top” was genius as well with King’s “bow-bow-bow” hollering behind Mark. Mark said “we are going to slow it down a bit.” That same girl shouted “I love slow. I still love you.” Mark remarked “you’ve said that five times already” before asking “where is this bearded girl? You know what I think of when I hear ‘bearded girl’? The police.” And just like that “Into the Snow” was performed. Lots of swaying on the crowd’s part. Not for long though because…”Waddlin’ Around” was next! Oh man…Words can’t describe this song. “Bayyyyy-aaaaaayyyy-bayyy won’t you be my girl!” “Love You So” was just perfect as well. “Now listen darling…I don’t want to go…beautiful baby please don’t let me go.” The next one that really really really really got the crowd in a frenzy was “Pig Pig” that had everyone shouting “PIG PIG YOU’RE SUCH A PIG.” “Outta My Mind,” one of my favorites followed and was freaking unbelievable. Before the last song, KK+BBQ thanked the crowd for coming out. You must be wondering “what was the last song?!” “Shake Real Low,” of course. “We’re going to have some fun,” hollered Sultan. The chorus then was sung. Then the second verse was sung. A short little guitar solo led to the end of the song. Silence followed. “I want to thank you all again for coming out and sorry about the technic- YOU GOTTA SHAKE REAL LOW AND PUT YOUR ASS TO THE FLO’.” That was easily one of the best concert moments I’ve experienced, if not the best. You should have seen the crowd’s reaction. They slowly exited the stage after this. One funny guy in the back screamed “What’s For Dinner?” and Sultan, dismantling his drum set, hollered back “five cocks and a pussy.” While Sultan made his way behind the curtain the same dude yelled out, “You’re not fucking leaving that stage until ‘What’s For Dinner?’.” Too bad for that dude because they came back on center stage for the famous doo-wop number “Why Don’t You Lie?” before finally going back behind the curtain.
Set [No Order]: 1. Fish Fight, 2. Hold Me Tight, 3. King Khan’s country song, 4. Mark’s A Capella, 5. Invisible Girl, 6. Lonely Boy, 7. New One/Cover, 8. Treat Me Like A Dog, 9. I’ll Never Belong, 10. Zombies, 11. Dock It #8, 12. Blow My Top, 13. Into the Snow, 14. Waddlin’ Around, 15. Love You So, 16. Pig Pig, 17. Shake Real Low, 18. Why Don’t You Lie?
Final Thoughts: Here is the deal: I liked the venue, but the crowd was weird. I’m not saying the Boston crowd tonight will be any better, but I have a feeling it will be more crowded and the pit will be more energetic. Like I said before, the dancing was top-notch because people didn’t give a fuck, but it was spread out. People weren’t on top of each other as symptomatic of all the best concerts like Black Lips and KK + The Shrines. That said, listening to the brilliance of these two folk, KK + BBQ, was a fascinating 1 hour and 15 minute journey. I guess I didn’t appreciate it as much of I should have, even though I did really appreciate it. The experience wasn’t all there, but definitely knowing most of these songs was a great plus.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 