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concert review, Fat Creeps, Local Music, SKIMASK, The Coathangers

Concert Review: The Coathangers, SKIMASK, Fat Creeps @ Great Scott

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Bands: Fat Creeps, SKIMASK, The Coathangers, Casanovas In Heat
Date: Thursday, May 31, 2012
Venue: Great Scott (Allston, MA)

Pre-Show: The pre-show was lengthy due to the late arrival of scheduled headliners The Coathangers and openers Casanovas In Heat. Ultimately it was decided that Casanovas would play last instead of first. It’s too bad we couldn’t stay to see Casanovas (unfortunately). Sometime soon.

Fat Creeps: Fat Creeps are quickly becoming a local favorite and actually they’d be right up there in the rankings even if they weren’t from around this way. There’s a lot to like about Fat Creeps: the aesthetic (on this night it was multi-instrumentalist Mariam Saleh dressed in black raiment [first use of that word since 11th grade English] and multi-instrumentalist Gracie Jackson wearing all white. Thematically speaking, I’ve seen/heard Plymouth Plantation and Titantic tossed around from spectators. Either way, it was an interesting sight. Let’s not leave out drummer Jim Leonard. He was in casual attire. They got the show rolling with “Secrets,” a relatively new track that exemplifies the vocal harmony that you might have read about in the Metro. I really dig how they play so casually..just let the music do the talking. I realized very quickly that what I was witnessing was something special and actually was way more satisfying than Best Coast or Vivian Girls. There’s this charm of outward simplicity under the guise of inner complexity. Know what I mean? The rest of the set featured all of the hits, namely “Leave Her Alone” — great solo and bass line, “700 Parts” — the ending “ooo-ooo–aahh-aahh” is superb,” and closer “Horoscope,” which I think Calvin Johnson would enjoy immensely. I’m not sure what Fat Creeps plans are, but I see they are already developing a strong local fan base. Pretty soon they’ll be headlining Great Scott like the Vivs have. I predict. They should.

Setlist:
Secrets
Leave Her Alone
Fooled
“Sex Beat” [Cover]
Kerry
Nancy Drew
700 Parts
Horoscope

SKIMASK:”This is one of the strangest and most entertaining bands I’ve ever seen live.” And YouTube commenter hits the nail on the head! If you haven’t seen SKIMASK, you probably haven’t seen anything like SKIMASK. Fronted by the great social commentator and Swiz Beatnik poet Prof$t Mohamed, SKIMASK is in the red with energy and explosiveness. They activate the inner primal side in people according to one devotee. And it rings true. The crowd doesn’t really know what is going on, yet the pit remains quite active and not one person seems bored. Vocals, drums, and vocal effects. Spontaneous antics by the Prof$t, including but not limited to jumping around [to an elementary phys ed teacher’s delight] and sitting down in front of the crowd. What tickles my fancy the most of all is this song: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIaaEmO3hPc&feature=related). SKIMASK — kept alive by the spirit of Cory on drums and Dominic on effects/vocal — were about to conclude with that. But keep playing insisted members of The Coathangers. And they did. And it was wonderful. They are outer-worldly you could say, but it’s them just spinning the rock and roll wheel their own way. Folks in New York and New Jersey, brace yourselves, as the skimask is coming to get u back opening for JEFF The Brotherhood soon. Boston area locals: brace yourselves as well.

The Coathangers: The Coathangers from Atlanta, Georgia! None other. Faced with the burden of no sound check, ahh who needs that?, they blitzkrieged right into their set. And they came hard and displayed no regard for the typical. No need for the typical on a night like tonight. I’m basically talking about their switching of instruments and the infectious bursts of punk rock that came a plenty. The front-woman was a revolving cast of ‘hangers and each brought their own variety to the table. The crowd was loving it and you could tell the band was having just as much fun. Now now now. Here it comes. I’m not extremely knowledgable in the arena of Coathangers material BUT I’ve got their set below. So this means that I will be. I can’t quite describe their set in terms of individual songs; I think I gave a decent gist of the experience. That’s what counts?

Setlist:
Smother
Johnny
Hurricane
Gettin Sick
Call
Arthritis
Jay
Sex
Nestle In My Boobies
Pussy
Cheap
Dims

concert review, Music, The Strange Boys, Ty Segall, Ty Segall Band, White Fence

Concert Review: Ty Segall, White Fence, Strange Boys @ Space Gallery

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Date: Monday, May 14, 2012
Venue: Space Gallery, Portland, ME

Pre-Show: “That’s the guy,” I say to a long-ish blonde haired young man who has just emerged from the front door of the Space Gallery. That guy is Ty Segall! I had just spoken to band-mates, Charlie and Emily, who were waiting outside. To myself I thought Ty couldn’t be that far away. And here he is. In person, he is just as you’d imagine — well-spoken, friendly, and highly approachable. The kind of guy whom you can get away with saying “do you think you look like this dude over here???” to. Just like an old pal from high school. Well, that old pal might be in grad school or working a 9 to 5 in the big city. Who knows? Ty is a college grad indeed, but he’s accomplished far more things than most in that category have…at least creatively. And he’s only 24 or 25 (depending on who you ask…I’ve even seen 23, but it’s been 23 for a couple of years now…probably could have gotten away with asking him to clarify that).

Strange Boys: What is a typical fans prep work before a show? Whole days spent lounging by the record player or nothing at all? When I can, I like doing some homework, but this process can be like studying for a final…things could go sour if you wait just days before the big test day, but if you’ve been keeping up all along you most likely will be fine. And ‘being fine’ here just means recognizing and appreciating the set as something familiar. Brand new songs can mess this dynamic up slightly, but you know what I mean! I’ve seen the Strange Boys a couple of times before tonight — the first time at the House of Blues opening for Deerhunter and headliner Spoon and the second time at TT The Bears alongside the honorable Gentleman Jesse and His Men and Those Darlins. Those were enjoyable performances, but tonight the Boys seem to be more at ease than ever. In other words, great shit. They even arrived a bit late, but it’s not like anyone would’ve known that without a brief discourse with the sound guy. Ryan Sambol begins the set on guitar, plucking soulfully, and entertaining requests before taking a seat in front of his keyboard. Instead of a set list, they (or maybe just Ryan) opted to go with what felt right. Brother Phillip wanted some real songs and they came eventually, but not before a 30 second tease of Thee Oh Sees “The Dream” via indirect request (what does Portland like?), a little “Sweet Jane” fudging, and a spawning of Glenn Danzig. A girl in the crowd wanted “Laugh At Sex Not Her” and she sure got it. A faster than ever version. In the Strange Boys mix of original material there seemed to be a focus on Live Music, but older cuts were thrown into the mix. To me, they played with more power and tightness than I can recall. The bass was groovier, the guitar solos hit harder, and the drumming was spot-on. Ryan said he hopes to see the crowd come out again next time. They will.

White Fence: The mastermind behind White Fence is Tim Presley. Tim looks fresh out of work, buttoned down collared shirt, dress slacks, you know business casual. Tim’s line of work is rock and roll and the dress code is there isn’t one. So this is what being a rock and roll warrior is all about? God bless. It’s interesting to see him and his band perform – on record, the experience is mainly psychedelic, melodic, but not real crazy. During their set, however, the band is far heavier and immediate. On constant display is Tim’s guitar playing, which propels the band. Don’t get me wrong the other band members are instrumental, quite literally, but Tim is a machine. With such a shitload of material in the White Fence discography, I don’t recognize many of the songs and that’s a bit of a shame. The great thing is the fact that I was impressed and now want to really buckle down and get going with the band. I’ve got the set-list, and now you do too!

Mr. Adams
Who Feels Right
Swagger Vets and Double Moon
The Pool
Long White Curtain
Baxter Corner
Growing Faith
Enthusiasm
Mioclajs
Be Right Too
A Hermes Blues
Down PNX
Get That Heart
Sticky Fruitman Has Faith
Harness

Ty Segall: If you haven’t already gotten the vibes, Ty is one of my favorite musicians. Before this night, I had never seen him live. He was #1 must-see. In fact, I didn’t plan on going to this show until the last minute. How about that! So before the Ty Segall Band came up on stage, Tim on guitar, Mikal Cronin on bass, Nick Murray on drums, and Ty Segall on guitar graced the stage. These four performed two excellent tracks from Hair — “Time” and “Scissor People”. It was a perfect segue into the Band. They came out firing on all cylinders — the explosive entrance of distorted guitar in “Finger” set the course for the night. Heavy moshing, heavy pogo-ing. Heavy clapping. It was all making sense. Save some brief pauses in between songs, it felt like hit-after-hit. Non-stop crowd participation and loving. The three new songs — “Tell Me,” “Eyes,” and “Wave Goodbye” — that the band played off upcoming Slaughterhouse felt like old-time favorites. It makes the wait for that album all that more exciting. For me, I most enjoyed the ending of “Wave,” “The Floor,” “The Drag,” and “My Sunshine”. Consistently great moments. Some people started leaving after “My Sunshine,” and why would they do this? Did they think the band wouldn’t possibly be playing an encore?! Hope they came back because the Band sure did and played two songs. Which songs? I do not know. Maybe you do. They were fun. Perhaps a little “Caesar” or “Skin” to seal the deal would have been even better, but the Band did what they wanted to do. That’s great. This was a top concert experience for certain — I don’t remember being this excited to see a favorite band since maybe the Lips show back in ’09. They followed through on the excitement and then some. Check out all three bands, KLYAMers. You know that.

Ty Segall & White Fence Set-List:
Time
Scissor People

Ty Segall Set-List:
Finger
Doctor Doctor
Girlfriend
Imaginary Person
Cents
Standing At The Station
You Make The Sun Fry
Tell Me What’s Inside Your Heart
I Bought My Eyes
Wave Goodbye
The Floor
The Drag
My Sunshine
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Art, Entertainment, Femmes, Music, reviews

Concert Review: Arctic Monkeys & Screaming Females @ House Of Blues (12/13/09)

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Artist(s): Arctic Monkeys, Screaming Females
Location: House Of Blues, Boston, MA
Date: Sunday, December 13, 2009

Part I: Pre-Show Activities:
As soon as we arrived, it was pouring, so we raced through puddle after puddle. Along the way, we witness the most depressing thing to a concertgoer: lines and lines of people ahead of you. All bodies closer to the front then you. Fuck…
After some waiting outside, we made it in and at least we weren’t as far back as we were at Animal Collective. To pass the time we chatted with some fine lads (one of which bared strong resemblance to a notable Wakefield High student) about everything from college acceptances to the harsh reality of 18 + shows; this one was All Ages, which of course unleashed some fine talent. I bet that’s the one, the FBI I will nail me for lol.

Part II: Screaming Females
Chris: Well, not quite… Singing for the most part, but occasionally screaming female (the other two members were of the opposite sex) would be more apropos. They were ok, nothing special. They rocked out for a while with sledegehammer drums, powerhouse guitars, and a caterwoul sceam from the lead singer. Most of the time her vocals were high and reminded me of the voice of some Disney villian haha, no offense. I appreciated the individual parts of the songs, but overall they weren’t memorable or “stand out” numbers. They played far longer than I wanted them to.

Glen: Chris basically said what I was going to say. I’m sure if I look up more of their songs (“damn, I should have YouTube’d them”, I’ll probably develop an affinity for a few of them. That’s because I did really like a few, but in an overall picture they were kind of forgettable. At times they seemed too hard rock — which is a turn off for me.

Part III: Arctic Monkeys!
Chris: Ok, so if you’ve been to the House of Blues, at least in my experience, then you have withstood the shoving back and forth deal, resulting in enormous perspiration and lack of air to the point of leaving some attendees unconscious, and at points loss of the ability to see the show itself, at least for us 5’3 and below. Ok, well it got in the way of the music at times, but I just want to throw this out now, so I can properly critique the performance for the remainder of the review. So, in terms of music, the band was excellent. Unfortunately, they did no play that much from their debut as I hoped, but that was to be expected. They opened with a chill and mellow song, I believe it was “The Jewller’s Hands,” from their latest release, please correct me, if I am wrong. Then they exploded into “Brianstorm,” and like thunder as the song proclaims, the audience roared and entered a frenetic state of sorts for quite some time. The group went on to unleash such old and new classics as “Still Take You Home,” “My Propeller,” “Crying Lightning,” “Pretty Visiters,” “The View From the Afternoon,” and “I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor,” which rightfully garnered fantastic crowd response; I was pogoing my ass off! It was one of the best sing alongs that night. They slowed down for a “gentle” song in the form of “Cornerstone,” one of my new favorite monkeys’ offerings. It gave most of us a chance to breathe, relax and hear a slow, little, love song, whilst boyfriends held girlfriends and the rest of us envied them and held on to the dude beside them… kidding. The evening would end on a happy note with the beloved, fan favorite, “Fluorescent Adolescent,” this received a similar response as ‘dancefloor,’ but not as much excitement/dancing, because the song itself was slower and softer than I expected, but almost everybody in the house knew the words. Fans were greeted with a neat treat when the song suddenly transitioned into “Last Christmas,” as drummer Matt Helders took over vocal duties with black shades over his eyes, a glass of wine in his hand, he belt out the sappy lyrics to that sappy song. This digression left as quickly as it came; Helders returned to his drum set and the band smoothly transitioned back into ‘Fluorescent.’ They said goodnight and left the stage. Of course, we shouted, “Monkeys! Monkeys! Monkeys!” and naturally they returned for an encore. They started with “Secret Door,” a new favorite of mine and one of the best tracks of ’09 and finished with “505.”

Glen: I had a smashing time. Yes, at some points I couldn’t  really concentrate on the music. And that’s annoying. But for the greater part of the show, I could see the band and didn’t have to worry  about certain externalities (girl yelling that they she couldn’t breathe, another girl yelling because she lost her cell phone, etc). A big big fan of Humbug, I was quite pleased that they played quite a bit from that LP. Obviously, “Fluorescent” and “I Bet” got everyone going like Chris said. The slower jams were pretty awesome in their own right. So yeah, great shit. This was a great show, but there were some things that prevented it from being among the best. Also, fuck the Boston Herald. They called the Arctics performance “lukewarm.” Huh?

Set-List

    1. Dance Little Liar
    2. Brianstorm
    3. This House Is A Circus
    4. Still Take You Home
    5. Potion Approaching
    6. Red Right Hand [Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Cover]
    7. My Propeller
    8. Crying Lightning
    9. Catapult
    10. The View From The Afternoon
    11. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
    12. Cornerstone
    13. If You Were There, Beware
    14. Pretty Visitors 
    15. Do Me A Favour
    16. Fluorescent Adolescent / Last Christmas
      Encore:
    17. Secret Door
    18. 505

Glen’s comments, which should be highly valued, will be arriving shortly…

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Music, religion, reviews

Concert Review: The Pixies & Jay Reatard @ Wang Theatre (11/27/09)

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Bands: Pixies, Jay Reatard
Venue: Wang Theatre (Citi Performing Arts Center), Boston, MA
Date: Friday, November 27, 2009

Act One: Jay Reatard

1. Blood Visions (BV)
2. It’s So Easy (BV)
3. Nightmares (BV)
4. Fading All Away (BV)
5. It Ain’t Gonna Save Me (WMF)
6. My Shadow (BV)
7. Oh It’s Such A Shame (BV)
8. I’m Watching You (WMF)
9. I Know A Place (S 06-07)
10. All Over Again (S 06-07)
11. See/Saw (MS ’08)
12. Hammer I Miss You (S 06-07)
13. Before I Was Caught (WMF)
14. Faking It (WMF)
15. There’s No Sun (WMF)
16. Waiting For Something (BV)
17. Trapped Here (MS ’08)

Jay and His Denmarkian cohorts (Cola Freaks), they robbed the painted nude ceiling women of their respective virginities with their twelve o’clock chunk, even though most of the crowd was settling in through their set. Their sound was great. I only wish that I was standing and bumping into my companions. As soon as they hit the stage, they blasted into the classic “Blood Visions.” Within just a few moments of mayhem, Jay Reatard aficionados, the few of us, could tell he sounded better than ever before. One fan in particular was so excited he stood up and wildly danced and humped the air! The songs were longer (well, by his standards lol) and resembled their studio counterparts a bit more, whilst retaining that noisy assault Jay prides himself on. Highlights were “See/Saw” (as always) and “I Know A Place,” although the entire set was exceptional. Without a doubt Jay Reatard goes down as my favorite opening act. Alas, the performance was underappreciated, since everyone came for the Pixies, but that’s okay because we’re all fucking creeps!

Act Two: The Pixies
Speaking of creepiness, there’s nothing creepier than Salavdor Dali and his eye ball spinning and slicing, short film, Un Chien Andalou, which was displayed on a gigantic screen for the audience to see. As all Pixies devotees should know, the signature song, “Debaser,” was based on Dali’s spooky work of art. With this in mind, you would think they would open with that song. But, instead they opened with most of the Doolittle B Sides: “Dancing the Manta Ray,” “Weird In My School,” and “Manta Ray,” finishing the would be LP tracks later. This was only a minor qualm for me, because I (and everyone else) was so excited to see The Pixies! As Kim Deal noted, they were “crusin” through the B Sides and they cruised right into “Debaser,” continuing with the entire Doolittle album, as planned. While the band cranked out these classics the audience witnessed vairous, often bizarre, images on the big screen. These videos perefectly complemented the wonderfully horrific music of the Pixies. Horrific in the sense of unsettling. But, of course with their pop hooks and rock and roll chops, one couldn’t feel any emotion but sheer thrill and joy. Musically and technically they weren’t as proficient as Sonic Youth, pretty damn close though. Where they may have slightly (and I stress slightly) lacked in musical ability and sound quality they surely made up for in showmanship. The quartet kept the audience standing and bopping and shaking from the moment they hit the stage till the very end. When they finished their magnum opus, they briefly left the stage. Next, they returned to complete their B Sides. A nice little theatric came in the form of smoke, which engulfed the crowd as the band kicked “Into the White.” Then they played a rather familiar song AGAIN: “Wave of Mutilation UK Surf.” The second version of the classic, merrily malevelent number was more serene than it’s original counterpart, giving the eerie lyrics it’s eerie due a la Jay Reatarard- “Searching For You” perhaps. So, after these two tunes, The Pixies said good bye and hit the dustry trail….. for a bit. After highly energized crowd response, the group pulled a Sonic Youth and returned for Encore II. This time, there were no more Doolittle tracks or B Sides left. What would they play?! Well, they began with the endearing, “Where Is My Mind?” much to everyone’s delight. Next came “Caribou,” a solid performance for a solid track. The night concluded with “Vamos,” another Surfer Rosa classic (WIMM being the first).

Chris Overall: A + Yes, it did indeed beat out Sonic Youth, which was tough, tough competition. This concert is unique in that I recognized every song performed, including both opening act and main act. That has never happened before! So, what else is there to say; one of my favorite bands playing one of my favorite albums, what more can I ask for?

Glen Overall: I’d give this a fringe A+. Excellent sets by both bands. Some Pixies songs that really really caught my attention were “In The White,” “Money Gone To Heaven,” and “La La Love You.” I like Jay’s new direction and I sincerely hope that he will be able to find adequate replacements when the two Cola Freaks go back to being Cola Freaks full-time (provided they don’t go full Reatard). Obviously, I’d prefer a more interactive experience to just standing up in amazement. Motion is always a plus.

Chris

* POST SHOW UPDATE* It should be noted that this was one of Jay Reatard’s final performances, for he passed away nearly two months later. Long live Jay and long live the Pixies! It was an honor to see both legends on the same stage. RIP Jay.

Art, Entertainment, Femmes, Lists, Music, reviews

Concert Review: Sonic Youth & The Feelies @ Wilbur Theatre (11/22/09)

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Artist(s): Sonic Youth, The Feelies
Location: Wilbur Theatre, Boston, MA
Date: Sunday, November 22, 2009
Grade: A+

The Feelies:
I can safely say I was feeling the the Feelies haha. Nothing too special, but decent. I sensed some really catchy material and I could tell the young to the young at heart audience dug it; particularly one fan who was wildly dancing, to the point that it looked like he was having a seizure a la Ian Curtis. This continued during Sonic Youth’s set lol. I’m surprised he took a break in between performances! Anyway, the band seemed pretty chill, making very little contact with their fans. With that being said, the lead singer/guitarist rocked out and hopped and bopped a little. I might listen to them more, I haven’t decided; either way, they were a solid opening act. Clearly, the audience was pleased enough with their performance that they applauded long enough to elicit an encore. An encore for an opening band? I’ve never seen it. So, hats off to them!

Sonic Youth:
It never ceases to amaze me how cool, hip, YOUNG, Sexy( especially Kim in her black and white dress!) and all around mysterious these guys and gal appear to be. When Sonic Youth hits the stage, it’s not “Hello, Boston are you ready to rock?! Now we’ll kiss your ass with all our hits you know and love!” Nah, lame for these Artsy Fartsy hipsters. Instead they produce an enormous, four guitar assault, simply a Pounding, Pulsing Wall of noise,feedback, distortion, and killer tunes! Not to mention a crazu light show to complement the music. They essentially played their latest album, The Eternal in its entirety, minus “Thurnderclap For Bobby Pyn,” one of my favorites, but that’s okay. They played the somewhat new songs in no particular order with a few tracks from their 1980s catalog as well. One of the most memorable moments for me was when Thurston laid down frontwards on the stage and practically scraped his guitar across it, generating some sweet, guitar sounds. Everyone else, except the Nightwatchman, would have fucked up their strings and created some cacophanous racket. As of now, SY holds the candle (no pun intended) for best encore, previously held by King Khan & The Shrines. They kicked right into “The Sprawl,” track 3 from 1988’s Daydream Nation and followed it in sequence with track four, “Cross the Breeze,” an amazing powerhouse. Then they said peace and left the stage. But, that wasn’t good enough for us! We screamed for our No Wave heroes to return and return they did for Encore 2. I don’t think I’ve seen 2 encores by a band, but for some reason I feel like I have, either way it could not compare to the Supreme Genius of this or else I would have stored it better in my psyche. So, they blasted into “What We Know,” a new classic from The Eternal and finished the terrific evening with the 80s bizzaro Americana anthem, “Death Valley ’69.” Definitely my favorite song all night. As the married couple of Thurston and Kim made their way backstage they playfully pushed each other around like teenagers flirting with each other in the hall between classes. That’s pretty cool, considering they have been married for 25 years!

Overall: This is a well-deserved A+. I loved every moment of Sonic Youth’s set and I dug The Feelies too. This concert ranks as # 5 for all time best concerts. In fact, SY were, musically, the best performers I have ever seen, with The Shrines, Radiohead, and Dinosaur Jr as moderately close rivals. The cool thing about these folks is the fact that they can be so damn, high energy and engaing and at the same time, so modest and mellow. It’s very fascinating, to say the least. Simply stated, seeing Sonic Youth is a spectacular attack on multiple senses!Pixies have tough competition, but I think they can do it…

Glen: I wouldn’t argue with Chris on SY’s performance. Stunning. If I had done my homework and listened to more of The Eternal before this show I’m sure this  would easily be a top 5 concert. It was nice to sit down and bask in the glory of the sound around me, but an all-time favorite for me is one where I’m standing front-row and doing various “dances” such as the pogo, mosh, or head movement all while basking in the glory of the sound. That said this show made “Death Valley ’69” an instant favorite for me and made damn sure that “‘Cross the Breeze” is freaking amazing. I’d give this show an A.

Here’s the setlist with the name of the album each song appeared on.

1. “No Way”
2. “Sacred Trickster”
3. “Calming the Snake”
4. “Stereo Sanctity”
5. “Walkin’ Blue”
6. “Anti-Orgasm”
7. “Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso)”
8. “Shadow of A Doubt”
9. “Antenna”
10. “Malibu Gas Station”
11. “Poison Arrow”
12. “Tom Violence”
13. “Massage the History”
——-Encore Break——–
14. “The Sprawl”
15. “Cross the Breeze”
—–2nd Encore Break—-
16. “What We Know”
17. “Death Valley 69″

1-3, 5-7, 9-11, 13, 16- The Eternal (2009)
4- Sister (1987)
8 & 12- EVOL (1986)
14 & 15- Daydream Nation (1988)
17- Bad Moon Rising (1984)

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Femmes, Music, Sex

Concert Review: King Khan & BBQ Show, Dum Dum Girls, Downbeat Five @ Mid East Downstairs (10/29/09)

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Artists: King Khan & BBQ Show, Dum Dum Girls, Downbeat 5
Location: Middle East Downstairs, Cambrdige
Date: Thursday, October 29, 2009
Rating: A +


Downbeat 5 –
Glen: I don’t really know how to describe them. For starters, I was standing right in front of the lead guitarist and he really knew what he was doing. He had some great solos. Definitely, they mixed some components of “southern” rock, country-rock, and garage. The lead singer and rhythm guitarist, she reminded me of Debbie Harry. During their set all I could think of was the song “One Way or Another.” So yeah, just listen to that and you’ll get a pretty good idea.

Chris: Country rockers, I suppose. The lead singer/guitarist was really sexy blonde and rocked out! One of the best guitar strummers I’ve ever seen! It doesn’t seem like I’ll hear them again, but I enjoyed their energetic performance.

Dum Dum Girls –
Glen: Hey guess what! The Dum Dum Girls (which I found out is only the front-woman Dee Dee) played the same lo-fi set as they did the night before in Northampton. So I’m going to say the same thing: 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 built their vocal repertoire off of this old sound and it flat out works. My favorite part of their set was when they jammed the 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. Edit: I still like the bass player, but she is sort of motionless. Haha.

Chris: The sexiness continues! Very sexy in their all black wardrobes. Musically, however, for some reason, they didn’t connect with me. Perhaps because I was anticipating one of my favorite bands hitting the stage next. But, like Glen, I dug their cover of GG’s “Don’t Talk to Me,” (which seems to be a popular cover these days) and I liked the new feminine light they brought to the tune, though I prefer the original.

King Khan & BBQ Show:
Glen: Yeah! They came out and like the night before did a little warm-up (as you can see in the video below) before diving right into “Fish Fight.” Then “Hold Me Tight.” But hold on…the crowd was actually freaking out. Moshing, dancing, and screaming abound, the atmosphere was altogether different from what I experienced at the Iron Horse. This was some serious concert. People knew that greatness was on the stage. Then what? No technical difficulties! Hell no. None of that shit. Mark and King practiced for twenty minutes earlier that evening (even though the tour manager said “hours”…I’ll take BBQ’s word for it) to make sure shit wouldn’t happen. So yeah. “Invisible Girl,” “Tastebuds,” and “I’ll Be Loving You” off of Invisible Girl. “Treat Me Like A Dog,” “I’ll Never Belong,” “Zombies,” “Dock It #8,” “Too Much In Love,” “Into The Snow,” and the encore “Why Don’t You Lie” off of What’s For Dinner? “Waddlin’ Around,” “Love You So,” “Pig Pig,” “Mind Body and Soul,” “Shake Real Low,” as well as the previous two mentioned at the beginning were the tunes played off of their LP.

Chris: Fuck yeah! As seen below, they opened with a long, but worthwhile instrumental, while King did the duck walk a la rock and roller Chuck Berry. Following the instrumental, they blasted into two fiery rockers with “Fish Fight” and “Zombies” (not HMT lol). Then they slid into the soft, sensual “Into the Snow,” this was somewhat awkward considering the fast paced first two numbers and then this sensitive, love song. Glen already listed off the other classics they amazignly performed for the remainder of the evening. I was highly pleased that they played my favorite, “Too Much in Love.” “Shake Real Low” was a wise closer and everyone abided by the title, espeically some real fine hunnies on stage! Overall, a good mix up of soulful, doo woppy ballads, fast, moshing, punk rockers, and in between. So, this enters the echelon of amazing concerts, ranking number four in my all time favorites. Though, I will note, I prefer KKBS over Jay Reatard, who headlined my third favorite show, but that concert was better overall. In other words, KKBS is my third favorite live band, after the Black Lips and King’s other band, the Shrines. I mean, you know if you see a concert where an entire room of adults are screaming, “tastebuds on your cunt, so you can lick my booty from the front!” it has to be special.

Chris and Glen

Art, Entertainment, Films, Music

I Am Busy…

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I hate making these posts, but I use it more as a heads up for upcoming posts that I have not forgot about; it helps me remember to do them. I have some homework to attend to today and other duties. Yesterday I was out nearly all day. I have concert, cd, and film reviews on the way, and I’m sure others too. So stick around!

Yeah, I know some of my sentences ended in prepositions, but I DON’T GIVE A FUCK! (look out for the King Khan & BBQ Show concert review part II to Glen’s exciting review of their first Mass concert this week.)

Chris

Art, Entertainment, Lists, Music, reviews

Shattered Records Tour: Jay Reatard, Nobunny, Hunx and His Punx, Box Elders, Useless Eaters @ Harpers Ferry (10/2/09)

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Artist(s): Jay Reatard, Nobunny, Hunx and His Punx, Box Elders, and Useless Eaters
Location: Harpers Ferry, Alston, MA
Date: Friday, October 2, 2009

Pre-Show Activity: Doors opened at 8, so we arrived at 8, but that was not good enough apparently. Doors were now to open at 8:30. In the meantime we shot the shit with Billy, drummer for Nobunny, whom would later play before Jay Reatard. Billy was a great guy and provided Glen and myself with insight on the real world of garage rock: Grueling tour schedules (driving in vans to and fro, none of that pussy bus shit), partying, and fun fun Rock and Roll! Having played with Jay for some time, Billy voiced his admiration for the band, particularly the incredibly fast guitar playing. He also mentioned the light and dark sides of Mr. Reatard (calm at one moment and gonzo the next); no surprise.

The Show:
Useless Eaters:
Chris: This duo composed of Reatard on bass with a fierce, energetic comrade on guitar and vocals. Clearly, guitar-driven music; vocals were weak. But, I thought it was decent, a good start to the show. I am glad to see Jay keeps busy with side projects.

Glen: Played hard punk-influenced garage rock that sounded at times like early Jay Reatard. Jay’s bass play is what made this band, but I got to complement the guitarist on his fine solos. The last song, which was at leat over five minutes long, stood out in my mind as the group’s best. Jay played the same bass line over and over again while the guitarist went through a few different effects.

Box Elders:
Chris: With this group we see a slight progression in crowd reaction. This progression would sharply follow with each group up to and including Jay Reatard. Anyway, Box Elders (I thought they were “Box Cutters” until just now haha) offered me a rare experience. Only once in a blue moon, if that, do I see a live band, especially an opening act and almost immediately find myself singing along to their tune. So, props to Box Elders for that. They displayed plenty of passion and high energy, particularly the drummer, who stood up the entire and simultaneously played keyboards the entire set! He also made goofy faces and body movements, which was funny and entertaining, to say the least. The guitarist sported a fancy, double guitar, which I have never seen in person, so that was cool. Well, I can really see their music appearing on my ipod in the future.

Glen: Really really catchy. Old sounding garage-pop, fun for the entire family! The drummer made this band in my opinion. He was quite the character, doing aerobics and stretches all whilst playing the drums with one hand and using the other to hit some organ keys. The two singers voices went well and definitely this is a band I’ll keep a fine eye on in the future. Their best two songs in my opinion were “Jackie Wood” (brought back memory of Ramones + arm aerobics!) and “Librarians” (awesome little keyboard part).

Hunx and His Punx:
Chris: Wow! Bruno Live! Which I’m sure disgusted or irritated, or possibly enticed many. For me, I just laughed my ass off in bewilderment. If you think you have seen homocore or queercore, then look again. Hunx and His Punx is just about as gay as it gets and unabashedly so. I will admit, the music was fine, but nothing special. Wit that beings said, singer Hunx (? lol) demonstrated fabulous showmanship, albeit in tight spandex, which he disrobed until her was down to a thong. The guy next to me had his face planted in the singer’s crotch…. it looked like he enjoyed it though haha. By the way, he looked like Cole Alexander.

Glen: When it comes down to it, Hunx and His Punx played some pretty awesome good music. That’s beside their stage presence which made everyone in the audience except for one guy feel really awkward. A homo-punk band taken to the most literal sense, the singer chanted about how he “likes [his] boys like meat – juicy and raw.” The singer actually reminded me of a really flamboyant Dean Allen Spunt plus an intense lisp.

Set List:
1. You Don’t Like Rock & Roll
2. Hey Rocky
3. Cruisin”
4. Teardrops
5. Do the Makeup
6. GOOD Kisser
7. Gimme Gimme Back Your Love

*On October 1, 2009, Hunx and His Punx arrived at the Holiday Inn in Montreal. How much did it cost to accommodate five individuals? Why 126.99, in case you wondering. Seth Bogard made the reservation. Yeah, next time don’t put your set list on the back of your hotel invoice. Good times.

Nobunny:
Chris: Perhaps the best band to play straight before Jay. These wild bunnymen, (yes there was a bunny!) continued the trend of charisma Hunx created. Playing loud, fast, garage punk, they garnered the crowd in to intense dancing, moshing, pogoing and just about any -ing you can think of. The guitarist (drummer, Billy’s bro) spent most of their set at the very front of the stage with and sometimes in the audience. I even grabbed one of his fluffy bunny tails, which he proceeded to Jay(ha!) with. The set concluded with some good old fashion Pyrotechnics! Unfortunately, the security stomped them out merely after seconds of ignition. I dug the last line of their performance, right after the pyro was put out, “We still have seven more songs to play.” Something to that effect.

Glen: The crowd really got into Nobunny. They fuckin’ rocked the place. Their formula for success was essentially the same as the other bands, except they just seemed to have a little something extra. The singer was really interactive, jumping into the crowd on a few occasions. The bassist also didn’t hate going up to the crowd. We met the drummer Billy! Such a cool dude…besides him dressing in only underwear. That’s what the singer did too and a bunny mask too. Apparently, the lead singer of Hunx is the lead singer of Nobunny, but I can’t confirm this. They pulled similar antics on stage, except Nobunny was far less gay. “BoneYard” was probably their biggest hit.

Jay Reatard!!!!:
Chris: Looking back at my earlier post, “Jay Hopes and Expectations,” I can say most were ultimately satisfied in this great concert. He played over half of the favorites I envisioned him playing. He did not get pissed and leave abruptly. There was no animosity between the audience and the performers. His set was about forty minutes I believe that is the exact time or longer than I expected. Unfortunately, he did not play all of my favorites; these are songs I wish he would have played: “Blood Visions,” “Waiting For Something,” “Screaming Hand,” “Always Wanting More,” “DOA,” “No Time,” “You Were Sleeping,” and “Rotten Mind.” It seems like he will never play those really soft songs like “No Time,” “You Were Sleeping, and even one of his latest, “There Is No Sun.” Nahh, Jay has to maintain that unrelenting, brutal, live assault. His music live is much different than on record. I know this true of all artists, but especially true of him. Live, sometimes you cannot even tell which song it is, even if it is a number you would normally recognize if you heard the recording; it’s all heavy, great for rocking out, moshing, crowd surfing, stage diving, etc. And our crowd certainly did so. We Reatards had tons of fun bashing around and singing along to his malevolent, anti-social lyrics. “My Shadow,” “It’s So Easy,” and “See/Saw” evoked tremendous crowd response, more than any other tracks. Fans, self-included, got a massive kick out of screaming “IT’S SO EASY WHEN YOUR FRIENDS ARE DEAD! IT’S SO MUCH EASIER WHEN YOU DON’T EVEN CARE! ALL THESE FACES MEAN NOTHING TO ME! ALL THESE FACES MEAN NOTHING TO ME! ALL THESE FACES MEAN NOTHING TO ME!” Just taking a quick gander at the set list (which is featured below) one will notice most of the songs were from Reatard’s earlier albums, Blood Visions (7) and Singles ’06-’07 (8, though some of those are BV tracks). This is another indication that he plays mostly raw, heavy, guitar fuzz-driven songs in his concerts, since these albums feature such music much more than his past two releases: Matador Singles ’08 and Watch Me Fall

Glen: I was pleasantly surprised that the crowd was 10X more into Jay this time around than they were in July. He played all good ones. He’s rocked for a while and probably will for years to come. “See/Saw” certainly got me the most excited.

The following is Jay’s set list for the night; in parentheses is the album/compilation of which the song appears:

An Ugly Death (Matador Singles ’08)
Nightmares (Blood Visions and Singles ’06-’07 but under the name “Haunting You”)
Fading All Away (BV and S0607 as “Searching For You”)
It Ain’t Gonna Save Me (Watch Me Fall)
Trapped Here (MS08)
Greed Money Useless Children (BV)
_*_*_- Switch To Acoustic- _*_8_
All Over Again (S0607)
I Know A Place (S0607)
I’m Watching You (MS08 and WMF)
–_*_*_-Switch Back-_*_*_–
It’s So Easy (BV and S0607)
Not A Substitute (BV)
MY Shadow (BV)
Oh It’s Such A Shame (BV and S0607)
See/Saw (MS08)
Hammer I Miss You (S0607)
Faking It (WMF)
A Whisper (demo)
Let It All Go (S0607)

Final Thoughts:
Chris: My 3rd favorite concert! Behind Black Lips, King Khan & The Shrines and just ahead of good old No Age. Four solid opening bands, a lot of charisma/energy, highly entertaining. I always get really exited when I see my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES and Jay is #4 for me, so this was big time. Pure Rock And Roll Fun!

Glen: Overall the experience was similar to the best concerts I’ve gone to…and that’s always awesome!

Grade: A

Chris

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Review: Jay Reatard, TV Smith, Pretty and Nice @ Harpers Ferry (7/3/09)

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Pretty & Nice, TV Smith, Jay Reatard – Harpers Ferry – July 3

Pretty and Nice: Interesting kids…. Their music mixed loud, fast punk with some glimmers of power pop. Musically, they had the chops, but they didn’t stand out more than any other band to me. On the other hand, it was their “antics” that caught my attention. These include singing songs about ponies for mic checks and similar little songs between their actual numbers, making extremely strange, almost robotic faces, often while rocking out on the guitar (mainly this was just one guitarist and it looked as though he would fall at any moment haha).
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