11 posts tagged “music”
Thursday Vanessa and I headed out to LA to see The Format. They were recording a live concert DVD. I was pretty stoked to see them, but nothing could prepare me for the awesomeness of the actual show.
We showed up a full two hours early and the line for the show already went all the way down to the street corner. We got in a little after 8:00 and made our way up as close as we could get. I was happy with our location; too bad Vanessa kept getting trapped in a tall-guy sandwich.
The opening band wasn't all that great. I'm sure if I could give their album a listen I'd get a better idea of their sound.
The Format opened up with Matches and played all the way through their newest album Dog Problems. It was simply amazing! They had a full horn section and a string section. There were tons of guest musicians. Among them were Robb and Patrick from Limbeck, Reuben's Accomplice, and Jim Adkins from Jimmy Eat World. After finishing all the Dog Problems songs the boys came back out for an encore which included songs from Interventions and Lullabies along with new songs "Janet" and "Swans." It was all perfect.
After the show we took an "alternate route" home which was pretty cool. We rocked out to The Format singing along to the great melodies.
I've got to say, these guys the most exciting thing happening in music right now. They're doing all this without the support from a major label, or really any label for that matter. It's all on their own terms. The music is exciting and fresh, while not abandoning everything good from the past. If you have the chance, make sure and see this band live; it will change your life.
Wednesday Joe and I went down with Andy and Natalie to the Chain Reaction for a night of rock and roll.
First up was Narwhal. It was pretty weird 'cause nobody was at the venue when they went on. I've never seen that before. It's a shame too, people missed an awesome set.
I don't know if I have anything to say about this band that I haven't already said. They mixed up some new songs (Oceans, Tear Us Apart, Guns) with old favorites.
The sound was a bit off. Seems like the engineers didn't care much. So when i heard Guns for the first time I couldn't really properly gauge the awesomeness.
Anyhow, if any of you have the chance please go check out this band. Guaranteed good times.
Next Was The Forecast. I didn't take any pictures of this band. I was too busy feeling like I was going to puke and poo my pants at the same time. There was an insane amount of bass and the treble of the female vocals felt like tiny grains of rice being shot by a particle accelerator into my eardrum.
I tried not to be prejudiced against this band, seeing their matching ambulance tattoos, and the emaciated state of the lone girl, but boy howdy, how sucky they sounded! I could handle never seeing them again for the rest of my life.
They put on an awesome performance. Spacey Casey is insane, and the drums were dead-on. What sucked was how horrible the sound was. Everything was muddied together I couldn't tell what song their were playing until like halfway through.
I definitely want to see these guys again, but somewhere you can hear 'em.
The sound had gotten fixed by the time they started playing. It's a treat to hear a fuller sound with Spacey Casey filling in on pedal guitar, organ, and piano, or just another guitar. Pretty rad.
Halfway through the set a fight broke out in the crowd. That is the most bizarre thing I've ever seen at a show 'cause I can't imagine any Limbeck fan ever wanting to fight another Limbeck fan. Limbeck is like a modern day Grateful Dead, and the fans are the same. It was weird.
Needless to say, they played awesome. I got to hear Bird Problems live again, and they closed with Tucson. Go see these guys next time they come to your town!
For some reason this song has really struck me lately. Elton John has always been an inspiration to me. His melody's are awesome. But this time it's mostly Bernie Taupin's lyrics that caught me. What do you think he's trying to say?
And now I know
Spanish Harlem are not just pretty words to say
I thought I knew
But now I know that rose trees never grow in New York City
Until you've seen this trash can dream come true
You stand at the edge while people run you through
And I thank the Lord there's people out there like you
I thank the Lord there's people out there like you
While Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
Sons of bankers, sons of lawyers
Turn around and say good morning to the night
For unless they see the sky
But they can't and that is why
They know not if it's dark outside or light
This Broadway's got
It's got a lot of songs to sing
If I knew the tunes I might join in
I'll go my way alone
Grow my own, my own seeds shall be sown in New York City
Subway's no way for a good man to go down
Rich man can ride and the hobo he can drown
And I thank the Lord for the people I have found
I thank the Lord for the people I have found
Tonight Andy and I went to Long Beach to catch Limbeck at a free in-store at Thumb Print's. It was an interesting drive and I thought we weren't gunna' make it but we did.
The show was really awesome. They played some new songs that rocked my socks off. They Had Spacey Casey from Hot Rod Circuit rockin' out the pedal guitar.
After the show I bought the new single and coerced the band into singing it and my poster. It was cool to talk to them, they're all such nice and rad guys. I found out I'd met John like 6 years ago at a warped tour when he was in The Benjamin's. Craziness.
What are five things you're good at?
Submitted by HapaLove.
1. Melody. I wouldn't ever claim to have the world's greatest voice. I would never claim to be a great songwriter. But, there is one thing I think I've got a handle on and that's Melody. I can find a melody that will stick in people's heads for a good long time. To me there's nothing more rewarding than hearing someone hum the melody to one of my songs without thinking about it. It makes me think that maybe some of the words of that song, some of what I was feeling is sinking into those people and that at least for a moment somebody understands me.
2.Being Funny. I've definitely had to develop my sense of humor throughout my life as a sort of defense mechanism. Being a fat kid I had to be able to take all the bull crap people threw at me and just brush it off. I developed being funny as a way to get people to like me I guess. I really enjoy hearing people laugh, I like people being happy. I've also had so many bad things happen to me in life that if I didn't have a sense of humor I'd have gone insane a long time ago.
3. Remembering random stuff. People are constantly amazed at my ability to remember things. For some reason, if it's really interesting to me then I can keep it in my brain and pull it out. My memory is like one of those giant idea-map things with everything connected in various ways. The problem with this is that I can't for the life of me remember things like mathematical formulas or stuff I really don't care much about. So I get tagged as a genius, but then people get mad at me when I can't help them out with the quadratic formula and even more so when they find out how horrible I do in school.
4. Advice. I'm the king of advice. I can tell exactly what to do. Exactly what will make you happy. Problem is people suck at following advice; myself included. But I'm constantly hearing this phrase from people, "why didn't I listen to you?" Honestly I know a lot about people. I can pretty much predict with about eighty percent accuracy how people will react to any given circumstance. So I'm hardly ever surprised at people's behavior. That's what really helps me know how to help people.
5. Art. I am definitely not the most skilled artist, but I have a lot of creativity. I'm interested in any kind of art, but I really focus on design. I'm always analyzing the way things are designed. It sometimes drives my friends up the wall.
Audio: If you could sing like anyone, living or dead, who would you choose to sound like? Share a song of theirs.
Submitted by aa.
I don't even need to think about this, hands down it's Brian Wilson.
Rome
These guys, despite looking too faggy for my taste actually had some decent melodys. They were kind of lame as far as personality goes, but the songs were alright. I didn't take any pictures of them. They were too creepy.
These guys were awesome. You know a band is either going to be really cool or really stupid when the lead singer walks on stage in a Clifford the Big Red Dog Halloween costume. It happened that he was just cool. Talking to Josh, the lead singer, afterwards he said that Daphne Loves Derby got robbed and he wanted to do something to cheer 'em up.
These guys sound is hard to peg down. They have definite southern rock and country influences, but a little bit of blues and indie-rock pop goodness is thrown in as well. The best way I can describe it is that they sound like Lynard Skynard and The Format had a child.
I had expected Meg & Dia to be good. I enjoy their music. I hadn't expected them to be as awesome live as they were. Most bands give themselves a fair amount of awesomeness in the studio that doesn't always translate to a live performance. These guys, on the other hand, were simple amazing. Their vocals harmonies were dead on, even though Meg said she was struggling. I honestly don't know how they pulled it off that well because I've played at Trilogy and the monitors are crap. You can't really hear anything very well, so they get mad props from me.
Last year I played with these guys at the same venue. They only had a crowd of like ten people, which was really says something about the High Desert scene since these guys sell out Chain Reaction every time they go.
You could tell they weren't feeling it. Their sound was really off and their apathy on stage really made things worse. All I can say is that I hope they can find some joy somewhere soon.
There is a plague which is sweeping across our nation and will soon devour the whole earth; a psychological ailment that if left untreated will rob our entire world of it's sanity. This malady is known as Music A.D.D.
Those Afflicted with Music A.D.D. often exhibit signs of irrational expectations. They will tirelessly scan the radio stations in their car searching for the song that will cure cancer, or end world hunger (figuratively speaking of course, yet no more important to these sad souls). Amazingly they will often find such a song that in their minds is perfect.
Once said song is found they will freak out in a moment of extreme felicity. This outburst is usually followed by (1) a tremendous increase in music volume, (2) exuberant dancing, and (3) excited recitation of song lyrics. However joyful this experience is, it is never enough for those with Music A.D.D. These moments are short lived.
In the very moment of discovery these people will often find themselves feeling cold, and abandoned by their choice of music and revert back to their endless scanning of radio stations and endless track skipping of albums.
To date there are no known cures for this disease, but there are cases where individuals have overcome it's effects. Science will press forward in the cause of bringing these poor, suffering souls, some psychological salvation.
I watched Saturday Night Live last night (that's a whole 'nuther story I'll post a blog about soon) and I must say, Gwen Stefani has lost it!
Now, I actually enjoyed her first solo release. There was definitely some garbage on it, but for what it was (simple music for folks to boogie to at clubs) it was good. This, however, just makes me sick. Watch the video and tell me your thoughts.
