Of Montreal (Live)

I saw Of Montreal sometime this past spring at The Metro.  I had seen them at Pitchfork earlier that year.  They were great then and just as good the second time around.  They had even more costumes and some pretty cool lights in the background.  Very funny and dancy.  Extra awesome because it was free.

Vampire Weekend

I saw Vampire Weekend some time this past winter at The Metro.  I love their music and their live show was quite good.  It wasn't one of the most incredible live shows I've ever been to, but I enjoyed it (especially since it was free for me).  Good musicians with a preppy quirk.

The National (Live)

I saw The National at The Vic last winter (I think it was late November).  At the time I had no idea who the opener, St. Vincent, was, but since then she has become a solid member of my music library.  She played an excellent set and that certainly drove me to go home and find out more about her.  The National of course were spectacular.  They got so into their music and it came out in their high level of musicality.  It felt as though a wall of sound was coming at me.  They played one of my favorite songs by any band, Mr. November.  Truly an incredible show.

Feist (Live)

I saw Feist at IU's auditorium theatre this year when I went to visit the school for the second time (I think it was April) during the Little 500 weekend.  Before Feist, this Canadian singer opened.  His name was Hayden (thanks for the correction/reminder h.).  He was quite good; a pleasant surprise.  He sounded a bit like a Canadian Bob Dylan.  He also sounded like he was stoned, but that just made it funny. I knew some of Feist's songs before I saw her, but she blew me away live.  I became a huge fan and now I'm in love with both her albums.  She was funny and kept the crowd involved.  During each song, there was always something going on in the background.  Most of the time it was shadow puppets that went along with the song being played and were produced live.  Other times it was just cool uses of lights or a camera being projected on the back wall.  I believe I said this when I talked about her in another post, but she was once a member of the stellar music collective Broken Social Scene.  She certainly lived up to the musicality the is present in Broken Social Scene.

Flogging Molly (Live)

So yeah, haven't posted in a really long time.  I'm now just going to give brief summaries of shows I've attended in the recent pass.  It's mostly just so I remember them, but anyone who wants to can read my thoughts.  Each retroactive post will be quite short and only provide a small summary.  Hopefully I'll get back to regular posts one day.

I saw Flogging Molly at the House of Blues in February this year.  They were incredible.  It was like a giant early St. Patrick's Day party.  I'm very Irish and St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays especially here in Chicago.  It's really more like a week long for me.  Going from pub to pub sampling each pubs fish and chips and making the rounds to all the different parties.  Anyways, yeah, Flogging Molly are incredibly energetic and fun live.  They played all their best songs and several songs off their soon to be released album (now it has been released and is excellent) Float.  I don't remember all the bands that opened for them but one was something like Reverend Dan and His Big Damn Band which ironically only had three members.  They were fun and energetic as well.  I wouldn't but their album, but if someone gave it to me for free, I'd sure listen to it.  Flogging Molly spoke of their hopes for peace in Ireland several times between sips of Guinness.  I've never seen so much Guinness in my life.  People were drinking it like water and cans were being passed around.  The entire balcony was lined with Guinness's.  If you know the House of Blues, that's quite impressive.  The crowd was a mix between a mosh pit, an Irish Dancing Feish and people linking arms and dancing like Celtic warriors.  A stellar experience that I would recommend to anyone who likes Irish music, punk music, or just likes to have a good time.

Live: Girl Talk

Thanks to many different things I'm involved in, I haven't really done a real post in quite some time. Here's my review of the Girl Talk show I attended recently.

Girl Talk is one of the most amazing performers I have ever seen. The show he put on was possibly one of the best I have ever attended. The fact that it was at the Metro and I was in the front up against the stage (they took down the barricade for the show) only a few feet away from Girl Talk made it that much more incredible. Essentially the entire night was a 3 hour long dance party. You could dance or at least move to all three acts and the entire Metro was packed. Sadly in the mass chaos that accompanied the crazy dancing I didn't get a chance to take any pictures. The picture above is just an example of the splendid chaos of a Girl Talk show.

All three acts were one man acts. The first act was this fellow by the name of Lord of the Yum Yum. Basically his only instrument was his voice. He used a loop peddle to create layer upon layer of vocal tracks. The final product was quite cool. I'd like to check out his recorded material some time.

The second act was Dan Deacon. As is custom with Mr. Deacon, he played from a table in the audience. This worked to my disadvantage because I was right up against the stage, but I had no trouble dancing to the sounds he put out. I think his recorded stuff is ok. I like other artists in his genre a bit better such as Girl Talk and E-603. I'm not criticizing his live performance though. You can't really hear the lyrics to his songs as they get drowned out by the bass, but that was alright with me. My favorite part of his set was this flashing green skull that was right above his table.

Then of course, there was Girl Talk. Like I said before, he was phenomenal. He came out wearing a sideways baseball cap, sweatshirt, and sweatpants all in white. As the night progressed, he took off layer after layer until he was down to just his boxers. That's just what he does. His mashups were stellar as usual. His set was about half Night Ripper (his most recent album) songs and freshly mixed songs. Not a single person could resist the enticing beats that Girl Talk was spinning.

It was more then a concert; it was an experience. In my book it ranks up there with shows like Rage Against the Machine, Deerhoof, and Andrew Bird. These are the shows that I will remember forever. If you missed Girl Talk this time around, I'm truly sorry because you missed out. I would highly recommend you drop whatever you're doing next time he comes around. You won't be disappointed.

Hideout Block Party Day 2

Although the first day was a bit of a let down, the second day far exceeded my expectations. Sadly, I missed an act I wanted to see again, but the other acts made up for it. The line-up was as follows:

Andrew Bird
The Frames
Art Brut
Punk Band
Mucca Pazza
Blue Ribbon Glee Club

Dan Deacon
O'Death

Cass McComb

Golden Horse Square Dance Band

By simply looking at the line-up, you get an idea of how amazing this day was. The one act I missed this day was Dan Deacon. I had seen him at Pitchfork this year and I really liked him. He's coming back to Chicago soon though, so I'll catch him then.

I arrived in the middle of the Blue Ribbon Glee Club. They were ok, but not really my thing. I was interested in all the bands from Mucca Pazza on (except for Punk band who I had never heard of). I had heard incredible things about Mucca Pazza's live show, and I must say they certainly lived up to my expectations. They were absolutely amazing. For all of you who don't know, Mucca Pazza is a marching band with about 20 members including two cheerleaders. They obviously made use of all the stage including the pillars of the stage (see pictures below) and at times even the audience (they marched out into the audience).

I would have been ok with just seeing Mucca Pazza then leaving, however, the night got better. Next up was a band I had never heard of called Punk Band. What it ended up being was a joke band that covered Art Brut songs for about 15 minutes before the real Art Brut came on stage. Their music wasn't good, but they were entertaining to watch for a few minutes. Next up was the real Art Brut. I had heard a few tracks of their before and I had heard good things, so I was interested to really hear them. Yeah, they sucked. It was honestly one of the worst live performances I've ever seen. They had energy, but their music is just awful. I don't know how to describe them in any other way then just bad.

It's actually a little ironic that they were so bad because the next band was one of the best live performances I've ever seen. The next band was The Frames. I had only heard of them before through the movie Once (the lead singer is the main character), but I wanted to check them out. Every thing about them worked. Their sound was just perfect and they had the perfect amount of energy to match their sound. Not crazy at all, but not falling asleep either. The lead singer was the nicest guy. He would give funny little introductions before most songs and was just generally happy. Their Irish accent (they're from Dublin) made it even better. Speaking of that, there was an abundance of foreign bands this year(The Cinematics are from Glasgow, Scotland; Art Brut and Bloc Party are from England; The Frames are from Dublin, Ireland). It was nice because you don't get to see them too often. But I digress. When The Frames played Falling Slowly, which is from the movie Once, the lead singer asked the audience if anyone knew the song and could sing. He then picked a girl to sing the song with him just like in the movie. However, the first girl he picked and brought up on stage had lied and didn't know the song at all. She was thoroughly booed and then Glen, the lead singer, picked another girl who turned out to be an excellent singer. When The Frames ended their set, I just stood their, amazed.

To top the night off, Andrew Bird was the last act. I've seen Andrew Bird before and I was nothing short of amazed the first time so I had very high expectations. Without a doubt, Andrew Bird met, if not exceeded my expectations. For those unfamiliar with Andrew Bird, he plays guitar, violin/fiddle, sings, and whistles...all at the same time. He uses looping to create layers of music that will blow you away. It's almost like you can feel the music coursing around you. Not only is Andrew an amazing musician, who is from Chicago no less, he's also quite charismatic. He played The Happy Birthday Song live for the first time. Before he played the song he said that he hadn't never played it live before because it was just too hard, but he pulled it off and it was phenomenal.

In short, the second day was the exact opposite of the first day. Almost everything worked out perfectly and I truly enjoed myself. Check out some pictures I took below and some videos of the amazing artists.

Mucca Pazza

Punk Band

Art Brut

The Frames

Andre Bird
(Not so good quality pix)

The Block Party (Day 1) with...Bloc Party

Every year The Hideout, a local venue that usually one has +21 shows, has it's all ages Block Party. Last year it happened to be called the Touch and Go festival because Touch and Go Records sponsored it and I think all Touch and Go bands played including the amazing Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. The festival is usually two days and has two stages that alternate performances. It's a good time.

I was quite happy with this year's line-up. Due to traffic and poor planning on my part, I did miss a few acts I would have liked to see, but I caught all the bands I truly wanted to see. The line-up for the first day was as follows:

Bloc Party
The 1900s
The Changes

Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
The Cinematics

I had hoped to see the Cinematics, but I got there late, so I missed them. I caught the end of The Changes set and I wasn't impressed. I then hung out in the back for the 1900s because I hadn't really heard anything by them before. They were ok, but still not really anything special. Finally, Bloc Party came on and put on a decent show. I quite adore Bloc Party, but their live show was just ok. I would see them again if they come to town, but for some reason they just didn't quite meet my high expectations.

After all the acts finished up, there was this puppet show-esk thing going on out of the back of a truck next to one of the stages. I later found out it was called Scary Toesy Theatre (I may have botched the spelling). Quite honestly, they only way to have enjoyed it was if you were on drugs. It made absolutely no sense, however it was hard to look away because it was just so odd. All in all, the first day was a little bit of a let down. The second day, however, made up for it...

Rage Against the Machine

So yeah, I kinda forgot to ever post my review of the Rage Against The Machine show. Well, now is the time. It was less of a simple show then it was an epic adventure. Sadly, I left my camera at home, so the only pictures I got where poor quality ones from my phone which I have posted below. One of the only decent pictures I could find from the event is to the left courtesy of Decoy Music.

The epic tale began as we left our house, bound for bufu Wisconsin. On our way there, the way mapquest told us to go was under construction, so we had to kinda find our own way. We got a little lost, but we finally reached something that assured us we were near our destination. What we saw was a line of cars that went off into the horizon. We had no idea how far the line went (we later learned that it stretched for over 5 miles), but it didn't look good. Our car would sit still for periods of 15 minutes at a time. After only progressing about a mile in an hour and already being late, we decided to walk for the rest of the way. By the time we finally arrived at the venue, we had totally missed Queens of the Stone Age (the openers) and Rage had just taken the stage. We got in and immediately dove into the crowd. The venue was set on a giant hill that, due to the rain the past days, had turned into a giant mud hill. The hill was absolutely packed with people. We literally slid like we were on snowboards down the hill the the very edge of the "lawn" area. We were as close as we could be to the stage.

Although we were thoroughly disgusting looking we still had an amazing time. Rage played all their best songs. There wasn't a single song that I love that went unplayed. As has become tradition for all the shows Rage has played since reuniting (with Coachella being the exception) Zack De La Roca, the lead singer, gave his speach covering some of the political going ons in America. His speech was a slightly extended version of this speech:

"Every once in a while, people forget who really has power in this country. People forget who really holds power here, and you look at them helicopters coming in over the White House lawn and all the press gathered up, and all their security, and all their banks, and all their punk ass police, and you want to believe that our last powers there, up top at the center putting forth position in the world, you want to think it and you want to consider them to have the decency to look out for your best interests everyday, but for me as a mexicano I know I do not answer, that should never be the case, its never been their military, their propoganda, their machine, their punk ass police, their presidents, their politicians, its you that has power, its us that has power, and here, and here a few years ago on that day in March as Bush was taking this country to war for a lie, I stood with you here in San Francisco as you took this whole fucking city over, and I was with you, and right now the whole world is watching us, we can be the greatest generation, we can take facism out of power in the United States and if you don't think thats what it is thats exactly it. We're going to take a lot of sacrifice, a lot of jail time, maybe even a little bit of death, but I'm sure dropping a co-op onto these rich white crackers that don't know shit about the world we know cause rich in this world can go in and have nothing amount to them anymore. Wake up!"

Regardless of whether you agree with De La Roca's politics or not, he delivers his speeches with such passion and vigor that you have to at least respect him. The band as a whole put on an amazing show. I truly think that they are one of those bands that you have to see in your lifetime. It's just an incredible experience. When Rage played Killing In The Name of, now clearly in reference to the current administration, the entire place exploded. Everyone went insane. Rage even tweaked the lyrics "Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses" to be directed at the current administration. I'm not sure how much more I can say about this incredible night. If you ever get a chance to see Rage, do it. No questions asked. Just do it.

Live: Aceyalone and DJ Ztrip

My taste in music is vast and at times perplexing. A perfect example of this is the show I went to last Tuesday. It was my first entirely hip-hop/house show and I must say it was an interesting expierience. For someone whose comfort zone, as far as shows go, is seeing a seeing someone like Andrew Bird or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, attending a house show was quite interesting.

The first two acts were clearly warm-up acts (they weren't even on the line up). After the second artist left the stage, my friend and I were uncertain about the rest of the night. We could only hope it would improve dramatically or else we would regret ever buying tickets. The thrid act was DJ Tricky T. He was ok and certainly an improvement. After a while his music became extremely repetitive and our hopes fell again. The next act to take the stage was the head liner; DJ Ztrip. At this point, our hearts sank because is seemed as though the artist we had come for, Aceyalone, wasn't going to be performing. We decided to stick it out and hope for the best. Ztrip played some enjoyable house and techno music. Up to this point, he was the best part of the evening.

After Ztrip played for some time, a man in a green shirt and large black sunglasses walked on to the stage; it was Aceyalone. From that point on the night was amazing. Aceyalone's songs flowed perfectly and went with every beat Ztrip gave him. After a few songs, Aceyalone left the stage and was replaced by Gift of Gab. If you've ever heard Twsita before, think of his fastest song and speed that up by about ten fold and you'll have Gift of Gab. I've never heard anyone speak that fast in my entire life. He even did several free styled songs at near inaudible speed. Eventually Gift of Gab left the stage as well and Ztrip did a few more songs by himself. Ztrip eventually took a break and another unannounced act took the stage. I'm not sure what his was, but it was just one guy playing the drums. He turned out to be quite entertaining. Ztrip rejoined him and threw down some beats for the drummer to play along to. The last part of the night was an extravagant finale consisting of all the acts from Tricky T on. The stage, which hadn't been full at any time during the night because there weren;t really any bands, was exploding with music and stage presence. With two fabulous rappers, two DJs and a drummer, it was simply exploding beats mixed with flowing poetry and heart thumping bass; an intense and amazing expierience.

DJ Ztrip

Aceyalone

Gift of Gab

Drummer (with Ztrip)

Finale