Lissie live: a star is born

Got to see Lissie live last night. I had found one of her live videos on Youtube randomly, and was pumped to see her in concert. We started the evening at a Thai restaurant near the venue, and lo and behold, Lissie comes right in and sits down at the table next to us. We wished her a good show, and I think she was a bit surprised to be recognized out and about.

Anyways, the show was awesome. Lissie is amazing - just sounded great - much better than on CD, completely left everything on stage, talked unabashedly about just about anything, jammed out with the really strong musicians in her band, belted every song, took shots that the crowd handed her - just wow. I hope she puts out a live CD, and comes back to Boston soon. Here's a clip I took with my iPhone:

New Armin van Buuren CD - 1st Track I've heard is awesome

I've been way too busy to check this out, but man, this song is great! Will need to cave out some time for a listen.

The Arcade Fire are so good

I went to see the Arcade Fire last night after several years of trying to see them but tickets being completely sold out. They were amazing. So musically on top of things, and at the same time, just going crazy on stage. I was disappointed that the crazy guy and the red-haired guy didn't start head-butting each other with motorcycle helmets on this time, but even still, what a great concert. One of the biggest venues in Boston was completely sold out, and a lot of people left the seats to the sidelines to dance. Here's a vid of the encore below, not mine, but this guy had better seats:

It would be awesome to be in a melodic metal band

I'd have to grow my hair out a bit

A Strokes song not on any records

Never heard this one before, it's called "Hawaii", and from a live recording. Pretty cool:

Dying to see the Arcade Fire live again

It's been too long, and they are too awesome:

Great strategy to get someone to listen to a whole record

Went on iTunes to fill out my cadre of songs from a band I'd rather not name, and saw that buying the whole CD at $4.99, was cheaper than trying to add the 5 songs or so I needed to fill it out myself at $1.29 each... Hmm interesting pricing strategy if your goal is to get people to listen to your whole record, rather than making money. I like it. Got the whole record of course.

Muse can give a concert!

Man, can Muse give a concert. The last time I saw them was in 2005 in some cruddy basement in Milwaukee with terrible acoustics. They were still good, but the venue wasn't working for them and even for a small venue, their gate sales couldn't have been that good. Fast-forward to 2010.... What a difference - sold out show in the biggest indoor arena in Boston... I wouldn't be surprised if Madison Square Garden had sold out the night before.

The show was in short, amazing. Their songs are wicked hard to play (I know because I've learned some), and those guys must have been practicing for hours on end for weeks, because they were not only hitting every note, but Matt Bellamy decided to play solos behind his head Jimi Hendrix style when not jumping around. The laser and light show was great as well, and their use of floating platforms that also projected video was very unique. They even ended up nearly running out of tour shirts before the opening act took stage! What a difference a few years can make.

The Silversun Pickups who I'm a huge fan of were also quite good, but I don't think they've gotten the hang of playing big arena shows. They also seem like the kind of band that would be great to catch in a small club, if they'll ever be able to tour around and play anything that small again. The stadium was nearly full at 7:30 on the dot to see these guys who were the opening act. A.) Never heard of such an established band being an opener, and B.) I guess they're starting to get known, and all along, I thought that I was the only guy that knew them but I guess not as the whole crowd was singing along to most of the songs. In any case, great ticket combination for them because both of the people I went with had never heard of them (I dragged us there to see them open), and they were both won over as fans after that set.

If you're reading this and the tour is coming to your town. Get a ticket stat regardless of the price. If I wasn't a broke grad student, I'd buy a ticket, airfare, and hotel out to another show right now instead of writing this blog post.


Here's a vid someone got from nearly the first row:

Once again wishing I was in the Strokes

This song seems like such a blast to play live.

Best Unknown Strokes Song

I think this song is great. I have no idea why it didn't become one of the Strokes song that everyone knows.

Where has this song been all my life

Just heard this 80's song as it YouTube auto-suggested it for me. It's aching for a remix!

Girl Talk

I saw Girl Talk on Monday and it had to be one of the best shows I'd been to. First off, this guy had more energy than anyone I've ever seen. He spent the whole show dancing around while mixing, climbing the on the table, crowd-surfing, basically energizing the crowd. The audience was invited up to the stage to be right up with him as dudes with converted leaf-blowers shot toilet paper all over the arena,

The show had sold out the day tickets went on sale I believe, and the place was packed. The only downside was the length - we could have all rocked out for hours more, but the show was about 1:40 in total. Lame. Will go again the second that he announces he's coming back.

Here's a vid from the show someone posted:

The Rolling Sloans @ Tommy Doyle's

On Thurs Oct 1, The Rolling Sloans played the first show of the 2009-2010 academic year at Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square. Apparently, Tommy Doyle's used to be the original House of Blues, so we were playing in good company. The show was held as a fundraiser for Sloan Entrepreneurs for International Development (SEID), to help Sloanies get out to the developing world to help out entrepreneurs there. The show was great, and both turnout and funds raised exceeded expectations.
The band on stage. I'm rocking the bass.

The crowd seems to be getting into it.

I hand off the bass and get on the vox for a bit.

I also managed to learn to play bass and sing at the same time.

The band post-show.

No Pain No Gain

Last night was the first Rolling Sloans concert of the school year. We've been practicing a lot for it, and my fingers haven't yet gotten used to the amount of abuse a bass dishes out when you finger pick.

I threw back some advil for the show (which I'll post about when I get some pics), but a few songs in, felt something flapping around... only to discover that I'd ripped the nascent callus right off my middle finger. Ouch!

I think it's a rite of passage for a bassist though, and my middle finger's skin will grow back nice and strong for the next show. Flea used to pour super glue into the holes of his fingers when the Chili Peppers first started out.

Where Soul Meets Body

Death Cab for Cutie's Where Soul Meets Body reminds me of my favorite Madison, WI apartment - 142 Langdon St. We were in the middle of the UW's frat row, and ironically, were the loudest apartment on the street despite being a few years removed from college.

Why oh why

When I first heard Wolfmother's song "Woman", I wasn't too impressed... I thought that they sounded like a Led Zeppelin knock off... Then I heard a song or two more in the past few days which I liked, and on a whim bought the CD on the cheap on iTunes... and it's pretty good (in my humble opinion).

Yet, listening through their album, I felt as if just a little something was missing. I couldn't put my finger on it, but with a bit more musical maturation, these guys could be really good... Only to discover 5 minutes ago that the band has split up (the lead singer is going to keep the band name, but the other guys are out)!

Now we will never know. Why oh why?

Goldfrapp Vid

Here's a super creative new video from a band I really dig: Goldfrapp. Watch out for the dancing dog in the last 30 seconds. The only thing that would have made it better would have been more Alison Goldfrapp herself.

Making it Tough

Last night was the last kickball game of the season (the tourney is on tap now), and the band at our post-game haunt was heating the place up. You could tell they were really enjoying themselves, but, when some girls next to me started yelling for the Pixies, I realized... huh, this band's setup would be perfect to cover the Pixies. So, I got in on the action as well, shouting for the Pixies.

One of the girls yelling for the Pixies then suggested that we write it into their setlist while the band took a break... She hooked up the pen, and I put it in, with a message that we'd go nuts if they played it. Apparently, we hit on the one band's songs that this band didn't know, as my female teammates related to me that the singer was hanging out nervously in the ladies bathroom, explaining to whoever would listen that they didn't know any Pixies songs...

Hah, now that I wrote it down, it seemed a lot more poignant last night.

Strokes Sunday

The Strokes make the perfect background music for a Sunday morning.

R.I.P. MJ

I'm still in disbelief over Michael Jackson's death.

My thoughts towards him are so dichotomous: on one side, innovative musician whose songs still sound fresh and electrifying dancer whose moves remain unmatched (Ursher and JT, sorry guys, you can't compete); and on the other, the bizarreness of Michael and the pedophilia charges. I would always say that I was a fan of Michael the musician, but not of Michael the person.

Yet, after having watched the special that aired a few years ago where MJ was interviewed by a British journalist, I did feel pangs of sympathy - it seemed like MJ was someone who needed major psychological help, and never got it. Come on - for someone to voluntarily deform themselves, and change appearance so drastically, putting up with the pain of repeated surgeries just to try to reflect how they saw themselves in their mind's eye points to a major corner case. I think a big part of me always thought that he'd get it back together and become the mid-80's Michael again - only odder looking. Rest in peace, King of Pop.