Still I Fall From Grace With This Microphone

BAND OF SKULLS. The 22-20's. Saint Motel.
The Rickshaw Stop.
4/19/10.

Best $15 bucks I've spent in months.

Saint Motel started it out way better than I expected. Kind of that LA, could've been featured on "The O.C." back in the day sort of thing. You know, Bait Shack material. They had a big screen behind them with images projected and that was a nice touch. I bought their EP (titled "For Play," the cheeky bastards) and chatted with them for a minute. They said they're working on an album (Do you like how it seems like lately all I do is badger the bands I like about when they're going to release an album? You do? So do I). I'll definitely keep tabs on them.



Saint Motel

The 22-20's were fun to start out with (I totally called the fact that they were British - something about their hair just spelled it right out), but they got kind of lame as time went on. Their songs were too long and they all sounded the same, and the band itself just had zero charisma. They were all well into their late twenties, and I just kept looking at them and thinking, 'aren't you ready to give up your rockstar dreams by now?' Which is funny, because most bands I love are at least in that age range. I guess the difference is that it just didn't feel too legitimate or something. Like they weren't doing it because they loved it as much as they were doing it to be cool. Give it up, boys.



The 22-20's

We wedged ourselves into the front row for Band of Skulls which was an AWESOME decision. Emma was on my right, playing bass, her arms and hands extremely veiny and strong. Matt was in the back, ignored by most as he drummed away. Russell, with his long, pointy beard, was far on the left. The best moments were when he or Emma would head towards the middle of the stage during one of their solos. For one song they sort of came together (right in front of me!) and leaned against each other, heads down. Very showy, but in a charming way.



Band of Skulls Gettin' Close

They started with "Light of the Morning," then moved on to a song that I didn't recognize but Danielle got excited about, so I knew it was the Twilight song. If you ever want to hear my rant about the evils of Twilight, let me know and I'll treat you to it. HOWEVER, I will say that the soundtrack for the second movie has its strengths, at least as far as artists go. I haven't heard a lot of the songs, actually, but I do like the Band of Skulls song. "Friends," I think it's called.
Before the show Britt and I had been saying (over and over) to each other which song we most wanted to hear. I was obsessing over "Fires," and she wanted to hear "Cold Fame." I mean, so did I, but "Fires" was a wee bit higher on my list, and vice versa. Those were the only two songs from their album that they didn't play back in December, which is why Britt and I were a little concerned about whether we would get to hear them or not.
About four songs in they did a brilliant rendition of "Fires." They followed it up with "Cold Fame." A-MAZ-ING.



Then Russell goes, "we're gonna play a song we haven't done in awhile, but someone asked us to play it and I'll feel bad if we don't. So please forgive us if we blunder."
The drummer pulled out a fancy guitar (apparently it was Russell's, and new, because Russell was like waiting for him to tune it, saying, "it's the first time it's ever been played; you can't play it out of tune"), and they played "Honest" (I call it the Fleetwood Mac inspired song - and I mean that as a compliment).

They performed every song on the album except "Dull Gold Heart," which is the only song I ever skip when I listen to the CD because I'm usually too antsy to get to "Cold Fame." When they did "I Know What I Am" the crowd got predictably and wonderfully rowdy and excited. SUCH a fun song.



After the set we hung around for a bit as almost everyone filtered out to go home. Emma showed up at the bar so I asked her to sign the poster I'd picked up, which she did. "The boys'll be out in a bit," she said, so we waited and they signed it too. They were a little awkward/British, and Russell is SHORT (well, maybe my height or an inch shorter, but it just feels like he should be taller, the way he kills those guitar solos), but it was cool to get a chance to tell them how much we enjoyed the set.
Which I really, really did.

We're Getting On

This is the first post I'll make that's completely unrelated to the live music I've attended.
I'm interning for this really awesome little publishing company called Flatmancrooked, and yesterday we launched this insane, amazing, unprecedented book.
The cover will sprout into a tree if you plant it.
Zero emissions. It's crazy.
You can go to the website and check it out. If you participate in the launch program, you support the author, the publishing company, and you get some special privileges. For the basic launch, you get a copy of the title novella in the plantable book format. If you do the super launch, you get that, plus the book, plus a postcard written to you from the author while he's on tour, plus your name listed in the second edition. Plus a tour poster and some music.
This is such a rad and revolutionary project, and I'm so happy to be involved in even a little part of it.
Check it out!

We All Grow Old, Use Your Life

I've got two shows to write up and another one coming tomorrow. God I love living in this city.

MANATEE. THE SOFT WHITE SIXTIES. THE TROPHY FIRE. RYAN of AUDRYE SESSIONS (sort of with the full band).
Blake's on Telegraph, Berkeley.
4/16/10.



This was Manatee's CD release party and quite a nice line up of Bay Area talent, if I may say so myself. I was excited to see The Trophy Fire, as I've heard a few of their songs (their cover of "White Christmas" on the Foggy Holiday album is one of my favorite Christmas songs ever, insomuch as it makes Christmas music tolerable) and I wanted to hear more of them. It's always nice to hear Audrye Sessions, obviously, and I'd seen Manatee once before and thought they were pretty solid. Danielle and Britt and I were most stoked for The Soft White Sixties, though. They're just so much fun, and their music WILL make you dance.
Ryan from Audrye Sessions was first, and it had been billed as a solo acoustic show, but he actually played with all of the band except Mike, who he said was in London. Alicia didn't play for every song but mostly she was there. And they had a dude playing trumpet and keyboard (at the same time!) who I later found out is named Graham Patzner (he looked a lot like Anton so I'm assuming they're related). The mood was really light and it was a pretty short set, but they played some new stuff that I had heard at Bottom of the Hill and one song that was pretty unfamiliar, but lovely. Very In Rainbows-y. Solid set as always. I talked to Ryan for a minute after the show and he said he thinks he's in this phase of writing prettier songs. I told him I thought the band's sound was maturing, and he said he felt like that was true. I like the prettiness of these new songs, and he said he does too. So I hope the pretty songs keep coming.


Audrye Sessions

The Trophy Fire was up next. There were only three dudes in the band, and they all looked like they could be related. The music was good, not really something I would listen to for a whole album, but definitely good for a song or two at a time. We were enjoying ourselves in the crowd for sure.



The Trophy Fire

The Soft White Sixties started setting up and you could sense that the crowd was getting excited for them. We tried to get towards the front but it was pretty crowded. They played a lot of songs that they haven't yet released, and they were awesome. There's something so retro and soul-ish about their music, something that I don't hear a lot in most bands' influences. I love it. They finished their set and you could tell they wanted to play more, and the crowd didn't want them to go, so they sort of had a mini-conference and then they came back and did a cover of "Instant Karma." I got really excited because a) I love that song a lot and b) White Rabbits did a cover of the same song at the show we saw on my birthday, so it felt kind of like a personal gift. I sang along and everyone was into it and it was an awesome way for them to end their set.



The Soft White Sixties

While Manatee was setting up I found the Soft White Sixties' bassist and told him that they really needed to release an album, and he assured me that they were working on it. Deja vu, because we sort of had the same conversation in November, but oh well. Then he told me I could steal a poster of theirs from the wall and I did. Then I went on to pull one off of the bar and one off of the door to the ladies' room for Britt and Danielle. They were being all shy about it so I just ran up and ripped them down. Reminded me of taking the Live 105 sign at Not So Silent Night last year.
Manatee was up next and I'm bummed to say that I wasn't paying a lot of attention to their set. Britt made the comment that each of their songs is completely different from the one before it, which I guess I could agree with. I did enjoy the set, I just didn't really soak it in the way I normally would.



Manatee

When they finished we hung around for a little while as the DJ started going all dance music-y and the black lights got more intense. People ran down from the bar upstairs. It was a weird kind of party.
Blake's is kind of a strange venue, and all ages shows always have a different vibe than 21+ shows do, but I enjoyed it a lot. I also enjoyed the fact that Berkeley is SO much closer now. It's a little crazy.


JÓNSI.
Amoeba on Haight.
4/17/10.

I walked to this show from my flat (I WALKED TO THIS SHOW FROM MY FLAT). I just strolled right through Golden Gate Park and there it was, in all its Record Store Day glory: Amoeba Records.
I got there around 2 and the show started at 2:30. There were already a pretty good amount of people milling in front of the stage, so I found a spot in the fourth aisle down and tried to save Kirsten and Zack some space (they didn't end up getting there until just after the show ended, so that was unnecessary).
Everyone in the crowd was so friendly. I think it's a comment on the kind of people who are drawn to Jónsi's music, maybe, or maybe its a comment on the kind of people who would go to Record Store Day, or maybe it's a comment on the kind of people who live in San Francisco and frequent Amoeba. Maybe it's a combination of all of those factors. Anyway, people were really chatty and it was quite lovely. The group to my left said they had seen Jónsi the two previous nights, at both the Berkeley and the San Francisco performances. Whoa.
I definitely feel like it was a score to get to see him perform for free, especially when his shows were like $30 at least, but I HAVE heard that they're really amazing, like they have these really intricate sets that do a good bit to enhance the whole experience. If Sigur Rós comes to town someday, I'll probably shell out to see them. But it wasn't in the stars for this week.
The set felt really short, and the fact that I was standing in the CH-DE rock section of Amoeba, with an Amoeba employee standing right next to the stage trying to spot people who were breaking the rules by using the flash on their cameras or taking videos, sending intel into his walkee talkee like some hotshot cop, made it a little hard to immerse myself in the music. Add to that a severe lack of sleep, and the fact that I was REALLY hungry. I just wasn't in the best space to really appreciate the experience.
But even under those circumstances, the music was beautiful. He played with three other members, all of them on acoustic instruments. Jónsi himself was super cute and bubbly, jumping all around and talking in his little Icelandic accent. He thanked us a bunch and seemed really overwhelmed by the size and positive reaction of the crowd. When they finished their set and left the crowd demanded an encore, and when they came back on stage he goes, "Thank you. I was not... expecting... this... so we have not prepared anything, but we can play... one more song." It was so endearing.



Jónsi

I should have bought the record because it was only $13.95 and I could've gotten it signed, but the line was SO LONG. Also, I didn't realize it was so affordable; I just assumed the vinyl would be at least $20. Ah, well. I'll get it eventually.
"Boy Lilikoi" was probably my favorite song of the set, but they were all very simply beautiful and expansive and emotional. With Sigur Rós there are songs that I hear and think, 'I could die to this song' (I've been told that's really morbid and not at all a good recommendation for a song, but I think it's a compliment). Jónsi's solo stuff is a little more light and playful, but with that same sort of soft build that really grabs you in the pit of your stomach.
I feel super lucky to have gotten to see him for free, and I'll try to check him out the next time he comes into the city. He's probably playing right about now at Coachella. As is Thom Yorke. Oh god I can't think about this.
Ha ha, I'm listening to Soundcheck right now and Aaron Axelson just dedicated this [Gorillaz] song to his "fellow Coachella orphans" who were left behind. "It's like me and the janitor here in the studio," he said. I feel your pain, Aaron!
Seriously though, good stuff, San Francisco. Tomorrow is Manchester's own Band of Skulls. I wanna see them in the light of the morning!

My Poor, Bored Eardrums

Darlings, I'm positively wilting from my recent lack of live music experiences.
There are reasons, I can tell you, for the barren weeks that have passed, leaving my eardrums unscathed and un-titillated.
Mainly, I AM NOW LIVING IN SAN FRANCISCO! The past few weeks have been an insane whirling mass of things to do, boxes to pack and then unpack, jobs to find, and life to sort out. But now I'm in San Francisco and believe me, the live music opportunities are pretty much endless here. So basically, prepare for the jump into hyper mode. I have some serious show-going to take care of, now that I'm in the city that spurred my love for live music in the first place (Bottom of the Hill, I'm looking at you).
It breaks my heart a little that Coachella doesn't lie in my immediate future this year, but from a practical perspective it just didn't make sense. Lucky for me, about half of the bands I wanted to see at Coachella are making a point of stopping by this fair and foggy city on their way to Indio.
Which is awesome, but also painful. Tonight, for example, The Dead Weather are playing at The Fillmore. And tomorrow night. And I am not going to either show. Jónsi of Sigur Rós is playing in Berkeley tonight. I am not going. Passion Pit, MGMT, and Portugal.The Man have all made pit stops over the past week. BAH HUMBUG. I'm being practical, spacing it out, planning my time and money as responsibly as I can.
I got some insider information, too.
Mainly, Mr. Jónsi of Sigur Rós is NOT ONLY playing two shows in a row, but on Saturday, which happens to be RECORD STORE DAY (is it planned on this weekend deliberately as a kind of parting gift for those of us who couldn't go to Coachella? Side note: when I was little and watched Wheel of Fortune with my Grandma, I always thought Pat Sajak was saying "Party Gift" and I pictured things like Pin the Tail on the Donkey kits and those ugly cone hats with the uncomfortable strings that go around your chin, and I thought how cheap the Wheel of Fortune people must be to give their contestants such lame ass gifts), he is playing a FREE IN STORE CONCERT at Amoeba on Haight St. Free music? Yes please! In the Haight? Even better. Oh, and I can WALK to Amoeba in about 20 minutes, taking a shortcut through Golden Gate Park? Um, okay. This is my life?
I hope Jónsi's not too emotionally distraught about the volcano in his homeland to play, though. Poor Iceland is going through some rough times.
Anyway, look forward to some new posts over the next few days. Friday I've got a show in Berkeley, Saturday is the Record Store Day extravaganza, and Monday is Band of Skulls (!). SWEET.
In the meantime, I think tomorrow I'll wander through the city looking for Jack White. Hopefully my hair is red enough that he would actually be willing to let me have his autograph. That'd be all that I needed.