Say hello to a little slice of heaven with Chris Cornell, live in Seattle last night

Oh, man, this would have been so cool to attend.

Chris Cornell (oh he of the mighty pipes, the Soundgarden/Temple Of The Dog/Audioslave legacy) played last night in Seattle at the Fenix Underground, a “private” show for fans and some Microsoft folks (?). 100 tickets were given away to fans through his MySpace for this cozy gig with a killer, killer setlist. Most of my favorite Cornell songs are here in fine form, as well as a handful off the new album, Carry On (out June 5, another collab with Lillywhite, with some guitar work by Gary Lucas – Jeff Buckley cohort).

Yeeeah.

You can stream the whole concert video here.

CHRIS CORNELL
Live @ The Fenix, Seattle
Tuesday 05/08/07

Spoonman
Outshined
Original Fire
No Such Thing (new)
Say Hello 2 Heaven
Mission
You Know My Name
Seasons
Scar on the Sky (new) <---LOVE IT
Can’t Change Me
Sunshower
She’ll Never Be Your Man (new)
Rusty Cage
Billie Jean
Black Hole Sun
Jesus Christ Pose
Like A Stone
Burden In My Hand
Cochise
Safe and Sound (new)
Hunger Strike

ZIP IT UP, CHRIS

Kings of Leon make me taste blood

I saw Kings of Leon at a sold-out show last night at the Ogden, and it was possibly the best show I’ve seen so far this year.

In addition to a catalog of songs that grows and shimmers live, I was completely blown away and converted by the stage presence (and yes, swagger) of these brother/cousins who acted like they’d been doing this for decades. My pal in attendance pointed out the similar brooding demeanor of guitarist Matthew Followill to Keith Richards, and I have to say that I saw more than a little of Jagger’s panache in Caleb’s frontman posturing. This was very good. As a band they were tight, intense, and a real joy to witness doin’ their thing.

Although the show was short at 70 minutes (and left me with a strong hankering for more), the setlist was top-notch, heavy on the older stuff, with a crowd absolutely bursting with enthusiasm. This spilled over and manifested itself in shoving and attempts at moshing — leaving me with a head-butt to the mouth and the taste of my own blood.

But the ferocity of the music fully recharged my soul in that inarticulable way, and I cannot recommend this tour strongly enough. Any guys who are confident enough to write and sing a song like “Soft” deserve due notice in my book. Ha. This is a band that absolutely needs to be seen live to be fully appreciated. Sure, I’d heard their studio albums, but it really didn’t prepare me for the sheer . . . supernova of last night.

My Third House (b-side) – Kings of Leon

(A great recent b-side from the On Call CDS which actually has lyrics about Colorado so clearly there’s a theme here)

Opening band Snowden was . . . snowed in (and isn’t it ironic). They didn’t make it out of Wyoming, so local band Born In The Flood filled in and impressed me as well. All my Denver friends keep telling me to check them out, and their set last night convinced me to give their music a closer listen. Last night was time well-spent on all fronts.

KOL image credit

Andrew Bird & Apostle of Hustle in Boulder

Jesus don’t want me for a sunbeam, as the song goes, and Colorado don’t want me for a juror. After lots of waiting and secretive shuffling to various rooms within the judicial complex yesterday, I was told that they wouldn’t be needing me. The hardest thing I had to accomplish all day was filling out my juror questionnaire: #8 – “What kind of music do you like to listen to on the radio?” followed by a line about this long __________. Don’t they realize that I would need more space than that? I think they wanted a one-word answer. I had to think long and hard on how to answer that one without letting anyone on my iPod down.

Also, I thought the juror video they made us all watch at the beginning of the day was humorously paternal: “Please do not be embarrassed or otherwise upset if you are dismissed from juror selection. This case may not be right for you, but perhaps in the future there will be a jury that is perfectly suited for you.” Thanks for not hurting my feelings, jury people! I was about to cry, but now can I just have a lollipop?

Six of us packed in last night for the drive to and from Boulder to see Andrew Bird and Apostle of Hustle (I truly think the road gets longer every time, especially the dark trip home) with a tin of cookies I made during our recent snowstorm. When we arrived in Boulder, we hit up Illegal Pete’s, which by itself is practically reason enough to make the drive. Mmmmmm. Then onto the sold-out show at the Fox.

Apostle of Hustle was fantastic — really impressive, alternating parts Cuban/flamenco, Cake, and Notwist. I’d heard their name bantied about in association with Feist (contributing one of the remixes on her Open Season album) and Stars (loosely related vibe, they’ve also done some remixes of Stars’ work) but to my distinct loss I had not previously listened to any of their own stuff. Apostle of Hustle is from Canada (frontman Andrew Whiteman, also of Broken Social Scene, was telling a story about Stephen Harper and whispered an aside to all of us in a deliberate sotto voce, as if letting us all in on a secret, “He’s our prime minister…”) and they’re also on Arts & Crafts, which has a stellar track record of bringing me artists I like.

Their music fascinated me – rich melody and chimy harmonics, layers of creative sounds piled one atop the other, imaginative lyrics and arrangements. Their sound has been described as cinematic, Latin-tinged and “smoldering gypsy folk,” but it transcended all of that into something truly original & fresh. I liked that they had two guys holding down the rhythm section – Dean Stone on traditional 4-piece drumkit and Daniel Patanemo working everything from the shakers to the congas to the cymbals and cardboard boxes. Double the rhythm, double my fun.

Lead singer/guitarist Whiteman physically evoked every note he played with a variety of squints, one-legged jumpkicks, and primal writhes, as if someone was invoking The Great Music Voodoo on him and each note brought an invisible pinprick. Visceral to watch, and highly recommended for fans of Stars (like me).

I regret that I wasn’t taping the first few songs because they were heavy on the thumping beats, and I loved that, but these videos will also give you some sense of their fine abilities.
Apostle of Hustle: A Rent Boy Goes Down

Other videos I took last night:
Apostle of Hustle – Haul Away
Apostle of Hustle – Folkloric Feel

Catch Apostle of Hustle on tour if you can (lots of dates and in-stores coming up) and be converted.

National Anthem of Nowhere – Apostle of Hustle
(from the 2007 album of the same title)

Watching Andrew Bird perform, I finally understood the title of his song A Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head To The Left, as he does that a lot. He is disarming. Diminutive, stick legs, a scarf around his neck, a swath of disheveled hair. In physical appearance I find him reminiscent of the folk-poet fragility of Bob Dylan, with a voice that flat out eerily echoes Jeff Buckley. I had not realized that before in listening to his recorded work, but the way that instrument in his throat soars during concerts, it gave me goosebumps.

Discussion on the way home centered around how his music is so rich & dramatic, and quite esoteric, that one really needs to be focused to fully “get” it. It’s not light pop nor hook-filled, but rather soaring and often-dissonant arias, with screaming violins competing with each other on looped audio while drums crash like waves during a storm.

Truthfully I can appreciate this astounding performance more this morning, with a few hours of sleep under my belt:
Andrew Bird, “Armchairs“
And it took about seven false starts to get the loops to “Skin Is, My“ up to Andrew’s exacting specifications (and this video cuts off abruptly after I was chastised by a Fox employee for filming). Pretty phenomenal, with that double-necked phonograph that would set off spinning to loan the stage an Alice-In-Wonderland feel:
A very talented man, for sure, with music that challenges in a good way. My brain felt full by the end.

Skin Is, My (live at Schuba’s) – Andrew Bird

(song from 2005′s The Mysterious Production of Eggs; the new Armchair Apocrypha is also out now)

Oakland’s Street To Nowhere covers Leonard Cohen

Last Tuesday I saw Street To Nowhere again, opening for Rocky Votolato. Turns out this was kind of the third time I saw them because they opened for that awesome Format show I was at last year at the Cervantes. But I was either late or not paying attention that night, so my loss. They put on a really good set this time around, showing more of their “singer-songwriter” side due to the nature of the following acts, and less of the Weezer-meets-Bright-Eyes rock. Drummer Joey still broke both snare drum and drumstick by song #3, a foreseeable mishap if you were watching the pounding he was giving to those bad boys. Sweet.

In any case, one of the songs that STN included in their set was a surprising Leonard Cohen cover of Chelsea Hotel #2 (I mean, what are the kids covering nowadays from Cohen other than Hallelujah?). After the show, leadman Dave Smallen told me that at the above-mentioned Denver show last year they were kind of off, partly because Dave’s entire extended family was there to distract him. I asked if he was embarrassed or otherwise discomfited by singing Cohen’s lyrics about “giving me head on the unmade bed” in front of his mom and family. He just shrugged — and tells me that his cool mom is actually the one who introduced him to the music of Leonard Cohen. Props to Dave’s mom. My mom introduced me to hippie folk and countless lullabies with three-part harmonies, but no Cohen.

Chelsea Hotel #2 (Leonard Cohen cover) – Street To Nowhere

This version was recorded in bassist Bryce Freeman’s basement in Oakland. And a word of correction: In my previous post, Dave says I called him a 17-year-old. Ladies, let it be noted that he is actually 22.

Check out their album Charmingly Awkward, out now on Capitol. All the kids love it, ’twas selling like hotcakes at the show last week. And look who wrote something nice about them way back when. Chris posted “Boxcars Boxcars Boxcars” [listen], but they did a smashing job on this one Tuesday night, a real crowd-pleaser that’s fun to sing along with:

The King sits there brooding, giving his blessing over your music scene as you feed him quarters.

Sometime I wanna get you low: Cracker in Colorado Springs

Cracker don’t get no respect.

These guys are legend in my book, true godfathers of the alternative rock scene, and the show last night was only half-full at best. Given it was a Tuesday night, and given that this is Colorado Springs which is not exactly known for its swingin nightlife (that’s why we have Denver, and Boulder) — but they sounded fantastic, and gave it their all.

Criminally underappreciated, they easily were better than over half the bands I’ve seen at the Black Sheep, still sounding tight and unabashedly rocking, and the venue should have been full (if the kids knew what was good for them). Cracker is and always has been unique in the pantheon of alt-rock bands from the ’90s. They combine absolutely solid rock (as Lowery said between songs, “Hello. We’re Cracker. We make rock music.”) with an attitude of punk, and tones of country, Americana, and even folk. Plus they’ve definitely got some of the most delightfully tongue-in-cheek, intelligent lyrics of many of their contemporaries.

I walked up (late) to the club to hear the bitingly sarcastic lyrics of “Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)” pounding through the glass-block windows (we are classssssy here) and that kicked the set off in fine style. Highlights of the show included the Camper Van Beethoven polka-punk classic “Take The Skinheads Bowling,” which is so much fun to sing along to. Camper Van Beethoven were a sort of legend in the area I grew up in (they are from Santa Cruz), and trivia fact: I just found out that David Immergluck from Counting Crows was a founding member.

VIDEO: Take The Skinheads Bowling

Bonus Camper Van Beethoven cover:
Take The Skinheads Bowling – Teenage Fanclub (re-upped)

As drummer Frank Funaro started cracking his sticks together in a slower, deliberate rhythm, within two beats I recognized “Low” – a truly fantastic song from the ’90s. Maybe because I am older and jaded now, but I never realized how suggestively nuanced some of the lyrics are:

Sometimes I wanna take you down
Sometime I wanna get you low
Brush the hair back from your eyes
Take you down
let the river flow
. . .
A million poppies gonna make me sleep
But just one rosie knows your name
The fruit is rusting on the vine
The fruit is calling from the trees

I particularly love those last two lines. The imagery is so vivid (fruit rusting? genius), and in my mind it reminds me of another video from the ’90s with fruit withering in fast-motion or falling off trees – was it a Nirvana video? Does anyone else know what I am thinking of? Maybe…NIN? Too many agricultural themes for me to keep straight (which really aren’t about agriculture at all).

Low – Cracker

Even though Lowery’s been singin that tune for the better part of 15 years, he puts his heart and soul into it, even though his eyes stay closed for most of the set. He occasionally would take a glance down at the crowd, coolly, inquisitively. He still looks the rocker part, with his skinny jeans (before they were cool again), his Sauconys, and his three-day bronze stubble — as he goes to town on the guitar with all he’s got. Still the same wonderfully gravelly voice, a distinct great in rock music.

Cracker co-founder/guitarist Johnny Hickman has recently relocated to Colorado, so I saw him in August 2005 with Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers up at the Gothic. He still reminds me of a Mellencamp/Springsteen hybrid, and still shreds the guitar with finesse and joy.

I stood there feeling remarkably and deeply happy during the whole set, dancing to the relentless rhythms (drummer is great, even though he looks like he just escaped San Quentin) and singing along where I could.

I couldn’t resist dashing off a text message during “Euro-Trash Girl” to my friend Shannon in California, who attended that first show ever with me 13 years ago next month at the San Jose State Event Center (Cracker & Counting Crows) asking “wanna crowd-surf?” All 8 minutes of that hidden track, going from folksy travelogue to downright rocker, still make for a great anthem for living the wild life in Europe. Maybe I should have used that in promotional efforts for study abroad back when I was working at Santa Clara U. Selling plasma in Amsterdam, sleeping in fountains in Athens, getting tattoos in Berlin on the palm of your hand. Right on.

Euro-Trash Girl – Cracker (fixed)
(My video here. Worth watching just for the drunk mime emoting of the lady on screen-right every time the lyric, “Yeah, I’ll search the world over” came up)

Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now) – Cracker

Mr. Wrong (live) – Cracker
(just listen to these lyrics, brash and wonderful)

The materials from their new album Greenland (2006, Cooking Vinyl) seamlessly melded alongside the old, sounding great. Some of it is a bit more wistful than previous tunes (although they did play “Take Me Down To The Infirmary” from Kerosene Hat and I forgot about the slow goodness in that).

They didn’t do this one last night, but it’s the leadoff track from the new album and I heartily enjoy it:

Where Have Those Days Gone (new) – Cracker
(wonderful California place references, clearly a native)

CRACKER TOUR DATES
3/28 – Vail, CO – 8150
3/29 – Denver, CO – Twist & Shout in-store
3/29 – Denver, CO – Soiled Dove
3/30 – Denver, CO – Soiled Dove
3/31 – Ft. Collin’s – Hodi’s Half Note
4/25 – Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s (acoustic)
4/26 – Fall River, MA – Narrows PAC (acoustic)
4/27 – Hartford, CT – Webster Underground (acoustic)
4/28 – Allston, MA – Harper’s Ferry (acoustic)
5/4 – Birmingham, AL – Crawfish Boil
5/5 – Pensacola, FL – Flounder’s
5/17 – Robinsville, MS – Horseshoe Tunica Casino
5/20 – San Francisco, CA – Golden Gate Park (!!)
5/27 – Beverungen, Germany – OBS Festival
5/29 – Zurich, Switzerland – El Lokal
5/30 – Karlsruhe, Germany – Tollhause
5/31 – Vienna, Austria – Chelsea
6/8 – Chattanooga, TN – Riverbend Festival
6/21 – Albany, NY – Empire State Building
9/6 – Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriet’s
9/7 – Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriet’s
9/8 – Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriet’s
9/15 – Deadwood, SD – Deadwood Jam

BONUS: Check a good live show from last summer in Madison, with some more tunes from their new album.

Noise Pop: “As soon as you’re born you start dying, so you might as well have a good time . . .”

Almost local band (Sacramento) Cake just blew my mind Sunday night, the perfect way to end six craaaazy nights of Noise Pop.

I’ve seen Cake thrice now and they never fail to pull off an excellent show, easily in my top 5 live acts (actually, probably top three). John McCrea is a fearless ringmaster of his own little circus, with a sardonic wit and perfect 800 SAT vocabulary to boot, and the band is tight and ace-rhythmic. The whole crowd was dancing just as hard as we could, and indeed you’d have to be dead not to want to join in. Check how they started their set:

VIDEO: Cake — “Comfort Eagle“
(it stabilizes at around 20 seconds – aka I stop jumping)

If you’ve ever been around me while I listen to Cake, you’ll realize that it was a genuine sacrifice for me not to sing and dance my little heart out to this one, in order to hold the video camera (mostly) steady. I usually manage to dance to Cake even if seated.

Cake plays with no setlist, freestylin’ along as they feel the urge (much to the chagrin of some pugilistic and determined audience members, who seemed to think Cake was a jukebox for requests until McCrea shouted several fire-eyed “f*ck you”s in their direction).

We got songs from all the Cake albums, from the vastly underrated ‘You Part The Waters’ off Motorcade of Generosity, to ‘Stickshifts and Safetybelts’ (!!!), ‘The Distance’ and the Willie Nelson cover ‘Sad Songs and Waltzes’ from Fashion Nugget, delightfully lots off Prolonging The Magic and Comfort Eagle (my 2 favorite albums) – ‘Love You Madly,’ ‘Mexico’ (in lamentably forgotten 3/4 time signature) the fantastic ‘Shadow Stabbing,’ ‘Never There’ . . . and a few from the newest one Pressure Chief (‘Wheels’).

They also threw in some non-album tunes like their cover of ‘Excuse Me I Think I’ve Got A Heartache’ by Buck Owens, and mentioned that they finally have a “new” release coming out (independent, now that they are free of the indomitable iron will of the major labels – “You’ll never see us on Conan again!” McCrea defiantly pronounced) called B-Sides and Rarities. It’ll be available shortly via cakemusic.com.

You think perhaps that you are too cool to sing along at concerts? Not at Cake you aren’t, my friend.

McCrea never fails to lead the crowd in several extremely passionate participatory tunes, including ‘Sheep Go To Heaven’ and, my favorite, the “Na na na na nana, Na na na na naaaaana“s of ‘Short Skirt, Long Jacket.’ He splits the audience down the middle, and pits us against one another in a savage fashion (it’s like Lord of the Flies, really), taunting us (“They’re f*cking LAUGHING at you!”) to whip the crowd to a fever pitch. I think I almost bust a blood vessel in my eye, and probably made up for six days of fitness slackery with all the gleeful pogoing and hip-shaking boogying I could muster. What an evening. If you’ve never seen Cake live, DO IT. Get as close to the front as you can, wear comfortable shoes (I ditched my knee-high boots behind a speaker after about 5 minutes) and prepare to have one of the best times you can legally have in the contiguous 48.

The show was held in fine closing-night soiree fashion at Bimbo’s 365 Club — the classiest live music joint in the city, bar none. It’s a 1930s dinner club that retains all of its elegance and suavity from that era, even down to the grand piano, the wooden dancefloor, and the row of angled make-up tables and attendant in the ladies’ bathroom. The walls are draped with swags of glittery silver fabric, and until recently, they also had the real, live lady-mermaid swimming in a fishtank. McCrea commented on the missing mermaid, and it truly is a crying shame. Not enough ladies swimming in tanks in today’s modern nightlife, I say.

The show was ably opened up by a trio of great bands, San Francisco’s Scrabbel and The Botticellis, plus the effortlessly cool Money Mark. I liked all of them – here are some video clips:

VIDEO: Scrabbel — “Rosamo“

VIDEO: The Botticellis — new song

VIDEO: Also from The Botticellis — “Up Against The Glass“

Money Mark was rad. I’ve spun his new disc Brand New By Tomorrow several times now and like it more each time. I caught part of his in-store at Amoeba Records earlier in the day:

Despite some keyboard malfunctions which prevented a successful rendition of his great new tune “Pick Up The Pieces” (which was co-authored with Jack Johnson), Money Mark pulled off a really good-spirited and varied set. He invited folks up on the stage to dance along and I almost, almost did. But the guy who actually did climb up and doggedly jogged in place, dropped for push-ups, and did jumping jacks far bested anything I could have come up with.

There was also diminutive curly-haired Hispanic fella standing next to me in a leather bomber jacket, bobbing his head and taking in the show. About halfway through the set, Money Mark notices him and beckons him to join the band up on stage. He climbs up, Money Mark hands him his sweet gold guitar, and dude jumps right in with the melody. Turns out it was Tommy Guerrero, who has collaborated with all those guys on stuff like the Sprout surf film soundtrack. Tres cool.

Here is the rather restrained opening tune – he launched into much more upbeat stuff after this, but I rather enjoy this good-day sunshine pop vibe:

VIDEO: Money Mark, “Color Of Your Blues“

They’re calling boarding for my gate now as I type this in the airport, so I should go. I’ve never figured out why everyone is in such a rush to pack onto the plane as soon as boarding is announced — I always wait until the last minute. Less time in the sardine can, the better.

Bon voyage, San Francisco. Thank you for taking such good care of me and entertaining me in fine style. I think this was an absolutely peerless festival experience. I will definitely be back, because as Cake says (and I heartily second), as soon as you’re born you start dying. So you might as well have a good time!

Noise Pop: “I’m nervous when I’m near you, as if I have fallen ill”

Saturday night at the Rickshaw Stop was a beyond-sold-out affair of tightly wound and very playful tunes. The club is smaller than some yuppies’ garages, all draped in red velvet fabric and strung up with globe lights with a stage barely elevated above the heads of the voluminous crowd. The indie kids turned out full force in their Vans, leggings, chunky glasses and skinny jeans, ready to dance. Featuring sets by The Old-Fashioned Way, The Changes, Dios (Malos) and capped by The Spinto Band, this was one show I was most excited about at Noise Pop. I was not disappointed.

The Old-Fashioned Way opened with an enjoyable set, and had the quirky dork-rock vibe down to a T. Their music was multi-instrumental and lighthearted. I jotted in my little notebook (yes, I took notes. With so many shows, my memory ain’t what it used to be) that they sounded a bit like the rumbly baritone of Nick Cave meets the playful music and harmonies of Mates of State. There were seven members packing the tiny stage, with most of the girls in frocks that looked handmade and a frontman that defied typical lead-singer stereotypes.

Before the set by The Changes, I was flagged down by Noise Pop photographer Peter Ellenby, whose work I’ve written about here. He asked me to photograph the next set for him and handed over his camera.

I was a rock photographer for a spell, and was ridiculously excited, as that is a job I have long thought would be so interesting and cool. I perched atop a piano by the stage and happily started clicking. If only I had known better how to operate all the bells and whistles on the camera, I could have possibly done some neat things, but as it was I told Peter that I’d be happy if even one or two shots turned out worth keeping. I was so thrilled to get to try.

The music from Chicago’s The Changes is infectiously good power-pop with hummable choruses and jangly guitars. I am expecting their album Today Is Tonight in the mail shortly, which was recorded at the same Chicago studio as The Redwalls. I hear a little bit of similarities in the vibe of the two bands, and I am looking forward to enjoying the entire album.

VIDEO: The Changes, “Water Of The Gods“

I was expecting a lot from Dios (Malos). They’d performed an acoustic set earlier in the day at the Noise Pop Expo, which I heard was amazing, and I’ve heartily liked all the studio material I’ve spun from them. They took the stage illuminated only by a garage-variety shoplight behind them, which lent the set an eerie backlit vibe and cast monstrous shadows (which were fun to watch).

Their performance was good but unfortunately not great, with the flow often interrupted by friends of theirs climbing on stage, or discussion about what to play next. I selfishly wished they had been a little tighter as they ripped through their set because they really are a quality band (with an animated drummer that I adore). Check his entirely translucent blue drumset:

VIDEO: Dios Malos

Spinto Band finally took the stage around 11:30, and they were jittery and spastic and insane. Made me nervous just to watch them, but in a good way, as if the stage could barely constrain their need-Ritalin exuberance. As they set up their instruments, I felt like we were preparing for a high-school battle of the bands, but despite their unassuming and freshfaced looks, these kids have all the pieces in order and definitely know how to rock a crowd.

They launched straight into “Crack The Whip” which is my favorite song off their excellent 2006 album Nice and Nicely Done, and it was all pleasantly upbeat sailing from there. Check this video from later in their set:

VIDEO: Spinto Band

I’d shell out to see each of these bands again, they were awesome. What a night.

Noise Pop: “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a solider”

Catching up on the Noise Pop coverage! It was a night of peace, love, and reggae rock Friday night at the famed Slim’s (well, famed to me because I am a huge nerd and couldn’t get over the fact that Pearl Jam once played a secret show there where they unveiled a bunch of Vs. songs for the first time. Sigh). The 4-band lineup was solid and very stoked to be there — mostly straightforward rock from all participants to a willing and plugged-in crowd.

Street To Nowhere started things off with this (direct link):

I chatted a little with lead singer Dave (who I think is about 20) at the merch table after his set, specifically about music blogs and their band’s cover of Hallelujah (which he said was featured on “some big roundup of a bunch of different versions of the song“). They had a good sound, I hope he didn’t think I was giving him a hard time when I asked him point-blank what made his take on Hallelujah different and worth it; I was a little belligerent. No, actually I was nice, as always. I just ask the hardhitting journalistic questions.

I missed The Actual‘s set. Excuses and reasoning can be found below. Sorry, Actual.

The New Amsterdams were very good, and the studio material from their forthcoming album Killed or Cured sounds like it has a stripped/alt-country vibe, but that was kinda lost in the cavernous long hall of the club. It was rollicking. Here is a sample:

VIDEO: The New Amsterdams

The danceability and reggae grooves of State Radio was a surprise that I didn’t expect, kind of like the homeless guy earlier that day on the pier who hid inside bush branches and jumped out at people as they walked by. Kind of like that. Except State Radio blended a mix of their politically-charged (anti-war) songs with a Dispatch tune or two (which were wildly well-received) and had some extremely enthusiastic, and bouncy, fans the whole way through. Maybe a bit too heavy for me on the “white guy sounds like he’s from Jamaica, mon” vibe, but those guys are undoubtedly loved.

VIDEO: State Radio

Perhaps this is no reflection on the shows itself, but rather the (open bar) happy hour I attended beforehand, but I think I most enjoyed this part of my evening — dude busts out with freestyle interpretive breakdancing spontaneously in the Diesel Store on Post where we were enjoying cocktails. I happened to have my camera out taking a picture at the moment, and had to share:

(direct link)

A later incarnation of this same idea ended with him sprawled backwards across my lap. It was soo random that it was rad.

Noise Pop: “Crank it to eleven, blow another speaker”

Any trip or musical stay in San Francisco would be sorely incomplete without seeing at least one show at The Fillmore, which has always been one of my favorite music venues. We have a modern ripoff in Denver that just ain’t the same, so there is nothing better than both seeing a show in this historic venue, and also wandering the halls looking at the framed portraits of all those who have played there over the last 40+ years:

Plus I love the artwork in all the framed show posters (although I noticed that the best ones are higher up, I guess to prevent the kleptos from making off with the booty):

Last night at the Fillmore (again, PACKED) I found a dose of something that I’ve been missing all these years. The show with The Coup was amazingly good; absolutely infectious thumping beats, sick soulful samples, lyrical flow, oh my gosh. The indie-rock part of my brain that I usually use for writing lacks the words.

I felt overwhelmed in a good way; my synapses were overloaded. The music is hip hop with a political/revolutionary bent, but the band has a rock-band configuration on stage: guitarist who looked like he should be in Rage Against The Machine, insane bassist who really lays down his lines with style, and dude wailing on the drums. An integral part of The Coup is their DJ (female!) and for the shows they also have a singer/strutter/emoter gal named Silk-E who seemed to be having a very good time (and sang this solo song called “BabyLet’sHaveABabyBeforeBushDoSomethingCrazy”).

Frontman Boots Riley danced with some fancy footwork and let his lyrics smoothly flow while he rocked the afro, the huge sideburns, and the velvet blazer. It was like Marvin Gaye fronting Rage with a little Parliament thrown in, and I was in love.

VIDEO: “5 Million Ways To Kill A CEO” – The Coup
This was up in the balcony when we first got there, and it’s an awesome bird’s-eye view of the crowd and the fabulousness of the evening. The guitar riff in this song has a distinct Led Zeppelin/Aerosmith vibe, yes?

VIDEO: “Laugh/Love/F*ck” – The Coup
According to The Coup, by doing the above (and also “drink liquor,” as you’ll hear in the song), we’ll help the damn revolution come quicker. And when it comes, we’ll all be too drunk, relaxed, and well-sexed to do anything to support it.

One of the best parts of their set was the female DJ Pam The Funkstress, who was getting soooo into her craft and thoroughly enjoying every single moment there on the stage and the reactions she garnered from the crowd. She also showed off her multi-talented self by scratching the records with her substantial breasts. Now that’s some kind of female empowerment . . .

Lyrics Born truthfully paled in comparison for me, and I just couldn’t get as into them after the marvelousness of The Coup. They were, however, FUN. I think in this video you can actually see the way the old Fillmore floor actually bounces up and down during really emphatic shows:

VIDEO: Lyrics Born workin’ the crowd

And I do believe that if the world outside were collapsing, a wise place to head would be the Fillmore, where we could subsist happily for a long time on free, ice-cold, crunchy apples from the big vat up front. I’ve missed those.

Listen to more Coup/download: http://www.myspace.com/thecoupmusic

Listen to more Lyrics Born: http://www.myspace.com/lyricsborn

Noise Pop: “Your face was simple, your hands were naked / I was singing without knowing the words”

Last night was fantastic – great shows in a great venue for my first night at the Noise Pop Festival. So far, color me impressed with this little fest.

My night began with an inspired set from local SF artist Ryan Auffenberg (well, actually it began with a protracted and painful search for a parking space where I would not get accosted or carjacked, which caused me to miss the beginning of Ryan’s set). Backed by a full band and featuring guest vocals from Hannah Prater of The Bittersweets, Ryan turned out a polished and impassioned show to a near-capacity crowd.

The setlist was pleasantly longer than I’d expected (Hey Mona Lisa, Deep Water, Curtain Call, Be Kind, Under All The Bright Lights, Missouri In The Morning, Please Don’t Go), and the packed crowd received Auffenberg very enthusiastically. It was good to see this talented artist getting such a roaring reception.

VIDEO: “Missouri In The Morning“

There was some overlap with Ryan and Josh Ritter upstairs in the Swedish American Hall and I extricated myself as soon as I could. Changing gears entirely, I left the sweaty, packed downstairs and tiptoed into a silent room with everyone in rapt attention to the folk troubadour onstage.

Josh Ritter is a bit of a stylistic anomaly, almost as if he were plucked from another era and dropped into 2007. His appearance definitely has this air of some hippie Irish minstrel with his enormous red curly head of hair and formidable ‘stache stretching across his often widely-smiling mouth and cherubic rosy cheeks. Plus, he was sporting a cream pinstriped suit — you don’t see that often (unless it’s in a tongue-in-cheek hipster fashion statement or a Floridian retiree).

Ritter is also a rare, rare performer in his obvious ebullience to be performing. As he weaves his intricate, literate songs on stage, he overflows with each lyric as if he were birthing every line afresh for the first time. There is no sense of a rote performance, and no indication that he’s sung some of these hundreds of times. Instead, he radiates a palpable joy and a sense of barely-contained anticipation with each word that comes out. It was really a sheer delight to watch, and breathed new life into songs I thought I knew.

I was continually amazed by the lyrics of his songs all night long, feverishly writing down snippets that spoke to me. In fact, he even performed “Idaho” with all the lights in the hall turned off, which made each word just hover out in the darkness. He’s gotta be one of the best lyricists out there.

(both excellent photos credited to Doug Rice)

VIDEO: “The Temptation Of Adam“
(new song from forthcoming album)
Ritter writes these almost mythical stories, always with apocalyptic overtones. This one smarted a bit with the way it ends — tragic irony. More for listening than watching, video not so hot but hey, I tried.

VIDEO SNIPPET: “Wolves“
I wasn’t planning on recording this, but he was just SO impassioned and into the song that I had to record it for myself. The camera work is pretty jumpy. Plus, those lyrics (see post title), that chorus. Amazing.

VIDEO: “Thin Blue Flame“
Interesting to hear this song in a solo acoustic setting without the thundering, building piano chords. Still striking.