Event Calendar

27 May 2005

Stereo Total (Bimbo's, 26 May 2005)

There's something to be said about starting your show off on the right foot.

Stereo Total came tonight at Bimbo's with an audience full of beautiful people ready to dance. I mean, they were ready to dance! They were talking about it. prepping for it, and, most importantly, dressed for it. All their releases are very dancey. As Brezel Goring, the German half of Stereo Total, said to the crowd, "We are Stereo Total and we play dancey, disco, rock . . . rockabilly..." Well, he said something to that extent (he spoke too damn fast), but you get the drift.

Stereo Total started their set with three songs that were somewhat off. I just didn't get the vibe from these guys. I was perfectly still, although the drum machine was kicking and the synths and other gadgets in full effect. I can't pinpoint the reason why they started off that way, or why I felt that way, but they just did.

The show didn't get really lively until they were accompanied by their sidekick. I don't know who he is, but he sounded and acted like Kickin' Pele from The Hives. He was maniacal, he was crazy, he was just plain stupid and insane. But you know what? He was the jolt I needed. Stereo Total also played songs that I recognized at this point, including my personal favourite "L'Amour a Trois." For this song, not only was the extra member acting like a lunatic on speed, but they also had help from a lady in the audience doing some dancing. Granted, she didn't really add anything to the song or the atmosphere, but for some reason it hyped me up a bit.

From that point on, things got better. They played more songs from their new album, Do the Bambi, including the title track. More classic tracks were played, especially another favourite, "Supergirl." They also did off-beat covers such as Frank Sinatra's "My Way" and a Rolling Stones song that escapes me at the moment.

My friends were bored out of their mind for this show, even one declaring it the worst show of all time because Stereo Total had "no talent" whatsoever. Which is not really a stretch considering they barely played any instruments and everything was based on a recording. It was like karaoke with background props. But, it didn't dissuade me from enjoying the show. I even went back into the venue only to find them being accompanied by hordes of audience members dancing on stage. I think they did this for two songs, the last being a song about hating the disco.

By the way, there's this weird looking woman dancing on stage who constantly gave the audience members the finger. What a dimwit.

Anyways, slow start but it was a good finish.

Beer Rating: 3.5 Beers

26 May 2005

Architecture in Helsinki (Cafe Du Nord, 25 May 2005)

As I type this, Architecture in Helsinki is still playing their set. Probably at their encore by now.

I thought they were coming on at 10:30 p.m., like what the Cafe Du Nord guy said. With that in mind, I arrived at 10pm only to be surprised to see Still Flyin', the opening band with 16 different members, still playing.

Eh, I don't know. After that I drank too much and then started to get sleepy and tired. Then I drove home.

Well, I can at least tell you how the show was.

Still Flyin' is this weird 16 member band who plays songs that sound kind of reggae-ish. For a lack of a better comparison. They were alright, but it is absolutely pointless to have 16 members in a band (N.B. I don't know whether there are 16 members, it just seemed like it was) when all they did was (1) dance like Bez or (2) act like supporting singers when their voices are shite to begin with. Nonetheless, they were mildly entertaining, but not entertaining enough to lure me and Randy away from the bar and order more Heinekens.

Architecture came on at around 11:15pm. By this time, I already drank way more than I should (I didn't eat dinner tonight) and I was getting pretty tipsy and tired. They were good though, for the 5-6 songs I saw them perform. However, the crowd was just too packed, the stage too low, and the "Land of the Tall" people came out in full force. Not that I'm short in stature, but I can't compete with guys 6'2" tall. They played some stuff from their new album, and some older stuff from Fingers Crossed. But they were quite dynamic and provided good harmonies.

But I was just tired and needed to go home. So, I went home at around midnight.

I really can't rate this show, since it'll be unfair to do so. But, what the hell? I'm kinda tipsy right now and I'll rate it anyways.

Beer Rating: 4 Beers

19 May 2005

Eats Tapes (The Element Lounge, 17 May 2005)

I've never heard of Eats Tapes. When my friend Jen told me to come see them, she promised me lots of dancing. How can I pass up a show with lots of dancing? So, I didn't and went.

The Element is this lounge in the 'Loin, on Geary between Van Ness and Polk. I've never been there myself, and had to consult Verizon 411 to figure out the street address. Little did I know that I was standing in front of the lounge when the operator told me the address. So, I go in there and it's pretty good lounge. Good space, with this sunken seating area in the rear, and huge bathrooms. The mix drinks were good too. My Grey Goose and Cran was smooth as silk, although they charged a whopping $8 for one. Ouch! I should have stuck with the $2 PBR special but that's just like drinking piss.

The crowd was a diverse mix of hip-hop breakers, local scenesters, hipsters and art students. There's even one misguided Asian tourist in there who probably just stopped by to see what was up with all the good sounds from the inside. The breakers in there were doing some crazy moves. They seemed like contortionists from the circus rather than "normal" individuals. There's one guy with only one leg and he was the best of the lot.

Eats Tapes came on at around 11pm. They are a boy and girl duo. Their gear (and there was a lot of it) were situated in this sunken table and they kneeled on foam cushions throughout the night whilst they were twiddling with their gizmos. They are all electronic, no vocals, and their sound is akin to Chemical Brothers (sans the "block rockin' beats"), Daft Punk (without the repetitiveness), and Boards of Canada (although less boring).

One thing though is that they were good and dancey. My friend Jen was all over the place dancing to these guys, as well as many others in the small but spacious confines. Not wanting to feel left out, I danced too and the beats were perfect. Not one moment was spent not nodding my head or moving my feet with the beat. They played for a good 30 or so minutes, and provided one encore that was just way too fast for me to dance to. If it isn't 3/4 or 4/8, I can't do it. I'm just not that coordinated enough.

A good night. Not bad for a Tuesday. Definitely check these guys out when you can.

Beer Rating: 2.5 Beers

15 May 2005

LCD Soundsystem / M.I.A. (The Fillmore, 14 May 2005)

I have to admit, I didn't think much of M.I.A. or LCD Soundsystem when their albums came out. Both groups received a lot of pre-album press and hype which I thought, at that time, was a bit overblown. M.I.A.'s sound is a bit odd when first listening because it's very . . . I don't know . . . British Pakistani? Kind of like The Streets where the spoken word bit throws me off since I'm just used to rap where there is a melody and the person is rapping with the melody rather than doing spoken word. Same thing with LCD Soundsystem. I got their album and wasn't too into it other than for "Daft Punk is Playing in My House."

But, with all things, I kept on listening to these artists and I began to like them. So much so that I had to see if their live performances were any good.

M.I.A. came on around 9:30 and started off with a hilarious mini film about our dumb ass President and Prime Minister Tony Blair in a press conference. I caught the tail end of it, but even that part was hilarious where the President was tongue tied and Tony Blair had to step in. This was real footage, albeit edited for comedy purposes.

M.I.A.'s set was terribly short - only 30 minutes. Granted, she doesn't have much stuff, but I expected something much longer. They started right off the bat with "Pull Up the People" which drove the crowd mad. Throughout the set, M.I.A. engaged the crowd great with her hand movements and this dance that is akin to slapping someone in the arse. It was pretty hilarious! Cherry, M.I.A.'s sidekick, was just tremendous! Very talented and she can sing. She can actually do her own thing if she really wanted to. Finally, Diplo was on the turntables mixing it up for the crowd and keeping it lively for M.I.A.

Diplo chose to make most of the sounds in the live show from the infamous Piracy Funds Terrorism CD. For example, in parts of "Bingo," that familiar whistle sound was in there. I forgot which rapper actually has that sound in their album. Another one is starting off "China Girl" with the Eurythmic's "Sweet Dreams." It was very good and the crowd ate it up.

Diplo mixed things up really well and M.I.A. and Cherry just engaged the crowd. At one point, M.I.A. and Diplo were giving shout outs to the different cities in the Bay Area, such as San Francisco and Oakland. When pressed for a third city, Diplo said, "I don't know. Berkeley?" which got a huge applause. Although the set was really short, they played a good chunk of M.I.A.'s Arular such as "Galang," "Sun Shower," and "Fire Fire." All of which were brilliantly played.

After a 45 minute wait, LCD Soundsystem came on. Mr. DFA himself was present and his band really surprised me. The beats that they belted out gave me the biggest mindfuck - I didn't realize that they were that good. I found myself dancing and bobbing my head throughout LCD Soundsystem's set. They played "Daft Punk..." pretty early in the set with the crowd surprised at how early this song was. They wanted to cheer, but the sound from the percussions drowned them all out.

James Murphy can really belt them out. His rough voice was the perfect accomniment for the booming noise emitted by the other members. "Tribulations" is my favourite song on the album and my favourite song that they played live. It got me dancing hard core, and others around me were doing the same. From "Tribulations" on, LCD Soundsystem simply blew me away with their booming sound and the constant banging of the cowbell. Sometimes, their songs sounded a lot like the Rapture - so much so that I thought every song was "House of Jealous Lovers."

I think the songs that followed "Tribultaions" included "Movement." I forgot what the other ones were.

They also did a cover of Souxsie Sioux's "Slowdive." I've never heard of this song, but their rendition of it didn't sound too great.

Otherwise, banging, banging and banging percussions, complete with cow bell and congo drums.

Overall, a great bill. It was if I picked this line up too!

M.I.A. = 1.5 Beers
LCD Soundsystem: 1.75 Beers

The Dont's (Lipo Lounge, 13 May 2005)

Lipo Lounge is a weird place. It's clientele is pretty much a grab bag of scenesters, hipsters, *normal* people and old Chinese men. The bartenders are two Chinese men - one who can barely hear anything and the other one makes a mean vodka cran. Downstairs is this makeshift underground, cavernous place where local bands come and play. It's a small hole in the wall, about the size of one's garage, and it is creepy as fuck.

So, my friend Joe's band, The Dont's, are playing with three other local bands in this Chinese mafia hideout (as Jonny Don't said.) It's hard for me to describe how The Dont's sound like. They are an indie band with that college sound to them. The singer, Jonny Don'n't has great stage presence. He engages the crowd a lot and he plays with the megaphone a lot. Joe is the guitarist and a real good one at that. Unlike Jonny, he's the "shy" person of the group. JJ is the bass player and Ken bangs out the drums.

Like my other friend's band, The Otherside, I don't know much of The Dont's material. I do know this really catchy song called "Sissy Resist" which is my personal favourite. They played it tonight and I thought they re-made it. I asked Joe after the gig and he said it's the same "Sissy Resist" they always played. Funny, I thought it was different, less faster than when they played it at Edinburgh Castle ages ago.

Jonny Dont loves that megaphone. He was using that thing pretty much for all the songs played. The sound was pretty good despite the location of the gig and there were a good amount of people supporting the band. The last three songs played were the best. The first of the three involved a cow bell (which makes any song that much better) while the other two are just nice indie rock tracks. Again, I wish I knew the titles to these songs, or could describe them better.

Overall, very good performance. Definitely check them out if you get a chance.

Beer Rating: 3 Beers

14 May 2005

Supersystem (Popscene, 12 May 2005)

After Ivy, I took a cab over to Popscene to meet up with friends. I forgot that Supersystem was playing and a DJ set by Mr. LCD Soundsystem himself was in order later that evening.

Well, my friend from DC didn't show up and my other friends showed up close to midnight. As I was nursing my Heineken, I sat down and took in the atmosphere. I was dead tired, and some moment alone was definitely needed. Supersystem came on at around 11pm and they got the crowd hopping from the get go. I'm not that familiar with anything they've released, but after listening to them (I didn't see them at all since I was very, very far away), I think I'll pick up their CD.

Their sound is a lot like !!! or LCD Soundsystem. Very dancey, with a bit of rock and some percussion for some spice. Once my friends arrived, their last song was being played. We went to the dance floor and danced and we were in perfect sync with the song. It was really good to dance to, despite us not knowing what the hell is being played. We were actually disappointed that they had to go, because the crowd was really getting into them. That's a rarity at Popscene since most of the audience wants the band to leave so they can dance to The Smiths.

Very surprising.

Beer Rating: 2.75 Beers

Ivy (Slim's, 12 May 2005)

Thursday was one hell of a day for me. I reported to work early and immediatley started doing work right when my computer booted up. Then, at 4:30, I was informed that I am attending a meeting with a bunch of lawyers in Oakland. I wasn't wearing anything remotely lawyerly (jeans and a shirt), thus I ran to the Gap and spent $130 for a damn shirt, slacks, a belt and an inside shirt. Then headed over to Payless to buy some bunk black shoes to match the outfit. I made the meeting on time. And then, to make matters worse, I went back to work after the meeting and left at around 9:30pm. And I had to take BART to the city.

Thus, I was late to see Ivy, which came on at around 9:30. My friends were tired, so they decided to leave midway through their set. I was just glad to get out of the office and relax myself with Dominique's beautiful voice and Andy Chase's excellent musicianship.

The place was not packed, but it was still full. The crowd was a bit weird, because they consisted of mostly 30+ year olds and a smidgeon of youngsters. Ivy's been around for a while, since at least 1993, so I wasn't that surprised with the age of the crowd.

They played pretty much all the songs I liked from their entire discography, including "L'Anamour" from Guestroom.

The new songs from their recent release In the Clear sounded amazing - much to my surprise. I thought In the Clear is an alright album that was heavily produced to make the sound so . . . well . . . clear. However, Ivy was able to replicate that clean sound live. "Tess Don't Tell," probably my favourite track from the album, sounded downright amazing live. Dominique's voice was top notch and the band was solid. "Keep Moving" and "I've Got You Memorized" were the other songs played from In the Clear and just like "Tess Don't Tell," sounded amazing.

Of course, Ivy played some songs from their back catalogue. Including "Ba Ba Ba, " which Adam mentioend was originally titled "Ba Ba." The funny thing about "Ba Ba Ba" was that they used to never play this song live. When Apartment Life was released, this was the only song from that album that was not played. Now, since Long Distance, this track is a mainstay in their setlist. I think the song is alright, but for some reason, I liked it played this time around.

Also much to my surpise, they played "I Guess I'm A Little Too Sensitive" and "Get Enough," which they ended with. "Get Enough" was the second song Adam wrote (the first was "Happy Birthday") and it was so good live. I think this is the first time I heard the song live, and I've seen Ivy many times.

It was a great night of music with Ivy. They were great musically and Dominique looked beautiful in her outfit. Their set list was a perfect balance of their great songs from their discography. I highly regret coming in late, because I missed a bunch of songs from Long Distance and Apartment Life. Oh, well. Next time.

Beer Rating: 2 Beers

The Otherside (The Rickshaw Stop, 11 May 2005)

The Otherside is a local band from San Francisco. As their bio says, they love darkness and fuzz, guitars with pedals and anthems with huge obvious endings. And in between all that are the words "red wine" somewhat inserted in every other sentence it seems like. Well, the description is pretty accurate. The guitars dominate much of their songs and that is a good thing.

The Otherside consists of Steve on vocals, another Steve on drums, Marc on bass and guitarist extraordinaire Daniel. Their sound takes a bit from the shoegaze era bands such as Ride and a little bit of rock n roll swagger from the likes of Oasis. Granted, that might not be the best description of them, but in my ears that's how they sound like. And I love both bands a lot! So, a band, a local one at that, that sounds like Ride and Oasis combined is a-ok in my book.

They come to Rickshaw Stop to open up for Single Frame, which I mistook for Simple Plan. Thus, when I came in, I thought that the place will be packed to the rafters. But it wasn't, which I prefer.

I don't know any of their songs. The last time I checked them out, they were called Smiler and they had a different lead singer. Now, the instruments remain the same, but the vocals are very, very different. Unlike Smiler's lead singer, Michael, who graced the stage as if he was Liam Gallagher's long lost sibling, Steve takes a much more low key approach. The vocals are minimal, but strong and the instruments predominate. Especially the guitars.

I picked up their EP to get a sense of the song titles before writing this review. As a preliminary matter, the sound at Rickshaw was absolutely amazing. Better than Bottom of the Hill for sure. Thus, this band sounded terrific.

They played, among others, "Hey You" which sounds very Ride and Steve's vocals sound a bit like Ian Curtis. Yes, again, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but that's my opinion. This was the stand out track for the evening. Very catchy guitar riffs, excellent vocals.

All the other songs, I have no clue what the titles were. Like "Hey You," the other songs follow the same formula: very catchy guitar riffs, excellent vocals.

You know you went to a good show when you are tapping your feet in a 3/4 rhythm despite not knowing the song. So, with that in mind, this was one of those shows. Definitely a must see if you are into this sort of genre of rock.

Beer Rating: 2.5 Beers

05 May 2005

Bright Eyes / The Faint (Concourse Exhibition Center, 4 May 2005)

After seeing The Faint and Bright Eyes at Coachella, and how amazing each band was, I was really excited to see them again here in S.F. I've never been to the Concourse before, although I heard it was huge. Franz Ferdinand played there, but I didn't go.

So, I go in there and it looks like a huge barn. Wood everywhere. Huge floor. Just a straight shot. Two elevated ramp areas which doubled as beer gardens. To me, it looked like a huge docking warehouse.

I entered in there and The Faint were already playing their second song. I was just glad that I didn't pull a Bravery this night. The Faint were fantastic as usual with the visuals, synths, and the overall music just blaringly loud but pleasant. I was far back this time, unlike Coachella where I was very close. Despite my far distance, I still enjoyed the show and continued to do some mini bounces and head nodding.

The visuals were the same as the Coachella appearance. Regardless, they were still great. Their set was longer than the Coachella one, and they even played a cover song. Nobody covers Neutral Milk Hotel, but they did it by covering "Holland, 1945." It was a surprising cover, but not a very good one. It was like The Faint were re-living their Media days.

The crowd really enjoyed The Faint. So much so that a huge amount of people left after The Faint. Not to say that Bright Eyes was left with an empty room because there was still a whole bunch of kids around.

As for Bright Eyes, I was again excited to hear more songs from Digital Ash... After hearing it live in Coachella, I am actually liking Digital Ash more and more.

However, Bright Eyes weren't that good here. It wasn't that they weren't good musically, but the whole environment and my exhaustion and anxiety wore me down. It seems like they played all the same songs from their Coachella set and only added one song from Lifted ("Lover I Don't Have to Love") and another song that I've never heard before as their encore.

The highlight songs here were "Gold Mine Gutted" and "I Believe in Symmetry." I don't know why they were so good, but they just were.

Oh, and the eye candy for this show was just downright ridiculous. Like, really ridiculous. It was like I was in indie/scenester heaven. Gotta love this!

Faint Beer Rating: 1.5 Beers
Bright Eyes Beer Rating: 3 Beers
Eye Candy Beer Rating: 0 Beer

The Bravery (Great American Music Hall, 2 May 2005)

Fuck was I tired that day.

It was a Monday and we just got back from Coachella. Then we went to my friend's dinner birthday celebration in the East Bay. And here I am thinking that Bravery will be on at 10:30 or so.

Boy was I stupid.

I arrived at GAMH at around 10:45pm only to find out that they were playing their last song. I caught one song from the encore and that was it. That was the Bravery. I was pissed but yet pleased to have an early evening.

So, because two songs won't give this gig any justice, I will just put the good old N/A on there.

Beer Rating: N/A

Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (Empire Polo Fields, Indio, CA 1 May 2005)

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

03 May 2005

Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (Empire Polo Fields, Indio, CA, 30 April 2005)

I just came back from an amazing Coachella festival. This is my second festival, and this one is definitely the best of the two. The weather was completely bareable and the large crowd did not delay me too much. Granted, the main stage line-up this year wasn't as strong as last year's, in my opinion, the sheer brilliance of the performers made up for it. What follows below is a run down of each band I saw, with a rating for each band and then a rating for the entire day. The parenthetical info refers to where the band played and how long I stayed to watch.

Snow Patrol (Main Stage, 4:15 - 4:30 p.m.)

Boring. That's the best way I can sum up their main stage performance. I don't understand this band. They just don't translate that great live. I love their new album, Final Straw, but like Stars, it just doesn't work live. Also, the sound was pretty bad at this point. I don't know why, but I'm sure the sound guys were just getting used to fixing the bugs. Probably the only interesting thing Snow Patrol did was to crack a joke about how Irish men boil at this weather.

Beer Rating: 6 pack and Liquor

Razorlight (Outdoor Stage, 5:10-5:55 p.m.)

After ditching Snow Patrol, we headed over to see Razorlight. I've never seen of Razorlight, but from what I hear from their CD and from others, this is definitely a must not miss show.

Razorlight is one of those Gang of Four influenced bands. Short songs with a lot of punch. They did provide such a performance with Björn Ågnen just going all out crazy at times. In between songs, one can hear Keane play on the main stage. When Björn asked the crowd who was playing, and after they responded that it was Keane, he said, "Who cares?" He then encouraged the crowd to be more boisterous, but the semi-hot weather and the small fan base this band has really didn't help. Although the crowd did somehow cooperate at some points of their set. "Rock N Roll Lies" and "Give It Up" received the most applause while newer songs fell short.
Beer Rating: 3 Beers

Rilo Kiley (Outdoor Stage, 6:20-7 p.m.)

We stuck it out on the Outdoor Stage and secured an okay spot for Rilo Kiley. At this point of Day 1, I was really anxious on seeing a superb show and Rilo Kiley should be the one to do it. Pedro of Napoleon Dynamite introduced the band, although nobody heard anything he said. The mic was off and he did say something about voting for him. Must be repeating the lines from the movie. And he was wearing the "Vote for Pedro" t-shirt that was ever so popular at Coachella that I wanted to make a punch buggy game out of it. Oh, and Pedro looked like a thug instead of his shy looking self in the movie.

Here comes Rilo Kiley after that shitty introduction by Pedro. They came out on time and Jenny Lewis looked as cute as ever in her short dress. Her bright red hair really shone in the blistering sunlight.

They opened up with "It's a Hit" which the crowd just ate up. More people proceeded to arrive during this song as well. I love this song! It was a great start and it was a sign of things to come. More songs from More Adventurous was played, including the wonderful "I Never," which the crowd sang, in unison, Jenny's line that goes, "And I-I-I-I never..." Well, okay, some did and I was one of them. "Potions for Foxes" and "Execution of All Things" were also played.

Blake then took the mic for a song, singing "Ripchord." It was good, but I am not a big fan of Blake singing since his voice isn't all that great. My friends and I decided to leave at this point to grab dinner and secure a good spot for Weezer. They only played one more song, "Does He Love You?" which I would like to have heard, but I figure that I'll see them again in June.

At this point, I was getting pretty amped on how great the rest of Coachella is going to be.

Beer Rating: 1.5 Beers

Weezer (Main Stage, 8 - 8:50pm)


I have to admit, I never really liked Weezer that much. I bought their debut blue album back in 1994 but never really listened to it other than the obvious hits like "My Name is Jonas," "Undone (The Sweater Song," "Say It Ain't So," and "Buddy Holly." I figure that these guys should still be good live and decided to check them out.

It was a good decision to check them out. The Main Stage was packed, but we were able to secure a good spot on the very far right side of the stage. The band sans drummer were visible, but most of the time I looked at the big screen for the close up. I forgot what they opened up with, but the second song of their set was "Say It Ain't So." The crowd loved it and applauded for older material, which they did. They pretty much played all their hit singles such as the ones mentioned above and "Hash Pipe", among others.

Their new songs were pretty mellow for the most part. Their most "poppy" song of the bunch was this song called "Dddrugs..." Or something like that. It sounded like "Hashpipe" v.2 because of the topic and the silliness of the lyrics.

Overall, it was a surprisingly good show. They were much more mellow than I would have thought, especially since their songs are a bit loud at times. Also, they played S.F. the night before, so probably they were tired?

Beer Rating: 2 Beers

Bloc Party (Mojave Tent, 9:30 - 10:15pm)

After Weezer, we decided to walk really fast to Bloc Party. We know that this is going to be a crowded tent and we definitely wanted at least a semi-decent spot for this. We arrived earlier than expected because Secret Machines were still playing. They played 15 minutes over their scheduled end time, which didn't bother us too much since this gave us a time to recuperate and just relax. As you can probably see from the times, we were going back-to-back-to-back on schedule. We weren't the only ones doing some relaxing as a plethora of people were just laying around waiting for their chance to go inside the tent once the Secret Machines crowd dispersed.

We got in (finally!) and secured a spot in the far left side of the stage, about midway. We were surrounded by really tall people. I'm not that short, but these guys seemed to be at least 6'2" or taller. It was a weird crowd too. I can't explain why they were weird, but I just thought they were.

Bloc Party played pretty much all the songs off of Silent Alarm. Of course, "Banquet," the fourth song played, received the highest applause. People were dancing and hopping around, while others were bobbing their head in approval. I was so tired at this point, but I liked what I heard. Kele asked the crowd several times how we were doing. He even took an impromptu poll, based on the sound of the cheering, on who was there to see Coldplay (loud applause), Arcade Fire (even louder applause, with me screaming) and then Bon Jovi (sound of "huh?" all around).

Their sound was amazing in the tent. I saw them at Bottom of the Hill, which is a good venue with so-so sound, but seeing them at a higher stage with a more sophisticated sound system made Bloc Party a much better band to see live. Matt Tong, the band's drummer, is probably one of the most talented drummers I have ever seen. He was just so good, so in synch, so loud, and so into what he's doing that all aspiring drummers should watch this man play. Jonny Greenwood wannabe Russel Lisack was also great on guitar. His outfit, a shirt that is almost a baby tee with jeans, coupled with his hair and method of guitar playing just proves how much he wants to be Jonny Greenwood.

Beer Rating: 1.5 Beers

Coldplay (Main Stage, 11 - 12am)

After Bloc Party's amazing set, I made a pit stop and then ran to the Main Stage to catch Coldplay. At this point, everyone and their mom were either at Coldplay or at Chemical Brothers. In the Coldplay side, thousands upon thousands of people were already situated, waiting for Chris Martin and co. to come out. I was in the right side of the stage, pretty close to the soundbooth.

Coldplay was a little late coming out, but everyone didn't seem to mind. Especially since their fans, like me, are anxiously awaiting the release of their new album, X & Y.

They opened up with "Square One," the opening song to their new album. People seemed to be into it, but this only received moderate applause after all the screaming and applauding as they entered the stage. I guess because "Square One," and all the other X & Y songs they played like "Speed of Sound," among others, are a little more complex musically than other Coldplay songs.

Coldplay played their classic singles such as "In My Place," "The Scientist," "Yellow," and "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face." These received the loudest applauses since this is the setlist that the crowd was looking for. Chris was wearing an all black outfit, with a tatoo of the Make Trade Fair equal sign painted on his hand. During "Yellow," instead of saying, "And it's called yellow,"Chris sang "And it's in Coachell-oh." This caught us by surprise, while others thought it was cheezy. Chris Martin also performed part of a Nine Inch Nails song towards the end of "Politik." Also, Chris changed the lyric on one song by saying out loud that he is not leaving the band for a solo career. Which makes sense because without his band, there is no Coldplay.

My final memory of Coldplay were listening to the new songs. Chris told the audience that this song "is the best one we ever wrote" and another time hailing his lyrical genius by declaring taht this next song was sheer sexual brilliance. I agreed.

Another fantastic set from Coldplay.

Beer Rating: 1.5 Beers