December:
1: DJ Egyptian Lover (Club Loaded) @ Rickshaw Stop
3: The Sounds, Ima Robot @ The Fillmore
29: My Morning Jacket @ The Fillmore
30: My Morning Jacket @ The Fillmore
31: My Morning Jacket @ The Fillmore
31: Blonde Redhead, et al. @ Mezzanine
January:
5: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks @ Bimbo's
5: Every Move a Picture (Club Loaded) @ The Rickshaw Stop
February:
1: Of Montreal @ Bottom of the Hill
20 November 2006
Hot Chip (Mezzanine, 17 November 2006)
To this day, I'm not that impressed with Hot Chip's album. I mean, "Over and Over" is easily in my Top 5 songs of 2006. But, overall, the album is just so-so. I was supposed to see them the first time they came to the Independent, but opted for rest rather than going. My friends said they enjoyed them. But that could have been the alcohol talking. So, I bought a ticket, hoping that I can be proven wrong.
In some ways I was, otherwise it was okay. The company was great, but the show itself was just so-so. They did mix their songs well and they sounded pretty good. But I just couldn't get into it. No matter how hard I tried. I had plenty of drinks too, and it still didn't help. And their rendition of "Over and Over" was okay.
Eh? Yeah, I don't know.
Beer Rating:
In some ways I was, otherwise it was okay. The company was great, but the show itself was just so-so. They did mix their songs well and they sounded pretty good. But I just couldn't get into it. No matter how hard I tried. I had plenty of drinks too, and it still didn't help. And their rendition of "Over and Over" was okay.
Eh? Yeah, I don't know.
Beer Rating:
Lemon Sun (The Rickshaw Stop, 16 November 2006)
I was invited to go to the Rickshaw Stop to check my friend's band, Lemon Sun, perform. Lemon Sun were in town as the openers for Irving. I've never heard of these guys prior to this show.
From what I heard, not bad. The albeit sparse crowd seemed into it. They are total rawk, in that psychadelic sense. They didn't play many songs since their drummer experienced some sort of technical problems. After checking out their MySpace page, I determined that the songs they played include "Telephone," which is their current single. And the catchy guitar chords in "The Face."
Oh, and they did an amazing cover of David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel." It was probably one of the best Bowie covers I've heard anyone do.
Overall, not bad. Way better than the other bands I've seen at Rickshaw.
Beer Rating: 3/4
From what I heard, not bad. The albeit sparse crowd seemed into it. They are total rawk, in that psychadelic sense. They didn't play many songs since their drummer experienced some sort of technical problems. After checking out their MySpace page, I determined that the songs they played include "Telephone," which is their current single. And the catchy guitar chords in "The Face."
Oh, and they did an amazing cover of David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel." It was probably one of the best Bowie covers I've heard anyone do.
Overall, not bad. Way better than the other bands I've seen at Rickshaw.
Beer Rating:
3/4
16 November 2006
New Shows Added
Lots of good stuff in the next few months:
December:
7: New Young Pony Club @ Popscene
8: Lily Allen, Starsailor (acoustic) @ Mighty
13: Public Enemy @ Mezzanine
21: Silversun Pickups @ Popscene
29: Diplo @ Mezzanine
30: Two Gallants (acoustic) @ Bimbo's
31: Birdmonster @ Bottom of the Hill
January:
12: Girl Talk @ The Independent
30: Deerhoof @ GAMH
February:
1: Ron Sexsmith @ GAMH
2: Of Montreal @ GAMH
3: Of Montreal @ GAMH
March:
1: Snow Patrol @ Bill Graham Civic
7: Mountain Goats @ The Independent
8: Mountain Goats @ The Independent
9: Mountain Goats @ Bottom of the Hill
19: Under Byen @ GAMH
December:
7: New Young Pony Club @ Popscene
8: Lily Allen, Starsailor (acoustic) @ Mighty
13: Public Enemy @ Mezzanine
21: Silversun Pickups @ Popscene
29: Diplo @ Mezzanine
30: Two Gallants (acoustic) @ Bimbo's
31: Birdmonster @ Bottom of the Hill
January:
12: Girl Talk @ The Independent
30: Deerhoof @ GAMH
February:
1: Ron Sexsmith @ GAMH
2: Of Montreal @ GAMH
3: Of Montreal @ GAMH
March:
1: Snow Patrol @ Bill Graham Civic
7: Mountain Goats @ The Independent
8: Mountain Goats @ The Independent
9: Mountain Goats @ Bottom of the Hill
19: Under Byen @ GAMH
10 November 2006
Islands (GAMH, 9 November 2006)
I remember back in Noise Pop 2004, I saw the Unicorns play GAMH. There, I witnessed the wackiness that is Nick Diamonds and the rest of the Unicorns. They were all dressed in pink and white. They all were hopping around and climbing up speakers. Yet, they sang, they played and they were fun.
Nick Diamonds, and former Unicorns drummer J'aime Tambeur, are now Islands. Along with the Chow brothers (who were 1993 and 1994 Super Nintendo champions) on strings, a sax player, a bassist and a couple of rappers, the Islands mirrors The Unicorns in many ways, but less so in the wackiness part. Personally, I think Islands are better than The Unicorns.
They came on around 11pm and the crowd immediately warmed up to them. Many going crazy every time Nick opened his mouth. Nick walked on stage with a head attached to his neck and some sort of jumpsuit. As he was singing, he removed the head and the jumpsuit, revealing a white tank top and white jeans, and then put powder on his face. It was wacky, but not that wacky. Nick also teased the crowd by going near the edge of the stage as if he was going to dive right in. He never did.
They played everything from their great album, Return to the Sea. They also did a cover of Ray Davies' "Waterloo Sunset," which they claimed was their first song. The crowd went crazy when they played "Rough Gem," "Ones," the first song in the encore "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby," and wowed with some hip hop during "Where There's a Will, There's a Whalebone."
But don't dare yell out a request for a Unicorns song. Nick heard someone from the audience yell out "Jellybones" and threatened to kick that guy's ass.
I enjoyed the show. But I was freakin' tired. So, I wasn't hopping around like the rest of them. Rest assured, if I was awake, I would have.
Beer Rating: 1/2
Nick Diamonds, and former Unicorns drummer J'aime Tambeur, are now Islands. Along with the Chow brothers (who were 1993 and 1994 Super Nintendo champions) on strings, a sax player, a bassist and a couple of rappers, the Islands mirrors The Unicorns in many ways, but less so in the wackiness part. Personally, I think Islands are better than The Unicorns.
They came on around 11pm and the crowd immediately warmed up to them. Many going crazy every time Nick opened his mouth. Nick walked on stage with a head attached to his neck and some sort of jumpsuit. As he was singing, he removed the head and the jumpsuit, revealing a white tank top and white jeans, and then put powder on his face. It was wacky, but not that wacky. Nick also teased the crowd by going near the edge of the stage as if he was going to dive right in. He never did.
They played everything from their great album, Return to the Sea. They also did a cover of Ray Davies' "Waterloo Sunset," which they claimed was their first song. The crowd went crazy when they played "Rough Gem," "Ones," the first song in the encore "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby," and wowed with some hip hop during "Where There's a Will, There's a Whalebone."
But don't dare yell out a request for a Unicorns song. Nick heard someone from the audience yell out "Jellybones" and threatened to kick that guy's ass.
I enjoyed the show. But I was freakin' tired. So, I wasn't hopping around like the rest of them. Rest assured, if I was awake, I would have.
Beer Rating:
1/2
07 November 2006
New Shows Added
November:
30: The Evangelicals @ Bottom of the Hill
December:
8: Live 105's Not So Silent Night featuring The Killers, Modest Mouse, The Raconteurs, The Shins and Silversun Pickups
29: Two Gallants @ Bimbo's
January:
12: Girl Talk @ The Independent
30: The Evangelicals @ Bottom of the Hill
December:
8: Live 105's Not So Silent Night featuring The Killers, Modest Mouse, The Raconteurs, The Shins and Silversun Pickups
29: Two Gallants @ Bimbo's
January:
12: Girl Talk @ The Independent
05 November 2006
The Knife (Mezzanine, 3 November 2006)
This was, easily, the hottest concert ticket in town. Sweden's The Knife played before an enthusiastic and packed crowd at The Mezzaznine on Friday. They brought with them a very elaborate stage set-up, with a bunch of visuals, glow-in-the-dark costumes and drum sticks and that eery, electro sound that only The Knife can produce.
I stood stage left and I was scrunched, as is customary at Mezzanine during sold out shows. It was uncomfortable in the beginning, but I eventually got used to it. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to truly enjoy the magnificent visuals The Knife had to offer. If I did, that means I had to either stand from afar or be at the venue right at 8pm.
They played about 12 songs, all from either Deep Cuts or Silent Shout. One of my favourite songs was "Pass This On." Here's a video of it I found on YouTube:
As you can see, the visuals were just amazing. There was this see-through curtain that covered the stage. I thought they were eventually going to raise it sometime during the show, but it remained there throughout. Of course, that's how the visuals were presented, and it covered Karin and Olaf, but not too bad. Karin was noticeably pregnant as well.
Another great one was "Marble House." Complete with talking head:
The biggest reception was for "Heartbeats." Whether you liked the Knife version or first heard the song through José González, you would have loved it live. Again, a YouTube video:
I have to say, the show was just jaw dropping. From the crisp sound they made, to the visuals, to the intrigue behind the Teletubbies type, glow-in-the-dark masks they wore, The Knife were well worth the hype. And Karin's voice was just amazing. Granted, it was heavily digitized, but she sang live and it still sounded album quality. I just hope that their motto of playing only a city once doesn't hold true. But if it does, I will keep this show in my pocket.
Beer Rating:1/2 Beer
I stood stage left and I was scrunched, as is customary at Mezzanine during sold out shows. It was uncomfortable in the beginning, but I eventually got used to it. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to truly enjoy the magnificent visuals The Knife had to offer. If I did, that means I had to either stand from afar or be at the venue right at 8pm.
They played about 12 songs, all from either Deep Cuts or Silent Shout. One of my favourite songs was "Pass This On." Here's a video of it I found on YouTube:
As you can see, the visuals were just amazing. There was this see-through curtain that covered the stage. I thought they were eventually going to raise it sometime during the show, but it remained there throughout. Of course, that's how the visuals were presented, and it covered Karin and Olaf, but not too bad. Karin was noticeably pregnant as well.
Another great one was "Marble House." Complete with talking head:
The biggest reception was for "Heartbeats." Whether you liked the Knife version or first heard the song through José González, you would have loved it live. Again, a YouTube video:
I have to say, the show was just jaw dropping. From the crisp sound they made, to the visuals, to the intrigue behind the Teletubbies type, glow-in-the-dark masks they wore, The Knife were well worth the hype. And Karin's voice was just amazing. Granted, it was heavily digitized, but she sang live and it still sounded album quality. I just hope that their motto of playing only a city once doesn't hold true. But if it does, I will keep this show in my pocket.
Beer Rating:1/2 Beer
04 November 2006
Love is All, Voxtrot (Popscene, 2 November 2006)
Love is All. Fantastic. They ride bikes!! They hail from Gothenberg, Sweden (the "West Side!", as Josephine said with a cute, Swedish ghetto rapper accent). Love is All made their San Francisco debut tonight at Popscene in front of a surprisingly sparse crowd. I got there early, thinking that it'll be jam packed. And why not? These guys are fantastic live and definitely worth all the buzz. Granted, their music isn't super melodic like the headliner, Voxtrot, but noise is great. Josephine Olausson's vocals reminds me of Manda Rin from the now defunct Bis. And that's a cause of great concern for a lot, but I love Bis and I love Love is All.
They played a lot of songs (which isn't surprising because most of their songs are pretty short). Nobody around me was dancing except for that little corner stage right. Josephine focused her attention to them a lot, while I was relegated to the middle front. They opened up with "Talk Talk Talk Talk" complete with cowbell in hand. Fredrik's sax was very good for this one, albeit piercing at times because of the Popscene sound system. I loved it when they played "Busy Doing Nothing" from their great album Nine Times the Same Song. I wanted to hop around and jump, but I was among still people, so I just danced in place. Same thing happened during "Spinning and Scratching." But they were lively on stage and fun to watch. They ended with "Make Out, Fall Out, Make Up" with its long guitar beats. Great! Me and some other guy shouted for "Felt Tip," but Josephine said that they don't play that well live. They even did an encore, "Used Goods"! I hope to watch them in better venues where people are more receptive. It's only a natter of time.
En ståtlig föreställning!!
As for Voxtrot, I was in the back. As I was chatting and dancing with friends, Ramesh, the band's lead singer, was singing along to Arcade Fire's "Rebellion (Lies)" as he was setting up. I like Voxtrot, but missed them several times this year for reasons I forget at the moment. They opened up with "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives." It was a fun start. Then they played "Raised by Wolves" which is one of my favourites. After that, it was a wash. I don't know why I lost focus or didn't pay attention to them after "Raised by Wolves." Maybe it was because I was destracted by thoughts of what was to happen the day after at work. Or could it be the greatness of Love is All!! Probably both. But, Voxtrot, they were good but it got boring. I think they need someone to harmonize with Ramesh. Once they do that simple thing, they will be an even better indie pop band.
Beer Ratings:
Love is All -
Voxtrot -
02 November 2006
MSTRKRFT (Mezzanine, 1 November 2006)
Today is Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead in English. It's also the post-halloween hangover for most of us. Luckily, I wasn't part of the living dead walking around S.F. Although, it seemed like the Mezzanine was that way earlier tonight. However, it eventually picked up and the crowd seemed alive and well.
I arrived at the Mezzanine to see MSTRKRFT spin their tunes. I haven't been to a DJ show in a while. If you don't count Daft Punk or Oakenfold at Coachella, it's been a good number of years since I attended anything like that. The environment was just way different than what I'm accustomed to, which isn't a bad thing.
Before MSTRKRFT, the house djs were spinning their thing and doing a rather good job at it. Club tune favourite "Over and Over" by Hot Chip got the best reaction.
MSTRKRFT came on around 11:30 and played for a good hour. It was energetic and the crowd seemed mad fer it. There were a handful of them also dancing on-stage before the bouncer kicked them out. I was tired so I wasn't into it. I did dance a bit, but not to the point of me going crazy like at the Ladytron show.
It was loud. They played everything they got, and more. Re-mixed somewhat to not make it sound boring and redundant. It was alright.
Beer Rating:1/2
I arrived at the Mezzanine to see MSTRKRFT spin their tunes. I haven't been to a DJ show in a while. If you don't count Daft Punk or Oakenfold at Coachella, it's been a good number of years since I attended anything like that. The environment was just way different than what I'm accustomed to, which isn't a bad thing.
Before MSTRKRFT, the house djs were spinning their thing and doing a rather good job at it. Club tune favourite "Over and Over" by Hot Chip got the best reaction.
MSTRKRFT came on around 11:30 and played for a good hour. It was energetic and the crowd seemed mad fer it. There were a handful of them also dancing on-stage before the bouncer kicked them out. I was tired so I wasn't into it. I did dance a bit, but not to the point of me going crazy like at the Ladytron show.
It was loud. They played everything they got, and more. Re-mixed somewhat to not make it sound boring and redundant. It was alright.
Beer Rating:
1/2
01 November 2006
Van She (Mezzanine, 31 October 2006)
This won't take long. Especially since I have an 8am dentist appointment later today.
Van She. They were alright. I was expecting a lot more from them. Which is my bad because I should have expected less. I only know one song, "Kelly," and that was played alright. On YouTube, it's much better with all the visuals of young kids making out, etc. But live, it was just an average song played by an average band. Some of the audience were into it, but I am sure they were pretty hyphy before they went to see them.
Here's the YouTube:
The only consolation was that I didn't pay. It was a free show, so I shouldn't really complain. But I will.
The first band that played, Soft Lightes, were okay too. Nothing spectacular.
I was about to leave when my friends decided to just stay a little bit to dance. So, after Van She came this other group of freestyle rappers or whatever. One of the girls was grotesquely large. I even have a dance for her (which I will demonstrate upon request). But they were fun, yet annoying. Singing stuff that we all think about like pimple popping and other nonsense. I left.
Beer Rating:
Van She. They were alright. I was expecting a lot more from them. Which is my bad because I should have expected less. I only know one song, "Kelly," and that was played alright. On YouTube, it's much better with all the visuals of young kids making out, etc. But live, it was just an average song played by an average band. Some of the audience were into it, but I am sure they were pretty hyphy before they went to see them.
Here's the YouTube:
The only consolation was that I didn't pay. It was a free show, so I shouldn't really complain. But I will.
The first band that played, Soft Lightes, were okay too. Nothing spectacular.
I was about to leave when my friends decided to just stay a little bit to dance. So, after Van She came this other group of freestyle rappers or whatever. One of the girls was grotesquely large. I even have a dance for her (which I will demonstrate upon request). But they were fun, yet annoying. Singing stuff that we all think about like pimple popping and other nonsense. I left.
Beer Rating:
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