Coldplay (Shoreline Amphitheatre, 19 August 2005)

Sorry for the lack of postings these last few days. Hopefully this weekend I'll catch up.

So, on with the show....

Coldplay. Mega. They are just one of those bands that are SO HUGE right now that it makes me proud to say that I paid $30 for their a copy of Parachutes 8 months or so before its release in the U.S. I still remember that album when I first played it for my ex-girlfriend in my hole in the wall East Village apartment, impressing her with "Yellow" and "Spies."

That was around 2000. Five years, and 3 albums, later, Coldplay is this huge behemoth of a band. So huge that they are playing the Shoreline. So huge that they sold it out completely in a matter of hours. So huge that the whole Shoreline parking lot is lined with SUVs transporting WHOLE families to their show. So huge that Chris Martin's wife is Gwyneth Paltrow. And it goes on and on...

The band opened up with "Square One" which is the customary starting song in their world tour. The stage was dim and all you can see are the silhouettes of the band. Of course, Chris was the crazy one at the back doing all sorts of weird hand gestures and dances. Like a script, he started singing to the mic adjacent to, but behind, the drums. After the spectacle, with lights and videos and everything, they launched into the first song off of Rush of Blood, "Politik." The banging keys and drums were as amazing as it was when I saw them first do this song at Bimbo's a while ago.

Chris Martin is a cheezy guy. Very cheezy. And his personality just oozed into the show. He commented to the crowd that the they felt so far away, so he encouraged everyone in the lower level to crowd the front. It was true, it did really feel like a convention rather than a concert. I was sitting in the 200 section and even though I wasn't close, the concert felt a little more intimate by him doing that.

Another cheezy moment is when the huge LCD video monitor backing the band (which I want in my house some day) told the crowd to get out their cameras and did this countdown thing so the crowd can capture the exact moment. Well, the crowd ended up taking a picture of themselves because the video that came out was them.

Coldplay is so big that I think that Chris is trying to minimize the resentment and backlash that has followed many big bands. He called the band "ugly" which the crowd snickered with. My sister didn't agree, calling Chris Martin really good looking. Also, he said that "this isn't exactly a Mariah Carey concert," which I'm not sure what he meant by that.

As to the songs, every song had its moment while others just fell flat. Most of the songs off of X&Y fell flat. Even "Speed of Sound" sounded dull. The lighting was off on other songs like "Low" and "Yellow." "Yellow" was played third, and it didn't seem right at the very beginning like that. There wasn't much fan fare to it, other than the balloons that were released towards the end of the song.

There were some excellent highlights though. "What If" was brilliantly done, with Chris' keys just pressing the right points in your psyche. "The Scientist" was excellent as always. After the song, Chris played a tape of him singing it backwards. While they were doing that, they dimmed the lights and the band grabbed random cameras from the crowd and took pictures. This lead in nicely to the acoustic set where the boys did a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire." They first did "Kingdom Come" which was a song they were supposed to do with Johnny Cash until he died. They also did an acoustic version of "Don't Panic."

But the most IMPORTANT Coldplay song ever written, "Fix You," was the highlight, and last song, of the evening. Damn that song. Nothing encapsulates my feelings at that very moment other than that 4:54 song. Shit. I hate that song. Damn Chris Martin basically read my mind and wrote a song about it. My sister feels the same way.

Despite the over 1.5 hour drive to Shoreline because of inexplicable traffic on the 101, and the somewhat long wait to get the fuck out of there, it was a great show of wholesome goodness. Not a drink of alcohol was imbibed by moi. Partly because I have to get a bracelet to do so and I can't be arsed to get one since I thought we were hella late.

I think the charm of Coldplay is that they are just really nice guys who love their fans. Despite their huge appeal and massive stature in the concert touring circuit, they still want the crowd to be immersed in their show regardless of whether they are sitting in Row 1 or Row 1000. They did that here in Shoreline. However, the concert still felt a bit off at times, with lackluster songs from X&Y and not so engaging lighting.


Beer Rating:

Gravy Train!!! (Lobot Gallery, 13 August 2005)

This was my first time at the Lobot Gallery in Oakland. Located in what seems to be the middle of nowhere, Lobot is this good sized loft/warehouse that houses some local art and the occasional show. It's located across the street from a baseball field and some trucking warehouses near the West Oakland/Emeryville border.

As 6 of us squeezed in a Subaru station wagon, our navigator relied on his vague memory via a bike route for us to get there. Surprisingly, we got there with no problems whatsoever. As all of us entered this place, it was as if I was transported to Brooklyn. It had all the elements of Brooklyn: (1) secluded area in the middle of nowhere; (2) it was dark all around; and (3) all these kids that are hipster/scenester and bike scenesters were there. The crowd was littered with a bunch of good looking and stylish kids. I was in heaven! And there was a dwarf (or was she a midget?) there that made the crowd even more diverse.

The beauty of Lobot is that there is no discernible alcohol policy so everyone, including us, brought shitloads of beer to drink. Let's just say we were able to finish all the beers we brought in, and that was a sizable number to begin with. Some kids were underage, but that didn't prevent them from downing the occasional tall boy or Pabst. There was also no discernible smoking policy, so people of all sorts were smoking their lungs away.

In the midst of all this cool atmosphere and eye candy were three bands. The Husbands, VIP and Gravy Train!!! I missed the Husbands, but caught a bit of VIP.

Lobot has no stage. They have an elevated platform that is only about 1 foot higher than the ground. Thus, this takes the whole concert going experience to a whole new level. The crowd is right in the band's face and when they go crazy, they go on stage and play. Also the sound and acoustics suck ass. But, I didn't really care.

VIP consisted of a bunch of gay wiggas rapping about God knows what. The only thing I can decipher is when they mention "VIP" somewhere in the lyrics. I didn't pay much attention, since I was busy socializing and drinking. But from what I saw as I waited in line for the bathroom, they were pretty entertaining. Talentless, but entertaining.

Enter Gravy Train!!! It's the third time I've seen this band and these guys just know how to throw a party and have some fun. Like I said above, the sound was horrible so you can barely hear and understand them. Not that you could understand Gravy Train!!! with good sound, but this made it even more impossible. I wasn't into them at first, but after all the kids were hopping around in the front, we decided to join them. Hell, if you can't beat them, join them, right?

So we did and we had an absolute blast! There was some guy with a stripped hoodie that was too ridiculous. He was over 6 ft. tall and he would hop around and run into people, and he leaned on them with all his weight. Thus, there were some unfortunate lightweights getting thrown around. Some guy warned him of this and told him to "take his advice for his best interest" and warned him that he knew jujitsu. Well, my friend came to the conclusion that the "advice" guy didn't know jujitsu because he ran away everytime stripped hoodie guy was close by. Pussy.

Anyways, so Gravy Train!!! were excellent not because their music was excellent but because they were so much fun! The whole place was dark, so I can barely see the band. Which was good because once the lights came on, the band member we affectionately call "Pinky" was wearing nothing but a jock strap and it exposed his rather large and black badunkadunk in plain view. Holy shit that was horrifying!

The highlight of the evening was the last three songs, where the entire audience just decided to invade the stage and hop around in it. I was there and I think I accidentally kicked the mic stand and a speaker whilst I was hopping around with the kids. I nearly trampled over the midget, which would have been awesome not because I may have hurt her, but because of the pure story value behind it.

Anyways, a fun night at a great space, despite the lack of sound, light and stage.

New Shows Added

September:

20: Antony & The Johnsons w/ CocoRosie @ Palace of Fine Arts

October:

1: Dungen @ The Independent
5: M.I.A. @ The Grand at Regency Center
18: The Hold Steady w/ The Constantines @ Great American Music Hall

November:

3: Metric @ Slim's
13: Death Cab for Cutie @ The Warfield

!!! (Chk Chk Chk) (Mezzanine, 4 August 2005)

Before embarking on their European tour, the seven-piece group !!! -- pronounced Chk Chk Chk in some circles, powpowpow in others -- decided to throw a free show in San Francisco as a warm-up. It wasn't announced by Mezzanine until today actually, when I received the e-mail. I got another e-mail a couple of days earlier informing me of it. It was free, so, what the hell? Why not go, right?

I came in at around midnight, figuring that they won't be on until then anyways. Well, they were already on but I'm sure I only missed a few songs. The show didn't end until 1:30am so I use that as my measuring stick.

!!! were absolutely crazy!!! And their sound was just spectacular. Nic Offer was sporting shorts and this weird parrot shirt as if he just stepped out of the beach in Honolulu. His signature curly top -- somewhat akin to Carrot Top or the lead singer of Hot Hot Heat -- was in full force tonight as well as his booming voice.

The crowd were mad for it too. Several times throughout their 90+ minute set, audience members freely jumped on stage to dance. At one point, this really skinny guy jumped on stage, took his shirt off to reveal his slender and pale physique, proceeded to do a dance off with Nic and then slowly pulled his pants down to moon the crowd. It was quite a spectacle! Another time, this dumb ass Asian girl, who was crunked out of her mind, started dancing on stage and fell on her ass at least 3 times. I was so embarrassed for her that I wanted to leave just avoid seeing it.

Wisely, I didn't. !!! is an eccentric band, employing every piece of musical instrument imaginable. They played a bunch of new songs, all of which sounded absolutely brilliant and dancey. It's hard to describe any of the new songs, let alone tell you the titles (since most have none), but all I can say is it follows the thread of !!!'s previous releases. It's as dancey as "Intensified" and as intense as "Me and Giuliani..."

With their new songs came the hits such as "Me and Giuliani..." which was the third to the last song played. This song drove the crowd bonkers, and it made me dance in place too. It was so full of energy and outstanding musicianship that every note and beat were in perfect synch. Nic was doing some original improv throughout the song, but it just blended so well with the sound that you hardly thought he was doing something different.

"Pardon My Freedom" was another song that drove the crowd ape shit. The front rows were dancing to their hearts' content, with some attempting to crowd surf above the others.

Overall, this is one of the best free shows I've seen in a while. A definite crowd pleaser.

More New Shows Added

September:

6: Brian Jonestown Massacre @ The Independent

November:

3: Metric @ Slim's

New Shows Added

August:

3: !!! (Chk Chk Chk) @ Mezzanine [FREE]
5: Mesh Magazine & Virgin69 Summer Soirée @ Cat Club
5: Club Loaded presents 8-Bit @ Rickshaw Stop
18: Gus Gus @ Mezzanine

September:

6: OK Go / The Redwalls / The Colour @ Cafe Du Nord
17: Feist @ Great American Music Hall
27: Athlete @ Slim's
30: Fiery Furnaces @ Cafe Du Nord

October:

1: Fiery Furnaces @ Cafe Du Nord
1: Sigur Ros @ The Paramount Theatre [On-Sale This Sunday]
15: Deerhoof @ Great American Music Hall
23: Okkervil River @ Cafe Du Nord
25: Pretty Girls Make Graves @ Bottom of the Hill

December:

2: The Wrens @ Slim's

Mesh Magazine & Virgin69 Summer Soirée

10PM-3AM
Mesh Magazine & Virgin69 Present
The Summer Soirée
with DJs
Jenny Fake (Fake/Sixxteen)
Jet Set James (Jailbait UK)
Marco Vega (Suicide/Guilty Pleasures)
Vin Sol
Spinning ?80s, Brit-pop, new wave, indie, & hip-hop
Plus t-shirt giveaways & more!

@ The Cat Club
1190 Folsom Street @ 8th Street
San Franscisco
$5 before 11PM/$7 after
21+ w/ID

New Shows Added

September:

6: The Redwalls @ Cafe Du Nord
9: The Hacker @ Mighty
17: Paul Weller @ The Warfield
22: Stellastarr* @ Popscene

October:

5: M.I.A. @ The Grand
8: Download Festival @ Shoreline Ampitheatre
23: The Go! Team @ The Fillmore

Kaiser Chiefs / Brendan Benson / The Cribs (The Fillmore, 25 July 2005)

For the first time in a long time, I was actually interested in seeing a show from start to finish. All three bands are huge in their own right. The Cribs are one of those big NME bands, Brendan Benson is popular amongst the indie elite and the Kaiser Chiefs are getting so big that Liam Gallagher of Oasis feels somewhat threatened by their ascent into the UK rock scene.

The Cribs came on first although they should have been on second. The trio from Yorkshire, England provided a strong and solid set full of songs from The New Fellas. I missed the opener, but it was apparently "Hey Scenester!" which is appropriate since most of the people who like The Cribs fall into that category. Although, disappointingly, there are no scenesters in the crowd here at the Fillmore tonight. More songs were played, and more drunken banter was given by Gary while his brothers, Ryan and Ross, provided more theatrics. They even did a cover song - but the title escapes me at the moment. An amazingly short set, but it packed a punch.

Speaking of punches, the next band didn't have the punch that was needed. Or, to put it another way, I would have liked to punch these guys out so they can hurry up with their set. Local boy (Berkeley) Brendan Benson started off right with a really good indie pop rawk tune but afterwards everything sounded the same. There was no "umph" in most of the songs, and this is coming from someone who has never heard of Brendan Benson and was open to the idea of possibly liking his tunes. Their sound reminds me of Ambulance Ltd. although Ambulance is much better. Even when Mr. Benson played an acoustic guitar, I still couldn't tell much of a difference from one song to the next.

Then the Kaiser Chiefs came on. They had the lighting and they have the background (the largest football towel ever created with the Kaiser Chiefs' album cover on it) to show that this band definitely has arisen from indie stars to arena rock. The high powered, high energy, heavy clapping and yelling set featured all the hits off their debut album with a few new songs (or were they b-sides?) mixed therein.

Ricky Wilson was as jumpy and energetic as ever. I swear the guy must be on speed everytime he comes on. His jumping scares me sometimes, especially since that's how he broke his ankle the last time they were in the U.S. They opened up with "Na Na Na Na Naa" amidst the glow of disco lights that nearly blinded me. "I Predict a Riot" was played about 4 songs after that, with the crowd going hog wild over it. Then the Chiefs mellowed it down for a bit with the beautiful "You Can Have It All." Ricky says that if you don't like that song, then you don't have soul. Apparently, everyone in the crowd had soul, including lucky audience member Elizabeth joining Ricky on-stage for a dance and a serenade.

My favourite track from the album is "Oh My God!" I had to restrain myself from jumping up high at some point. Even stop myself from running to the front and join the merry people hopping like bunny rabbits. A similar reaction happened during "Modern Way."

After the main set, the crowd wanted more. And they yelled out "Kaiser Chiefs!" ad nauseum and did the clap that we so often hear at shows. They came back out with a thunderous ovation from the crowd. They closed with "Caroline, Yes," which is a weird way to close out the set.

Overall, the Kaiser Chiefs were spectacular. The Cribs are very promising and I will check them out when they headline the smaller venues here. Brendan Benson is alright, but at least I can say I checked them out.

Ashbury (Cafe Du Nord, 22 July 2005)

Ashbury is a band from Los Angeles whose music is akin to Joy Division and Interpol, with a hint of The Killers (sans the pretty boys). This five-piece band is opening up for The Lovemakers, who has a week long residency at Cafe Du Nord. I arrived early, by show standards, at the venue and was surprised to see how full it was.

Ashbury consists of Jesse B. at vocals, Raul Martinez on guitar, Erik Hernandez on synths, Andy Magallon on bass and Greg Fierro banging the drums. As they were playing their first song, I immediately realize Jesse B.'s stoic stage presence. It seems like he is either just standing there looking at the ceiling or the floor after each song. This is not a band thing, since I think it adds to the dynamic of the band.

Another observation is that this band is ridiculously tight -- meaning these guys can rock. Especially Andy Magallon's bass. The bass sound was predominant throughout the night, and it would have been disappointing if I had to hear anything else. Erik's playful and cheerful demeanor on the keyboards was also evident, with several of the ladies around me commenting on his "cute shirt."

"Doubt Remains" was a definite highlight of their set. I was very impressed with the synths and bass, and it is definitely one of the better tracks on their new single. Jesse B.'s voice was so creepy during some of the songs, that if you closed your eyes, you'd swear Ian Curtis never died.

There was a good sized crowd that came in to see Ashbury and Ashbury entertained them from beginning to end with their great instrumentation and conflicting, yet appropriate, stage presences.

New Show Added: M.I.A.

M.I.A.
The Grand at Regency Center
October 5, 2005

[Unfortunately, the same night as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!]

New Festival Added: Download Festival

Download Festival
Shoreline Ampitheatre
8 October 2005

Featuring:

The Killers
The Arcade Fire
Doves
Modest Mouse

More TBA.

Source: Live 105

New Shows Added

September:

15: The Bravery & Maximo Park @ The Fillmore
18: The Arcade Fire @ The Warfield
22: Bloc Party @ The Warfield
29: M83 @ Mezzanine

October:

19: Iron & Wine / Calexico @ The Fillmore
20: Tortoise @ The Independent
21: Tortoise @ The Independent
21: Nada Surf @ Bimbo's

November:

10: The Clientele @ Bottom of the Hill

December:

1: The Wrens @ Bottom of the Hill

The Go! Team (Bimbo's, 20 July 2005)

Life is full of surprises. Count The Go! Team as one of those surprises - one good and one bad.

Last year, i hailed the Go! Team's new album as one of the best releases in 2004. Thunder, Lightning, Strike was one of those albums that completely went underneath everyone's radar. While everyone was raving about the Arcade Fire or Bright Eyes, the Go! Team went silently along the way. Now, with a lot more press and some exposure at venues in the U.S. like SXSW, the Go! Team is now one of those bands whose hype is following them around - in every venue in their current U.S. tour.

But what made the album so brilliant and fun to listen to went *kaput* in their live performance. See, the reason why I liked the Go! Team's album is because the instruments did the talking while the talking was merely an afterthought. The singing was in the background, rather than in the forefront, and the instruments dominated the songs. Songs like "Panther Dash" were so strong and fun because the vocals were minimal and the guitars were just booming.

At Bimbo's, The Go! Team's focus went from instrumentation to vocals. Ninja is the culprit. God bless her, she's a fun girl to watch. A lot of stage presence. Really made the crowd participate throughout the night with a lot of that side-to-side arm waving reminiscent of that "Hip Hop Hooray!" song by Naughty by Nature back in the 1990's. But fuck girl, must you sing for every single song?

I've got issues with Ninja. She ruined my favourite song off of Thunder, Lightning, Strike. Yes, "Panther Dash", which they opened with, was ruined because her vocals drowned out the sound. Her rapping of incoherent words destroyed the song. I'm listening to "Panther Dash" right now, and the only words that Ninja ever echoes in the song is "1, 2, 3." This can also be said with plenty of the band's other songs, such as "Get It Together" and "The Power is On." If only they sampled her voice instead of doing live. Or maybe even toning down her mic a bit so that she doesn't dominate but instead co-exists with it.

She wasn't all that bad though. Songs where her vocals were appropriate lived up to my expectations. In "Huddle Formation," she sang it well but only because the sound drowned her out a bit.

The songs that were the best were, ironically, the ones where Ninja didn't sing. "Junior Kickstart" absolutely kicked ass live. This is because the band just went and rocked out rather than having Ninja sing. Also, their song "The Ice Storm" was also really good. In this song, Ninja merely pressed a bell rather than sing. So, she is good for something.

All my friends agreed that this was the case. We even dubbed the band "Spice Team" because of Ninja's antics. Or, as I repeatedly said last night, it's like you're expecting to drink Coca-Cola but yet when you sip your drink, it was actually Sprite. Yeah, you are shocked and appalled because you have trained your taste buds to taste Coca-Cola. Well, in this case, my ears were not trained to hear Ninja. Thus, when I heard Ninja, I was dumbfounded.

Overall, a good show. Despite the surprises.

The Arcade Fire at Warfield

The Arcade Fire
The Warfield
September 18, 2005
$25 at Ticketmaster
On Sale: Sunday, July 24

Sufjan Stevens (GAMH, 17 July 2005)

Sufjan Stevens has some crazy goals. His latest one, the "50 States Project", is an attempt to compose an entire record for each of the 50 states in the Union. Well, he has two down (Michigan and Illinois) and 48 to go (unless we make Puerto Rico or Guam a state as this project unfolds).

Tonight, Sufjan and his Illinoise-makers are performing in support of his latest album, Illinois. He started off the set going solo with an acoustic guitar performing "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois." I've never seen Sufjan Stevens before, and I was amazed by his vocal capabilities. While some artist whose album voices tend to fall apart live, Sufjan's voice remained amazingly flawless. Every low note, high note and everything in between was done extremely well. Unlike some soft voices, which Sufjan has, his dominates the room. It grabs the listener and makes you focus on every minute detail of his singing.

Afterwards, he was joined by the Illinoise-makers (or the Michigan Militia if he were touring Michigan). They were all in their cheerleading outfits, convincingly looking like a squad from the University of Illinois. Sufjan foreshadowed his set by telling the crowd about the random cheers that they were going to do in between songs and inviting the audience for any constructive criticism afterwards.

The first cheer they did was about Peoria, Illinois. It was a cute cheer, and it was very charming to see him and the others make such a bad cheer seem good. In fact, Sufjan noted that he hoped to make the district finals with his cheers.

More songs from Illinois were played, including "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!" Definitely one of the highlights of this gig, it was just really good to see Sufjan perform with such a full sound and with a full band.

Much of the songs played by Sufjan seemed a lot longer than the album version. Although there are 22 tracks in Illinois, it seemed like Sufjan played only a small handful of songs. This is because the length of each one of these songs were long. Despite this extended play, the show was still enjoyable.

Two more cheers were done. One of which had a reference to Balki Bartocamus which just had me rolling. Both were equally good as the first, and it was just so cute!

They ended their main set with "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts." An obvious ode to Superman (which ironically sued Sufjan's record company about Superman's likeness in the Illinois album). It was probably the most lively song done of the entire set. Which is fitting since this would ideally leave the crowd wanting more for the encore.

Overall, a great show. If you were a Sufjan novice or maybe have never heard of him, then you may have found it boring. Since I knew full well what I was getting myself into, I enjoyed it a lot.

New Shows Added

July:

15: Numbers/Deerhoof/Jolie Holland @ Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
15: Club Bang! with DJ Carlos D. of Interpol @ Mezzanine
18: Kings of Leon/Secret Machines @ The Fillmore
28: Nine Black Alps @ Amoeba S.F.
31: Hot Hot Heat @ The Fillmore

August:

20: Von Iva/Hey Willpower @ The Independent
24: The New Pornographers @ Amoeba S.F.
28: Black Mountain @ The Independent

September:

11: The Decemberists @ The Fillmore
12: The Decemberists @ The Fillmore
21: Bloc Party @ The Warfield
23: Stellastarr* @ The Independent

October:

5: The National/Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! @ Mezzanine
6: Franz Ferdinand/TV On the Radio @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
29: American Analog Set @ Bottom of the Hill
30: American Analog Set @ Bottom of the Hill

My Favorite (Rickshaw Stop, 8 July 2005)

After I left work at 5pm on Friday, my entire night was open. I had no plans whatsoever, and thought a night in would do me a world of good. I've been tired all week, and still feel overwhelmed by the things around me.

After being urged by a friend to go out, I was determined to find something remotely interesting to do. So, I thought that maybe Club I.D. or Loaded would be on tonight, but instead the S.F. Popfest was going down. I didn't know any of the bands on tonight's bill, but by a stroke of fate, I clicked on My Favorite. I read their bio and the words "Belle and Sebastian" immediately made me a skeptic. I checked out their website, saw their videos, listened to their tunes. I was impressed. They were good. Indie pop at it's most basic yet most beautiful. I had to go.

I convinced the others to go and there we were at Rickshaw Stop at around 11pm. The band came on shortly thereafter. My Favorite is a five piece ensemble, with Andrea Vaughn's angelic, Sarah Cracknell type voice filling the venue. Andrea's signature "schtick" (if you can call it that) is the varying inscriptions on her arms.

I've never seen this band, nor do I know any of the song's titles other than what was sampled on their website. However, I do know that they opened up with "Le Monster" off their most recent album The Happiest Day of Our Lives. Very good start to the show with the drumming and guitar work just oozing with indie poppy-ness. My one critique about this song is that it's too long. It could have been shortened, and it still would have been a great song.

The low-light of this show is when Michael Grace, Jr. would sing. Like Blake from Rilo Kiley, this guy was just horrible when he sang. Of course, that's just my opinion but real My Favorite fans absolutely adore him. Granted, he is entertaining when he does side chatter (sometimes) but not when he sings. Actually, I'd rather have Blake sing compared to this guy.

Andrea and Michael would trade vocals for every other song. Thus, like a roller coaster, there were plenty of ups and downs during their set.

The absolute highlight was when they played "Burning Hearts." This is an indie pop song created to perfection. Todbot's drumming in this song is just spectacular and well timed. Especially in the very beginning of the song. It's just the right amount of intensity involved and immediately catches your attention. Again, Andrea's voice was spectacular, and Michael's more appropriate role as backing singer is perfect for this song.

I don't understand why these guys didn't headline, but left it to the Orange Peels to do so. The Orange Peels were horrible and I need not discuss that band any more than I have to. But, My Favorite were spectacular (without Michael singing lead). They are not my favorite yet, but they may soon will be.

Beer Rating: 2.5 Beers

Annie / The Lovemakers / Every Move a Picture (Mighty, 1 July 2005)

Ah, the long weekend finally arrives. Ever since I wake up on Friday morning, I've been counting down the seconds until the work day is done. I had some exciting plans this weekend, including a show that showcases three very good acts. With an after party at my place planned, there was much to look forward to once 9pm hit on Friday. Why not start the July 4th weekend off with a bang, you know?

My friends and I arrived at Mighty at around 9:30 on Friday. I've never been to Mighty. It seemed like a good space from the outside, and the queue was pretty long once we got there. Luckily we got there early. Upon entering, the space itself was pretty big. As a friend of a friend said, "It reminds me of PPAD (Peach Pit After Dark) from 90210." Very fitting.

Every Move a Picture came on first. This band is getting a lot of hype of late, most notably through their appearance at SXSW and at Live 105's BFD Festival. I first saw these guys open up for The Bravery at Cafe Du Nord a while back, and thought they were pretty good. Well, here, I think they were just okay. I think the sound system had something to do with their average performance. The last song they played, "Signs of Life," was pretty well done. That's when the crowd started paying attention. I'm a sucker for synths, and "Signs of Life" has a really good one towards the middle.

The Lovemakers were next. This band is another one of those big hype local bands. After being swooped up by Interscope, and apparently having a Eurythmic as their producer for their next album, the buzz around this band was pretty obvious from the now much larger crowd present. When they came on, they sounded promising. The sound was much louder compared to Every Move a Picture's set, and Scott Blonde and Lisa Light were quite entertaining to watch. They emit a lot of sex in their stage performance, and that was evident when Lisa showered herself with water about part way through their set. Not wanting to be outdone, Scott took his shirt off to reveal a somewhat toned torso (much to the delight of the gay boys and straight girls in the crowd). They were very entertaining, but I just wasn't into their sound that much.

Finally, the alleged highlight of the evening, Annie, came on a little after midnight. I love Anniemal and the catchy pop tunes in there. It's been in constant rotation in my iPod, with "Heartbeat," "Chewing Gum," and "Me Plus One" being my favourites. What plagued the two previous bands was the sound at Mighty being inconsistent. Here, Annie's performance was a victim of the poor sound off of her mic, coupled by her rather weak vocals. At one point, the recorded backing vocals were just too loud. It instantly reminded me of Ashlee Simpson's embarassing moment on SNL, but it didn't happen here. Annie's set was somewhat entertaining, but fell way below my expectations. "Chewing Gum" was the 3rd or 4th song played, and it really didn't make me want to dance. Which was a damn shame. "Me Plus One" also fell victim to her lackluster vocals and uneven sound at Mighty. Then there were a couple of instrumental songs which just didn't mesh well with the entire set. I got so bored that I left early and missed "Heartbeat." I wasn't that upset, given the poor performance, in leaving early, but I was quite upset that: (1) I didn't drink enough to enjoy this show and (2) that I dragged my friends and hyped this shit up when it was a total let down.

The 4th of July weekend didn't start off with a bang. Instead, the fireworks were duds, and I was left wondering why the hell it happened this way.

Beer Rating: 4.5 Beers

David Byrne (Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA, 26 June 2005)

I don't know much of David Byrne other than what he released with the Talking Heads. I didn't pay much attention to Talking Heads or David Byrne until Arcade Fire covered "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" in San Francisco. After that, I bought the Talking Heads' Best Of and didn't realize that these were the same guys who did "Psycho Killer" and "Burning Down the House."

After the high of Arcade Fire, and my anger for missing half of their set, I made my rounds around Hollywood Bowl and quickly saw some friends. It couldn't have worked out better since all three of them were within ear shot of one another. I got the scoop from Robin on Tom and Katie (she still insists its a stunt), said hello to Dylan (who was sporting an Arcade Fire shirt) and my yearly visit with Angela (who I finally gave that damn mix CD to!). Oh, and Jason cut his finger trying to open a Beck's using my dad's signature bottle opening trick, but I managed to find his dad who just happened to have a band aid. Go figure.

So, here comes David Byrne. After a brief introduction by Nic Harcourt, David Byrne immediately launced into song, citing the rather strict time guidelines of the venue. Sporting a pink seersucker suit (I think), he launched into one of his solo songs that I have no idea of. It sounded good, but there's just way too much of those bongo drums going on. More of his solo stuff was played, accompanied with strings, along with one Talking Heads song that I don't know the tile of. At this point, Jason and I were bored. We noticed that all the young kids were gone and how we were all surrounded by old people (i.e. 40 yrs. and older). The only thing amusing us is seeing this Beyonce looking silhouette in the Terrace section dancing.

This is where Jason made one of the greatest predictions in concert history. He said something along the lines that David Byrne is going to do a Destiny's Child song. Now, that is just an outrageous claim to begin with, especially since the man is making this prediction after finishing all but 3 bottles of the Beck's that night. We had a good laugh and continued to watch the show.

Things started to pick up once David Byrne played "Burning Down the House." I was in the bathroom at that time and once people heard that song, the bathroom immediately emptied and everyone ran back to their seats. The oldies were dancing now, so much so that you can hear the creaks in their knees. I have to admit, it was a great rendition and I was caught tapping my feet with the 3/4 beat.

After a couple more songs, David Byrne introduced Arcade Fire. This was definitely expected and they played "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" with Regine on the steel drum and the blokes all sharing a mic doing backing vocals. At times, Win would trade vocals with David Byrne. Overall, another excellent rendition of a fan favourite. The addition of the Tosca strings and David Byrne's session musicians gave the song a lot more than usual.

Then this is the part of the show where things started to get weird.

After a couple more songs, here comes Extra Action Marching Band coming from the sides of Sec. K2 and marching their way over to the other side of the Bowl, and then down towards the stage. Lead by their cheerleading squad of 2 guys and 4 girls and 2 flag girls, the band found their way on stage and played for about 7 minutes.

Then, the percussion section of the band stayed and the horns stood on the side a bit. Then David Byrne played "Burning Down the House" which drove the entire Bowl ape shit. I too was having a lot of fun at this point.

Just when you think it couldn't get any better than that, the rest of Extra Action joined in David Byrne. This time, the cheerleaders were dressed in their signature skimpy thong outfits (yes, even the guys were dressed like that - I feel sorry for the guys that had to stand in front of them) lining the outside of the pool circle. Then David said, "we've never done this before, so here it goes."

The horns started playing, and oddly enough it sounded like a Beyonce song. I'm like, "NO WAY!" And it was! It was "Crazy in Love"!! [WATCH CLIP: David Byrne - Crazy In Love] Jason called it (OK, it's not a Destiny's Child song, but it's close enough). This was absolutely amazing! The cheerleaders were doing their whole pom-pom thing and Extra Action and the band were just going crazy. David Byrne didn't know the lyrics, so he was cheating by keeping his head down and reading it. He would stick his head up during the chorus, but it didn't matter at this point. Everyone in the Bowl was dancing and standing up. People were looking at one another with huge smiles in their faces, but yet a puzzled look in their eyes. Mobile phones were raised up high with the listener in the other side probably cursing to him/herself that they weren't there to witness this one-of-a-kind spectacle.

That was the last song and as people were exiting the venue, they couldn't stop talking about the cover song.

As we left the venue, we saw Lloyd again! This time we yelled out his name. "LLOYD!!" And he would constantly ignore Jason and I. He was sort of far, but we wanted to say hello. He would still ignore us. We then saw him walking alone on Hollywood Blvd. and we again yelled but again he would ignore us. So, if Lloyd is reading this, what gives man? Why you dissin'? Well, I hope you enjoyed the show.

Beer Rating: 1.5 Beers

The Arcade Fire (Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA, 26 June 2005)

After a crazy night in Philadelphia, I am now in Los Angeles hoping to garner enough energy to enjoy Arcade Fire and, possibly, David Byrne. Of course, nothing prepared me for what I was about to witness tonight. This is, easily, the best Hollywood Bowl show I have seen thus far. Yes, even better than Radiohead front row at the Hollywood Bowl.

I arrived at 11:45am in Los Angeles from my stop over in Atlanta. I flew AirTran, f/k/a ValuJet. It's not a bad airline actually. Service was great, no food but what do you expect. I just wish I wasn't sitting in the window. I held it in for 3 hours and upon landing in L.A., and dodging two parapalegics and a geriatric to get to the bathroom, I got my second wind.

I'll spare you the trip to the Vietnamese sandwich shop where pork is apparently like mana from heaven, how Jason bought a 12 pack of Becks for our show drinking pleasure for only $4 thanks to a mix up at Ralph's in Arcadia and how Hollywood Blvd. is the worst possible route one can take to go to the Bowl.

So, after walking from the parking lot at Hollywood and Highland (N.B.: validate so you can save $8 on parking), lugging our $4 Becks, and being constantly ignored by Lloyd (yeah, we saw you Lloyd, you wouldn't even say hi despite us saying hi to you!) we finally made it to the venue. The will call line was SO LONG but we were there a little after 7pm and thought there was no way Arcade Fire is playing anytime soon. Well, we were gravely mistaken. At approximately 7:45pm, I heard the beginning guitars to "Laika." Jason and I were shocked, and pissed, at missing our favourite live Arcade Fire song. This called for desparate measures. I had the bright idea of trying to bribe my way to the front. I offered a guy $10 but he flat out declined, and so did the others. What's wrong with you people! You and your morals. Geez!

So, we got our tickets and ran like hell to our seats. Thus far, we missed "Wake Up," "Laika," "No Cars Go," "Haiti," and "I'm Sleeping in a Submarine." I was so angry for my mix up (N.B.: Use TicketFast and the extra $2.50 for next Hollywood Bowl event) but was quickly distracted by the view of the bowl, the lighting on the stage, and Regine's wonderful voice for "In the Backseat." The acoustics for the Hollywood Bowl is incomparable to any venue I've been in before, and our seats in Sec. K1, Row 7 was just right. Once the closing strings were played for this song, it just eminated throughout the venue. Regine's voice and the awesome sound sent shivers down my spine. Literally.

Win seemed very into the crowd and was just dumbfounded by the audience's reaction to each and every song. He thanked the crowd a lot, and even cracked a joke. Will just graduated from university (applause) and Win said that this was his first day on the job. Win further emphasized that "getting a college degree is very important, I wouldn't know what I'd be doing right now with my religious studies degree. Stay in school." I guess you have to be there to truly appreciate this deadpan remark, but it was hilarious!

Then "Crown of Love" played and again, shivers went down my spine. I cannot emphasize enough how awesome the acoustics are and this is a venue I see the Arcade Fire playing again. Once "Tunnels" came on, people were on their feet. Probably because they thought that "Tunnels" was the last song, and people gave the band a standing ovation upon finishing that song. But they kept on going, much to my pleasure. "Power Out" was next and after that blistering song, with Wil killing the living shit out of the cymbal, the crowd gave the band another standing ovation. At this point, they thought it was over, but I knew better. Little did these Arcade Fire novices know that "Tunnels" segways into "Rebellion (Lies)" and at this point there was dancing everywhere. From the rich folks in the garden boxes to the huge crowd of people in the back of sections P and M, people were filling the aisles with dancing, hopping, and just plain maniacal screaming. I went ape shit in my little section, taking it all in.

That was the final song, and afterwards Win unplugged his guitar and walked around the pool circle area. As he went around, the rest of the band did their march towards stage left. As the lights flickered dim, Tim's silhouette was the last one to be seen.

This is the seventh time I've seen Arcade Fire (S.F. (x4), L.A. (x2) and Coachella) and every single show was as memorable as the one before. This show added a whole new dimension to their greatness. More people are now figuring out how great this band is. So much so that Tower Records nearly sold out of copies of Funeral in their little kiosk.

Beer Rating: 1.5 Beers

Oasis (Festival Pier at Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, PA, 25 June 2005)

It was 5am on a Saturday morning on a fall day in 1995. I was 17 years old and was awaiting my ride to the cross country meet at Kit Carson Park. As I was awaiting my ride, I opted to turn on the television and my teenage instinct immediately lead me to tune it to MTV. Back then, MTV would play music videos and the most obscure of these videos would play in the early morning hours. As I sat there, this song called "Live Forever" by Oasis was on. The very beginning was in black and white, with this guy looking like a sixties hipster staring at me. As the drum beats went on, and as this guy snarled the worlds "Maybe, I don't really want to know, how your garden grows..." I was immediately drawn to this song and music video. I just sat there, probably part in awe of how terrific this song was but also partly because I'm sleepy as fuck. The video finished and I ran outside to meet my ride.

My love for Oasis didn't materialize that day. I didn't really pay much attention to that song or that video much until my friend Roman gave me a mix tape. This is the mix tape from the heavens. The mix tape that radically changed my life. In this mix tape was the Oasis song, "Live Forever" as well as "Supersonic." I loved "Supersonic," with that singer's snarl and confidence saying "I'm feeling supersonic, give me gin and tonic, you can have it all but how much do you want it?" I then bought Definitely Maybe.

Fast forward to 1996. I was in college and I was driving home from La Jolla on Miramar Rd. I tuned it to 92.5 FM, the now defunct Flash, and heard this song. The beginning was this really soft, yet simple, acoustic guitar. Dr. Dre says that you can tell a lot about a song by listening to the first 20 seconds of it. Well, the first 20 seconds were terrific and I immediately turned up the volume. Then it was the snarl again. It was Oasis. I didn't even know they released a single that day, let alone another album. "Today, was gonna be the day..." I was hooked. This was my band. I immediately made a u-turn and went to the Music Trader in Miramar. I bought (What's the Story?) Morning Glory.

Oasis became my band that day. The #1 band in my little world. I was obsessed. I traded in a majority of my alternative CDs in exchange for 3 to 4 song import singles released by Oasis. I remember trading in Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Vitalogy so I can get Oasis' Whatever EP. And boy was that trade well worth it. Then I heard they were touring, the first stop being in San Francisco on a Saturday. I didn't hesitate. I flew to San Francisco and witnessed my very first Oasis show at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium that night. As I entered the venue, being one of the first few in line, I saw the huge Oasis banner in this equally huge venue. I ran to it, with this rush of excitement going through every bone in my body. I ignored the calls of security to "slow down" or "no running". I was there in front. It was an
amazing show! I raised my hand up high, "LIAM!!" "NOEL!!" I sang to every tune, bounced to every beat, pushed and shoved to every word out of Liam's mouth. After the show, I was a wreck. Physically, I felt like I just went through a war zone full of thugs. Emotionally, I cannot believe I witnessed my first Oasis concert. This was certainly not my last.

From that point on, I made every effort to see Oasis whenever possible. No matter how near or far, I will see Oasis. If there was a weekend date and nothing pressing was going on, I will fly to see Oasis. So far, I have seen Oasis in Los Angeles, San Francisco (x2), New York (x5), Detroit, Chicago, and now Philadelphia, and very soon, Austin and San Diego.

Now that you have that background about my profound devotion to Oasis, let me begin my review of my Philadelphia experience. I cashed in my US Airways miles and got a first class ticket on the red eye to Philly from San Francisco on Friday. Arrived in Philly at my friend Pat's flat at around 6:30am. Slept for a bit. Ate brunch. Slept for a bit again. And then we were off to his friend's place at around 6pm for drinks. Boy, we were drinkin'! Beer was flowing like tap water from a faucet. I don't remember how many I drank before the show, nor how many I drank overall, but I was well near drunk when we all got to Festival Pier. And that's the way I liked it.

I was with Pat's friends, all of whom were very nice and loved Oasis. I couldn't have asked for better company. We missed Jet, which we weren't too concerned about, and decided to grab some more drinks before the show. The area was small for an Oasis show, about 3,000 people, and it is outdoors. The forecast was for a steamy and balmy night in Philly, but it wasn't even like that. The weather was ideal and the setting couldn't have been better. It was a lot like Pier 39 in San Francisco, where the venue overlooked the bridge and it's all standing room.

Then the recorded countdown began. Oasis has been using this as their entrance music since at least Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. The lights got dimmer, the crowd got noisier, I got ancy and wanted to go as close to the front as possible. Glenn, Pat's brother, and I decided to squeeze our way closer, but got as close as the middle because this rather big guy prevented my advancement. Rightfully so, since I hate guys like that too, but I didn't care.

They started off with "Turn Up the Sun" and the band sounded fantastic. My view was somewhat obstructed, but from what I saw Gem was wearing a red Penguin brand shirt and Liam was wearing a white shirt with pinstriped blazer like in Madison Square Garden. The band sounded clear and well rehearsed. Liam's voice couldn't have been better. Then "Lyla" came on. With my hands tied behind my back and one knee slightly bent, I sang along - much to the dismay of some people around me. I didn't care. This is my band and I can do whatever the hell I want! I'm Mad Fer It!

Then the classics came on. "Cigarettes and Alcohol," "Morning Glory" and "Bring it on Down" came on next, though I don't know in what order. "All your dreams were made, when you're chained to the mirror and the razor blade" was sang by me really loud. Fist in the air! Others were doing it too. When Liam sang "So I guess that you might as ...." I sang the "Well..." part of it. Fucking amazing!

More new songs were played such as "The Importance of Being Idle" and "Love Like a Bomb." "Meaning of Soul" was also played and it was played really, really fast. I don't know whether the band were anxious to leave, but it seemed like all the songs were much shorter than they were supposed to be. I guess me being in the state that I was may have contributed to that perception as well.

"Champagne Supernova" and "Live Forever" were played and they were beautifully done. Pure bliss. At that point, I was just so happy to see my band play and for them to play this song. The band left, then they immediately returned for their three song encore. It was no surprise that they played "Wonderwall" next and I jumped up and down like a rabbit during mating season. "Don't Look Back in Anger" was next and at that point, I had one arm around some bloke who was enjoying the show to my left and then Glenn to my right. We all sang it in unison. Oasis song gives me and others a sense of camraderie. I've never met either person on my side before until that night, yet we sang this song as if we knew each other for years.

In typical Oasis style, they ended their set with a cover of the Who's "My Generation." I was so drunk that I mistook the Who with the Rolling Stones, but who cares. "My Generation" Oasis-style was superb, with just so much energy and bravado that the Who probably wished they did it Oasis-style. The key to a show is that the band leaves you wanting more. Well, I definitely wanted more Oasis but that's how the story goes. It was unfortunate that they didn't play "Hindu Times" or "Supersonic" or even anything from Be Here Now, but beggars can't be choosers.

It was around midnight at that point. After luckily hailing a cab, we went to the pub again for a night cap. We talked Oasis and all its glory. I stumbled home to Pat's apartment at around 3am, awaiting my 5am cab ride to the airport for a 6am departure to Atlanta, and then a 10am departure to Los Angeles. I was mad drunk, the world was spinning and I had the biggest headache. When I entered the plane, I reeked of cigarettes and alcohol (they still let you smoke inside bars in Philly) and my eyes were bloodshot red. I just sat in my aisle seat and slept the entire flight. To Los Angeles, the same thing.

I'm rejuvenated and ready to take on another concert tonight, this time my #2 favourite band at the moment. But nothing can top Oasis. Their show in Philly was outstanding, and I can hardly contain my excitement in seeing them in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Austin in September.

Beer Rating: 0 Beer

Rilo Kiley (The Grand, 18 June 2005)

Thus far, I've seen Rilo Kiley twice and although they put on solid performances during those times, the show didn't really astound me or make me say, "Wow! Now this is a good band!" The likelihood of that happening was minimal for last night's show at the Grand, especially since this venue is just way massive and uncomfortable to be in. Why? I have no clue, but it just is. Kind of like the Concourse - it's just awkward.

Thus, with that in mind, my expectations for Rilo Kiley were pretty modest to begin with. I love all their albums, especially The Execution of All Things, so my like for them isn't casual by any means.

Feist opened up for Rilo Kiley and the crowd seem to like her a lot more now compared to her opening slot for Kings of Convenience. It sure helps to have a Juno award under your belt and some publicity, but she put on a good set for the 3 songs that I saw her perform. It wasn't that impressive, but it was not as boring or as dissonant as most other opening bands. She stood alone on stage, using an electric guitar for the songs I saw her perform. I assume she used an acoustic guitar as well, since there was one present by her side.

Rilo Kiley came on shortly thereafter to a thunderous ovation. They opened up with my favourite track from More Adventurous, "It's a Hit." The horns opening up the set livened up the crowd, kind of like how a bugle would rowdy up the French Foreign Legion. A couple more songs from More Adventurous were played, including "Portions for Foxes" and "Does He Love You?" I love "Does He Love You?" live because of Jenny's prolonged "I" towards the middle of the song. Tonight's version is way more upbeat and loud compared to the previous versions I saw.

More songs from More Adventurous were played, but Rilo Kiley also played 2 or 3 new songs as well. The first one was a typical Rilo Kiley song (yeah, I know, really good description), but the clincher for this song is when Blake, Pierre and Jason all sang in unison while sharing one mic. It's one of those cutesy moments of their set, and there were a lot of them. The other new song had the same gimmick, and it was quite good.

The only parts I didn't like from the Rilo Kiley set is when Blake sang. I don't know about his voice. I hate it. It's not bad, but it's far from good either. It's just so weak, and when he tries to make it stronger, like in "Ripchord," it just doesn't sound good.

However, Blake redeemed himself ten fold during Rilo Kiley's encore where they covered a Pete Townshend's "Let Love Open the Door." This song was done by Rilo Kiley, The Brunettes and Feist all on stage - so this super group formed. I've never heard of this song before, and I thought they were saying "Let Milo Open the Door," which made sense to me at that time. Blake sang lead vocals for this song, accompanied with some light percussions and him playing a ukelele. His voice and that ukelele reminded me of Tiny Tim, but that was quickly erased once the accompanying vocals were emitted.

Overall, this is probably the best Rilo Kiley show I've seen thus far. Of course, I wish they'd play more songs from Take Offs and Landings or at least play "Paint's Peeling" or "Science vs. Romance." Well, they did play "The Execution of All Things" which more than made up for any missing gaps in their set.

Beer Rating: 2 Beers

Doves (Fillmore, 13 June 2005)

Doves played an excellent set at the Fillmore tonight. With a packed house and plenty of booze a flowing and Mary Jane a smokin', the crowd was ready to see this established band play their new songs from the somewhat sub par Lost Cities and their classics. As you know, Doves cancelled their original date at the Fillmore because of lead singer Jimi Goodwin losing his voice. Well, his voice was fine and strong tonight - although he couldn't keep up with the final song as I will describe below.

Doves opened up with an instrumental whose title escapes me at the moment. Accompanying this instrumental was a phenomenal light show that is similar to Kasabian's set-up back at Slim's a few months ago. The Fillmore is a fantastic and beautiful venue, and with the lights shining as they were, you can see the rows of chandeliers at the top. It was a nice start to this set, and there was plenty more where that came from.

They opened up with "New York" from their second album, The Last Broadcast. Accompanying this song was another light spectacular and a video of archive footage from the 1930's and 1940's it seems like, with zepplins and huge cruise ships ala The Titanic. The white backdrop used to project images projected four images in almost an overlapping pattern. It was a nice touch, compared to the traditional one dimensional footage. "New York" was an appropriate start with the strong guitars and the booming drums that accompany it.

The next song, or maybe the one after, was off the new album Some Cities. "Black and White Town," which is their first single off the new album and my personal favourite was played the same way as "New York" with black and white video footage and a great light show. The keyboards, which sounds a lot like "Heatwave," was the highlight of this song.

More songs from Some Cities were played, but those songs didn't get as much loud reception as Doves' older songs such as "There Goes the Fear," which was played as the last song, or "Sea Song" from Lost Souls. The only "old" song that didn't get a good reception was "Last Broadcast," which seemed really dull and repetitive compared to the other songs that they were playing.

Throughout the set, Jimi thanked the crowd for their support throughout the years and how they were so excited to play the Fillmore.

The last song was "Cedar Room," which my friend was longing for the entire night. So was I, but it was a rather disappointing performance of this excellent song. Jimi's vocals were really slow for the fast pace of this song. His vocals seemed as if they were three steps behind, while the music and the backing vocals were three steps ahead. It got annoying to me, but the rest of the crowd didn't mind. It was a good song to end with, but I wished it was done better.

Overall, a great performance by Doves. Although they are good as they are, the accompaniment of the lights and the videos (especially the video for "There Goes the Fear") added so much more to the show.

Beer Rating: 2 Beers

Gravy Train!!! / Hey Will Power (Cafe Du Nord, 11 June 2005)

So, the kids were out tonight yet again at Cafe Du Nord. I thought only Popscene attracted the hordes of kids with the black X on their hands. Well, there was a whole sea of them at the Gravy Train!!! and Hey Will Power show tonight. Which made me feel like an old fart because I am almost a decade older than some of these shorties. And there were a lot of short people tonight. Why? I have no clue. I hope the next generation of kids aren't fulfilling their USDA daily requirement of vitamins because they're not growing!

I arrived late because I think I just sold my server to Al Qaeda and had to show them how to use the server. It was around 11pm when I arrived which was fortunately just in time to see Hey Will Power. I have no idea how this band sounds like. I thought that they would sound a lot like Gravy Train with a bunch of basic beats and a lot of shouting. Kind of like Bis in the old days. And with an established artist like Will Schwartz from Imperial Teen at vocals, I thought this was going to be a synth rock spectacular. Well, it was synth based, but nobody ever prepared me for what I was about to see.

Hey Will Power consists of Mr. Schwartz, two dancers (guy and girl) and another guy manning the iBook and the synths. Schwartz's vocals and lyrics are reminiscent of the boy bands of yesteryear. This guy was like Justin Timberlake and his voice was awesome! The choreography was pretty good too, but don't expect anything like Janet Jackson or even Backstreet Boys precision in these dances. The dancing was utterly simple, but brilliantly executed. The matching outfits added that extra "umph" to this indie R&B spectacle. I enjoyed their set a lot, but I wondered whether they are ridiculing the current state of boy band R&B or are they just having fun and liking what they do. I'm still confused, but I think it's the latter. The kids loved it too.

Gravy Train!!! was next and these guys are just downright infectious. The last time I saw them at Oakland's Mile High Club, they were very entertaining, although I opted to stay behind rather than get myself tangled up in all the dancing and raucous kids. Well, this time I didn't feel so inhibited and just went right in with the crowd. I barely know any of their songs, but I did know one and that was enough for me to dance like a mad man. The crowd was so crazy (it's the craziest crowd I've ever at seen Cafe Du Nord) that members of Gravy Train!!! urged the folks to just take a few steps back so as to not squash the people in front. Well, despite doing that, the members of Gravy Train!!! kept on crowd surfing, so that really didn't help to quell the excitement.

All this dancing got me and my friends to want more dancing. We went to Arrow Bar as a last ditch effort for some dancing during Frisco Disco, but that was disappointing. We then continued dancing at my house and didn't fall asleep until 5am or so.

Overall, a truly fun night of dancing. I highly recommend seeing both bands.

Beer Rating: 1.5 Beers

The National / Menomena / Robbers on High Street (Cafe Du Nord, 10 June 2005)

The weekend is back and I was determined to have a good time. This Friday was chock full of events. With this show at Cafe Du Nord featuring at least two good bands and possible dancing and rock star gazing over at Mezzanine for the BFD After Party, the night looked promising. The grand plan was to stop by Mezzanine at around 9:30pm to get our hand stamped so we can enter the BFD Afterparty for free and without wait. Then, after that, go to Cafe Du Nord and catch Robbers on High Street on. Then go back to Mezzanine.

Well, we got our hand stamp so we were all set with that.

Off we go to Cafe Du Nord where we were just in time to catch Robbers on High Street. This band opened up for several shows here in San Francisco - all of which I probably attended and all of which I definitely skipped Robbers on High Street. Not that I hate the band, but they never really caught my interest until I heard one of their songs in a Filter free CD. The song, whose title I forget, was alright and it had that "happy" piano beat to it which was good enough to catch my attention.

Robbers on High Street were alright, but it was odd for me to figure out why they would put these guys on the same bill as The National. If the schtick was to put bands that start off as progressively happy and cheery and end the show with a band that is the complete antithesis of that previous genre, then by all means it worked. Robbers on High Street attracted more people than The National apparently. I don't know why, but I figure it's because the songs are more appealing to the folks at Cafe Du Nord that night compared to The National. Overall, Robbers on High Street were solid, with Ben Trokan providing solid vocals and the occassional "happy piano" for these New Yorkers. The songs were well received by the crowd and everyone seemed pleased by it.

Menomena followed Robbers on High Street much to my surprise. I thought these guys went on already, just because I wanted to go dancing immediately, but oh well. Menomena (not to be confused with Phenomenauts (a rap group) or Mesothelioma (the cancer from asbestos)), these Portland, Oregon based trio perform multiple instruments and create some experimental noise. I've never heard of them, so I was open to listening to a new band. Well, they didn't really do much for me. I guess I wasn't feeling "experimental indie" that night, but I can see why this band could be good. My friend thinks they're good, but I beg to slightly differ. Regardless, they bored me so I proceeded to stay back and down some Newcastles.

The National came on after 12am after taking a hell of a long time setting up and doing soundcheck. Their 2003 release, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, is apparently very good although I'm only familiar with their most recent release, Alligator. Matt Berringer's vocals are very good, and it even translated well live. The band seemed to be pretty solid with the brothers Devendorf to be in full sync with one another. However, I didn't enjoy their set and I was falling asleep at this point. It's a combination of being tired from a long work week, the number of beers imbibed and my craving to do some dancing (just to wake me up at least). This should be expected since The National isn't exactly "happy piano" music like Robbers or even experimental like Menomena. Their brand of music is super mellow, meshing in some properties of Brit rock and then some indie country jangles. This brand of mellowness was almost a lullaby to me.

We left mid-set, so we can at least get some dancing going on at Mezzanine. One friend of mine thought The National were utter shit live, but still liked their releases. Some bands just don't translate well live, and The National were one of them.

Well, the Mezzanine party was dead after 1:30am and all that was left there were the Foo Fighter crowd. Although the sight of members of Ash somewhat made up for the lack of beautiful people in the crowd, and not to mention decent music to dance to (stop with the mash-ups already!), the BFD night was disappointing. Thank goodness I didn't pay to get in there.

Beer Rating: 4 Beers

Out Hud (Bottom of the Hill, 3 June 2005)

I have to be honest, I wasn't really feeling like going to a show tonight. I just wanted to relax for a bit and then go all out on Saturday or Sunday. I also had a lot of things to take care of, so it would have been nice to get Friday evening off. Alas, I go to the show. I have no regrets in going to see Out Hud, but it would have been better if I was a bit more into it.

Out Hud has a great album out called Let Us Never Speak of it Again. In it, they have some of their most outstanding songs to date. I also here that they put on a good show, enticing the crowd to dance and just get krrrazy.

No falsity in the advertising here. They came on close to midnight and played an electrifying set to a sold out crowd. Although they were in dire need of towels in the beginning, they got into the groove by playing some of the better songs in their recent release and a couple from S.T.R.E.E.T.D.A.D. like "This Bum's Paid."

Songs like "It's For You" with its awesome drum beats and that weird noise intertwined in there kept the crowd alive and hopping. The subtle female vocals were perfect, although it could have been better than perfect if it weren't for the sound that Bottom of the Hill is notorious for. As much as I wanted to stay to enjoy this song, I had to go outside since the restrooms were blocked.

See, all of this would have been great if I were into it. I was just tired and my friends weren't into it either. I felt like I was going to be into it, but that quickly went away. I don't blame Out Hud for this, but it's just my own quirk. Out Hud put on a great show, and I would have enjoyed it more if I were into it.

Beer Rating: 3.5 Beers

Bloc Party (Fillmore, 1 June 2005)

The Bloc Party overkill continues as I again venture to see them at a larger venue this time. See, I wouldn't have gone to this show, but I figure I already paid for the ticket (this one I got before Slim's) and I'm meeting friends there. I was so tired that night, and was not in the mood to see a show. But, like the gung ho individual that I am, I went.

I caught the very end of the second act, Kiss Me Deadly, which is a group from Montreal. One of my favourite places in this hemisphere. They were alright, the girl's voice is kinda annoying and weird, but the musicians and the music itself was pretty good.

Bloc Party came on right at 10:30pm like last night. It was nice to see these guys in different clothes, especially since most bands have their "stage clothes" usually one (see Coldplay and Arcade Fire). They started off the same, they played Banquet as the third song, and the last song they played was also the same as last night's.

They played 2 or 3 additional songs. I think they were both new, but then again I don't own the entire discography.

As you can tell from this review, everything was pretty much the same as last night's show. With the exception of them stopping their second song, "Positive Tension," 3/4 of the way through because of a fight that happened in front of the band. Okereke just stopped the set and said, "What the fuck is going on?" So, yeah, that was the only difference.

This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the show. "Banquet" continues to be a great song to listen to and still keeps my feet shuffling. They are just a solid band all around and this long road trip they are having will make them even better musicians and, hopefully, more prolific songwriters.

Beer Rating: 3 Beers

Bloc Party (Slim's, 31 May 2005)

This is the third time I've seen Bloc Party. Once at Bottom of the Hill, the other time at Coachella, and now at Slim's. This is the make-up show for the Popscene performance that was cancelled because singer Kele Okereke lost his voice. Well, his voice was alive and well, and so were the rest of Bloc Party who provided a solid set and some entertaining banter.

I missed the first opening band but caught Oakland's very own Death of a Party. They sucked. The lead singer sounded like Steve Bays from Hot Hot Heat and some of their songs sounded like Moving Units. However, they were nothing like Hot Hot Heat or Moving Units. Although they have the look - with the drummer having the greatest hair imaginable - they just didn't do it for me.

A little after 10:30pm, Bloc Party came on and opened with "Like Eating Glass." This ignited the crowd and a mini-mosh/hop pit formed in the front middle. That small pit became one large hole when third song "Banquet" came on. Okereke improvised on the lyrics with this song, which I'm sure they are dead tired playing on stage. After the raucous that "Banquet" caused, the band played a "slow jam" and calmed the crowd down with "Blue Light."

At one point during the show, a woman threw her bra on stage to Okereke. Kele then brought it over to drummer Matt Tong. While the crowd and the rest of Bloc Party cheered on Matt to put on the bra, he didn't. Although he did place it on his, yet again, bare and semi-hairy chest, he immediately placed it back on the speaker adjacent to his drums. Another entertaining moment was when Kele and bass player Gordon Moakes were constantly walking on the stage, with Kele encircling Jonny Greenwood wannabe Russell. A stage diver was also present, which pissed off Gordon at the end of the set.

They played three encores. "Price of Gas" was the first one, with Kele pointing the mic to the crowd as they chanted the chorus. The second was a song requested by a member of the audience. I'm not sure what it was, but it started with an "S" apparently. The last song was "So Here We Are." At least I think that was the last song. It was beautifully done.

So, another show at the Fillmore tomorrow. Let's see what these guys can do a second time around. I know I'm going to get sick of these guys soon.

Beer Rating: 3 Beers

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

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

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

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

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

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