Xiu Xiu, The Velvet Teen, Minipop and Polar Bear (GAMH, 2 April 2006)

I was very excited to see this show.

This will mark the first time I've ever seen Xiu Xiu. I love his music and actually interviewed him for a Mesh article. However, this was the first time I've seen him in live action. Also, I've never seen The Velvet Teen before. Their 2002 album, Out of the Fierce Parade, was a great album with solid harmonies and vocals.

However, as the night wore on, the wait for Xiu Xiu became unbearable.

I got in there to catch a bit of Polar Bear's set. They are just a noisy bunch. I thought they sucked.

Minipop was next and they were complete opposites of Polar Bear. Their type of music was softer, less noisy and full of synths. The lead singer was female, and her voice was a relief to my ears compared to Polar Bear's dissonance. However, I wasn't too into them. They weren't bad, but I wasn't too into their stuff.

Velvet Teen came on and their first song was dramatically different from anything out of Fierce Parade. I don't know any of their new material, but I was hoping that their sound now is the same as it was in 2002. Boy, was I wrong! They did a complete 180 with their most recent releases, thus making the songs just an incomprehensible mess. They played one song from 2002, "Caspian Can Wait," and they didn't play what I really wanted to hear, "Prize Fighter." At this point, I sat down on my balcony seat and didn't even try to watch their set.

Finally, Xiu Xiu came on close to 11pm. Their set up is just insane, with all these percussion instruments and this weird harp/accordion looking thing. Their set consisted of songs that are sung with utter softness and then is followed by something so loud and banging that it would wake up the dead. They started off with "Crank Heart." They didn't play "Pox," which is a great song off of La Foret, but they did play other great songs such as Fabulous Muscle's "I Luv the Valley, OH". Among other songs played including, "Muppet Face," the haunting "Saturn," and "Yellow Raspberry." Jaime Stewart is a brilliant musician, and his live performances just displays it for all the world to see. His intense nature and that resonating voice sent chills to my spine. It would have sent even more chills, if it wasn't for a bunch of mooks constantly heckling from the balcony.

Because Xiu Xiu's set was so distinct from the others, I rated it as follows:

Beer Rating for Xiu Xiu:
Beer Rating for the Rest:

Band of Horses (Amoeba S.F., 1 April 2006)

While 2005 will be remembered as the Year of the Wolf, 2006 will be remembered as the Year of the Horse. Already, numerous horse bands, such as They Shoot Horses Don't They, are gaining a lot of buzz this year. Add Band of Horses in that list.



Band of Horses played a free gig at Amoeba in San Francisco. They also played with Earlimart at the Independent later that evening. Their sound is a bit of that folksy/country/indie rock. The lead singer's voice sometimes wavers to Perry Farrell like crooning to...something else. Their look is pure Grandaddy, complete with facial hair and tattoos for each of the band members.



They played quite a few songs from their album Everything All the Time. They started off with "The First Song" and played shortly thereafter "The Great Salt Lake." Both were played marvelously. At one point during the show, lead singer Ben Bridwell said that they were hung over from last night and got lost getting to Amoeba. Despite their obvious hung over state, they played two great songs called "Our Swords" and "The Funeral." "Our Swords" is a song that consisted solely of drums and two basses. No guitar. It was an awesome beat, and great lyrics. "Funeral" had a great guitar driven ending. Two definite winners.



They also did a signing, which was nice of them.

This show beat last night's We Are Scientists show quite easily. And I didn't have to pay for anything.

Beer Rating:

We Are Scientists, Foreign Born, The Grates, The Blood Arm (The Independent, 31 March 2006)

This bill looked promising at first, with a lot of up and coming bands performing in front of yet another sold out audience. But at the end, it wasn't that good.

The Blood Arm is an L.A. based band whose reputation for rowdy shows is well documented in the L.A. blog circuit and Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos' declaration in SPIN Magazine that they are one of his most favourite, yet unknown, bands. I actually like The Blood Arm's album, Bomb Romantics, and was looking forward to their performance. Well, they sounded alright. The instrumentation was great and lead singer Nathaniel Fregoso's voice was bearable. Hell, even Nathaniel's interaction with the crowd was somewhat amusing. At one point, he told the audience to sit around him, camp fire style, as he was singing. Cute, yes. So, they were alright live. Maybe I need to be in Spaceland or some other venue in Silver Lake to get the complete Blood Arm experience.

I missed a majority of The Grates' set because I opted for some tea across the street. These Australians were good live. I forgot a majority of what they played, but they were good.

Foreign Born just bored the living hell out of me. Their sound was not dynamic, almost cookie cutter. I wasn't paying much attention since that moron from the Clap Your Hands Show was right there in front of me! Not only was he there, but he brought some of his stupid friends as well. I thought that his bafoonery at Clap Your Hands was a one-off thing, but noooooo. He was just as retarded, obnoxious, crunked and annoying as last time. He did get a hair cut though.

We Are Scientists came on close to Midnight. Again, they sounded good and were entertaining with the on-stage banter. Keith Murray, the lead singer and guitarist for the band, had huge problems with the mic stand from hell. Overall though, I wasn't too thrilled in seeing them. Sure, songs like "Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt," was great to hear live, it seemed like nobody did move for fear of getting hurt. Why the audience was just still was beyond me. I would have been more into the band if people actually moved and got hurt. Other songs like "Inaction" and "Callbacks" was also fun, but they sounded too much like Ima Robot.

I was glad my house was nearby so I can just walk home.


Beer Rating:

Nous Non Plus, Hey Willpower (Cafe Du Nord, 30 March 2006)

This day was the half-way point for Noise Pop. And thank goodness. I'm exhausted from seeing all these shows. That's not to say that I'm not having any fun ('cos I am!), but working 9 to 5 plus seeing these shows everyday is taking its toll. And I'm not old either, so let's can the age jokes, okay?

With all these rock shows going on, it's nice to hear some good 'ol indie pop/dance action shows. Hey Willpower is just the cure for that ailment. I've seen them many, many times (most recently on Valentine's Day) and I'm really familiar with their songs and their dance routines. I thought I was going to be bored at this show, but I was proven wrong yet again. Will and Tomo were accompanied by their fabulous back-up dancers and played in front of a sold out crowd. The crowd absolutely ate up the R&B type tracks like "Hundredaire," did the imaginary chop-chop knife arm action with "Double Fantasy," and danced like mad during "Magic Window." The crowd were so into it, that a couple of them decided to join Will and Co. on stage. However, they were promptly kicked out by security. They ended their set with "Uh-Uh-Uh," where Will encouraged the crowd to jump during the "jump the floor" part and do some leg kicks during "uh-uh-uh." And encouraged they were. I've never seen a Hey Willpower show like tonight's! The crowd was so mad for it (and drunk) that it was really enjoyable.

Nous Non Plus were next. They are better known as Les Sans Culottes, but they had to abandon that name because of some argument they had with an ex-member (who just so happens to be a lawyer). Although the crowd wasn't as large as Hey Willpower, they were still well received. They opened up with "Allo, Allo (Hello I Love You)", which is a Les Sans Culottes song. During that time, Celine Dijon was strutting her stuff while guitarist and singer Clermont Ferrand engaged in entertaining banter with the audience. For example, Clermont declared that the next song, "Lawnmower Boy" was about oral sex. Also, he said that the cover of their album was actually Celine Dijon in underwear (which some of the men in audience yelling "oooh-la la!") I honestly wasn't into the novelty until they started doing covers. I got into their set when they covered the Unicorn's "Tuff Ghost" in French and Nena's "99 Luftballoons" in German as encores.

Beer Rating: 1/2

Feist, John Vanderslice, Youth Group (Bimbo's, 28 March 2006)

I found my way back to Bimbo's after a great Flaming Lips show. The remnants of the confetti still lingered on the dance floor, even some falling from the ceiling. The atmosphere in the air tonight is a lot more chill compared to last night's. Tonight seemed like AAA alternative night, featuring three good bands play to a crowd of Coldplay freaks. Yeah, I know, I'm one of them I guess. I guess....



Youth Group started off the night. This Australian band failed to make an appearance at their show with Matt Pond PA a few months ago, but are back tonight to make up for it. I like Youth Group. They sound like James without being James (if that makes any sense). I only caught less than half their set, but from what I heard, I wish I arrived earlier (shoudl have skipped the BK Veggie). Their entire set consisted of songs from Skeleton Jar. They played "Shadowland" and the title track during their brief set. They were very well received, and I do hope they return soon to play a headlining set.

John Vanderslice followed. The native Bay Area boy and former front man of MK Ultra was well received by the crowd. I think I'm one of the few people in this community that doesn't know anything about him. I watched his entire set, and didn't find anything really dynamic about him or what the whole big deal was. Maybe because I was tired. Or maybe because I was uninspired. Or the 3 Skyy 90 sodas I drank at 111 Minna beforehand. But, whatever it was, I was not impressed and was slightly bored.

With that in mind, I left the show early and missed the entire Feist set. I didn't really want to, but I know I can't stand any longer. My friend who did stay and watch Feist said that she was amazing. At one point in the evening, the lights went out and she and her band improvised by singing acappella. Very commendable. Showing her true colours as a top notch performer.

So, without implicating Feist on the rating, I would give this:

Beer Rating:

-- Photo: Sara Fong

The Flaming Lips, Midlake (Bimbo's, 27 March 2006)

Tonight marked the opening night for Noise Pop 2006. Even our dear Mayor Newsom made a proclamation today marking the week of March 27th "Noise Pop Week." Accepting this award was no other than Wayne Flaming Lips himself, accompanied by one of the mayor's employees on the stage.

This was, by far, the hottest ticket in Noise Pop. The Flaming Lips are accustomed to playing large venues, and them playing at Bimbo's was a treat. You had to get up pretty damn early on Sunday and be quick with the point and click on TicketWeb's site to get these tickets. Otherwise, you were left with two options: (1) buy a festival pass for over $100 or (2) pay the same amount on Craigslist. Luckily, I have quick fingers for the pointing and clicking.

I arrived just when the second opener, Midlake, were playing on the seldom used side stage. They hail from Denton, Texas and play beautiful indie rock. Think of Grandaddy, complete with keyboards and facial hair. They engaged the crowd with solid melodies, excellent harmonizing by the lead singer, guitarist and keyboard player and all of this accompanied by captivating images projected on the screen. Sometimes, I got caught up on the images that the music seem to just be a soundtrack to what's on screen. I'm sure that was the intention, but I didn't realize the band was there sometimes when they did this.

After that solid set, the Flaming Lips came on shortly thereafter. While we were waiting, Wayne and the rest of band was doing soundcheck. Wayne would play with the crowd by tossing some confetti or making funny faces on the camera attached to his mic stand, which was then projected to this huge blue screen behind them.




They opened up with "Race for the Prize" from Soft Bulletin. This song, I believe, is a fan favourite intro. While they were playing the song, a slew of oversized balloons appeared and was distributed to the crowd. If you have a phobia of balloons, popping and floating around, then you would have had a heart attack, because the crowd was swarmed by balloons everywhere! And they continued on being there well throughout the entire set.

The second song was a cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." Complete with words projected on the big screen, so you can sing along. It was an excellent cover, and you'd think that Freddy Mercury was actually singing it. We all sang along, especially the main chorus of the song. I still don't know what a "fandango" or a "scaramouche" is, but it was a lot of fun saying it.

Surprisingly, they only played three songs from the new album At War With the Mystics. These included "The W.A.N.D." which was well done live. Very exciting song to listen to. A shortened version of the "Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" because they needed to practice it in preparation for their Late Show appearance on Thursday. And, "Free Radicals" which seemed odd to me live, but nonetheless good.




They also played "Yoshimi," complete with that scary looking nun puppet. I hate that thing. And the classic "She Don't Use Jelly" which transported me back to my junior high days. And, man, Jon Stewart looked young when he introduced that song back in his MTV days.

Overall, it was an amazing and surreal start to Noise Pop. The Flaming Lips definitely know how to entertain, engaging the crowd while at the same time playing fantastic songs.

Beer Rating: 1/2 Beer

-- Photos: Sara Fong

New Shows Added

April:

11: Serene Lakes, Anterland, Top Critters @ Hemlock Tavern

May:

2: Phoenix @ Bimbo's
3: Cat Power & The Memphis Rhythm Band @ Palace of Fine Arts
4: Cat Power & The Memphis Rhythm Band @ Palace of Fine Arts
31: Eels @ Fillmore

June:

17: Jose Gonzalez @ Bimbo's
20: Elvis Costello @ Paramount Theatre (Oakland)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (GAMH, 25 March 2006)

"You guys are much better than last night's crowd!" -- Jonathan Bree of The Brunettes

"You guys are better than last night. So, if you have friends who went to last night's show, don't tell them that I told you that." -- Robbie Guertin of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Those two lines from each of the acts last night pretty much sums it all up. Last night's Clap Your Hands show was so, so much better than last Friday's performance. The crowd was better (i.e. Retarded Owen Wilson and Train Wreck Dunst were nowhere to be found). The sound was better. The setlists were much improved. Everything seemed to fall into place. And thank goodness. I didn't want to swear off Clap Your Hands, especially since they are one of my most favourite of bands in the last year.

I arrived right before The Brunettes came on. I didn't write anything about them in the last review because of my anger over the two idiots. The Brunettes are essentially two Kiwis, Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, who play ridiculously cute (and rather contrived) pop music. They are accompanied by four other members, whose names I do not know. They use multiple instruments from a slew of horns, an instrument that resembles a pill (or if you're nasty...something phallic) and, of course, the hand claps. Oh, the hand claps. There was so much hand clapping involved that the novelty of the hand clap wore off rather quickly. They opened up their set with this song with the word "baby" in it. And then, like YMCA, they spelled out "B-A-B-Y" with their arms. It was cute, yes, and the crowd thought it was too. It had a whole bunch of air instruments involved too. The novelty wore off quickly though, at least in my view. But the crowd was much nicer than the night before, so they were greeted with loud applause after each song.

The low point for the Brunettes was when the skinny boy multi-instrumentalist was telling a story of how his uncle was the first person to bungee jump the Golden Gate Bridge. Then he said that the first person to bungee jump was this physicist. As he was telling the story, some meathead from the crowd shouted out "BORING". I think this took the Brunette aback and the crowd began booing the heckler.

They also did the Mary Kate and Ashley song complete with masks of the dynamic duo. I closed my eyes in embarrassment of this spectacle. Catchy guitar chords though, but that's about it.

Clap Your Hands came on and they opened up with the same song from last night, "Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away." For some reason, I thought this song was much better played on Saturday night compared to Friday. Like last night, they played all the songs, except the little instrumental bits, from their self-titled debut. "Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" was once again the clear winner garnering the most applause and jumping around. "Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood" was probably the next clear winner.

Unlike last night's show, the band opted to slim down the setlist by eliminating the new songs. The flaw of Friday's show was that they got the crowd hyped up with the songs off the L.P. then brought the energy way down by playing 2 to 3 new songs in a row. Instead, they stuck with their guns and only played 1 song I didn't recognize.

They ended their set with "Satan Said Dance," my personal favourite song. Unlike last night, the crowd didn't yell out "Satan!" But I yelled out "Say Dance!" For their encore, they opened up with "Clap Your Hands" and then played another favourite, "Me and You Watson." I was dancing like crazy at this point. Just when I thought it was all over, they played one final song off of their debut, "Heavy Metal."

The crowd ate up every single song and moment of the show. And so did I. A fantastic show and the band redeemed themselves quite nicely.

Beer Rating: 1/2 Beer

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (GAMH, 24 March 2006)

Fuck this shit.

Clap Your Hands played in front of a sold out crowd at GAMH. They were highly anticipated, and I was super excited to see them play. They are one of my favourite bands at the moment, and I crowned their self-titled release last year's album of the year. Shit, I even flew to NYC to spend NYE with them at Irving Plaza. So, my devotion and love of this band is not to be messed with.

Well, it was messed with last night and I'm so utterly pissed. It ruined the entire show for me. As hard as I tried to place my attention to what's on stage, it was, instead, focused on two bumbling idiots. One was this guy dressed in a black, pinstriped shirt who had hair like He Man and a face like a retarded Owen Wilson. His partner in crime is his Sadie Hawkins partner (they both dressed alike: same shirt) cum girlfriend who not only recognized his bafoonery and our annoyance at him, but seemed to encourage his actions. She looks like Kirsten Dunst...hit by a fucking Santa Fe cargo train.

This guy was fucking annoying. He was drunk as all fuck. But, see, his dancing didn't annoy me too much but the fact that he was dancing with utter disregard to the people around him made me lose focus on the band. His arms were constantly in my face. His back was repeatedly hitting me and others around me. He clapped his hands at the most inopportune times during the band's set. So much so that the hand claps overpowered Alec's vocals in the most exciting of songs like "In This Home on Ice" and "Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth."

I hope you get what you deserved you retarded, drunk, psycho fuck. You dance like Right Said Fred with a kilt. I take that back, Right Said Fred danced way better than you! You can't decide whether you're straight or gay with your dancing. Just stick with one, okay? And spare us your hip and ass shaking.

As you can tell, Retarded Owen Wilson and Train Wreck Dunst totally ruined this show for me. However, there is still another night and I hope that it'll be more enjoyable than last nights.

Musically, Clap Your Hands were great. I haven't heard Alec's voice since January, so when he opened up his set with "Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away," I was a bit taken aback. But Alec's crooning was familiar again in the subsequent songs. "In This Home on Ice" was great sounding and the crowd seemed to love it. Biggest hops and applause came when they played "Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth." They also played 2 or 3 new songs which sounded good but not as good as anything off their LP. Live non-album staples like "Graceful Retreat" and "Cigarettes" were also played. They ended their set with the fabulous "Satan Said Dance" which is my favourite song. But it was ruined by...nevermind.

They came back for an encore where they played "Clap Your Hands!" I think they played "Me and You Watson" during this time as well. When I watched them from the balcony during their encore, they really shined and I was enjoying it a lot more from above. It was so nice to get away from those idiots downstairs...but I digress.

Overall, Clap Your Hands played well but my enjoyment was destroyed by two idiots.

Beer Rating:

White Rose Movement (Bottom of the Hill, 22 March 2006)

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck YOU

I don't care WHERE you were, or if you've NEVER
heard of one White Rose Movement, but they played at
the
Bottom of the Hill toinght, and they were pretty
goddamn bad ass.

And FUUUUUUCK YOU if I can't think of a good adjective
to stick on them,
but I SURE AS HELL know they are NOT LIKE THE FAINT
like one
member of our car party thought (A., where the hell is
the vocoder,
or the synths? I DONT HEAR EM) OK so they sort of
KICK ASS in the
sense they sound SO NO NONSENSE DANCEY like FUCK YOU I
DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUUUUUUUUUUU
THIS IS ALL ABOUT THIS SHOULDER BOPPIN MUSIC AND IF
YOU GIVE ME
ANY SHIT ABOUT USING THE WORD BOPPIN, WELL THEN YOU
HAVEN'T
HEARD WHITE ROSE MOVEMENT AND YOU SHOULD

It's sort of aloof coldness, so cold and aloof, that I
couldn't keep my goddamn eyes off the crowd. Albiet
it was NOT a sold out show, we got in a couple songs
into this headlining band (to Ian's upset, they've
already played his favorite song) BUT THE
CROWDDDDDDDDDDDDDD. Listen, OK, the band in and of
itself is HOT (I'm sorry, I don't really know the
member's names, I know there are five of them--the guy
singing had a shirt TOO FAMILIAR--found out later on
that evening it's from TOP SHOP London that Ian almost
got while at Opening Ceremony in NYC (but that's
beyond the point) with a slender tree like body and
upturned nose OK and the girl on the synths was pretty
tough "I DON'T CARE WHAT THE FUCK YOUR STUPID BLOG
REVIEW' S GOING TO SAY" looking, but not-so-much, and
the decidedly skinny platinum blonde longer haired
dude on guitar seemed as if he passed his rock star
stance class with flying colors.



The crowd, anyway, were the hippest of the hip. I
guess, this guy wearing a pair of
I_KNOW_they're_1998_but_fuck_you_nonetheless thick
rimmed sortof off glasses and an almost but-NOT mullet
hair action started shaking his shoulders right in
front of me, and then later hung himself up on the
wall right next. In addition to the majority of
self-content kids with their hoodies up and the others
in their GODDAMN Diesel (I don't know WHY THE HELL I
NOTICE THESE
FUCKING DIESEL STRIPES ON THE POCKETS SOMEBODY HELP
ME) jeans and tiger onitsukas (AGAIN<><>

Yeh, I wish I could find a better description for WHITE ROSE MOVEMENT; I don't know if it's all thatAmerica's Next Top Model DRAMA with Gina STAYINGONNNNNNNN and not that other cute pouty girl fromSouth Dakota, the unbelieveable CUT of nice guy BRYANfrom TOP CHEF, the half bottle of cheap californiachampagne, or Ian's Citizen Cake chocolates andcupcakes--but FUUUUUUUCK UUUUUU I CAN'T THINK OF ONE RIGHTNOW.

Beer Rating:

Belle & Sebastian, New Pornographers (S.F. Concourse Design Center, 21 March 2006)

This is the next to the last installment of my Belle & Sebastian groupie kick. Unfortunately, the venue they chose for this show is the dreaded Design Center. I'm not a big fan of the Design Center, and I'm still not a fan. It's barren open floor, overpriced beer garden and cavernous feel makes this venue one of the worse in the Bay Area. There was nothing but a sea of bodies out on the floor, and I had to use my skinny frame to slither through an even remotely acceptable spot in the middle center. That's where I stayed all night, and I could barely get my groove on.

Which was a shame because Belle & Sebastian and the New Pornographers put on another great show.

I missed half of New Pornographer's set because of my slithering. From what I did catch, it seems like they were doing the "business as usual" bit like how they were in L.A. on Saturday night. I think they did engage in some chit chat with the audience but I don't remember. From what I recall, they played "Twin Cinema" and ended their set with "Sing Me Spanish Tecno."

Belle & Sebastian came on with the audience going crazy. Stevie was wearing his usual suit. Beans was wearing a brown "More Cowbell" shirt straight from Urban Outfitters. Stuart was wearing his french shirt like the one in L.A. with red trousers. So, there's the fashion update.

Stuart greeted the Bay Area crowd by shouting off some cities. He said hello to the people from Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco. Too bad for the South Bay crowd!

Like their Saturday L.A. show, they started off with "Stars of Track and Field." Another beautiful rendition of one of the most beautiful songs off of If You're Feeling Sinister. For the next few songs, they played stuff from The Life Pursuit including "Another Sunny Day" and "Funny Little Frog."

One of the definite highlights was Electronic Renaissance (see video). As you'll see, Stevie was playing with his instrument like it was a light sabre ala Star Wars.



Another highlight of the B&S set was when they picked one lucky audience member to dance with them on stage. Like Saturday's L.A. show, Stuart told the story about his self-conscious nature and wanted someone to go up on stage to dance with him. Well, Jenny here (I think) was the lucky girl.



Unfortunately, B&S had to leave immediately to their next show. Thus, I wasn't able to get to play football with them. *sigh* Well, Stuart did say he may be going back on holiday. So, we shall see.

Overall, despite the horrible venue, it was a great show.

Beer Rating:

New Shows Added

March:

30: Nous Non Plus, Hey Willpower, Parks and Recreation & Space Mtn @ Cafe Du Nord

May:

1: Art Brut @ Great American Music Hall
23: Architecture in Helsinki @ Great American Music Hall
27: Elefant, Voxtrot @ Slim's

June:

21: Built to Spill @ Slim's
22: Built to Spill @ Slim's
23: Built to Spill @ Slim's
24: Built to Spill @ Slim's

Art Brut (Bottom of the Hill, 20 March 2006)

Wow.

That, my friends was a surprisingly great show. And if you were there to experience Art Brut before a sold out crowd at Bottom of the Hill last night, you would agree with me.

Art Brut is an English five piece consisting of spontaneous and cheeky lead singer Eddie Argos, drummer Mikey B. who is the only drummer I've ever seen do his entire set standing up, silent in the corner bassist Freddy Feedback and crazy guitarists Jasper Future and Ian Catskilkin. They play songs about their little brother discovering rock n roll, teenagers being in love with love, moving to L.A. and weekend holidays. They're a band whose lead singer doesn't sing, but sort of just speaks, yet still manages to hit the right note at times.

Art Brut played a blistering barrage of songs mostly from their debut album Bang Bang Rock N Roll with b-sides and new songs mixed in. They started off with the beginning chords of Metallica's "Enter Sand Man" before launching into "Formed a Band." As Eddie spoke the words, "Look at us, we formed a band!" you can't help but wonder why you haven't formed one as well. These guys don't take themselves too seriously from the looks of it. Eddie isn't exactly a handsome lead singer, with his porn moustache, two sizes too small button up shirt that exposes his rather fat belly and love handles, but his charisma on stage more than makes up for it.

The crowd ate up every single song, hip movement and antic the band put forth. "My Little Brother" was met with the crowd, including myself, shouting out the lyrics. A frenzy occurred when they played "Modern Art" I believe. That's when a female audience member dragged Eddie off the stage and into the crowd. I thought he was hurt, but he played along and sang in the audience. He even pogoed with them and I gave him a pat on the back for his efforts. He didn't just stick to the front, but he made his way all the way back. Once he returned to the stage, he stepped down and did it again, this time visiting the audience located stage left. He repeated this towards the end of the set and during the encore.

All the songs they played off their album was just amazing! "Moving to L.A." was another song met with loud cheer. Instead of English, he used San Francisco when he said, "there's not much glam about San Francisco weather." Of course, he was referring to the rain that has drenched our city while L.A. enjoyed perpetual sunshine.

"Good Weekend" was the final song in the encore. They introduced the song as the #1 song in Japan, Australia and some other parts of the globe. It was truly their global hit. As they repeated "Art Brut. Top of the Pops," they also gave a shout out to the supporting acts Crystal Skulls and Gil Mantera's Party Dream (a duo of two men dressed in their underwear playing God knows what music -- think Peaches or Har Mar Superstar but dirtier). Also, he sang bits of another song (I forgot what it was) until they launched into the final stanza of "Good Weekend."

Overall, this was just a fantastic show and it was so much fun to watch every second of them. If you have a chance to see them at the Independent tomorrow, make sure you do it.

Beer Rating: 0 Beers

José González (Swedish American Music Hall, 19 March 2006)

José González is a singer songwriter from Sweden. His album, Veneer, has been out for a while but is only seeing the light of day here in the States three years later. His album is full of deep lyrics that is accompanied by some excellent classical guitar playing. His live show at Swedish American Music Hall in front of a sold out audience lived up to the album's potential.

The Finches came on first. This girl-boy duo played harmonious acoustic pop music. I can't say much about this band other than they are "cute." The lyrics were "cute," the girl lead singer looked and acted "cute" and the strumming of the two acoustic guitars were "cute." It was "cute" and pleasant. I enjoyed them a lot, believe it or not.

José González came on next. In his first few songs, I had trouble understanding what he was saying. The words were indecipherable, but the strumming of the guitar was top notch and sounded complex (this coming from a guy who only knows how to play the "C" chord). It begs to question whether he was initially nervous when he started off, but he regained his composure towards the middle of the set.

He played a few "new" songs, songs from Veneer like "Heartbeats," "Love Stain" and "Broken Arrows" and a couple of cover songs as the last two songs of the main set. I still don't know what the two songs were, but a friend suggested that one of them was Nick Drake's "Three Hours" from Five Leaves Left. Whatever they were, they sounded great.

The three Veneer songs I mentioned above received the loudest applause and caught the most attention from the crowd. His voice was very powerful, and the guitar work was just amazing. This was evidenced by the crowd giving him a rousing standing ovation after his first set of songs.

Not a bad debut concert for José González. I'm sure this guy will be playing in much larger venues here in San Francisco in due time.

Beer Rating: 1/2

Belle & Sebastian, New Pornographers (The Wiltern LG, Los Angeles, 18 March 2006)

A few weeks ago, I saw Belle & Sebastian and the New Pornographers in New York City. First, I thought, that although this was a fun show, there's no way in hell I'll fly down to L.A. to see them. Then, after this media barrage of Belle & Sebastian interviews and articles, listening to their new album The Life Pursuit almost non-stop for the last few days, a certain "Angel" constantly encouraging me to go and just recounting what happened the last time I saw them in L.A. (I went on stage to sing Isobel's three lines to Dirty Dream #2 on stage in 2003), it now seems foolish that I didn't plan this trip earlier. I could have saved so much money on airfare!!!

So, four days before the show (or somewhere around that time) I decided to get my plane ticket and concert ticket (Thank you Robin's friend! And her husband...).

We arrived at the Wiltern right at 8pm. I've never been to the Wiltern, but the venue carries a special memory in my heart. This was the venue that Blur played in during Great Escape and I was supposed to go to that show. I, being the studious sap that I was, instead decided to study for a Chemistry midterm. Well, I failed the midterm in flying colors and my friend said that the show was so good that he cried. Now, I'm here, hoping that this show would carry the same effect.

New Pornographers played their first song, "Twin Cinema," right smack at 8pm. Which was surprising, because I thought they'd be on much later. Unlike their NYC performance, they were all business tonight, playing song after song after song without any moment for chit chat other than introducing what they were playing next. I don't know if that's because they wanted to get off-stage ASAP or whether they wanted to entertain the audience with as many songs as possible in 60 minutes, but it was fantastic nonetheless! They played all the songs I wanted to hear, including "Out of Blown Speakers," "Slow Decent into Alcoholism," "Only Divine Right" and "July Jones". As usual, the sound was amazing, A.C. Newman was spot on with the vocals, the drummer mesmerized us with his twirling skills and the instrumentation and timing was flawless. I wished that they paused for a bit to entertain us with meaningless chit-chat, but otherwise it was an excellent, excellent set from the New Pornographers. The sold out crowd loved every minute of it.

That's when I got a chance to take a good look at the Wiltern. If you haven't been there, think of the Warfield but slightly bigger. It has the same multi-tiered floor, an all seated balcony and ornate decorations surrounding the walls and ceiling. It's a beautiful venue, and it was like you were transported to 1940's era Hollywood.

Belle & Sebastian came on promptly around ~9:30 to a fanatic audience. It's been a while since they played L.A., even though they were recording The Life Pursuit there for months. They started off with "Stars of Track and Field" from If You're Feeling Sinister which was an amazing rendition of that song. Stuart was crooning the lyrics dressed in his pinstriped "French" shirt while Stevie yet again sported the full three-buttoned suit ensemble.

After that song was a frantic, dizzying pace of fantastic songs from all their albums, including a good majority of the set dedicated to The Life Pursuit. "Funny Little Frog" was probably the 2nd or 3rd song of their set. "To Be Myself Completely," "Another Sunny Day," "Sukie in the Graveyard," and "We are the Sleepyheads" were played in succession. I think at least. The only song I disliked them playing live was "Song for Sunshine." That was my bathroom break song.

They also played some b-sides such as "Century of Fakers" and "The Loneliness of the Middle Distance Runner." Like NYC, they played "Electric Renaissance" and "Your Cover's Blown" among others. A lucky Scot got both his requests fulfilled with "Fox in the Snow" and "Sleep the Clock Around" as the final song in their exhaustive setlist.

As usual, Stuart engaged the crowd between songs with funny and clever chit chat. At one part of the show, he said that his friend asked him how it was to dance by himself on stage, in which Stuart didn't know how to reply. But from that point on, Stuart said, he was self-conscious about the way he danced. To make sure he wasn't alone on stage, he told the crowd that we will accompany him on stage for some dance, dance action for one of the songs. I immediately got excited at this prospect and schemed a way I can get on stage and past the HUGE Staff Pro security. Unfortunately, that invitation never occurred, and I'm sure he's going to fulfill that request come Wiltern night 2 rolls around.

After the show, my friend and I met up with other friends at the Opus Bar & Grill, a restaurant where Beans was playing post-show. There was a good amount of people there, but that restaurant is so Marina (or West L.A. if you're from SoCal) that we decided to go even before Beans played. It was such an awkward venue choice, especially since they chose the Derby last time they played L.A. As we walked out the venue and towards the car to go the Echo, we stopped by the tour bus and saw Beans getting ready to go to Opus. We waited for him outside and greeted him once he was out. He signed our ticket stubs and we posed for a camera phone pic. We invited him for a game of football whilst in San Francisco and said that we should e-mail the website if we are so inclined. Which I will.

A fantastic show all around! Looking forward to their show here in S.F.

Beer Rating: 0 Beers

New Shows Added

March

22: Serene Lakes @ Hotel Utah
22: Guillemots @ Rickshaw Stop
28: Every Move a Picture, Scissors for Lefty, Communique and Push to Talk @ Bottom of the Hill
31: You Say Party! We Say Die!, Von Iva and Luxury @ Mezzanine

April

1: Helio Sequence @ Mezzanine (FREE)
18: Rooney @ Slim's
21: The Elected @ Bottom of the Hill
27: The Magic Numbers @ Slim's
29: Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ The Warfield

May

4: The Duke Spirit @ Popscene
6: Islands @ Slim's
20: The Concretes @ Great American Music Hall

July

8: NIN, Bauhaus and TV On the Radio @ Shoreline

Arctic Monkeys (GAMH, 13 March 2006)

Hey, hey, it's the Monkeys!

Not the "Monkees" but the Arctic Monkeys. Back for their second tour of duty here in San Francisco (they played Popscene a few months ago), they once again played in front of a sold out, boisterous crowd full of Anglophiles and Crazies. The crowd wasn't "crazy," as in mentally crazy, but more like Mad Fer It! I think this is the only time where grown men can yell, scream and clamor for young 17 year old teens without being perverts.

Right from the get go, the Monkey's supercharged rock/pop extravaganza got the crowd fired up and ready to bounce. This was especially present during the band's second song, it's mega worldwide hit single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" from their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. The entire crowd got riled up in a panic, and you can see football hooligan-like men raise their fists in the air like they are ready for war. Lots of singing along happened in this song. Indeed, the band paused momentarily midway, as if timed perfectly, and the crowd yelled the song's main chorus.

There wasn't a dull moment at this show. Even I had to leave my perch on the balcony and fly downstairs to join the Crazies in the front. They pretty much played all the songs off of Whatever..., including "All You People are Vampires," and a couple of other ones that I did not recognize.

I think the show's zenith was reached when they played "Fake Tales of San Francisco." Not only was this song about our lovely city, but it's probably one of the best tracks in the album. Lyrics such as, "and all the weekend rock stars are at the toilets, practicing their lines" just cracks me up (hello Arrow Bar! Rickshaw Stop!). I had to get closer to the front, so I did, and I hopped around like mad along with the other crazies. There were a whole bunch of Brits, Scots and Irish in the crowd, as evidenced by the accents I heard when they all yelled "get off the bandwagon and put down the handbook!" Amazing!

Fantastic musicians! Fantastic show! Probably the best show of the year thus far. Definitely more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

Beer Rating:

Controller.Controller, Scissors for Lefty and You Say Party! We Say Die! (Rickshaw Stop, 11 March 2006)

Three excellent bands graced Rickshaw Stop's stage last Saturday night. Two bands from our friendly neighbours to the north, Controller.Controller and You Say Party! We Say Die!, and local favourites Scissors for Lefty, kept everyone in attendance dancing, drinking and just having a plain rip roarin' good time.

YSP! came on first. Becky (voice), Bruce (drums), Krista (keys), Derek (guitar) and Stephen (bass) were very enthusiastic to play their first, and hopefully not last, gig in San Francisco. They started off their set with "Cold Hands! Hot Bodies!", the second track of their debut release, Hit the Floor. Becky was in top form, pounding her tambourine and yelling the song's chorus, while Bruce maniacally banged on the drums as if he were possessed by the ghost of Ian Curtis. The crowd was into the song from the get-go, with some noticeable persons dancing and hopping around like bunnies on crack. Although every single member of the band was entertaining in his or her own right, Bruce was clearly the most entertaining of them all. His superb drumming and accompanying histrionics were just a pleasure to watch. He looked crazy, almost scary at times, but his fantastic drumming kept me and other audience members mesmerized. Overall, YSP!'s short set was very, very entertaining.

Scissors for Lefty came on next. This local electro rock outfit of relatives consists of Bryan Garza (voice, guitar), Robby Garza (bass, guitar), Peter Krimmel (keys, guitar) and James Krimmel (drums, bass). Like YSP!, they also entertained the crowd, which was slightly larger now as they went on stage, from the first song to the last. "Ghetto Ways" was the song that stood out from their set. When they played this song, the crowd in the front went crazy for it.

Headliners Controller.Controller came on and at this point, the place was packed. Hence, my lack of photos for this band Touring in support of their great debut album, X-Amounts, they played their entire set from songs off that album. Definite highlight was "Magnetic Strip," which the band played last. This song is infectious with its lyrics and instrumentation. So much so that even the hardcore hipster types had to shake their shoulders and shuffle their arms every now and then. The entire band, especially lead singer Nirmala Basnayake, were very active on stage, thus creating a show that is exciting to watch and listen to.

Beer Rating:

New Shows Added

March:

18: Rademacher @ Edinburgh Castle
30: The Herms, Citizens Here & Abroad @ Popscene

April:

5: The CA Home Grown Series featuring Midnight Serenade, Boyskout and The fucking ocean @ Mezzanine

14: Gravy Train!!! @ Bottom of the Hill
20: Rock Kills Kid @ Popscene
27: The Rakes, Be Your Own Pet @ Popscene

May:

1: Sigur Ros @ Marin Center
2: Half Handed Cloud @ Hemlock Tavern
12: Regina Spektor @ The Independent
27: Mogwai @ The Fillmore

June:

12: The Walkmen @ Great American Music Hall
13: The Walkmen @ Great American Music Hall
13: The Helio Sequence @ Rickshaw Stop

Belle & Sebastian, New Pornographers (Nokia Theatre, New York, NY 3 March 2006)

This is a twee lover's wet dream.

The pairing of New Pornographers and Belle & Sebastian in one convenient bill makes the inner twee indie nerd in us shout with glee. Although not a great a pairing as when Bright Eyes supported Belle & Sebastian, this bill nonetheless guaranteed the audience members hours of dancing and sing alongs.

New Pornographers started off first at around 8:30pm in what was an already packed Nokia Theatre. This rather new venue in New York is pretty nice, with acoustics that are top notch and a seating configuration that pretty much guaranteed there's no bad view in the house. Think of the Warfield as a reference, but without the huge overhang seating area above.

I forgot most of the songs that New Pornographers played, but songs that did stand out include "Twin Cinemas," "Testament to Youth in Verse" and "The Jessica Numbers." They even did an improptu rendition of that 80's classic, "Eye of the Tiger" which Mr. Newman sang parts of. Overall, New Pornographers were very entertaining not only with the songs but with Newman's banter with the audience. For example, while some of the band members were tuning their instruments, Newman said that he's going to check messages on his phone. Or when Newman said that he just recently moved to Brooklyn, a lot of people began yelling out even more specific questions . . . which can only be interpreted as rabid fans wanting to stalk the poor boy. Neko Case wasn't present for this performance, but her absence was hardly felt.



Belle & Sebastian then came on around 10:30pm. They opened up with "Expectations" which was a weird choice. I'd rather would have heard "Acts of the Apostle I" or something, but it was nice nonetheless. Stuart was wearing a white buttoned up shirt, rather than his customary (or somewhat customary) two sizes too small white Fred Perry and cap. Stevie was once again dressed in a suit. The other band members, like Chris and Mick, didn't look so bad either.

My friends and I were in the slightly elevated standing area towards the back of the theatre. Hence, the crappy looking picture you see above. Nobody in our area was dancing until *we* started the dance party! I think the party really started when Belle & Sebastian played "Your Cover's Blown". That's when our little area blew up. Granted, "Electric Renaissance" and "Blues are Still Blue" had some minor dancing involved (even though I was dancing full blast), but the sheer surprise of them playing "Your Cover's Blown" did everyone in.

They also played a little bit of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". Newman of the New Pornographers told the crowd to encourage B&S to play that song, and so they did. Not the full rendition but just some parts of it.

Overall, B&S's setlist was diverse and covered pretty much a song or three from their albums. I would have liked to have heard "The Boy with the Arab Strap", "Legal Man" or "The Model" but beggars can't be choosers. B&S entertained and entertained well.

And when everyone left the show, it was all wide smiles. Until we had to wait in line for coat check.

Beer Rating:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Bimbo's, 1 March 2006)

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' promo machine came through San Francisco tonight via Bimbo's. These slew of "club only" shows in major cities are meant to give the audience an introduction to the YYY's new material. And so they did, only playing one song from Fever to Tell (can you take a wild guess which song? -- right! "Maps") and, oddly enough, two songs from their self-titled E.P. ("Art Star" and "Miles Away").

But let's not fault the YYYs here. I mean, they haven't toured in a while and wanted to see what the new songs will be like on stage. They also played Fever to Tell oh so many times in the past few years, that they needed a break from playing those songs. Once they played the Fillmore a couple of years ago, I knew they were tired of playing Fever to Tell. So, in a way, this was a nice, refreshing change.

But for others, they felt as if they were ripped off. They played a really short set (approximately 60 minutes) and only played songs from Show Your Bones for the most part. Two years is a long time, and people want to hear the old songs since it's been two years. Well, to each his/her own.

Karen O. was wearing her trademark gold ice skater like outfit. I was in the back, so it was hard to tell what else she was wearing. They opened up with "Gold Lion" and it sounded fantastic! Usually, Bimbo's is a hit or miss venue with the sound, but tonight the sound was rich, full and loud. Just the way I like it. Each "oooh, oooh" that Karen emitted was echoing throughout the venue. Imaad Wasif was the additional guitarist for some of the songs, including the acoustic guitar in "Gold Lion." The band were really tight for this song, and for every other song, they played.

Definite highlights were "Honey Bear" with its booming guitars and electric dissonace, "Art Star" with Karen O. putting that entire microphone head in her mouth (thus making ever straight male in the audience think dirty, dirty thoughts), "Turn Into" and "Dudley." Karen displayed so much energy in each of these songs, and so did the crowd.

I thoroughly enjoyed this show, even though I left the place wishing they played just a few more old songs (how about "Pin" or "Date With the Night", huh?). I wasn't too keen on the new album, but seeing YYYs play it live gave it a whole different spin. The raw sound on stage should have been the sound that was in Show Your Bones rather than this polished sound that is so unlike the YYYs.

I bet when they play the Warfield or Coachella, their set list will be much more diverse. Thus, guaranteeing a fantastic show.


Beer Rating:

New Shows Added

March:

14: Frank Black (Pixies) @ Cafe Du Nord
15: Frank Black (Pixies) @ Cafe Du Nord
22: Gomez @ Cafe Du Nord

April:

5: The Boy Least Likely To (Supporting James Blunt) @ The Warfield
9: Elbow @ The Independent
21: The Stills @ Popscene

May:

1: The Sounds, Morningwood @ Slim's
2: Sunset Rubdown @ Bottom of the Hill

Madonna Added to Coachella Line-Up

I thought this was a joke, but the Goldenvoice folks have confirmed it. Madonna will be appearing in the dance tent for Sunday. Here's the revised poster:

Test Icicles Split; Cancel U.S. Tour

from Pitchfork:

Matthew Solarski reports:

Well, it was fun while it lasted. But just like that beloved snowman in your front yard, Britain's ace chaos-provocateurs Test Icicles have passed on to a better place (possibly the troposphere). Chalk it up to the burdens of hype, egos, drugs, infighting, or Arctic Monkeys-- no matter what, the headstone still reads: R.I.P. Test Icicles: 2004-February 2006.

Here's the official statement:

"The band have just come off a European tour and are exhausted from the constant pressures of touring--subsequently they have cancelled their show at the NME Awards show this Friday and US tour. The band will play their UK tour in April, but there are currently no plans to make another album or tour beyond this."

As you read, the band have scrapped their much-anticipated U.S. shows, as well as that sold-out NME gig opening for Nine Black Alps. They will, however, still play those five UK dates in April, recapped below.

First, the cancelled dates:

02-24 London, England - Hammersmith Palais
03-01 Brooklyn, NY - North Six
03-02 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
03-03 Philadelphia, PA - North Star Bar
03-04 Baltimore, MD - Sonar
03-06 Seattle, WA - Neumo's
03-08 Portland, OR - Lola's Room
03-09 San Francisco, CA - Popscene
03-10 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
03-11 San Diego, CA - Casbah
03-13 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
03-14 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium
03-17 Austin, TX - La Zone Rosa (Domino SXSW Showcase)
03-18 Austin, TX - Emo's

And the ones that are still on:

04-18 Glasgow, Scotland - Garage
04-19 Sunderland, England - Manor Quay
04-20 Manchester, England - Academy 2
04-21 Coventry, England - Coliseum
04-22 London, England - Astoria

Domino U.S. will release the now-swansong EP Circle. Square. Triangle in the U.S. later this spring. It will feature b-sides and remixes not previously available in America, as well as a brand new remix by Spank Rock.

New Shows Added

March:

3/3: Monsters are Waiting @ Rickshaw Stop (Club Loaded)
3/4: Mesh Magazine Spectacular featuring Tussle @ Rickshaw Stop
3/17: Orb @ Bimbo's
3/19: Field Music @ Bottom of the Hill

April:

4/8: Elbow @ TBA
4/21: Pinback @ Bimbo's
4/28: Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ The Warfield
4/29: Editors and Stellastarr* @ Mezzanine
4/30: Prefuse 73 @ Mezzanine

May:

5/22: I Love You But I've Chosen the Darkness @ The Independent

St. Etienne, Every Move a Picture (The Fillmore, 17 February 2006)

St. Etienne are one of those bands that was at its apex in the 1990's, when britpop was the new "indie". Unlike most of those bands, St. Etienne remained and withstood the test of time as they released album after album after album. Not only are the members of St. Etienne talented musicians with a penchant for catchy hooks and equally catchy lyrics, but they are fronted by one of the most dynamic female singers of all time: Sarah Cracknell.

Being in a band for over a decade can take its toll -- physically and mentally. However, Sarah didn't show any of that when she and the rest of St. Etienne performed in front of a sold out crowd at the Fillmore. Her diva status was reaffirmed when she took the stage with chants of "Sarah! Sarah!" and men of all ages, gay or straight, were in awe at Sarah's beauty. She must be in her mid-30s or (gasp) somewhere in her 40's, but regardless, she looked amazing.

They opened up with "Lightning Strikes Twice" from their new album Tales from Turnpike House. The instrumentation was flawless, and Sarah's voice resonated loud and clear through the speakers. Sarah's stage presence was equally felt, not only with her beauty but with her subtle dances and the occassional smile to the crowd.

Although songs from Turnpike House were well received, it wasn't until the classics did the crowd go wild. Recognizing this, the band next played "Sylvie" which ignited the crowd. The band got their loudest applause during the two encores. For the first encore, they played "Like a Motorway" and the infectiously dancy "Nothing Can Stop Us." For the second encore, they played another dance classic, "People Get Real."

The opening band was Every Move a Picture, a local San Francisco electro/indie rock outfit. Their songs are very catchy, their attire is excellent, but the sound in the Fillmore did not benefit them. At several points throughout the show, the lead singer's voice was drowned by the ever powerful guitars and bass. Regardless, they played their hits and received a warm round of applause and a bouquet of flowers.

Beer Rating:

Jam of the Week: White Rose Movement

I like these guys. They are fun and very electro sounding. Their video for their highly infectioius single "Girls in the Back" can be found here

New Shows Added

March:

3/2: Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) DJs @ Popscene
3/3: Mae Shi @ Hemlock Tavern
3/4: Citizens Here & Abroad @ Slim's
3/9: Test Icicles @ Popscene
3/11: Controller.Controller, Scissors for Lefty and You Say Party! We Say Die! @ Rickshaw Stop
3/20: Snow Patrol @ GAMH
3/22: White Rose Movement @ Bottom of the Hill
3/29: Britt Daniel (Spoon) @ Cafe Du Nord
3/31: Jason Collett @ Cafe Du Nord
3/31: Film School @ Slim's

April:

4/1: Wolf Mother and Parchman Farm @ Bottom of the Hill
4/6: The Boy Least Likely To (supporting James Blunt) @ The Warfield
4/8: Elbow @ TBA
4/27: The Go! Team and Dungen @ GAMH
4/27: Quasi @ Cafe Du Nord
4/27: Wilderness @ Bottom of the Hill
4/28: Hard-FI @ Slim's
4/28: Quasi @ Cafe Du Nord
4/29: Editors @ Mezzanine

May:

5/2: Sleater-Kinney @ GAMH
5/3: Sleater-Kinney @ GAMH
5/8: Destroyer @ Cafe Du Nord

June:

6/1: Liars @ Bottom of the Hill

Hey Willpower, Japanther and Two Tears (Hemlock Tavern, 14 February 2005)

Wow. Love is in the air. Yaddah. Yaddah. Yaddah. Nothing going on here really. Just three good bands playing a sardine packed room at the Hemlock Tavern. Shoot. For $5, you just can't beat this deal.

There was this band called the Two Tears. They were pretty good but I barely saw them. The stage at the Hemlock isn't really tall. Even worse than Popscene. But from what I heard, they were alright.

Japanther are these two crazy guys from Hamilton, Ontario apparently. The crowd went ape shit for these guys, jumping around like crazy and all that. I can't describe how good and fun these guys were, but let me take an excerpt from a fellow #1 person describing them:

"Japanther tried to steal the show--
How dare they take almost an HOUR to set up?
How dare does he have a rad lookin afro?
How dare does the drummer / singer set up his drum set so that he's SITTING down on the floor
/not the stage), and have his back turned to the audience?
HOW DARE THEY USE TELEPHONE RECEIVERS AS MICS!!!
How dare they play that song AGAIN ("I think we need
to play that song again") (N.B.: Referring to "River Phoenix" song)!
How dare they say this is our last two songs but play five or six more !

and on and on

How dare the fucken crowd be soooooooooooooo fucken crowded
for that band (ok, they were REALLY good, really energetic
and the crowd was rockin moshin out and it was fun."

That sums it up nicely for Japanther.

As for Hey Willpower, I'll let my #1 person describe part of that as well:

"Hey Willpower was soooooo fun"

They did all their typical songs like "Hundredaire" and "Magic Window" as they are accustomed to doing. But they also did a mash up of Annie's "Chewing Gum" which was great, great fun! And they have a new dancer apparently. He's pretty damn good. Again, to quote my friend:

"Hey Willpower didn't get to go on til 12:45am (that's technically the day AFTER valentine's day, fyi). It was a really fun show. Will at one point got his shirt taken off (then later his face wiped off by a front row girl's hankey, then later his chest by another girl's hanky --what's up oh you
didn't get the memo? Hanky codes are BACK for girls, straight girls tryin to get with
gay boys gay dreamy boys) ."

I think that sums it up nicely....

Beer Rating:

Wolfmother (Popscene, 11 February 2006)

Let me make this as short and sweet as possible.

I was not into this show from the very start. So, to give Wolfmother a negative review would be quite an injustice. I was not having an exciting time, and to hear a 70's sounding band that is akin to Jack White singing in Black Sabbath wasn't my idea of a good time that evening.

I was there. And, yes, I heard two songs. Some of the crowd was into it. I wasn't. It just wasn't good in my ears. Although their debut album isn't that bad.

So, I will reserve further review of this show because of circumstances that has nothing to do with the Aussie's stage act.

Flaming Lips to Play Bimbo's / Boy Least Likely To Supports James Blunt

This should be a treat...

The Flaming Lips are playing Bimbo's on March 27th. Tickets are a whopping $30 and availble through TicketWeb starting at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, February 12th.

Also, in more disappointing news, The Boy Least Likely To are touring with that crap James Blunt. Why?!?!?!? Well, you can see The Boy Least Likely To support Mr. Blunt at the Warfield on April 6th. Tickets are $25.

Both shows are posted on the calendar.

Cat Power Tour Cancelled

From Matador Records (via Brooklyn Vegan):

We regret to announce that Cat Power's entire US tour has been canceled due to health reasons. Out of respect for Chan's privacy, we can't give more detailed information, but we hope and assume that you'll respect her privacy during this time as well.

There will be information about refunds available imminently, and the tour will be rescheduled as soon as possible.

Chan is a good friend and a dear member of the Matador family, and when we have news about future performances, we'll be certain to share it with you here.

Calendar is updated to reflect cancellation.

New Shows Added (Crazy March!)

A whole slew of shows added recently, with Noise Pop 2006 coming up in the end of March. Some notable additions:

February:

2/14: The Lovemakers @ GAMH
2/14: Hey Willpower & Japanther @ Hemlock Tavern
2/15: The Lovemakers @ Slim's
2/23: Nada Surf & Rogue Wave @ The Fillmore

March:

3/10: Voxtrot, We Are Wolves & Kiss Me Deadly @ Hemlock Tavern
3/11: Voxtrot, Joggers and Kiss Me Deadly @ Bottom of the Hill
3/15: BRMC & Elefant @ Fillmore
3/18: Numbers @ Hemlock Tavern
3/19: Jose Gonzalez @ Cafe Du Nord
3/21: Mystery Jets @ Cafe Du Nord
3/23: Franz Ferdinand & Death Cab for Cutie @ Sacramento Convention Center
3/23: Tapes N Tapes @ Cafe Du Nord
3/24: Hellacopters @ Slim's
3/28: Feist @ Bimbo's (Noise Pop)
3/30: The National @ The Independent (Noise Pop)
3/30: Rogue Wave @ Bimbo's (Noise Pop)
3/31: We Are Scientists @ The Independent (Noise Pop)
3/31: Two Gallants @ Bimbo's (Noise Pop)

April:

4/1: The Velvet Teen & Xiu Xiu @ GAMH
4/18: Josh Rouse @ GAMH
4/19: Dinosaur Jr. @ GAMH
4/20: Dinosaur Jr. @ GAMH
4/27: Depeche Mode @ Shoreline
4/28: Mates of State @ GAMH

May:

5/1: TV On The Radio @ The Independent
5/2: TV On The Radio @ The Independent

June:

6/4: Pretty Girls Make Graves @ GAMH

Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins (Swedish American Music Hall, 3 February 2006)

I guess Rilo Kiley fans are really hardcore afterall.

Jenny Lewis, that cute as a button lead singer of Rilo Kiley, played her second ever show as a solo artist with the Watson Twins, Jonathan Rice and some guy named Farmer Dave at the Swedish American Music Hall last night. As of 8 p.m., the line of ticket holders (and those hoping to get lucky with one) wrapped around the block. And for good reason: the Swedish American is a sit down venue with no assigned seating. It's a very intimate venue, so not sitting down isn't really a disadvantage but it may be a minor hindrance. We didn't wait in line (opted for cheap sushi instead) and still got a good spot in the back.

Opening up with Ms. Lewis is Jonathan Rice. He's a guy with good hair, an acoustic guitar and a nice voice which some may compare to a young Johnny Cash. He had his fair share of admirers from the crowd, with some rather loud woman yelling "I love you!" which he replied, 'You don't even know me." The crowd laughed at the off-the-cuff remark and that shut the girl up a bit. I only saw the first three songs in his set and opted to go next door to get a dirty martini (N.B.: Swedish American is a "dry" venue. All they serve are cookies, samiches, tea, hot cocoa and coffee).

We arrived just in time to see Jenny. Jenny and the Watson twins were upstairs and they walked down, candle in hand, and sang "Run Devil Run" as if they were in a funeral procession. Jonathan and Farmer Dave were already on stage when this happened. They then proceeded to play "The Big Guns."

Their set all consisted of songs off of Jenny's new album, Rabbit Fur Coat. So, no, yelling out or even wishing they would play anything Rilo Kiley was out of the question. It was a mellow show, with the crowd in dead silence as Jenny and her band played each song. The only noises emitted were in between songs, with the crowd giving Jenny and her bandmates plenty of loud applause and recognition. It was probably not a good idea to come to this show dead tired (I admit, I fell asleep for a few seconds at a time) since the songs are not as "rock" oriented as Rilo Kiley, but it was superb nonetheless.

Other highlights included "The Charging Sky" and "Rabbit Fur Coat." All of which Jenny played with a lot of emotion and vigor. She ended her main set with "Born Secular" with Jenny on the piano. Jenny and the Watson twins then left the stage the same way that they entered: funeral style and singing acapella.

The crowd gave her a standing ovation. After a few minutes, Jenny came back down. She then did a duet song with Jonathan Rice which I didn't recognize. Regardless, it was very, very good. It reminded me of Walk the Line where Johnny Cash and June Carter would do songs together.

It was a treat to see Jenny in an environment that is simple, intimate and stripped of all the lights, noise and rock stardom. Her songs were well played and her voice was ever so angelic. They will be back next month at Bimbo's, so definitely catch them there if you haven't seen them here.

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