Tussle (Hotel Utah, 16 December 2005)

Despite the rain, cold and holiday madness going on in the streets of San Francisco last Friday night, everyone seemed happy to be out and about. It was the week before Christmas, and I think people are itching to do some crazy partying before calming themselves down with family at their suburban childhood homes. I know that's how I was feeling, and tonight was the night to do it.

Which lead me to select the Tussle show at The Hotel Utah as my primary outlet to release myself from the doldrums of my "Office Space" type job. I honestly haven't heard of Tussle before. I was recommended to them by a friend who was crazy excited to see them. She summed up Tussle as a band who "doesn't use any pointless vocals, just pure fun noise that anyone can dance to." With a description like that, who can't resist? Not I.

And Tussle did not disappoint. With a projector in the background showing random images akin to a Windows screen saver gone artsy, Tussle belted out their music with a lot of passion, energy and sheer perfection. Much like their more popular, albeit vocal laden, counterparts – The Rapture, Out Hud and, to some extent, !!! (chk chk chk) come to mind – Tussle's music is highly dependent on the beats they emit. Although I don't know any of the song titles, it seems like Tussle's music all shares a similar formula: a light beat as an intro, a layer of fast snare pops interspersed and then a bassline that would make George Clinton proud. All of these elements then form a sound that is truly original and mesmerizing. Each thud of the drum and each strum of the bass somehow seeps into the brain, which then send spastic impulses to the hips, necks, legs and arms. It was surreal and it was fantastic. I'm an apostle of Tussle.

Tussle weren't the only band to play that night. Another local San Francisco outfit, The Cold War, played their left wing brand of noise rock to the audience. Singer Tamera Ferro was all over the place, belting out the vocals while entertaining the crowd with her stage presence. They played a very short set, with the acoustics and sound at The Hotel Utah not exactly being cooperative to their type of music. Regardless, they were entertaining and may have prompted some members of the band to start a Communist revolution.

Beer Rating:1/2

Not So Silent Night (Bill Graham Civic, 9 December 2005)

Review by Aubrey Andel

Six bands, one stage, a million teeny boppers, some wasted wankers and a handful of horny bastards filled the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for Live 105’s Not So Silent Night concert on Friday evening.

Having missed Birdmonster, the winners of Café Du Nord’s Battle of the Bands, Autolux and Coheed & Cambria, I was just in time to see Hot Hot Heat perform. The Victoria, B.C. band’s lead singer, Steve Bays, donned a fro to rival that of American Idol’s Justin Guarini’s, his vocal deliverance however, definitely surpassed Guarini’s. I’m not a fan of Hot Hot Heat but if I was 12-years-old or really, really drunk, I’m sure I’d like them then. They have catchy pop songs with a good beat. As couples vertically humped eachother I wanted to blindfold all the little kiddies in the audience, even if most of them were on E and could have cared less if their friends’ parents were partaking in X-rated action. When the band’s current hit “Goodnight Goodnight” came on, crowd surfers surfaced and it was like one big orgy fest.

Indie darlings Death Cab for Cutie mellowed out the audience with their opener “The New Year” from Transatlanticism. I know I should love them since it seems like anyone who’s into indie music loves them, but, well, I don’t. I think they’re…Okay. They have pretty good lyrics and they’re musically interesting but it’s lead singer Ben Gibbard’s voice…that's a bit too whiny for me, especially on “Soul Meets Body” off of Plans. Gibbard sounds a lot better as the front man for The Postal Service. If I had wanted to listen to whining, I could have simply plucked one of the kids from the crowd and demanded that they sing for me. They also played “Title and Registration,” “The Sound of Settling” and something from their CD We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes, I can’t remember what though. Sorry. Nevertheless, they do seem like very nice fellows, so I give them kudos for potentially being unpretentious musicians with big hearts and little egos.

Finally, who I really went to the show to see (I’m going to change tenses now so I can re-live the moment). I missed The White Stripes at The Greek in Berkley and I wasn’t about to miss them again. You pasty, dirty, white people from Detroit really know how to rock! Meg starts banging on the drums as if she’s trying to beat demons out of them and Jack accompanies her with a vicious rendition of “Blue Orchid” from Get Behind Me Satan. L. and I are near the front and there’s pushing and shoving and dancing and it’s great. Then not so great. We elbow our way to the side where there’s more room for breathing and dancing. “You Put Her in Your Pocket” and “Doorbell” fill in the middle. The crowd is in a fucking frenzy and they end with the killer song that catapulted them into rock heaven, “Seven Nation Army.”

Lose the teeny boppers, cut out half the bands, have The White Stripes play for more than an hour and you’d have yourself one kick-ass concert.

Beer Rating:

Autolux (Popscene, 8 December 2005)

I'll be really brief with Autolux at Popscene since I have to go to sleep in 5 minutes.

They were good as always. This is the upteenth time I've seen them live. It seems like they're always opening up for someone or are headlining a small venue with an alterior motive. I don't know. I don't intentionally go and see them (except for tonight) but I've always liked them.

Tonight, the stage at Popscene seemed a lot shorter than usual. Probably because the band themselves aren't that tall. Also, it seems like everyone from Giganto-land was in the house. I'm 5'9" but I certainly cannot compete with the 6' and over crowd. So, all I can do is listen and see what the band is up to between crevaces of space between people.

Also, Popscene needs to do something with their camera placement. The screens at the back does nothing to improve the view. All I can see are a bunch of heads and probably the forehead of one of the band members.

Finally, Popscene takes a whole new light when one is sober. I had to be sober tonight. But I wanted to enjoy myself so I got a few drinks. Still no remedy. The only song I really danced to was the Strokes' "Juicebox" which I wasn't really that into but I had to force myself to enjoy it. Oh, my bad, I also danced to Kaiser Chiefs' "I Predict a Riot" with two friends. Now that was fun.

Beer Rating:

The (International) Noise Conspiracy (Slim's, 7 December 2005)

Sweden is a socialist country. Besides having beautiful people as citizens (see Nina Persson and Ingrid Bergman as examples), socilaism's core belief is that a society should exist in which popular collectives control the means of power, and therefore the means of production.* Socialism never caught on as much as democracy, but don't tell that to the (International) Noise Conspiracy boys. They're convinced that socialism is the way to go, and that our system of government is going down the shitter.

And these guys aren't poseurs like how some bands are socialists or Marxists just for the sake of calling themselves punk rock. (I)NC really does dish out the goods and it shows. From their merchandise booth full of socialist literature, to the lyrics of their songs and to the way the group interacts and plays on stage, they truly believe in the socialist, working class ethos of trying to create a classless society.

When you look at (I)NC on stage, not one person really sticks out as being better than another band member. First, all of them wore the same clothes as the others. Stylish ones at that. So, they all looked the same in a strange way. Second, when they hopped around like chickens on crack on stage, they all did it in unison and with the same amount of energy as the other. Again, not one scissor kick stuck out from the others. The only thing that really separate Dennis Lyxzén from the other members was that he had a mic that he can play around with.

And oh did he play around with that mic. He has better mic skills than Brett Anderson of Suede and The Tears. Yeah, it's that damn good. He would throw the mic in mid-air and catch it with his chest. He would also do a lasso of the mic and catch it at the right moment.

These antics, among others, made this show one of the more energetic shows this years. The sheer activity going on stage would make a normal person go crazy.

Musically speaking, they wer fantastic and tight. I'm not that well versed in (I)NC stuff, but I have to admit I liked each and every song they played. It was catchy, it was tight and they had the right amount of energy to supplement all of that great musicianship.

So, go ahead. Have a cup of fair trade coffee, put on an (I)NC CD or mp3 and read that 10th edition of Communist Manifesto. All those three things will make sense to you. Just watch out for Joe McCarthy's boys whilst you're doing all three things at once.

Beer Rating:

*Source: Wikipedia

Echo & The Bunnymen (The Fillmore, 5 December 2005)

Review by Aubrey Andel

The Geriatric Society of America gathered at the Fillmore last night to see one of their heroes from back in the day perform live once again. As crypt-keeper Ian McCulloch, the lead singer of the band Echo and the Bunnymen smoked cig after cig, shimmied his hips and balanced a bird’s nest hairstyle atop his head, I realized why the ancients were crazy for him: He’s just cool…that voice, those moves, those sunglasses.

I happened to be standing next to his #1 Fan of All Time, a 45-year-oldish, long blond-haired, meaty maniac who put on a performance of her own. She was pumping her little fists and swinging her hair all around, providing me with a breeze. That was okay. What wasn’t okay was when she started to shove her huge breastesses into my back because she was in such a euphoric state.

#1 Fan, I love that you love the band, but please don’t aim your lovin’ in my direction. Being knocked around by your knockers was not even mildly therapeutically pleasant for me.

When you shout to the heavens, “Punk Rock Man!!!” that’s okay too, just not in my freakin’ ear, woman. When sweat starts to glisten on your broad forehead because you’re jumping around like a jack rabbit, it doesn’t bother me, until that sweat ends up on my arm. Then it starts to bother me. I would have clobbered you right out of the venue but I restrained myself because I figured you needed the exercise.

While #1 Fan rocked on, Echo and the Bunnymen played an amazing set, with favorites like “The Killing Moon” and “Lips Like Sugar,” some songs from their new CD, Siberia, and partial covers of “Walk on the Wild Side” and “In the Midnight Hour.”

Ian, keep smoking your cigs dear, you have one helluva voice and lung cancer and laryngitis are small prices to pay to gratify your followers with a stellar performance.

Beer Rating:

New Shows Added

There are so many new shows added for the new year. Thought I'd give you a run down just in case you're too lazy to flip through the calendar. The ones in blue are ones I'm planning on/am going to.

Here they are:

January

• 4: Wolf Parade @ The Independent
• 5: Wolf Parade @ The Independent (SOLD OUT)
• 18: High on Fire @ 12 Galaxies
• 19: The Editors @ Popscene
• 20: Colin Meloy @ Great American Music Hall
• 21: The Elected @ Bottom of the Hill
• 26: Josh Rouse @ Swedish American Music Hall
• 28: Of Montreal @ Bottom of the Hill
• 31: Coldplay & Fiona Apple @ Oakland Arena

February

• 3: Of Montreal @ Great American Music Hall
• 8: Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) @ The Fillmore
• 9: Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) @ The Fillmore
• 17: Saint Etienne @ The Fillmore
  
• 23: Supergrass @ Great American Music Hall
• 24: Wedding Present @ Slim's

March

• 4: Low @ The Independent
• 5: Matt Pond PA & Youth Group @ Slim's
• 15: BRMC @ The Fillmore
• 24: Metric @ The Fillmore

More info by clicking on the calendar.

Broken Social Scene (The Grand, 9 November 2005)

If everything is bigger in Texas, then Canadians like it even bigger.

Canadian bands these days have these HUGE ensemble of band members. Arcade Fire (8 members), Stars (4 permanent members, as much as 8 on stage) and, the one that takes the cake, Broken Social Scene (10 listed members, as much as 15 people on stage).

BSS takes their tour to the West Coast after somewhat mixed reviews of their shows in other cities (reviews ranging from: "lacks stage presence" or "one of the few bands that can give Arcade Fire a run for their money"). Well, my impression of this monster of a band is a glowing one.

BSS got on stage at around 10:30 and played for a solid 2 hours. That's right kids, 2 fucking hours. But it wasn't an agonizing two hours by any stretch, but one that is worth every minute. It seemed like they played every song that mattered from You Forgot It in People and their 2005 self-title release. They may have started off the set with something from Feel Good Lost, but I'm not entirely sure since the song didn't immediately click in my head.

The second song though was "KC Accidental" which made for a good start. The booming sound of the speakers made my wristband shake about and the entire band was crazy for this song. More and more and more songs were played such as excellent live versions of "Handjobs for the Holidays," "Superconnected," "Ibi Dreams of Pavement" and "Fire Eye'd Boy." Varying musicians also made special appearances, including Justin Small and James Payment of Do Make Say Think and the lovely Lisa from whatever band she is in. She's just really pretty and provided as a good fill-in for another lovely lady, Emily Haines, in "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl." There's just something about her hair, Lisa that is, that makes me get all excited.

Feist joined the fray during "Shoreline," which was probably the most energetic and most well-received song the entire night. She was playing with Kevin a lot, and their stage chemistry was unmistakenably perfect. She was also there for "Almost Crimes" which also was energetic and exciting.

Towards the end, BSS played more chill songs and relaxed the crowd a bit. "I'm Still Your Fag" was played I believe as the last song of the main set, which was a bit odd but it was really, really good.

They also played a 3 song encore, with Kevin teasing the crowd that their first song will induce them to dance. I then cringed for 2 seconds when he said that song is going to be Madonna's "Ray of Light." He did sing it though, bits and pieces of the lyrics, and that scared me because I thought they were really going to cover it. It would be a good cover, but it would just be plain weird. Instead, they played something off their s/t album (sorry, I forgot). They finished their set with a 10+ minute rendition of "It's All Gonna Break" (I think). By that time, everyone was so satisfied (and tired).

Overall, it was a fantastic show chock-full of excellent songs and stellar musicians. Definitely one of the great live bands touring today. And one of the great bands from our friendly neighbours up north.

Beer Rating:

Metric (Slim's, 3 November 2005)

I <3>Live it Out. It was a good start, a slow song start, to a show otherwise filled with noise, guitar and Emily's antics. Then, once the rockin' part of this song came on, Emily shook her head viciously. Her strawberry blonde hair just waving like that in the air. Oh! So succexxy! Crazy, yes, but succexxy nonetheless.

I think "Succexxy" followed and then that's when the deluge of Live it Out songs came about. "Monster Hospital" was done and it was entertaining. "Patriarch on a Vespa" and "Handshakes," two songs that were present during the latter part of their last tour was there albeit different now that it has been refined. Before, that "uh-ah-hah-ha-ha" sound that Emily made was a vomiting noise. It sounds better the way it is now.

Throughout the whole set, Emily's voice wasn't so great. It would be good if she sang the song the way it was on the album, but when she improvised it in some way, it didn't sound as great.

We didn't get any Old World Underground songs until the encore I believe. After "Police and the Private," "Hustle Rose" was played followed by that annoying, and worthless, 12 minute version of "Dead Disco." I love "Dead Disco," and I thought they righted their wrongs by playing the slightly shorter version. But nooooo...they had to play the long ass version. Why!?!?!?!?! Me and the #1s decided to skip the show after that.

I was sick. I wasn't supposed to be there. I thought that Metric would otherwise entertain me after lying in bed and getting chest x-rays all day. They didn't. It was disappointing.

Beer Rating:

Bright Eyes / Sons & Daughters (Freeborn Hall, UC Davis, 27 October 2005)

I've never been to Davis or the Sacramento area before. I hear it's really, really flat with little or nothing to do over there. Since Bright Eyes weren't playing by themselves in San Francisco, my friends and I thought that it would be a good idea of going over there to see them. Finally, I will get to demystify what is Davis.

Bright Eyes is in the third and final stage of their world tour. First, they played songs from Wide Awake It's Morning, then co-headlined with the Faint to play songs solely from Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Now, this tour is billed as an all-encompassing Bright Eyes tour, with songs from not just one album, but his entire discography. It should also be a "back to the basics" show, because this time there weren't any fancy media effects or anything of the sort. Conor in a simple setting? Too hard to believe, and too hard to resist.

We got to UC Davis a little after a one hour drive. It was really congested on the 80, especially from Berkeley to the bridge. But once we got past that mess, it was smooth sailing from there. When we got there, our first agenda was to eat. This search for food was a pretty intensive task. Like hunters in the wild, we searched high and low for a semi-decent place to eat. We got extremely lost around the campus, looking for a Pluto's that was supposedly on D St. and 2nd Ave. that was told to us by a nice girl in the espresso bar at the UC Davis cafeteria. After walking around in circles for a good 15 minutes, we decided to go back to the espresso girl and eat the hard breadsticks, hours old pizza and ultra greasy veggie egg rolls.

We go into Freeborn Hall with the lining of our stomachs severely damaged, only waiting for the opportunity to just relax and get drinks. Well, that wasn't going to happen either because Freeborn Hall is a NO ALCOHOL venue! I'm no alcolholic (ignore what happened this Friday), but I do enjoy a nice bevvy when watching a show. Why Conor would pick a dry venue to play in is beyond me, because I don't think he can stand doing that either.

We saw a bit of Sons & Daughters. I knew a little about them since I do have Repulsion Box in my iPod. Of the few songs I recognized, they were pretty good. They sounded a bit like the Kills with a Franz Ferdinand potential. They are rough around the edges, but a good band full of raw energy. I don't like the girl's dancing however. Otherwise, they were okay.

We decided to get close for Bright Eyes, but surrendered and opted for the bleachers way in the back. It was good to sit down, but the vantage point was a little too far and I can barely make out Conor other than his skinny black tie. They came on around 10:30 or so and immediately launched into something old -- "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fevers and Mirrors. I don't think I ever saw Bright Eyes play anything off of that album, but then again, I am fairly new to Bright Eyes as of Lifted. They also played "The Calendar Hung Itself" from Fevers and Mirrors.

My spirits were raised when he played "You Will...," which is one of my favourite songs off of Lifted, and "False Advertising." Lifted is the first album that really turned me a Bright Eyes and a Conor fan so I immediately cherished each song played from that album. As far as I can recall, these are the only songs played from that album.

He also played a bunch of stuff that I did not recognize. I think he played a song off of A Collection of Songs but I don't know what those were.

From Wide Awake, he played "Old Soul Song (for the New World Order)." A disappointing part of the set was the absence of "Lua." I really like that song, and it upsets me that they didn't play it here in Davis when they played it in Reno.

Throughout the main set, Bright Eyes were a bit off. Or was it the venue? Or the sound? Or the people? Or maybe Conor wasn't into it? I'm not sure, but I think it's a combination of all five factors that contributed to a show that is not one of Conor's finest. There was utter silence between songs, with little chatter from Conor. Don't know if that's a good or a bad thing, but I remember him interacting a bit more in the previous shows. Also, the crowd was jsut so chill that it prompted one couple sitting in the row in front of us to leave. "I'm going to fall asleep," the girl said.

As for Conor, I think he was drinking while the rest of us were bone dry. The band as a whole was good, but there was just a certain lack of energy from Conor that wasn't present until the very last song of the set. I can't put my finger on it.

Even though I was confined to this seat far away from the stage, I still enjoyed the show. I wanted to enjoy it a little more by standing up, but I think that was a good idea at the end because of the long drive home.

The second to the last song of the set was "Gold Mine Gutted." Even though Digital Ash isn't a great album like Lifted or Wide Awake, "Gold Mine Gutted" is, in my opinion, one of Conor's best songs. I think the instrumentation in this song is excellent. The visuals were great when Conor toured Digital Ash and I wished he did the same here.

Overall, it was a good show just for the fact that I get to hear a variety Bright Eyes songs spanning his entire discography that haven't been played in a while. As for the long drive, the fact that there were no drinks, poor sound and the lack of energy on Conor and the crowd, that's why the show got a . . .

Beer Rating:

The Download Festival (Shoreline Amphitheatre, 8 October 2005)

To be honest, I wasn't too excited about this festival. It just reeks of commercialism and a lot of corporate b.s. It was just too much. It's not that festivals aren't corporate sponsored events, but this one just takes the cake. Plus, it's at the Shoreline and I hate that place. I'm convinced that unless a really, really good band plays there (Oasis or Radiohead, for example), I'm never going there. I guess the other caveat to that is if I have good seats, I will make an exception.

I was at the lawn for the Download Festival which wasn't a bad thing since I wasn't really into the whole thing and just wanted to relax and take in some good music. The Arcade Fire were there, and that's the only reason why I even considered going. I didn't care for Modest Mouse. I already saw The Killers. So, it was just Arcade Fire that prompted me to go there.

We got there just in time for Arcade Fire. We were really far, and I felt so detached from the show. I just couldn't bring myself to be into the show, especially since they were so far. I wanted to be up close and personal for Arcade Fire and I wanted the sound to be booming in my ears. But it wasn't. Granted, they played a great set, even with a cover of a Bruce Springstein song I think in there, but it was just way too much for me to take being so far away. Plus, Owen wasn't there which actually made a difference with the sound of the strings.

At this point, I was bored with the music but the company I was with made things great. Plus, the drinks were good too. I needed more of it after this festival.

Modest Mouse came on and they bored the fuck out of me. I like Modest Mouse, but my knowledge of their discography is very limited to a few albums and random radio singles. So, I could've slept at this point of the festival.

We decided to roam around a bit and just see everything from afar. So, we were way up top of the lawn to see The Killers. They were good and all, but they didn't really wow me like their Fillmore show. Plus, I guess they were just itching to get the hell out of there since they're wrapping up 2 years of touring Hot Fuss. I mean, how many times can stand playing "Mr. Brightside" and "Somebody Told Me"? I think at that point, they were like doing covers of their own songs. They did play a David Bowie cover, which was quite good, but I still wasn't into it.

Overall, the festival had a promising bill but just sucked. The suckiness of this festival was displayed by tons of people just chucking Dentyne Ice pillow cushions all around. Yeah, good job Dentyne Ice, giving away tossable materials. Didn't they already learn about this sort of stuff? Giving away baseballs when the Chicago Cubs are in town? Are you crazy?

Not even the Arcade Fire can save this festival from being one of the most mundane shows I've seen all year.

Worst festival ever.

Beer Rating:

Franz Ferdinand (Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 6 October 2005)

After an excellent Clap Your Hands show the night before, I was looking forward to more dancing antics at the Franz Ferdinand show. However, there were a couple of obstacles to this night for me. First, they're playing the Bill Graham which is my least favourite venue in the entire city. I have great memories there (first and second Oasis show, saw two cows fighting there during the Strokes show) but it's just too massive. Second, I had to wake up at the butt crack of dawn the next day so I can argue in court. Yeah, so there's an early curfew for me tonight. Or is there?

We arrived late for Franz Ferdinand because we could care less for the two openers. We did eventually see Cut Copy later in the evening (more on that later). So, we go there and when I entered the doors they were already playing "Do You Want To" which is the song I was anxiously anticipating. Like their performance at Austin City Limits, they played their two most danceable and popular songs early in the set. Luckily, the other fun song, "Take Me Out" we caught just in time and we danced to that.

We tried to get closer, but the crowd wasn't having it. I was surrounded by fatties. One of the fatties even pinched my tities. I felt violated. But, we made do with where we were despite our dislike of where we were and the people around us.

Franz Ferdinand were excellent though, despite the circumstances. The new songs translated really well live, although barely anyone seemed to know what the songs were. "Evil and a Heathen" and "This Boy" were so much fun to dance to. Classics such as "Michael" and "Darts of Pleasure" were great as always. Even the most mellow song of the night "Walk Away" was splendidly done.

We opted to go to the outer limits of the venue against the wall so we can start our own dance party there. And we had it so much better with Franz Ferdinand when we were in the outer boundaries! I forgot what the last few songs of the encore were, but I knew I was hopping around dancing.

After that, we were still in the mood to dance. It was around 11:00pm at this point and the only place where we can get our groove on was Popscene. Cut Copy and Franz Ferdinand were going to be there, so it was a no-brainer that we had to go there. Plus they were open until 3am? Sweet!

We struggled to look for a cab near Mission, but were able to find one after a few blocks. The line outside 330 Ritch was soooooo LONG!! There was no semblance of order because of all the cutting that took place. There were some pure Marina kids there, and it was so annoying. I hate it when the Marina clashes with the "indie" folk. It just creates a weird friction. We waited in line and gave ourselves a midnight deadline, which we pushed back every now and then. We just didn't want to wait, and we definitely needed some booze to sustain our energy at the club.

We finally got in at around 12:15am and headed straight to the bar. After we finished our drinks and witnessing Cut Copy play a pretty fun set of tunes, we started dancing. Later in the evening, around1:39am, Franz Ferdinand started their DJ set. Alex was only there briefly, but the bass player (I forgot his name) spun records. He was pretty horrible with song selection, playing 4 songs by the Beatles in a 10 song set. It was pretty boring, so we left.

And it was 3am by that point and I need to wake up and go to work by 7:45am. I made it. I won my motion. Everything is in it's right place.

Beer Rating:

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / The National (Mezzanine, 5 October 2005)

Here comes the hype again.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are the latest indie darlings touted by Pitchforkmedia, overhyped by the recent CMJ Music Festival in New York and overposted by blogs all around. Like with other bands that have received so much hype, I am drawn to the hype and I bought my ticket months in advance. Are my expectations going to be met? We shall see (The Arcade Fire, Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party were hits; The Bravery (at least initially) and Annie were misses).

You know the hype was for real when Mezzanine sends you an e-mail mid-afternoon encouraging you to get your will call ticket starting at 7pm because they're expecting 800 people to fall in line. So, I did the smart thing so C and I went to get our ticket right at 7pm.

You also know that there's hype if everyone and their mom on Craigslist is BEGGING you for a ticket and are willing to pay double face value for it.

So, I go into the venue and caught the tail end of Bird Monster, which ironically one of the band members used to work at the firm I work for now. They actually sounded really good, and it was a shame that I missed them.

After a fairly short wait (or was it because I was already three sheets to the wind at this point?), Clap Your Hands came on. They started off with a new song which sounded pretty good. It was sort of surreal hearing Alec sing. That voice is one of those rare types, like David Byrne. Then they launched into "My Yellow Country Teeth" which is my absolute favourite song in the album. Me and my friends couldn't help but start dancing at this point.

We danced at several points during their what seemed like short set. Basically, any song from their debut release we danced to. "Over and Over Again (Lost and Found)" and "In This Home on Ice" are some. We went ape shit during "Is This Love?" And we even went even more ape shit during "Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood," which was the last song of their set.

As enjoyable as the songs are, Clap Your Hands were very matter of factly with their stage presence. Granted, I wasn't expecting any sort of Arcade Fire antics, but it would have been cool.

As expected, everyone was there for Clap Your Hands rather than the National. We decided to stay nonetheless since the National put out good tunes. Alligator and Sad Song for Dirty Lovers are great albums, really melodic and slow. However, their live show is something too plain. I saw them before and wasn't too thrilled. This time, I was just beeming from Clap Your Hands so I thought I'd give them a shot.

Their music just clashed with Clap Your Hands that I immediately didn't enjoy myself that much. I decided to leave 3/4 of the way through their set, but there were some highlights like "Looking for Astronauts."

But the definite highlight was Clap Your Hands. These guys are going to be huge soon enough. Next venue will be something big I'm sure. Like Fillmore.

Beer Ratings:
-- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah:
-- The National:

Sigur Rós (Paramount Theatre, Oakland, 1 October 2005)

It's hard to keep up a blog when you're constantly inundated with all the issues that life throws at you. Love (or lack thereof), friends (or lack thereof) and feelings (or other people's lack thereof). That's why I've been so behind. At least I'm in the month of October now and I have three more shows to write about.

The beauty of writing an entry about Sigur Rós is that their music is just so beautiful and ethereal that it'll make your heart all warm and fuzzy and then it'll just explode. You don't know what the Icelandic boys are saying, but you know it's something important. But you can make up your own lyrics. You can make up your own meanings of what these oddly spelled words are.

In the beautiful Paramount Theatre, a beautiful band plays. They play songs from Takk such as "Glósóli" and "Hoppipolla" interspersed with songs from Ágætis Byrjun like "Svefn-g-englar" and "Flugufrelsarinn." Then you are just dumbfounded by the atmospheric lighting and the sheer brilliance and strength from ( )'s "Popplagið." It sounds like doom is upon you.

At the same time though, your heart tugs at you. It begs you to cry, to release these inner feelings. When you listen to Sigur Rós, your soul and heart meet. At times they go hand-in-hand, but times they fight with each other. They tug at you. Should you go with your soul, where he says, "Come with me and fulfill your destiny" or with your heart where it says, "Come with me and fulfill your desires." I don't know where to go. So, at times I was drowsy.

I don't know where this review is going. My mindset right now is just somewhere else. All I can tell you is, Sigur Ros played a great show, which was begging for a second encore and they needed to do the song where the guy sang in his guitar.

Life's a bitch.

Beer Rating:

The New Pornographers (Bimbo's, 27 September 2005)

Damn it's nice to be back in San Francisco! It was a very nice, chilly evening in North Beach -- just the way I like it. And I'm indoors for once and at a small venue. Although I was tired from ACL, I was looking forward to seeing the New Pornographers. Their brand of indie pop is just the remedy I need from rock overload in Texas.

New Pornographers are one of those bands who I like listening to but have yet to see live. Their popularity over the years just keeps on growing, as evidenced by their 2 night residency at Bimbo's.

They played a total of 24 songs, 22 of which I stayed for. The setlist was:

Twin Cinema
Use It
The End of Medicine
Mass Romantic
Jackie, Dressed in Cobras
These Are the Fables
Three or Four
The Bleeding Heart Show
Ballad of a Comeback Kid
Falling Through Your Clothes
The Laws Have Changed
Streets of Fire
It's Only Divine Right
Stacked Crooked
The Fake Headlines
The Bones of an Idol
The Slow Descent into Alcoholism
Sing Me Spanish Techno
All for Swinging You Around
Jackie
From Blown Speakers
Miss Teen Wordpower
The Electric Version
Letter from an Occupant

I like Twin Cinema but I'm more familiar with the two previous albums. So, anything from those albums I liked listening to. "From Blown Speakers," "Miss Teen Wordpower" and Fake Headlines" were the highlights for me.

A.C. Newman likes to engage in conversation with the crowd tonight. They were especially chatty throughout the night. I forgot what the audience member said that ignited laughter for everyone, but it was a clever remark.

Bejar, a member of NPs and Destroyer, joined NP for a couple of songs. He looked seriously fucked up when he joined NPs. It was just hilarious! Of course, during opener "Twin Cinema," people yelled and hollered when the "16th and Valenica" line was said.

Overall, it was a great show but it was a bit too long for my tired ass. I would definitely see them again. I will enjoy it better I'm sure.

Beer Rating:1/2

Austin City Limits: Day Three (Zilker Park, Austin, TX, 25 September 2005)

It's the last day of ACL and the conditions still haven't improved. It's still hot, with the temperatures over boiling point, and now there's a new enemy: wind and dust. This potent combo made Zilker Park look like the Dust Bowl from the John Steinbeck novel. So, needless to say, this was disgusting. A layer of dirt and other nasty air elements were on my skin and there's no way to avoid it. Also, breathing this stuff in makes your entire respiratory system go to shit.

We decided to arrive late in the afternoon because, quite frankly, it was impossible for us to get used to this heat. First up is the best band in all of ACL: Arcade Fire.

The Arcade Fire - Cingular Stage

This is large. This is the same stage that Oasis graced last night and it shows that Arcade Fire's popularity is reaching astronomical heights. This isn't the first big festival these guys played, but it definitely ranks up there as one of their biggest.

My friend and I decided to go as close as possible, and we achieved that by being next to the speakers, stage left. We got a comfortable view of the stage and some much needed shade from the elements. It still amazes me that Arcade Fire still do their own soundcheck.

While they were doing their soundcheck, one of rock's royal family were in the sidelines watching. Apple, Gwyneth and Chris Martin were all there anticipating a great show from these guys. Apple was sporting pink headphones to cover the noise. It was cute.

Their setlist was as follows:

Wake Up
Laika
No Cars Go
Haiti
Headlights Look Like Diamonds
Sleeping In A Submarine
(Brazil-snippet)
Five Years
Tunnels
Power Out
Rebellion (Lies)

Until "Power Out," I was totally calm and a complete non-nuisance. It was hot, so I didn't want to kill myself. And everyone around me was just bobbing their head in enjoyment, with the occassional jumping around (usually it was me). They played their set excellently as always. Win commented that "You guys in the shade must be thinking this is a great show while people in the back think we're shit!" Oh, how right he was. The shade definitely helped.

Nobody knew "Five Years" except for a handful of people in my area. Win also threw his mic stand down on the viewing well.

I have nothing else to say really from what I said before about this band. They are just fantastic live, and the size of the place didn't take away too much of their grandeur.

When "Power Out" came on, I immediately bum rushed the front of the stage, much to the dissatisfaction of the people I bumped. I wanted to join the people hopping around, but they ceased doing that even when "Rebellion (Lies)" came on. Such a shame. I was hoping some of the Rowdies from Stubbs were there, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Beer Rating:

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My friend and I immediately got out of there and made our way to the SBC Stage to see Franz Ferdinand. After a brief bathroom break and some refreshments, we made our way there. We had to fight the dust and the wind, which was blowing harder and harder every step we took. I had to use my Mexican style bandana as a face mask just to cover the dust.

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Franz Ferdinand - SBC Stage

From this point on, we were going to stay here to see Franz Ferdinand and then Coldplay. We got a great spot as well, near the speakers, stage left. Yeah, I know what you're thinking: we're always on the left side near the speakers. Oh well. I took a hearing test today and I'm alright so far.

Our view was heavily obstructed since we were on the extreme left. We couldn't see Paul, the drummer, and we couldn't see the Franz Ferdinand banner that hung in the background.

Franz Ferdinand played a really enjoyable set. It would have been more enjoyable if it wasn't so fucking humid, but fun nonetheless. They played "Do You Want To" really early and that song live is a lot of fun to dance to. Also, "Take Me Out" was played shortly thereafter, and that got the crowd moving along nicely.

A lot of the new songs they played I really enjoyed such as "I'm Your Villain," "This Boy," "What You Meant" and "Evil and a Heathen." Unfortunately, the crowd didn't know much of the songs since the new album wasn't released yet.

The older songs got a huge reaction. Songs like "40 ft." and "This Fire" received a good amount of cheers. "Darts of Pleasure" and "Michael" also received great applause and some dancing.

But the Franz boys are just clever and joyful. Very stylish, despite the circumstances. They also introduced themselves individually, with Alex leading the way. Lots of dancing and jumping around from the Franz boys. Take a bow. Take a bow.

Beer Rating:

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At this point, a lot of the Franz crowed stayed and made a push to get closer for Coldplay. This is where it got downright nasty. We were packed like sardines and I could barely move my arm. The place was like a slaughter house, with all of us stinking and herded like cattle. We could only take 10 minutes of this and we decided to make our escape. We pushed and shoved and eventually hopped over the railing. We decided to get drinks, get some wet wipes to get rid of the soot and eat.

We were very, very far for Coldplay, but we were comfortable.

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Coldplay: SBC Stage

Coldplay's stage set is the same set that they've been touring with here in the U.S. The setlist was no different than their setlist in any of their other U.S. shows. They opened up with "Square One" with the whole clock timer thing in the back and Chris Martin hopping around like a bunny rabbit. "Politik" followed and now the crowd started getting into it even more.

Throughout the set, Chris was improvising the lyrics to fit in with the festival. The most glaring was his tribute to Arcade Fire and Coldplay where he said, during the verse before the chorus, "You should have seen Arcade Fiiiire, open up your eyes...."

Chris LOVED Arcade Fire. He couldn't stop talking about them. He said that after he saw Arcade Fire, the entire band wanted to retire and pursue other occupations. He also said that he was inspired by them, and will take their energy and enthusiasm on stage to something that Coldplay will hopefully duplicate in their own show. Tough act to follow, but Chris was determined.

Oddly, no mention of Oasis.

"Yellow" came on as the third song, and the balloons were released.

The definite highlight was "Fix You." That song...man. It just does something to my heart. It's so damn perfect for me. It just encapsulates all my feelings in one. Damn that was good. You can tell that everyone at the show was affected by the song. Just the sheer silence of people in the crowd and how people with significant others just hugged one another during that song. This is by far the best song Coldplay has ever written. It just tugs at the heart strings of all men and women.

I actually enjoyed Coldplay here rather than at Shoreline. Where I described the lighting as plain at Shoreline, it was spectacular here.

Beer Rating:

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And that was ACL. A very memorable experience in more ways than one. Will I go again? Maybe. Austin is a nice little city with a lot of nice people. And it's liberal, which is something of an anomaly in Texas I guess.

Austin City Limits: Day Two (Zilker Park, Austin, TX, 24 September 2005)

It was another blistering hot day here in Austin. Temperatures were expected to reach as high as 109 degrees fahrenheit, despite the fact that there's hurricane Rita just a few hundred miles away from here. I kind of wished that tropical storm Rita would at least come over here to cool things off. It was hot. It was dusty. It was humid. It was gross.

With that in mind, we decided not to go the festival until later in the afternoon. The earliest gig that we wanted to see was Tegan & Sara, but they cancelled their appearance. Thank goodness! So, Death Cab turned out to be the first band of the day.

Death Cab for Cutie -- Cingular Stage

The Cingular Stage is the second biggest stage in the entire festival and everyone and their mom packed that area to see O.C. favorites Death Cab. It was really hard to get a decent spot in that stage. It didn't help that the temperatures were so high that we lacked any motivation to go see them and to even attempt to crowd and push around others. So, we opted to stand way stage left, near all the portable seat people.

Death Cab is a great band, but I never found their live performance to be that jolting or riveting. It has that potential, but I just couldn't make myself do it. So, I was content on being far away.

The first song they played was "Marching Bands of Manhattan," my favourite song off their new album Plans. That song live is something else, and I'm sure it's even better live in a more intimate venue.

Throughout their set, they played a good mix of songs from Plans ("Soul Meets Body," among others) and their other releases. They played "I Was a Kaleidoscope," which surprised me since that's such an "old" song by their standards. Songs that were expected off Transatlanticism such as "New Year" and "Title and Registration" were also played.

However, I was just not into their set. I was far, it was hot and the sound was being drowned out by all the people talking all around me. I wish I could have enjoyed their set, but I didn't.

Beer Rating:

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The next band after Death Cab was Bloc Party. However, we opted not to watch Bloc Party but instead go back to Downtown Austin to get some BBQ and watch bats fly from Congress bridge. The BBQ was alright, but the bats were a complete disappointment. Those bastards didn't come out until after 8pm, and we waited since 5:45pm for those guys. We did see a few bats fly close by, but it was so dark outside that it was hard to see whether what you're looking at was a bat or a black bird.

We left TGIF (its viewing deck is perfect for bat watching), we took cabs and hurried up back to Zilker Park to catch Oasis.

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Oasis - Cingular Stage

We barely made it just in time to see Oasis. When we walked in, "Fuckin' in the Bushes" was on. It was still packed in the Cingular Stage despite seeing a lot of people walking out. It's amazing that there's still a huge following for Oasis. Even kids in their teens were amused and sang along to Oasis.

Their set list is the same as any other show, with a few notable omissions such as "Bring It On Down" and "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel." Otherwise the setlist was the same as the previous three times I saw them this year.

Liam was wearing shorts during this gig, which is the same shorts he wore for the SPIN photo shoot last month. Liam wasn't looking too good that night, clothes wise, but he made up for it with his siganture cheekiness and playful nature. He again dedicated "Live Forever" to the people in New Orleans and again incited the crowd with his banter.

Noel was perhaps the most talkative and active of the group. He talked to the crowd about various things. Like, what the translator lady was doing and how she can translate what Noel's saying into sign language. I think before Noel played "Don't Look Back in Anger," he commented that he was freaked out by the Snow Bank building because it looked like an owl. He also told the crowd a story about how two cockroaches were fighting in his room and how he demanded room service to come up and get rid of them.

"Don't Look Back in Anger" was the song of the evening. Everyone singing along and just re-living their youth. Although some of the youth were singing along too. It's surprising to see that this song has eclipsed all other Liam-led vocal songs such as "Live Forever" and "Wonderwall," but Noel does have a knack for touching the hearts of people through words and song.

This doesn't top any of the prior Oasis gigs I've been to, but it's a memorable one.

Beer Rating: