I like Youth Group. Their album, Skeleton Jar, was a great piece of work. It's a shame that they are not that known here in the U.S. as opposed to their home country of Australia. They make great songs because the band reminds me an awful lot of James. Their recent album, Casino Twilight Dogs, is not so great to my ears. But there are hits in there like the "Underpass" song and their cover of "Forever Young" (it's not a b-side in my book!).
The crowd was sparse. There wasn't that many people that went to this show, and that's quite disappointing given that this is such a good band. But, more room for me to stretch out, which is fine by me.
Most of their songs was from Casino Twilight Dogs like "Underpass". Although I now appreciate thos songs much more live, the better songs were from Skeleton Jar. The band was tight throughout. I had to leave a bit early, but I liked what I did see. So did the crowd.
Beer Rating:
Conor is no longer the young prodigy he once was. He is now 27 and is now a seasoned veteran in the world of music. His previous two albums, Wide Awake and Digital Ash, were Billboard chart toppers. Before he launches in this humungous tour with his latest release Cassadaga, Conor decides to give us a preview with a few small venue shows. This was the first of two.
The place was packed and it wasn't seeping with a bunch of youngsters like his previous shows in Berkeley. M. Ward was also with Conor during this show. We made a bet to see how many times "I Love You Conor!" would be shouted, but it was less than five. Quite a departure from the previous days where every momentary pause was greeted with such "I Love You" praises.
The songs off Cassadaga will be a bit folky. That's what a majority of the new songs sound like and it was good. However, there was this certain "umph" that was missing in these new songs that I'm sure will disappear once I hear the whole album. Even the song that I do know, "Endless Entertainment," lacked the enthusiasm of the songs from Wide Awake. The songs that he played from the Four Winds EP sounded great.
Maybe what's also lacking is the presence that Conor used to have. Instead of having that emo part in his hair, he now has this ridiculously long do that doesn't do much for his appearance. He now looks older. I have a belief that fugly bands are distracting live, hence making their live music appear "blah." For example, The Notwist. Great songs, but the band is just fugly, thus show was lackluster. Conor. Great songs, but he is fugly now, and the show was just so-so.
He did play some older songs that were greeted with much applause. I think one from Wide Awake and another from Lifted... Since I saw the show weeks ago, I forgot.
Beer Rating:
1/2
April:
2: The Thermals @ Bottom of the HIll
23: Placebo @ The Fillmore
25: Air @ Nob Hill Masonic Center
26: Cornelius @ Bimbo's
26: Birdmonster, The Cribs @ The Independent
30: Elf Power @ Rickshaw Stop
30: Fountains of Wayne @ GAMH
30: Sloan @ The Independent
May:
4: Bright Eyes @ The Greek Theatre
19: Lavender Diamond @ The Independent
24: Nous Non Plus @ Cafe du Nord
June:
9: CSS @ Mezzanine
11: Mystery Jets (acoustic) @ Cafe du Nord
12: Mystery Jets (electric) @ The Independent
27: The National @ Bimbo's
July:
27: Daft Punk @ The Greek Theatre
I missed Ghostland Observatory the night before because of the Vivienne Westwood premiere over at the DeYoung. And then I went to Leisure. It was a late night, so having a show in the afternoon was a bit tiresome for me. But, I looked forward to it since it was a great day outside last Sunday. And Midlake is a great band. When I saw them open up for Flaming Lips, they just blew me away. The video that accompanied each song definitely helped with the mellow songs, but the songs themselves were pretty strong.
So, we went to Bottom of the Hill and it was packed. The opener, Mini Pop, were pretty good but I wished I saved my energy for Midlake. The cool thing about Mini Pop is that they sound good, but that's pretty much it. The little kid on the stage who introduced them and mimicked their actions was cute and entertaining though.
Midlake had problems with their visuals, so that was a big minus to their show. The songs were good, but they played what seemed like a lot of stuff that's not from Van Occupanther. When they did though, like "Young Bride," they were good. But I was way in the back and I could barely see anything. And it was like a sauna inside the venue, so that further annoyed me.
It was an okay show at best. But it would've helped if I wasn't so tired.
Beer Rating:
Hello. It's been a while.
So, let's get down to business. Very promising night (or at least so I thought) last Friday with three pretty good bands in this Noise Pop bill.
First, Death of a Party. Didn't like them too much, although I have to hand it to the lead singer's theatrics.
Second, Malajube. These guys stole the show. They were fantastic from start to finish. The intensity was all there and the songs were just spot on. Although I don't understand much French, the songs were just strong and the band was really energetic and amusing on-stage. These French Canadians sounded really "foreign" when they spoke. "Le Crabe" was the definite highlight for me, but I was expecting a bit more yelping.
Third, Snowden. From Atlanta, they have a pretty good album but the only songs I like are the first three. And the first three were good. "Like Bullets" and "Anti-Anti" sounded like the album. But that was pretty much it for this band. I was not impressed and they were boring, to be perfectly honest.
Finally, Autolux. I can't say much about them because I had to cut out and I only saw the first song. But I've seen them a couple of times, and they put on a decent show. Their first song was a new one from their upcoming LP, but the song was too long for a starter. But, maybe they got better. I don't know.
Malajube are fantastic and they are worth seeing. So go for it!
Beer Rating:
