The Drowners are a post-punk band from New York City whose music, critics write, is heavily influenced by the Smiths, the Strokes and the Arctic Monkeys. Since I like the Smiths, the Strokes and the Arctic Monkeys, I decided to check out their set at Coachella.
I enjoyed the music in their set as it was catchy and upbeat, and I can imagine them doing well picking up fans through steady touring/gigging. They’ve opened for bands likeArctic Monkeys, The Vaccines and Foals, so I have the feeling that they have a good idea of what they are doing.
I had a bit of a battle with the lighting for their stage show, and I didn’t feel like I was able to capture many clean pics to share, but check ’em out and let me know what you think!
I wasn’t able to find their setlist online, so if any of you Drowners fans know what it was, please let me know in the comments so I can add it to the body of the entry!
When one of the most influential rock & roll bands of the 80’s decides to play at Coachella, you go. Period.
Though their set may not have been filled with the booze and testosterone that I’ve read about, heard or watched (click HERE or HERE for examples of what I’m talking about), their set demonstrated their legacy in the annals of punk, hardcore and garage rock. It was a solid, polished set that hit on many of their popular hits. Who knows how many more years they’ll be rocking the stage, but I, for one, am glad I was able to catch them perform at Coachella.
When I go through a lineup to decide which bands I want to check out, I make sure that I at least watch a video or two on youtube of the act’s music. When I googled Woodkid, I found some videos that immediately caught my attention. The videos were visually stimulating, sharp and stark, mostly in black in white, but what kept my attention was the music. Heavy instrumentals and booming drums, with a contrasting voice that was smooth and subtle.
Woodkid’s stage production, like his music videos, had the black/white effect. All of the players in the band were wearing black, with gothic images projecting on the screen behind him, and the bright white light that shone down on him not only gave me the opportunity to snap some pretty decent photos, but also gave the performance a highly dramatic effect.
Woodkid’s performance was the surprise of my Friday. I’d keep my eye out on Woodkid and his music. With the right type of exposure, I can imagine him doing big things state-side.
Brian Burton p/k/a Danger Mouse caught my attention back in 2004 when he released “The Grey Album” which combined Jay-Z’s vocal performances from “The Black Album” with instrumentals from the Beatles’ “White Album”. That project blew my mind, and I’ve been following his musical output since (Gnarles Barkley with Cee Lo Green, his work on the Gorrillaz album “Demon Days”, etc). James Mercer is the founder and lead singer-sonwriter of the indie rock group The Shins and I’m proud to say that I have most of their albums.
When they joined forces back in 2009 to form the side project Broken Bells, it immediately caught my attention. When they were announced as an act at Coachella, I made a point of it to circle it on my schedule as a band I couldn’t miss.
The set design was simple with Danger Mouse on one side of the stage and James Mercer on the other. I was relegated to the side of the stage James Mercer was on while taking pictures, so I couldn’t get a great shot of Danger Mouse. Behind them a video screen played simple designs becoming their musical tone. It was a great, soothing set, and if they ever tour Los Angeles in the future, I’d hope that they play a venue like the Hollywood Bowl or The Greek. Whatever the venue, however, I’ll be sure to buy myself a ticket.
My guilty pleasure? Wholesome pop-rock that sounds like it could have come from the mid to late 80s. That’s why I decided to check out HAIM’s set at Coachella. Having heard a lot about their music, I’ve been wanting to purchase their debut LP “Days Are Gone” for a while now, only to resist the temptation because it seemed like every time I was at the record store, there were girls half my age hanging out by that section of the record rack.
Early technical difficulties aside, their set exhibited a clean, upbeat rock-pop sound. They also spent a good 5 minutes doing what I believe was an impromptu jam which flexed their chops as musicians that could shred with the best of them. That earned my respect.
I was impressed, and I certainly wouldn’t mind catching them perform in a more intimate venue at some point in the future. I guess I’ll just have to suck up my machismo for now, pick up the album the next time I’m out buying records.
Note:Let Me Go was on the setlist, but wasn’t played due to time constraints
I knew that Grouplove’s music was fun, but I had no idea I’d be having so much fun taking pictures of them while they were performing. The energy that they emit from the stage while performing induced everybody, myself included, to jump and dance around, even in the sweltering desert heat. The expressiveness on their faces, and in their actions, while performing songs in the their set was really a pleasure to shoot. Hopefully, I’ve been able to capture some of that contagious energy in a few of my pics.
As a side note, after looking at their set list (below) I noticed that they covered both an A$AP Rocky and a Beyonce songs. Both artists, by the way, made special guest appearances over the weekend. Hmm … if you happen to be at Coachlla during week 2, and you happen to catch Grouplove’s set, keep an ear out to hear what songs they cover in their set. Maybe they know something we don’t know… just saying’…
Jagwar Ma is three piece, Australian psychedelic/dance band that formed in Sydney. Their first full length album, Howlin’, in my opinion, reminded me a bit of the Stone Roses, and being a Stone Roses fan, I wanted to check out their live set. After my time in the photo pit had ended (side note: I had problems with my camera settings, and a lot of the pics that I thought were good came out underexposed <- insert sad face here), I spend another 15 minutes laid out on the grass under the shade of the the tent to let their clean, unique sound envelope me. If I hadn’t had a schedule of bands I wanted to shoot over the weekend, I would have bought myself a beer, and stayed there sprawled on the grass, in the shade, until the their set had ended. I’ve been a bit hesitant to purchase their LP, but I think I’ll need to remedy that the next time I’m at the local record shop.
One of my favorite albums of 2013 was Valerie June’s“Pushin’ Against A Stone”. Produced by Kevin Agunas and Dan Auerbach (the Black Keys), it was album that caught my ear with its seamless mix of roots, blues and folk sung by a voice that seemed to have decades of earnest life lessons behind it.
Valerie June’s voice is unique. It’s a voice that you can’t confuse with another singer’s voice. She is … for lack of a better comparison … what Erykah Badu is to neo-soul/hip hop music. A voice so raw and sincere, singing music so traditional yet new, I found it hard not to fall in love with it upon my first listen, and have been telling my friends since that hers is a voice that will likely stand the test of time.
It was a week after I purchased tickets to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings when I found out that Valerie June was added to open the show … and I was ecstatic. At first, it seemed like an unlikely pairing, but upon retrospect, because both artists’ music styles are essentially modern-day approaches to “classic” styles of music, I figured the promoters knew what they were doing assuming that their audiences would be more knowledgeable and appreciative because of the historical slant to the music.
Valerie’s set was short but sweet. Clocking in at just over 30 minutes, it was charming mix of acoustic and band-backed versions of her songs, mostly coming from her latest release. After it was all said and done, I found myself wanting more. Not only that, but I decided then and there that if she would ever perform in a more intimate venue like the Bootleg Theatre, I would be the first person in line.
As an aside, while waiting in line to get into the venue, I noticed a woman with flowing dreadlocks and large sunglasses walk by me. It was Valerie June and I quickly asked the couple behind me to hold my spot as I caught up to her and asked her to autograph the LP I had packed in m bag. I assured her that I wouldn’t draw any more attention, and as we walked around the corner (she was heading to the artist entrance to get ready for her set), I pulled out the LP and professed my adoration of her “Pushin’ Against A Stone”. Her gorgeous smile made my day.
I also asked about her father, mentioning that my own father had heart surgery several weeks ago as well. Our conversation was brief, but in those few minutes I felt like I connected with her on a human level, which only made me appreciate her performance that much more that evening.
Unfortunately, the Flickr slideshow below is not available on mobile devices. If you are on a mobile device, please click THIS LINK to get redirected to the set of photos. If the slide show below isn’t working, then Flickr has disabled their embed option for WordPress and hasn’t yet updated their HTML code, which totally BLOWS! If you can see the slide show below, hooray!
Opening for How To Dress Well at the Roxy was a music producer from Liverpool, England named Matthew Barnes, know by his stage name, Forest Swords. I hadn’t put two and two together before, but as it turns out he produced How To Dress Well’s 2012 single “Cold Nites”. In digging up a little history of his discography, I discovered that his 2010, debut EP “Dagger Paths” received rave reviews across the board; named FACT Magazine’s #1 album of the year, given 8.4 rating on Pitchfork and called “one of 2010’s finest underground records” by NME. Critics have even compared his musical stylings to current stand-out recording artists like James Blake and Bon Iver. If that isn’t high praise, I don’t know what is.
If you are at all interested in music by Portishead or Massive Attack, you need to hit up his Soundcloud account to get a taste of what he’s all about. I’ve embedded his track “Miarches” below for you to check out:
Backed only by a bass player, he performed a set of dark, brooding, atmospheric instrumental creations that had the audience mesmerized, caught in a hypnotic dreamscape. I realized that I was hooked to his music as I caught myself humming made-up melodies to his instrumentals. I immediately started wondering why I haven’t heard more of his production for other recording artists.
After the evening’s music ended, I made my way to the merchandise booth to purchase some music. Matthew was there shopping his wares and I made some small talk with him asking him whether he’s produced for others. He indicated that he had taken a break from music for a spell and was just focusing on his own projects for the moment. If I were a betting man, I’d put a few dollars on that changing sooner rather than later.
Unfortunately, the Flickr slideshow below is not available on mobile devices. If you are on a mobile device, please click THIS LINK to get redirected to the set of photos. If the slide show below isn’t working, then Flickr has disabled their embed option for WordPress and hasn’t yet updated their HTML code, which totally BLOWS! If you can see the slide show below, hooray!
What band in Europe is big enough to headline over Nine Inch Nails at the world’s oldest music festival in 2013? Biffy Clyro. Never heard of them? Well, you should.
Formed back in 1995 in Kilmarnock, Scotland, Biffy Clyro has released 6 albums, and sold over 1.1 millions copies of their albums in the United Kingdom. Back in the United Kingdrom, they sell out venues as large as the Staples Center which seats 20,000. On Valentine’s day, they played a venue with a capacity of 771; but they rocked it like it was an arena show.
Waiting for the band to take the stage, I noticed a couple standing in front of me wearing home made shirts that had the words “MON THE BIFFY” emblazoned on the back. I asked them about the shirts, and as soon as they started explaining the meaning of the phrase (a popular saying originated by fans which essentially is short for “C’mon Biffy Clyro”), I noticed their thick European accents.
As it turns out, they were loyal fans from Scotland who decided to follow the band to the states to catch their gigs. They are engaged to get married, and as it turns out they actually met at a Biffy Clyro show. I told them that this was my first time I watching the band perform live, and they assured me that it would not disappoint. They were right.
When the lights of the venue dimmed, and Sister Sledge’s song “We Are Family” (a song that the band plays before every live show) pumped through the house speakers, the audience erupted in cheers. The band took the stage, and immediately exploded into their set with such a fierce energy that it was quite exhilarating to watch. It was almost as if they were playing to prove to those in attendance that they were a band that needed to be noticed. And I noticed.
The band consists of five players (with Simon Neil on lead vocals and guitar, James Johnston on bass and vocals, and Ben Johnston on drums in the forefront, and Mike Vennart on additional guitar and Richard Ingram on keyboard in the shadows), and their sound was full, lush and expertly played. Both Simon and James demonstrated their masterful showmanship using the entire stage, and engaging all parts of the audience throughout the set. These guys know how to put on a live show and their repertoire was filled with raucous, pop-friendly, crowd pleasing anthems. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are performing in venues bigger than the El Rey the next time they visit Los Angeles. Not at all.
I would say that the highlight(s) of the evening was when the audience, who were all much better versed in the band’s music than I, sang along and Neil let the crowd do the singing. Being in the audience, engulfed in the sound of voices all around singing (rather well I may add) music unfamiliar to me, sent shivers down my spine. I hope that the next time I see the band perform live, I’ll be singing along with them.
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