Tag: set list

BET Experience | Beyonce | Staples Center | 6/28/13

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It was during my college years when Destiny’s Child released their first album. At the time, I was more invested in learning (and buying) R&B music from Motown’s “Golden Age”, I didn’t pay too much attention to that album, even though it had tracks produced by Wyclef Jean and Jermaine Dupri (big time producers at the time).  After I had graduated from undergrad, they released their second album, “The Writing’s on the Wall”, and you really couldn’t avoid them.

With songs like “Bills, Bills, Bills”, “Bug A Boo” and “Say My Name” on constant rotation on terrestrial radio (I don’t think digital radio existed at the time), and with their videos consistently on Total Request Live on MTV (back when they still played music videos), their music was hard too miss. I liked their sound, but truth be told, I suffered from, at the time, what I call “SGS” (Stubborn Guy Syndrome). After all, Destiny’s Childs songs tended to be anthems for women’s independence and solidarity. It may have also been more difficult for me to enjoy their music  when dates (at least one that I can remember) actually sang to me the hook of  “Bills, Bills, Bills”.  I seem to recall the dates with that particular person ending that night. But if there was one thing I could take away from that album, it was that Beyonce was the group’s focal point and so long as she was focus of the group, they would have a healthy career making records.

Three albums after “The Writing’s on the Wall” (which includes a holiday album), and with a slew of other hits including “Bootylicious”, “Survivor”, “Say My Name”, etc., the group disbanded and each member embarked on their solo careers. Each member of Destiny’s child has had success as a solo artist, but Beyonce’s success casts a very large shadow by comparison.

Beyonce’s first notable foray into her solo career was a feature on her husband’s, Jay-Z’s,  “’03 Bonnie & Clyde”. As a quick aside, one cure for SGS is a feature on an extremely hot rappers, huge, summer, single. And four-studio albums later, Beyonce has created an empire and fan base that matches her partner’s. Time passes, and we (hopefully) become more the wiser. I finally bought my first Beyonce CD in 2011 after hearing the song “1+1” on the radio during a late night drive.

I wasn’t expecting to get a pass to see Beyonce for her BET Experience “Mrs. Carter Show World Tour” concert on June 28th, 2013. I had a feeling that I’d get a ticket for the Snoop show on Saturday, but I when I was informed that a ticket would be held for me, I willingly decided to become a member of the “Bey-Hive”.

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Beyonce works hard for her fans, and her show was sensational. It’s interesting to note that all of her band members and performers were women, except for two male dancers known as Les Twins. Having been on tour internationally for over a month, her team was more than ready to wow their first States-side audience. Beyonce first acknowledged the audience after “Till The End of Time” when she told the Staples audience that she was, “looking forward to bringing this show to America.” Well… she did … with the lighting, pyrotechnics, choreography, staging, costume changes, set changes, video interludes … Beyonce was definitely ready for America.

My highlight, and low light, of the evening was when Beyonce started singing “1+1”, the song that made me buy her album “4”, sensually writhing on a grand piano. As a fan of music, I started to sing along with her and audience. As a music fan who thinks he knows more about music than he really does, sang the wrong lyrics to my friend who was standing next to me. Yeah, she got a nice laugh out of my embarrassing, mistake.  I refrained from singing anything the rest of the night. After all, I think that the Bey-Hive had that on lock regardless. But to top the beautiful singing, Beyonce got strapped into a harness and “flew” to the center of the venue, two rows away from me and my friends, WHILE singing. Amazing.

Another aside, I recently purchased a new camera that I used for the show. Ironically, the worst pictures that I took were when Beyonce was right in front of me. Go figure.

While at the center of the Staples Center she sang a few more songs, then gave thanks to Michelle and Kelly who I assume were in the audience. Everybody was looking around as you could feel the anticipation of surprise reunion, but alas, Beyonce sang “Survivor” before flying back to the main stage to close her set with big hits “Crazy in Love” and “Single Ladies.” She encored with a brief tribute to Whitney Houston (“I Will Always Love You”) and closed with “Halo”.

Beyonce’s show was a big-budget, theatrical experience that was truly inspiring and on a grander scale than any concert that I have ever attended. Ticket prices for the show, especially where I was sitting, cost a pretty penny, but I can assure you Mrs. Carter puts on a show that makes it worth it. If you were going to spend big bucks to see Mrs. Carter do her thing, I wouldn’t hate on that at all. And since I’m no longer suffering from SGS, I could be persuaded to see her perform again when she’s back in Los Angeles.

Set list (to the best of my knowledge):

  1. “Run The World”
  2. “Till The End of Time”
  3. “Flaws and All”
  4. “If I Were A Boy”
  5. “Get Me Bodied”
  6. “Baby Boy”
  7. “Diva”
  8. “Naughty Girl”
  9. “Party”
  10. “Freakum Dress”
  11. “I Care”
  12. “I Miss You”
  13. “Schoolin Life”
  14. “Why Don’t You Love Me”
  15. “1+1”
  16. “Irreplaceable”
  17. “Love On Top”
  18. “Survivor”
  19. “Crazy In Love”
  20. “Single Ladies”
  21. Encore:
  22. “I Will Always Love You”
  23. “Halo”

The blog entry for the BET Experience concerts featuring Snoop, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole is up! Check it out!

The blog entry for “BET Experience | R. Kelly, New Edition & The Jacksons | Staples Center | 6/30/13” is up! Check it out!

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Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters | Shrine Auditorium | June 26th, 2013

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The first time I ever heard a Led Zeppelin song was freshman year of college. After procrastinating till the last minute, I was up late  pulling an all-nighter writing a paper for a class. At 5 or 6 in the morning, as the sunrise was creeping over the cold, frozen, Ithaca landscape,  I was listening to the radio when all of a sudden a peppy, spirited, guitar lick caught my attention. I kept writing, but had to take break to listen to the lyrics.  It seemed to be about a guy waiting for a his lover. It appears that he’s been stood up, but then you find out that he was waiting “on the wrong block” and thus is the “Fool In The Rain” (the title of the song). I thought that song was a light hearted, terrific, pick-me-up a bleary eyed writer, but more than the song, and being a singer in college, I was taken aback by the voice behind it.

After turning in my paper, I decided to walk to the used CD shop that was, at the time, in the heart of College Town- sadly, it’s no longer there- and I bought “Led Zeppelin II”, “Houses of the Holy” and “In Through The Out Door” with the money I had made pouring beers from a keg at frat parties. My interest and education in classic rock started with those three CDs, and Robert Plant immediately became my standard response to the question, “Who is the greatest rock vocalist of all time?”

I have a bucket list of acts that I want to see in concert. Led Zeppelin is on that list. Though there is/was speculation that the band would come back together for a reunion tour- with Jason Bonham taking the place of his lat father’s place on drums- it seems that the odds of that happening are dwindling.  When I received an email notice that Robert Plant was performing at the Shrine- that you, Internets!- I jumped at getting tickets.

I got to the Shrine but had to wait for my guest to arrive before going inside.  While I was waiting, I asked around to see if cameras were allowed into the venue.  Unfortunately, they were not. Nuts. I had just purchased a new “pocket-sized” camera and was looking forward to breaking it in with a legend.  I guess that that will have to wait for the next show.

IMG_1852When my guest arrived, we entered the architecturally, stunning venue- a Los Angeles landmark- during Grace Potter and the Nocturnals set. I wasn’t too familiar with their music, but for some reason I had the unfounded perception of them being mostly a blues band.  It turns out my preconceived notions were quite wrong. Grace Potter is rock and roll, and she and her band carried themselves as such. Grace Potter can sing.  I was impressed with her vocal ability, and even whispered to my guest that her voice and vocal stylings reminded me of Janis Joplin. I was duly impressed.  They closed out their set with a vigorous, group drum solo that got the crowds adrenaline pumping.

With the audience already riled up, the crowd was ready for the main act.

When the lights went low a little past a quarter after 9, a gentle guitar solo welcomed the crowd. “It’s good to have you back again,” Robert plant sang (“Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You”), and the crowd wild.

It was a solid set. I anticipated the order of the songs having looked up the set lists from his other recent concerts. As with a majority of the audience, I was looking forward to those Led Zeppelin tunes that I love so much. I wasn’t expecting much, if any, variations from the set list, but what impressed- and even surprised- me was the way he took those songs that I knew and “flipped” them. It’s one thing to do a faithful cover, which he did on “Going to California”, but its was quite inspiring to see him “remix” some of those classics by incorporating other musical elements.  A splash of blues here, world music there, and even techno (it should be noted that the keyboard player is/was the keyboard player for Massive Attack). And though you know that the band is well-oiled and rehearsed machine, it almost felt like the venue was their laboratory to create new sounds, and the audience was their muse.

IMG_1886The repertoire not only spanned Led Zeppelin hits, but also songs from his solo catalog (“In the Mood) and covers (Howl in’ Wolf’s “Spoonful”).

Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
In The Mood
Tin Pan Valley
Spoonful
Black Dog
Another Tribe
Going To California
The Enchanter
Please Read The Letter
Friends
Funny In My Mind (I Believe I’m Fixin’ To Die)
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Whole Lotta Love

Encore:

Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down
Rock And Roll

Perhaps the poignant moment of the show came toward the end when Robert Plant seemed to look into himself and addressed the audience stating, more or less, the following, “It’s been a long road. One year turns into another. 40 years ago tonight I was in Long Beach with my other band.”

I wasn’t alive 40 years ago, but I can only imagine what it could have been like. He may not be able to move around on stage like he did 40 years ago, but his musicality, and his voice, still hold true. Bucket list material. ‘Nuff said.

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Ink-N-Iron Festival | Queen Mary | June 8, 2013

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I don’t have any tattoos and I don’t know much about cars. I’ve always tossed around the idea of getting a tattoo, and it’s still a possibility at some point, but I’ll just put in a pin in it for now. That being said, I attended the Day 2 of the Ink-N-Iron Festival, and joined the party to celebrate some seriously good music.

It was my first time attending the yearly event, and I have to give the organizers some serious props for making it a day that I’ll remember.  Beautiful cars. Beautiful tattoos. Women in corsets and otherwise dressed up in pin-up outfits. It was clean. It was family friendly. It wasn’t too crowded. Very nicely done.

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I drove to Long Beach from West Los Angeles, and I was slightly worried that I’d arrive a little late to catch the first band I wanted to see perform: Girl In A Coma . I’ve been following this band for a few years now, and I always go out of my way to catch them perform whenever they come to town. I remember when I first heard their music. It was sometime November 2011 when I was up late watching TV.  I had “Last Call with Carson Daly” on, and they were the featured artists for the episode.  Their music snippets piqued my interest and I Googled their music. Boom. Instant fan.  You can check out the feature that I watched here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/302589 .

Thankfully, the Los Angeles traffic gods saw it in their good graces to get me to the Queen Mary on time.

It was an early afternoon 2:00pm set, and I joined their other fans up against the general admittance railing as they finished sound checking.  Even with a few technical difficulties, it was a solid set. They played songs from all four of their full-length albums ( “Both Before I’m Gone” , “Trio BC” , “Adventures In Coverland” , and “Exits and All the Rest”.

Before closing their set, Nina announced that the band was planning on starting recording for their new album at the end of the year. It sounded like they closed their set with new songs, and when I got the set-list from Phanie (drums) the following night when I went to Nina’s solo gig at the Hotel Café (which was amazing, by the way, and which you can read about by clicking this link… do it!) it looks like their last two songs were new. The video clips I took with my phone don’t do the band justice- I need to buy a good camera that takes good video/audio clips… any suggestions?  They are my favorite all-girl rock band.

The only criticism I had with the festival was that since it was so early in the day, the organizers should have let their fans into the VIP viewing area to watch the set. Other than that, no complaint.

  1. Intro
  2. Say
  3. 
One Eyed fool
  4. 
Adjust
  5. 
Slaughter Ln
  6. 
Si Una Vez
  7. 
She had a plan
  8. 
Joanie in the city
  9. 
Safe
  10. 
Invisible

 

I planned on visiting them at the artist merchandise booth to say, “Hi,” but having noticed that all of their other fans I was standing with announced that they were going to head over, I decided to hang back and walk around the festival grounds.  I’m sure glad I did.

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There was a band named Hopeless Jack & The Handsome Devil that also had a 2:00pm set time. I wasn’t planning on checking them out, and only stumbled upon their set when I decided to check out some cars at the Tiki-Drive-In Stage. As soon as I was within earshot of their music, I thought to myself, “Screw the cars, I need to see who the fuck is playing right now”.

It was raw, heavy, lo-fi, blues, garage rock.  Two guys, one drummer and one guitarist. I hate comparing artists to other artists, but if I had to, I’d say they were The Black Keys, high on adrenaline, and drunk on whiskey.  Simply based on what I was able to catch, which was only the last couple songs of their set, I was hooked. If you see the video below, there was some photo shoot going on, and for a minute, I didn’t want to get in the way.  I stopped the video when I noticed another photographer up at the front of the stage. I walked through the photo shoot, and was able to snap a few cool shoots of the band with my phone.

When they finished their set, I had to catch them to buy whatever music they had. I purchased one of their CDs and their newly pressed 7’’ single of “Firefly” and “Pack My Bags”. The drummer, “Smilin’ Pete”, was the first to greet those who wanted to meet the band. I wanted to get the guys to sign the vinyl that I purchased, and I asked him whether “Hopeless Jack” would be coming out. Smilin’ Pete assured me that Hopeless Jack would be coming out in a minute. He explained that Jack’s music come from and is written from a deep, dark place and he always needs a minute to unwind after a set. Completely understandable.

When Jack came out, Pete introduced us and I told them that though I was only able to catch the end of their set, what I did hear (and saw) really impressed me and got my blood moving. They both autographed my vinyl and snapped a pic.  Both guys were really humble and unassuming.  I’ve been listening to their CD “Shallow Hears – Shallow Graves” and spinning their 7’’ Single non-stop since that weekend.  I’m hoping they come back to the Los Angeles area for a gig so I can catch an entire set.

Afterwards, I head back to the main stage merchandise booth and the gals from Girl In A Coma were still taking pictures and signing autographs. I dropped by to say, “Hello,” and also to let them know I would be showing up the next day for Nina’s solo gig (which was amazing, by the way… wait, I said that already, didn’t I….), snapped a pic, then continued on with my day.

Due to Sharon Jones having to cancel her appearance due to a medical emergency, a few of the set times were switched around causing me to have to pick between acts for 5pm: Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears or Kaleigh Baker. I decided to walk around the venue and think about it.

ScanI checked out some of the vendors and marveled at some of the tattoos getting done. I hopped into an Ink-N-Iron photobooth that was free (very cool!) and walked onto the boat to explore the Queen Mary. It was getting closer to 5:00pm, and since I was already inside the boat, I realized that my musical choice was made for me: Kaleigh Baker it was.

I got up to the front of the stage and as the band was sound-checking, I had a brief conversation with a gentleman, probably in his late 50s-early 60s who asked me about Kaleigh’s music. We talked deep soul and early punk, and he suggested that I check out The Fleshtones. I suggested he stick around for Kaleigh Baker. We took each other’s advice.

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Kaleigh Baker can sing. Her voice and vocal ability is unreal. The way she emotes the lyrics, and controls her voice to express the lyrics of her music is truly, in my opinon, on par with some of the leading female singers of our time. Sure, my comparison may be a little premature- after all, I only have this one set and her newest EP, “The Weight of It All”, to base it on, but I’m willing to put it out there. She’s got the type of voice that makes you FEEL something. The way it lilts. The way it crescendos. The way it belts. I can’t wait for her to record more music so I can see which direction she takes it.

I was able to catch up with her and some of her band mates after the set.  Like the gals in Girl In A Coma, the guys in Hopeless Jack & The Handsome Devil, everybody in Kaleigh’s band, including Kaleigh, was extremely humble and appreciative.  I had a weird moment of deja-vu when I was introduced to the guitar and bass players, as for some reason I felt like I’d met or seen them before.  No … I wasn’t drunk. It was a sober day for me. And no, pretty certain that we had never crossed paths before.  I bought a copy of Kaleigh’s latest EP from the keyboardist/horn player of the band (who I didn’t get a picture with, but was really accommodating with me asking a bunch of questions) and had Kaleigh sign it. Black Joe Lewis who? … lol.

Again, my iPhone video doesn’t do Kaleigh justice.  Try Googling her.  Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

 

At that point, my phone was pretty much dead. I stayed in the boat to charge my phone. JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound were taking the stage, and as much I wanted to check his band out, I was relegated to sitting next to an outlet to charge my phone up.  It took his entire set for my phone to fully charge, but from what I was able to hear, it sounded pretty good. It was funky, indie soul.  From what I could hear, it almost sounded like they had Niles Rogers sit in with them for a song. Perhaps the unexpected surprise was when the band did a soulful/funked-up version of Blackstreet’s “No Diggitiy”.

My friends who were coming to the festival texted me that they were almost at there.  I texted them back and told them I was going to grab a bite to eat, and kick it for them.  When they arrived, and at the suggestion of the gentleman who I spoke with before Kaleigh Baker’s set, I suggested that we check out The Fleshtones.

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The Fleshtones were one of the original punks bands. Like the Ramones, the Fleshtones came out of Queens. Though I wasn’t too familiar with their repertoire, when it comes to being able to catch one of the “original” bands of a particular genre of music, you simply can’t pass it up. They certainly drew a decent crowd, and played some songs that I actually really enjoyed.

One of the highlights of the set was when the one of members made reference to The Dirtbombs- who were actually influenced by The Fleshtones-playing the main stage. One of the members of the Fleshtones addressed the audience, “Why aren’t we watching the Dirtbombs? […] You want quality! […] You got quality right here!”  It was a fun set, and I’m glad I checked it out.

In between the Fleshtones and The Dead Kennedys, my friends and I decided to check out the featured auto exhibit. I haven’t been into cars, but I’ll have to admit, I was impressed.

I’ll admit that I don’t know much about the Dead Kennedys music. In fact, the most I knew about the band was while in law school reading about the obscenity case against the artwork for their third album “Frankenchrist” Some of the songs sounded familiar, but I really felt like the levels were a bit off.  Not enough vocals, maybe?

My friends wanted to see the next main stage act, Rocket From The Crypt , another band that I was not all to familiar with.  They were quite popular when I was in high school, but I was kind of going through a Boyz II Men/Jodeci phase back then.  My phone was running out of juice again, so I opted to head back into the boat to charge up before Iggy and the Stooges.

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Iggy and the Stooges were schedule to open for Morrissey’s concert back in November last year, and I was really hoping to see them back then. Unfortunately, Morrissey  had some medical issues come up and that November show was rescheduled for the March, with Patti Smith replacing Iggy as the opening act.  Patti Smith was good, but she isn’t Iggy.

Iggy and the Stooges were awesome. I tried looking for their set list online, but I couldn’t find one.  It didn’t matter though. It was seriously a “best of” set, with a couple songs off their newest album.  “Raw Power”, “Fun House”, “Penetration”, “I Wanna Be Your Dog”. They did them all.

From the opening note, where I was standing, pictures and video shots were virtually impossible to take as a mosh pit had formed. During “Fun House”, Iggy started pulling up people from the crowd to dance on stage. It was a mad house on stage, and I pitied the stage-hand who had to make sure that women on stage didn’t molest Iggy while he was performing. A potential shit-storm turned into a raucous party.

Watching Iggy hump the speaker, throw his water bottles into the audience, and dance about on stage, was rock-and-roll incarnate. After most of the set, I needed to escape the crowd to find my friends. I bumped into Kaleigh’s band-mates on the edges of the crowd.  They were equally impressed with Iggy’s stage performance.

When the set ended, my friends left to catch a shuttle back to their parking structure.  I opted to hang out for a minute to decompress.  It was a full day for hard hitting, musical goodness. The one day pass was definitely worth the price of admittance, and depending on who’s  on the bill next year, odds are I will be attending again.

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New Build and No Ceremony/// | First Unitarian Church | April 27, 2013

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For the past few years, my sister has been working with BritWeek, helping to curate, manage and execute elements of their art initiative. It was early in the morning, April 27, when I get an email from my sister saying that she had extra tickets for the BritWeek music festival at the Exchoplex that day, and asked whether I wanted to go in her stead. I immediately went into a crazed state to confirm some things.  In case you didn’t know, this is what happened at the Echoplex that evening.  As it turns out, the BritWeek artists had their venue changed to accommodate the Rolling Stones. I may have been a little deflated for a brief glorious moment.  After all, I thought I had a pass to see the Rolling Stones play! But when I did a little research as to who was playing at the First Unitarian Church, I got excited again.

IMG_3318The headliner for the evening was a seven piece London based band called New Build.  Two of the members are from the Grammy-nominated British band Hot Chip. I am a big fan of Hot Chip’s first three albums, and had also seen them perform recently at the Hollywood Bowl, so I knew- even though I was not familiar at all with New Build’s music- that the show would be memorable.

I got to the venue in time to catch the last two songs of Blood Red Shoes‘ set.  Sitting up in the “VIP” balcony section of the church, I noticed there were even better seats in the general admittance area, so after they had concluded,  I made my way down and up front.

I got settled in the pew seats up front as a band from Manchester named No Ceremony/// took to the stage to set up.  They are a three piece band fronted by a female bassist.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I love female musicians who can handle an axe.  And she, like her band, played with a precision and swagger that made me wonder how long this band had been around, and why hadn’t I heard of them before.IMG_0900

Though their stage demeanor is rather subdued, the visual elements of their show were quite stark and shocking. It’s a bit hard for me to recall what images were projected behind them, but it matched and morphed with the mood of their music.  I tried to a little research on the band the following day, but oddly enough, there wasn’t much “official” written about them.  As of 5/12/13, they don’t even have a wikipedia page up yet.  But I did find a little history of the band from the South By Southwest events calendar which I think appropriately describes them and their music:

IMG_0919“Their idiosyncratic sound, typified by chiming pianos, distorted synths and pounding kick drums, deftly explores the musical space between euphoric warehouse rave and melancholic, emotive pop. Glitched, machine-like cries and haunted, pure harmonic vocals interplay & counterbalance one another, creating a fascinating tension and atmosphere within the tracks.

Be it their music, or their artistic videos, striking artwork or direct website, all of which they create and control themselves, this juxtaposition of the inhuman and the soulful, of the aggressive and the beautiful, works to underpin everything NO CEREMONY/// do.”  Click here to read entire article.

After their set, I went to the merchandise booth to see if they had any music available to purchase. Unfortunately, they did not, which was a shame as I would have scooped up copies up for my collection.  I was about to heaIMG_0923d back in get ready for New Build when I noticed the lead singer of NO CEREMONY/// meandering about. Her name was Audrey (sp?), and we had a brief conversation about the band and her music.  She gave me a brief history, and went on to say that they were scheduled to keep touring with New Build throughout the Summer. Before ending the conversation, Audrey kindly let me snap a pic with her.  Did I mention that I have a thing for female guitar/bass players? lol. Instead of getting goggly eyed and asking for a picture, I probably should have asked her for the names of the songs they performed. D’Oh!

Video clips from NO CEREMONY///’s set are below:

I like Hot-Chip, but I’ve been quite disappointed with a few of the newer albums. Their older albums felt like a natural progression of the future of music. Their newer albums felt contrived, like they made the music how they thought it would make their fans feel.  That make any sense?

New Build’s live set felt like Hot Chip’s older albums.  Note that I say felt like, and not sound like.  There was something fresh and intimate in New Build’s songs and sound. Granted, their musicality was similar to Hot Chip in that elements from across the music spectrum permeated throughout the music, but there was something about this live show, that far surpassed what I saw at the Hollywood Bowl.  I can’t put my finger on it.  It just seemed like this band was having more fun.IMG_3333

IMG_0945The lead singer of New Build, Al Doyle, isn’t the lead singer for Hot Chip. He sings backing vocals for Hot Chip. But he certainly holds his own as a frontman. I particularly enjoyed his sense of humor. Making reference to the Rolling Stones taking over their original venue, he mentioned that his band and the Stones were going to kick it at the Comfort Inn after the show. I found that particularly funny and heartily laughed, to which he looked in my general direction, smiled and said, “It’s for real” before continuing into the next song. A copy of their setlist if to the left. To check out some other of my music treasure, click through here.

It was a terrific set, and this “last minute show” turned out be better than I had anticipated.  Cheer to the United Kingdom for always spawning fresh new musical talent.

Video Clips from their set below:

Just as an added bonus, here’a picture a friend took of me, taking pictures of the bands. I  really need a better camera … really …

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Coachella 2013 | April 12-14 | Friday

 

 

 

This is a three part blog entry. The link to the following day is at the bottom of the page.IMG_0884Oh, Coachella, how I’ve missed you. Though many expressed dissatisfaction with the line-up, I was ecstatic. In fact, I had circled more bands on the schedule than I could have possibly seen, so I was actually setting myself up with being disappointed based on the fact that I wouldn’t be able to see all of the acts I wanted to see. Kind of ironic now that I think about it…

I had work to finish up that Friday morning, so I knew that I was bound to miss a handful of acts that day.  I picked up a friend in Santa Monica, and we began out trek out to the desert. I had prepared an iTunes playlist of all of the music of the bands I wanted to see, so our drive would at least have a good soundtrack.

As we got closer to venue, driving on the freeway, I started noticing billboards advertising the release dates of albums from bands performing at Coachella. I nearly swerved out of my lane when I saw a billboard for Daft Punks album release date.  Umm … they weren’t scheduled to perform at Coachella… I told my friend that either this was an omen of a surprise set by one of the most demanded bands for Coachella, or it was the ultimate tease …

When we had parked and picked up our passes, we joined the mass of people on the festival grounds. Unfortunately, I had already missed the French turntable group C2C and the British rock quartet Alt-J, so I made my way to the Outdoor Stage to catch a few tunes by Of Monsters and Men. I have their album, and I their music, but at that time, I just wasn’t in the mood to listen mellow indie folk/pop. I think I was just a little too restless due to the long car ride. I’m thinking that Of Monsters and Men would have been the perfect band to see on a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Not Friday. Plus, I was way in the back, standing, when I would have much preferred laying on the lawn somewhere.

I listened to a few songs then decided to make my way to the merchandise booth. I brought a poster tube with me since last year I picked up a dope, limited edition, Black Keys, Coachella poster. Unfortunately, it appears, Coachella didn’t allow for bands to sell their personalized Coachella posters. That was a disappointment.

All of sudden I heard Passion Pit start playing “Carried Away” and I looked down at my watch. Doh! I had already seen Passion Pit at the Hollywood Bowl, and they were terrific, so I had to kick myself in the rear for not paying attention to the time to be there when they started.

As I walked toward the Main Stage area, they were wrapping up their second song, I decided to video record what was going on while I walked toward the stage.  It was quite uplifting.  Passion Pit’s music has always had an airy and energetic quality to it, and it always seems to make people dance.  When I took a look at the video later in the evening, the one thing I could notice was all of the random people frolicking across the lawn.  That made me happy.

  1. Carried Away
  2. The Reeling
  3. Love Is Greed
  4. I’ll Be Alright
  5. It’s Not My Fault, I’m Happy
  6. Constant Conversations
  7. Talk a Walk
  8. Cry Like A Ghost
  9. Sleepyhead
  10. Little Secrets

Having learned my lesson by missing the opening of their set, I decided to leave Passion Pit early to go see a relatively new band that I was particularly keen on: Palma Violets.

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A mix of garage and psychedelic rock, these guys had quite a following in England.  I got to the stage early enough to get pretty close to the front.  That being said, I was keeping my fingers crossed that they had a good live show, otherwise I knew it was going to be tough fighting my way out of the tent to find something better.  They did not disappoint.  They were good, loud Brit Rock. They sounded live, like they sound on their records, and performed with the kind of swagger that becomes rock-and-roll. Can’t get much better than that.  What I particularly liked about this band was that their two guitarists had two quite distinct vocal styles.   The bassist was more Clash. The guitarist was more Doors. Check out the two video and see if you kind of agree with me.

  1. Johnny Bagga Donuts
  2. Rattlesnake Highway
  3. All the Garden Birds
  4. Tom the Drum
  5. Chicken Dippers
  6. Best of Friends
  7. Step Up for the Cool Cats
  8. Last of the Summer Wine
  9. We Found Love
  10. 14
  11. Brand New Song

After Palma Violet’s set ended, I made a b-line to get as close as I could to the front for Modest Mouse .  Apparently, everybody else had the same idea.

The crowd for Modest Mouse was a lot younger than I had expected.  I remember buying their albums back in the mid 90’s, so I was taken aback that I was standing in a crowd of kids in their early 20s.  It was super crowded, squeezed into space like a pack of sardines.  The set started a little rough, but I think that had more to do with the sound levels not being mixed properly.

IMG_2904Isaac Brock, the lead singer, seemed banter with the crowd for small stretches, perhaps giving the mixing board more time to adjust the levels.  Honestly, his banter felt awkward, but after it seemed to do the trick, as the sound definitely picked up. The highlight of the set was when Modest Mouse powered, and jammed, through three songs in row later in their set.

What I loved about Modest Mouse’s set was that it hit popular songs from almost all of the albums in their catalog. Loved that they played “3rd Planet” and “Paper Thin Walls” from “The Moon and Antarctica”.

  1. Dramamine (Life Like Weeds Interpolation)
  2. Ocean Breathes Salty
  3. 3rd Planet
  4. Be Brave
  5. Satin in a Coffin
  6. Paper Thin Walls
  7. King Rat
  8. Cowboy Dan
  9. The View
  10. Float On

After Modest Mouse had finished their set, I decided that I would stay where I was and push further up towards the stage.  After all, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were next, and since I had never seen them perform live, I decided not to venture to another stage.  As people left, I kept meandering as far up as I could get, which was all the way up to the barricade that separated the general admission folk from the VIP folk. I had VIP last year through work, and bought a general admission ticket this year.  I’m thinking that I may buy a VIP pass next year.  I would have loved to get all the way up front for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

IMG_2913As I waited for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Main Stage screens lit up and a video started playing.  Here we go again … Daft Punk music started playing and the Daft Punk helmet lit up the screen … with a message that the album was coming out soon.  Then the video vanished.  Are you serious? Like, seriously? If Coachella or Daft Punk was a girl, she’d be the most devilish tease that ever lived. At this point, I was kind of over it.

Back to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

IMG_2910The Yeah Yeah Yeahs were my highlight from day one.  As soon as Karen O took the stage with a gospel choir, in her white suit, cape and pope hat, to sing “Sacrilege”, I knew we were in for a treat. I sensed it was going to be a dazzling set, and dazzled it did from start to finish.

Karen O is a badass. Period. She rocked that fucking stage. Shoving the mic into her mouth to and going agro on “Pin” was amazing. Watching her strut her stuff all over the stage was the definition of “bad ass”. IMG_2930

She toned it down when she introduced “Maps”, as she should, and told us fans that the song was about love, and it was for us. “Maps” is seriously one of the best songs written in the 2000s, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs killed it for me.

  1. Sacrilege
  2. Rich
  3. Under the Earth
  4. Slave
  5. Zero
  6. Subway
  7. Soft Shock
  8. Pin
  9. Gold Lion
  10. Maps
  11. Heads Will Roll

After the Yeah Yeah Yeahs wrapped up, I started to head over to the Outdoor Stage to see if I could catch any of the Band Of Horses set, unfortunately I got there a little too late as they were thanking the crowd.  Before they dove into their last song, the lead singer simply stated, “Take care of each other”. I appreciated that sentiment.

My phone was running out of juice, so I started walking around the festival grounds to find a place to charge it.  Last year, when I had a VIP pass, I could just charge my phone at an outlet in the VIP section. This year, however, outlets were a lot harder to come by.  They had a “charging station” sponsored by Sony or Samsung or whatever, but the policy was that they took your phone and you came back an hour later to pick it up.  Screw that. I went to one of the merchants at the General Store and politely offered 5 bucks to use one of their outlets.  They had no problem with that.

After charging my phone, I was stuck with a bit of a dilemma. Jurassic 5 was playing the same time as Blur. I flipped a coin. The coin told me to go see Jurassic 5.

I loved Jurassic 5 back in the day. I do think they kind of jumped the shark a bit when they did that duet with Dave Matthews, but that’s a criticism for another time and place. The group disbanded in 2007, so them converging at Coachella was pretty big news for a Los Angeles, underground, hip-hop head like myself. With all four original MCs, and Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark working their magic, their set was “best of” compilation.

  1. Back 4 U
  2. I Am Somebody
  3. Jayou
  4. Nu-Mark Desk Solo
  5. Hip-Hop History
  6. Break
  7. Monkey Bars
  8. Improvise
  9. Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark Solo
  10. Quality Control
  11. Concrete Schoolyard
  12. Countdown
  13. In the House
  14. Freedom
  15. King Tee
  16. Red hot
  17. A Day at the Races
  18. What’s Golden
  19. This Is (Outro)

I didn’t bother taking any pictures of video since I was far back in the crowd, but that was actually by design, as I new that I wanted to see the Stone Roses. As I left Jurassic 5’s set a little early, and headed towards the Main Stage for the Stone Roses, I noticed that the crowd that was there for Blur had substantially dissipated.  I was quite shocked, in fact, that they only pulled a club size crowd for their set.

Me, being the optimist, assured myself that it was simply a generation of concert goers who didn’t know how the Stone Roses music, specifically their self titled debut album, had shaped the history of pop music.  I mean come on … “I Wanna Be Adored”, “She Band The Drum”, I Am The Resurrection” …. That whole album was one of the first albums that fused dance, pop, and rock into a brand new sound.  The Stone Roses were an indie rock band that shaped and fueled pop music in the 90’s.

But … as they started their set, and Ian Brown took the mic … my optimism turned into a bit of disappointment. It wasn’t as bad as the Shuggie Otis show at the Echoplex that I saw last year, but it was very sad. The band sounded good … The levels seemed all right … it was just that Ian Brown was extremely pitchy. Unfortunately, it was not a performance worthy of closing the Main Stage on the first night, and it seems that the Coachella Festival organizers agreed as Blur and the Stone Roses swapped slots the following weekend.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I got to see the Stone Roses Perform, and I’m glad I got to see them rock some of my favorite songs, but it wasn’t the best way to end the first day of Coachella.

  1. I Wanna Be Adored
  2. Sally Cinnamon
  3. Ten Storey Love Song
  4. Waterfall;
  5. Don’t Stop
  6. Fools Gold
  7. Made of Stone
  8. This Is the One
  9. Love Spreads
  10. She Bands the Drums
  11. I Am the Resurrection

I hate to admit it, but I actually left the Stone Roses set after “Fool’s Gold” to check out Trent Reznor’s band How to Destroy Angels . They had a decent sound, but it didn’t match up to my “Pretty Hate Machine” days.

  1. The Wake-Up
  2. Keep It Together
  3. Parasite
  4. And The Sky Began to Scream
  5. Ice Age
  6. The Believers
  7. How Long?
  8. Welcome Oblivion
  9. BBB
  10. The Space in Between (Sonoio Remix)
  11. Fur-Lined
  12. The Loop Closes
  13. A Drowning

IMG_2956I only caught a few songs from How to Destroy Angels as I wanted to give the Stone Roses another chance.  As I walked by the Main Stage again, all I could hear was Ian Brown’s voice missing the notes that I remembered from the album.  I decided at that point that I was going to pack it in, head back to the house, and get ready for day two.

All of my friends staying in the house had gotten back in one piece and we talked about the highlights, and lowlights, of the day.  We even got treated to a story about a valentine Karen O wrote one of the guests back in high school.  I bust out the bottle of cask strength Glenlivet that I had brought with me, and plopped myself onto the couch.  The scotch numbed the pain in my aching feet, and with Day 2 was a few hours away, I started to mentally strategize which bands I was going to check out, hoping that each band would live up to expectations.

Click Here To Continue to Coachella 2013 | April 12-13 | Saturday

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The Night Hiatus Kaiyote Blew My Mind At The Del Monte Speakeasy 3/23/13

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I saw Hiatus Kaiyote more recently at the Bootleg Theatre on July 31, 2013. You can check out that blog entry by clicking this link.

On Saturday night (3/23/13), I experienced what may very well have been an out-of-body, musical experience.

I’ve been to a lot of great shows in my lifetime, and each show was memorable in it’s own right.  But sometimes, a concert going experience is so complete … a perfect storm of events … that it leaves you overwhelmed while adrenaline is pumping through your body after it is all said and done.

I’d only been following Hiatus Kaiyote for a few weeks, but I had been anxiously anticipating their show at the Del Monte Speakeasy ever since I clicked “accept” to purchase tickets to their show. I had a sense of how stellar their live performance would be as I had perused many of their live performance clips on Youtube, but what I experienced surpassed my imagination.

I had recently been to the venue for a show earlier in the month, so I knew two things: (i) don’t wear layers as the venue gets sweltering warm and (ii) get there early (as in, as close to the time the doors open for the venue) if you want to get the best view. Tickets for the show had sold out, so a friend of mine and I essentially got there when the doors opened, and we staked a spot, up front, stage left.

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I had read an article/interview earlier in the week of the band, and Nai Palm mentioned that she was “practically breast-fed on Stevie Wonder” (you’ll note that I named my blog after one of Stevie’s albums, because I, myself, am a huge Stevie Wonder fan) so I decided to burn her a couple of discs of Stevie material: (i) two compilations of Stevie covers put together by DJ Spinna and Bobbito called The Wonder of Stevie: Essential Compositions, Covers & Cookies and The Wonder of Stevie: Melody Man: Further Forays Into The Stevie Songbook and (ii) a mix of some of my favorite, lesser known Stevie Tracks. In between the DJ set by Aaron Byrd of KCRW and the opening act, I saw Nai Palm sitting at a table on the side stage.  I briefly introduced myself and gave her the CDs.  Hopefully, there was something on those discs she hadn’t heard before.

Following the opening act, the band took the stage and Aaron Byrd introduced them to audience.  Really though, the band didn’t need an introduction.  Nai Palm approached the microphone stand when she noticed some flowers attached to the stand’s base.  “This is jasmine,” she said as she leaned in to smell them. “This is my favorite flower.  They just magically appeared,” she said with a giddy smile.  And with that the band started into their set.

Nai Palm. Note the jasmine on the mic stand.

This band knows how to play live.  Each band member’s musicality was, throughout the set, put on full individual display, but they way in which the band plays their music as one, is truly mesmerizing.  If you’ve take any kind of music lessons or studied music theory, you know how complex their arrangements are.  Standing in my spot, I was amazed by how seamless the band would jump back and forth between chord progressions and rhythms.  Music phrasings, though I had heard them on recordings, came to life and jumped around in my ears.  And it was all spot on.  Paul Bender on bass, Perrin Moss on drums and Simon Mavin on keys, played impeccably, and their training/experience in jazz and soul music was fully realized.  And even more than that, you could tell that they were all loving their time on stage. Nai Palm surely recognizes the caliber of musicians that make up the bad.  In her humble way throughout the set, she would give each member individual, deserved, props. “Simon Mavin getting magical on the keys,” She said as his fingers intricately maneuvered the keys.

Nai Palm.  Oh my lord. She could very well be my new favorite female vocalist.  At 23 years old, she seems to have already mastered two instruments: her guitar and her voice. Watching her perform live, up close and personal, I was entranced by the joy in her voice, and the passion with which she played.  She truly fed off the audience, even taking a moment to tell the audience that she loved hearing us sing along.

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson killing it.
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson killing it.

And if that weren’t enough, they Miguel Atwood-Ferguson join in on a couple songs on his viola. Like Hiatus Kaiyote, he played with such intensity and passion, it was a privilege just to be in the same room as him.  He’s a tall man, and the ceiling of the venue was low, and watching him play as the sweat dripped from his brow, and as the strings on his bow started fraying, I was nervous for him as I thought his intense playing would cause him to break his bow on the ceiling.  Who am I kidding?  He’s a master at his craft.  Even the setting couldn’t hold him back.

Being that close to the stage, able to watch each musician play with such skill, took me to a concert going place I haven’t been to in a while. It must have been at least a good hour and a half before I turn to my side to check in on my friend to make sure that she was hanging in there.  I had gotten lost in the music. I was zoned in on watching the band play.  It was truly an out-of-body experience.  I was immersed in the music.  Immersed in the performance.

Towards the end of the show, Paul Bender gives a shout-out to his brother who had apparently just recently moved to Los Angeles, and who also taught him to play the bass.  At that point of the show, I had really lost track of time.  Though I was drenched in my own perspiration, and weary from standing in the same spot all night, I was sad that the music had come to an end.

The set list that magically disappeared...

The bud of jasmine Nai Palm gave me.
The bud of jasmine Nai Palm gave me.

I noticed the set list on the floor that Nai was using, but the guy in front of me asked for it before I had the chance. I saw that Paul had a set list, so I asked him for his, and he passed it on to me.  I took a picture of it, but it has somehow mysteriously disappeared …. hmm … I told Nai how much I was impressed with her show, and she gave me a little bud of the jasmine that was on the mic stand.  I think I’ll keep that safe for a while.

I was able to hang out with the band for a moment, snap a few pictures and get them to sign a copy of their latest CD for me.  If you want to check out some other music treasure I’ve collected, click through this link. I even joined in on a little dance circle to the soul music the DJ was spinning.

Hiatus Kaiyote was kind enough to take a picture with me.
Hiatus Kaiyote was kind enough to take a picture with me.

I went outside to decompress with a cigarette, when Perrin and Simon came up and asked for one as well.  Simon was thankful that I had extras to spare, and he mentioned that not only had it been a while, but they were all tired from their recent travel itinerary (they had just flown in from New York that morning). I once again reiterated how much I had enjoyed their performance, and by that time, I went to find my friend to leave for home.

When I got home, I lay in bed for at least 45 minutes watching the snippets of that evening’s performance on my cell phone. I had so much adrenaline in my body from the show that I had just witnessed, that it was hard for me to sleep.  Hopefully, this band will be around for a while, and hopefully, they come back to Los Angeles to give me another musical, out-of-body experience.

Signed album artwork. Treasure.
Signed album artwork. Treasure.

Below are some video clips I took of the show. Enjoy them the best you can, but honestly, you need to see this band live to truly appreciate what they are about. Hopefully, they’ll be back in Los Angeles to perform in no time.

Note: In the next video you’ll see how happy Nai Palm gets when the audience sings along.  Love it.

Note: At the start of the following video Miguel (at about the 8 second mark) takes note of the low ceiling. Great musicians take note of everything in their surroundings.  

 

UPDATED 11/27/13: RELATED POSTS:

  1. Hiatus Kaiyote | Skirball Cultural Center | October 30, 2013
  2. Hiatus Kaiyote | The Bootleg Theater | July 31, 2013
  3. Nai Palm & Hiatus Kaiyote: Australian Soul

 

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Morrissey | Staples Center | 3/1/13

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“England is Mine and It Owes Me a Living”. Poster that I bought at the concert.

I remember when I was first introduced to the music of The Smiths.  It was the summer after 8th grade, and I was shipped off to a summer, boarding program called C.T.Y. [Insert nerd jokes here]. I always enjoyed spending the summers away from home (I went to my first summer boarding school after 6th grade). Studying asides, I saw boarding school as an opportunity to meet new people and to learn to be somewhat autonomous.

At the time, I was listening to a lot of KDAY, so my music inclinations leaned more towards hip-hop. I had some alternative rock in my music collection, mostly Depeche Mode … in fact, at the time, my alternative music collection was all Depeche Mode… so every time I was introduced to new music I, tended to soak it all in.

There was a guy in my dormitory who was all about alternative music.  He listened to Jane’s Addiction, Pixies… and the Smiths.  We did a music swap, and made mix-tapes on cassette tapes (remember those?) for each other.  I wish I still had that cassette tape, but I remember some of the tracks were “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side“, “Girlfriend in a Coma” and “How Soon Is Now“

I remember being taken aback by The Smiths music. It was a “new” type of rock music for me.  It had hints of pop and rockabilly, but what really got me, was Morrissey’s vocal style.  Morrissey’s croon captured my attention, and his lyrics, though very forlorn, was just so soothing to listen too.

After that summer, I kept up with Morrissey’s solo career, and over the years, I’ve amassed a nice little collection of The Smiths and Morrissey. Perhaps my favorite purchase is my most recent one, a live album titled “Panic!” of The Smith, which was recorded in Germany in 1986, that I bought November 24th, 2013. I even posted a picture of the album when I first played it on Instagram.

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Ironically enough, the day I purchased the album, was the day Morrissey was originally supposed to perform at the Staples Center. That show was cancelled due to his mother being hospitalized. I didn’t know it then, it wasn’t until a few weeks later when I visited another record store about the cancelled show. I saw the poster, and convinced the owner of Touch Vinyl to let me have it (after I bought a couple other albums). I figured it was a sign that I needed to get tickets to the rescheduled show, so I stopped by the box office when I was at the Staples Center for a Clippers game.  Morrissey had been cancelling some concerts in recent days due to health concerns (bleeding ulcer) … thankfully he didn’t cancel the March 1, 2013 show.

While Morrissey’s health may not be 100%, his voice sounded amazing.  It was a solid 19 song set, that mixed in old hits, new music and several The Smiths songs.  I was sitting in the nose-bleed section, and there was no video monitor projecting the performance on stage, but a ticket is a ticket, and it’s Morrissey.

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I could care less about Morrissey’s politics. I could care less about the news about meat being sold at the Staples Center. If you cared about that shit, you should have given your ticket to someone else who cared more about the music.

Morrissey and the band took their bows before they started playing. It’s the first time I have ever noticed a band or artist do so.  The crowd went nuts, and Morrissey kicked off his concert with The Smiths song “Shoplifters of the World Unite”, one of the songs that was on heavy rotation on KROQ back in the day, and it seemed like all of Los Angeles who grew up during that time, were at the show.

Morrissey’s performance was all that you could have expected.  His style hasn’t changed since I first heard him, and the themes that he’s known for … loneliness, heartaches, letdown, isolation … all came out through the music, though it did seem slightly ironic considering he sells out arenas.  And the crowd loved it. Morrissey’s set list is below, with some video clips I took.

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Immediately below is a clip of Patti Smith performing her classic “Because The Night”. She dedicated it to her deceased husband Fred “Sonic” Smith, and it was the highlight of her set. Maybe she was the perfect opening for Morrissey because the night really did belong to lovers … of Morrissey.

Morrissey Set List

  1. Shoplifters Of The World Unite 
(The Smiths song)
  2. Irish Blood, English Heart
  3. Alma Matters
  4. You Have Killed Me
  5. You’re The One For Me, Fatty
  6. Action Is My Middle Name
  7. That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore 
(The Smiths song)
  8. I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
  9. Speedway
  10. Meat Is Murder 
(The Smiths song)
  11. Ouija Board, Ouija Board
  12. November Spawned A Monster
  13. To Give (The Reason I Live) 
(Frankie Valli cover)
  14. How Soon Is Now? 
(The Smiths song)
  15. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want 
(The Smiths song) 
  16. Everyday Is Like Sunday 
  17. Let Me Kiss You
  18. First Of The Gang To Die 

Encore

  1. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side 
(The Smiths song) 
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