phish @ times union center. albany, ny. 11/28/09

that photo right there pretty much epitomizes why phish still is one of the best touring acts around. love them or hate them, shit is amazing to see live. you really can’t knock them at all until you experience the scene, the lights, the vibe, the smell, the funk, the stank, the people, the musk, the feel, the energy.

with that, we took adam (my oldest friend) and his roommate jose with us to show #2. it was adam’s 2nd show & jose’s 1st. also had another friend there who was experiencing them for the 1st time as well. so i was feeling kinda bad that the 1st night was really good. was a little weary of how this show would pan out for newcomers. similarly to the night before, the sets were all over the place switching from blue grass, to funk, to who knows what. this is why most people love em after all. for me though, it felt too sporadic. yes, the jams were spacey, well done and good and all, but the song selection just didn’t quite do it for me. there were definite standouts though like the ‘nicu’ and ‘vultures’ in the 1st set. ‘melt’ came out a bit sloppy, but still was good. the 2nd set came out fighting strong with a ’seven below’ into ‘ghost’ (one of my fav songs to see them play live after the ginormous glow stick war at it). the jam was straight nasty and the fact that we were sitting very close to the stage – off the back corner behind paige – let us into just exactly what it must feel like for them to look out onto a sea of heads plastered in lights all groovilating to the beat. ‘jibboo’ was pretty good too as was ‘wolfman’s’ but not good enough to keep us from leaving early to beat the mass exodus.

such was the thanksgiving weekend that was. thankful for sure that it all worked out. thankful for the music. thankful for the fun & friends. thanks.

phish @ times union center. albany, ny. 11/27/09

thanksgiving is well known as the worst travel weekend of the year, so it was only fitting that i’d be traveling everywhere throughout the northeast. thanks to mother nature, our ski trip to vt got postponed, but surprisingly all the details came together to make for a great weekend of family, food, friends and phish.

the first night in albany was set to be a great one. the shows earlier in the week in phily were supposedly pretty good, so we were hoping their stride would hit while in ny’s capital. that it did. starting the night out with a pretty straight ahead ‘ac/dc,’ the first set was pretty strange in song selections. a great ‘maze’ came next which i was really excited to hear. the light show was quite incredible as was the sound from where we were sitting – a few rows off the ice, straight back behind the soundboard. best sound in the place in my opinion. the set continued to “bounce around” quite literally as a radio friendly ‘bouncing around the room’ came mid way through the sit, complete with a half-assed, too early glow stick war. other set highlights were ‘ice,’ ‘limb by limb’ and ‘cavern.’

the second set was really what did it for me though. it was pretty much the reason that i enjoy seeing them. crazy lights, some incredible covers and just straight ahead pure power. keeping everyone on their toes, ‘my friend my friend’ started things out. as they got things going, i recognized the syncopated rhythm they were playing, but couldn’t quite yet place it until trey started singing the lyrics. everyone we were with looked perplexed and then it hit me that they were covering tv on the radio’s ‘golden age’ very much to my excitement (and yes, i called it before the chorus. thank you). the jam that followed was bad ass enough that it got even the dirtiest hippies in the place to dance to modern-hippster-indie-rock. i bet the downloads for the original version went up the next day since barely anyone knew what the hell they were playing. from there, the set (& show) continued the shuffling of crowd pleasers like ‘fluffhead,’ ‘prince caspian’ and ‘harry hood.’ the unison screams of “hood” were deafened though by the absolute pure energy the entire arena put out as ’suzie greenberg’ started up and the white lights shone bright on the crowd to everyone’s enjoyment.

it was definitely a great show. one of the better ones i’ve seen in recent years. was looking forward to night 2.

here’s some video from the beginning of ‘maze’ my friend haskell got with his flip mino hd. lights were amazing:

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metric @ house of blues. boston, ma. 11/20/09

every good night should start with tequila. or maybe it’s every good night does start with tequila. after a long day at work, a long ride home in traffic and the beginning of the weekend, there’s few things better than a margarita to get things going. add that together with pretty tasty mexican food, concerts and free ice cream and you’ve got your self a pretty darn good friday night if i do say so myself. and such was ours.

we headed over to the hob after said mexican delights and caught metric’s set. i was pretty excited to see them after their cool, but sort-of-dissapointing acoustic set at the wfnx show over the summer in gov. center. they came out firing plowing through their big hits off the new record, fantasies, like ‘gimmie sympathy,’ ’sick muse’ and my fav off the new one ‘gold guns girls.’ all and all, the set was pretty good. as good as they are as a band, as good as they are as a band live, i still kinda expected more. their lights were kinda week, especially to some of the backdrops and rigs i’ve seen over the past few weeks, let alone year, but maybe that adds to their vibe. they’re still kinda of an ‘unknown’ in main stream terms. somehow they still seem to sneak unnoticed. maybe it’s because they’re canadian, maybe it’s cause the bigger stations just won’t play a real ‘indie’ band. whatever it is, these guys have broken out for sure, but not to their potential. they’re damn good and i would have loved to hear some more of their older stuff which is still damn good. overall, a solid performance that i was quite happy to see.

the free ice cream from the highly anticipated new red mango that just opened up around the corner from me was pretty much the most perfect nightcap ever. ever.

as tall as lions / mutemath @ house of blues. boston, ma. 11/12/09

i’m so happy to have finally seen mutemath live. they’re a band that has flown way too far under the radar for how talented and awesome they are. their live show only makes me think so even more. the amount of energy that they give to every song was incredible. this was their 2nd to last show on a 40 date tour, but you couldn’t tell. they dug their teeth into each riff, leaving everything they had on the stage for the crowd. speaking of the crowd, was definitely one of the more varied i’ve seen. spanning the caucasian demographic more than any analogy can do justice, moms and dads, teenagers, dudes, bros, chicks, you name it were there. that right there is almost enough evidence to predict them as the ‘next big thing’ even though they already should be. combine that with scorching vocals (the dude sounds like sting in the early police days), incredible drum beats (holy crap – he has to literally tape his headphones to his head so they don’t fall off cause he flails around so much), extremely well organized arrangements (they really do sound like the police for a new time) and a crew that believes in them, and you’ve got yerself a band on the rise. the sound tech i hung with a bit after said he describes the band to friends as if muse ate coldplay and were backed by the police. couldn’t agree more.

after the show, i spoke with mutemath’s drummer, darren, for a bit and he was extremely humble and well mannered. it’s amazing the persona he takes while on stage thrashing through the set and his kit, beating anything around him with his sticks to add to the fury. closing out the show, the band all grab hold of at least a piece of his kit & bash away allowing darren to stand on the keyboards, with bass drum in hand, solo for a bit and then crowd surf both on the bass drum and then on the crowd. it was pretty incredible to watch. again. soooo much energy.

the opening band, as tall as lions, i had heard good things about too and checked out a couple of songs before seeing them. who doesn’t like being pleasantly surprised? and boy was i. apparently, the singer’s got vocal nodes which was definitely noticeable in a few places, but these long island boys (represent) will be a force in their own right soon. already packing venues, you can see they’ve got big places to go. again, their arrangements are well done and they do small things really well to enforce their songs. simple things like hesitating a bit on a beat or jumping to a chord in a typically cliche progression early, tossing an odd time signature in, all of these play together quite nicely in bringing a swell of sound to a climatic punch. they do it a lot and they do it well.

mutemath – ‘typical’ music vid

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mutemath – ’spotlight’ vid

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as tall as lions – ’stab city’ live

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the egg & lotus @ paradise. boston, ma. 11/6/09

it was a long week of shows, going out, drinking and fun. i love weeks like this when it feels like your throat is tearing itself out, your kidneys feel like they’re punching themselves and you slap yourself to keep from falling asleep and hitting your head on the keyboard at work, only to do it all over again that night. best weeks to have…

i first heard about the egg from a friend who saw them at camp bisco a couple of summers ago. i got in touch with their drummer maff, and caught up with them for the first time at sxsw last year. they freakin blew me away. i heard the album, it was awesome, but they put on a serious dance party live. this time around, they’ve been playing the opening slot for lotus – a band i’ve seen many a time over the past few years, from tiny nyc bars, to boat cruises and anything in between. both bands draw a pretty good crowd and boston showed them a good time for sure.

the egg were a bit rushed on stage after a drawn out soundcheck, but got the night going quickly. for the people that were there early, they were delighted to hear good music from an opening act. especially on the jam circuit. it’s hit or miss a lot of times, but these guys definitely hit and damn well too. mixing electro, house, jam, trance and rock, they pull from samples, synths, instruments, vocals and more to convey the feeling of music. the room started to fill in just in time for the crescendo of the set bringing the crowd, now filling the paradise, to an all on fury of groove. it may have been the drugs, but everyone in there had a smile on their faces. they closed out with a straight up house tune that apparently is topping charts in the uk dance scene, rightfully so.

lotus hit the stage for the first of their 2 sets fairly quickly after the egg exited the stage. we were having a drink with maff and i didn’t even realize they were on. i recently realized that they had released 2 full albums of tracks after their hammerstrike album that came out last year. the songs on these discs are more organized and stray away from their jam days focusing more on the beat and electronic feel and direction the band seems to be heading. it’s working. i really dig the new stuff on oil on glass/feather on wood and pressure. check them out.

lotus – ’simian (big gigantic remix)’

10/28/08 egg playing ‘walking away’ live at the middle east in boston.

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televandals & dragonette @ great scott. allston, ma. 11/5/09

i heard about this show as it was one of the last for local band’s televandals shows of a crazy few weeks seeing them open for matt & kim, releasing a new video, covering the clash and more. unfortunately, i missed all of them. i was determined to see them once & for all, so decided i’d be heading to great scott on a wednesday night. from the posters, i saw they were playing with dragonette. it sounded kinda of familiar, but never heard them. after first listen, i fell so hard in love. this music perfectly fuses so many types of music i enjoy. pop, electro-synth, trancefusion, straight up rock, the list keeps going. i was so eager for this show to start that i started second guessing myself and questioning whether they’d be as good live as my ears wanted them to be. once we saw the stage though, i knew they were going to throw down, and hard. in such a small bar, the usual stage lights & gels are more lighting than needed, but these guys came stock with floor to ceiling lcd light bars straight off radiohead’s hail to the thief tour. no joke.

so televandals took the stage and i was impressed with the energy the keep burning all set taking cues from a lot of the synth rock out there. i think of muse almost right away as a comparison, but hesitate when i think why. the set had a few hiccups, but they stayed strong, powered through, gained a few fans along the way and got the crowd ready to hear some straight up dancey shit from canadia.

as soon as dragonette took the stage, the energy shifted. everyone knew it was gonna be an experience. the synths cranked up, the lights blared and the pure and spot-on voice of front woman, Martina Sorbara, soared. the sex appeal isn’t just burning off her, but even more so through their songs. with songs like ‘competition’ and ‘fixin to thrill’ every booty in that place was shaking harder than it had in a long time. the bass/keys player looked really familiar and after a while, i thought i recognized him from the new deal. after the show, talking to a friend later in the week, i was confirmed in my thoughts and it’s dan from tnd. i remembered that darren (tnd’s drummer) had told me a while back when they did their tour as the join that dan & his wife’s band had been getting pretty big over in europe…never thought it would be like this.

annnnyway, i digress. this show was straight up fucking awesome. if you’ve been keeping up with this blog so far, you know a few things already. 1, i see a lot of shows and try to see even more. 2, i like music. a lot. and rarely do i speak negatively about it (unless it’s about the smiths, morissey, or nickelback). 3, i like live music even more so (maybe, maaaybe even the smiths). therefore, i mean this with all seriousness, that out of all the shows i’ve seen so far this year, i think i’d have to put this in my top 3. just the energy and awesomeness that was produced in front of a crowd of maybe 40 people was so raw and pure and just incredible. coupled with the lights, the dancing, man. it was just good. plain and simple. if you ever have the chance to see them, see them now before they’re playing huge arenas. cause it’s going to happen. i’ll still be there dancing my ass off.

dragonette – ‘fixin to thrill’

dragonette – ‘competition’

dragonette – ‘gone to far’

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televandals – ‘good for nothing’

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thao with the get down stay down @ mid east downstairs. cambridge, ma. 11/3/09

with a twist of inauspicious lyrics dredging through relationships both past and present, the vocal stylings and enthralling guitar lines, thao and her band, the get down stay down, thrilled the crowd at the mideast. taking what could definitely be labeled as ‘indie/acoustic/folk rock’ (and on first glance, many would probably label it as such a thing), thao throws down hard breathing bad-ass life into each and every note that’s played. through her songs and her melodies, the crowd is drawn in, falling slowly in love with her and everything she appears to stand for.

spanning 3 albums, the set ran from songs you couldn’t help but jump up and down to, closing your eyes tight and throwing your fist in the air to others you just wanted to grab your lady and hold her tight and sing together. the music on the albums are mere examples of the talent thao and her band have, but live, they take on another life form. they will be getting bigger. with the success of her tune ‘bag of hamers’ (you just may have heard it without knowing (listen below)) and the recent release of her latest album know better learn faster (amaaaaazing title track below), they’re set to take on your college radio station and then some. enjoy a few songs below:

‘bag of hammers‘

‘know better learn faster‘

‘when we swam‘

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girl talk @ house of blues, boston, ma. 11/02/09

party.

that’s it. party.
he may not be a dj. he may just “press play” and dance all a fool, but holy crap. non-stop party. the crowd mixture alone tells you he’s doing something right. from the depths of bu & emerson’s hipster bowels to the after work music snobs letting go and everything in between, you and whatever you are were well represented. did it get a little old – yea. was it really fucking loud – yea. was it lame – definitely not.

it would have been awesome to see him at paradise to get the real feel of the party atmosphere girl talk definitely puts off and thrives on. this felt almost forced to a point, but still pulled off the feel of being in a basement with people filling every last inch of space all jumping, dancing, convulsing in unison.

party on wayne.

get more photos from the show at this dude’s flickr album.

the temper trap with freelance whales @ great scott. boston, ma. 10/29/09

i always get excited when a new uk act that i haven’t heard of yet, or that isn’t that big in the states yet, gets signed with zildjian. especially when they’re really, really good. such is the case with temper trap. toby dundas was recently brought on board and rightfully so as he adds a great beat to well written songs, flowing melodies and just good shit that temper trap have put out on their latest album conditions. epic songs fill this album from start to finish. the highlight is definitely their single “sweet disposition,” which was featured on a 500 days of summer preview and the soundtrack, countless commercials worldwide and more. it’s bad ass and even more so live. the band bring a touch and feel of an up and coming radiohead with their full on assault to every note that’s plucked and played. few bands are on the same page as radiohead, let alone the same book, but these guys just had a feel of it, playing live at least, especially when the band jams the fuck out and rages on “drum song” to close out their set. definitely worth listening to, you won’t be sorry.

the opener, freelance whales, were a huge surprise and grew on me instantly. they could be seen as gimicky at first glance, with banjo, mandolin, squeeze box, chick bass player, etc etc, but their songs were very well crafted and a feel of arcade fire-lite. i really dig ‘em and after listening to their album weathervanes, i’m officially hooked. they’ll be coming back through boston opening for the similarly-sounding fanfarlo which is sure to be a good show. check it.

the mars volta @ house of blues, boston. 10/7/2009

this photo i took from above the stage can barely do thomas pridgen justice. that dude is pure animal. not only in the scientific sense, but exactly like the crazy little fucker from the muppets. when we were talking before the show back stage, he was saying something about being at namm and seeing all the crazy decorated, flashy kits everyone was displaying. and all he could think was “that’s not what i picture when i think about a drummer. when i close my eyes and think of a drummer, i think of that little animal, john bonham, flailing around, huge-ass cymbals…” and that’s exactly what he looks and sounds like.

the day before the gig, thomas, his tech timmy & marcel (omar’s brother & multi-instrumentalist for the band) came down to the factory for a visit. we sat there in absolute awe for an hour as thomas absolutely destroyed on the kit in the drummers lounge. i had the luck of sitting directly in front of, under and near the kit filming this bombardment of sound. not only does he play with such high energy, but his shit is loud. most drummers play a 13-15 inch hihat, 16 being very large. thomas uses 2 18 crashes on top of each other as his. everything else is pretty much a 24″ cymbal (the biggest we make) and he makes them things his bitches like whoa. i had buzzing in my ear for a while after that. oh yea, he also has the 36″ gong that you see above, which is pretty much center stage. hello free advertising, how are you?

the show was pretty killer as well. i saw mars volta back in like 2006 @ roseland and they put on a good show. went with good friends, met a few good future friends and had a good time. their new stuff, built around thomas’ playing is a lot more worked out and not as far out as some of the earlier stuff. still crazy as shit, don’t get me wrong, but it’s more listenable. i was soooo happy i had my ear plugs. they’re definitely one of the loudest bands i’ve ever seen live.

i’ll throw up some good video of his solo when i have it.