Saturday, November 25, 2006

Prodigy - Fillmore 11-24-06

So I got free tickets to go see Prodigy at the Fillmore. Since my parents were in town and we were gonna grab dinner with my brother on his lunch hour I made sure to check what time the show was. 9 pm doors. Figured, ok, Prodigy won't play till 1030 or so. So I ate dinner and had some drinks with my parents, then picked up Tiffany and headed to the Fillmore. We get there at 1030 and to my surprise, Prodigy is already fully into their set. I mean come on...what headlining band goes on before 1030. But whatever. So we tried to grab a drink, but alas they don't take cards after the headliner starts at the Fillmore because there is a minimum. Although I could have easily hit any minimum because beers are $5, but hey, the Fillmore just takes less of mine and Tiffany's money.

So back to Prodigy. I enjoy some of their music and have always heard they put on a great live show. So I settled in and watched. Not being one of their fan boys, I never had realized that for the most part, only Keith or Maxim present on stage during a song. This semi-confused me, but alas was overcome after I was watching them go crazy and the crowd eat up every minute of it. Maxim was all over the place, through the crowd and standing on the sound board podium. Plus they had one of the craziest light shows I've ever witnessed at a show. Although we didn't get to hear their whole set, the highlights for me were Smack My Bitch Up and Dead Ken Beats. Dead Ken Beats is a new song which samples California Uber Alles and is pretty good.

Like I said before the crowd was really into it and it was fun to watch people go nuts for this band. There was even a girl with glowsticks doing the orb. I really wish they wouldn't have started so early so that I could have seen the whole set, but what are you going to do. Gotta send props out to Productshop NYC for the free tickets and a good show. For me, I definitely was not let down to the reviews that I had read and been told of a Prodigy show. Thier new material sounds great and when it finally is released should be a good electronic cd.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

+/-

So I did indeed head out to Bottom of The Hill to check out +/-. I got there in time to catch Whysall Lanes' set. They were really good. The lead singer is actually the brother of the lead singer of +/-. I think I just confused myself with that last sentence. They put on a good set. After their set I discovered that Anchor Steams Christmas and New Years beer is out for the year and that Bottom of the Hill was serving it. So good. +/- played a really strong set. The crowd was into them and having a good time, which in turn allowed them to have a good time. They kept thanking everyone for coming out and saying how SF was the place they look most to playing when they go on tour. They played a lot of new stuff that is more indie-pop than their older stuff, but it is definitely still got their own sound to it. Even though they don't sound like them, +/- reminds me of Pinback, with keyboards and beats. I guess they play that same kind of segmented rock. They were fantastic though. It was good to hear older stuff mixed in, as for me, hearing the new stuff live was hearing it for the first time. Irving was up next...I've seen them before and they are really good, but unfortunately I took off and headed home to work on my final. Which speaking of it, I should get working on it some more. Don't think I'm gonna make it out to see Straylight Run, but you never know.

Shows this week:
Copeland, Appleseed Cast & Owen at Slim's on Monday
Album Leaf & Dirty On Purpose on Tuesday
Mates of States at GAMH on Wednesday possibly
Prodigy at Fillmore on Friday - I'll be reviewing this show for productshonyc

Friday, November 17, 2006

A Few Short Reviews

Ok, so as much as I've been trying to relax this week, I've been burning the proverbial candle at both ends. Seems as though I haven't slept more than 5 hours a night all week, which means I'm about to fall asleep in class right now. But instead of falling asleep I've decided I'd just act like I'm taking notes and type out this entry. Thanks USF for providing wireless interweb in class. So let's get to it...

Tues. night I ended up going to both Annie's Social Club and The Mezzanine. I started off by going to Annie's to meet up with the Tiltwheel guys and Josh Mosh. Hung out there and said hellos to them and had a few beers. Watched Off With Their Heads (Minneapolis) who were really good. I'd heard their stuff before and enjoyed them, but hadn't sat down with anything or was super familiar with them. They put on a great show and it showed as everyone yelled for them to play longer than their 20 min. set they wanted to play. I decided to walk up to the Mezzanine to try and see if I could catch Young Love, but when I got there it seemed that everyone else had showed up at that time too, since the line went from the venue and down the alley almost to 5th St. However, upon further inspection, it seems that doors had been delayed from 9 till 10pm and also posted were no ins and outs signs. Seeing as I wanted to see Tiltwheel and that doors hadn't even opened, it just wasn't in the cards for me to catch the Young Love set, especially because it meant I would have to sit through Mickey Avalon, who apparently was horrible. So I headed back down to Annie's and caught then end of Vena Cava's set, shotgunned beers by the Tiltwheel band and hung out with people. Finally Tiltwheel played. They are so much fun and I'm really happy that they are finally releasing new stuff and going to be touring somewhat more consistently. They are super nice guys and deserve to get some success. So after I watched them, Gav and I headed to the Mezzanine to meet up with Mike who had an extra ticket for Gav since his girlfriend opted to skip the show on account that doors didn't open till 10 and she had to work early. We got there after midnight and still waited about a half hour for Lady Sovereign to come out. Once she did it looked as though it might be a long trouble ridden set. Throughout the first two songs she couldn't hear herself, as the amp for the monitors had apparenlty blown up. She was getting really fed up and I think started to cry at one point. However, after taking a short break sitting in front of the drums, she got up, and decided she'd just try her best. And the best it was. The show was great, minus the fact that the crowd was one of the lamest crowds I'd ever been a part of. You could definitely tell that half the people were there only because she might be the next big thing or that they had only heard Love Me Or Hate Me. I actually had one girl turn to me and try to get me to move over because her friend was claustrophobic, which I promptly told her, "I don't mean to sound like an ass, but tell her to go to the back of the club." But she played a great set minus the crowd. Although I'm not a huge fan of her Sex Pistols Cover, it sounded good live. I'm just glad that I caught the San Francisco show and not the show in LA the next night, as apparently she broke down and didn't even get past the first two songs.

Wednesday night was Tiltwheel/Vena Cava/Off With Their Heads round 2. However, this night was spent partying much more and also trying to convince Davey to get on stage and play a set. Everything worked out and a good time was had. I have to note that the Balazo Gallery is one of the strangest venues I've ever been to. It's very DIY, which is cool, but at the same time needs a little help. Cool thing is that they have a bar in a strange back room, which seemed like it was straight out of a movie. Balazo could be cool, but is lacking at this point in time.

Last night I volunteered for Music For America. They put on a show at Cafe Du Nord in which Division Day and Dredg played. Volunteering meant me sitting behind a merch table and selling one book. It was cool. I think their other events might be more organized and a little bit better. It seems like a good foundation/program and the people were very friendly. If you haven't, I encourage you to give it a go and volunteer for them. (You will at least get a free show out of the experience). The show itself was good. Division Day was the real reason I wanted to go. They are from LA and play a cool piano and rock mix. These guys will definitely be doing something here in the near future. Dredg was really good. I haven't seen them in a couple years probably and although I didn't really enjoy their last CD, this show was really fun. They played a shorter set and were goofing around the whole time. I guess the lead singer actually works at Music For America, so I'm guessing that's why they played. As I said before, this show was at Cafe Du Nord, which I hadn't been to before. It's a decent venue. I wasn't blown away by it, but I also didn't realize how small it was. I now know that when a show I want to see comes there, I better get tix in advance, as it was sold out last night, but definitely wasn't packed. Good sound in the venue, decor and stuff was kinda weird and faux uppity, bottles of PBR were 3.50, which is steep, so overall I would give the venue a B-. Not horrible, but nothing to write home about. I have to admit it would be a B+ or A- had the beer been a dollar cheaper.

Tonite I might make it out to Bottom Of The Hill to catch Irving and +/- and try to get ahold of a Faint ticket. Tomorrow I might try to catch Maria Taylor at Hotel Utah, but it's an early show and I'm supposed to have plans so we'll see. And depending on how my final goes this weekend I might try to go early and pick up a ticket to see Straylight Run and Matt Pond PA on Sunday at BOTH. Ok, I guess I'll pay attention in class now...

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Again, I'm playing catch up.

Last week was fun. I didn't end up going to see Lupe Fiasco at Independent on Tues. Couldn't justify the $20 just to see him without anyone else that I was interested in on the bill. I need to find someone to pay me to go to shows, that way I can actually go to all of them I want.
Wednesday night I caught Brandtson, Lovedrug and The Myriad at Annie's Social Club. I hadn't been to Annie's before and I really like it. Reminds me of the Zombie Lounge or Ken Club in SD. Just a little bar venue. The Myriad were the first band up. They were good, in the vein of Copeland. I don't know much about them, but I would definitely check them out if they were to come through here soon again. Brandtson were up next. I'm not going to lie, I love Brandtson. Their shows are always a ton of fun and even though they play some poppy music, I'm all for it, especially when you can just let loose and have fun. They played mostly new stuff, in fact I believe they only played one older song and it was still off Send Us A Signal. Would've liked to hear something off the Death & Taxes EP. But nonetheless, they put on a great show and I had a good time. Lovedrug headlined which I would of rather had Brandtson do, but oh well. I really liked Lovedrug's last CD, but there is just something that doesn't translate over to their live show for me. I didn't end up sticking around for their whole set as I just kinda got bored, especially after Brandtson's upbeat set. But I got to hear Spiders, which I really do like. I guess they had a new EP Lovedrug was selling, so I'm guessing a lot of their set was off that. Overall a good show, but like I said, I would've liked to see Brandtson headline and play a longer set.

Thursday I ended up not going to any of the shows, but rather drinking at the Diesel store in Castro at some 2007 line party I guess. It was fun and as Andrew put it, we spent the night "double fisted faux shopping for $300 pants"

Friday was the Minus The Bear, Velvet Teen show. We headed over to North Beach to Bimbo's about 2 hours early because Gav and myself didn't have tickets, but they were releasing some before the show. So we got tix, then got some gelato and a slice before the show. Russian Circles opened the show. If you haven't heard them and are into instrumental stuff, you need to check them out ASAP. They are fantastic and really tight. One must be fairly badass in order to pull off an instrumental band, and Russian Circles is no less than badass. The Velvet Teen was up next. They played a great set comprised of almost all stuff off their record Cum Laude. Judah uses a megaphone throughout the set, which for most bands would backfire on them in two seconds; however, Judah and the Velvet Teen pull it off like champions. Their set, while too short was really entertaining and action packed. POS, a rapper from Minneapolis, was up next. While Andrew was not feeling it in the least bit, he was soured from the San Diego show and POS's negative attitude. I however enjoyed his performance. Although I thought he could've switched spots in the lineup with Velvet Teen, he was still a good act and fun to watch. He reminded me of Sage Francis but not to Sage's level. While some of his flows were contrived and at sometimes not so fluid, he still put on a good set and people were into him. (it was actually funny to see the hip hop heads out at this show because you knew they were there for POS). Overall it was a decent set that kept my attention for the most part. Finally it was time for Minus the Bear to come out. First off I feel as though I should somewhat apologize as I'm the only asshole that feels the need to badger one of my favorite bands on stage. But anyways, they played a good set with a few new songs mixed in. Two of the newer songs they played on their last tour as well, so they weren't completely new to myself. The first new song they played was called Face Monster, the second was Electric Rainbow, and the last I didn't catch the name of. Two things kinda bummed me out, as it seems that Minus has all but ditched their ways of naming songs with ridiculous song titles and two the new songs lack that punch of other songs as they are slower and not as intricate so far. I know, I know, as they go record the songs they will come together more, but we shall see. Overall a good set even though it seems as they have totally dropped Electric Boogaloo Part 2: Get Me Naked from their repertoire . I had a good time seeing them, but would've had even more fun had it been at the Casbah in SD like the past couple times I've seen them there.

The rest of the weekend was spent partying and hanging out with Andrew. It was good to see him and I thank him for making the trip up to hang out.

I ended up deciding not to go to Riottt Fest on Sat. and from the Pitchfork review, I think the only thing I missed out on was the Clipse performance. It seems Girl Talk only played a 10 min. set. So overall I'm glad I saved my $40 bucks, especially since Girl Talk will be at the Independent in Jan.

For Now I'm out. I should have a show list up tonite or early tomorrow. For tonite you either need to be at the Mezzanine to see Lady Sovereign or at Annie's Social Club to see Tiltwheel and Vena Cava. Hopefully I will be at both, but am definitely going to be at the Mezzanine.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

I need a ticket to the Minus The Bear show at Bimbo's on Friday. If anyone has an extra one, please let me know. Thanks.

PS, i'm pretty sure no one reads this so i'm not expecting any answers.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Weekly Shows 11-05-06

Monday:
Five For Fighting @ Great American Music Hall
Sia & The Bird and The Bee @ The Fillmore

Tuesday:
Norma Jean, Fear Before The March Of Flames & Misery Index @ The Fillmore
Lupe Fiasco @ The Independent

Wednesday:
Sparta, Sound Team & As Tall As Lions @ Slim's
Lovedrug & Brandtson @ Annie's Social Club
Deftones @ The Fillmore
New York Dolls @ The Independent

Thursday:
Swingin' Utter @ Annie's Social Club
Anathallo & Page France @ Bottom Of The Hill
Islands @ Great American Music Hall
Kid Koala @ The Mezzanine
Starlight Mints & Bishop Allen @ BOCA

Friday:
Minus The Bear, The Velvet Teen, Russian Circles & POS @ Bimbo's 365 Club
Xiu Xiu @ Great American Music Hall
120 Days @ The Mezzanine

Saturday
Riottt Fest @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Wolf Eyes @ Bottom Of The Hill
Dr. Octagon @ The Mezzanine

Sunday:
Starlight Desperation @ The Hemlock

My Picks (Where I'll Be) For The Week:
Lupe Fiasco @ Independent on Tues.
Lovedruge & Brandtson @ Annies on Wed.
Page France @ BOTH or Islands @ GAMH on Thurs.
Minus The Bear, Velvet Teen, POS & Russian Circles @ Bimbo's on Fri.
Be The Riottt @ Bill Graham on Sat.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Long days and Longer Nights...

So this is severely overdue. I apologize, but just haven't had many spare moments as of the last couple of weeks. Shit, where do I start. I guess from where my last entry left off.

Went and saw Sufjan Stevens over in Berkeley. He puts on a wonderful show and this one was no different. It wasn't as good as his other shows, but it was a solid show. He was backed by a choir, which definitely brought a cool element to the show. During his xmas song, "That was the worst Christmas ever" he had people dump about 50-100 blow up santas off the top balcony. It was pretty funny to watch people toss them like beach balls. Then he did the same with "The man from Metropolis Steals Our hearts" but with blow up Supermans. He played a decent amount off of The Avalanche, his b-side album, which I like but not as much as his others...I mean there had to be some reason those songs didn't make the final cut...haha. My Brightest Diamond opened the show and all I could say is wow, she's amazing, definitely check her out if you get a chance. I guess she's a trained opera singer.

The next night was Lucero. It started out seeing Ben acoustic at Amoeba, which was awesome. He has one of my favorite rock voices, and it sounds even better over acoustic guitar. We then headed home and over to slims. Missed William Elliot Whitmore, who I saw down in SD at the Casbah this summer and was really good. But we made it in time for Rocky Votolato, who has definitely blown up a bit in the last year. He's always a good show, although his voice did seem to be a little off for the first half of the set. Don't know if maybe he was sick or sore throat or what, but sounded a little strained. Lucero puts on one of the best live shows ever. They played a good mix of everything as always. Their new CD is great in my opinion and it was cool to see those songs transfered over live. Kinda weird to see Lucero with a keyboardist though. Definitely wasn't used to that aspect. It works on the new songs, because they have that organ feel to some of them. However, on some of the older songs, it sounded a bit strange, but didn't detract from me getting drunk and singing along to all of the classics.

Monday the 16th I headed down to Bill Grahm with my brother to see Bob Dylan. I'm glad I finally got to see him, as I was gonna last year when he played LA and didn't. This was my bday present from my brother, and I don't think I could've gotten a better present. Dylan was amazing. Modern Times is a great overall record and with many other Dylan records, I'm sure it will go down as a classic. He played a lot off that, with the staples thrown in for good measure. I walked out with a smile. I think my brother was bummed, as he doesn't play guitar live anymore, but I had known that going in and was complacent with it. Thanks B for a great bday present.

This is where the shows get crazy, after Dylan on Mon. night, Tues. night was Hold Steady @ Great American Music Hall. Hold Steady are another great live band, and all of a sudden it seems they've become a buzz band on the internet and blogosphere. Pitchfork wants their nuts, even after they dissed Lifter Puller for having shitty vocals...haha. They played everything I wanted to hear. Ended with Killer Parties which made my drunkeness even better, but not as good as Gav's.

Wed. night was the Boris & Doomrider's show at Slim's. Doomriders opened and were great. They played a brutal set and kept making jokes about how their songs went out to anyone who rides a skateboard. Solid set. Boris was fucking rad. Their drummer is the best drummer ever. Japan puts out crazy music and Boris is no exception. They were tight and spot on. The chick on guitar slays. Just a great band and I'm glad I made it out to see them. And I got the Vein LP which I would've had no chance at getting were it not for them touring, since they cut the pressing down severely. Only downside is that it was $30, but it's worth it after listening to it. Hooray Boris.

Thurs. night I headed out to Popscene at 330 Ritch for the Mew show. This was my first time at Popscene and I learned a few things. A. You'll probably want to be at least buzzed to be there. and B. Bands don't go on till 1030 and go late. But I learned my lesson, and then thoroughly enjoyed Mew. Their new record is really good, getting compared to Sigur Ros, even though to me they only sound slightly like them at times. But they were awesome and it was cool to see them in a smaller venue, especially since I missed them at the Independent when they opened for Kasabian the week before.

Friday night was Beirut at Great American Music Hall and let me just say WOW WOW WOW. I really enjoy their album, but their live show is something totally else. From the first note on it was reminiscent of early Broken Social Scene shows. The energy on both the stage and in the crowd was just great. People were dancing around and just having a great time. They played three new songs, elephant gun, transatlantic, and one i didn't catch the name of, as well as I think every track off thier album. They came back for an encore and were pretty much left with the only last song they knew. A Hawk and A Hacksaw opened the show. They were really good, and the girl in the band was gorgeous.

On the 24th Gav and I headed over to Oakland to catch The Transit War. Their new cd is a great pop punk cd and is catchy as hell. They did a great job and they deserve all the success they can get. Jim was telling us how they just got added to the Lost Prophets tour, which is great for them, as they will be playing larger venues to even more kids. If you get a chance, check out thier new CD Miss Your Face, it's great.

Wed. the 25th I headed to the bottom of the hill for the Metal Hearts and Say Hi To Your Mom show put on by Noise Pop. Metal Hearts put out an amazing CD on Suicide Squeeze earlier this year I think. They are great live. Super nice people. Definitely check out thier record, Socialize, as it is really good. They must be doing something right, as they were out of CDs becuase they sold out from the night before. That was fine with me, as they only had vinyl, right up my alley. Say Hi To Your Mom was solid. He reminds me of Jonah Matranga, who I will try to catch tomorrow night at the Make Out Room, and Atom and His Package. Just a dood playing guitar to some backing beats. He put on a fun show and had the crowd shakin thier asses. He thanked everyone for having fun, after playing LA the night before and getting very little response from the crowd. Noise Pop puts on some of the best low key shows around.

Thurs. night it was back to Bottom Of The Hill for Heavens, Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio's new project. They put on a solid show. It was weird to see Matt not playing guitar and just singing. He should work on more rockstar moves for being a frontman...haha. Good show, I just really wasn't in the mood for a show that night, which made it hard to get really into it. Glad I went though, as it's unclear whether Heavens will continue on, or what.

This last week I was planning on going to see Foward Russia! at Cafe Du Nord, but they unexpectedly dropped off that show and I just didn't have the energy to make it out to see Scanners, which kinda bums me out, because I really like thier record.

Wed. night I went and saw Justice and MSTRKRFT at Mezzanine. A late show, but a fun show nonetheless. MSTRKRFT killed it. They put together a good set and had the crowd dancing the whole time. Justice was solid too. I didn't know until today that they pissed off Kanye by winning an award at the EMAs for Best Video. Kinda funny shit. It was fun dancing along to their sets. I haven't danced for a straight 2 and a half hours ever I don't think...haha.

Last night I headed out to Popscene again to catch Voxtrot and Love Is All. Before I headed there I went down the street and checked out the Dia De Los Muertos altars at Garfield Park. I didn't know that people built such elaborate altars. It was really cool and intense. Kinda hard, as I was thinking of my Grandma the whole time. But it is meant as an honor, not as mourning. So over at the Popscene, Love Is All started off. They are from Sweden and put on a good show. They're not the tighest band, sounded sloppy in parts, but they were fun. I like their tunes and it was cool to see them live, especially since it was their first time here. Voxtrot was next. I've been wanted to see them for a while now, and seem to keep missing them. Finally though, I was redeemed, and redeemed I was. I really like them, and that was not lessened at all by their live show. I felt like they should play a Sock-Hop themed party, as it could be fun. That's just the thought that came to mind while seeing them last night. Ramesh broke a string and they played a few songs on piano and him singing, including Soft and Warm, which I really like. They played a short set, but it was great.

As I said before, tomorow is Jonah Matranga and then possibly Voxtrot depending on how I feel. I will get back to regular posts this week.