The Arcade Fire at Roy Wilkins

So, it worked out that I have been to the (Legendary) Roy Wilkins Auditorium twice now in three days to attend two wonderful concerts.
Here, I was confined to a balcony seat, because the tickets sold out alarmingly fast and that was the best I could get, but it was okay anyway.  Just less enjoyable, due to not being able to go crazy without the possibility of losing my footing and toppling down to presumably my death from up above. Also, the sound was a bit over-saturated (if you will), but Roy Wilkins is notorious for bad sound anyway so I wasn't very surprised at all.  But yes, it was okay.

Calexico was the opener, and not knowing any of their music, I would say it was pretty good.  Their style isn't exactly my main choice, but it was smooth, and nice to listen to.  The horns sounded great, and I enjoyed watching them. 

When the Arcade Fire finally came on, they were greeted by the expected screaming.   They opened with "Ready to Start" off the Suburbs (which, as I probably should have expected, they played lots of songs from.  I haven't really been feeling this album though, and I still haven't gotten around to purchasing it, so I was unfamiliar with a lot of the stuff. Oh well...).  Right after, Win yelled, "This is a song called 'No Cars Go,'" and we erupted.  Then shortly after, they played "Haiti."  It was a good start to the show, indeed.  The band was super-energetic, as I've heard, and they really put a lot of feeling into it.  Even if it's only for show, it gets the rest of us going too, and it's super fun, if not a little dangerous (my god, the way they launched those drumsticks into the crowd I'm surprised no one got speared).  It was a lot of fun, Regine was even dancing so hard the skirt of her dress flew up and we saw her butt.  And you, crazy Win, you get down from that piano.

So, as I was saying, they played a lot of Suburbs tunes, but they also played most of their older songs that I wanted to hear.  Although there was no "My Body is a Cage," they did play "Intervention," my other favorite from Neon Bible and "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" one of my very favorites from Funeral (Win prefaced it by pleading with us, "I know you're all tired, I know you have work tomorrow, but please, please, just give me something for this one." And we did).

The encore was great, beginning with "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)," another personal favorite of mine, and finishing off the night with "Wake Up."  This was really a pretty good show.  Honestly, I wasn't expecting all that much because I had been a bit disappointed with The Suburbs and I was beginning to wonder how much I really liked this band anymore, but I was very impressed.  I still like them, and that's good.

The Flaming Lips!

Went to my first Flaming Lips show on the 19th at Roy Wilkins with my mom.  Excellent! 

It really lived up to all the hype you hear about F'Lips shows.  It was absolutely awesome, in the real sense of the word. 

We got there, and the crowd was really pretty young and friendly.  Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti opened, and although I commend them for trying, I can't say I really liked them at all.  Too much synth, too much awful, if you ask me.  But that didn't matter; they kept the set fairly short.  Wayne kept peeping out during it, too, just to make us more antsy.
So then they set up the elaborate F'Lips stage, what with nets full of large balloons swelling up from behind and confetti guns and aliens and everything.  Wayne kept coming out, smiling, assuring us that he loves us too, and being an all-around coolguy.  Finally everything was ready, and he announced a sort of disclaimer thing regarding the strobe lights, and shortly then after the show began! Whee!

So, the balloons and confetti were released, and they came out from behind the screen with the yellow dancing woman (whee!) and got in their places and Wayne got in his bubble.  And then he rolled out onto us.  It's such a strange feeling, to be looking above, and seeing the soles of Wayne's shoes, and realizing that he's standing on top of you, in a bloody plastic bubble.  It's rather insane, I'd say.  Brilliant though. We pushed him back to stage, and they started playing some songs.  A lot of their newer ones, but they also played "She Don't Use Jelly," to which everyone sang/yelled along.  I enjoyed the theatrics, what with the strobes and bear-costumed man giving Wayne a piggy-back ride, the green laser hands, the wonderful use of darkness, Woo Hoo!, the video backdrop, everything.  It was really quite a trip.   Everything was so fun, the jumping the dancing and singing.  Good stuff.  For encore, they played the Yeah Yeah Yeah Song and Do You Realize?, both of which were extended and very good for the singing along.  When it was all said and done, the place was a huge mess, and people were lingering around, dancing amongst the garbage all over the floor.  It was great!

Nirmala Rajasekar and Co.

Last Sunday I sort of spontaneously decided to go to an IMSOM hosted concert featuring Ms. Nirmala Rajasekar.  I met Nirmala back in May and aside from being super-nice and talented, she mentioned how she'd be playing in September, and so I looked up the show, and day-of I decided to go. 
It was in a little room inside an auditorium at St. Catherine's that was really very intimate and filled with orange-upholstered seats.  When I got there, it was already pretty crowded, and I recognized a few players that were with her last time sitting in the audience.  Honestly I felt a bit out of place for different reasons, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  Nirmala is extremely talented, and the ensemble playing with her were great as well.  During the first half of the show, she recognized her "mentor, and guru," and elderly woman in the front row, whom she invited up on stage.  Nirmala stooped to touch the woman's feet in great respect, and presented her with a gift and her new "Into the Raga" album.  Then, we took a 10 minute break of cookies and coffee.
When we returned, we got right back into the music, playing some really long compositions.  I honestly am not that knowledgable with the ways of keeping rhythm for this style of music and everyone else did, but after some time, I fell into it, and it was a lovely atmosphere.  It was a nice familiar feeling with almost everyone in the room patting their hands in the same rhythm, right along with the players, dropping our palms on the dominant beat.  It was really fun, and very long.  After everything was said and done, it had been just about 4 hours.  We split pretty soon after it ended, and were thoroughly impressed.

Lowertown Music Festival!

I went to the Lowertown Music Fest on Saturday with some friends and had a great time.  It was a bit overwhelming, but the weather was perfect, and the music was nice.  Here's the breakdown, in order of appearance:

Koo Koo Kangaroo... was this humor hip hop duo wearing black sweatsuits trying to get the crowd going.  Their songs focused around such heavy subjects as PB&J, let me see your dinosaur, I'm drivin' the minivan, and others.  Although they had so much zeal in their performance and getting the crowd going, only a small percentage of the people there were actually playing along.  They did bring out a parachute though, which was pretty neat.  Everyone loves a rainbow parachute.

Frank Turner... is from Winchester, England, and is pretty cute.  He seemed like a cool guy and a good musician.  He mainly played fun, youthful songs on his acoustic guitar getting the not-yet-leg-cramp-ridden crowd going.  He even asked for a volunteer to play harmonica solo for him, and a girl named Rachel from Australia got to come up and do it.  It was nice that she was the one, because while she was up there, it was clear she knew all the words to all his songs.  He kept us singing along with him, yelling "I still believe," and other things.  At the end, we were to sing the chorus with him, all of us, as loud as we could, because he firmly believed that if everyone on that block sang together, something amazing happened, something philosophical, where there is no raised stage anymore, and we're all in it together.  It's a very nice thought, and so I sang and sang and sang. 

Peter Wolf Crier... I don't know much about them, unfortunately.  I enjoyed the performance though.

Tapes n Tapes... I'm afraid I only knew the radio hits for these guys, too.  Oh well.  They were a fun bunch.

Cloud Cult... over the past couple of years have really impressed me with everything they've done.  This was my second time seeing them, and it was great, as expected.  Aside from about ten minutes of technical difficulties after the first song, they were very smooth.  They have a new album due out in September (although it was for sale there, and from their website too, I believe,) and they played a handful of songs from that, but many of their older, so well loved ones.  They even did a Cloud Cult-ified cover of "Hey Mr. Tambourine Man."  They really owned the crowd, had and brought out a lot of energy.  During "Pretty Voice," while just near everyone sang along with the opening lines, Craig was visibly in awe, and said, "Wow, guys, that's great... Keep doing that."  And so we did.  I think a lot of people were there to see this band.  Definitely some great things from them.

Mason Jennings... is an amazing songwriter.  I overlooked him for so long, and it was just this year that I started getting into him.  I shouldn't have waited; his music is great. His performance was pretty much flawless. He played some of the songs from his last album, Blood of Man  (which I think is just great),  including some of my favorites from there, like "Pittsburgh," and "The Field," which pull tears from my eyes whenever I hear them. He played older songs as well, and everything was spot on.  There were a lot of hard-core fans singing all around, it was a nice atmosphere, as the sun slowly disappeared and left us in the bluish dim.  He played for a long while, and it was a great set.  He's a cool guy, and I hope to see him again.

Built to Spill at First Avenue

So I saw Built to Spill in the Mainroom on Thursday the 22nd, and it was a great show. A band called Fauxboix opened, and weren't too shabby, but Doug Martsch and Co. just blew me away.
They opened with "Else," which is probably one of my favorite songs of theirs from probably one of my favorite albums of theirs, and so we began on a great note. They played lots of great songs.. not the songs I expected them to play, but still great. I want to say how lovely the guitar work between the three fellows comes out, wonderful jamming. I love Doug a lot. I really love this band.

Schedule.

Very excited.

And happy 92nd birthday to Nelson Mandela. 
Possibly Dr. Dog in October.

Ramblin' Jack Elliott at the Cedar.

June 19-- We went to go see a folk pioneer play at the Cedar.  I think there is a trend forming of seeing folk musicians at the Cedar.  That's cool. 

Anyway, yes, so the mysterious "Rolling Patches Revue" part that was included on the event poster ended up being a (long winded) tribute to Ramblin' Jack himself, including a zillion local folksters, and then, surprise, Patches and Gretchen happened to be there too.  Well anyway, that's unimportant.
Yeah okay so then after all that and the intemission, 'twas time for Ramblin' Jack's set.  He was welcomed warmly by all, and sat down to play a few songs. No pictures were to be taken because he said that when people shot pictures of him, he felt compelled to "shoot back."  Well, he played some songs, and mostly told stories.  He really lives up to his epithet.  I don't know if we ever did reach the punchline to some of them.  His "sweetheart" Vickie Lee (the Queen of Rockabilly) came out to do a song with him (sung in G.. the People's Key) and rambled a little bit about some teddy bears that they have living at home that talk to them and often have malicious intentions.  Jack talked about Bob Dylan, and did a quick impression of him (well, his voice) during a song.  He got on coughing jags.  He complained about the heat, and the funny shape of his new hat.  He was pretty colorful.  Good stuff though.  I feel lucky to have seen the man.

Summer is Ready.

Here comes the sun.  The weather is shaping up nicely and I would like to go swimming. So. Here's the deal.

I have been cultivating my fondness for the wonderful Built to Spill this past year, and some weeks ago, I remarked, "Gee-- it sure would be nice to see this band play live."  And then the next morning, because fortune decided to smile upon me, I opened up the City Pages to the First Avenue schedule-ad, and guess who is scheduled for July 22?  Yes, indeed it is Built to Spill.  I am going, I am excited.

Also in the upcoming concert queue is one Ramblin' Jack Elliott.  There's a good chance I am going to see him play at the Cedar very soon.

I've been on a ridiculous Donovan kick lately, decades late to the party or not.  He just recently turned 64 years and released through his website a new single. (http://www.donovan.ie/).  He's got a new album coming out you know, Ritual Groove.  Whether it is going to come out within the summer or not, I think he'll be getting heavy rotations on my record player all summer long.

Speaking of new material.  My first musical love, Sawao Yamanaka, has finally gone along and created a solo album.  I will say, I am excited for him!  His album is called Discharge and the song 'Dawn Speech' is up and playing already.  What can we say about it?  It's different, it's Sawao trying to sound mellow, or something.  Still, it's nice to see him and Yoko together again.  I'm curious to hear more cuts from the record.

The Arcade Fire, too, have a new album due for August as well, titled The Suburbs. I doubt it has any correlation to the Minnesota band The Suburbs, but either way I am looking forward to hearing new Arcade Fire tunes.

Summer music is always integral to the season.  I will be digging out the required summer records soon, a comprehensive list of which I plan to compile in the near future.  Rock music friendships, yes yes.

Adventures in Space and Time with the Apples in Stereo

It's strangely apt that the Apples' new theme is time travel, because Saturday the night of May day sure happened fast, almost as if compressed in time.  Story time.

In all likeliness, I wasn't going to be going to this concert.  Just another age-restricted Turf Club show.  I really wanted to go though.  A good acquaintance suggested that I contact Robert to see if he could do any pulling of strings for me, and so I did.  He directed me toward his lovely wife Marci, to whom I am forever indebted for all the kind things she did for me.  Marci and I kept of sporadic correspondence until the very night of the show, where she sent me a last e-mail about 50 minutes before mom and I were going to leave that sealed the deal of getting in.  We got our things gathered in a great tizzy and left to go to the show.

So we got to University Ave., and basically just wandered and waited until the time came.  I made serious eyes at the wonderful Bill Doss in the CVS store, but I don't think he realized I recognized him.  I saw the kids of Laminated Cat (who, as it turned out, were a nice bunch too).  When the time came, we sent the deciding text to Marci, saying "Hello, this is nicole, we are here, we are in front. You are wonderful!" and about 15 seconds later, we spotted Marci and Robert through the window and coming out the door to come meet us. Wow!

First impulse of mine was to hug the pair, and so I did, and shook their hands.  Robert commented, "Nice Music Tapes shirt!" and flashed his lovely white smile, and I melted a little bit.  They led us in, where we found out they had actually put me on their guest list (oi!) and really weren't even expecting me to have a ticket.  Amazed I was, and Robert then announced, "We're gonna go eat," and so mom and I were left alone again, completely floored.

Sitting at the bar, I basically looked around dumbfounded and overjoyed to be there, and listened to Laminated Cat mic check for a while.  Robert walked by later and spoke with us again, and then soon enought LC began their set. 

Not knowing much about them, I honestly enjoyed LC.  Basically, they are a group of some talented young kids who like to make psychedelic rock music, and play it well.  Robert stood solitary in the middle of the floor, watching them like a proud father, for the majority of their set.  I really enjoyed this band, and ended up purchasing their two CDs afterward.  Very polite indeed: the bassist smiled widely at me as he walked by; my mom told the front man (whose voice I really quite love) he did a really nice job, and he just smiled and looked in her eyes and said "Thank you very much"; and the guitarist said to me afterward, "I like your shirt.  A lot." (Gee--I claim to like these guys and I can't even remember their names off hand.  I am an awful person).  Anyway, Laminated Cat is a cool bunch, definitely worth checking out.  They finished their set, and the first middle waiting time commenced.
   Generationals!  I only really knew them from the radio, but they were pretty cool. 
More on this soon...

Anoushka Shankar at the Dakota.

Yesterday, the twentieth, my father and I went to the lovely Dakota Jazz Club to watch Ms. Anoushka Shankar play up her sitar, and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
Having been my first time visiting the Dakota, I didn't realize that I would be enjoying an entire dinner meal there and be waited upon all night. It was quite nice though, and the food was good.

Anyway, Anoushka and her fellow players came onstage and filled the place with wonderful music. They began with a traditional Indian style piece that was just lovely to the ears. Anoushka, sitting in center with a great stage prescence, led the songs, which varied from traditional ragas to psychedelic flamenco-esque pieces ("it's like flamenco--but not entirely") to interesting energized songs with her two percussionists going at it across the stage verbally. All the pieces were terribly impressive, what with so many plucked notes in rapid succession and much raking of the sympathetics alongside the tom dom tom of the tabla. She played a piece written by her father, as well (as she put it: "... I assume I don't have to tell you his name"). Later, she introduced her band-mates, and mentioned that she was actually playing a borrowed sitar, from a San Franciscan fellow named Kenji (who was standing up in the balcony above) because her own was damaged during transport. Oh dear. She wasn't very distraught, however, and seemed confident it was repairable. The last song they played before encore was a long jam of back-and-forth motifs wherein each player had his or her own solo bit. After leaving for a minute, they came back on to do the final song, which was a romantic Indian song that they "like to finish shows with." It was very pretty indeed, and left a good taste in my mouth. (Also the soup I had was delicious).
Here I am looking silly as usual with Anoushka's percussionists and flautist who I spotted on the sidewalk after the show. When I saw them walking out, I promptly succeeded in walking into a locked revolving door. Hopefully, they didn't notice.

Ornithology and Stained Glass

It has almost been an entire week now that I get around to writing about this, but Gezelligheid is still stuck in my mind.

Saturday, December the twelfth was filled with most beautiful everythings; notably, Andrew Bird at Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis. It was his third night playing his Gezelligheid shows here at this immaculate church plopped down in Loring, and the weather was crisp and promising. Sitting beneath the doubled Victrola was one bevested sock monkey. Andrew came on stage looking dapper as usual, albeit with a little five-o'clock-shadow about his face and mussed hair, with a slight limp, which he acquired the first night after smashing his heel in (as he told us). This show was largely instrumental, comprised of most beautiful melodies that Mr. Bird has been working on. He played these long, epic pieces, with masterful use of loop to layer under the cry of his dear fiddle, and the result was truly chilling. With every factor playing in, I venture to say that this was the most aesthetically beautiful show I have ever watched. I was stricken, at the time, by the realization of all the beauty. I try to paint it.

Try to imagine:
The all-encompassing sound of the violin loop, echoing off the ancient walls of this cathedral, and the quiet of all the listeners. Behind Andrew's sweet head was a startling wall of illuminated stained-glass ikons, illustrating some epic tale of yore, while this young man and the violin produced such sweet sounds that would make even Cremona's original inventors of the instrument proud. His elongated shadow jumped and twisted over the left wall, making a dark silhouette of a man and a bow in some passionate work. Projected on the immense beige walls behind were vibrant colors of cyan, magenta, green and white. Stephen (?) emerging to accompany Andrew on clarinet, then saxophone for the next song. Andrew knelt down to play and attend to the loop button, and Stephen (?) shaking while playing his sax madly, with insane other-worldly effects bending the sounds. Andrew's flowery and colorful gestures with his hands as he spoke to silent us. The shaking of his head while he whistled and plucked at the catgut. His ever un-conventional strumming of those strings and striking them, bouncingly, with the hard side of the bow. Natural Disaster. Stephen (?) on his standing bass, pulling and pounding his thumbs to rhythm. "Minnapolis has been like a home to me." An old song, from the Bowl of Fire days... The Swimming Hour-- so beautiful. And another new one, and finish with Scythian Empires. We stood and clapped and clapped and clapped and he came back out, and played a little Bob Dylan, with Oh Sister. My, was it wonderful. Very special indeed.

Tom Rush at the Cedar

At the beginning of the week, my father presented me with a concert ticket of one of his very favorite artists, Tom Rush. In all honesty, I knew nothing about Mr. Rush's music. I think I knew one song. Darn young people these days.
So the shindig last night took place at the Cedar Cultural Center, where I hope to visit numerous times more in the future. I shook hands with Tom himself before the show, and he seems to be quite a gentle fellow (and I think he bears slight resemblance to Mark Twain). He played a long set, (none of which I knew--oi!), with one intermission. I must say, being an objective listener, he's got loads of talent. Whether you're into folksy-folk or not, to stand up there with only an acoustic guitar like he did and make songs have substance, and real bottom, takes musicality. And he's funny, telling jokes and sardonic stories of past times, nonchalantly talking about a bus trip he spent with the likes of Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, and Buddy Guy, to name a few. One song in particular stuck out, "Panama Unlimited," I think it was called? He made his guitar sing so nicely, you could really hear its voice. Very smooth indeed.

As an afterthought, I couldn't help feeling a little out of place. The atmosphere gave me a vibe of an era long past, where everyone who saw its heyday was trying to resurrect it. Even people talked of way back when, when such and such bar was still open. It gave me just a hint of melancholy. I've not even yet entered my "golden age" yet, but I'm already feeling sad about how things will be once it has passed. Change happens, and it's inevitable, I suppose. But traces of those eras still linger in the city culture and people. It's interesting, and makes me mumble, "H'm...."

The Breeders at the Fine Line

Went to see the Breeders again yesterday, and they really never fail to amaze me. This show was arguably even better than last year's... and that's saying something. Maybe it's because I was directly under Kim for this one...
They opened with "Hoverin'," while Kim manned the snare (well, mostly-- I know your drumroll secret, Kim) and sang. Kim and Kelley are as cool as ever. They're a perfectly polite and amiable pair. I love them both. Cheryl seems well acclamated now, as well. She handled herself surprisingly well when Kelley ripped out one of her red dreadlocks. Plan on seeing a Kelley Deal bag with an ratty old red dread for the handle in the future. Mando and Jose didn't talk much, as usual, but they played their instruments phenomenally (like always). There was no lack of variety with songs from every album, plus Amps. Their sets are always great... they don't neglect their older albums like some bands will. The Breeders, they've got it down. They know how to put on a great show, and they do everytime.

P.S.--I love you Kim, and I'm happy I got to experience you spitting on me!

Andrew Bird at the State Theatre

Saturday the eleventh of April, my mum and I watched Andrew Bird play his lovely violin at the (historic) State Theatre in Minneapolis. We've both seen him before, but this time was really smashing.
His buddy artist Haley Bonar opened up for him, and although I can't say I'm a huge fan of her style of music, she's got a beautiful voice and represents Minneapolis well. She made another appearance later in the night, but I'll get to that in a moment.

So, our dear Andrew came out playing his violin and removing his shoes. He moves his stockinged feet and sways those hips just to make us swoon, I think. He played lovely pieces on his violin, and after awhile the rest of his band came out to join him. They played a lot from Noble Beast, including the wonderful 'Masterswarm,' 'Effigy' (which he explained was about that guy who sits at the end of the bar, sketching weird things in his notebook), and a jazzed-up version of 'Fitz and Dizzyspells.' And a bit later, 'Armchairs.' (Oh, wow). Time's a crooked bone, indeed. Of course he did the regulars, 'Dr. Stringz,' and 'Nervous tic motion,' during which he sporadically threw his head to the left. And later, he recruited Ms. Bonar to sing with him on 'Scythian Empires,' which was quite beautiful. They finished with 'Fake Palindromes,' which was a final burst of energy, to say the least, but he wasn't quite finished. He came out and did an encore, which included 'Table and Chairs' and another one in which he spoke along the words while playing his violin, as if it is a part of him. He painted pictures with his arms and hands, with all these flowery gestures that we never got to see at Rock the Garden. He belongs onstage in the theatre, I think. After that, he left the stage, only to come back for a second encore. Nice.

Dreadfully, all the photos I took are blurry enough to cause seizures, so I'll sample one of the better ones here:

[I know, it's pretty bad.]

The Music Tapes.

On February the 24th, I enjoyed myself thoroughly at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis watching the Music Tapes. Go see them. Do it. You won't regret it. I promise.
Of course, we can't forget that our beloved Brian Dewan and Nana Grizol were opening for Julian and friends.
So, I talked it up with a friendly kid who was into Elephant 6 a lot, like myself, and we waited and observed. Everyone was bouncing about the place, setting up, and there was a perpetual line for the toilet, but that's besides the point.
Brian Dewan began his wonderfully strange set on one of his swanky machines. He sang delightful songs of Charlie who lives at the hardware store, mechanical arms, and cadavers. And, a nice little cover of a rap tune about Pres. Obama. He manned the accordian and autoharp while slamming back a beer, and the wonderful Laura Carter played the melody box- thing on his final song.
I didn't know much about them beforehand, but I learned that night that Nana Grizol is cool. Some bands have that. They're just cool. Nana Grizol is cool. So, they played some energized songs for us, and Theo (handsome) told us a joke about a panda who went to a restaurant and "eats, shoots, and leaves." Oh ho, Theo, you're clever. Their set passed fairly quickly, and before I realized, they were leaving the stage.
We then watched a short colored film strip by Mr. Dewan called The Age of Innovation (I think). It was partly humorous, but also partly thought provoking. I think that Mr. Dewan is probably quite brilliant, wouldn't you agree?

And then, there were the Music Tapes. Julian and everyone were just... great. They played a bunch of Music Tapes songs new and old, and Julian told amusing anecdotes throughout. Static made his appearance during "a Ukrainian folk song that encourages singing televisions to sing," and our portly old Metronome kept some steady beats. Julian happily stummed his banjo and bowed his reliable saw, playing us music to make you happy. There was something euphoric about it all. His closed-eyes vocals were ethereal... and it put me in another world. Just brilliant.
After a while, Julian came down onto the floor and sat on a euphonium case, as we planted it around him. Like a campfire, almost. There, he coaxed his saw Badger to sing us The First Noel, and mentioned how Badger's grandparents were there that night. Then he told us about the game. Which I think I should keep secret, to preserve the mystery. But I will say that it involved fire and bells. Anyway, after the game Julian said that they were going to play "a song we don't know very well... called 'C'... oh no it's called 'C#.'" And so they played their 'C#' beautifully, ended the night with the epic song. Afterwards, I talked with Julian briefly, getting a photograph and hugging his sweaty frame good night. He's an absolutely amazing person, and honestly, this might have been my favorite show yet. Go to a Music Tapes concert sometime. It will change your life.

Beck + MGMT

Last night, I accompanied my mum to a concert to see her idol, Mr. Beck Hansen.
We were lucky enough to get right up to the fence in front of the stage, and had a perfect view of everything. The now-popular band MGMT were opening, and having seen them open a show before, I knew we wouldn't be disappointed.
MGMT began their set with 'Electric Feel,' keeping it going without many breaks between songs. 'Kids,' was probably the best, with that great song embellished with a trippy strobe light effect. My statement I made last year after seeing them open for of Montreal still holds true-- they're the best opening band EVER.
And then there was Beck. He was dressed quite dapper, as usual, and being quite the cutie. They opened with a rocking and high energy performance of 'Loser' that got the night going full force. They played stuff from all over his career, including newer ones like a beautiful live show of 'Chemtrails,' and 'Nausea,' as well as our favorite classics 'Where It's At,' and 'Devil's Haircut' (a personal favorite). And all those other great ones like 'Lost Cause', 'I Think I'm in Love,' and their counterparts, of course. The set was a really great and long one for a set these days, and the encore was four good songs, starting with a birthday song to Scottie the drummer, and including the new-ish 'Gamma Ray.' 'Tis safe to say nobody left disappointed.
Anyway, in the end, Beck is bloody amazing, and if you ever get the chance, do go to see him!
I don't even know where I found the photo...

Rock the Garden

Last Saturday, June the 21st, my dear friend Emma and I rocked the garden.
89.3 the Current along with the Walker Art Center were hosting an outdoor concert in their Sculpture Garden with a great line up of Eau Claire's Bon Iver, Minneapolis band Cloud Cult, Canada natives the New Pornographers, and Chicagoan violinist (and a personal favorite of mine,) Andrew Bird.

Bon Iver opened, and performed flawlessly. I worked my way up about 10 feet from the stage for Cloud Cult, another favorite of mine. They were absolutely wonderful and Craig really rocked out. They performed some of my favorite songs like 'Take your Medicine,' and 'Pretty Voice,' to which I sang along quite loudly. The New Pornographers were very polished, albeit bland in my opinion, (plus the sun was in my eyes) and ended their set with an Electric Light Orchestra cover. By then, I was three feet from the fence. Then finally Andrew Bird came on with Dosh and the guitarist whose name escapes me.

My HEROES!

I don't even remember what song he opened with, or what song he played second, or third for that matter, but every song was great. At some point, I asked him to marry me, but, he decided to ignore me. He did his lovely live rendition of 'Fiery Crash,' and I rocked out. He did a lot of stuff from Armchair Apocrypha, but a lot of older tunes as well. We pogoed to 'A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left,' and belted out the chorus of 'Plasticities.' 'Plasticities' was played right after a slight weather delay, if I remember correctly, and everyone sang along with no inhibitions whatsoever. 'Twas really a beautiful scene, Andrew and friends framed by the stage with the grey sky behind spitting out chain lightning. He played upon all of the audience's crushes and moved his little slight hips around very suggestively, all while jumping from guitar to violin. His sound was beautiful, just like his face. He finished up the set playing various songs like the Dosh-written 'Simple X' and 'Tables and Chairs' (which he requested we sing the violin part-- that sounded wonderful). He topped this day off by doing a wonderful solo encore with only his violin. I have to say, long live the Bird!
And then, it was done. All done. But much worth it. My feet won't ever be the same (stood in three inch heels for six hours, squatting down for six minutes once,) but I'd say that seeing four tremendous bands all in the same place was well, well worth it.
Andrew Bird photo from Mosaic Music.

The Breeders at First Ave.

So, last Friday, my mum surprised me with the news that we could attend the Breeders show at First Avenue in Minneapolis. Some eighteen years later, and we get to see one of my hero bands live. Needless to say, I was pretty ecstatic.

So we endured a lame opening band, and when those crazy Breeders finally came out, we kind of erupted. Kim and Kelley were pretty laid back, and they have such a charisma, we all were taken by their aura. They opened the set with a cover (not sure of what, however), and played a variety of songs from all over their career, including the Amps' 'Pacer,' and classics like 'Iris,' 'Fortunately Gone,' Beatles cover 'Happiness is a Warm Gun,' and 'Safari,' as well as brand new tunes like 'We're Gonna Rise,' and 'Walk it Off.' They talked about Dayton, and made fun of Mando, switched instruments and made everyone want to rock out. The Deal sisters are absolutely wonderful, silly musicians. I fell in even deeper love with them after seeing them live. I'm curious what the future has in store for them... eighteen years, numerous member changes, and they're still rocking.

This is my ode to you, Deal sisters! ¡Viva los Breeders!