hot chip tour

03-30 Cork, Ireland - Innercity %
04-07 Glasgow, Scotland - Stavka %
04-07 Modena, Italy - Vox %
04-08 Liverpool, England - Chibuku %
04-08 Dublin, Ireland - Pod %
04-19 New York, NY - Webster Hall *
04-20 New York, NY - Webster Hall *
04-21 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
04-22 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel *
04-23 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
04-25 Austin, TX - Antone's *
04-26 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater *
04-28 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Field (Coachella)
05-04 London, England - The Cock %
05-06 Middlesborough, England - World HQ %
05-10 Glasgow, Scotland - The Arches %
05-11 Dublin, Ireland - Triniti Bill %
05-11 Newcastle, England - Empire %
05-12 Leicester, England - Sumo %
05-25 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Stiff Kitter %
05-25 Edinburgh, Scotland - Sugarbeat %
06-01 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Festival
06-02 Bologna, Italy - Bologna Rock Festival
06-11 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
06-12 San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
06-13 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda
06-15 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival
06-16 Lawrence, KS - Granada Theatre #
06-17 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
06-19 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore
06-20 Seattle, WA - Neumos
06-22 Glastonbury, England - Glastonbury Festival
06-30 Knebworth, England - Wild in the Country Festival
07-06 Hampshire, England - Antiworld Festival %
07-07 Balado, Scotland - T in the Park
07-12 Dour, Belgium - Dour Festival
07-21 London, England - Somerset House
07-22 London, England - Lovebox Weekender
07-28 Malmö, Sweden - Jeriko %

* with Tussle
# with Tortoise
% DJ set

cary brothers lp

After putting out a couple of EPs over the past few years, Zach Braff darling Cary Brothers is finally releasing a full length. The album, Who You Are, is to be released on May 29 (Procrastination Music). The tracklist:

Jealousy
Ride
Who You Are
The Glass Parade
Honestly
The Last One
Loneliest Girl In The World
If You Were Here
Think Awhile
All The Rage
Precious Lie

folks fest prelim line-up

Rocky Mountain Folks Festival: August 17-19, 2007

So far so good... maybe I'll actually fucking make it out there this year.

Gillian Welch
Ray LaMontagne
Dave Rawlings Machine
Brett Dennen
Peter Himmelman
Mary Gauthier
Darrell Scott
The Ditty Bops
Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus Of Dreams
Catie Curtis
Vance Gilbert
Zoe Lewis
The Guggenheim Grotto
Arthur Lee Land
Mitch Barrett

I'll try to keep my eye out for further announcements from Planet Bluegrass.

we're, uh, we're actually required to wear fifteen pieces of flair...

I wasn't going to write this review tonight; it was my third show in as many days. Before I headed out tonight I was already wanting to be in my nice warm bed. That, however, was before Man Man totally kicked my ass. Here's how my Man Man experience has progressed: The first I heard of them was when I saw their album Six Demon Bag on a 2006 "best of" list. I thought "Man Man - Six Demon Bag" sounded like a metal band, but at the time I was going through a phase where I was trying to be open to metal (still not a fan) so I checked the album out. Ummm, definitely not metal. Experimental/noise/deranged rock is more like it. I dug the album, though, and when I found out they were coming to the Larimer Lounge I thought I might check them out. Honestly, my biggest motivation was in wanting to know how the hell they could possibly reproduce their songs live on stage. So I scanned blogs for Man Man show reviews, and the general consensus was that they put on a hell of a live show, so I bought my ticket.

And that's how I ended up at the Larimer Lounge shakin' it with the Man Man fans in the front row. Now first off, it's entertaining just to watch them set up the stage. There was only just barely enough room on the small stage for all the instruments + 5 band members. I have never seen so many pieces of flair on a band's gear than tonight: a rubber jackalope perched atop a cymbal stand, christmas lights, eyeball lights, scarves, feathers, a duck with a bow tie (he turned out to be an instrument, actually), a plastic finger screwed into a keyboard to hold some bells, some fuzzy gold fabric draped on the kick drum, well - you get the idea. And damn, more instruments than you can shake a drumstick at. The drummer was positioned at the front of the stage, facing the (main) keyboard guy. The other 3 guys and their plethora of music-makers were toward the back. They even had fucking toolboxes full of gadgets onstage, for god's sake.

Once the stage was set up they asked for five minutes - I'd read that they play "in costume" and correctly assumed this is what was going on. They took the stage minutes later in white t-shirts & pants/cut-offs, headbands, and white zinc oxide war paint. They set in with the first song and barely stopped for the next hour. Even the encore had maybe a 30-second break.

Holy fucking hell. These guys are like Architecture In Helsinki on speed, with about half the personnel and twice the instruments. With the exception of the main drummer guy, it seemed that everyone was required to play at least one keyboard instrument - keyboards, glockenspiel, xylophone; one string instrument - you know, the boring old guitar and bass; one wind instrument - trumpet, saxophone, slide whistle, new year's horn, some kind of wood box of which I do not know the name, and something that I think may have been a euphonium (thank you wiki); and one percussion instrument - drums, cymbals, bells, bowl & spoons, a pot, and one of those old-fashioned metal milk jugs (to name a few). A bike horn and a mini megaphone were also put to use.

I have no setlist - I was having way too much fun to try to keep track. They did play a bunch of stuff from Six Demon Bag, this I know. It was an amazing set, and as luck would have it they're coming back through Colorado and playing at Boulder's Club 156 on April 9. I bought my ticket as soon as I got home... :) If you have a chance to see these guys, especially in a small club, don't pass it up. And my advice is to get as close to the stage as possible: seeing facial expressions and the flair and the sheer mass of instruments is incredible.

i <3 guster

via Jambase:

GUSTER TO RELEASE 8-SONG EP — SATELLITE — ON APRIL 10

Reprise recording artists Guster will release Satellite, an 8-song EP featuring a dreamy, electronica-inspired remix of their Top 10 Triple A radio single of the same name, on April 10. The track was remixed by up-and-coming producers The Astronauts who have worked with artists such as Cut Chemist. It is currently available for digital download on iTunes.

The original version of "Satellite," which is also Top 50 at Modern Rock radio, is the second single from the Boston-bred quartet's current album, the melody-minded Ganging Up On The Sun, which was released by Reprise in June 2006.

The EP also includes four brand-new songs, "G Major," "Rise and Shine," "Timothy Leary," and "I'm Through," plus two rare live covers — the Beatles' "Two of Us" from a performance on L.A. radio station KCRW, and a cover of '80s power ballad "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (made famous by Bonnie Tyler) recorded live at the State Theater in Portland, Maine featuring non-singer/drummer Brian Rosenworcel's vocal stylings.

In keeping with Guster's environmentally friendly practices – Adam Gardner and wife Lauren Sullivan founded environmental action group Reverb in 2004, while the band developed their now-annual Campus Consciousness Tour in 2006, which again kicks off this March and aims to spread awareness and support for the environment as well as inspire students to get involved with earth-friendly causes – the Satellite EP is entirely carbon neutral. The band has purchased renewable energy credits from Native American renewable energy company NativeEnergy to offset the manufacturing process. In addition, the packaging has been printed using soy inks on paper certified as sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council. The earth-friendly packaging is part of the Warner Music Group's ongoing efforts to be mindful of its environmental impact. WMG, which already uses recycled paper in all of its CD booklets, is also making Guster's entire catalog, nearly a million CDs, carbon neutral.

Guster — singer/guitarist Ryan Miller, singer/guitarist Adam Gardner, percussionist Brian Rosenworcel, and multi-instrumentalist Joe Pisapia — have been on the road since last summer promoting Ganging Up On The Sun. The tour continues this Spring with confirmed dates listed below.

03/28/07 WED Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC
03/30/07 FRI Grand Opera House Macon, GA
03/31/07 SAT Wabash College Crawfordsville, IN
04/02/07 MON Liberty Hall Lawrence, KS
04/03/07 TUE Lloyd Noble Areana Norman, OK
04/04/07 WED Donald W. Reynolds Center Tulsa, OK
04/06/07 FRI Stubb's BBQ Austin, TX
04/07/07 SAT Granada Theater Dallas, TX
04/09/07 MON Western Illinois University macomb, IL
04/10/07 TUE Luther College Decorah, IA
04/13/07 FRI Beacon Theatre New York, NY
04/14/07 SAT Beacon Theatre New York, NY
04/20/07 FRI Opera House Boston, MA
04/21/07 SAT Opera House Boston, MA
04/26/07 THU Williams College Williamstown, MA
04/27/07 FRI Middlebury College Middlebury, VT
04/28/07 SAT Siena College Loudonville, NY
04/29/07 SUN Loyola College in Maryland Baltimore, MD
05/04/07 FRI Furman University Greenville, SC
05/05/07 SAT Erskine College Due West, SC
06/22/07 FRI Telluride Bluegrass Festival Telluride, CO

those pesky canadians

Montreal seems to be a real hotbed for indie rock these days. A couple of weeks ago I saw French-Canadians Malajube open for Snowden and completely blow them away in the process. Tonight were The Besnard Lakes doing much the same to Brooklyn's Dirty On Purpose.

There are so many reasons to like The Besnard Lakes: they seem to be very nice people - Jace was among the crowd for the first act, and even helped them get their gear off the stage; canadian accents (even poking fun at themselves a bit with outbursts like "take off, eh?" and "total fuckin' beaut!"); smoke machines; and, let's face it, they totally fucking rock! I feel awfully fortunate to have seen them at the Hi-Dive with probably about 100 other people for their first Denver show. This band is hot hot hot right now, and will likely only get hotter. Tonight they played:

Rides The Rails
Devastation
For Agent 13
On Bedford And Grand
Because Tonight
Disaster
And You Lied To Me

Dirty On Purpose took the stage to a far smaller crowd than had been there for The Besnard Lakes. Which is too bad - despite being a bit upstaged by the Canadians, they did play a nice set. However, they were not quite as good tonight as I'd hoped. I fell completely in love with last year's album Hallelujah Sirens, and tonight's set fell just short of my expectations. The vocals were mixed pretty low and hard to hear, and the band just didn't seem as tight as they could have been. Which is not to say they aren't fun... Joe mentioned that he'd been watching Dancing With The Stars downstairs and decided that he could win. Then we got to see his Michael Jackson moves. I've never seen DWTS, but I'd vote for him. :) With two songs left things started breaking down... Joe broke a string and had to use one of The Besnard Lakes' guitars. Then there was some problem with the bass. But at least we got a joke out of it: How did the pig get to the hospital? In the hambulance. Yeah, groan, I know. Their set (partially, anyway - don't have it all worked out yet and I'm damn tired):

?
?
?
?
Monument
Your Summer Dress
Ways To Drown
Fake Lakes
Car No Driver

Opening up the whole evening was local band Mothership. They were... adept. The crowd loved them, but they were just too "jammy" for my tastes, and all the songs started to sound the same. Which is not to say they were without bells and whistles (literally). Adam alternated guitar, whistling, baritone sax and this odd black box with an antenna that made noises when he moved his hands near it. Noises that kind of sounded like a... mothership. Those are all technical terms, too, I swear! Brian had a cool Star Wars guitar. Brendon alternated guitar and trumpet. It sounds like it should all add up to something spectacular, but it just didn't hit me the right way I guess. I did enjoy the last song of the set, though - called Ida Lee - about leaving earth in a homemade spaceship in 2012 (or 2013, I can't remember the exact date...). Awesome.

the hold steady - wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Ever since the announcement and subsequent detraction of a Denver date on their tour with The Thermals, I've been a bit down on The Hold Steady. Well, as down as I can be on The Hold Steady, at any rate... but then they went and TOTALLY redeemed themselves!!! Sweet.

May 12 – Harrisburg, PA @ Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Co
May 13 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
May 14 – Newport, KY @ Southgate House
May 15 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
May 16 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Intersection
May 17 – Milwaukee, WI @ Miramar
May 18 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Stage Door
May 20 – Omaha, NE @ Sokol Underground
May 22 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
May 23 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
May 24 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
May 26 – George, WA @ Gorge Amphitheater
May 28 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
May 30 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
May 31 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
Jun 2 – Phoenix, AZ @ Brick House

Oh I so cannot wait for this show...

new spoon-age

EDIT - Spoon just revealed the album title as well. Maybe they just like the attention. Anyhoo, the new album is to be called Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Mmm hmm.

Spoon's follow-up to the wonderful Gimme Fiction will be released on July 10. While the album is still untitled, the tracklisting goes something like this:

1. Don't Make Me a Target
2. The Ghost of You Lingers
3. You Got Yr Cherry Bomb
4. Don't You Evah
5. Rhthm and Soul
6. Eddie's Ragga
7. The Underdog
8. My Little Japanese Cigarette Case
9. Finer Feelings
10. Black Like Me

I have to admit, the songs titles have piqued my curiosity... No Colorado, but here are tour dates anyhow:

Grinnell, IA College Harris Center - (April 13)
Baltimore, MD Sonar (Main Room) (21)
Philadelphia, PA Starlight Ballroom (22)
Asbury Park, NJ Stone Pony (24)
New Haven, CT Toad's Place (26)
Northampton, MA Pearl Street (27)
Boston, MA Museum of Fine Arts (28)
George, WA Gorge Amphitheatre - Sasquatch! Festival (May 27)
Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music Festival (June 16)
Detroit, MI Comerica CityFest (July 4)

icky thump

The White Stripes revealed their new album title (Icky Thump) a while ago, and now we've got a tracklist to go along with it. Now all there is to wait for is a release date (likely sometime in June).

Icky Thump
You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told)
300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues
Conquest
Bone Broke
Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn
St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air)
Little Cream Soda
Rag and Bone
I'm Slowly Turning Into You
A Martyr for My Love for You
Catch Hell Blues
Effect and Cause

And a handful of festival tour dates:

Nuerburgring, Germany Rock Am Ring Festival (June 1)
Nurnberg, Germany Rock Im Park Festival (2)
London, England Hyde Park O2 Wireless Festival (14)
Leeds, England Harewood House O2 Wireless Festival (15)
Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Festival (17)

shows of interest for 3/26 - 4/1/2007

Get ready... it's a busy week.

Monday, March 26
Dirty On Purpose/Besnard Lakes @ Hi-Dive
Foreign Islands @ Larimer Lounge

Tuesday, March 27
Man Man @ Larimer Lounge

Wednesday, March 28
Birds Of Avalon @ Larimer Lounge
Jesu @ Marquis Theater

Thursday, March 29
Cracker @ Soiled Dove
Skybox/Dan Craig @ Hi-Dive

Friday, March 30
Headlights/Page France @ Hi-Dive
Cracker @ Soiled Dove
Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers @ Gothic Theatre

Saturday, March 31
The Early November @ Cervantes'
Mew @ Ogden Theatre
The Static Age @ Hi-Dive

Sunday, April 1
The Apples In Stereo @ Bluebird Theater
Die! Die! Die! @ Hi-Dive

bloc party extends tour... and includes denver!

I'm not overly fond of the new album A Weekend In The City, but Silent Alarm sure did kick some ass...

03-27 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis *
03-28 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre *
03-30 New York, NY - United Palace Theatre *
03-31 New York, NY - United Palace Theatre *
04-14 Glasgow, Scotland – Academy #
04-15 Wolverhampton, England – Civic #
04-16 Plymouth, England – Pavilions #
04-18 Blackpool, England – Empress Ballroom #
04-19 London, England – Brixton Academy #
04-20 London, England – Brixton Academy #
04-21 Bourges, France – Bourges Festival
04-23 Nantes, France – Le Carriere
04-24 Lille, France – Aeronef
04-25 Brussels, Belgium – AB
04-27 Paris, France – Olympic
04-28 Utrecht, Netherlands – Music Centre
04-30 Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
05-01 Stockholm, Sweden – Cirkus
05-02 Oslo, Norway – Sentrum Scene
05-04 Berlin, Germany – Columbiahalle
05-05 Vienna, Austria – Gasometer
05-06 Dresden, Germany – Schlachthof
05-08 Cologne, Germany – E-Werk
05-09 Munich, Germany – Tonhalle
05-10 Lausanne, Switzerland – Metropolis
05-12 Bologna, Italy - Estragon
05-13 Milan, Italy – Alcatraz
05-14 Lyon, France – Transbordeur
05-15 Barcelona, Spain – Razzmatazz
05-17 Madrid, Spain – Riviera
05-18 Lisbon, Portugal - Coliseum
05-27 Pompano Beach, FL - Pompano Beach Amphitheatre
05-28 Tampa, FL - USF Sun Dome
05-29 Orlando, FL - UCF Arena
05-31 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
06-01 Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
06-03 Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall
06-05 Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theatre
06-06 Boston, MA - WFNX Radio Show
06-07 Asbury Park, NJ - Convention Hall
06-09 San Francisco, CA - Live 105 Radio Show
06-11 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theatre
06-12 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
06-13 Las Vegas, NV - Palms Casino Hotel
06-16 San Diego, CA - Concerts in the Park
07-01 Gdynia, Poland - Open'er Festival
08-03 Melbourne, Australia - Festival Hall
08-04 Sydney, Australia - Hordern Pavilion
08-25 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-26 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival

* with Albert Hammond Jr., Sebastien Grainger
# with Mahogany

from the punk to the bluegrass

Sometimes my concert choices make me laugh... This week saw me rock out Philly-style with Dr. Dog and then come perilously close to some almost slam-dancing at The Thermals show. Tonight I attended the E-Town taping of Chris Thile & The How To Grow A Band/JJ Grey & MOFRO at the Boulder Theater, which was just so... gosh darn civilized. I've listened to E-Town for years, but this was my first time to see a taping. I have no excuse as it's taped in Boulder... no excuse at all.

My first observation was that the Boulder Theater really really really needs to redo their balcony. Really. We figured front row in the balcony would be better seats than the middle of the floor, so we headed up shortly before the show started. The view was nice, but there was an incredibly invasive musty odor that's still lingering in my nostrils. Gross. Then there's the seats. Dear god. Not only is there no leg room to speak of, but the seats - I'm pretty sure - are originals from when the theater opened in the 30's. Ow, my sciatica.

It was quite interesting to see the taping. There was only one major malfunction - at the tail end of the Chris Thile interview, host Nick Forster's mike crapped out. As a result, we had to applaud for "once again, Chris Thile and The How To Grow A Band!", even though they had already left the stage. Haha. On the upside, we got a bonus How To Grow A Band song while they were fixing it! Chris and the guys played several songs from the album - I can remember - Wayside (Back In Time), How To Grow A Woman From The Ground,Watch 'At Breakdown, The Beekeeper, Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground. I think there was another instrumental in there as well... The highlight for me was a cover of The Band's Ophelia, featuring Gabe Witcher on lead vocals for the only time all evening. A stunning rendition.

In between two mini How To Grow A Band sets was JJ Grey & MOFRO. They were very good, and I really enjoyed JJ's interview, but the "blues-rock" is just not for me. I found myself pretty bored by the time their 5 or 6 song set was over. Songs I know they played include: Country Ghetto, Circles, War, The Sun Is Shining Down. There were 1 or 2 more, but I can't remember what they might have been. For the encore both bands (plus hosts Nick & Helen Forster) jammed out to Muddy Waters' Mannish Boy. JJ and Chris each sang a verse, and when the "spelling" part of the chorus turned up for Chris, he took off with: M-A-N-D-O-L-I-N P-L-A-Y-E-R P-L-A-Y-I-N-G A-L-L T-H-E T-I-M-E. Well, that's what I caught, anyway... I think there was another word or two in there. Then he apologized... lol.

So, besides the leg-numbing chairs and the attic-y smell, it was a fun evening. They're taping an E-Town with Neko Case in a couple of weeks... maybe I'll go. In the meantime, my musical diversity continues tomorrow with the dream-pop of The Besnard Lakes and Dirty On Purpose and Tuesday with the experimental rock stylings of Man Man. Stay tuned.

minus the bear/chin up chin up tour dates!

Yeehaw.

04.26.2007 @ The Vera Project (Seattle, WA)
04.27.2007 @ Hawthorne Theatre (Portland, OR)
04.28.2007 @ Indigo District (Eugene, OR)
04.29.2007 @ The New Oasis (Sparks, NV)
05.01.2007 @ The Boardwalk (Orangevale, CA)
05.02.2007 @ The Catalyst (Santa Cruz, CA)
05.03.2007 @ Great American Music Hall (San Francisco, CA)
05.04.2007 @ Downtown Brew (San Luis Obispo, CA)
05.05.2007 @ Ex Plex (Los Angeles, CA)
05.06.2007 @ Belly Up Tavern (Solana Beach, CA)
05.08.2007 @ House Of Blues (Las Vegas, NV)
05.10.2007 @ Black Sheep (Colorado Springs, CO)
05.11.2007 @ Granada Theater (Lawrence, KS)
05.12.2007 @ The Picador (Iowa City, IA)
05.13.2007 @ High Dive (Champaign, IL)
05.14.2007 @ Pop's (St. Louis, MO)
05.15.2007 @ Beat Kitchen (early show) (Chicago, IL)
05.15.2007 @ Beat Kitchen (late show) (Chicago, IL)
05.16.2007 @ Pabst Theater (Milwaukee, WI)
05.17.2007 @ Triple Rock Social Club (Minneapolis, MN)
05.18.2007 @ Triple Rock Social Club (Minneapolis, MN)
05.19.2007 @ The Aquarium (Fargo, ND)
05.21.2007 @ Sokol Underground (Omaha, NE)
05.23.2007 @ Bluebird Theater (Denver, CO)
05.24.2007 @ Belly UP (Aspen, CO)
05.25.2007 @ Club Sound (Salt Lake City, UT)

what $10 can get you these days

If you're lucky, 2+ hours of really really really great live music, that's what. Tonight The Thermals came to Denver. It was January 12th when I first learned of the show, and I've been excited for it just about every moment since. I fucking love The Thermals; they are one of those bands that can just do no wrong in my eyes. It was a 16+ show, and I was a little worried about crowd dynamics. I'm older than my average fellow concert-goer, so going to a 16+ post-pop-punk (or whatever) kind of show can certainly be cause for trepidation. However, I spotted several people who appeared to be at least my age if not older, so that was nice. For a punk show, the crowd was pretty tame. We got a great spot stage left about 3 rows back. We were close enough for a spectacular view but just out of reach of the mosh pit-esque group in front of the stage.

The hour-long set flew by in a flash. I don't have a setlist as I was just too damn busy rocking out. Haha. I can say with confidence that they played everything from The Body The Blood The Machine except for I Hold The Sound. And Test Pattern... now I'm not 100% sure that they played that one. Hmm... Others they played that I can think of (which really consists of me looking at my albums and thinking to myself "did they play that?") are: Our Trip, How We Know, Back To Gray, Everything Thermals (I fucking love that song!!), No Culture Icons, A Passing Feeling... Well, OK, I'm sure there were several more, but damn if I can remember what they were. It was a captivating set that was over all too quickly. I'm already looking forward to my next Thermals show... In the meantime I'll just play The Body The Blood The Machine for about the 23rd time this week.

Since I wasn't sure what to expect as far as the crowd, and because I really really really wanted to see The Thermals tonight (ummm, I'm really short), I actually got to the Hi-Dive at 8:00. Good thing, too, as there was already a good-sized group of people in front of the stage for the first band, Lion Sized. They were quite good, a 3-man local punk-ish band. After visiting their MySpace page I even like them more... The bassist left a comment on the band's page: "Wow, I just saw us at practice the other day, and we're awesome! Good job us!". lol. They also managed to land on a couple of local and quite influential 2006 best of lists - Westword & The Onion, and they've had shows reviewed in the Denver Post. Good job, Lion Sized!

After Lion Sized were the Hot IQs, another local band. I'd never heard them before, although they've got plenty of accolades under their belts, including best rock band in Colorado. See their MySpace for some more details. They are more indie pop than punk, and lots of fun. Also a three-member group, the drummer is especially amusing to watch as she is constantly blowing bubblegum bubbles... :) She also played her drums with a maraca to start one song - both efficient and aurally pleasing. The singer's voice reminded me of someone but I can't place who... I'm thinking it may be the Panic! At The Disco singer... but don't hold that against them, they still rock. :) OK, really, I actually kinda like Panic! At The Disco. They're one of my emo guilty pleasures... haha.

And... now playing:



Yeah, everything Thermals
Straight from the pages of your journal
I know nobody's ever seen it
The Thermals know all your secrets

Yeah, everything Thermals
Born in an outer space wormhole
Brought to life by the big bang
Traveled to Earth in a Dodge van

The Thermals go right to your head
The Thermals have sex in your bed
Everything in circles

Yeah, everything Thermals
They come in 4 shades of purple
Some are tight, some have trousers
Some have pictures of flowers

They are The Thermals
They guarantee life eternal
You only need skin and bones
And a sweet pair of headphones

The Thermals don't need drugs to have a good time
The Thermals need drugs just to stay alive
Everything in circles
Yeah, everything

brmc tour!

The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club will be heading out on tour this spring, hot on the heels of their May 1 release Baby 81:

05/05/07 Marquee Theatre Tempe, AZ
05/06/07 House of Blues San Diego, CA
05/08/07 The Wiltern LG Los Angeles, CA
05/09/07 The Fillmore San Francisco, CA
05/11/07 Roseland Theater Portland, OR
05/12/07 Richard's on Richards Vancouver, BC
05/13/07 The Showbox Seattle, WA
05/15/07 Big Easy Boise, ID
05/16/07 In The Venue Salt Lake City, UT
05/17/07 Gothic Theatre Denver, CO
05/18/07 Sokol Auditorium/Underground Omaha, NE
05/19/07 The Granada Theatre Lawrence, KS
05/20/07 The Pageant St. Louis, MO
05/22/07 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
05/23/07 The Rave/Eagles Ballroom Milwaukee, WI
05/24/07 The Vic Theatre Chicago, IL
05/25/07 St. Andrews Hall Detroit, MI
05/29/07 Avalon Boston, MA
05/31/07 Webster Hall New York, NY
06/01/07 Theater of Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
06/02/07 9:30 Club Washington, DC
06/04/07 Newport Music Hall Columbus, OH
06/05/07 The Music Mill Indianapolis, IN
06/06/07 City Hall Nashville, TN
06/07/07 Roxy Theatre Atlanta, GA
06/09/07 Culture Room Ft. Lauderdale, FL
06/10/07 The Social Orlando, FL
06/12/07 Zydeco Birmingham, AL
06/13/07 Republic New Orleans New Orleans, LA
06/14/07 Meridian Houston, TX
06/15/07 La Zona Rosa Austin, TX
06/16/07 House Of Blues Dallas, TX

the hold steady - live at fingerprints

The Hold Steady will be releasing an EP Live At Fingerprints on April 17. It's a limited release (priced at a mere $4.98) so buy early and often!

Tracklist:

Cattle And The Creeping Things
Chips Ahoy!
You Can Make Him Like You
Citrus
You Gotta Dance With Who You Came To Dance With

dr. dog + bobby bare jr. = awesome.

Sometimes I don't mind staying out until 1:00 on a Wednesday morning. Sometimes it's just plain worth it. I'd heard that Dr. Dog put on a great live show (very true) but I was not too familiar with Bobby Bare, Jr. before tonight at the Larimer Lounge. I didn't get to the show in time for the first band, Jeffrey Lewis... I've come to the conclusion that I'm just too old to stand for 3 bands... lol. I'm not entirely sure when this "3 band" business started, but it's a bit much for me.

Anyhoo, Bobby Bare, Jr. was amazing. The first song was Bobby on acoustic guitar and his keyboardist on mandolin. Then one more acoustic, and the mandolin became the banjo (I can only remember the name of one of his band members, and I can't find anything about the current lineup on the 'net)... Come the third song, the bassist/guitarist (Richie Kirkpatrick) and the drummer took the stage and the rocking began. The whole band has a great stage presence, but Richie was especially fun. He came into the crowd and played a couple of times, he drank his beer from a pitcher and he wore a South Park tie around his head. Fantastic. Great set.

Dr. Dog certainly didn't disappoint either. They have to be the most animated band I've seen in a long time... even moreso than the Spinto Band, I think. I don't know how they kept up the dancing for the whole set, what with the altitude. Although I had a great spot for view, unfortunately I did NOT have a great spot for sound. I ended up right in front of the stage but also right under a speaker, which caused the vocals to be really muddy and hard to hear. But still, the set was amazing. They played quite a few of what Toby called "golden oldie moldies". I was actually pretty surprised that at least half the setlist consisted of the oldies:

My Old Ways
The Pretender
Ain't It Strange
Worst Trip
Wake Up
The Girl
Keep A Friend
Easy Beat
Fool's Life
Today
The Way The Lazy Do
Die Die Die
Oh No
-encore-
Say Something
The World May Never Know
Livin' A Dream

I also nabbed Toby's setlist... :)



And finally, a little PSA: I absolutely LOVE my new(ish) earplugs. They are made by earlove and have saved me from post-concert ringing since I started using them a couple of weeks ago. I got mine via Insound, and while $11 may seem steep for a pair of earplugs, it's well worth it.

shows of interest for 3/19 - 3/25/07

I almost forgot this week! No links today because I'm lazy...

Monday, March 19
The Tragically Hip/The Sadies @ Gothic Theatre

Tuesday, March 20
Dr. Dog/Bobby Bare, Jr. @ Larimer Lounge
TV On The Radio @ Ogden Theatre

Wednesday, March 21
The Polyphonic Spree @ Fox Theatre
Laura Gibson @ Hi-Dive

Thursday, March 22
The Thermals @ Hi-Dive (w00t!!)
Patty Griffin @ Boulder Theatre
Del McCoury Band @ Soiled Dove
The Polyphonic Spree @ Fillmore Auditorium

Friday, March 23
Ratatat @ Bluebird Theater
Wendy Woo @ Fox Theatre
Patty Griffin @ Boulder Theatre
Melissa Ferrick @ Cervantes

Saturday, March 24
Melissa Ferrick @ Fox Theatre
The Photo Atlas @ Hi-Dive

Sunday, March 25
Chris Thile @ Boulder Theatre
Tim Reynolds @ Soiled Dove
Brand New @ Ogden Theatre

better late than never i guess...

Wow, I just have not been in a blogging sort of mood this week. I haven't been to any shows and have actually been busy at work... but I do have pictures of the Terrible Twos show that I took my niece and nephew to last week. Truthfully - Leah, Laura and I wanted to go anyway, we just lucked out and managed to find kids to accompany us...

The Terrible Twos:



Matt Pryor:



Nick, enthralled with the Math Stomp (he's in 1st grade and loves math...):



Sarah at the bar (I'm such a good influence):




I'm planning to see Badly Drawn Boy at the Fox tonight, but I seriously need a nap first. I skipped Sebadoh last night in favor of St. Patty's Day partying up in Fort Collins... muy hungover today.

shows of interest for 3/12 - 3/18/07

Kind of a slow week...

Tuesday, March 13
Johanna Kunin @ Hi-Dive

Thursday, March 15
Landlord Land/The Jimi Austin/Gritch @ Hi-Dive

Friday, March 16
Paperclip @ Hi-Dive

Saturday, March 17
Sebadoh @ Fox Theatre
Rocco DeLuca/Mat Kearney @ Ogden Theatre
Meese @ Hi-Dive

Sunday, March 18
Badly Drawn Boy/Adem @ Fox Theatre
Rose Hill Drive @ Boulder Theater

the fine line between heckler and fanboy, explained

Good god, where do I begin? I was all set to make this a short review, what with the time change and all (fuck you daylight savings time!). But Midlake and their fans apparently weren't on the same page, as they all gave me so much to write about. Midlake ended the North American leg of their tour in Denver tonight in front of a sold out Hi-Dive. This sold out Hi-Dive was an experience quite unlike my recent Cold War Kids sold out Hi-Dive though. In a good way. I managed to get second row stage left by the time Midlake began, and there was no shoving, no personal space invasion, and no people pushing their way up front. It was glorious. In fact, the entire front row was pretty much occupied by just two people: annoying camera guy and annoying fanboy. I'm not sure which was worse... ACG was snapping pictures on average at least every 30 seconds. It wouldn't have been so bothersome except that he had one of those big, fancy cameras, and when he was standing in front of me to take a photo, I had a great view of the camera, and not much else. Dude must have taken at least 200 pics. In a 70 minute set. You do the math.

Perhaps slightly less annoying but definitely more creepy was annoying fanboy. A few of his highlights of the evening include: attempting to talk to the band members - WHILE they were playing; waving at the drummer with his index finger (a la "redrum, redrum"), I can only assume to get his attention; AFB actually tried to grab Tim's pants when he was moving over to the keyboards - Tim kind of jumped back and said "don't touch me!". Dude. Seriously. He also seemed quite desperate to make friends with everyone around him. The guy in front of me got sucked in and had to endure back slaps and one-armed hugs all night for this mistake. Every time AFB even hinted at glancing in my direction, I averted my eyes as quickly as possible as to avoid eye contact. To their credit, Midlake were doing a banner job of ignoring the guy for the most part. AFB left and headed toward the bar right before Balloon Maker, prompting this amusing exchange:

Tim: "Maybe he's gone!"
ACG: "That's just love."
Tim: "If that's love... there's nothing worse."

Sadly, AFB came back the very next song. Luckily, he left again a song or two later and this time, people near the stage kind of closed ranks, I suppose hoping that if he did return again, he'd have nowhere to stand. Go fans! But he did re-emerge in the middle of the last song. Approximately 30 seconds later, though, he was tossed for getting all up in some woman's face. I don't think it was mean spirited, I'm sure he was just trying to hug her or something (shudder... see what I mean about the eye contact thing?!?) but she pushed him away no less than 3 times before he got the message. I just wish he had gotten kicked out earlier. Freak.

Anyway, enough about crazy fandom... here's the setlist:

We Gathered In Spring
Roscoe
Van Occupanther
Bandits
In This Camp
Balloon Maker
Some Of Them Were Superstitious
Children Of The Grounds (new song)
Young Bride
Chasing After Deer
Head Home

I really like the new song, though Tim said that it isn't indicative of what the new album will sound like. The new album that they haven't started working on... lol. He also mentioned that they'll probably do another US tour of Van Occupanther, and hinted that they'd be back through Denver. Then he said that since they won't have a new album, the setlist will be the same so it'll be pretty lame. Oh well, I'll be there anyway... ;)

There were technical difficulties aplenty this evening. During the first song, Tim was having trouble with some cord or another, and it took a few minutes to get it fixed. Apparently they'd had trouble getting over Vail pass so didn't get a soundcheck. Some fan in sunglasses (a Corey Hart fan we discovered later...) yelled out "we were fucking stuck!" and was promptly dubbed the "drunk translator" by Eric P. The guy kept yelling shit, and Eric said he couldn't understand a word... that he needed a sober translator. :) Also during the long equipment repair period, we somehow got to talking about the scientific process. Hello high school science! We only identified the first two steps (problem; hypothesis; the drunk translator was called on for the third step but failed miserably) before they were ready to roll.

That Eric is a funny guy. It took me a while to pinpoint who he reminded me of, but it finally dawned on me: he's a dead ringer for Jimmy Fallon. If Jimmy Fallon had a beard. After Head Home, he gave "a special thank you to the drunk translator, the heckler, and to all of you". Awww...

OK, I try to always mention openers, but it's nearly 4:00 in the morning so this'll be quick. I arrived in the middle of Dust On The Breaker's set. The floor was pretty crowded when I came in so I settled in back by the merch booth 'til their set was over. Lots of talkers back there and I couldn't really hear the band.

During the set break, Hi-Dive played The Thermals' The Body The Blood The Machine, which lifted my spirits and reminded me of the ongoing Thermals countdown... only 12 more days until I see them at the Hi-Dive!!!!!! I decided to check out the floor in front of the stage and was pleasantly surprised to see there was lots of room, so I went on in. Next up was Minipop from San Francisco, who claimed that tonight was just their second show outside of California. They weren't mindblowing, but they were very good. Their debut album is due out soon (not too sure on the date, and I can't find it anywhere in a quick web search...); I shall have to check it out.

Wow, I do ramble, huh? Must get to sleep... I'll be back at the Hi-Dive in t-minus 10 hours - I'm taking my niece and nephew to see The Terrible Twos. Rock on.

did you miss the sky blue sky stream last week?

Well, you've got yourself another chance. Wilco will be streaming the new album, Sky Blue Sky, again tomorrow during these times:

1 am - 1 pm AEDT - Monday
2 pm - 2 am GMT
10 am - 10 pm EASTERN
7 am - 7 pm PACIFIC

Click here to access. Happy listening. And don't forget to set your clocks ahead tonight. Ugh.

je ne sais pas ce qu'ils disent mais je l'aime

Alright, we're gonna do this out of order tonight...

Snowden headlined at the Larimer Lounge this evening, with two opening bands - Everything Absent Or Distorted and Malajube. I begin with Snowden because they really weren't all that impressive. Mind you, I only stayed for (almost) 5 songs, but it was kind of a chore to get that far. I'd heard of Snowden, but had never heard Snowden, and I have to say that they had a hard act to follow in Malajube. I also have to say that they failed miserably. After the first song succeeded in doing absolutely nothing for me, I figured - to be fair - I'd stay for 5 songs. When the 5th song started, I knew it wasn't going to move me any more than the 4 that preceded it, so I left. They failed in one thing that Malajube did so well - to engage the crowd (even saying after about the 3rd song that it's "ok to move"). Additionally, Snowden seemed to take themselves entirely too seriously. There was no bantering with the crowd, no eye contact with the crowd, and most certainly no smiling. It was almost like the musical version of Office Space... It's too bad; I sensed that there was something that could be great lurking under the surface of their dull performance. Perhaps I didn't stay long enough, perhaps they were having an off night, but color me unimpressed.

Backtracking a bit, I arrived at the Lounge just in time to catch Everything Absent Or Distorted's final song. Pity. Based on that one song, it would've been a great set to witness. My initial reaction was to sum them up in two words: EAOD = geek rock. These guys were resplendent in collared shirts, sweaters and glasses, not to mention that both the accordian and the trombone were represented in that one song that I caught. When I got home I did some research and discovered that not only is the band local, but EAOD personnel includes a doctoral student, two lawyers and an acupuncturist. Geek rock indeed, this band is smart with a capital "S". I'm thrilled that they're from Denver... partly because there's a very good chance I'll get to see a full set soon, but also because of the dearth of good bands that hail from Denver.

And finally, Malajube - the band that I plunked down my hard-earned $8 to see... lol. Malajube is a five-piece band from Quebec (I couldn't find any decent pictures of them on the 'net... note to self: get a fucking digital camera already!). Everything's in french, and although I took french for 6 years in junior/high school, I can't understand a damn thing they're singing about. Nevertheless, I fell in love with last year's release Trompe-L'Oeil and was pretty excited when I heard they were coming to Denver. As much as I love the album, however, it didn't adequately prepare me for the live show. This band is waaaaaay more rocking on stage than I ever could have guessed from listening to Trompe-L'Oeil. They put on an entertaining, highly energetic set that made 45 minutes seem like 5. They were engaging, they were charming, and they all have very cute accents... :) They have everything that, in my opinion, Snowden was lacking. They actually interacted with the crowd - "Let me fix this problem of shit!" (equipment problems); "Come closer, I can't see you. My sweat is worth a lot of money". If you ever get a chance to see them, go - you won't be disappointed. Here's hoping for a headlining set in Denver before too long.

On repeat (Malajube - Trompe-L'Oeil):



Parce qu'on aime
fondre en larmes sous les draps
on s'aime comme ci comme ça
pour une dernière fois

Et s'il-te-plait
ferme la porte derrière toi
Et quand tu reviendras
je serai près de toi

Et si tu m'aimes
serre-moi fort dans tes bras
Est-ce qu'on ne s'embrasse pas
pour une dernière fois

Mais dis-moi à quoi tu penses
Et quand tu reviendras
Je serai près de toi
Pour une dernière fois

(Merci à Maude pour cettes paroles)

i love me some good british indie rock

Maximo Park, who are playing gigs this spring at places like Melkweg (Amsterdam), Shepherds Bush Empire (London), Rock Am Ring (Germany) and T In The Park (Scotland) are playing our little Larimer Lounge in July. Yes, that's right... little, 200 capacity Larimer Lounge. w00t!

07-11 Boston, MA - Great Scott
07-12 New York, NY - Webster Hall
07-13 Montreal, Quebec - La Tulipe
07-14 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
07-16 Chicago, IL - Double Door
07-17 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theatre
07-19 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
07-20 Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound
07-22 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
07-23 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
07-24 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
07-26 San Francisco, CA - Popscene
07-27 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
07-28 San Diego, CA - Casbah

I've been listening to the new album, Our Earthly Pleasures, due out on April 2 (Warp). While the jury's still out on just how it stacks up next to the brilliant 2005 release A Certain Trigger, it is certainly an enjoyable listen.

pete townshend's attic jam

I despise iTunes. I really do. Well, not the application so much - I use iTunes to listed to my iPod. But... the store. I mean, what a rip-off, right? However, sometimes iTunes releases such yummy compilations that its existence is almost justified. Almost. I only just stumbled upon this one, when I was searching for some (completely unrelated) information about Ed Harcourt. Fantastic playlist.

Attic Jam: Musical highlights from the Rachel Fuller/Pete Townshend "In the Attic" web-tv show:

01 The Kooks - Ooh La
02 Ed Harcourt - Last Cigarette
03 Martha Wainwright - These Flowers
04 Editors - All Sparks
05 Rachel Fuller - Blue
06 The Raconteurs (feat. PT) - The Seeker
07 Death Cab For Cutie (feat. Pt) - Photobooth
08 Pete Townshend - Acid Queen
09 The Fratellis (feat. PT) - Got Ma Nuts From A Hippy
10 The Magic Numbers - Long Legs
11 Regina Spektor - Musicbox
12 The Zutons (feat. PT) - Mary Anne With The Shaky Hands
13 Simon Townshend - Soul Searching
14 The Flaming Lips (feat. PT) - Baba O'Riley
15 Rose Hill Drive - Brain Novocaine
16 Razorlight - What's It All About
17 Mikey Cuthbert - Misery
18 Foy Vance - Homebird
19 Pete Townshend - A Quick One While He's Away

I won't hold it against you if you go to iTunes and buy it. I promise.

cyhsy "thunder" tour

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah announced a tour some time ago. There was no Colorado date, so I didn't mention it at the time. They have now expanded the tour, and as there is still no Colorado date, it's not so significant to me:

04-10 Providence, RI - Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel *
04-11 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street Night Club *
04-12 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground *
04-13 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis *
04-14 Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus *
04-15 Buffalo, NY - The Town Ballroom *
04-17 Nashville, TN - Cannery Ballroom *
04-18 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
04-19 Athens, GA - 40 Watt *
04-20 Jacksonville, FL - Freebird *
04-21 Orlando, FL - The Club at Firestone *
04-22 Fort Lauderdale, FL - Revolution *
04-24 New Orleans, LA - Republic *
04-26 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live *
04-27 Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre *
04-28 Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ *
04-30 Kansas City, MO - VooDoo Lounge
05-01 Columbia, MO - The Blue Note
05-02 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
05-03 Indianapolis, IN - Vogue Theater
05-21 Melbourne, Australia - Hi Fi Bar
05-22 Melbourne, Australia - Hi Fi Bar
05-23 Sidney, Australia - Enmore
05-24 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo
05-25 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo
07-29 Yuzawa-machi, Japan - Naeba Ski Resort (Fuji Rock Festival)

* with Elvis Perkins in Dearland

What is significant to me, however, is that my favorite band (ummmm, yeah, CYHSY) is playing the Conan O'Brien show on April 4. Don't miss it.

cassadaga tour

Coinciding with today's Four Winds EP release, Bright Eyes have announced a ton of tour dates. Sadly, the Denver date is the day I leave for Cancun. Dammit.

03-07 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey *
03-08 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey *
03-09 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
03-10 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
03-11 Seattle, WA - Showbox
03-16 London, England - Koko
03-18 Oxford, England - Brookes University Student Union
03-22 Oslo, Norway - Cosmopolite
03-24 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser
03-26 Berlin, Germany - Columbia Club
03-27 Cologne, Germany - Gloria
03-30 Paris, France - Cafe de la Danse
03-31 Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Melkweg
04-22 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theatre
04-23 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
04-24 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
04-25 Minneapolis, MN - State Theatre
04-26 Omaha, NE - Holland Performing Arts Center
04-28 Denver, CO - Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre
04-29 Salt Lake City, UT - Kingsbury Hall
05-01 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
05-02 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
05-04 Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre
05-05 Santa Barbara, CA - Arlington Theatre
05-06 Los Angeles, CA - Walt Disney Concert Hall
05-08 San Diego, CA - SOMA
05-09 Tempe, AZ - Mesa Amphitheatre
05-11 Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
05-12 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
05-13 Austin, TX - Bass Concert Hall
05-14 New Orleans, LA - Republic
05-16 Tampa, FL - Tampa Theatre
05-17 Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
05-18 Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre
05-19 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
05-20 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center for the Arts
05-21 Detroit, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
05-22 Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall
05-24 Boston, MA - Wang Center for the Performing Arts
05-25 New York, NY - Town Hall
05-26 New York, NY - Town Hall
05-28 New York, NY - Town Hall
05-29 New York, NY - Town Hall
05-30 New York, NY - Town Hall
05-31 New York, NY - Town Hall
06-01 New York, NY - Town Hall

* with Vetiver

shows of interest for 3/5 - 3/11/07

OK, so I stole this feature from Muzzle Of Bees, I hope they don't mind. I think it's a great idea, so I'll try to remember to post upcoming shows in the Denver/Boulder area each week.

Monday, March 5
Clipse @ Gothic Theatre
The New Trust/We Are! We Are!/So Many Dynamos @ Hi-Dive

Tuesday, March 6
Clipse @ Fox Theatre
Snow Patrol/OK Go/Silversun Pickups @ Fillmore Auditorium

Wednesday, March 7
Dropkick Murphys @ Fillmore Auditorium

Friday, March 9
Hella @ Hi-Dive
Snowden/Malajube @ Larimer Lounge

Saturday, March 10
Midlake @ Hi-Dive

Sunday, March 11
The Terrible Twos @ Hi-Dive (kid's show!)

if you read this tonight...

Wilco is streaming the new album Sky Blue Sky at their website, don't really know for how long. Clicky.

Now playing, obviously:

sold out hi-dive? boo.

Two days later and I'm at Hi-Dive again. I really like this club, but tonight's sold out Cold War Kids show was so dramatically different from The Spinto Band on Wednesday that it's a bit ridiculous (see me pimping them? Nice...). There was a line to get in, even though I arrived close to 9:30; it was something like 25 degrees outside, but at least there were only a dozen or so people in line. Somehow, though, I found myself standing outside for at least 10 minutes. WTF?!? When I finally got to the door I was incredibly amused to discover that they were frisking people. I can't even remember the last time I was frisked at a show, let alone at a venue like Hi-Dive. Maybe it had something to do with the fight that broke out at The Spinto Band show the other night.... lol. Weird.

I finally entered the bar shortly before openers #2, Delta Spirit. The floor was already crowded and I hung out off to the side of the stage a bit, but somehow, without feeling like I really moved at all, I found myself mid-rabid-crowd by the end of their set. I'm not sure why, but this kind of thing always seems to happen to me. Delta Spirit had a lot of fans in attendance, which was a bit surprising to me. I'd never heard of them, and in doing a google search the only thing I really turned up was their MySpace page, from which I stole the photo over there <-, as a google image search of "Delta Spirit" merely unearthed several pictures of sorority girls... Delta, Delta, Delta, can I help ya, help ya, help ya?

They were good, they rocked out pretty hard, but I just am not a fan of bands where the lead singer doesn't play an instrument. I don't know why it bothers me so, but it does. Perhaps it's the fact that when they're not singing they've got nothing left to do but strut around, blow kisses to the crowd and do fancy microphone acrobatics. So cheesy. But it was a good set, just about the right length, and fun to listen to. Capacity for the Hi-Dive is around 300, and the floor in front of the stage was packed for the Delta Spirit set. Or so I thought. As soon as they left the stage people just started pushing their way in. Some dude who was around 6 1/2 feet tall went to pass in front of me, at least I thought he was passing, but then he planted. Right in front of me. I tried to tell him that I couldn't really see now, but he didn't seem to hear me all the way up there so I had to nudge him and give him a look. He said "Oh, do you want to stand in front of me?". Yeah, thanks man.

By the time Cold War Kids took the stage I had no personal space to speak of, was getting a bit claustrophobic, and despite being approximately 15 feet in front of the stage, had no real view. I decided to wait it out for a few songs and see if the band was worth putting up with people touching me on all sides. They weren't, so after about 4-5 songs I escaped back to the merch table area where there was room and I actually had a better view of the stage than when I was in the midst of the crowd. Not that they didn't put on a great show, but it will take something like The Thermals (20 days and counting!) for me to put up with a crowd like that. And on top of everything else, I had meant to bring the ear plugs Leah gave me the other day, but forgot them in my car. So in all, moving to the back of the room was probably a good plan.

I did manage to note most of the setlist (holes filled in thanks to Westward Bound):

We Used To Vacation
Sermons Vs. The Gospel (solving some technical problems)
Passing The Hat
Rubidoux
Saint John
Well, Well, Well (John Lennon)
Tell Me In The Morning
Robbers
Hospital Beds
God, Make Up Your Mind
Hair Down
Every Valley Is Not A Lake
Hang Me Up To Dry
Quiet Please

The new song(s) sound a lot like Robbers & Cowards, same Cold War Kids sound. This is not a bad thing; I like them a lot and would certainly see them again. It just really felt like they should have been at a bigger venue than Hi-Dive. Maybe the Fox next time.... well, I can dream anyway.


Now playing:

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (out on March 20 - buy it, it's fabulous!!!).

you had me at kazoo

I'm too old for this shit. Seriously. I left my house to go out at 9:00 on a Wednesday night. And honestly, "i'm too old for this shit" was all set to be the title of this post. That, however, was before I saw The Spinto Band play the Hi-Dive.

There were two openers tonight, The Changes and Dios Malos. Having left my house at 9:00, I obviously missed The Changes. Apparently they were quite good, as some asshole kept shouting "bring The Changes back!" throughout The Spinto Band's set. We get it, they were good. And I was even sorry for missing their set, but shut the fuck up, jackass!! I did arrive to catch most of Dio Malos' set though, and they most definitely tore the shit up. I love me some good reverb-drenched rock n' roll! They almost reminded me of Band Of Horses turned up a couple of notches. I like to believe that during their set I kinda text-talked Leah into coming to the show. She didn't arrive in time to see Dios Malos, but was in plenty of time for The Spinto Band. Luckily she had a good time so I don't have to feel bad... lol.

The Spinto Band took the stage with little fanfare to maybe 150 people. Holy. Fucking. Hell. These kids put on a phenomenal show. The selfish part of me loves that I got to see them in such a small venue with so few people. But how in the world is a band that has been around for nearly 10 years (I only heard of them last year, but I do my research, dammit!), and who has such an amazing stage presence, relegated to this sort of existence? Don't get me wrong - they were either having a fabulous time or they were putting on Oscar-worthy performances. But they should at the very least be playing venues such as the Fox or the Gothic. I guess it's also a selfish part of me to want them to come BACK to Denver... and when playing for a handful of people, who knows?

But enough of the perplexities of indie rock, on to the show! I am not so familiar with The Spinto Band to be able to come up with a setlist for tonight. They played a lot from Nice And Nicely Done, the only album of theirs that I have heard. Here are a few highlights of the evening:

• Not one, but TWO kazoos on Brown Boxes. I saw one guy strapping on a harmonica-type apparatus, but I thought to myself "that's not a harmonica..." Leah leaned over and said "that's a kazoo!". Awesome. Plus, the keyboard player had one too. Yay kazoos!
• I may have missed their set, but two members of The Changes came on stage for a cover of I Think We're Alone Now. I think everyone was singing. Fantastic.
• The mandolin on Oh Mandy was sublime.
• Direct To Helmet. Need I say more? OK, maybe I do... I love this song. And it was enhanced by some stellar choreographed dance moves... lol.
• Late was just... awesome.

I'm still struck by the energy this young band showed on stage. It was obviously a very fun experience for me, which is good because I really need to be reminded from time to time why it is that I go out at 9:00 on Wednesday nights.


Now playing (with a renewed appreciation):



it's getting late late
tell me what time it is i can't wait
i gotta get back to the house
my show is on

so walk and don't run
it's slippery by the pool and it hurts
you know that it only gets worse
'cause the grade is steep

it hit me so hard fear for my agitated
discomposed disturbed perturbed and alarmed
i can't believe this works

it makes you supersonic
your science hurts
so why don't you
stop it
and switch me chairs

my efforts fall short but in the long run
lots could stretch forward then it'd all be almost there
it's just a longer ride

so up to full speed
if i can handle it well we'll see
action takes more than just luck
it needs a well thought plan

it's getting good good
turning and dodging like all you should
just as it tosses me out
i'll have to look to land

i think you're supersonic
your science hurts
so why don't you
stop it
and switch me chairs

it's getting late late
tell me what time it is i can't wait
i gotta get back to the house
my show is on

so walk and don't run
it's slippery by the pool and it hurts
you know that it only gets worse
'cause the grade is steep

i think you're supersonic
your science hurts
so why don't you
stop it
and switch me chairs

i think you're supersonic
your science hurts
so why don't you
stop it
and switch me chairs