popwreckoning

Jenny Lewis has collaborated with pretty much every musician known to man. Okay, I’m being hyperbolic, but the latest pairing of Lewis and her Scottish singer-songwriter boyfriend Johnathan Rice makes a whole lot of sense.

Rice and Lewis met when he joined Lewis’ touring band back in 2006 for her debut album Rabbit Fur Coat, and he’s been extensively involved in the production in all of her music since then. So we know they obvious mesh well, musically. And it certainly showed at the Starbucks Stage Monday evening – with their retro pop songs with a soul much older than the two of them.

The crowd danced along to the early Elvis Costello-esque songs while Lewis gave Rice goo goo eyes from across the stage. It was nothing less than adorable, while being completely and totally pleasing to the ears as well. It’s quite fitting that their debut album together is called I’m Having Fun Now. Not that we weren’t having fun before, but it sure helps the crowd feel the love when you can see it right there on the stage.

Go to http://jennyandjohnnymusic.com/

Englishman Jamie Lidell brought the funk and soul on Saturday to a crowd that could in no way match his exuberance. They tried, but failed.

Lidell was a joy to see, as well as photograph, because not only does he sound better live than he does on record (Compass, which is one right now) and make fantastic facial expressions, but his banter between songs – sometimes explaining them – was brilliant.

“This next song,” in his charming British accent, “is kind of a naughty one. Just imagine if you were someone’s telephone? You could fit inside their pocket, and be put on vibrate.” And he broke into his own seductive dance party on stage, clad in a blazer wrapped in knitwear while belting out “breathe into my mouthpiece, baaaaby!“

If I hadn’t been in the pit with about a dozen other photographers, I probably would have started getting down myself.

Go to http://www.jamielidell.com/

The power trio Crash Kings took the Center Square Stage on Sunday with their inexplicably heavy pop rock, considering that when you look at their instruments, you have a bass, drums, and a keyboard. But frontman Tony Beliveau plays that tricked out Clavient like no other person I’ve seen lately, with the huge whammy bar and familiar distortion effects typical of an electric guitar.

Attributed to massive airplay on local station 107.7 The End, throngs of teenagers and twenty-somethings alike came over to Center Square, previously inhabited by a roller coaster, to see Crash Kings. Their songs are not only incredibly catchy on their self-titled debut, but the band puts on quite the live show, one that you’d expect from a much more seasoned band with more than three members. But the synergy between Tony and his bassist brother Mike helped make up for the small number of members.

I didn’t manage to catch the Crash Kings’ set at the KEXP Lounge earlier that day, but from what I heard, they rocked it just as hard.

Go to http://crashkingsmusic.com/

After a half an hour wait and the crowd becoming palpably more and more anxious, Edward Sharpe the Magnetic Zeros took the Broad Street Stage just as the sun was setting on Bumbershoot Saturday night.

In no time – within the first three songs in fact – frontman Alex Ebert had shed his white blazer and tank top, dancing around like a crazy hippie on stage, accompanied by his bandmates…and a baby. Yes, I said baby. It almost seemed like a festive family hoedown on stage, and Ebert eventually stepped out across the barrier and into the crowd and brought the festivities to the hundreds of people shoved onto the lawn.

The band played through most of the songs off their debit Up From Below, but as soon as they started the opening riffs to “Home,” which is such a hit that it’s almost to the point of overplaying, everyone went wild. What was amusing actually, after “Home” was over – in the middle of their set – a large portion of the crowd left.

Really, crowd? You just went to go hear one song? That’s lame. But Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros certainly weren’t lame, even if they did set the schedule behind 20 minutes for the rest of the night.

Go to http://www.edwardsharpeandthemagneticzeros.com/

Reunion shows are exciting, but nerve-wracking. At first, you’re all excited: “OMG!!!! THEY’RE TOURING AND COMING TO MY CITY? My inner-teenager is squealing!” But then some doubts set in: “Will they be the same and as great as they were?” “What if they don’t play such and such song?” “What if I find out I don’t like them anymore?” It’s a lot of pressure for both the artist and the fan hidden under the guise of a “special musical treat.”

So when Pavement announced their 2010 reunion, the chain reaction set in: “OMG! Excited!” to “OMG, what if they’re not as good?” But, fret not. After the venue lights went down at the Uptown and the decorative string lights strewn across the stage came on, Pavement triumphantly took the stage and played a flawless set for Kansas City. It maybe even trumped their performances from their heyday.

There wasn’t really any awkward tension or any attitude that they were just doing this for the money. Instead, there was a genuine feeling that this was for the fans. If the quality of the performance was enough evidence for this, then consider exhibits b and c: (b) front man Stephen Malkmus donned a local jersey for the Chiefs (who won their opening game, woot! that jersey must have been lucky) and (c) the set list pretty much consisted of every Pavement song you could hope to hear. There were very few people disappointed in the song choices.

Because Pavement was trying to fit in as many songs from their catalog as possible, there wasn’t very much banter inbetween songs. A few basic, “thank you” and one quip about Malkmus almost taking out some of the string lights when he lifted his guitar above his head, but this was really a show that delivered song after song with perfect execution. The guitar riffs were breathtaking, the vocals spot on and the fans loved every minute of it. The time off did not hurt these guys as they’ve only gotten better.

Pavement’s openers were equally fun. Poison Control Center switched off vocal duties and enhanced their brand of rock with brass elements. Though their songs were unfamiliar, they didn’t have a problem drawing the audience in with easy to clap and singalong sections. Then there were the stunts.  The guys would tumble, while playing the guitar and one guy even performed one guitar solo, while doing the splits the entire time. They’ll be back in KC in October headlining at the RecordBar. If this set was any indication, it will be a show you won’t want to miss.

Set List:
Gold Soundz
Rattled by the Rush
Starlings in the Slipstream
Date with Ikea
Shandy Lane
Frontwards
Heckler Spray/In the Mouth a Desert
Unfair
Spit on a Stranger
Stereo
Loretta’s Scars
Conduit for Sale
Shoot the Singer
Silence Kit
Trigger Cut
Grounded
Perfume-V
Cut Your Hair
Stop Breathin
Box Elder
Fight This Generation
Debris Slide
Kennel District
///
Here
Lions (Linden)
We Dance
Range Life/Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

How Hey Marseilles hasn’t been signed yet is beyond me, because believe me – this band is so good. And it’s evident that they’ve already got a following, if you base it merely upon the size of their crowd at Bumbershoot on Sunday.

Having re-released their debut album To Travels and Trunks this year, local folk darlings Hey Marseilles has received plenty of critical acclaim from such Seattle blogs as Three Imaginary Girls, which said it was one of their favorite albums of the year when it was originally released in 2008.

Employing a cornucopia of instruments on stage (viola, cello, mandolin, accordion, trumpet, and melodica, apart from your normal bass, drums and guitar), the guys of Hey Marseilles matched the sunny weather with their lovely upbeat string-laden pop.

If Hey Marseilles doesn’t get signed by the end of the year, I’ll be very surprised.

Go to http://www.heymarseilles.com/

Normally the commercial-ready power pop punk doesn’t sit well with the indie-kid vibe of Bumbershoot, but Motion City Soundtrack are just nerdy enough to still appeal to the regular festival crowd. And besides, Weezer was playing the main stage that night, and they fit perfectly into the smaller stage lineup for the day.

Plenty of young’ns ventured over to the Center Square Stage to catch Motion City and their catchy tracks, spanning from Commit This To Memory back in 2005 all the way to My Dinosaur Life which came out earlier this year.  I particularly liked “Her Words Destroyed My Planet” off the new album, which to be honest I was little underwhelmed with this year. But seeing it live gave me that extra push to enjoy it to its full potential. There were several technical difficulties, as frontman Justin Pierre had to tell the sound guys repeatedly to turn up his guitar, which slowed the set down a bit, but once they got going, they didn’t stop.

Plus, don’t you just love how relevant Pierre’s shirt is?

Go to http://www.motioncitysoundtrack.com/

On Saturday, Kansas City celebrated the 6th annual Crossroads Music Fest. Unfortunately, Kansas City was celebrating a bajillion other concerts that night including a doozy of a reunion tour with Pavement at the Uptown. Fortunately, that didn’t stop Kansas City from coming out in force to the Crossroads District to support both established and uprising acts in the local scene.

The Crossroads Music Fest featured 24 local bands spread out on six stages in the Crossroads District. Think of it as a mini SXSW, but with air conditioning, space to breathe and just a Kansas City focus. And when the lede said that Kansas City “celebrated” that was not an exaggeration. The patrons of this fest clutched their locally brewed Boulevard pint glasses at some great local venues that many were experiencing for the first time, while listening to local music. For this little venue-hopper, that was especially true. As much as I love local music, every band I opted to watch this particular evening, I was seeing for the first time.

Like many others, I began in the Press Bar at Crosstown Station with Howard Iceberg and the Titanics. For an early set time of 6:30 p.m., the room had a good turn out. Nearly all the seats were taken and others were lining the walls. This early in the game though, no one seemed brave enough to go stand directly front, which worked out better for the alt country, folk rock tunes. The band was all smiles as they plucked away at their guitars, casually talking to their audience inbetween. It was pleasant, but not really my genre-liking, so I ventured off to the Brick in hopes of finding something a little more with a rock edge.

The Press Bar is a new venue with lots of windows that let natural light pour into the venue. The band’s had to created the intimacy in the big room. In stark contrast, the Brick is a boxy venue with Christmas lights draped around the room and behind the stage. Warm, earthy colors cover the walls and the ceiling is decked out in beer pictures. The contrast between the venues was just one of the cool things about this festival – each place was a new atmosphere, a new sound, and it did force you out of your regular bubble to discover something new that didn’t know you liked.

I learned that the Brick is my type of venue. I like the comfortable feeling of a place that has been worn in a little like your go-to pair of Chucks. I returned to this venue probably more so than any other venue of the night. I watched the rock trio Faster Horses (listed in the program as Fater Horses) here and then later, had the pleasure of finally seeing Ad Astra Arkestra with a packed house later in the night. This band is all that’s right with local music. Happy faces, happy audiences, lots of dancing and great vibes. There were six to seven people crammed on the tiny stage hopping around between different percussion instruments. It was tribal at times, but if there was a sound to express the vibe of the entire festival, this was it. Do yourself a favor: go to an Ad Astra show.

Of course, Ad Astra wasn’t until closer to the end of the night. I had the opportunity to discover lots of other local bands that I had never seen before. Nomathmics got me dancing at the Czar Bar, Thee Water Moccasins drew me to a stage set up in the alley with a song that was reverberating off the walls of the Kansas City Star (They sounded like how I wish the Kings of Leon still sounded), and the Grisly Hand taught me that I could even dance to folk rock.

Of course, there were some bands that I had to sadly miss such as The Wires and Hearts of Darkness, who packed Crosstown Station to a one in, one out door policy. I do have to hand it to festival founder, Bill Sundahl (his band The Columns also performed), for putting together such an amazing, relaxed showcase of local talent. The bands were spaced out enough that if you did want to put forth the effort, you could almost make every act on the roster (Of course, if you’re like me you get too hooked on one band and can’t tear yourself away early from a set.) And you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone say that a band was a disappointment. Everything I saw and heard were pleased venue-hoppers.  I can’t wait to see what year seven brings.

The same way Seattle seemed to breed grunge artists in the 90s, it’s recently done so with hip-hop – with the soulful THEESatisfaction being one of them. Having put out music regularly since 2008, including several mixtapes dedicated to some of their favorite artists, THEESatisfaction combines hip-hop, soul, electronica, and jazz – all of which makes for an interesting mix of fans as well as sounds.

Stasia Irons and Catherine Harris-White took to the EMP Skychurch stage mid-afternoon with their laidback style and hip and clever lyrics. I’m not normally one who enjoys hip-hop, but with the catchy beats and local love, I couldn’t help but groove just a little bit.

THEESatisfaction played not only the danceable tracks like “Sexy Girlfriend,” but also their politically-charged ones like “Obama,” among other presidential-related titles.

Go to http://www.myspace.com/theesatisfaction