popwreckoning » princeton http://popwreckoning.com without music, life would be a mistake. Sun, 25 Dec 2011 10:15:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Editors w/Black Nite Crash and Princeton @ Showbox at the Market, Seattle, WA http://popwreckoning.com/2010/02/09/editors-wblack-nite-crash-and-princeton-showbox-at-the-market-seattle-wa/ http://popwreckoning.com/2010/02/09/editors-wblack-nite-crash-and-princeton-showbox-at-the-market-seattle-wa/#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:15:22 +0000 Abby Williamson http://popwreckoning.com/?p=21576

Have you ever been to show that drastically changed the way you listen to a band? Well, last Friday I went and saw Editors (no ‘the’) and it’s almost like they’re a completely new band to me. Seriously.

Starting the tour supporting their third studio album , brought along openers and for their and Vancouver shows. The former was a local band, one of which I’d put in the “fuzz rock” genre. Some call it “shoegaze,” which to me has a negative connotation of apathetic non-stage presence, so I prefer “fuzz rock.” They weren’t bad, but as a stark contrast to anything Editors did, it was an odd fit. If I had to compare their sound, it was like early Pixies but with a dose of cool confidence.

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Between acts, the front area of the floor got strangely scarce, or at least until you looked down. Obnoxious teenagers decided to plant their behinds on the floor, tricking those further back that they might get a spot closer. To make the situation even more inconvenient, I almost tripped numerous times on these squatters.

No matter, because as soon as the next band, Los Angeles’ Princeton got on stage, people stood up to enjoy their low-key SoCal indie rock. I was standing right next to their personal band photographer before Princeton’s set started, and she tried to illustrate their sound to me, “kind of like Beach House?” Again, they were an interesting fit on Editors’ bill, but I quite liked them. At one point lead vocalist said after they kept switching around instruments, “I never realized how many bass players we have.” Three out of four the band members played bass during Princeton’s half-hour set. They played a concise set list from their debut studio album Cocoon of Love, out last September, all of which was scribbled on a sheet of paper under their feet. There were a few that I remembered having clever titles like “Calypso Love” and “I Left My Love In Nagasaki.” I liked those ones.

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I feel like it would both suck and rock to be an opening band for a band as big as Editors. You get the pleasure of touring with and getting exposed to fans of that huge band, but during shows you don’t get as much love because people are there most of the time for the headliners. Jesse Kivel said it best – “thanks guys for coming out early.” When I see a “doors open at” time, that’s when I get there. If I pay for tickets, I want to see as much music as possible. I didn’t come early. I came on time. Everyone else came late.

At that, I was very glad because the Showbox didn’t get really crowded until right before , , Ed Lay and Russell Leech came out on stage and broke into the strong synthesizer and the lyrics, “I swear to god, I heard the earth inhale, moments before it spat its rain down on me” from the title track of their newest album. That’s when people went nuts.

Back to what I was saying earlier about hearing a band completely differently – when you first hear Editors, you’d never expect the lead singer to be winding around the stage, teetering on his stylish shoes and randomly jumping on the piano. But now that I’ve seen Editors live, I think of Tom’s antics when I hear “Papillon,” “Lights” or “Smokers Outside the Hospital Door” – all of which they played, by the way.  Tom Smith’s almost creepy charisma is perfect for the generally dark nature of their music; he was phenomenal at building momentum through a song without being cheesy, switching between three microphones, a keyboard and a piano. There was just a way that he grabbed at the microphone in almost a longing way, while stomping at the pedals below him.

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Chris, sporting his familiar black and white Rickenbacker guitar, got to show his synthesizer skills last night, too. However, because his synth set was right up against Tom’s piano, Chris was completely isolated on the left side of the stage. But even with the separation on stage, everyone sounded so together and harmonious.

Honestly, when I first heard the last album I was kind of underwhelmed after how amazing was, but after seeing it live, the songs off of In This Light and On This Evening make for a more dynamic live experience with all the elements included. Editors have surely utilized electronic sounds on this record, and it makes so much more sense to me now. I even forgive them for recording a song for the New Moon Soundtrack.

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Throughout the 90-minute set, Editors played all but one track off of In This Light and On This Evening (that title is a lengthy one to type out, I must say), half of An End Has A Start, and even a few from 2005’s The Back Room, including “Camera” and “Bullets.”

After they finished up “Brick and Mortar” and left the stage. These girls standing behind me were saying, “There’s gotta be an encore. They haven’t played ‘’ yet.”

“There’s a three-song encore coming up, I caught a glimpse of the set list on the stage,” I turned around and told them.

“Fingers crossed for ‘Munich!’” They squealed.

The girls soon got their wish when Tom, Chris, Russell and Ed got back up on stage and broke into the opening riffs of “Munich.”

I don’t know if they were especially great and energetic because this was the first show of the tour, but this will surely not be the last time I see Editors. Heck, I would have driven down to Portland to see them if they’d stopped there. It was that awesome.

Set List:
1. In This Light And On This Evening
2. Lights
3. An End Has A Start
4. You Don’t Know Love
5. Bones
6. The Boxer
7. The Big Exit
8. Blood
9. Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool
10. The Racing Rats
11. Like Treasure
12. Camera
13. Bullets
14. Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
15. Bricks And Mortar
Encore:
16. Munich
17. Papillon
18. Fingers In The Factories

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]]> http://popwreckoning.com/2010/02/09/editors-wblack-nite-crash-and-princeton-showbox-at-the-market-seattle-wa/feed/ 0 Princeton Announce LA Chanukkah Show http://popwreckoning.com/2009/12/09/princeton-announce-la-chanukkah-show/ http://popwreckoning.com/2009/12/09/princeton-announce-la-chanukkah-show/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:00:25 +0000 popwreckoning http://popwreckoning.com/?p=20101

will play a special themed show in LA on Dec. 12 with guests . The show will feature surprise collaborations and eight hand-picked Chanukkah gifts to be given out to audience members over the course of the evening.

The show will also serve as a homecoming show for the band, who have just recently wrapped up a three-month tour supporting , and .

In addition to the show announcement, the band just released a new video for “Calypso Gold,” which you can view here:

Princeton: website | myspace | @ sxsw | @ black cat

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]]> http://popwreckoning.com/2009/12/09/princeton-announce-la-chanukkah-show/feed/ 0 Art Brut with Princeton @ Black Cat, Washington DC http://popwreckoning.com/2009/10/21/art-brut-with-princeton-black-cat-washington-dc/ http://popwreckoning.com/2009/10/21/art-brut-with-princeton-black-cat-washington-dc/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:15:46 +0000 Mary Chang http://popwreckoning.com/?p=18352

n-artbrut9, self-professed lover of comics and lead singer and lyricist for , has a way of conducting himself in live performance that is, shall we say, interesting. As if a cross between a benevolent general and a wacky conductor, he asks his bandmates at the start of every song bandmates, “Are you ready, Art Brut?” He doesn’t sing so much as emote in a speaking voice, detailing anecdotes from his reality in a humorous way, backed by his extremely animated band. And as I describe to you what I saw when I saw this band playing at the Black Cat over the weekend, you probably wouldn’t believe me anyway. But what I say is entirely true.

The opening act for the night was a Californian band called . (Forget that I thought maybe they got the name because they were all Ivy Leaguers; their Web site says the name came from Princeton Street in Santa Monica, where three of them grew up.) The band is comprised of cute-as-a-button twin brothersa-princeton1 Jesse and (lead and bass guitars), (keyboards), and (drums). Being four guys hailing SoCal, they probably would not appreciate it when I say they are good at writing and playing danceable, bouncy pop songs, but I found myself tapping my feet and dancing to their appealing rhythms. Like ? I think you’ll love this band.

To be perfectly frank, I was not expecting a band like them to open for Art Brut, a band known to be off the cuff and unpredictable. As an unabashed lover of good pop, I found Princeton terribly engaging. I had initially decided a song entitled “I Left Me Love in Nagasaki” had to be the punchline of a bad joke, but I was pleasantly surprised by its poppiness. I also found the “musical chairs”-like passing off of guitars between the twins, the keyboardist, and the drummer between songs very cool, as if they wanted to prove that they each had more than one talent. “Shout It Out” was one of several songs that the band encouraged us to clap along to and you know what? From a cursory glance around me, the audience was game. Somehow they’d managed to charm the bohemians.

i-artbrut4And then there was…Art Brut. Eddie Argos divulged to me before the gig that he likes being a show-off and the internet is a great platform for spreading his wit. So it should come as no surprise that the star of the evening was, in fact, Eddie himself. I’d read that he likes to jump rope with his microphone cord, but actually seeing him do this in front of an audience was another matter entirely. Another part of the Art Brut show is Argos stopping mid-song, the band patiently waiting to begin playing again as he entertained us on a variety of topics, including his insistence that if you ride on the glass elevator to the basement of Willy Wonka’s crazy chocolate factory, you will find the Batcave. He told us this in such a deadpan matter, so earnest that you wouldn’t dare not believe him. Later on he said we should all stop what we’re doing and form bands, also threatening us that if this did not happen by the next time he came to town, he would come after each and every one of us, because he never forgets a face. You can’t make this stuff up. Don’t forget, their first single was “Formed a Band”: “Formed a band / we formed a band / look at us / we formed a band / I want to be the boy / the man / who writes the song / that makes Israel and Palestine / get along“.

k-artbrut6While Argos’s onstage antics are entertaining, you can’t discount the high energy and seemingly never-stopping soundtrack to the evening. This was provided handily by and on guitars, on bass, and on drums. Everything melds together for a perfect rock noise; Future and Catskillkin are wailing on their guitars maniacally, and Feedback and Breyer are driving the tunes along with their beats. Older favorites like “Modern Art”, “Bang Bang Rock and Roll”, the thoughtful “Emily Kane” (about a childhood flame), and the previously mentioned “Formed a Band” went down extremely well with the crowd. And Argos is still funny and on top form in their newest album, Art Brut vs. Satan, as evidenced in songs like “The Passenger”, in which he walked around the stage, mimicking the wheels of a train with his hands, and causing all of us to laugh; “Alcoholics Unanimous”, with its triumphant chorus of “bring me tea! / bring me coffee!“; and “DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake”, Argos wistfully talking about his boyhood loves and how it’s perfectly natural to be a grown man and still love such things. Overall, this was one highly enjoyable night. Catch them live if you can as they make their way across North America.

Set list
Formed a Band
My Little Brother
Summer Job
Good Weekend
Rusted Guns of Milan
What a Rush
Modern Art (DC Comics version)
Demons Out
Bad Weekend
Alcoholics Unanimous
Emily Kane
The Passenger
DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake
//
Bang Bang Rock and Roll
Twist and Shout
Post Soothing Out

Tour dates
Oct 20 - Earl / Atlanta*
Oct 22 – Bottletree / Birmingham*
Oct 23 – Spanish Moon / Baton Rouge*
Oct 24 – Walter’s on Washington / Houston*
Oct 25 – Mohawk / Austin*
Oct 27 – Club Congress / Tucson*
Oct 28 – Casbah / San Diego*
Oct 29 – Glass House / Pomona, Ca.*
Oct 30 – Cafe Du Nord (2 shows) / San Francisco*
Nov 1 – Holocene / Portland*
Nov 2 – Neumo’s / *
Nov 3 – Biltmore / Vancouver#
Nov 4 – Neurolux / Boise#
Nov 5 – Urban Lounge / Salt Lake City#
Nov 6 – Bluebird / Denver#
Nov 8 – Slowdown / Omaha#
Nov 9 – Triple Rock / Minneapolis#
Nov 10 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago#
Nov 12 – First Unitarian Church / Philadelphia#
Nov 13 – Brooklyn Bowl / New York City#
Nov 14 – Ottobar / Baltimore#
Nov 15 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City#
*with Princeton
#with

a-princeton1 c-princeton3 d-princeton4 h-artbrut3 i-artbrut4 j-artbrut5 k-artbrut6 m-artbrut8 n-artbrut9

Art Brut: website | myspace | Art Brut Announce Big Fall North American Tour | Video for Art Brut’s New Single “Alcoholics Unanimous”
Princeton: website | myspace | @ SECAC Day Stage @ SXSW

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]]> http://popwreckoning.com/2009/10/21/art-brut-with-princeton-black-cat-washington-dc/feed/ 0 Princeton @ SECAC Day Stage, SXSW, Austin TX http://popwreckoning.com/2009/03/18/princeton-secac-day-stage-sxsw-austin-tx/ http://popwreckoning.com/2009/03/18/princeton-secac-day-stage-sxsw-austin-tx/#comments Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:44:40 +0000 Jessica McGinley http://popwreckoning.com/?p=8082

princetonCalifornia trio took the stage ten minutes after their designated start time but made up for the late start (which was actually no fault of their own) with their catchy and lilting indie pop gems, accented with slick synth and hand claps, and adorably awkward stage banter.  Their first time in Austin was well-received as they joked about the unusually high number of erectile dysfunction commercials in Austin and roused the audience into getting up from their seats and moving to the front of the stage on their last track, “Shout It Out”, a delightful pop gem rife with handclaps, smooth synth melodies and heavy bass lines.
Beautifully crafted pop songs with just the right synthetic flourishes and lilting melodies make Princeton a band worth knowing.

Catch Princeton’s other sets while at South By Southwest:
Mar 19 – Green Owl, Wichita, Mixtape BBQ @ The Ranch (4PM)
Mar 20 – Back Alley Social (12PM)
Mar 20 – Maggie Mae’s (10PM)
Mar 21 – Red Eyed Fly (3PM)

Check Princeton’s MySpace page for tour dates with Sebastien Grangier following South By Southwest.

Princeton: website | myspace

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