A full day off to enjoy the festival and beautiful weather? YES.
We didn’t plan on getting to ACL until 2:00 so Jason showed us around town.
Know the way to a girl’s heart? Take her to the most amazing grocery store she’s ever seen. Central Market in Austin is a place for food lovers, beer lovers, soda lovers, oh and especially cheese lovers. This place seriously has it all. They even had a Boulevard Brewery section!
Well and after you take her to Central Market, make sure you check out the highest point in Austin. It’s beautiful and overlooks the entire river, along with downtown.
Onward to Zilker Park for the fest!
As we were walking in the gates, Lucero’s distinct vocals were blaring over the crowds. We stopped for a minute to catch a song, then walked the distance of the park to the Budweiser stage where Gaslight Anthem were.
I absolutely love Gaslight Anthem, and this was no exception.
This is where I rant about how amazing Manchester Orchestrawas: HOLY SHIT! I’ve seen them a total of 4 times now and each and every time they just get better. Opening with “Shout It Out” and even quoting friend/bandmate in Bad Books, Kevin Devinetowards the end. The only set that I could actually stay for the whole time and loved every minute of it. Guitarist, Robert McDowell looked into the camera to say hi to his grandmother since the performance would be airing on the internet. Andy Hullthen leaned into the mic, “guess what, Grandma? Robert’s drunk!”
Okay, you get the picture. They rocked it.
Walked over to see the end of Silversun Pickups, who were awesome, then on to the Austin Ventures Stage for the majority of the night.
Local Natives blew me away. I knew they were good, but I didn’t expect them to be this good. One of my favorite bands of the day.
The other favorite band of the day? Monsters of Folk, of course. I absolutely love Conor and have since the day I heard a Bright Eyessong way back when.
Opening with their single, “Say Please,” MoF immediately got the crowd involved. Throughout their set, members switched instruments and roles between every song. For their second song, Conor took over. “Soul Singer in a Session Band” moved the crowd in such a way that I haven’t seen in awhile. Beautiful.
Next – LCD Soundsystem! Once again, would have been much better at night instead of 6:30 in the evening. Even still, there was tons of dancing. A perfect warm-up for Deadmau5who played directly after on the neighboring stage as the sun set.
On our way over to see headliner, M.I.A., Matt and Kimwere shutting down their set. They were in the middle of a cover of Mario’s “Just A Friend.”
Halfway through M.I.A’s set (which she was super energized and awesome to see live), we decided to beat the rush out of the park and head back.
We then tried out 6th Street for a bit, which is a whole story on it’s own.
In December 2005, I witnessed the most catastrophic concert lineup of my life, courtesy of 96.5 The Buzz‘s The Night the Buzz Stole Christmas: Against Me!, Alkaline Trio, Hot Hot Heat, The Psychedelic Furs and Death Cab for Cutie.
Yep.
That show left me with a giant purple bruise on the inside of my arm from clutching the barricade to keep my front row spot until Death Cab took the stage, but that faded after a week or two. The image of The Psychedelic Furs‘s Richard Butler strip teasing out of his women’s sweater can never be unseen.
I walked into last Friday’s Buzz Under the Stars event worried 96.5 had put together a repeat wreck of a lineup: Crash Kings, Against Me! (total fluke that they were involved in both shows), Devo (…), the Silversun Pickups and Ben Folds. Much to my relief, the diverse lineup resulted in a fast-paced show that managed to hold my attention (normally equivalent to that of a six-year old) for nearly five hours of music.
Well…and I had a couple beers. And I left early because Ben Folds was unimpressive. We’ll get back to those later.
Crash Kings, hailing from L.A., kicked off the night. They coaxed a notable number of concertgoers down to the River Market early considering the boiling July heat. The trio played Afentra’s VD Party in February and clearly earned themselves some fans there — and how could they not? Crash Kings features a drummer, a bassist and a Clavinet player. No lead guitar? No problem. Slap a whammy bar on that keyboard and you’re good to go.
The group’s Myspace just calls their sound “rock,” which is accurate, but lacking. Let’s go with “piano-driven rock with a touch of blues influence that feels as comfortable as your favorite corner bar.” Crash Kings filled the outdoor venue with catchy, danceable jams that had me bobbing energetically despite the stifling heat. It was impossible to stand still while watching keys player/lead singer Tony Beliveau flip his hair and hop up and down off his stool without ever missing a note.
Against Me! filed in next, and was my first concern regarding the evening’s lineup. I don’t think I’d listened to Against Me! since seeing them back in 2005, but if memory serves correct, they were pretty punk rock. Lo and behold…they were still pretty punk rock. But I liked them more this time. I don’t know if that means they have improved or that my music taste has widened. I don’t know enough about punk rock to have much commentary here, however I would like to point out the ridiculousness that was keyboardist Franz Nicolay‘s mustache. Very distracting. (Side note: Nicolay is not technically a member of Against Me!. He’s the former keyboardist for The Hold Steady and World/Inferno Friendship Society, and joined up with Against Me! for the band’s current U.S. tour with the Silversun Pickups. That tour also explains why they were at Buzz Under the Stars. Kind of. I still don’t entirely understand why Against Me! is playing with the Pickups at all.)
And then Devohappened played. I was ready for another The Psychedelic Furs experience, and I stepped into the photo pit wearily. All I can say is that I’ve never had such a tough time keeping my professional face on while working. I wanted to laugh, dance and clap along with the jumpsuit-clad band members. Those men brought the red and blue energy-domed crowd to life as they robot-danced across the stage and robot-played their instruments. The commitment to character made it one of the most fun sets I’ve ever watched. Devo, my deepest apologies for ever doubting your ability to rock a Buzz event. But please, never hip-thrust against when your junk is at eye-level for me and I’m two feet away. Awkward.
I am a spoiled girl who expects only the best. So even after an evening filled with whammy bars on keyboards, curlicue mustaches and robot dancing, I wanted more from the Silversun Pickups. Friday night was my first time to see the four-piece alt rock band, even though it’s been one of my favorite music acts for several years (“Lazy Eye” is my theme song). I floated through all of their set, amazed to see that lead singer Brian Aubert‘s voice actually sounds like that — I can’t be the only one who thought it was a recording trick. One complaint, which might line up with Popwreck Managing Editor Bethany Smith telling me she thought the set “boring”: considering the intensity of the Silversun Pickups‘ music, I expected a larger stage presence. The band almost disappeared, spaced out on a nearly empty stage with purple and blue lighting. The musicians stayed mostly still through their set; while artist movement is of course the choice of the artist, I struggle to understand how the quartet could stay so planted. I think the band’s somewhat calm demeanor might have reflected onto the crowd, toning things down a bit after Devo‘s enthusiastic performance.
Ben Folds finished up the night, and if you read the beginning of this article, you already know how I feel about that. Someone told me the next day that unless you are really into Ben Folds, it probably wasn’t that great of a show (that “someone” happens to be a huge fan and nearly smacked me when I told him I got bored and left). Listen, if you’re headlining that big of a show, and you’re doing it totally solo, you better have some damn good stage presence. All I saw was a goofy kid with way too mellow of songs to fit in with the rest of the evening. Maybe things would’ve been different if he at least had brought a chick to sing Regina Spektor‘s part in “You Don’t Know Me.” But he didn’t. So I drank some beer, swapped high-fives with my friends and went home.
The band – lead singer/bassist James Cook, guitaristMatt Cocksedge, and multi-instrumentalist Rick Boardman – recently played shows in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in June prior to the American album release date. But there are rumors the English trio will return to America for shows in October. I just saw these guys last week at Roskilde Festival and they’re definitely ones to watch. Check out the promo video for “Halcyon” below.
Monday night at the Patriot Center in Northern Virginia was just the second show in a long string of North American dates for stadium rock heroes Muse. I’ve seen some crazy crowd footage from the band’s performances in recent years so understandably, I was concerned about an out of control general admission audience. An English friend of mine is a huge fan of the band and has seen them more times than he count on one hand. So I figured he would be the one to ask regarding concert safety, and our discussion went something like this:
Me: Okay, so the Muse gig in March is general admission. Where do I stand, so I don’t get killed by the mosh pit? Him: Don’t stand in the middle! Stand either to the left or the right, and you’ll be fine. Me: Really? Him: Yeah, you’ll be fine.
And he was right. By the time a friend and I arrived at the arena, there was already a long line going around one side of the building, so I figured placing ourselves front and center wouldn’t be possible anyway. As luck would have it, we ended up in “second row” on stage right, squarely in front of the exact spot where Matt Bellamy (lead vocals / guitar / piano) stood for much of the show, so it turned out to be an excellent vantage point.
Opening for Muse was Los Angeles band Silversun Pickups. Frontman/guitarist Brian Aubert had the daunting task of leading his band in front of crazy Muse fans, but I thought they did an admirable job, playing songs familiar to me off 2009′s Grammy-nominated Swoon like the fabulous “Substitution.” Dark-haired bassist Nikki Monninger dazzled in a magenta sleeveless dress, busting out the awesome bass lines to the Silversun Pickups song everyone should know by now, “Panic Switch.” While they had no problem filling the cavernous 10,000-seat arena with their brand of rock, I’m imagining they’d sound even better in a smaller club.
Even before one note was played that night, there was the question of three towers draped in gray cloth, standing on the far end of the stage. We didn’t know what these were for until the lights went down shortly before 9:30 PM, causing everyone in the now-filled venue to hoot and holler in approval as images of shadows started to “walk” up the towers, further building the suspense. Finally, cloth dropped, revealing Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme(bass guitar / backing vocals), and Dom Howard (drums) on their individual towers. What a truly dramatic way to usher in “Uprising.” Turns out these “towers” house fancy hydraulic lifts that allow the band to be raised high above us or when they feel like it, join us mortals back down on the regular stage.
The Resistance was one of my top 10 albums of 2009, even though when I first heard some of the tracks, sprinkled liberally with sweeping orchestral arrangements and Bellamy’s piano tinklings, I wanted to scream, “stop trying to be Queen!” (The band have, in fact, admitted their love for Queen, and Queen guitarist Brian May has indicated his appreciation for Muse’s music, so this shouldn’t have come as a surprise.) Now, having heard many of the tracks from the Resistance live a couple days ago and having it all sink in, all I can say is…wow. This Led Zeppelin fangirl from back in the day was not at all expecting an homage to the gods of hard rock by way of Jimmy Page’s guitar solo at the start of Led Zeppelin II‘s “Heartbreaker.” But if there was any better way Bellamy could intro “Supermassive Black Hole” on his guitar, I’d like to see him try.
It’s hard to pinpoint my highlights of the night, but the superbly sensual “Plug in Baby” (from 2001′s Origin of Symmetry) has to be at the top of the list. Bellamy is the consummate songwriter, and my impression from Monday night is that he is also the consummate performer as well. Whether wailing on his guitar or keytar, singing in his trademark falsetto voice, or banging away on the piano, the man has more talent in his body than should be allowed. Wolstenholme’s thumping bass and Howard’s drumming, along with Bellamy’s contributions, assured that every Muse song was played with deftness and might. The crowning moment was “Knights of Cydonia,” the precision of the commanding guitars and Howard’s drumming making this truly one rocktastic tune. Every single person in the arena sang along with Bellamy on the chorus of “no one’s gonna take me alive / time has come to make things right / you and I must fight for our rights / you and I must fight to survive,” all in one voice. Absolutely brilliant. This band from Devon, England has worked so very hard to get where they are today, and I’m so glad that finally they’re getting the mainstream success they deserve in America.
There’s a wonderful line in Muse’s current love song single, “Resistance”: “I’ll wait a thousand years, just to see you smile again.” Muse is one of those bands that if you love sweeping guitar rock, they’re sure to make you smile. I’m glad I won’t have to wait that long to see them: the wide, Muse-induced smile is going to return to my face this summer. If you want to see what you’re missing, check out the official promo video for the song below. (If you’re seeing them on this tour, you may want to skip it so you’ll be surprised!)
Muse Set List
Uprising
Resistance
New Born
Map of the Problematique
Supermassive Black Hole (with wicked Led Zeppelin “Heartbreaker”-influenced intro)
Interlude
Guiding Light
Hysteria
United States of Eurasia (no piano outro)
Feelin’ Good (Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse cover)
Helsinki Jam
Undisclosed Desires
Starlight
Plug in Baby
Time is Running Out
Unnatural Selection
//
Exogenesis
Stockholm Syndrome
Knights of Cydonia
Tour Dates
Mar 05 – Madison Square Garden / New York City
Mar 06 – Banknorth Garden / Boston
Mar 08 – Air Canada Center / Toronto
Mar 10 – Bell Centre / Montreal
Mar 12 – United Center / Chicago
Mar 13 – Palace Of Auburn Hills / Detroit
Mar 15 – Bridgestone Arena/ Nashville
Mar 17 – Fort Worth Convention Center / Dallas
Mar 18 – Toyota Center / Houston
Mar 29 – Rexall Place / Edmonton
Mar 30 – Pengrowth Saddledome / Calgary
Apr 01 – Pacific Coliseum / Vancouver
Apr 02 – Key Arena / Seattle
Apr 03 – Rose Garden Arena / Portland
Apr 05 – E Center / Salt Lake City
Apr 06 – 1stBank Center / Denver
Apr 09 – U.S. Airways Center / Phoenix
Apr 10 – Mandalay Bay Events Center / Las Vegas
Apr 11 – Pima County Fairgrounds / Tucson
Apr 14 – Oracle Arena / San Francisco
Apr 17 – CoachellaMusic Festival / Indio, CA
In an age where digital music is supreme, album art is easy to lose in the shuffle. So perhaps when handed Belief in the Process, carefully pondering the mysteriously blue cast series of cylinder objects that look like a cross between buttons and compartments on the front cover, then flipping over to wonder why the album had divided itself into three parts for the track list and then even continuing to wonder over the selection of incomplete lyrics on the inside was a mistake. Yet, when considering the band is the Belated, then analyzing every little decision made on this record doesn’t seem so insane.
Kansas City’s the Belated is a rare breed in the city. While many of the new bands in the area are busy experimenting with electronic loops and whistles and other bizarre gimmicky sounds popularized by the hipster crowd out of Lawrence, the Belated is staying more traditional to the guitar-rich, lots of cymbal-crashing rock band sound. The band does have a nostalgic 90s sound (which isn’t that surprising when considering one of the members hosts a ’90s at noon’ radio show), but that isn’t to say the Belated is stuck in the past. No, what it does say is that the band is aware of the past and knows how to respect it. So perhaps, carefully examining something like album art isn’t so crazy for a band like this.
The album starts with the band’s first single, “Intelligent Redesign,” a song ripe with big rolling drum crescendos ending with even bigger cymbal crashes. A low bass riff trickles throughout the song. The pre-mentioned 90s vibe is most evident in the Soundgarden-like vocals. It’s a big song with a title that promises exactly what it delivers. The music video for the song says a lot about the band, too. A 90 percent serious video lightened with brief interludes of dancing from Kansas City’s favorite concertgoer.
From “Intelligent Redesign,” the band continues mixing broody vocals with even moodier instrumental patterns. The lyrics are dark, yet an aire of sarcasm and irony serve to lighten the mood rather than darken even deeper into a lyrical black hole. Just like the video, the band is mostly serious, but still fun. Singer Michael Richardson showcases phenomenal, dynamics as he goes from whispering “I Don’t Remember” to yowling down the scales like on “Someone – Somehow.”
The only problem with his vocals is that this is the element that is almost too unwavering. While the band, instrumentally progresses between bluesy riffs from the keyboard on songs like “Sacred” to the latina marching band sounds from the percussion on “Someone – Somehow” to the straight up rock on many of the others, the vocals seem stuck creating a slight tension. Yet, the diversity of the instrumental sound is something that is quite welcome on this album. The band shows that they are capable of engineering a new sound with just their skills and not modern music’s common desire to make “new” with computers. Sure, there are effects like reverb and echoed layering. There’s even the occasional synthesized string, but this is still very organic and fresh. They’re ranging from early Smashing Pumpkins to Silversun Pickups in the instrumentals and it works well for the Belated.
Though there are strong single possibilities with “Intelligent Redesign” and “Escalation,” the band crafted an album: not a collection of singles. Check the whole thing out, and yeah, the album art is significant. The album does seem to have three distinct sections. The first two thirds of the album is bigger than the last third, which serves as more of a catharsis by the time “Daily Rose” comes about. The selected lyrics are some of the more significant stand out lines in the songs. Yet as for the image and the arrangement of those lyrics? Those are best left to the imagination of the album’s owner.
As said before, the Belated is a rare breed not just for Kansas City, but for music in general. This is an album worth checking out.
The Belated is celebrating the album’s release this Friday, January 8 at Crosstown Station. They’re joined by fellow locals Nutchhatch 47 and Pet Comfort. Doors are at 8 and tickets are just $10. It is one of the first chances to see new drummer Stephanie Williams in action as well as hear the new tunes.
Track Listing:
01. Intelligent Redesign
02. I Don’t Remember
03. Sacred
04. Someone – Somehow
05. How Did You Know
06. Easy
07. Escalation
08. We Don’t Belong
09. Lazy Fascination
10. Wound
11. Daily Rose
The first day of the second annual Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival held in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park was filled with all of the ingredients you would expect at such a mammoth, eco-conscious festival. Expressions of art in many forms, lots foodie-centric vendors and throngs of music-adoring fans packed the event for three days of music, activism and celebration in a picture-perfect setting.
West Indian Girl
One of the early highlights was the set by West Indian Girl with guest vocalist Miranda Lee Richards. WIG delivered a psychedelic set of dreamy pop to an appreciative SF crowd.
Built To Spill
Often mentioned and praised by other bands throughout the day was the swirling, guitar-driven performance by Built to Spill.
Loop!Station
A San Francisco favorite, Loop!Station played three days in “The Barbary,” a magnificent “venue” brought in from Belgium. The effect of Robin Coomer’s soaring vocals, set atop layered samples and powerful cello from Sam Bass is absolutely mesmerizing.
The Dodos
Displaying their unconventional techniques for the hometown crowd, San Francsico’s The Dodos gained some much-deserved exposure with their opening-day performance.
Silversun Pickups
Often compared to Smashing Pumpkins, Silversun Pickups have built out their own sonic wall of sound. Delivering the most powerful set of the festival, Silversun Pickups brought their familiar “Lazy Eye” and “Swoon” in all of their fuzz-out, screamed-out glory.
The National
The performance by Brooklyn-based The National was filled with well-crafted gems of surprisingly interesting indie pop. A band familiar to San Franciscans from their song “Fake Empire” which was used in the Obama campaign, The National had the crowd won over before they hit the stage.
Incubus
Struggling with some vocal issues, Incubus lead singer Brandon Boyd did his best to power through the hit-laden set. The fans were more than happy to fill in the gaps while Boyd nursed his pipes with a Cotes du Rhone.
Tom Jones
In an odd Vegas-meets-the-Bay moment, Tom Jones brought his endearing sing-along show to Golden Gate Park. I wasn’t sure if “It’s Not Unusual” or “She’s a Lady” would resonate with the hipster, boomer and ubiquitous ironic t-shirt-clad festival crowd. Sure enough, Sir Tom had everyone, young and old, dancing and singing right along.
Thievery Corporation
Even exceeding my expectations as a long-time devotee of Thievery Corporation, Rob Garza andEric Hilton led fans through an amazing spectacle during their performance on Friday night. The opening minutes of the show featured no less than three lead vocalists, a cross-leggedRob Myers on sitar and were followed by one of the most stunning performances of the entire festival. Pearl who?
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