popwreckoning

Just before the release of new studio album, Invented, Arizona rock band Jimmy Eat World is setting off on a North America tour.

The tour begins September 21 in Atlanta, GA. Courtney Marie Andrews, a guest performer on Invented, will join the band on tour. Civil Twilight will open Atlanta and Asheville shows and We Were Promised Jetpacks will opening shows from Los Angeles through Toronto. Presale begins Thursday, July 29 at 11 a.m. at jimmyeatworld.com. General on sale begins this weekend.

Invented hits stores September 28. Full track listing is below.

Tour Dates:
9/21 Center Stage Atlanta, GA
9/22 The Orange Peel Asheville NC
9/24 Starland Ballroom Sayreville, NJ
9/25 Virgin Mobile Free Fest/Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, MD
9/29 The Wiltern Los Angeles, CA
9/30 Warfield Theatre San Francisco, CA
10/1 SLO Veterans’ Auditorium San Luis Obispo, CA
10/3 Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
10/4 Sokol Auditorium Omaha NE
10/5 Pabst Theatre Milwaukee, WI
10/7 Riviera Theatre Chicago, IL
10/8 Royal Oak Music Theatre Royal Oak, MI
10/9 Newport Music Hall Columbus, OH
10/11 Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA
10/14 Terminal 5 New York, NY
10/15 House Of Blues Boston, MA
10/17 Kool Haus Toronto, ON

Track Listing:
1. Heart Is Hard To Find
2. My Best Theory
3. Evidence
4. Higher Devotion
5. Movielike
6. Coffee and Cigarettes
7. Stop
8. Littlething
9. Cut
10. Action Needs An Audience
11. Invented
12. Mixtape

Irish trio Two Door Cinema Club was pretty much universally hotly tipped by British music critics last year even before their debut album Tourist History even made it to store shelves in early March 2010. The band received further validation as a one of only of 15 acts to make it on the BBC Sound of 2010 long list. Despite accolades like these, the band have not rested on their laurels, relentlessly touring and easily gaining new fans with their brand of pop / punky hybrid rock, first across Britain and the rest of Europe. Now it appears North America has caught the Two Door bug, with many of the dates on their first-ever headlining tour of our continent selling out. High off playing a great gig the night before at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, they performed at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood last Thursday with two opening acts, Million Young and Bad Veins.

Florida’s Million Young took to the stage first. Frontman Mike Diaz (guitar, programming) sings dreamy lyrics but is backed by synths and Afrobeat. They sound like what you might imagine would result if Beach House went to the islands and decided to make a record. That’s my impression anyway – other people have compared the band’s sound to South Carolinan Toro y Moi. The vocals are too new age-y for me, but I was really digging the synth and drum sections. Songs like “Mien” and “Cynthia” set early gig-goers gyrating.

I’d seen Bad Veins before, also in the second spot on the bill; they supported We Were Promised Jetpacks in DC in February. Thankfully, singer Benjamin Davis still rocks the telephonic vocals, and drummer Sebastien Schultz is still pounding out the militant beats that pair so well with Davis’ style of sometimes drawn out, sometimes disaffected and Beck-ish, and sometimes theatrical rock singing style. Their tape player, Irene, was employed to add further warmth to the music with strings and brass. Davis commented that “her” location stage right was unusual (usually the tape player is set up in the middle of the stage between them, so that Schultz can reach the play and stop buttons).

However, their set did not seem to be affected by this at all. Songs like the yearning “Gold and Warm” and the groovy “Crosseyed” and “Falling Tide” captivated the audience so much that the crowd was won over, with several fans on the floor and in the balcony shouting with much displeasure when Davis announced they only had one song left. I’m impressed by all that these two guys from Cincinnati can musically and their performance in Philadelphia was no exception. Watch this video of “The Lie” below from South by Southwest 2009, just gorgeous. Definitely check them out. Really, they should be much bigger in America than they are.

For most of the bands I like from overseas, it takes a long time for America to catch on and to ever see them on network television, so I take Two Door Cinema Club‘s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this month as an excellent sign that they’ve already been recognized in America as a good bet. (Catch one of the songs they performed for Kimmel below.) When it came time for Two Door’s set on Thursday, there were several teasing moments where the lights went down and went back up again as guitars and gear were checked and re-checked. This gave ample time for latecomers to fill in on both floors when the band finally took the stage, beginning with the engaging love song “Cigarettes in the Theatre,” which I imagine will be their trademark set starter for the foreseeable future.

Listening to a record in the comfort of your bedroom or car is different than seeing that band live, and this can’t be stressed enough in the case of Two Door Cinema Club. Watch for the frenetically played, flying guitars being played by the principal members, bassist Kev Baird, lead guitarist Sam Halliday, and lead singer / guitarist Alex Trimble. Drumsticks also fly courtesy of Brighton, England touring drummer Ben Thompson, personally chosen by the band in October to replace the Mac programming employed on their recordings. This is just fun, fast-paced guitar pop with good lyrics. Watching gig-goers go into near trances over the great music made me smile.

The surprises of the evening were the playing of two little-known b-sides, “Hands Off My Cash, Monty” (introduced by Baird with the warning, “you won’t know this one, unless you are a super fan or something“) and “Kids,” which wasn’t the MGMT cover some of us at the front had guessed jokingly when the set lists were first laid out on the stage floor. Both of these sound great live and in truth, either of them would have felt right at home on Tourist History. The crowd enthusiastically clapped in time to the bridge of “Costume Party,” leading me to believe that many of them had already gotten their free mp3 of the song from joining the band’s mailing list.

But if I were to pick the highlights of the night, hands down they would be the songs from the encore. The printed set list did not indicate there would be one, but a big fan at the front commented loudly to the rest of us, “They have to come back. They haven’t played ‘I Can Talk’ yet!” Wise words. After the audience’s insistent chant of “one more song!” the band returned to play “Come Back Home” followed by “I Can Talk.” By then, these lads from Bangor had the Philly crowd eating out of their hand. World domination is next.

Two Door Cinema Club Set List
Cigarettes in the Theatre
Undercover Martyn
Hands Off My Cash, Monty
Do You Want It All
Something Good Can Work
This is the Life
Kids
Costume Party
You’re Not Stubborn
What You Know
Eat That Up, It’s Good for You
//
Come Back Home
I Can Talk

Two Door Cinema Club: website | myspace | Two Door Cinema Club To Tour with Phoenix in Spring, Headline First North American Tour | “Something Good Can Work” video | @ Constitution Hall | Interview with: Sam Halliday of Two Door Cinema Club
Million Young: website | myspace
Bad Veins: website | myspace | @ Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel

We Were Promised Jetpacks‘ headlining tour was hitting Lawrence, Kan. the same night as the Oscars, which would have hurt the turnout at a lot of other band’s shows, but WWPJ are not your ordinary run-of-of the-mill rock group. This was the band’s first time to Lawrence and considering they’re from Scotland, fans know what a special treat it is for this band to make the trek here at all. The show was abetted that both tour mates of WWPJ, Bear Hands and the Lonely Forest, have been picking up a lot of buzz lately.

Fans of Brooklyn’s Bear Hands can rejoice that they can see the fresh act in less than a month when they return to Kansas City with Passion Pit on April 5. Don’t delay buying a ticket. That show is sure to sell out.

It’s near impossible to not fall in love with every aspect Seattle’s the Lonely Forest.

The guys tried to encourage the timid crowd closer to the stage before they began with a dedication to the fellow Seattle band, The Lonely H, whom had just played in Lawrence the night before. Since I could easily predict what followed “And the Oscar goes to…” from watching the show before coming to this concert, I expected I was going to be able to do a similar thing with the music at this show. There’s only so many ways to follow-up a C major chord after all. Yet somehow, the Lonely Forest managed to completely surprise with their unpredictable key and tempo changes—and to think that they executed these changes with seamless transitions. The only cue that they really even gave that the songs were about to take an unexpected turn was that the singer would rock back on his left heel or slightly bend his knees to spring out into a big jump despite the stage being extremely close to the ceiling.

What really hooks one on the Lonely Forest are their lyrics. The punky singer (personality-wise, not in looks, which were more akin to Rivers Cuomo), had a voice that seemed to blend that of the Mountain Goats with that of Noah and the Whale (sans accent). The lyrics he sang teetered between a sentimental, Seattle, Washington loving ballad to the quirky set closer “We Sing In Time.” Of their eight song set, I especially loved “Coyote,” which was complete with howls.

These guys live up to their hype. They just became the first signing to Chris Walla‘s record label, so expect a fantastic release from them soon.

I caught We Were Promised Jetpacks before in a cave and while they were good, it seemed like everything that could go wrong, went wrong. It was a fest, so there a strict timetable they had adhere and it seems like half their set was lost to a broken string that resulted in the singer awkwardly saying random words in his thick accent for the very, very American audience’s amusement.

Still a little bit awkward when speaking with the crowd – he was quite surprised when “sweat out a burrito got a laugh,” he definitely was more at ease with his performance this go around and their slight awkwardness and modest demeanor between songs is part of their charm.

When WWPJ actually starts playing songs, that shyness goes out the window and they are just a giant ball of energy. If it wasn’t for the accent, it’d be easy to think they were a completely different band from how they play compared to how they speak in between songs. Cymbal and guitar heavy indie rock tunes drew the crowd closer to the stage and it seemed that the music not only washed away the band’s shyness with time, but also that of the crowd.

“Roll Up Your Sleeves”

I did my best to keep track of the set list and I apologize for a few gaps in my memory:

1. Keeping Warm
2. ???
3. Roll up Your Sleeves
4. It’s Thunder and It’s Lightning
5. ???
6. This Is My House, This Is My Home
7. ???
8. Ships with Holes Will Sink
9. Short Bursts

Finding myself in Seattle on a night before I have a seven page paper due is not a common thing, but on this particular Tuesday, I ventured to Neumos in Capitol Hill to see Scottish band We Were Promised Jetpacks, accompanied by local sweetheart band The Lonely Forest and Bear Hands of Brooklyn.
I hadn’t been to Neumos in a good two years, so I forgot how intimate the venue was.  But it was quite obvious that a majority of the 16-year-old girls and boys were there to see The Lonely Forest, and the older crowd came out for We Were Promised Jetpacks, but Bear Hands held their own, truly being the opener.

They played songs off their debut EP Golden, as well as their second EP, What a Drag, released last month. “Can’t Stick Em” from the latter EP was my favorite of their set, with a driving tempo and vocalist Dylan Rau building from the softer harmonies at the beginning to getting stronger and louder to meet the gritty guitar riff. Actually listening back to it now, Rau’s voice reminds me a little of David Portner of Animal Collective, how it teeters on the edge of notes. So if you like fuzzed out guitars and multi-layered harmonies, check Bear Hands out.

After Bear hands finished their set, it was close to 10, so the anticipation for Lonely Forest got to build for 20 minutes. Surrounded by crazy fangirls and one even crazier fanboy, I filtered through my pictures from the last hour. Then at about 10:15, The Lonely Forest got on the tiny stage and immediately thanked the all-ages crowd. Playing a selection from last year’s debut critically acclaimed We Sing the Body Electric, as well as some new songs, The Lonely Forest kept the energy going throughout their set. By the 3^rd song, front man John Van Deusen was already sweating profusely from his temples, switching from keyboard to guitar. It’s just a testament to how passionate this band is about their music and about their fans. And it doesn’t hurt that they’re great musicians too. The Lonely Forest closed out their set with “We Sing In Time,” which made the whole room sing a long, especially the crazy fangirls standing up front with me.

I liked what I heard of the new songs, and they were more upbeat and sunnier than We Sing The Body Electric, but I didn’t grab the set list, so I have no idea what the titles were. Just keep your eyes peeled for their new songs, and possibly a new album in 2010.

By 11:20, my feet were sufficiently aching. Every so often when the security opened the side door the gust of wind provided a sudden bit of relief from hot and sweaty venue. After a very long intro of “A Half-Built House,” with dozens of loops of the same voice repeating numbers, We Were Promised Jetpacks finally came on stage and dove into “Keeping Warm” off These Four Walls. I haven’t been listening to We Were Promised Jetpacks for long, but I loved how casual they were. The four guys just walked up on stage and started playing. No grandiose entrance or anything, and they were awesome. It could be my bias for UK bands, but for some reason, the Scottish accent makes all songs sound so much cooler.

After the first few songs I made my way out of the crowded front to get some water, and I noticed that the crowd had completely changed. The young fans that came to see The Lonely Forest had dissipated and most of the people I weaved through were older, who’d come to see We Were Promised Jetpacks. It was almost midnight, so that could be why, since it was a school night. And still as I stood off to the side, We Were Promised Jetpacks had the same impact in this tiny venue as if I standing right up front.

Bravo, Scotsmen. Bravo.

I readily admit it: I started to become a wee bit giddy upon seeing We Were Promised Jetpacks‘s curly-haired, hoodie-wearing guitarist Michael Palmer on the side, itching to get onstage and fiddle with his guitar already. All the memories of the band’s first appearance in the nation’s capital, an amazing but brief set at the Black Cat last October (on the Fat Cat Records Tour), came rushing back. Then, the audience was mixed in their loyalty, either to them or their labelmates Brakes (BrakesBrakesBrakes in America) or the Twilight Sad. This night however, there was no question that all 200 exuberant ticket holders at the sold-out show Saturday night at D.C.’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel were present to see them. But before getting to this point, let me backtrack to the evening’s two supporting bands.

Typefighter is an unsigned, local to Washington five-piece, describing their musical genre on their MySpace as being of folk, melodramatic popular song, and indie. I hadn’t gotten the chance to listen to their songs there prior to the concert, so I really didn’t know what to expect. But one look at the instruments onstage (banjo, ukulele, melodica, and keyboards, along with the usual guitars and drums) made me think, “homegrown Fanfarlo?”

I felt further confirmation of this as two songs in, the “da dum-dum” rhythm of one of Typefighter’s songs reminded me of Fanfarlo‘s “Luna.” While Simon Balthazar of the London-based folk pop band has said the title of their debut album Reservoir is related to a previous fixation about bodies of water, it appears this Washington band likes writing about boats and oceans. This is evidenced by songs like the metaphorical “Ocean Floor,” with despondent lyrics like “I’m waiting for this ocean floor to dry” and talk about sinking boats with holes. (Kind of weird that the Jetpacks have a song on a similar theme to this too, huh?) But trust me, the music itself is a lot more upbeat, with handclaps aplenty. Probably the most impressive was their set closer, “I Wrote This Song for You,” all band members singing along and snapping their fingers as lead singer/guitarist Ryan McLaughlin played ukulele.

Singer Ryan McLaughlin and multi-instrumentalist Mary Voutsas exchanged friendly, jokey banter with each other and with the audience between songs, lending a warmth pretty much absent from the other two bands’s sets. I noticed that among the many tattoos McLaughlin has on his body, he has a lighthouse on his left forearm. With lighthouses being beacons of light amidst dark and stormy seas, I feel like Typefighter just might have what it takes to shine, break out of here, and do well.

Cincinnati’s Bad Veins took a bit longer to get settled in to play, as singer/multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Davis needed just the right setup to anchor a telephone receiver in a mike stand. You read that right – a telephone receiver. Quirky is a good way to describe the rose motifs on the band’s drum kit and their telephone case and their third “band member” on display, an antique reel-to-reel tape player they’ve named Irene. With the mike stand problem resolved and Irene queued up, the duo came on to “Hail to the Chief,” leaving me wondering if only we as D.C. residents received this kind of welcome from them. Interestingly, Irene was used to add piano, horns, and strings that the two men onstage would not have been able to achieve otherwise.

Drummer Sebastian Schultz meanwhile was too busy pounding away on his drum kit (a kit I might add that was outfitted with four high-hats and cymbals in total). Schultz certainly earned his keep Saturday night, delivering powerful beats to go with Davis’s often theatrical vocal approach. At times, his voice would run emotional, sounding like James Allan of Glasvegas, but then all of a sudden turn shouty, like over the top Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects.

And I haven’t forgotten the telephone. All bands have a gimmick, and Bad Veins have a telephone that Davis sings into for some songs like “The Lie” and “Afraid.” All things considered, the telephone effect worked better than I thought, not only because of its uniqueness in a rock show, but because Davis would sing into the receiver and it sounded just like you would imagine hearing someone singing to you through the line. However, my favorite song of theirs, completely devoid of the telephone, was “Falling Tide,” a reminder of just how good rock ‘n’ roll can be when you’ve got forceful lyrics, killer guitar, and wicked backbeats.

11:30 rolled around and as I mentioned early on in this review, seeing guitarist Michael Palmer smiling and raring to go made me smile. Scotland is doing very well musically in my book, producing both Camera Obscura and We Were Promised Jetpacks, definitely two of my faves as of late. Good bands have excellent musicians or a charismatic singer. Great bands like the Jetpacks have both. The band’s opening number Saturday night, “Keeping Warm,” came in like a hurricane, the guitars of Palmer, lead singer Adam Thompson, and bassist Sean Smith wailing, and Darren Lackie beating his drums so furiously that one of his drumsticks broke and the broken piece flew into the air, landing near the front of the stage. (You know what they say about physics and momentum.) Even before Thompson uttered a word, the combined sound was so loud, it was as if the club was a jetliner and we were about to take flight.

The effect successfully built up the crowd’s excitement for seeing these four lads from Edinburgh, who played most of the songs off their well-received debut album These Four Walls. Before launching into hit “Roll Up Your Sleeves,” a smiling Thompson said to us, “thanks to everyone who came to the Black Cat show [last October]. That was a great show for us!” The crowd cheered appreciatively, one woman shouting back, “tell us a Scottish joke!” (This was most likely in reference to some jokes the Black Cat crowd had with Thompson the last time they were in town.) He considered this for a half-second before replying with a wide grin, “a Scottish joke? Fuck off!” Laughter.

I expected many in the audience to know and sing along to all of the words to songs like “Quiet Little Voices” and “Ships with Holes Will Sink,” but I was surprised when some provided loud impromptu backing with their voices on the instrumental portions of the set closer “Short Bursts.” Throughout the set, Thompson sang with the same never-wavering conviction displayed on their album that has no doubt made the band a hit with many music fans. The 10-song set included two new songs that unfortunately at this time have unknown titles, as I could not find the band nor their merch people afterwards to buy their new EP. But no matter. I expect the Jetpacks to make a triumphant return to D.C after becoming more of a sensation in the UK and Europe than they already are and the release of a successful second album. We Were Promised Jetpacks, the sky’s the limit!

We Were Promised Jetpacks Set List:
Keeping Warm
Quiet Little Voices
Moving Clocks Run Slow
New song (presumably not on the new EP)
New song from new EP
It’s Thunder and It’s Lightning
Roll Up Your Sleeves
This is My House, This is My Home
Ships with Holes Will Sink
Short Bursts

Tour Dates:
Feb 15 – Knitting Factory / Brooklyn*
Feb 17 – Casbah at Tremont Music Hall / Charlotte*
Feb 18 – Masquerade / Atlanta*
Feb 19 – The End / Nashville*
Feb 21 – Hailey’s / Denton, TX*
Feb 23 – Rhythm Room / Phoenix#
Feb 26 – Troubadour / Los Angeles#
Feb 27 – Slim’s / San Francisco#
Mar 01 – Biltmore Cabaret / Vancouver#
Mar 02 – Neumo’s / Seattle#
Mar 03 – Doug Fir / Portland#
Mar 05 – Urban Lounge / Salt Lake City#
Mar 06 – Hi Dive / Denver#
Mar 07 – Jackpot / Lawrence, KS#
Mar 08 – Waiting Room / Omaha#
Mar 09 – Varsity Theatre / Minneapolis#
Mar 11 - Lincoln Hall / Chicago#
Mar 12 – Grog Shop / Cleveland#
Mar 13 – Summit / Columbus#
Mar 14 – Radio Radio / Indianapolis#
Mar 15 – This Old Rock House / St. Louis#
* with Bad Veins
# with Bear Hands

We Were Promised Jetpacks: myspace | We Were Promised Jetpacks Plan Winter 2010 Tour of North America | @ Black Cat | @ monolith
Bad Veins: website | myspace
Typefighter: myspace

Glasgow-based indie rockers We Were Promised Jetpacks have announced their first headlining tour of North America for early next year. The tour will begin on February 11 at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom and continue through to the beginning of March.

The band was last on our side of the pond performing as part of the line-up for the Fat Cat Records tour this past autumn. Their debut album These Four Walls (featuring the amazing singles “Roll Up Your Sleeves,” “Quiet Little Voices,” “It’s Thunder and It’s Lightning” and “Ships With Holes Will Sink”) was released in America on July 7. Following this tour, the Scottish band will make an appearance at Austin’s South by Southwest.

Tour Dates:
Feb 11 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City
Feb 12 – First Unitarian Church / Philadelphia
Feb 13 – Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel / Washington, DC
Feb 14 – Middle East / Cambridge, A
Feb 17 – Casbah at Tremont Music Hall / Charlotte
Feb 18 – Masquerade / Atlanta
Feb 19 – The End / Nashville
Feb 21 – Hailey’s / Denton, TX
Feb 23 – Rhythm Room / Phoenix
Feb 26 – Troubadour / Los Angeles
Feb 27 – Slim’s / San Francisco
Mar 01 – Biltmore Cabaret / Vancouver
Mar 02 – Neumo’s / Seattle
Mar 03 – Doug Fir / Portland
Mar 05 – Urban Lounge / Salt Lake City
Mar 06 – Hi Dive / Denver

Photo: Mary Chang

We Were Promised Jetpacks: myspace | @ Black Cat | @ monolith

In the second half of my interview with Brakesbrakesbrakes‘s singer/guitarist Eamon Hamilton and bassist Marc Beatty , they talk to me about their new live album and tell me about their “hometown” of Brighton, England.

To catch up on part 1 of this interview, click here.

Mary Chang, PopWreckoning: “Don’t Take Me to Space (Man)” is a great song, loved it the first time I heard it on Steve Lamacq‘s 6music programme. As a writer and poet, I can appreciate the rhyming use of “I don’t care if this world’s masonic” and “I’ve got a true love keeping me on it.” What was the inspiration behind it?
Eamon Hamilton (singer/guitarist for Brakesbrakesbrakes): I had seen some 2012 internet conspiracy theories, (in cheesy voice) “the world’s gonna end in 2012!” Anyway, it seems like these adult ghost stories, these conspiracy theories about the end of time. And I just didn’t care about this. I wrote it like, I don’t care whether the world ends or not.
MC: Do you feel that it’s a defining song on the album? The cover of Touchdown has the five UFOs.
Marc Beatty (bassist for Brakesbrakesbrakes): And it’s [the cover design] seems to have gone down really well. We were quite surprised how popular it’s been [with the fans].
EH: But it’s just a love song, innit? (grins)
MC: I was wondering if you’d had any alien encounters or something.(all laugh)
MB: Yes, we’ve all had them.
EH: Unfortunately, we can’t tell you.
MC: One of those “if we told you, you’d have to kill me” things?
MB: Right.
EH: One time I saw these weird lights coming up over Brighton. I couldn’t work out what these lights were. They were really close together, and then they shuttled away. Then it turned out it was just lasers. Disappointing.

MC: You will release a live album next month called Rock is Dodeljik. I have it on good authority from my best Dutch mate that I pronounced that right. She told me she read an article in a Dutch music magazine that the title had something to do with someone quitting smoking. Is this true?
EH: Yeah, I’ve quit smoking. The Netherlands, Holland, they have the best tobacco in the world, the Drum. It always was the tobacco center of Europe, what with Rotterdam and all the ports. So yeah, you can find it in all the cafes. So I thought, yeah, it was time to give it up really, and the album’s name is a reminder of this.
MB: And it’s a pun of “death” on the cigarette pack. Whenever we tour over there, we see it, and then you’ve got a picture in your mind.
EH: The health warning is “roken in dodeljik”.
MB: “Roken” means smoking, and we always thought it was funny, so we wanted to call our album “rock is deadly.”
EH: But there’s also the English phrase of a “doddle” – is that an American phrase as well? Or just British?
MC: No…not that I’m aware of.
EH: A doddle is something easy, “it’s a doddle, mate!” So yeah. And what else would you said…(begins jokey imitation of Mark Knopfler in Dire Straits) “that ain’t working, that’s the way you do it.” We’re all Dire Straits fans on the sly. (laughs) Or it could be, “rocking is dude-de-lik” like over here [in America] “hey dude!” But yeah, it [dodeljik] means lethal.

MC: So you blokes are from Brighton. Are you all originally from there, or do you have individual stories on what drew you to the seaside?
MB: Only [the brothers White] Alex [drums] and Tom [guitarist] were born in Brighton. I was born near London, moved to Brighton when I was about 3.
EH: Eh, you’re a Brighton boy!
MB: Yeah, Brighton boy. And Eamon is from Canada.
EH: From Northern B.C. [British Columbia] but moved away when I was about 2. I grew up in the West Country of Britain. I went back to Brighton for a band I was in before this because Brighton was a good epicenter of music. It’s an awesome place for music. There’s not much else there but music. But yeah, it was music that drew me to Brighton.

MC: I have been lucky to visit many places in England, mostly for gigs! But I’ve yet to stop in Brighton.
EH: Oh yeah?
MC: Yeah, but the pier and some of the venues are legendary. I’ve several friends who go down to Brighton from London regularly for gigs. Do you have any favorite venues, either playing yourselves or where you’ve seen memorable shows?
EH: My favorite one is the Pavilion Theatre. It’s a council venue. It’s so very expensive to put gigs on there. So not too many gigs get put on there.
MB: There used to be a lot of good gigs there, the promoter would promote [the bands], they would bring in their own sound systems. These days when people put on gigs there, they use the in-house sound system, which isn’t as good. And people don’t want to put on stuff there [for that reason]. Brighton’s had a bit of bad luck with venues, a lot of people buying the venues, doing them up, and getting it wrong. There’s one place, Freebar, the place where we grew up…I met Alex and Tom there when I was 15. I worked there, loads of my friends worked there, yeah, and the place has changed a lot over the years. And now it’s in a state that no one in the town likes. It was ripped out and redone.
EH: Out of towners…(scoffs)
MB: And the people who bought it recently, they changed it and had such bad business, now someone else has moved in…
EH: Really? Shit.
MB: And Brighton’s always had this changing venue scene.
EH: And we’ve always had the Concorde 2. Half of Rock is Dodeljik was recorded there.
MC: Okay. Is that shaped like an airplane or something?
MB: It’s called the Concorde 2 because there used to be a Concorde venue further towards the centre of town, near the seafront. They closed that down because the council wanted to turn it into this whole new development with a Burger King, an arcade, all that sort of shit. So they [the people who run the Concorde 2] bought a listed building slightly further down the road, a big old building.
EH: Yeah, and it’s a great venue. Brighton’s just a great town for music.

MC: How often do you go back [to Brighton] now that you’re on tour?
MB: Eamon lives in New York…Alex is in London. I lived in Glasgow for the last 2 and a half years, I’m just about to move back to Brighton. So yeah, we’ve got family and friends there.
EH: (begins Rod Stewart impression) “it’s in our heart, it’s in our soul…” Sorry! (laughs)

MC: I know you guys are needed at the sound check…so what it is like touring with your labelmates [We Were Promised Jetpacks and the Twilight Sad]? Were you mates before? Did you know what their music was like?
EH: We did know their music, yeah.
MB: We’ve only been on this label for a year or so. And yeah, a year today, or a year a couple days ago. But this is the first Fat Cat-orientated tour that we’ve done. We did a show in Brighton at the Great Escape [a English music festival that takes place in May]. It’s sort of like a South by Southwest in Brighton. We did a gig, we headlined and they supported us. We kinda met them then, but it was a really busy time, we couldn’t make any relationships with them. And they live in Scotland. Surprisingly, I hadn’t even met them when I lived there, probably because I was away on tour and they were always on tour. So yeah, since last week, we’ve been starting to get to know everyone on the bus.
MC: Have you been enjoying the tour so far?
EH: Yeah, it’s been awesome.
MC: When did you guys start in America?
EH: A couple days ago, on Thursday in Chapel Hill.
MB: Just about recovering from jet lag now. Today. Today I feel normal. The thing is, we flew over and then went straight into it [gigging]…ughh! And you don’t get much sleep, it takes about a week to get used to sleeping on a bus.

Alex and Tom come out and say it’s time for their sound check.

MC: Thanks guys for this interview.
MB: Yeah, thank you.

Interview conducted and gig photos in this article by: Mary Chang

Brakesbrakesbrakes: website | myspace | BrakesBrakesBrakes Announces October North American Tour, Plans for Single and Live Album | Fat Cat Records Tour Featuring the Twilight Sad, Brakesbrakesbrakes, and We Were Promised Jetpacks @ Black Cat, Washington, DC | Interview with: Marc Beatty and Eamon Hamilton of Brakesbrakesbrakes (Part 1)

The Brighton, England band, known as Brakes to me and most everywhere except America, is known under the moniker Brakesbrakesbrakes stateside. Despite the “difficult to say five times fast” name they have when they come visit us, I found singer/guitarist Eamon Hamilton and bassist Marc Beatty to be extremely nice guys, as you shall read in the following exchange between us. In the first half of my interview with them prior to them sound-checking at D.C.’s Black Cat on October 5, they tell me about recording their latest album Touchdown in Scotland, and we have a brief segue into fairy tale land. Have a read!

Mary Chang, PopWreckoning: I am here in Washington with Marc and Eamon, two members of Brakes, or Brakesbrakesbrakes as they are known in America, a name I don’t really like…
Marc Beatty (bassist for Brakesbrakesbrakes): Neither do we.
Eamon Hamilton (singer/guitarist for Brakesbrakesbrakes): Yeah, You’ll have to speak with the Philadelphian funk rock band’s [Brakes] lawyer about that. (all laugh) There you go. But we didn’t want to be “Brakes UK,” because that would have been “brakes uck”.
MC: You mean like the Charlatans.
EH: Yeah, we could have done that, I suppose.
MB: I think anyone who likes us over here [in America] knows us as Brakes anyway.
MC: Yes, right.
EH: In Britain, when you’re doing your driving test, there’s an emergency stop you have to do, when you have to put on the brake at the end. And the [instructor] guy goes, “brakes brakes brakes!” So you see, that has some…well, that’s the only story we can salvage from the depths of our hatred… (laughs)
MB: I dunno. My driving instructor never said that.
EH: Did he not?
MB: No, mine slapped the windscreen instead.
EH: Oh haha, not “brakes brakes brakes”?
MB: No, he said “brakes, now!”
EH: “Brakes, now” eh? (all laugh)

MC: Welcome to Washington. We’re very happy to have you guys here. Have you played in Washington before?
MB: No, first time.
EH: I have with British Sea Power [his previous band].
MC: Do you remember which venue?
EH: Here, actually. We played with the Libertines, it was just after Pete [Doherty] had left. And err, who was the other band? I can’t remember.
MC: So this must have been seven odd years ago then.
EH: Oh wait, I think it was the Living Things.
MC: Oh yeah? I saw them here in June.
EH: I didn’t like them much.

MC: Your latest studio album, Touchdown, was released in April. I read that you recorded it in Scotland. Quite a hike from Nashville, where your last album [The Beautific Visions] was recorded. How did you like recording there, versus Nashville?
EH: Well, we’ve always recorded in musically rich places. Well, London…(scoffs)…well yeah, London’s musically rich? (looks over at Marc)
MB: London, Brighton.
EH: London, Brighton, you know, places with great musical heritage. And then we recorded in Glasgow, home of Teenage Fanclub, one of our favorite bands. And the Delgados. You know, everything. So it was just brilliant!
MB: I lived there at the time, so it was convenient.
MC: Is that how you guys decided to record in Scotland?
MB: Yeah, sort of. And also because Fat Cat [Records, their label] has ties with Paul Savage who produced the album. He has a studio up there [Chem19] so we liked the idea of recording there, it seemed like a good thing to do.
EH: And we also used Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub, he made a compressor that we used for the album. Then he said what we were doing with it sounded good…
MC: Oh yeah?
EH: …and then he took it away again. (looks semi-crestfallen)
MB: Took it away!
MC: That has historical value now!

MC: So what was it like working with Paul Savage [of the Scottish band the Delgados and also a famed music producer]?
EH: He’s a legend. He let us do everything.
MB: He was really easy to work with. We had about three weeks, and it was a little bit rushed, but we got on really well. Really outgoing.
EH: He cooked us some amazing meals.
MB: Yeah, that was probably the best part of it!

MC: So how would you say that the making of this album different than for The Beautific Visions?
MB: We took our time.
EH: It was rushed, but less rushed! (laughs)
MB: The first album was done in 1 week, the second album took us 2 weeks, and this third one took us three weeks…sort of natural progression really.
MC: I take it you guys work well under pressure?
MB: Yeah, yeah, definitely.

MC: It’s been three years since the second album.
MB: Has it been that long? (sounds surprised)
MC: Did you feel different pressures / inspirations in the process of making Touchdown?
MB: There were a lot of factors. We changed labels [from Rough Trade Records to Fat Cat] and because it had been quite a bit of time since the last one. We had a bit more time to write the second one, which was really pressured. We sort of…we pulled it off but it was tough. We had a bit more freedom with this one, so we could think about it a bit more.
EH: It was really great to be offered another album, really.
MB: Yeah yeah. We had a bit of a dark year. It had been over a year before that when we’d done some demo-ing.
EH: In the dark tower!
MB: Yeah, we wrote songs in a cold barn in Oxfordshire. In a tiny room…write that down that I’m pointing to this…(laughs while gesturing to small U-Haul truck in the Black Cat parking lot)
EH: Yeah, like 10 foot by 12 foot space.
MB: One strip light. Really tiny place.
EH: And it was freezing cold.
MB: And we got really pissed off at each other. And then after that we took some time off. I forget how long…
EH: We were still gigging in between. Yeah, how long was it…
MB: Hmmm…
MC: Easy to lose track of time when you’re gigging all over the place?
EH: Yeah. It wasn’t long enough though. When we got back together, we still fucking hated each other. There should have been a punchline here, shouldn’t there? (all laugh) I shouldn’t have said that, should I?
MB: The important thing is we get on now! We’ve come through the dark times.
EH: Yeah, we came away from the dark tower. Luckily, Rumpelstiltskin let down his golden hair, and we climbed down and now we’re in the fields.
MB: Wait a minute, I think you’re mixing up your fairy tales.
MC: Rapunzel?
EH: Rapunzel! That’s it! (all laugh)

We then narrowly miss getting hit by a car leaving the parking lot that almost did not slow down when it came right up by us. But there’s more to this interview, much more. Stay tuned for part 2 of this interview with Marc and Eamon coming soon!

Photo: Mary Chang

Brakesbrakesbrakes: website | myspace | BrakesBrakesBrakes Announces October North American Tour, Plans for Single and Live Album | Fat Cat Records Tour Featuring the Twilight Sad, Brakesbrakesbrakes, and We Were Promised Jetpacks @ Black Cat, Washington DC

The Fat Cat Records label is a Brighton, England institution; they have signed highly divergent, up and coming acts from across the globe, from Sigur Rós to Vetiver, from Frightened Rabbit to Vashti Bunyan. So I took much delight in hearing that the label was sending several of their signings over to North America for a tour. For the Washington date, the three acts being featured at the Black Cat were the Scottish bands We Were Promised Jetpacks and the Twilight Sad, and the English band Brakesbrakesbrakes.

Glaswegians We Were Promised Jetpacks were first up. The band recently put out their debut album, These Four Walls, and they’ve been garnering a lot of attention stateside. I loved their song “Roll Up Your Sleeves” the first time I caught their video online. Singer/guitarist Adam Thompson looks like a Boy Scout, but boy, he sure doesn’t sing like one. They’re rock, they’re punk, they’re everything in between. They’re also very young guys, which probably explains band members joking with each other between songs and Thompson’s telling us about the stench in their tour bus when its generator broke down, leaving them without electricity or running water. In response to this, someone in the audience quipped, “Just like Scotland!” to which Thompson replied with a sideways laugh to bassist Sean Smith, “They think we run around in kilts back home, don’t they?” There was a collective laugh throughout the club and then the band launched into “Quiet Little Voices” with Thompson’s searing vocals: “In any which direction, call me / I will run for you! / I’ll come for you! / I’ll die for you! / I’ll come for you!”

With Thompson and Smith, Michael Palmer (guitar) and Darren Lackie (drums) are an explosive unit live. Sometimes you aren’t sure how the first act of the night is going to be received; I’ve been to some gigs where you could hear people’s conversations clearly in between the songs because there are so few people present and most of them are not really paying attention, just taking up space and waiting for the headliner who comes on later. This was not the case with the Jetpacks’s set at all. Despite the band order, it appeared that many of people present were there specifically for their set and alighted as soon as they were done. A lot of people sang along, and Thompson was so happy with the reception and so many people showing up for their set, he lit up the room with his smile and said by far this was his favorite night in America so far on this tour. Mission accomplished, Washington.

After brief shifting of equipment and gear, the stage was set for the arrival of Brakesbrakesbrakes. In my head I’ll always think of them as Brakes because that’s what they’re known as everywhere in the world except America (courtesy of a Philadelphia band who had already called dibs on the Brakes moniker here in the States), so they will be referred to as Brakes for the rest of this review. Of the three bands, I’m most familiar with Brakes’s back catalogue, and they’ve never played Washington before, so I was excited to say the least. Their third and latest album, Touchdown, was released back in April.

They’re an extremely versatile band, with songs running the gamut from folky, country rock (“On Your Side”) to punk (“Porcupine or Pineapple”) to more straight forward rock ‘n’ roll (“Don’t Take Me to Space [Man]“). Singer/guitarist Eamon Hamilton led Brakes (with Thomas White on guitar, Marc Beatty on bass, and Alex White on drums) on a rousing set of 16 songs across their three albums. “Hey Hey,” a raucous, guitar-heavy tune from Touchdown, was a joy to hear live finally, along with “Don’t Take Me to Space (Man),” my favorite off the new album. One enthusiastic fan exclaimed that being that we were in D.C., the band had to play “Cheney,” a song from the band’s first album Give Blood; it’s a five-second tirade against our former not-so-beloved vice president. Hamilton rewarded the fan by asking him to “count in” the song for them. It went over so well that another fan was chosen to do the same, to even louder audience cheers.

Brakesbrakesbrakes set list:
The Most Fun
Shut Us Down (Camper Van Beethoven cover)
Hey Hey
Ring a Ding Ding
On Your Side
All Night Disco Party
Porcupine or Pineapple
Hold Me in the River
Worry About It Later
Why Tell the Truth (When It’s Easier to Lie)
What’s in It for Me?
Isabel
Don’t Take Me to Space (Man)
Cheney (2x, counted in by two different audience members)
No Return
Jackson (Jerry Leiber/Billy Edd Wheeler cover)

Two hours after we started, it was now time for the Twilight Sad. We Were Promised Jetpacks cite the Twilight Sad as one of their influences, so it’s quite appropriate to have them on the same tour. The band just released their sophomore album-length effort, Forget the Night Ahead, here in the U.S. last month. Singer James Graham decided to begin their set with a decidedly-toned down mood compared to the acts that came before: he clutched his mike as if his life depended on it, and knelt down on the floor as “Reflection of the Television” chugged to life thanks to his fellow bandmates Andy MacFarlane (guitar), Craig Orzel (bass), Mark Devine (drums), and touring keyboardist Martin Docherty. They remind me a bit of the Horrors, with their swirly guitars and keyboards set off by moody, pensive lyrics; “The Room” and “I Became a Prostitute” are good examples of this. I didn’t felt the same kind of energy from them that I did from the previous bands. Maybe it was because it was a Monday night, it was late, and it was Washington, but they just didn’t set me alight.

Stay tuned for an interview with Marc Beatty and Eamon Hamilton of Brakesbrakesbrakes coming soon!

We Were Promised Jetpacks: myspace
Brakesbrakesbrakes: website | myspace
The Twilight Sad: website | myspace

Wait a second…is that…sun?

Yes, the second day of Monolith saw some sun. Though I must stress “some.” Granted “some” was a significant improvement to the cold, icy rain that drizzled on concertgoers the entire day before.

Feeling encouraged by the slight appearance of sun, Monolith’s second day promised to be good.

We Were Promised Jetpacks // Woxy.com Stage @ 1:40-2:20 p.m.

I started off with Scottish group We Were Promised Jetpacks. I couldn’t decide what I liked more. Their music or their stage banter with the audience.

During a brief break in their set, a girl shouted out, “Say four,”

“Whore?” asked Adam Thompson, causing the audience to erupt with laughter. “I’m not some kind of Scottish circus freak. I can’t roll into town and say whatever you want.”

The group just released their debut this past summer and while they cite their influences as Frightened Rabbit and Twilight Sad, I’d say they have mainly the accent in common and while I like those other two bands, I think We Were Promised Jetpacks had the most enjoyable live show after seeing all three at Monolith.

“I’m going to let you in on a secret,” said Thompson near the end of their set. “This might be our only good song. We peaked.”

I wouldn’t let Thompson’s modesty fool you. All their songs are good.

Rahzel // Esurance Music Stage @ 2:30-3 p.m.

I was a bit disappointed with the arrangement of the next options at the festival. I could either see DJ rapper The Pirate Signal or hip hop artist Rahzel. These genres are not really my thing and I was disappointed that there weren’t any alternative genre options when the rest of the line up was pretty good about having variety at different stages.

I decided to sit at the top of Red Rocks and watch some of Rahzel. Rahzel, is perhaps better known either as the “beat boxing champ” or as a member of The Roots.

The first ten minutes were painful. I find having a DJ yell, “We’ve got the champ; we’ve got the champ” over and over while some other guy simply talks kind of lame. That “warm-up” part was something I could have done without.

But then, Rahzel finally showed off his beatboxing skills. First it was White Stripes‘ “Seven Nation Army” then a little Justin Timberlake and countless other popular tunes. And that was bad ass.

Neon Indian // Woxy.com Stage @ 3-3:40 p.m.

Now Neon Indian was more my speed with its synth heavy lo-fi pop. It is the project of Alan Palomo of VEGA.

Monolith was the first ever live performance of the band, but as Palomo’s bold movements and twists of the microphone cord made it look like they had been performing forever. His female bandmate on keys was a bit more timid though and I’m not sure if that was her personality or nerves.

I expect this group to blow up soon because let’s be honest…who doesn’t love the synth?

Monotonix // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 3-3:30 p.m.

So I didn’t intend to see any of Monotonix and then I accidentally ended up seeing too much.

After emerging from the depths of Red Rocks, I was surprised to see a large crowd huddle in front of the Southern Comfort Stage, yet no one was on stage nor did it look as though anybody had been on stage. Crews were already setting up for the next band. Yet there was some weird sort of rap rock…I’m not quite sure how to describe what was going on soundwise…coming form the middle of the croud.

Suddenly, from the depths of the crowd, a skinny, shirtless man with long hair was lifted on to the shoulders of the crowd. This was Monotonix and the people were just eating his performance up. I finally got to see him, but this is also when I saw too much of him.

It wasn’t long before he was mooning the crowd and I decided it was time to take my leave from the spectacle and check out another band.

The Dandy Warhols // Esurance Music Stage @ 3:30-4:15 p.m.

Maybe it was the singer’s stripped shirt, but there was a definite sailor swagger to the Dandy Warhols.

They seemed happy to be playing, but there was also an aloofness that made it a little difficult to connect with their live show.

The group was at their best when songs called for extra percussion effects like on “The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers.” The band sounded better and seemed happier on songs like that.

Set List:
Burned
Trucker
Junky
Good morning
I Love You
Holden Me Up
The Last High
Bono
Get Off
U2BF
Wasp
P/Boys

The Love Language // Radius Earphones Stage @ 3:40-4:20 p.m.

Looking at the stage set up for The Love Language, my first thought was that two separate bands were going to duel for the ownership of the drummer. Two keyboardists faced each other and two singers stood side by side. It was crowded for such a tiny stage.

But once I heard the band start to play, it was quite clear that something different was happening on stage. Instead of two separate bands battling for control of the drummer, siamese twins would be a better image to conjure up. The band was a single entity, but at the same time, as they switched from song to song, they showed different personalities. The Love Language are Siamese twins, not joined at the hip, but at the drummer.

Aside from walking away from this review with that weird imagery, know that soundwise, they really are the language of love. They are just happy-sounding and sweet and tons of other things that make you want to curl your toes with glee. There was a carefree nature about the music and the performance, so carefree in fact, that the band hardly flinched when all their foot-stomping knocked one of their keyboards off the stand.

Set List:
2 rabbits
providence
nocturne
blood
brittney
blue angel
sparxxx
manteo
lalita
hello mary lou

The Thermals // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 4-4:45 p.m.

I’ve had the privilege of seeing The Thermals before.

I just love the nasally stretch of the singers vocals, “Nooooow weee cannnn see,” the bassists growth from nonchalance to lost-in-the-moment jumping, and the unabridged enthusiasm of the constantly smiling drummer.

Yet, since I had seen them before, I regrettably had to pull myself away to catch some acts I had never seen before. Next time, Thermals. Next time.

Set List:
Return
Afraid
Future
Trivia
Let go
How Know
Call Name
Back Gray
Sick
Trip
100 %
Strosa
Pillar
Culture
We See

Bad Veins // Woxy.com Stage @ 4:20-5 p.m.

Two guys, flowery wood boxes, a big film machine and a telephone. Sounds like the beginnings to a weird sitcom, but really this was just the beginnings of Bad Veins, a duo that features a tape machine named “Irene.”

The guys and “Irene” produced a really full sound, but I’m not entirely convinced I understand the purpose of the telephone bit.

While I’m sure many in the audience inadvertently wandered in, they stayed because they group was unique and good.

HEALTH // Radius Earphones Stage @ 5-5:40 p.m.

HEALTH – OMFG.

I can’t decide if I love the festival organizers for booking some amazing bands or hate them for booking some amazing bands in ridiculously small rooms.

If you were one of the lucky few who didn’t get shut out of HEALTH’s set, you know how amazingly fortunate you were to witness them live. Each band member was all over the stage, jumping and thrashing. I’ve never seen so much energy from a electronica rock band.

If you were unfortunate enough to get shut out, get in your car and drive somewhere to see them even if that means driving to an airport.

This is a band everyone must witness once in their life.

The Twilight Sad // Woxy.com Stage @ 5:40-6:20 p.m.

The Twilight Sad rounded out the Scottish trio performing at the fest.

A schedule change moving Savoy earlier and shifting Passion Pit and Phoenix later due to a cancellation from illness in MSTRKRFT‘s camp made it so I wasn’t conflicted with choosing between Twilight Sad and Passion Pit.

The set was hauntingly beautiful, but a bit of a downer. A technical hiccup in the set lightened the mood a bit as the band awkwardly stated, “Wish we knew some jokes.”

They were talented, but awkward and shy, which I suppose is fitting for their music. Plus, they had accents, and who doesn’t love a good accent.

Set List:
Doonstairs
Faster
Hit Single
Eyes Oot
Mooth
Rabbit
Sheepdng

(not typos, just how they wrote it out on the set list)

Tigercity // Radius Earphones Stage @ 6:20-7 p.m.

Tigercity was some smooth, easy-listening and I unfortunately was just too revved up to go see Passion Pit to truly enjoy this group.

It wasn’t that Tigercity was bad and they had the recipe for everything I love–synth! It was just that it was more so something that was more appealing to an older crowd that still wanted to be hip than what I’m into. Sorry Tigercity.

Set List:
Fake Gold Other Girls
Graz 75 B
Ancient Lover
Power Stripe Solitary Man
Red Lips D Water
A Better Place James
My Type
Let Her Go
?
Mallory

Passion Pit // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 7-7:45 p.m.

OK, again, I don’t know why the festival organizers didn’t put Passion Pit on the main stage because the entire day this was the band that I heard everybody talking about going to.

They were good the last time I saw them, but I can’t get over how much the stage presence has improved. Every band member was all over the stage, jumping off monitors and the kick drum and falling on the floor.

The crowd makes a Passion Pit set. They know all the right times to respond and sing back the vocals.

High-pitched vocals have the potential to be obnoxious, but in Passion Pit’s case, it is pure fun and add the electronica beats and you have a non-stop dance party.

I could have been content to end the night here, but some of my favorite French rockers were getting ready to take to the main stage.

Set List:
make light
i’ve got your number
let your love grow tall
little secrets
to kingdom come
better things
sleepyhead
smile upon me
…can’t remember what was played here…
the reeling.

Phoenix // Esurance Music Stage @ 7:45-9 p.m.

Phoenix has been in the music game for a long time, but it wasn’t until Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix that the States finally took notice of these French rockers.

Yes, the lyrics don’t always make sense (remember English is not their first language), but they sure sound good and are tight musicians.

Think Air with a dash of Daft Punk–this comparison shouldn’t be too hard considering all these artists are part of the Versailles scene.

Phoenix started strong with “Listzomania” and even stronger with “1901,” a song that blew audience away when performed on SNL.

My night ended with Phoenix. Sorry Mars Volta, but I had an eight hour drive that had to be completed before my roomies’ class the next day.

But it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t hope for a more perfect end than Passion Pit and Phoenix.

Set List:
Listzomania
Long Distance Call
Consolation Prizes
Lasso
…sorry, blanking on this part of the set…
Girlfriend
Rome
Too Young
1901

Monolith: website | day 1