Almost exactly a month ago, I was looking forward to reminiscing about high school days gone by. Color Me Badd, a group whose first album was loaded with songs my sister and I adored, was back together and playing near me. Sadly, though, the band had recently begun to fall apart, and what I thought would be a super fun evening of nostalgia was missing something. The day of the show, I realized that two former members were no longer with the group, one of them being its former lead singer, Bryan Abrams. While I understand that things are bound to happen over the course of two decades, my disappointment was undeniable. Rather than reviving the songs I most wanted to hear, they had replaced Abrams with singer/songwriter Corey Cross. To be fair, he’s a great singer; it just wasn’t the same. Thankfully, last night at the Historic Bal Theatre in San Leandro, I got to see what had been missing: Bryan Abrams.
Pink makes her grand entrance: dangling in the air, held by three muscled men.
To sum up P!nk in one word seems at first like an impossible challenge. And then you see her live, and if you’re a word lover like me, the right one might dawn on you, just as it did me when I saw her Tuesday in San Jose at SAP Center on The Truth About Love Tour. Ready? The word is spectacular. Give it a minute: she can dance her ass off (both in the traditionally choreographed styles we’ve come to expect with pop acts and more modern/contemporary styles. She’s a bad ass aeralist in her own right, and she’s not too shabby when it comes to acrobatics these days, either. And of course, she’s singing 100% live the entire time, too, as she doesn’t believe in lip-synching. Even when she’s suspended in mid-air upside-down, she’s still singing, and it’s near perfect. Add a great opening act (New Politics), a fun set, costumes, makeup, and a “story” throughout the evening, and it gives you quite the spectacle to behold. So there you have it: Pink = spectacular! Continue reading “Show Review: Pink with New Politics at SAP Center, 10/15/2013”
Book of Love topped my list of great synthpop acts that I would probably never get to see. (Yes, I really have such a list.) And when they played earlier this year for the first time since a one-off in 2009, I couldn’t help but wonder what might happen next.
“Next” was a show at Los Globos in Southern California last night. And tonight Book of Love graced San Francisco with its presence for the first time since 2001, providing 70 minutes of memories, plus one new song. Continue reading “Show Review: Book of Love at DNA Lounge, 10/9/2013”
Yes. Lionel Richie. Everyone needs to see Lionel Richie before they day. I saw him in Austin a last year, and he killed with a high energy, two hour set that started at 11:30 at night. Every song is a classic, and he’s one of the finest performers out there. There is nothing more fun you could do this night than dance all night long. (all night)
Paramore’s “brand new eyes” was a one of the best albums of 2009. It was a glorious peace of emotionally dynamic guitar rock. However, I didn’t know how deep those emotions ran until learning that half the band left during the tour for the record. It required Paramore to take stock if itself, and managed to take four years to produce a follow up. What we got was one of their most aggressive and ferocious record to date.
Braids, Hundred Waters, Kodak To Graph at Rickshaw Stop
There is never any reason to do anything other than Treasure Island Music Festival if you are in town the weekend of said festival. It is the best music festival in America. Of course, you should read this for maximum enjoyment! The best part is that there is no overlap. So you don’t need to decide between Animal Collective and Sleigh Bells or Tricky and Atoms For Peace. It’s the best value for your festival dollar.
I bet you forgot about The Sounds. They’ve put out several wonderful records filled with Blondie-inspired dance rock, and they aren’t showing any signs of stopping. Just because radio station programmers have decided to stop getting behind these wonderful Swedes doesn’t mean you should. I think you should be shaking your booty at The Fillmore tonight, because Mondays are hard, so your Monday night should be pure bliss.
It’s official. There are now more original Beach Boys touring with Brian Wilson than touring in the actual Beach Boys. This show is, essentially, an extension of last year’s epic Beach Boys reunion tour, only instead of Mike Love, we’ve got guitar legend Jeff Beck. Which means that this show might actually be better than last year’s tour.
Fact: Au Revoir Simone took their name from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. If that’s not enough of a selling point, then just listen to their super fun brand of synth pop:
You know you’re at a show with a decent amount of energy when the singer and the guitarists jump and dance around on stage. You know you’re at a show with an amazing amount of energy when the drummer jumps and dances around on stage. Hyperkinetic experimental rockers Man Man put one one such show at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall, joined by the incomparable Xenia Rubinos. Brilliant, engaging music coupled with riveting stage presence led to an unforgettable night of unusual music.
José González has a beautifully tranquil voice. Oddly enough, whether covering The Knife’s hit “Heartbeats,” or mustering a sense of urgency at the climax of his group Junip’s 2013 breakout track, “Line of Fire,” he’s able to lure listeners in with his flawless delivery. The latter has received so much attention that it was recently featured in the teaser trailer for the grand finale of the smash TV series Breaking Bad.
If you think he’s adorable in pictures, you should see him live…
Tonight I was the victim of a crime, and I never saw it coming. Okay, neither of those statements is entirely true. I did lose my socks tonight, but only because the iconic Bryan Adams rocked them right off.* And yes, I should have seen it coming, given that for as long as I can literally remember, I’ve been rocking out to this man’s music. When I saw that he was coming to town (much earlier this evening at San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre, for those that missed it), I quickly made a note on my calendar. I knew this was one I wouldn’t want to skip, and I was excited for it. But it wasn’t until he began to play hit after hit that I started to realize just how talented this guy is. One thing, specifically, that I love about Adams’ tunes is that he can write a killer ballad/love song without it being syrupy sweet or cheesy. They’re romantic as hell, but they don’t make me want to vomit (or change the radio station). In my book, there isn’t much better than that. Continue reading “Show Review: Bryan Adams at the Warfield Theatre, 10/14/2013”
Is it me, or is the music your parents listened to when you were growing up really polarizing? I either love it or I hate it! Thankfully, when it comes to the tunes of Creedence Clearwater Revival, my dad and I never disagree. In fact, the first time he showed me the photo of lead singer John Fogerty and the crowd from inside his vinyl copy of CCR’s Pendulum album, it took me less than thirty seconds to find his face near the front of the crowd. Naturally, when I heard that Fogerty was playing all his best at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theatre, I could think of no one I’d enjoy the evening with more than my dad. And tonight, that’s exactly what we did. Continue reading “Show Review: John Fogerty at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre, 10/12/2013”
J Leto: “I’m no Jesus. Neither are you, my friend…”
In the years since I became a 30 Seconds to Mars fan, it’s been a bittersweet ride. The first time I ever saw them live was two and a half years ago, at this very same venue. As you can see from that review, I was ready to let Jared Leto himself baptize me into the “cult of Mars.” I also said regularly that I’d be happy to inject the band’s music into my veins if I could just figure out how. And then I took my best friend to see them, where we had a little issue with front man Leto, and ever since, I haven’t quite felt the same about the band. Frankly, I’m not made of whatever that stuff is that allows a person to be a fan of someone they dislike as a person. I’m just not. For two years, I’ve tried to convince myself that maybe that was just a bad moment, and Jared really is who I want him to be: a fantastic actor with an amazing voice and musical talent, and hopefully even a decent human being to boot. So yes: I couldn’t wait to see Mars again Friday night when they came back to SJSU’s Event Center, and try to make up my mind once and for all. (And it has to be said that the band’s most recent album, LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS, is nearly as good as the one before it, the epic This is War. It certainly couldn’t hurt my chances of enjoying my evening that I had several new favorite songs I expected to hear…)
