Britney Spears/Pussycat Dolls Oracle Arena, 4/22/09: An Unrepentant Fans Thoughts

Not from our show, but she did wear this... Thanks to http://totallytheo.blogspot.com/ for letting me use this image.
Not from our show, but she did wear this… Thanks to http://totallytheo.blogspot.com/ for letting me use this image.

I go to a lot of shows. And I get excited about them. Very excited about them. But few shows have I anticipated as greatly as this one. I love the bubble gum pop, and there is just something about her that has drawn me in from day one. I think she always has reminded me of the person that I had always dreamt of being when I was younger. I really like the idea of being a child star, then becoming a pop star, followed by making some very poor decisions in public, leading to heavy scrutiny from the media. I really enjoy the idea of fame at all costs, and Britney has lived that dream. She lives her life as if every day was her big return to the spotlight.

But I digress; you want to hear about the show. Just to answer a few of the questions that you may have before reading on-

No, she did not refer to Oakland as Seattle, or Santa Barbara, or Sunol, or any other town she may have been thinking about that day. In fact, she did not address us by name of our city at all.

She did not storm off the stage because of pot smoke.

She did not fake a knee injury to get out of performing.

She did not sing live.

That being said, on with the review: Continue reading “Britney Spears/Pussycat Dolls Oracle Arena, 4/22/09: An Unrepentant Fans Thoughts”

Fleet Foxes at the Fox Oakland, 4/21/09

Fleet Foxes at the Fox.  Thanks to Flickr user Gussifer.
Fleet Foxes at the Fox. Thanks to Flickr user Gussifer.

Robin Pecknold, lead singer of Fleet Foxes, emerges from stage right for an encore after an hour set; he comes wielding his acoustic guitar and a great looking beard. He banters with the crowd of the nearly sold out Fox theater in Oakland, then tell us all that he is going to “do this one without a mic”. He unplugs his guitar and steps up to the very front of the center apron of the stage and begins to play truly acoustically. Robin’s powerful voice emanates through the theater of about twenty-two-hundred perfectly quiet listeners. With a revolving cast of players in the five-piece Seattle-based band, it seems that Pecknold is Fleet Foxes. I enjoy the simplicity of a singular Pecknold in an other wise deeply woven creation of sound. Continue reading “Fleet Foxes at the Fox Oakland, 4/21/09”

Bloc Party at The Fox Oakland, 4/20/09

Kele Okereke catches the light just right
Kele Okereke catches the light just right

The Fox Theater has had a run of sold-out shows over the past few days:  BB King, Band of Horses and Black Keys all sold out the 3000ish capacity Oakland theater within the last week.  Yet Bloc Party hardly sold any seats above the mezzanine level.  I think some folks should have chosen differently;  Bloc Party was the best of them all.  Bloc Party writes songs that beg you to dance, jump, sing along, and get sweaty on a crowded dance floor. And all of this happened on Monday night.

Full disclosure: Continue reading “Bloc Party at The Fox Oakland, 4/20/09”

Sing It Hasselhoff: Feltbeats (Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy)

Time Well Spent
Time Well Spent

I am a sucker for actor albums. I have no control of the sick curiosity and need to either further worship (Zooey Deschanel) or further ridicule (everyone else) said actor for their musical exploits. Needless to say when I saw this EP by Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) I HAD to hear it.  “Time Well Spent” has been out for about a year, but I just stumbled accross it last week.  Little did I know it would have me going “Aw! It’s Draco!” while watching the new Harry Potter trailer.

Continue reading “Sing It Hasselhoff: Feltbeats (Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy)”

The Black Keys at the Fox Oakland, April 18, 2009

Coming to a living room near you!
Coming to a living room near you!

A mere four hours before the show, I get a call from a friend of mine asking me if I want to usher the Black Keys show at the Fox, telling me I could sell my tickets and watch the show for free. After giving it a moment’s thought, I politely declined knowing full well that I wanted to plant myself up in front of that stage to get the full experience I had been waiting for since first falling in love with the band. Continue reading “The Black Keys at the Fox Oakland, April 18, 2009”

Late of the Pier at Popscene, April 16, 2009

Jack Paradise and Sam Eastgate of Late of the Pier
Jack Paradise and Sam Eastgate of Late of the Pier

It’s been one month since I watched the stage crew for Direct TV’s SXSW Bat Bar single handedly tear apart Late of the Pier, oh, and then watch them get the plug pulled on them after three songs at their day show. Needless to say I was more then ready to watch the real thing after the teasers in Austin.

The crowd is ready and aggressive not to lose their hard earned spot up close to the stage which only stands a few feet taller then us. Sequin covered, they emerge from house right. Smiles to me are a good thing; they are ready and so am I. Continue reading “Late of the Pier at Popscene, April 16, 2009”

Green Day at The Uptown Nightclub, 4/15/2009

I hadn’t planned to attend tonight’s Green Day show at the Uptown in Oakland.  I knew it was happening, but I wasn’t going to get there early enough to get in line, skip Franz Ferdinand, and spend another late night with Green Day.  I wanted to, but I was just going to do something different.

Then a funny thing happened. Continue reading “Green Day at The Uptown Nightclub, 4/15/2009”

Leonard Cohen at The Paramount Theater, 4/13/2009

It's a bit blurry because it all seemed like a strange dream, or because I took it with my Blackberry
It's a bit blurry because it all seemed like a strange dream, or because I took it with my Blackberry

There was a lot of discussion in the weeks leading up to this show about why it was happening now.  None of that seemed to matter when I saw the marquee, pictured above, with the name and dates.  It was really Leonard Cohen, live in concert!

I’d listened to the NPR recording a few times; needed to make sure he was still going to sound good at age 74 before I made the effort to go to the show.  There’s nothing worse than going to see a legendary act and have that act look and sound awful.  It can ruin all the memories.  But the NPR recording sounded so good, I came in with high hopes. Continue reading “Leonard Cohen at The Paramount Theater, 4/13/2009”

Beirut: March of the Zapotec/Holland

Beware the back slash
Beware the back slash

Beirut-March of the Zapotec/Holland

Release Date: February 16, 2009

As a girl who claims to be quite a huge Beirut fan, my natural reaction when I first heard about the newest production from said band was, OMG! I had read in an article in Fader Magazine that front man, Zac Condon, had traveled down to the Oaxaca region of Mexico and recorded with a troop of local musicians known as Banda Jimenez of Teotitlan del Valle. This bit of information made Zapotec all the more exciting, as a blogger of Mexican decent, to feast my ears on. Continue reading “Beirut: March of the Zapotec/Holland”

Outside Lands Festival Lineup Analysis

Outside Lands Festivalgoers dancing to Manu Chao last year...
Outside Lands Festivalgoers dancing to Manu Chao last year...

They released the initial line-up for this year’s Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival, and if you haven’t already seen it on the 20,000 other sites that are posting it, here it is…
Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Beastie Boys, Incubus, Black Eyed Peas, MIA, Jason Mraz, Ween, Band Of Horses, TV On The Radio, The Dead Weather, Atmosphere, The Mars Volta, Thievery Corporation, Modest Mouse, Tom Jones, Silversun Pickups, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, The National, Q-Tip, Brett Dennen, Built To Spill, Mastodon, Raphael Saadiq, Calexico, Os Mutantes, Midnite, JJ Grey & Mofro, Kinky, Deerhunter, Lila Downs, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave, The Dodos, Betty Lavette, Dengue Fever, Heartless Bastards, The Dirtbombs, Lenka, Akron/Family, John Vanderslice, Matt & Kim, Portugal. The Man, The Morning Benders, The Duke Spirit, Zee Avi, Blind Pilot, Sambada, Ryan Bingham, West Indian Girl, Extra Golden…

Now, I think it looks pretty good, and I can discuss all the bands at length if you wish, but I am a bit more worried about all of the things that can go wrong with this show. Continue reading “Outside Lands Festival Lineup Analysis”