great american music hall – Page 4

Show Review: Uh Huh Her at Great American Music Hall, 3/29/2011

Uh Huh Her playing at Toronto Pride in 2008. Photo by Jenny Rotten.

Uh Huh Her, a.k.a. Camila Grey (formerly of Mellowdrone) and immortal lesbian crush-girl Leisha Hailey (of The Murmurs and The L Word), are on a small club tour testing new material from their upcoming sophomore LP. Last night they introduced some new jams, as well as fan favorites from their 2008 debut album, Common Reaction, to a small but devoted crowd at Great American Music Hall. Did the audience respond favorably to the new tracks? Could anyone hear the new tracks over the incessant shrieks of Ms. Hailey’s name? Did she finally admit to killing Jenny? Look after the jump to find out.

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Noise Pop Show Review: Ben Gibbard at Great American Music Hall, 2/27/11

Ben Gibbard is called out by Bob Mould at Noise Pop

Closing the Noise Pop festival with solo acoustic shows from Ben Gibbard and Zach Rogue was the right choice. People flew in from Europe, skipped the Oscars, even skipped church for an a relaxing evening at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. The young crowd was a mix of experienced Noise Pop festival attendees and those that made last night’s show their select choice. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Ben Gibbard at Great American Music Hall, 2/27/11”

Show Review: Delorean, Lemonade at Great American Music Hall, 11/10/10

“You need to be dancing harder.”

I stared into the face of the woman who’d just punched me in the arm to get my attention and tell me this. She continued, “You need to be dancing more, like this, up and down, having fun.” I ignored a passing instinct to punch her in the face, and smiled instead. “Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay!” she shrieked in closing.

A moment later, she punched me again. “Are you from Barcelona?” she inquired.

“No. I’m from Pittsburgh.” She stopped talking to me after that.

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Show Review: The Vaselines, The Dum Dum Girls at Great American Music Hall, 10/20/10

The Vaselines are a band from a very different musical era. They are a hard-to-define band from a period of time when it was difficult to find bands that you couldn’t easily market to people. They didn’t really do punk rock, they don’t really do folk music, they aren’t a new wave band, they are merely themselves. They put out a few ep’s in the 80’s, and were supposed to fade away into obscurity. That was, of course, until a young man managed to come across some imports in his local record store, became entranced by them, and ended up covering not 1, not 2, but 3 of their songs with a little rock trio that became one of the most influential bands of all time.

They officially broke up in 1990, but played a few shows in the early 90’s supporting Nirvana in Europe. Then, in 2008, they decided to reunite at the urging of another influential band from the 90’s. This time it was Belle & Sebastian urging this band back into the limelight. After all, their blend of girl group, twee, punk and lyrics that would make Luther Campbell blush is something the world will finally be ready for. And, at the Great American Music Hall, we experienced what that band sounds like today.

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Show Review: The Corin Tucker Band w/ The Golden Bears at Great American Music Hall, 10/11/10

I need to level with you, my loyal readers. Sleater-Kinney is my favorite band. End of story. I have seen them more times than any other band, and, quite happily, only once has seen them as a support act. (As sub-headliner at This Is Not A Festival in 1999)

Since their hiatus began in 2006, I’ve been eagerly awaiting some musical output by the band members. Yes, Janet Weiss has been putting out Quasi records at the same frequency, but her SK-time has been devoted to Stephen Malkmus and Bright Eyes session work. Carrie Brownstein has been writing and doing comedy, amongst other things. But, Corin Tucker has been quiet, at least comparatively so. She’s made a handful of public appearance, but for the most part, she’s been the reclusive one.

This year, Corin Tucker finally put out a solo record, and then pulled together a band to do a short tour in support of it. I’m equal parts excited and worried that it’s not going to be up to expectations.

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Show Review: Tom Tom Club at Great American Music Hall, 10/8/2010

GroupTTC — Available for weddings and bar mitzvahs?

How much would you pay to hear one song? What if that song was going to be played by the most accomplished one-hit wonder in the history of music? When that song is “Genius of Love,” and that band is the Tom Tom Club, the long lasting musical project of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads, then apparently that price is $26. This was, however, a 13-song set. So what about the other 12 songs? Were they worth the price of admission?

The short answer? Continue reading “Show Review: Tom Tom Club at Great American Music Hall, 10/8/2010”

Show Review: Tu Fawning, Suckers, Menomena at Great American Music Hall

What an inopportune time to have a camera battery die on you. I don’t mean run out of juice, as I’ve already learned that lesson in the past, but actually up and die as in refuse to work. As a result, I didn’t get the opportunity to shoot Tu Fawning, the up-and-coming Portland-based quartet that opened for Suckers and Menomena on Tuesday, September 14th at Great American Music Hall.

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Show Review: Southern Culture On The Skids at Great American Music Hall, 9/11/10

There are some bands that words cannot adequately describe. If I were to try and sum up the feeling one would get from listening to Southern Culture On The Skids it would include images of driving down a coastal highway in a pick-up truck while wearing a truckers hat. This quartet from Chapel Hill, North Carolina has been at it for well over 20 years, playing a playful blend of rockabilly, surf, punk rock and just a hint of traditional country & western music. I had the opportunity to check them out live for the first time at the Great American Music Hall. Hunkering down in the crowd with a beer in hand, I was about to learn exactly how much fun a woman with a bucket of fried chicken could have.

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Show Review: Jenny and Johnny with Sonny & the Sunsets and Farmer Dave Scher at Great American Music Hall, 9/2/10

I’m Having Fun Now, the “debut” album by Jenny and Johnny (Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice), is being marketed as the first collaboration between indie lovebirds Lewis and Rice. This isn’t strictly the case, though; Lewis and Rice have been all over each other’s material (what the kids are calling it these days) for the last five years. Rice has been playing in Lewis’ touring band since 2006, and had a very strong presence on her underrated 2008 LP, Acid Tongue. In turn, Lewis co-wrote and sang on several tracks from Rice’s 2007 album, Further North. But now these kids have made it official and released a full-length duets album. Last night, they played the first of two nights at Great American Music Hall. How did it go?

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Show Review: An Evening with Primus at the Great American Music Hall, 7/18/2010

those damn blue-collar tweekers. (photo by Sassy Monkey Media)

In today’s concerting world, most shows are focused more firmly on spectacle than on musicianship. We expect the bands to be at the top of their game, of course, but in case they aren’t, we’ve got pretty lights, soaring lasers, mystifying fog, and, sometimes, hurricanes of confetti to wow us and give us something to rave to our friends about. While the spectacle can be rather fantastic from time to time, it’s always refreshing to see the band pack up their light show, deflate the floating spacemen, and dismantle the fog machines, in favor of a rock-solid performance that focuses on what a concert is, truly, about: the music. The bands that are able to take all of these steps, cast off the grandeur, pack themselves — and several hundred feral fans — into a club, and rock the foundations as hard as they would in an arena, are truly wonderful to behold, and tonight’s performance by Bay Area native titans Primus was certainly no exception.

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