Tag: Oakland

Animal Collective at The Fox Oakland, 5/26/09

The Animal Collective stage was colorful all night long
The Animal Collective stage was colorful all night long

Animal Collective are one of those bands that people either love or hate.  There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground with them.  Yet I found myself smack dab in the middle before seeing them live.  Admittedly, I don’t know their material all that well.  I love some of their songs; I hate some of their songs.  My favorites of their songs are ones that sound an awful lot like Conspiracy, the ridiculously obscure Yes side project that featured tons of vocal interplay.  The songs I can’t stand are the ones that meander endlessly, seemingly without purpose.

So what was the live experience like?  A little from column A, a little from column B. Continue reading “Animal Collective at The Fox Oakland, 5/26/09”

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”

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”

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”