Tag: San Francisco

Show Review: Karen Elson at Café Du Nord, 6/8

Photo by David Emery

Last night, supermodel/singer/rock-n-roll wife Karen Elson kicked off the opening night of her very first tour with a sold-out concert at Café Du Nord. When I learned that the show was sold out, I was intrigued. Why was the interest in Ms. Elson already so piqued? After all, she has but a single album to her name, The Ghost Who Walks (Third Man), which was produced by Elson’s husband, Jack White, and just came out on May 25. The buzz has been modestly positive, if not hyperbolic.

So who were all these fans and looky-loos? Were they committed White Stripes fans whose enthusiasm for the group extends even to its spouses? Or was it a decidedly stranger subculture of model-turned-singer fetishists resentful that Tyra Banks’ “Shake Your Body” and Naomi Campbell’s Baby Woman never took off stateside? Or maybe, like me, they were just your garden variety redheaded-girl-singer fans.

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Show Review: LCD Soundsystem at The Fillmore, 6/3/10

It’s truly a pity that James Murphy, the man behind LCD Soundsystem and the legendary DFA record label, which has released all of the band’s material including their 2002 hit breakthrough single, “Losing My Edge,” has decided to pull the plug on what is inarguably one of the coolest, most transcendent musical outfits to emerge in the past decade.

Just as Jerry Seinfeld and the cast bowed out at their peak after a nine-year run with their hit television show, Seinfeld, Murphy has decided to call it quits after the same amount of time when fan interest is at its most fervent, dedicated level. Continue reading “Show Review: LCD Soundsystem at The Fillmore, 6/3/10”

Show Review: Matt & Kim with Golden Filter and The Soft Pack at The Mezzanine, 6/5/10

Matt & Kim are all smiles. Thanks to Paige K Parsons for sharing her photo.

Blown away. That is how the night ended for me. Unfortunately the night didn’t start out that way. I was tired from partying too much on Friday and then taking an epically long hike on Saturday. I wanted to sleep and wasn’t sure if a show was the best thing to be attending in my sleepy daze. Fortunately The Soft Pack came on and gave me a bit of an energy boost. Continue reading “Show Review: Matt & Kim with Golden Filter and The Soft Pack at The Mezzanine, 6/5/10”

Show Review: Local Natives with Suckers at Bottom of the Hill, 6/3/2010

Not local, possibly native. All fashionable.

Somewhere during this show, this genre became dead to me. I don’t even know what you call the genre (besides “typical” indie rock), but I’ll try to describe it. A bunch of dudes wearing clothes they bought at thrift stores (or are meant to look like they bought them at thrift stores in Brooklyn) play mid-tempo numbers, and then occasionally the songs build to a giant crescendo where they all scream into their microphones together to let you know that this song is intense, man. It now feels a bit fake to me. Continue reading “Show Review: Local Natives with Suckers at Bottom of the Hill, 6/3/2010”

Show Review: OK Go with Earl Greyhound and Grand Lake at The Fillmore, 5/26/10

Tim Nordwind, Damian Kulash and Andy Ross of Ok Go
A rare moment without confetti

During OK Go’s show at The Fillmore in San Francisco on Wednesday night, lead singer Damian Kulash tried to explain why the band’s home is San Francisco. “Because we live on YouTube” was his explanation. Yeah, alright, whatever. But it’s clear what they meant was that the Bay Area is made to appreciate a label-leaving, DIY-video-making band of nerds like them. And this video thing is working out for them. One blog recently called them the “shtickiest band ever,” so what sort of shtick did they bring with them? Continue reading “Show Review: OK Go with Earl Greyhound and Grand Lake at The Fillmore, 5/26/10”

Massive Attack with Martina Topley-Bird and MNDR at The Warfield, 5/26

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The lights wash over Massive Attack

The boys from Bristol are back.  After a seven year waiting period, studio perfectionists and UK music pioneers Massive Attack return to full form with their newest and much delayed album, Heligoland.  The second show of a two night stop in San Francisco, Massive Attack bring their eccentrically driven set for all to marvel at.  Would their perfection pay off?

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Show Review: Broken Bells with The Morning Benders at The Regency Ballroom, 5/21/10

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Broken Bells are to be taken seriously

Long live the super group.  Established producer Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) and his musical pal, James Mercer of The Shins, made their way to the Grand Ballroom in San Francisco Friday night to showcase their new experiment, Broken Bells.  After what seems to have been the season of all star groups such as Them Crooked Vultures and Atoms for Peace, did this long anticipated show live up to all its hype? Continue reading “Show Review: Broken Bells with The Morning Benders at The Regency Ballroom, 5/21/10”

Show Review: Evelyn Evelyn with Amanda Palmer, Jason Webley and Sxip Shirey at Great American Music Hall, 5/22/10

Evelyn Evelyn answer life's important questions

When Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley decided to join together to do a musical project, they decided to literally join together. They created Evelyn Evelyn, conjoined twin musicians, built a story and characters, recorded and released an album, and they’re now on tour together. This show was billed as Evelyn Evelyn with Amanda Palmer, Jason Webley and Sxip Shirey “also appearing.” There’s a point in this absolute pleasure of a three-hour show when Amanda Palmer thanks people for coming to such an odd show, and practically begs the audience to tell their friends in whatever way they can that they should come see the show. I’m game for this; read on to be convinced. Continue reading “Show Review: Evelyn Evelyn with Amanda Palmer, Jason Webley and Sxip Shirey at Great American Music Hall, 5/22/10”

Show Review: Gil Mantera’s Party Dream with Triple Cobra and Go Going Gone Girls at Bottom of the Hill, 5/15/10

It's not just a dream. It's a party.

So-called novelty bands tend to have a short shelf life. The progression tends to go something like this: you see the band open for someone else and you immediately tell your friends, then you see them again with your friends and have a great time, and then you keep going but your friends are over them. Meanwhile you’re telling the friends who have stopped going that the band is special; it’s not just a shtick. Sometimes you’re wrong, but sometimes you’re right. So am I right about Gil Mantera’s Party Dream? Continue reading “Show Review: Gil Mantera’s Party Dream with Triple Cobra and Go Going Gone Girls at Bottom of the Hill, 5/15/10”

Show Review: Jakob Dylan featuring Neko Case and Kelly Hogan with The Felice Brothers at the Regency Ballroom, 5/12/10

Jakob Dylan: still dreamy after all these years. Photos by Christopher Rogers.

Could it be possible that Jakob Dylan actually prefers to exist in the shadows of others? I mean, seriously. First he makes the questionable decision to get into the exact same line of work as his father. And if that line of work was, like, plumbing or something, then fine. But if Bob Dylan is your father and you decide you’re also a folk-rock singer-songwriter? That’s like Janis Joplin’s (rhetorical) daughter choosing to become a boozy bluesy hippie, or Moses and Apple Paltrow-Martin deciding to start insufferable lifestyle blogs and rip off U2 for a living — your parents pretty much pioneered the concept, so why bother?

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