Thanks to Jason Miller for this awesome pic of Tom Chaplin killin’ it!
Have you ever seen something advertising a band playing in your city, and thought, “I’d really like to see them, even though I only know one or two of their songs”? That was the extent of my relationship with Keane until recently. I’ve certainly heard several of their songs on the radio over the years, and especially love their biggest hit, “Somewhere Only We Know,” but until I found out I had access to check them out with opener Youngblood Hawke this weekend at San Francisco’s Warfield, I hadn’t actually sat down to give their tunes a thorough listen. Continue reading “Show Review: Keane with Youngblood Hawke at the Warfield, 1/11/2013”
The Bay Area has an amazing history of legendary musicians, although people tend to focus primarily on our 60’s hippy days when it comes to the history books. People often forget about our rich R&B history. Oakland was the birthplace of Sly & The Family Stone, Tower of Power, En Vogue, Sheila E, and many, many more. Tony! Toni! Toné! have been an Bay Area institution for nearly 25 years, and in recent years, they’ve started a tradition of playing the iconic Yoshi’s in Jack London Square right before Christmas. I had the honor of seeing this band for the first time at the last set of that six show residency last night.
English writer Charles Caleb Colton is best known for his often-quoted observation that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, and in the modern age of parody and extreme ease of video/media creation, imitation sometimes climbs past sheer flattery to become art in its own right and make a new name for itself. Belgian singer-songwriter Gotye’s smash hit “Somebody That I Used To Know” has become the lead target for covers, parodies, and alternate versions, since its rise to fame in late 2011. One of its most infamous recreations, the five-musicians-on-one-guitar performance by Canadian quintet Walk Off The Earth, has become a megastar in its own right, with a smattering of tributes created to honor and poke fun at it, as well. Lest you think that they are around exclusively to cover Billboard chart-toppers, however, do not be quite so quick to judge: the Ontario five-piece have already been around for 6 years, and have a massively eclectic sense of performance and songwriting under their belts that has set them full speed ahead on a course to take over the world.
Deep Sea Diver is the current project from Jessica Dobson, who was first introduced to me via Beck. She was the guitar player on the Modern Guilt Tour, which may have been the last time I felt Beck truly enjoyed playing music. She had some pretty huge shows to fill in that band, and she did filled them quite nicely. In the five years since I last saw her play with Beck, she joined The Shins and also had been recording songs that she wrote as this project. Earlier this year, she put out an excellent record called History Speaks, which as an amazing full length that was well worth the half a decade wait it took for it to come out. I was quite excited to see how she managed to pull it if live on the cold Tuesday night.
Right at the beginning of the new millennium, sudden bursts of musical creativity formed a genre-bending confluence as post-rock, alternative, and indie rock collided together, and a wave of bands sprung forth, each carving out its own unique path as the new century was brightly birthed. New terms such as “post-hardcore”, a modern definition of “emo”, and even heavier concoctions such as “metalcore” came clawing their way into existence, each with a collection of bands that took these sounds and made them their own. In the few short years that we transitioned into a new century, groups rose and fell, and new beings were born from their ashes. Ten years later, two of these acts found themselves on the road together, and fans that had their music playing on CD-changer stereos and the first waves of MP3 players flocked to catch their heroes continuing their journey, ten years later: the Omaha indie quartet known as Cursive, and the groovy, funkily-experimental Seattle five-piece called Minus The Bear.
The impala is a swift and sleek creature that has ultimately found itself endangered, much like rock ‘n’ roll these days. It makes up the latter half of Tame Impala’s name, the former creatively and aptly chosen by this group of mellowed out lads from down under. Hailing from the Western Australian town of Perth, whom you may or may not know is also home to INXS, Tame Impala bring forth sort of a revival of psychedelic rock, packaging it in a fresh, edgy and dance provoking product that has thwarted them to rising acclaim and continues to generate buzz amid the music world while toeing the line between pop and psych rock. Vocally and instrumentally speaking, the band seems to naturally draw off late-Beatles work, with lead singer Kevin Parker’s thin falsetto vocals frequently compared to that of the late John Lennon. Their San Francisco appearance sold out fairly early on and was a highly anticipated date on the calendar of Bay Area music fans. Fittingly performing at the legendary Fillmore, who is no stranger to psychedelia, would Tame Impala deliver a night worth of causing Bill Graham to look down with a nodding grin? Continue reading “Show Review: Tame Imapala with The Amazing at The Fillmore, 11/15/12”
Rush in Gainesville, VA, earlier on this tour. (Click to see more from this show by Flickr user Sofafort.)
A Rush concert feels like a family reunion made up of people who are meeting for the first time. Everyone dresses in their coolest Rush t-shirt and heads out to the arena, ready to air drum along to classic hits and rarely played deep cuts, and find new favorites among the new material. For unlike other bands approaching 40 years in the business, Rush fans still stay in their seats (or in the case of the floor, stand by their seats) for songs from the new albums. Tonight, Rush was bringing their Clockwork Angels tour to San Jose, and it was full of the familiar, as well as full of surprises. Continue reading “Show Review: Rush at HP Pavilion San Jose, 11/15/2012”
Conrad Keely of …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
In March of 2012, three principal members of the feminist Russian punk rock collective known as Pussy Riot were arrested on charges of “religious hooliganism”. It was an incident that served as a reminder that not every country in the world allows the kind of antics and messages that American bands have fought for and won the right to carry out in their performances. Hundreds of artists, musicians, activists, and even politicians vocally expressed their support of the band and urged the Russian judicial system to release them and support their freedom of speech. The Austin-based rock thunderstorm known as …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (often shortened to Trail Of Dead) dedicated their eighth album, 2012’s Lost Songs, to the imprisoned trio, and communicated the frenzied, passionate energy of their new release with an explosive live show that was utterly visceral and mindbending to behold.
Left to right: Switchfoot’s Chad Butler (drums), Jon Foreman (guitar & vocals), and Jerome Fontamillas (keys)
There’s something unique about Switchfoot. As a result, their fans have a different vibe than those belonging to your average rock band, and so their shows have a different feel to them than most I find myself attending. Sure, some consider Switchfoot a “Christian band,” but it’s not quite that simple. Yes, the members themselves are Christians. Yes, much of their lyrical content has spiritual undertones, and no they don’t try to hide it. But truth be told, I’m not sure I’d give them much of a second listen if they were the kind of band marketed solely to “Christian rock” radio. That just isn’t my thing. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that…) Because these guys prefer to live their lives as good, salt-of-the-earth people with a great sound and steer far clear of anything that might feel like they’re pimping their beliefs on me, I’ve been hooked for over a decade. But it’s more than that… There’s honestly a kind of “live and let live” mantra between the band and its fans: as long as you respect what I believe, I can do the same for you and we can all get along and enjoy each other. And that’s the sort of breath of fresh air that inspires me at a Switchfoot show, and what keeps me coming back. This week, they played San Francisco’s tiny Regency Ballroom Tuesday night, alongside Nashville indie rock band Paper Route, and before the night began, I was full of anticipation and excitement for a night of music by the band whose music has been something of a soundtrack for the last decade of my life. Continue reading “Show Review: Switchfoot with Paper Route at Regency Ballroom, 10/23/2012”
There’s an interesting conundrum that a new band faces when one of its members is a well-known and deeply admired member of the music world, but theirs is not a front-and-center role in said new band. While it is pleasing and exciting to know that the group will gain attention and followers simply by this connection, it’s frustrating or sometimes embarrassing when the enjoyment and appreciation from their fans is entirely directed at the aforementioned member, with the other bandmates struggling to pull the limelight back to themselves. It helps, therefore, to bring a set of people with you who are delightfully talented and demonstrating show-stopping performances in and of themselves. Thus, it was a delightful treat when a small contingent of Radiohead fans, drawn to the Independent to see the new work of their long-time producer Nigel Godrich, were surprisingly dazzled and mesmerized by all three members of English outfit Ultraísta, which Godrich formed with fellow musicians Joey Waronker (drummer for Atoms For Peace, R.E.M. and Beck) and fresh new face Laura Bettinson earlier this year.
