Show Review: X Japan with Vampires Everywhere! at The Fox Oakland, 9/28/2010

Toshi (vocals), Sugizo (guitar) and Yoshiki (drums) of X Japan
Toshi (vocals), Sugizo (guitar) and Yoshiki (drums) of X Japan

While there are many international artists who have made their way, as the expression goes, “across the pond” and have done well in America, most of them do so by bringing a similar formula of what is popular in today’s music and blending in before anyone realizes that they’re “not from ’round here.” The artists who stick to their own form of a creative mold and are unique and unchanging in their ways can either make or break their careers when they land on U.S. soil; some of them, indeed, will stay on the other side of the world for their entire career, despite the cult following that might have simmered into existence on this side of the States. Tonight, however, one of these artists not only came to this country for their first stateside tour, but it was on the tails of an incredible reunion tour after almost twelve years of absence from the musical world. For the first time in their career, X Japan, arguably one of the biggest acts in the country’s history, has come to the U.S. to tour — and boy, were we ready for them!

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Show Review: The Dirty Projectors, Dominique Young Unique at The Fillmore, 9/25/10

About 18 months ago, I saw TV On The Radio play a show at The Fox Theater. The opening band was a group called Dirty Projectors. I thought they had a lot of brilliant ideas, but seemed a bit “loose.” The songs never seemed to end, they just crashed, but they had some great singers and it looked like, once they took the time to solidify their sound, they were going to become great. A short while later, a record called Bitte Orca was released, a stunning blend of I-Three’s inspired reggae, 21st century classical composition and indie pop. It became my favorite record of 2009. I was curious to see how they would bring this sound to the live show, especially after seeing their live show before the finished the record. After three visits that sold out rather quickly, I finally got to see it.

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Show Review: Vampire Weekend with Beach House and The Very Best at The Greek Theater, 9/25/10

The audience does the official "Mansard Roof" dance

It was a beautiful night at the Greek Theater, warm and clear, something that hardly ever happens in my experience.  For my fourth time seeing Vampire Weekend this year, it was yet to be seen if this show would be something different, or more of the same.  Either way I was sure to not be disappointed. Continue reading “Show Review: Vampire Weekend with Beach House and The Very Best at The Greek Theater, 9/25/10”

Show Review: The xx with Warpaint and Zola Jesus at The Fox Oakland, 9/23/2010

Welcome, they said welcome to the floor / It's been a while (Photo by Carla Deasy)
Welcome, they said welcome to the floor / It's been a while (Photo by Carla Deasy)

How often do you find yourself enthralled with an opening band? For most of us, the answer would usually be “not very often”, and in a fairly large sum of concertgoers, “hardly ever”. What, then, do you say when you find yourself attending a headlining show of that same band? Do you bite your tongue and feel a hypocrite, or do you revel in the fact that you are experiencing them again, and this time in a fuller, more realized capacity? It was, most likely, these sorts of thoughts and sensations going through the heads of many members of the crowd inside the Fox Theater tonight, for the band that had returned to Oakland for their second performance at this historic venue were doing just that: headlining. The xx were the opening act for the electronic masterminds of Hot Chip back in April; this time around, the dark, haunting-yet-danceable London rockers were the ringleaders of the show, which apparently sold out even faster than their previous Fox Theater show from 5 months ago.

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Show Review: Marina & the Diamonds with Young the Giant at The Independent, 9/15/10

Marina, working outfit #2 for her "Diamonds"

The sold out crowd at The Independent was radiating energy at the Marina & the Diamonds show.  It packed full of people pretty early, with the stage crush beginning during openers Young the Giant’s set. During sets the crowd bounced and cheered and in-between everyone waited politely, leaving room for friends off buying drinks.  We were ready for an excellent night of music.

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Show Review: The Chapin Sisters at Café Du Nord, 9/15/10

Abigail and Lily Chapin, a.k.a. The Chapin Sisters, singing with She & Him in festively nautical attire on Governor's Island in July. Photo by Doug Glass.

Sister acts: they’re not just girl-group nuns on the run from the mob anymore. As far as I know, at least. I can’t personally vouch for The Chapin Sisters’ lack of involvement with organized crime. But I can vouch for the utter gorgeousness of their performance at Café Du Nord last night, so I certainly hope they don’t get bumped off by Harvey Keitel anytime soon. That would be tragic.

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Show Review: Crowded House with Lawrence Arabia at The Warfield, 8/23/2010

Neil Finn, hundreds of amazing songs into his career.

Crowded House is a band with only two real American “hits.” But don’t be fooled by that. If you go see Crowded House live, you’d better be ready to sing. And although your less astute friends will assume the loudest singing will be for “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” the band’s biggest U.S. hit, those same friends will wonder what the heck this “You always take the weather with you” song is about. Congratulations, singer! You’re the smart one. Continue reading “Show Review: Crowded House with Lawrence Arabia at The Warfield, 8/23/2010”

Show Review: They Might Be Giants with Oona at The Napa Uptown, 8/21/2010

This is They Might Be Giants with confetti, but not all that much, really. See inside for details.

If I had to give a title to this review, apart from the boring, SEO-friendly titles we always use here, it would be “They Might Be Giants vs. The Napa Uptown Theatre.” I think that the band started the show really loving the beautifully restored theater, but by the end of the performance, I feel like there may have been some antagonism between the two. Was this an actual fight? Or merely a love-fest in disguise? It was a bit hard to tell. Continue reading “Show Review: They Might Be Giants with Oona at The Napa Uptown, 8/21/2010”

Show Review: An Evening With Brandon Flowers at Slim’s, 8/19/2010

No photos allowed, and it was really dark anyway, so I instead bring you a picture of Michael Pare from Streets of Fire. That's what Brandon looked like.

Not only did Brandon Flowers look like Michael Pare from music-nerd-must-see Streets of Fire (not the leather jacket look but the suspenders look), but the music was reminiscent of that film as well. All tales of rock n’ roll bleeding hearts and people down on their luck, but with occasional rousing singalong moments, the new material from Brandon Flowers is close enough to The Killers’ own tunes to make me wonder why the solo album was necessary. He’s always been the center of attention of that band, so that can’t be the motivation. So it must have been musical in nature. I just didn’t hear enough to know what makes this difference. Perhaps if he had played longer. Continue reading “Show Review: An Evening With Brandon Flowers at Slim’s, 8/19/2010”

Show Review: An Evening With Billy Idol at The Fillmore, 8/17/10

An example of a "rebel yell"

While waiting in line to see Billy Idol last night at the Fillmore, I was talking to a friend on the phone that was rather disappointed to learn that his show was sold out, and the asking price on the streets was about $160. We were talking about Idol’s history, and I was informed that Idol was once a member of Siouxsie & The Banshees, but left the band because he felt that they weren’t taking music seriously enough. My immediate response was, of course, to chuckle, but I thought about Idol’s place in our society and realized that there is nobody else out there quite like him. He is part of the new wave era, the punk era, and the hair metal era, and managed to escape all of those trends with dignity & credibility. There is a reason that he is still able to sell out The Fillmore on a Tuesday night 30 years after his first record.

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