Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Wilco played the Greek Theater in Berkeley on June 27th, 2009. Somebody fainted. People wore tie-dye.
I’ve seen a lot of bands in my day. I’ve seen a lot of very famous people, and I have been very close to them. I often think that I am immune to the surprise of seeing someone in the flesh that I primarily know from pictures, but Jeff Tweedy is one of those frontpersons that has such a unique charisma, that I my heart skips a beat whenever I see him. Continue reading “Show Review: Wilco and Okkervil River at The Greek Theater in Berkeley, 6/27/09”
Elvis Costello debuted new songs from his record “Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane” at Amoeba Music on Haight Street in San Francisco.
I consider myself to be a music fan. I enjoy listening to music quite a bit. When I’m not listening to music, I am usually talking about music or reading about music. I consider myself to be pretty good at appreciating music… but I will never be as good at it as Elvis Costello. Continue reading “Elvis Costello at Amoeba Records SF”
Normally, for a show like this, I would have arrived at the venue at 7:00 pm, then had a drink, made my way over to the front of the stage to plant myself there for the rest of the evening in anticipation of one of my favorite acts. However, after a stressful week it figures I didn’t get there until Neko was already on stage. Continue reading “Neko Case at The Warfield, 6/10/09”
In Queensryche’s heyday, they were an awesome force of a band. Geoff Tate was an absolute beast, a singer with an incredible voice and an incredible range. The twin lead guitars of Michael Wilton and Chris Degarmo alternated heavy riffs and bright solos with the greatest of ease. And the solid, spectacular rhythm section of Eddie Jackson and Scott Rockenfield carried the whole thing forward with fierce momentum. That was 1990 or so. This is 2009. What are they like now? Continue reading “Queensryche at The Fillmore, 6/4/09”
For some reason, I thought Jens Lekman would be very serious. I’m not sure why I thought this, but I assumed he’d stand up at his microphone, quietly singing his songs by himself. So I was more than pleasantly surprised to see him dancing happily along with his 5-piece band right from the very beginning of the show. He had a smile pasted on his face the whole time, and so did I. Continue reading “Jens Lekman at Bottom of the Hill, 6/2/09”
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”
The old story is that whenever The Velvet Underground came to town, everyone at the show started a band. On the contrary, whenever TV On The Radio come to town, everyone gives up. Few bands seem to set the bar as high as these gentlemen from New York.
Continue reading “TV On The Radio w/The Dirty Projectors at The Fox Oakland, 5/22/09”
Admitedly, I was a bit apprehensive about this show. I love Maria Taylor’s albums and singing along to her songs in the car. But her songs are slow and moody, so I was a worried the show would be boring. But Maria Taylor was hypnotic. She has that special charisma or ‘it factor’ where you really can’t take your eyes off her. Or really, it’s that you can’t look away from her eye: big, shining and soulful. It reminds me of love story where a man sees a woman sing and instantly falls in love. The voice, the eye, the giant left handed guitar, she is an indie dream woman.
Though Maria’s sultry left eye was the star of the show, there was a lot of good music too… Continue reading “Maria Taylor at Cafe Du Nord, 5/1/09”