Same thing from a new angle

The intro for this blog is on my main blog page...

Luckily I made it just in the knick-of-time to see the entire MuteMath set...but too late to be able to get a spot where I could actually SEE them (again). I am so proud that these guys sold out the show. There was a very different crowd for this tour compared to May this year...I could tell mostly by the songs that the audience went nuts for. If you knew MM in the early days, Chaos is the song that probably got you hooked. Or a little while later, you probably discovered Plan B somewhere (likely the free download on iTunes a year ago like I did). Or what I think did it for most of the folks attending tonight was their recent single Typical...which has a badass video in reverse (below). Not like it matters, a fan is a fan, but that was just an observation I had.





Not many bands can get me to rock out when I'm there by myself and without a beer in my hand, but of course the energy of this show is contagious. It was very very similar to their previous tour, so I was only surprised when they played 2 new songs -- during which i texted DanaR "I likey". Had I never seen them live before, I would've been totally blown away...i think it was a better show than what I saw earlier this year, but I just am a bit jaded at this point after the identical performances on late night shows and their Live DVD. I even told Sembs "this is Break the Same, Paul's going to do handstands on his keyboard in a few seconds" and 15 seconds later, he did just as I said.

I was amidst the audience of taller-than-me people while I was by myself, but once Chris, Sembs and Jason arrived, we actually moved to the wall next to the bathrooms...you get almost a "backstage" view of the stage from there. If only the Event Staff guy could've moved, I would have had the best view ever, just a stone's throw away! You can see his ass and burly shoulders blocking my shot below.

That's about it, sadly. Its not that I was disappointed, but as forecasted, it wasn't anything I hadn't seen already. To see my more enthusiastic review, read "Don't Mute These Guys" from May, because I still feel that way about this band. Can't wait for the new album with their track Clockwork that they played tonight.

Don't Call them Precious

Beautiful things that spring from these rows, with their musical names and musical sounds. – “Memories”

Precious, strong, unassuming, haunting, fantastic …these are the first words that come to mind when I think of the Dupree family that make up the band Eisley.

Precious – They hate being called precious, but please -- look at them! By just appearances they look so adorable …like a family of dolls (granted they used to all have much edgier haircuts, but right now that isn’t the case). And then add their pleasantly sweet voices to the mix…precious is a word that they should just come to terms with.

Strong – “We’re not precious, we’re tough”, said Chantelle. That has to be true too, or I don’t know how they would still be in the music business after 10 years of performing, starting at such a young age no less. But strong can also describe their voices, which solidifies to me why that is the best instrument in the band. You know how people always comment about babies “how could so much come out of something so small”? Its kind of the same thing with these girls…you would be knocked off your ass at how they could produce such a powerful sound that rang so sweetly in your ears if you didn’t already expect it. Listen to Sherri do Marvelous Things live and you’ll know. That family got some damn good genes if you ask me.

Unassuming – Just like I said before, you would never guess these girls would have it in them. They look like they would be shy small town kids, but then put them on stage and they are personable with cynical undertones and delightful with a bit of a rock star edge hiding underneath.

Haunting – In certain songs like Just Like We Do and I Wasn’t Prepared, Sherri’s falsetto gives me goose bumps, I don’t know why. And their youngest sister not in the band, Christine, sang back up for one of the opening bands…and it seemed so unjust to put such voice in the background…but she actually was shy and wasn’t ready to sing lead quite yet, although she's got the pipes that are ready to take charge.

Fantastic – both as a praising adjective as well as a synonym for whimsical. Sherri even joked about how their lyrics, written as kids, had no deep meaning so they just used their imagination to write stuff, but they have since been critiqued as being mystical and whimsical. Specifically, they make a point to mumble the lyrics “mermaid entwined shrubbery” because they are kind of embarrassed by it now. But that seems only fitting to their band name. Since it wasn’t just the family’s last name, I Wikipedia-ed them to find out the origin of why they chose Eisley. Turns out they named themselves Moss Eisley for a while, after a fictional location from the fantasy movie Star Wars. But when the record deal happened they dropped the Moss part to avoid any legal issues (and that was even after considering the name “Neverland”). I personally hope they don’t completely lose their mystical charm.

Megan L. and I felt a little inspired to get going with our band after seeing these girls up there. One thing we’d be sure to do, though, is video tape ourselves before getting on stage. That is something the opening band, Quiet Company should’ve done. Sound is like a wannabe Ben Kweller but the lead singer tries too hard to add the “I’m a coke addict” edge. He was better off sitting at his keyboard because he couldn’t jump around all spastic-like.

And the other opener, Wesley Jensen, just didn’t impress. Especially with his rolled up jeans, penny loafers and reverse mullet hair do (party in the front and business in the back). I zoned out most of the time until Christine Dupree came out for the last 3 songs. Too bad she had to sing such pitiful lyrics.

M.L. and I were hyper critical of the first two bands and wished we could’ve just shown up at 10pm for Eisley…but with the “special seated show” we didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to sit 5^th row center. Eisley made it worth the long wait.

News you can use: their new album, Combinations, comes out today, so you should get it. They will be on Conan August 30^th, and then they’ll be back in Austin November 8^th at LZR with MuteMath. I’ve already got my tickets!

Songs to listen to: "Just Like We Do", "Good Golly Sandra", "Marvelous Things"

I always live in TRAVIS County

You know that I heart everything about you - "Big Chair"

Yes, Fran, you Wegians are in TRAVIS County tonight…and we welcome you with open arms. I’m still all giddy as I write this blog…I just love these guys! TRAVIS is like a secret addiction of mine. I obsess about them on my own for an intense period of time, then realize its reached an unhealthy level, and quit cold turkey. But after a few months go by, I’ll have a little taste of their music and I fall off the wagon again. Luckily, every once in a while during the obsessive periods, I can share my addiction with my friends…and the weeks leading up to tonights show is a prime example.

I'm already having withdrawals and am listening to my video before we got out the door.

Songs from the new album “The Boy With No Name” that I can't get enough of: “Selfish Jean”, “Closer”, "Big Chair" and the hidden song "Sailing". TRAVIS is one of those bands that I could forget my surroundings and just listen to. Gotta respect lyrics like theirs…Fran and the boys really put their hearts out on their sleeves. And there are subtleties in the music that you wouldn’t catch if you were distracted with other things. Plus you gotta love how they are so down to earth and low key, and after 10 years are so grateful that they still have this gig.

Now about the actual show....

Well all i can say about the opener is that he sucked ass, and had luck on his side when he scored a deal with Capitol Records, because it sure wasn't talent that he had going for him.

As for TRAVIS, I had high expectations based on their 2004 show, and they certainly exceeded them. I was caught off guard by their entrance...the stage hands were up there with big flashlights aimed at the back of the audience. Then all of a sudden there was cheering from the far back and the Rocky theme song came on. It was hard to see them coming through the crowd, but then when they got on stage with the silk boxing robes, I about lost my shit. They hammed it up for about a minute and then jumped straight into Selfish Jean. Unbelievable...and Chris and Sembs missed it.

Their Rocky entrance

Since Megan L. and I got there when the doors opened, we got a great spot up close...and I intentionally chose the left side in front of Dougie Payne, the bassist. He was a main source of entertainment as he would sex up his guitar to pretty much every song. I honestly could've been mesmerized by it during Eyes Wide Open, but Kway and Megan kept laughing in my ear -- it was pretty funny since he'd look right at us and make faces. He actually looked at us a lot, or at least it seemed that way.

See, Dougie is looking right at me.

Unfortunately, the people surrounding us were a bunch of stoned dancing idiots...I've said it before, I'm cursed. This one guy at first was dancing all over the place and annoyingly grazing M.L.'s arm. Then his curly-haired friend was so baked out of her head, she couldn't open her eyes and was singing jibberish not at all resembling the lyrics. And the sweet guys behind her had to put up with her ugly ass grinding in their laps...and they were not sure how to tell her to stop. We gave them sympathetic looks.

Look at those hips go.

But back to the show...aaaaaaaaaaaaamazing. I love how they seamlessly transition from songs like Selfish Jean and Why Does it Always Rain on Me that make you bounce and rock out to songs at the other end of the spectrum like Closer and As You Are that are more serious. This was another one of those great shows where all of the songs I hoped to hear were all played. Since I've been so concentrated on Closer lately, I videoed a large portion of that song...but the file is too big to upload here. :( I just love how Andy makes his guitar sound like a violin...I feel like I'm floating when I hear that song.

Fran is the man.

All 4 of these guys are just so loveable...but Fran takes the cake. He is one of the most genuine men with an incredibly adorable boyish charm. He loves to tell stories and talk candidly with the crowd like we're all buddies, he protected the little 8yr old kid in the front row with some earplugs and charmed us all into chanting at Claus and jumping up and down during Why Does it Always Rain. How could I not walk out of there feeling all warm and gooey inside? He just puts a smile on my face.

During the encore, Dougie and Andy played Fran's guitar for him

Incomplete set list, in an inaccurate order, but these are the ones that count:
Selfish Jean - Turn - Writing to Reach You - Flowers in the Window - All I wanna do is rock - Love will come through - Closer - Big Chair - My Eyes - Sing - As you are - Driftwood - Sailing - Battleships - Eyes Wide Open - Why does is always rain on me - and more.

So if you ever need a feel-good concert, see these guys. They will be a highlight of your year.

I was Arrested by The Police in New Orleans

Of all the classic rock artists that I'd want to see in my lifetime, one of the most unlikely of all can now be checked off my list. Sting, Andy, and Stewart put on a show that made me and 3 grown guys absolutely giddy. I still can't believe how close Chris got us to the stage, it was unbelievable! I just kept thinking "if i were on a dodgeball court right now, i would actually be able to hit Sting or Andy from here". So that's pretty close as I'm a bad thrower! See for yourself...

Before the show started...

And then once the show got rockin'.

Since this was a reunion tour, rather than a promotional one, all they played were their popular hits, so it was a trip to hear these songs straight from the horses mouth! They kicked it all off with "Message in a Bottle" and "Synchronicity II". We were all singing along and I couldn't help but dance and jump around -- I wasn't going to sit down just for the older people behind me, that was for damn sure. (Plus I was good and buzzed from my Hurricane and Jack&RC Cola by that point). My face hurt from smiling the whole time.

The Police. Legends.

With these kinds of reunion tours, you worry whether they will still sound good or like they got older, but this was not the case with the Police. They almost sounded BETTER than they did back in the day! Andy was also all over the place with his crazy antics, like doing push ups off the amps for example. We laughed at one point when Sting was making a glaring face at him and we could see Andy mouth to his guitar tech "Did I fuck up?" and then he made a face that we could tell meant the tech confirmed that he did and he felt like an ass. Classic.

Good 'ole Andy Summers.

Stewart Copeland, one of CJ's idols as a drummer, played amazingly. And he had the most elaborate drum kit I've ever seen. He starts the show with a bang on a huge gong (which he famously missed during a previous show). And since his secondary set of percussion was on an elevated platform behind him, it took a lot to get to it. One of my favorite moments in the show was when he realized a second late that "oh shit, I gotta get back there" and he hurriedly tries to climb but eats it and falls on his hands and knees. He brushed himself off with a laugh and a wave and after all the drama, he made it just in time to hit...the triangle. All of that for a little "ping!". We laughed our asses off.

Stewart rocking the triangle.

All the women were crazy for Sting...and I gotta say, he really does look good for his age. What other guy (besides Mick Jagger) could pull off those tiny pants? Plus, he plays the bass, so that makes him hotter. He came over to our side for a while during King of Pain, and right after I took the picture below, I giddily showed CJ how awesomely close he was and when I looked back up at Sting he was looking right at me...and then he winked at me! I was stunned to the core. I asked the guys for confirmation, "oh my God, did Sting just wink at me?" They all affirmed "umm, yeah I think he did!" I almost lost my shit. I had a moment with Sting. :)

A stones throw away from the Tantric Master.

Here is the set list of their hits:
Message in a Bottle - Synchronicity II - Walking on the Moon - Voices in My Head - Don't Stand So Close to Me - Driven to Tears - Truth Hits Everybody - Beds Too Big Without You - Every Little Thing she does is Magic - Wrapped Around Your Finger - De doo doo doo, De da da da - Invisible Sun - Walking in Your Footsteps - Cant Stand Losing You - Roxanne - (encore) King of Pain - So Lonely - Every Breath you Take - (encore II) Next to you/Dead End Job

And I'll leave you with a little video treat. It was a once in a lifetime event, and I'm so glad i got to share it with my boys. We then took the party to Bourbon street to continue the legendary evening (and luckily my camera died after the concert so I don't have any incriminating photos).

Don't Mute these Guys

5/3/07 MuteMath at LZR


I dont even know where to begin my review of this show except that it was AMAZING. I'm watching their live DVD right now as I write this blog since the set list is pretty similar. Difference though is that I can't feel the energy of the crowd here in my living room...and I think this image of Paul says a lot for the high energy of their performance. There were moments that tall people's heads were in my way and I knew I was missing something cool happening...usually involving one of the band members climbing on Paul's piano.

They actually jammed out a lot more than I thought they would...Paul and Roy (the bassist) both took turns rocking a huge bass drum, and Darren even once brought one up on top of the piano! Break The Same and Reset were two great examples of that. And Darren the drummer, rocks so hard that he literally tapes his headphones to his head with what looks like duct-tape so that they don't fall off. If you hear their songs, you'll recognize the intense driving beats that he brings, so its not surprising that he might get out of control live!

The lighting of their show is pretty cool, but as weird as this sounds, they almost don't even need it. The music is so dynamic you could just visualize a light show with your eyes closed.

I love how Paul is bringing SexyBack with the keytar...i haven't seen one of those since bad pop bands in the 80s. He's another front man that has a lot of charisma (and physical agility). He was extremely entertaining to watch as he jumped off the piano, kicked his legs up in the air like the pic above, ran around the stage, pounded the crap out of the bass drum...and he even crowd surfed! -- most of this happening during Break the Same. He also has a resemblance to the graphic designer at my job...and he agrees they'd look alike if he changed his hair to a faux-hawk like Paul's.


What can I say about their "sound" except that I LOVE IT! I guess I could say they have an electronic flavor like Radiohead, with an intesity similar to Muse, a hint of Jimmy Eat World and vocals reminiscent of an early Sting...if that makes any sense whatsoever. Thus, they are my favorite new band to come out of 2006 -- hands down. Apparently I was a little behind because they came to Austin twice before I even heard about them via Spin mag and iTunes free single of the week in the fall...and then I shared my new love for them with my ski trip crew. Of course my brother randomly ended up at one of their earlier gigs in town but didn't share with me how bad ass they were! Now we're on the same page and went to this show together...we both agree that Mute Math has the potential to make it big if their new album this fall is half as good as their first.

Apparently they've been labeled as a Christian-rock band, but I wouldn't categorize them that way. Thats like saying U2 is in the Christian genre. The religious tone of the lyrics is subtle on some songs, but I wouldn't say that is their main focus at all...spiritual thoughts just happened to be what they were thinking about at the time. The crowd tended to be kinda nerdy college kids who probably are fans of Christian rock...my borther's girlfriend and I made that observation by the way they were a bit socially awkward until they felt comfortable enough to hold their hands up and sway like they were at a Godflight show or something.

Usually after seeing a band live, I have a new appreciation for certain songs....in this case those songs would be "Noticed" and "Reset". Again the energy was insane and there was a great sing along to the chorus of Noticed. It was ringing in my head two days later so I made it my myspace profile song. "Reset" was basically their encore which works perfectly because that song pretty much can stand alone -- plus they trashed the stage so not much else could be done after that!

If you cant tell by my praise, I highly recommend you check out this promising group. The best first taste that I would suggest is "Chaos." Lemme know what you think!

Belated

At the last minute I joined up with my Tridelt sisters to see Guster and the Format play outside at Stubbs. It was a pretty good show...nothing that blew my mind or anything, but I really enjoyed my company. Plus the weather turned pretty cold that night so we kept moving to lower parts of the hill to block the cool breeze!

Sally cracked us up as she kept playing The Format's song, Dog Years, on our way to the show. It has such a marching beat once it gets past the intro, it makes me swing my arms around like I do when I listen to the Beatles Yellow Submarine. Good times.

Well, thats about all i have to say about the show, considering I let a month go by before writing this blog!

2007 is OK to GO!

Wow, I'm sad that its mid-March and this is my first post in 2007 (and my last post was in OCTOBER!). Either I've been a bad music-lover lately or just no one good has been touring this winter. With SXSW here this week, its going to be torturous to not go to all the shows right down the street from me, but a wristband is worthless and I don't have the connections to get a badge. Ah well, I wish all the great bands in town the best, and hopefully I can run into them at a restaurant or something! And maybe they'll be like OKGo who played SXSW last year and are now selling out Stubbs.

At the last minute today, I acquired a ticket to the OKGo and Snow Patrol show at Stubbs for tonight because a friend got sick. Not that I'm glad she got sick, but it was a great chance for me to hang out with our sorority sister Megan L. and I got to see a good show on a perfect Texas evening.

All I have to say about the first openers, Silversun Pickups, was that I was not impressed. I've seen it before in Jeff's band, Go Nova. Their 30 min set dragged on like it was an hour.

Gary of SP and his cool guitar strap

Although Snow Patrol is techinically headlining this tour, they didn't seem to be why most people came out. However, i must say, they exceeded my expectations... it wasn't the "snow suck ass" show I thought it would be, even though Gary still did his spastic arm moves. Actually in the beginning, we were convinced he was on some serious drugs the way he was acting and doing this head move that made it look like his eyes were rolling back in his head. But eventually his inter-song banter seemed too lucid for him to be as high as we thought - and he was very funny (Coffepot! ARGH! Tuesday! ARGH!). Anyways, this show was much better than the one I saw in April 2005 (see post "1 Austin Band and 2 from the UK"). The light show was enhancing, Gary enjoyed playing in the mouth of a great white shark and having a cup of ice thrown on him, and he brought up a sweet girl from the audience to sing "Set the Fire to the 3rd Bar" with him. I was surprised that I tended to like their "Eyes Open" material better live than I did the songs from "Final Straw". "Hands Open" is still ringing in my ears.


What we couldn't stop saying about OK Go was "they are just so cute!" These not-so-young guys wear suits (some modern business, some funky vintage) yet they have such a boyish charm - its just adorable to watch them play perky rock music. And to me, the lead singer, Damian, has a persona that is a mix of Pelle Almqvist of the Hives with a little Mick Jagger and a dash of Jim, from the tv show The Office. He has the right amount of cockiness and modesty to make him very charismatic. All the guys seem to really enjoy themselves like they know they are so lucky to be where they are. Their energy and creativity is very refreshing.

But we do appreciate their musical talent too! They sound similar to Weezer and the Strokes, plus they have great harmonies. Megan L. couldn't get over the fact that Andy could jump from the keys to the guitar so quickly (but she's never seen my brother do the same thing). The songs that stuck out to me besides their hits were "Television, Television" (their opener) and "Invincible". Here is a video i took of Here it Goes Again because they brought out this guy, Tim, who is the most badass jump-roper ever. Overall, a very energetic and entertaining show that has set the bar for the rest of 2007.