Every Show I Go To

[everyshowigoto]

BRNDA, Wooden Indian Burial Ground, Hex Net, Loi Loi - Velvet Lounge - 2014-06-07

Twice in a week, I went to shows with minimal planning.  Hanging out downtown after the DC Pride Parade, my friends had vague plans to meet up with another friend on U St.  Turns out this other friend was there for the show, and I was easily convinced. I arrived near the start of Loi Loi's set.  These guys are new to the scene, and from what I can gather their backstory involves multilingual siblings working for the U.S. abroad in China for a time, leading to up-beat indie-synth-rock sung in English, Chinese, and Spanish (and they usually style their name "Loi Loi 吕吕").  I found their set to be energetic and fun.  Their songs had variety, but were generally hooky, with a solid rhythm and engaging keys.  I was not able to find any recorded music of theirs afterwards, so it seems for now the only way to hear them is in person.

I went down for a beer after Loi Loi's set, and accidentally missed the entirety of Hex Net.  So I have no idea what they're about.  Look, this isn't serious journalism, here....

Wooden Indian Burial Ground are a noisy blues/rockabilly outfit from Portland, Oregon.  As far as I can tell, their style is what you'd call Psychobilly, which too be honest I haven't listened to much of before.  I said Loi Loi were energetic before, but these guys were even more so.  They played a long set, with a high tempo throughout, and kept it going the whole time.  From time to time, the distorted guitar piled on noise and distortion to the point that I'm not sure notes mattered anymore.  The drummer and bassist had serious chops, keeping it going the entire time.

That said, I did find Wooden Indian Burial Ground's style to be a bit repetitive.  While technically excellently played, by the fourth or so song, the baselines all started to sound the same, and there's only so many times a guitar can descend into chaotic guitar noise madness before it feels stale.  I think I'd have been happier if their set was shorter by a song or two.

Last up was BRNDA, DC-natives who I believe were formerly Brenda before optimizing their name for search engines.  These guys (and gal) seem hip.  They blend bouncy irreverence with a lo-fi indie aesthetic that at some times reminded me of the B-52s and at other The Walkmen.  They put their drummer at the front of the stage, presumably because she sings vocals on some songs (though her mic stand was not cooperating), which is an interesting change of pace.  I'm not sure if it was because of the altered setup, or their attitude, but the rhythm section was fun to watch.

Unfortunately, my exhaustion from the long day and long show overcame me, and I had to duck out before BRNDA finished their set, so these impressions come from their first 4-or-so songs. All in all, I would say I enjoyed the parts of the local DC bands's sets that I did catch, and hope to see them around again.

[everyshowigoto]

Dan Deacon - The Howard Theater - 2014-06-05

Is it a little strange that I had never been to the Howard Theatre before in my life, then went twice in a week?  I guess it was just a good week!

This show came as a bit of a surprise actually.  I had been looking into options for that night (there were already a couple other shows on my radar) when a friend said "but what about the free Dan Deacon show?"  Uh, Dan Deacon? Uh, free?  Sounds like a plan.  The Howard Theater asked that fans RSVP via their website in order to be guaranteed attendance, but once showtime arrived they were not even remotely checking to see if the people walking in were the same that RSVPd online.  I guess this show was fairly last-minute, with minimal promotion/advertising, so it was basically a free-for-all.

Despite listening to Dan Deacon since about 2009, and living not at all far from the Baltimore DIY scene where he built his initial following, this was my first time seeing him perform live.  His show did come highly recommended, with friends' reviews ranging from "awesome" to "insane" to "you will dance, even if you're in the worst mood."  I think those statements were pretty spot-on.

It's hard to say much about the musical performance aspect of the show.  I've heard that Dan Deacon sometimes tours with a band that plays conventional instruments, but for the most part his music is focused around a table of electronics--samplers, sine-wave generators, effects boxes, pitch-shifters... maybe there's a keyboard up there but I didn't get a good look.  He hits a lot of buttons, turns a lot of knobs, and yells into the mic.

Despite being an electronic act, the music is not exactly reproduced as on record. Many of the songs were new, or many were ones I only vaguely recognized, but I did take particular note of his particularly energetic rendition of "Paddling Ghost" which got the whole crowd singing along.  His last song of the night was a 14-minute single-take of large chunks of his latest album, America.

What really impressed me, above all else, was the great energy in the crowd.  Ever since post-punk went out of fashion, DC has had a reputation for relatively stagnant crowds, at least at indie shows.  Lots of people standing around with their arms folded.  No such thing was allowed at this show.  During the intro of the first song, Dan Deacon asked the entire crowd to lift their hands in the air then mash them into their faces like a face-hugger from Alien.  During subsequent songs, he arranged several dance competitions, asked audience members to lead sections of the crowd by making up dance moves, or reach their hands onto their neighbors heads to feel each others' energy.  

And everyone complied.

I don't think there was a person in the room who wasn't sweating from dancing by the end of the show.  I found energy I didn't know I had after a long day at the office, and for that, Dan Deacon, I thank you.

[everyshowigoto]

Drop Electric / The Walking Sticks - The Howard Theater - 2014-05-30

Who can possibly get downtown on a Friday Night for an early show?  Don't they know I need a good nap after a long week of work?  It seems the Howard Theater was pulling a double, with the bill for the early show (starting at 7pm... so early!) including local favs Drop Electric, up-and-coming The Walking Sticks, and Raised By Wolves.

Due to the early nature of the show, I actually missed the entirety of Raised by Wolves' set, and most of The Walking Sticks.  I only caught two songs by The Walking Sticks.  The first of those two was a cover of something, though I didn't actually register what it was, having just walked in and being wholly unfamiliar with The Howard Theater in general.  Actually, I'm not sure cover is the right word, since no one was playing any instruments (only a pre-programmed background track), it was more like karaoke.  

The next song, their final song of the night, I recognized from DC Music Download's Live Session as "Name On It".  Again there was pre-programmed synth/percussion, with funky 80's-influenced synths and sparse guitar.  Lead singer Chelsea Lea absolutely killed it.  From what I've listened to of their latest record, they tend toward a sparse, atmospheric dream pop sound.  It sounds very well-produced, and I think they'd go along really well with other DC favorites GEMS. That said, if they're going to keep their instrumentation and line-up so thin, it would be nice if they did something to fill up the live show more in some form.  Maybe push the instrumentation they do have to add the atmospheric layers that come across better on the record, or do something with the lighting or stage presence to make it feel more engaging.

The stage was changed over, and Drop Electric came on.  They immediately launched into what became a huge, loud, long set.  I've seen Drop Electric a few times, and they are always very tight.  They create  slow powerful builds--it's cliché to use the word "epic", but at times that's how it feels. The vocals were a little rough at the start, but maybe singer/guitarist/keyboardist Kristina Reznikov just needed a bit to warm up, as it blended more as the show went on.  Vocals aren't exactly the primary element of their music anyway.

It's easy to compare Drop Electric to well-known post-rock outfits such as Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Sigur Ros.  The last of those most apparently, since, like Sigur Ros, Drop Electric makes heavy use of slow piano chords as a foundation, and one of their guitarists plays some songs with a cello bow for that lathered-in-reverb feel.  

Most bands working in the post-rock genre, and Drop Electric is definitely no exception here, excel at creating moody and ominous tones, layers that cast multiple feelings resulting in a mixture of hope, fear, yearning, and bittersweetness.  Unlike most of the other bands, however, Drop Electric also instill a sense of primacy and urgency.  Maybe it has to do with their video projections, which often include live-action short films to accompany some songs.  Or maybe it's the way their guitars layer so much and get so loud, or the fact that their drummer Ramtin Arablouei is not content to just follow the slow-builds and marches, but hits full on power-drumming mode on many songs.  

Regardless of what it is, these guys never fail to impress, and their take on post-rock is simultaneously definitive of yet unique within the genre, and as such they deserver every bit of success that comes their way.

[everyshowigoto]

Deleted Scenes w/ Celestial Shore and Laughing Man - Rock & Roll Hotel - 2014-05-22

It's been a long time since I've updated this here thing.  I guess I've been a bit out of it, and the shows I have been to over the past however many months I haven't had the energy to write about.  No matter; I'm back at it now.

Deleted Scenes have been for years one of my favorite DC-based bands.  I first caught playing over an empty swimming pool at a house party hosted by Bellflur.  At first listen, I thought they were very straightforward indie-pop--but the more of their music I heard (and the more they released), the more apparent it became that their music is something different.

But first, the openers.  I'd heard some very nice things about Laughing Man so I was happy to finally catch their set.  It's hard to pin down a genre for them. I heard bits of blues, classic rock, psych-rock, hints of surf, but also some prog and some steady driving beats of modern indie/alt-rock.  Their entire set was pushed forward by their two drummers.  Unfortunately this also made it very loud; it was at times tough to pick out the punchy bass and reverby guitar over the pounding drums.  The sound did seem to improve as their set went on, and it also seemed to get tighter and more cohesive.  From what I can tell they have a new EP coming out soon, so we'll have to keep an ear out for it.

The second act was Celestial Shore.  They had an odd presence as they took the stage, with the guitarist and bassist appearing almost too-small for their instruments (an effect which their shy, falsetto singing over the first few songs only enhanced), while their drummer appeared to surround his kit like the Hulk.  The initial vibe I got was They Might Be Giants meets Sonic Youth, though after the first couple songs that pretty much just faded into a Sonic Youth vibe -- aggressive distorted rock songs with some intense (and rather impressive) power drumming.  If I can say one thing about them, I think it's that first appearances may be deceiving.

Deleted Scenes started strong, powering through some of the highlights of their new album Lithium Burn--the aggressive squealing of Haircuts/Uniforms and crazy chopped up vocals of Stutter (in which frontman Dan Scheuerman manipulates his vocals with a weird little controller box I did not recognize).  From there they launched into some slower and more seemingly introspective numbers, interspersed with a few from their previous two records.

One thing that constantly surprises me about Deleted Scenes is just how much weirdness there seems to be in their songwriting.  Who else could write as super-catchy song in 7/8 time as "Fake IDs"?  I can see how the ended up opening for The Dismemberment Plan recently, as while their instrumental palette is a bit different, they seem to have a similar sensibility for weird sounds and emotive lyrics.

Strangely, as their set went on, I began to feel drained and disconnected.  Maybe it was something about the mood and lyrics of their newest record, which has some fairly heavy themes of relationship struggles.  Or maybe I was just fuck-all tired from several weeks of non-stop action.  Regardless, I was still thoroughly impressed with Deleted Scenes, and would recommend them to anyone.

[everyshowigoto]

The XX and Grizzly Bear - Merriweather Post Pavilion - 2013-06-16

Grizzly Bear and The XX seems like a slightly odd pairing.  Grizzly Bear are loud. lush, reverb-soaked American indie rock, while XX are quiet, whispery, British minimal electro-rock.  They have their commonalities, though.  For example, the first time I saw each of them live was at Coachella (different years though).  They both released really excellent, acclaimed albums dubbed as "follow-ups" in 2012 (though Grizzly Bear's Shields is their third full-length while Coexist is only number two for The XX).

I sort of thought that Grizzly Bear, being around the block for a few more years, older, with more full-length albums, would be the bigger and more anticipated band.  I was surprised to find that they were on first (the show was billed as a double-headliner, and I for some reason assumed it would be XX followed by Grizzly Bear).  I was also surprised to find that Merriweather Post Pavilion, especially the seated section, did not seem very full for Grizzly Bear.

No matter though, as they still put on an excellent show.  Grizzly Bear do a fantastic job setting their mood.  Although their guitars are slathered in reverb and delay, there's still something very punchy about their songs. The rhythm section's bright Rickenbacker bass tones and bouncy drum patterns accentuate rather than drive.

They played most of their well-received new album Shields, as well as solid amounts of Veckatimest and Yellow House that included more than just the poppy "favorites".  Of course, they played those too.  I'll never tire of the song "Knife", and it's always a pleasure to see live, even as their sound slowly changes with more and more upbeat numbers like "Speak In Rounds" and "A Simple Answer".

The sun set and the stage was changed over.  The XX came out to much fanfare--apparently the pavilion really filled up.  I recall being slightly underwhelmed the first (and only other) time I saw the XX.  I thought that while they were technically playing their songs competently, their show was a bit boring.  I had heard reviews from that tour describing their headlining shows as "intimate" and "captivating", but their festival set failed to grasp me in the midst of everything else going on.

This time, I was pleasantly surprised.  Instead of a drummer, The XX employs a percussionist whose main focus is electronics, playing samplers by hand as well as running drum machines, playing keyboards, tweaking effects, and yes, even actually hitting a few drums, triggers, and cymbals with sticks and mallets.  In fact, his platform took up the entire back of the stage with so many different setups.  He continued to play in ways divergent from the record, often times using an electronic drum pattern to lead straight from one song into another, or adding layers and sounds designed specifically for the stage show.

Meanwhile, their co-lead singers each only play bass or guitar, and still somewhat sparsely at that.  Even so, any thinness is made up for with passion and energy.  They both used wireless systems so they could move around the stage with their instruments freely whenever not on vocal duty, and they took advantage of this to be much more engaging than I'd expected.  On top of the expanded electronics, and some very well-matched lighting, the XX's set felt huge and intimate at the same time.

[everyshowigoto]

David Byrne & St. Vincent - Meyerhoff Symphony Hall - 2013-06-13

I am a big fan of St. Vincent, and of course who can deny the awesomeness of David Byrne?  Their collaborative album, Love This Giant, took a little while for me to warm up to.  It's different than what I was expecting, utilizing an 8-piece pop horn section as the primary instrumentation.  Both of these artists in the past have often relied on guitar and bass hooks and big synths, with additional arrangements leaning towards orchestral and supplemental.  Although it was a slow-grower for me, the album is pulled off expertly, and the live show just as well.

Some things I noticed during this show:  1. Annie Clark (St Vincent) is now blonde.  Fun!  2. David Byrne does not look or act 61 years old.  Some of his dance moves convinced me he could rock some Dance Dance Revolution.  3. Both of them are individually quirky yet totally confident, and do any amazing job backing each other up and taking turns dominating the stage.  4. There may be nothing quite as satisfying as watching an Annie Clark David Byrne Theremin Battle.

Live highlights lined up pretty well with my favorites from the album.  Album Opener "Who" is also a fantastic show opener. "I am an Ape" and "I Should Watch TV" absolutely fucking rock.  "The Forest Awakes" was better live than on the album, and I do like that song.  In addition to all the Love This Giant fare, half their set was re-arrangements of existing David Byrne/Talking Heads and St. Vincent songs, and they all sounded great.  

There was an obvious divide in the crowd:  I would say the majority of the crowd were middle-aged, folks who probably love Talking Heads back in the 80's.  It was sort of funny to watch them get up and rock out to classic Byrne songs like "Naive Melody" and "Lazy", while remaining calm through all the duo and St. Vincent stuff, especially when contrasted with the college-age girls who had apparently snuck down from the balconies to rock out to "Cheerleader" and "Cruel".  This was also clearly a great show for parent-child rock-n-roll bonding.

As eager as I am to hear where St. Vincent is going with her own stuff, part of me hopes this collaboration continues in some form after this tour.  I think it would be really cool to see David Byrne & St Vincent take off in a way that doesn't hinge upon their individual successes.  Hey, David Byrne did two collaborative albums with Brian Eno, so why not Annie Clark?

[everyshowigoto]

Monument, Cake and Calculus, Mittenfields - Rock & Roll Hotel - 2013-05-30

Wow it's been way too long since I've been to a show.  And this one, sadly, I had to attend alone since apparently all of my friends are lame.  It's always harder to convince friends to go see local music, even when it's a very solid triple bill.

I've seen Mittenfields a few times before.  On their first EP, The Fresh Sum, they have a fairly straight-forward indie guitar rock sound.  Live, they are much louder and very, very shoe-gaze influenced.  Not many bands have three guitars and handle it well, but Mittenfields does a good job of crafting layers of guitar distortion that balances noise and texture with melody and progression.  I recently picked up and am really liking the newest My Bloody Valentine record, and it pleases me that Mittenfields are making sounds in the same vein.

Cake and Calculus were the only band in this line-up that I don't have any prior experience with.  A relatively new band, I was surprised to see them in the middle spot on a Rock and Roll Hotel bill (and equally surprised to see Mittenfields opening instead of closing).  That said, they probably brought the largest portion of the crowd, and played a really solid set.  Their music reminds me a lot of Pinback, and at times has the sort of really smart melodic sensibility of local DC favorites Deleted Scenes.  It also reminded me a bit of my old college scene, which made this set feel vaguely nostalgic and fresh at the same time.  They were the least loud band of the night, which probably isn't saying much.  Also, all their songs are apparently about wizards.

I know I've seen Monument before, perhaps even played on a bill with them, but for some reason going in to this show I thought they were a mostly-instrumental desert/stoner-rock band.  I must have had them totally mistaken for another band, because, that's not what they are at all (aside from a couple of their heavier moments).  Actually, Monument lined up really well with the other two bands--their sound being somewhat in-between the other two.  They have some of Mittenfields' loud, layered guitar work and some similar vocal and melodic work to Cake and Calculus.  I also heard hints of post-punk in their set, and they tended to stick to faster tempos than the other two bands.

Overall I'd say all three bands were very tight.  I am a bit saddened that there weren't more people coming to the show, especially considering that people are usually more willing to go out o a Thursday when it's nice out.  I've seen Mittenfields draw big crowds at the Black Cat MainStage before and I know Monument has an established fan base, so I was a bit sad to see only about 30 or so people in the crowd.  Furthermore, I've said it before, but I'll say it again... I hate the practice of Door Polling especially for Rock & Roll Hotel's local bills, and I hope the bands decided on an even split for anything they made off the show.  I'd say any of these bands are worth a few bucks, and will be watching Cake and Calculus as the newest on the scene.

[everyshowigoto]

Jenny Owen Youngs - DC9 - 2013-04-22

OK.  I've been a major slacker.  It's been a month and I haven't updated for this show (nor seen any other shows in a month! WTF!) and now the memory is fading, so I guess I'll be brief.

I was worried, watching the opener, whose name I can't even recall 100% correctly (Susan Harmony maybe), that this show might not be fun.  There was nothing technically wrong with her playing, and she had a good voice, but the songs were just very simplistic singing-over-4-accoustic-guitar-chords and sort of boring, not really adventurous at all.  I didn't care for it, and was worried I might feel the same about Jenny Owen Youngs. Jenny, however, did not disappoint.  For starters, just bringing along a drummer and an electric guitar upped the energy.  I'm not very well familiar with Jenny Owen Youngs' discography; I'd given each of her albums a few spins before the show.  I think my favorite is actually her oldest, Batten the Hatches, which includes some very Nick Drake-inspired tunes that I dig as well as her apparently fan-favorites "Fuck Was I" and "Drinking Song".  Her records seem to get more poppy as time goes on, not in a bad way, but in a way that doesn't excite and inspire me as much.

OK, I have to take a moment here for her drummer.  Not because he was the best drummer I've ever seen, but because he had one of the strangest setups I've seen.  Two snares, one floor tom (no rack toms), one ride cymbal, one splash cymbal, a rather small bass drum, and no crash cymbals.  Instead he had what appeared to be 14" crashes used as high-hats... not that he even played the "hats" much as he put a tambourine over them for half the songs and rode the floor tom a lot.  His kit was set up to have very little sustain or reverberation, and to sound just different enough from what we're used to.  Combined with his very accurate and precise playing, it really complemented Jenny's guitar playing and singing.

The set was heavy on the newest album, which is also the most poppy album.  I would have liked a few more older songs, but I know it's not really to be expected if she's touring new stuff.  That said, Jenny Owen Youngs was incredibly engaging the entire time through.  She stopped at one point to just take requests--I guess she had about a 3-song section open to whatever--and she refused to take requests of the songs she was going to "encore" anyway.  In-between songs, she was really funny and amiable.  And her playing and singing were both spot on.  She endeared herself to me by skipping the usual "go off stage and take a break before the encore" thing that EVERY headliner in the world does these days regardless of whether it's requested or not.  Instead, she said "OK, I'm going to play this song, and then we're going to pretend like I left the stage and you all cheered for awhile and I came back, and then I'm going to play these two more songs... and then I'm running straight to the bathroom to pee so get outta my way."

So it was a fun show.  And that's all I have to say about that.

[everyshowigoto]

Born Ruffians - Rock & Roll Hotel - 2013-04-21

I've seen Born Ruffians now three times, each time at Rock & Roll Hotel, and they have yet to let me down.

Moon King opened.  I only caught the last two songs of their set.  They were cool, but it seemed like they couldn't decide between ironic indie rock and post-hardcore.  RIYL Sleigh Bells I guess?  I don't know, I'll have to check them out more since I only caught two songs.

Born Ruffian's newest album, Birthmarks, dropped only a couple days before this show, so I didn't get a chance to listen to it beforehand.  Their set was heavy on material from this new album, and, despite not knowing it, I was pretty okay with that.  A couple songs instantly caught my attention, enough so that they felt familiar when listening to the album after-the-fact.  In particular, "6-5000" and "Too Soaked to Break".  "Needle" is really good as well.

Their set was also heavy on good stuff from Red, Yellow, Blue, which is great because that's a fucking awesome album, largely due to its awesomely hooky bass lines.  I will not get tired of watching their bass player, uh, play bass.  Solid songs like "Kurt Vonnegut" and "I Need a Life" and "Badonka Donkey"!  They did not play "Foxes Mate For Life", or Say It's "Sole Brother", but the volume of other good stuff really was high enough.

Also I got these cool light-up cubes.  This is a sightly odd piece of merch, a unique physical object.  The colors change slowly; they will be in sync if you turn them on at the same time, but it's more fun to turn them on spaced apart and see what cool combinations they make.  Born Ruffian's stage setup had two large triangles that did a similar color-change-fun-time, and part of me wonders if it's a bit of a call-back to Red, Yellow, Blue.

[everyshowigoto]

Cloud Cult - Black Cat - 2013-04-13

My friend and I got to Black Cat at just about the time the opener would be taking the stage.  Of course there was a short line out the door to check IDs and people who needed to purchase or pick up will-call tickets.  Thankfully it was a way shorter line than that outside some of the neighboring clubs on 14th street (why are the lines for such generic clubs so long!?).  As luck would have it, a friendly fellow concert-goer asked us if we were buying tickets (we were), and proceeded to tell us that they were on the guest list and had a spare, and please take it.  We tried to give them money for it, but they said not to bother as they'd only paid $5 for it in the first place, so, thank you random mystery guest-list stranger! 

Inside, the opening band JBM was playing.  I don't have much to say about them.  Most of their music was very downtempo and didn't really do much to catch my attention. Nothing sounded bad, it just also didn't sound terribly interesting.  I anticipated the main act.

I feel like I have an interesting personal relationship with Cloud Cult.  I don't really listen to them that often, probably wouldn't even put them in my top 25 bands, but I always enjoy listening to them when I do.  Some bands make me very nostalgic for certain places or times or people, and it feels like Cloud Cult should be one of those bands, but instead I sort of vaguely associate them with several people and places and times.  Sometimes, especially when I'm feeling cynical, I think that maybe Cloud Cult's lyrics are totally corny, and then I realize that A) it's totally heartfelt and B) I don't care.  I very much expected their performance to have a lot of good energy and to be very enjoyable, and they absolutely met these expectations.

Cloud Cult played a solid hour-and-a-half set, which leaned fairly heavily on material from their newest album Love and previous release Light Chasers.  These are basically the two albums I am least familiar with, but even though I didn't know the majority of the songs I was still engaged for every minute of it.  Cloud Cult has two visual artists who paint while the band plays, using the energy of the music to feed their compositions.  It was cool to watch them whip around their spinning easels during the really rocking parts, and their art to slowly take form over the course of the stage.  It's very cool to have that additional element to look at or focus on when there's not much else going on on stage--but then again there's usually lots going on on stage.

One thing that I've always really liked about Cloud Cult is their sense of composition and arrangement.  The band has a full time cellist and violinist who also provide backing vocals on some songs; their bass player also plays a trombone and bells, and they have a girl who plays french horn, trumpet, keyboards, and glockenspiel, sometimes all in the same song!  They are comfortable moving around between different instruments, and, lest it get too chamber-poppy, they also mix in electronic drums and synth sounds in ways that are unexpected, but really work.  "Chain Reaction" is sort of one of their well-known songs that I think does this very well, and they're all over it on the newest album.

Cloud Cult are very earnest in trying to be a force for good.  According to their wikipedia page, they tour in a biodiesel bus covered in solar panels, use only recycled materials in their CDs and packaging, and run their studio on geothermal energy.  They are totally unafraid to rock out in a way that is at times aggressive, or maybe cathartic, but the overall feeling you get from their music is very positive and feel-good.  Lead singer Craig Minowa started out the show saying he felt a very good energy in the room, and everybody smiled and cheered.  Later on, he said that this was the biggest crowd they'd every played for.  That actually took me quite by surprise, as they've been writing and playing and touring for over 10 years, and their music does seem generally very well-received.  I guess the lsat few ties they've played DC has been at the Rock & Roll Hotel which is half the size of Black Cat, but I can't imagine those shows being anything less than packed.  

Regardless, I'm glad that there was a big crowd, and it was a good, friendly, enthusiastic crowd, which I guess plays right in to the music.  I think the random stranger with the spare ticket was sort of foreshadowing of the general feeling of the whole night, and I like that. As corny as it sounds, it makes you want to do like the song "Chain Reaction" says, and "put out love, and they'll feel love."

[everyshowigoto]

Sigur Ros - Patriot Center - 2013-03-24

I first got to know Sigur Ros on many a car trip between Northern VA and the Charlottesville, VA, when I held a job there over the summer of 2004.  I had purchased a copy of ( ) on a recommendation, and burned a copy of Agætis Byrjun off a coworker.  These became go-to albums for late-night road trips.  I find their beauty astounding.  I don't think they've toured North America often since then, or at least their tours were never on my radar such that I never caught a chance to see them live until now.

The conditions were not ideal.  Sunday Night was unfortunately cold, and actually snowing, and I thought I was getting over a cold but actually about to launch into a tonsil infection a day later.  The Patriot Center is a weird venue for a band like Sigur Ros -- It's GMU's basketball arena, after all--not exactly designed for amazing acoustics.  The opener was apparently just half an hour of ambient piano music.  The stage was covered with large curtain/screens so I couldn't even tell if anyone was up there, but they did dim the lights and then turn them back on so I guess it was an opening act maybe.

When Sigur Ros finally took the stage, everything came together.  The sound was actually really good, I could hear all the instruments and nothing sounded too loud or too quiet.  Sigur Ros are a three-piece now, but touring with extra musicians playing strings, horns, guitar, keys, and percussion.  Their opening song was something new, and they had the screens up projecting on to them, and using lights to project silhouettes of the three main members onto the screen.  As singer/guitarist Jonsi moved back and forth his silhouette grew to giant-size.  And then at a particularly big moment during the second song, which I recognized as an older one (checking the setlist later it was "Ny Batterí" from Agætos Byrjun), the screens dropped and the whole band was visible.  The cool light show continued with a bunch of individual bare bulbs setup all over the stage and projections behind everyone.

I feel lucky that they played a varied setlist which was actually fairly heavy on their older stuff.  I'm most familiar with Agætis Byrjun and ( ), and a little familiar with Takk... so I was glad that slightly over half the setlist came from those three, and a lot of the rest was brand new stuff.  I remember particular striking were the third song, "Untitled 1" (aka "Vaka"), and then near the end of the set "Olsen Olsen".  I remember the few brand-new songs sounding very interesting, generally with a lot of additional percussion which made them stand out.  

The only thing that could have made me happier about the set I think is if they had played either "Svefn G Englar" or "Staralfur", which are my two favorite tracks of Agætis Byrjun and in my opinion two of the most moving songs ever.  They played "Hoppípolla", which I quite like, but which feels like a "light" version of the other two.  However, they absolutely nailed it with the show closing encore of "Untitled 8" (a.k.a. "Popplagið").  I have to say I was utterly transfixed by that one.  It was so huge, better than on record, perfectly-played.  That was a really good way to end the night; I left feeling sort of full.  I'm not sure full of what exactly... wonder? excitement? beauty? joyfulness? Some mix of those things, which I suppose is a good description of the music Sigur Ros creates.  I am glad I had this opportunity to see them do it live.

[everyshowigoto]

Ugly Purple Sweater - Velvet Lounge - 2013-03-16

Aaah I'm getting slower with updating this.  My intention is to write *something* about every single show I go to (and also to go to lots of shows, because music is one of the best things in life).

Three bands played Saturday Night at the Velvet Lounge.  First up were The NRIs.  I'd heard of them several times before, and actually am acquainted with their keyboard player.  Their set was solid, sort of poppy rock music.  A lot of their tunes would fit in really well with late-90's alternative radio, before the invention of Nu-Metal, when Cake and Counting Crows and Barenaked Ladies were all in their prime... Which isn't music I am typically into.  A lot of their songwriting wasn't terribly adventurous, though when they did go out on a limb a bit it was pretty good and I definitely have to say this band is tight and has their shit together.

The second band was The Fire Tapes.  They were the least poppy of the night's three acts.  Their music was a bit more ethereal (as much as you can be with distorted guitars) and shoegazy, I think I heard hints of Blonde Redhead and My Bloody Valentine in there.  It was a weird fit for the mood of the night, but I definitely liked it.

Finally, Ugly Purple Sweater.  I've seen them a couple times before.  Their songwriting is smart, poppy without being saccharine, and just generally well put-together. There's not too much to say about them other than, if you haven't checked them out yet, you ought to.

[everyshowigoto]

DMD 1-Year Show - Rock N' Roll Hotel - 2013-03-15

Now this is a show I have been looking forward to for a while.  I honestly think that DC Music Download is one of the best things that's happened in the local music scene in a long time.  They're pretty much on top of their game, and usually one of the first places i check when looking for my next show.  This show promised a lot: two up-and-coming local bands that I'd heard some good things about (The North Country and The Silver Liners), well-known DC post-rockers Drop Electric, and the always amiable Paperhaus.

North Country I knew the least about going in.  About all I knew was that they had some psych/folk influence, and I liked a couple tracks I'd listened to online before the show.  They definitely delivered on the sort of indie-folk aesthetic, with tight cello, violin, and vocal harmonies accompanying the standard drums/guitar/bass.  I really enjoyed watching their drummer, whose playing was incredibly tight and precise, each hit sounding perfectly planned.  Overall I'd say they're solid and worth a listen.

I had heard some buzz about The Silver Liners, both from DC Music Download and via a friend-of-a-friend raving about them.  The couple tracks I listened to promised solid though not necessarily adventurous pop-rock.  I was pleasantly surprised that their live sound was actually slightly more adventurous than I initially expected, and they had a sort of 80's new-wave slant on some tracks that I enjoyed.  However, they did have one glaring problem, which is that their female vocalist, who was mostly singing backup/harmonies, but lead on some songs, sounded off the entire night.  They sounded OK on record, so maybe she just couldn't hear herself up there.. often a problem in small clubs, but, uh, warning, rant incoming..... If your only job in a band is to sing, you need to make sure you can hear whatever you need to hear to sing on pitch.  It can be hard to get enough in the monitors.  In this case, Silver Liners had their guitar amps up quite loud which meant that the sound guy would have to turn up the vocals in the monitors quite a lot to compensate, but there's only so far you can go before feedback.  This girl needed to say "I need more vocals in the monitors, or everyone else needs to turn down".  They were really loud, so it would have been okay to turn down a notch.  Foreals.  OK Rant over.

Moving on!  Drop Electric!  These guys are always awesome.  Always.  They are really fucking loud.  Big, epic builds.  Very reminiscent of Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, but with more synth/keys.  I'm OK with that.  I really enjoyed watching their vocalist/guitarist Kristina really get into it during the builds, and the other members jump from instrument to instrument, and their other guitarist Neel do the play-guitar-with-a-bow thing which, when done right (and they do it right), sounds full and wonderful.  I wish they'd had their string section with them, but even without they brought it quite nicely.

Finally, the show was headlined by Paperhaus.  These guys are well known around here, especially because they have a house that they call the Paperhaus where they put on house shows.  It is very cool to pack in to a living room and see both local and touring bands play for you for free (or for donations/pass-the-hat) just for the love of the music.  These guys bring that spirit to the stage as well.. and I think they've been letting influences from all these various DC bands that play their living room seep into their own music.  Of all the well-known DC bands out there, I think Paperhaus have the most sort of blues or roots-rock influence, but during their set you could tell that they are allowing their songs to also alternate towards tight pop in some places and spacey jams in others.  To be honest, I don't much care for some of their slower or simpler numbers (they often front show-closer "Diamond Days" like a single, but I think it's sort of meh), but I definitely dig the direction their music is headed.

One last note about the show, and a constant annoyance at this particular venue, was Door Polling.  I went to this show because a prominent local music blog was putting together a show with four prominent local bands, two of which I'd seen before, one of which I already know and love, and two that I was genuinely interested in checking out.  But the door poll basically says the $12 I spend to get in will all go to just one of those bands if they split by the poll.  I really, really hope the bands and the good folks over at DMD did not do a strict door-poll split, since everyone involved deserved their fair share.  It was a good show overall, and I hope DMD puts on more like it in the future!

[everyshowigoto]

Shark Week / Dance for the Dying - Rock N' Roll Hotel - 2013-03-08

OK, so we rolled into this show a little late.  The only band I had any familiarity with going into this show was Dance for the Dying, but there's been a decent amount of buzz about Shark Week around the DC music scene, so it seemed like a good idea to check them out, and I'm always down for checking out other new and local stuff.  Unfortunately, showing up late means we missed all of Joy Buttons and almost all of Flying Eyes.  The latter were playing their last song as we walked in.  It sounded big, and I was later told by my friend Mick who caught the whole thing that they put on a very good set.  Alright, I'll keep them in mind for future times.

Dance for the Dying came on and started into their indietronic dance rock set.  This is the third or fourth time I've seen them in a little under two years, and I can honestly say they get better every single time.  As a whole, the band sounded really tight.  They usually sound tight on their better-known songs like Ordinary Objects, but I was impressed by their overall super tightness all the time everywhere this night. 

The sound mix was really good as well--some engineers or venues or bands fail at properly mixing when synth/keys and guitar/bass are equally important and used, but tonight the mix was really good.  Singer/keytarist front lady MC Wolfe was on her game as well.  Her vocals were really spot on, and she does bring such a charm and energy to the stage.  Dance for the Dying is always a good time, and the fact that they seem to get better and tighter every time gives me very high hopes for their future.

Now then we had the headliner, Shark Week.  This show was apparently in celebration of releasing a new single and heading off to SXSW.  Shark Week are a band I've seen the name of a bunch of times--sharing gigs with another band I know, or playing a venue I usually keep an eye on, or maybe on a blog like DCMusicDownload.  I'd never actually checked them out before now.  They are billed (at least on the Facebook invite) as "surf pop garage rock".  I suppose that is a pretty accurate description, as there was a lot of Surf and Garage Rock influences from what I can tell.

Overall, though, I'd have to say I wasn't as enamored with them as I hoped to be.  A couple of their songs were fairly catchy, though not so much that I recalled the hooks or song titles after the set.  Technically, they played pretty well - they sounded pretty tight and together.  That said, I think I was hoping for something a little more laid back surf or psychy… and although those influences were there, it also felt like there was an influence of jock rock or hair metal.  Like they wanted to be loud-and-in-your-face but didn't really need to be.  I often like long instrumental breaks if they are progressve or buildy or spacey, but whenever Shark Week had a long instrumental it seemed to be more like a vampy solo over a straightforward chord progression.  I don't want to say they were bad at what they did, because once I sort of saw what they were going for it seemed like they hit that mark--I was just expecting (and sort of hoping) that they were going somewhere different.

I'm pretty excited to go back to R&R Hotel next week for dcmusicdownload's 1-year show featuring Paperhaus, the always solid Drop Electric, and two bands that I've never seen but heard a couple good things about, the North Country and The Silver Liners.

[everyshowigoto]

Stars, Rams Head Live, 2013-03-07

I first heard Stars during a sort of miniature musical awakening sometime around 2005, around the same time I discovered Broken Social Scene, New Pornographers, and many others.  Despite Set Yourself on Fire being one of my favorite albums for years, I'd never managed to actually go see them until finally making the trek up to Baltimore on Thursday.

The opening act was a band called Milo Greene from LA.  Of course we were wondering if Milo Greene was just the name of a guy with a backing band.  It quickly became apparent that this was a cohesive band working together without presence of any individual ego.  Everyone but the drummer traded instruments as well as sang.  Different people took lead vocals on different songs, and there was a lot of vocal chorus/harmony going on.  They were pretty varied with their setups--banjo, acoustic guitar, keyboards, extra drums/percussion.  

Milo Greene's sound synthesized a lot of elements, what I'd call indie-pop, indie-rock with some folk influences.  They'd switch between full-band chorused vocals and long sections with no vocals at all which would build up layers of sound in a very cinematic or post-rocky vibe as well.  I'd have to say I dug it.

Stars finally came on after what seemed like a somewhat long changeover considering all their gear was back-lined.  They opened up with a couple tracks off their new album, The North.  I was worried their set would be very heavy on the new stuff--which worried my partly because I'm not as familiar with it (I hadn't actually listened to The North at all aside from earlier in the day), and party because I really really like a lot of older Stars stuff off of Heart and Set Yourself on Fire.  I was pleasantly surprised with the mix in the set.

After the first couple tracks, Stars varied it quite a bit, and did pull from their repertoire as far back as Heart.  I was really happy to hear "Death to Death", which, if I remember correctly they said they hadn't played in about 8 years.  Other classics included "Ageless Beauty", "What I'm Trying to Say", and my personal favorite "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead".  Actually, this last song I expected to be an encore due to its popularity but they played it smack in the middle of the set.  The band seemed dedicated to making this a non-standard show, and that definitely seems the case comparing to some of their other recent set lists which, from what I can tell, have been fairly formula.  They even played a brand new song called "The Light" which, well, for the most part it sounded pretty par for the course for Stars, but did have a really cool sort of edgy guitar riff that came in a few times.

Lead singer Torquil Campbell seemed really happy and enthusiastic about playing for the crowd, thanking the crowd and the opener and the staff multiple times and especially thanking people for bothering to spend money on live music.  He also seemed weird obsessed with Death and Ghosts, talking about the general topic of death at several points during the set, which I found sort of odd especially considering how otherwise enthusiastic and up-beat he seemed.  Singer/Guitarist Amy Millan seemed a little bit more grounded in her stage banter.

The one down-side to this show, wasn't really because of the band at all.  This is the first show I've been to in a while (maybe ever) where I felt sort of old.  The crowd at this show was much younger than I expected -- many more Xs on both hands indicating under-21 status.  Maybe this is because I am used to going out in DC which maybe tends towards a slightly older crowd, maybe most of Baltimore's Stars fans are from the various Universities, or maybe Stars demographic just skews younger than I expected.  Actually, there were a couple kids standing near me who looked barely even High-School age… how young must they have been in 2005 when Set Yourself on Fire came out?  Seeing all these youngsters combined with feeling somewhat tired and low energy from working all week, not sleeping well, and having to drive up to Baltimore from the DC suburbs had the overall effect of making me feel like such an old man and past my prime.  

No matter, though… I'd have other nights to feel young again, and the show was most definitely not ruined.  I'm not sure if I'll have the chance to see Stars again, and having never seen them before I am so glad that I got the chance, and that they played such a varied setlist as well.  And now I know I'll be listening through their discography (as well as checking out Milo Greene) heavily the next few weeks.

[everyshowigoto]

Torres w/ Pree, DC9, 2013-02-25

After repeatedly hearing my friend Anna say nice things about Torres, I gave her album a couple listens on Bandcamp.  It grew on me rather quickly, and when I saw a show at DC9 listed on Torres' page, I demanded Anna come up and attend with me.  I was especially excited after seeing this spellbinding live video of the track "Jealousy & I":

Local indie-folk rockers Pree opened up the show.  Pree is mostly the brainchild of May Tabol, and I've seen her band once before.  She started with a couple tracks solo, with just her acoustic guitar, before bringing the rest of the band on stage.  May has a totally weird voice, very spritely and slightly yelpy; I don't expect everyone to be in to it.  In fact, during those first couple songs I perceived a slight disconnect between the playing of the guitar and the singing, like they were out of sync rhythmically or melodically, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it.  I enjoyed it much more when the rest of the band got on stage.  

When I've seen Pree before, the full band included keyboards, singing saws, flute, all sorts of weird stuff!  But tonight it was a straightforward rock quartet. Somehow, this simplification in sound actually helped to thicken it out and tighten it.  The songs were mostly upbeat, and pushed away from Pree's earlier twee-folk towards a more psych-rock vibe.  I could definitely nod my head along to this.  Between the singing, arrangements, melodies, and builds, their songs managed to be just weird enough to not be boring, while not weird enough to be inaccessible.  I think I like the direction Pree is going in.

Now it's time for the main act.  Torres is the brainchild of Mackenzie Scott, who sings and plays her Gretsch hollow-body electric guitar, backed on many songs by guitar, drums, bass, and occasionally synth and drum machine.  This record stood out to me because of the way Scott's playing and singing style both sort of sneak up on you.  Neither is gimmicky, nor are either hyper-polished or perfect.  Her finger-picked guitar and forward vocals come off as very honest and straightforward, totally unpretentious, neither grandiose nor understated.  Her style is unique without being in-your-face or totally weird.  She may not grab your attention at first, but once she does she'll have you hooked.

The live show was much the same, in the best way possible.  Torres played almost everything on their debut record, balancing very well between the full-band numbers like "Mother Earth Father God" and "When Winter's Over" and the stripped-down tracks where the spotlight is just on Mackenzie and her guitar.  I was worried that this latter category might not come off as well live, but I had high hopes after watching the aforementioned video of "Jealousy & I".  Actually, that's the only song that didn't exceed expectations for me, and only because Scott's guitar had a phaser/flanger effect which was a bit too strong in addition to the record's echoey delay.  

Still, on songs like "Jealousy & I" and "Chains" (another favorite from the record), there's something totally entrancing about Scott's performance.  Her lyrics are very thoughtful.  Actually I'm surprised how wise and thoughtful some of them are, considering she's fairly young (22 from what I gather).  Her singing in particular seems very earnest, emotive without falling into any of those cliché descriptors like "whiny" or "soulful" or "emo".  I was captivated just watching her facial expressions change as she hits the really intense parts.  She played a few tracks at the end of the set, namely "November Baby" and "Come to Terms", which did not really wow me on the album, but totally floored me live.

And as a frontwoman, she was quite humble too, joking with the crowd about her oh-so-very Nashville cowboy shirt, her love of St. Vincent, and her very first tour.  She demanded everyone come talk to her after the set, and actually looked surprised when the crowd demanded an encore.  All in all, this was a fantastic show and I look forward to seeing what else Mackenzie Scott and Torres have in store for us in the future.