This is refreshing.

How I love the flamenco guitar! Click on "Tamacun" after heading over to Rodrigo y Gabriela's site. You won't regret it!

http://www.myspace.com/rodrigoygabriela

some new music....september 2006

audioslave - it kind of sucks. what are they thinking? can they just make a hard rock record all the way through?

john mayer - smooth. very good. you want to buy it.

jars of clay - i had given up on them a few years ago, but i really like this disc.

that's all for now. if you have not yet seen nickel creek, go see them.

why do i like this band? (family force 5, 8-27-2006)

a few months ago, i was riding with jacob on the way back from seeing our friend jacob play a show. i had heard of this band, family force 5, through my friend jeff, and saw the cd on the floor of jacob's truck. it looked ridiculous, with the skull and guitars, and a good amount of bling bling. we popped it in, i was hooked. its so over the top, party rock, but i LOVE it.

fast forward to late august, i had hooked my sister on the band, i had told my friend lisa about them, so the day of the show in baton rouge, we met up and went. it was some festival for the new school year or something, with another band called crossfade. never heard of them, but apparently they've had a hit on the radio.

about 7:30, FF5 hits the stage and they pretty much played the same set jacob and i saw them play back in may. they did however sing "put ur hands up" which they omitted earlier, but it was great! the sound kind of sucked cause we were out in some field, and i guess the guys controlling the sound were new or something. the stage performance was great, they jumped around, breakdanced, the bassist even did the worm. they are so much fun to watch, its amazing. after the show, my sister wanted to get a shirt, but they didn't have any of the particular kind she wanted. so then we went over to the side of the stage to see if we could snag a picture. we got one with the lead singer and the bassist, soul glow activator and phatty, respectively. talking to them was different, because when jacob and i had interviewed them back in may, it took about 10 or 15 minutes for them to drop the act and talk serious. seeing them the 2nd time, it was almost like they knew i knew what was going on. so i talked to them a couple of minutes and thanked them for coming, that sort of thing. they even introduced themselves as their real names. my sister wanted a picture with their roadie/tech guy, xanadu, but it was taking too long, so we left. there will be another opportunity in october though since they've scheduled some more tour dates.

more updates to come...

updating soon...

so i know i've been slack with the writing (sorry fellow EHers). i've been to a ton of shows over the summer. in fact, i'm going to one on sunday. i will be reviewing it for sure, as well as trying to talk about the other shows too. in the meantime, check out the band here.

Band Ink.

Not too long ago, I graduated from college and went to Hawaii with my family. After snorkling above a gigantic sea turtle, the memory became etched in my mind forever. I recognized this as a special moment, content as I took a mental picture of the aquamarine water and this seemingly wise, old tortoise. Later in the afternoon, while walking past a tattoo parlor, my sister and I discussed what type of tattoo we would ever consider getting. Sarah liked the idea of a bamboo shoot on the back side of her heel. A Hawaiian memento, if you will. I thought a petroglyph of a sea turtle would be rad. (On the small of my back, too. Common?) Thank goodness I never did it- because these days I see my fair share of sea turtle petroglyph stickers on plenty of SUV rear windows. That would have more than likely, led me down a long, long road of embarrassment and regret. So. This brings me to the following website, which was linked over at DMB's Warehouse. The tattoo thread:

http://www.dmbtattoo.com/

What do you think? These are a bunch of die hard fans that ink tribute to their favorite band. I can understand why people like to get inked with something that is very meaningful, very personal, and how these intimate things would make a great tattoo, if you're into that sort of thing. At this point in my life, I don't think I can do it. Within days I'd probably want it off my skin. So I am not a good tat candidate. Does Dave Matthews see these photo's and trip out? I imagine he just sketched his firedancer while playing around one day. Now it's permanently saved on countless feet of skin. I suppose their are far less talented band options for musical tribute tattoos. Tons, even. Like O-Town, for instance. It's just fascinating to me. Anyway, enjoy the link. Open discussion.

Peace, Love, and DMB always.

Best night in music cost me a whopping 8 dollars!

My faith in up and coming bands has been restored! Let me preface this story by saying that the bay area's local rock radio station, "Live105" plays "alternative" rock. Live 105 had a music makeover in 2002 or so, when new management (or a miracle) changed their ugly, Limp Biscuit band types to the newer stuff that sounded unique and different. It was like we finally exited the 90's, once and for all! This got to be really exciting a few years back, when a new buzz in music came along. Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, and the Strokes started up something new and exciting. But lately, all the bands coming out trying to emulate similar musical styles are tired, and have completely bored me. When I got my new car with a 5 disc cd changer, it was such a blessing. My own preferred artists and albums protected my ears from a lot of the shit that is blasting on the radio waves these days. In particular, I'm talking about the stations that are geared more towards new alternative rock artists. The classic KFOG manages to find new stuff that I really enjoy, like Amos Lee. That being said, KFOG also promotes "classic" rock, and the newer tunes they play are by the mellow dudes, like Jack Johnson or James Blunt. So it's a bit like comparing apples and oranges. Anyway, I'm getting off track here. While discussing the sudden depressing drop of new talent in rock and roll with my friend Sofia a couple weeks ago, I was able to defend one group that my sister introduced me to, a band called Birdmonster. My sisters' random encounter with them leads to my good fortune and story.

On a drive back to UC Santa Barbara last year, my sister stopped at In n Out for a burger. While in line she found herself talking to a few dudes in a band who were on their way down Highway 5 to Southern California for a Battle of the Bands gig. They were from San Francisco and so my sister starts chatting away and they offered her an EP. She took the CD and to her ears' delight, she really liked them and thought that I'd approve. (I can't stress enough how endearing I think it is that my sister still likes to impress me with her musical finds. I hope that never changes.) As it turns out, Birdmonster is pretty great. While looking up local shows in town, I saw that they were coming and since I loved each song on the EP, I invited Sofia along.

So, (for eight bucks!) we saw three bands at Cafe' Du Nord, one of my favorite little venues in San Francisco last Friday:

the 88
Street to Nowhere
Birdmonster


The 88 came out first, and they were excellent from the get go. Each band member wore a suit, and the lead singer had a very retro Elvis Costello look, glasses and all. Very similar to what Elvis looked like on the "My Aim is True" album. The singer had a bit of a cold but Sofia said she actually preferred the rougher edges to his voice. I agreed. Being hoarse and feeling a bit like death, worked well for him. Bass, two guitar players, a dude on the keyboards and kick ass drummer, they all did their thing in sync. It sounded tight, and they absolutely know how to run a fun pop rock show. Lyrics were a little dark but the melody's were upbeat. They pulled it off the same way the Cure can, and does. I enjoyed them so much that when they were done, I headed to the back table to grab their CD. The bass player was there to greet anyone interested and he explained how they got their name (88 keys on the piano, 88 mph in Back to the Future.) I told him that they were a breath of fresh air and he seemed very appreciative. Good band, check them out if you get the chance, or at least check them out on the web. (They have their own site: www.the88.net or you can catch them over at the wonderful world that is Myspace.)

The second band was decent. Streets To Nowhere's lead singer definitely has a Conor Oberst.... thing going on. I didn't ask him if he was a big fan of Bright Eyes, but that was the impression I got. Similar sounding. I am probably a really unfair reviewer of Streets to Nowhere, because they were the middle band. I was pumped and impressed after the 88's set, and excited for Birdmonster, so I found myself wandering over to the bar to look at so many pretty people. (Seriously, it was one of San Francisco's better looking nights. The crowd was beautiful. Sofia agreed.)

...ON TO BIRDMONSTER! Please, please, please... check these guys out. I had a fantastic time watching them move around, they've got endless amounts of energy and smiles for the crowd. I can't pigeonhole them to any particular category other than to say that they're loud and rock and roll. While they have some influence that feels reminiscent of Modest Mouse, they aren't trying to BE Modest Mouse. They've got an extra planet rockin' sound that is their own creation, infectious tempos that tend to throw you for you a loop as they sometimes start out slow and pick up into crazy, drop kick, ADHD kind of beats. "All the holes in the walls" is a perfect example of this, as it starts out with slower alt-country rhythms then really picks up to the point that you feel it's like their anthem song. I didn't know the words but I wanted to shout them out with the lead singer, Peter Arcuni (who by the way, resembles a younger and cuter version of Billie Joe Armstrong). "FREE BIRD!" a tall guy hollared between songs. "I knew we'd get 'free bird' requests when we named the band Birdmonster!" a band member responds. They played for a good hour and fifteen minutes or so, including two encores. I had a great time, and felt excited for them. There's no reason they won't make it to bigger venues and have one hell of a trip along the way...

Birdmonster is playing at the SXSW festival in Texas this week. If you can go, GO! I would. They are one of the hyped bands worth the hype, and gets me excited about local artists. This experience was so refreshing because I've been to a few shows that have failed to impress that costs a whole lot more than 8 dollars. More like 8 times 8 dollars. To see artists in such a small venue before they make it "big" is a pleasure. You're up close and personal, able to really get a sense of who has the real talent, which artist carries the rest of the band, or in the best case scenario, which band gets the job done together. Birdmonster accomplished the latter and won a new fan in the process. Oh yeahhhhh. I love it. Call me, Birdmonster.

Ring, ring.

show review: coldplay with fiona apple, houston, tx 2-25-2006

let me start off by saying that i went into this show with a chip on my shoulder. due to the unfortunate events involving weather systems last september, i was unable to see coldplay on the cheap with some friends of mine. not once, but twice. so what am i left with? higher priced arena show tickets...GREAT! and even then, i bought two pricey tickets in hopes of taking a certain girl...the joke was definitely on me. however, i was able to recruit my friend jacob, and off we went to houston for the weekend. having fiona as the opener was great, i really enjoyed her debut, tidal, and was looking forward to seeing how she was in a live setting, even if it was in the gigantic arena aka the toyota center, where last week they had the nba all star game. we arrived at the arena and immediately checked out the merch table. my bad, since when did concert t-shirts start costing $35? i can understand those cheaply made sweatshirts going for $50 (the coldplay track jackets were going for $70), but we're talking t-shirts here. wtf chris? there's all these 'make trade fair' people running around asking you to sign some petition in hopes that little anyon in china can make nikes for minimum wage or something, and yet he's letting his people charge $35 for a damn t-shirt? THE NERVE! you marry a movie star and you sell out, is that how it is? after standing in the merch line for no less than 25 minutes (they had a merch line, at a concert, already it was more organized than i'm used to) for jacob to buy a fiona t-shirt, i broke down and got a shirt. what? i was already paying over $70 for a ticket!

onto the show....we get to our seats, which are opposite end of the arena from the stage. we're going to have a perfect view of the alledged super great light show that coldplay has. the show's sold out, and surprisingly, a good amount of people settled in at 8 sharp to catch ms. apple herself. she led off with a couple of new songs that i really liked, so i'm going to have to pick up the new album, extrordinary machine. i'm going to admit here, that the album cover for when the pawn..., i think its the happiest looking cover i've seen. no puppy dogs, no ice cream, just a girl who looks like nothing could get to her that day at that moment. anyway, she then gets up from the piano to let one of her keyboard guys play while she takes it back to 1996 and a couple of songs from tidal. 'shawdowboxer' is first of the pair, and it was pretty decent. i had noted to jacob, that i was aware that her voice was to sound sultry and seductive, but i didn't expect the smoker voice coming through so much. i was certainly in for a shocker...next up was 'criminal' and she about killed the ending. wow, i was amazed, it was rough. but you have to love her, she's gone through a lot of record company hell over the past couple of years, and she's still out there giving it her all. she was one of the more dedicated openers i've seen, most times bands just come out, play, promote their record, and leave. she never once said she had a new record, and she said her name right before the last song which was pretty funny i thought. good for her.

and now, the main event...i have to admit, some of the anticipation was taken away since they've been playing virtually the same set at every show. who do they think they are, u2? so the lights go down and i know they're starting with 'square one', a song i've been waiting to hear open a show in a dark arena for months and here's the moment. the stage lights come up dimly and the music starts, with the bright video screen behind them displaying a counting down digital clock. it was rather impressive, esp when the guitars hit...wow. they dove right into 'politik' and the lights were at that point going crazy. it was really great, i have to say i was sucked in. 'yellow' came third actually, but all the hoopla surrounding it made me think it should have come later. they had these giant yellow balloons come down from the ceiling that were filled with gold confetti. cute...or something. instead of batting a few of the balloons up into the stands, the people on the floor batted them toward the stage. oh well, so much for that ploy to get everyone in the crowd working together. all the songs sounded amazing, and the light show went right along with them in near perfection. the only hole i noticed was the setlist choices of 'God put a smile on your face', 'x&y', and 'how do you see the world' right in a row. they just kind of killed the crowd after the opening. they got the crowd back into it though by playing 'don't panic' and 'white shadows'. i sat there just in awe, it all sounded so good and looked fantastic. during 'the scientist', i just sat there listening and thinking, it was good. then the moment i had been waiting for, 'til kingdom come' (the song they wrote for johnny cash to record) and then the cover of 'ring of fire'. now, let me preface what i'm about to say by telling you, i like johnny cash. he's the ultimate rock star and would kick someone's ass for booty dancing to his music. so imagine my horror when the lady next to us is club dancing to 'ring of fire' with her husband. ugh. people need to have more respect for the man in black....'ring of fire' is not 'cottoneye joe', much to the shock apparently of probably a third of the toyota center crowd, but i digress. it was a great cover, and it met my expectations. they finished out the main set with 'trouble', 'clocks', and 'talk'. i was floored with how great 'talk' was. i would say that it was their strongest song of the night, just the emotion, the music, the lights, the crowd, melded into a great performance.

they come out for the encore and led off with 'swallowed in the sea'. a.ma.zing. the stage went dim except for the band, and on the video backdrop was a collage of written setlists of x&y, so it kept flowing, getting bigger until the entire arena was bathed in the backdrop. and then the best part happened, we had this girl behind us who kept yelling things like "i love you chris!" and "coldplay, YEAH!" and at the end of the song, she screams out "you belong with ME! not swallowed in the SEA!" lol. i should have gotten her number or something. 'in my place', it was good, but the best part was chris jumps off the stage and says "i need to share some love with the people in the back", so he comes running down the edge of the floor toward our section and stops in front of our section and sings a verse. of course, multitudes of people race down to touch his golden locks. i thought it was cool that he'd remember, usually singers just hang out with the front row and maybe the people on the sides. no, chris martin included the people in sections 114 and 115. A-MEN! i commented to jacob that 'fix you' was really going to be good, because the crowd was electric pretty much from the opening notes, but especially at that point. and the band did not disappoint...'fix you' sounded tremendous. its not really one of my favorites off x&y, but saturday night it sounded so good, esp when the crowd was singing along acapella.

i was impressed with how the show went, i was expecting to be left wanting more, but the only thing was that 3 song set in the early part of the show. other than that everything was great, i couldn't have asked for better. so i guess when you're expecting the best, and you get the best, you can't be unhappy with it. now if they could just work on that setlist....