While many people at McCarren Pool this past Sunday were undoubtedly there to see The Breeders, I was pleasantly surprised to see that many in the audience were won over by the band I came to see--The Whip.

The Mancunian foursome, whose sound straddles the line between the Happy Mondays and New Order, managed to get the hippest of hipsters to unfold their arms and break a sweat (literally) by dancing in the hot hot heat. Though they're more suited for a dark, closed space (read: a warehouse), their music more than held its own in the sunny, open space.

Their lyrics may be few and far between (and, when there are lyrics, they are often repetitive), but this only increases audience participation, as it allows people to sing along with the band. Sunday's show proved this, as the people behind me--who were dancing and singing along--asked, "What band is this??" They'd never heard the band before, but they were instantly won over.

At a Whip show, the lyrics take a back seat to the music--it's intense and anthemic, and you'd have to try hard NOT to get into it. The Whip put on an amazing live show, and they happen to be playing a bunch of festivals this summer--which sounds like a great way to experience them live--so I urge anyone who can to see them this summer!

Jul 18 - London - Fabric
Jul 19 - Ibitha Rocks @ Hotel Ibitha
Jul 24 - Galway - Galway Arts Festival
Jul 26 - Cambridgeshire - The Secret Garden Party
Aug 16 - Hasselt - Pukklepop
Aug 17 - Chelmsford - V Festival
Aug 20 - Oslo - Studio Festival
Aug 22 - Leeds - Leeds Festival
Aug 23 - Liverpool - Creamfields
Aug 24 - Reading - Reading Festival
Aug 29 - Scotland - Connect Festival @ Invarary Castle
Sep 5 - Ibitha - Wonderland @ Eden
Sep 13 - Albi - Albi Summer Festival
Sep 17 - Beachbombing @ Ibitha Rocks Hotel Ibitha
Sep 19 - London - Hoxton Airwaves
Sep 26 - Brighton - Big Beach Boutique
Sep 27 - Marseilles - Marsatac Festival

Myspace
Website

To see more of Dese'Rae's great photos, click here.

Americans: Happy 4th of July! UKers: Happy Friday! Independence Day makes me wish we were still one [un]happy unit. If that was the case, we American NY2LONers could move to the UK and stalk bands whenever it struck our fancy to do so. Sigh...it's the American dream, isn't it?

This Week in New York:
Wednesday, 7/2 - The Feelies - Maxwell's
Wednesday, 7/2 - Kimya Dawson and friends - Music Hall of Williamsburg
Wednesday, 7/2 - Oxford Collapse, Frightened Rabbit - Southpaw

Thursday, 7/3 - The XYZ Affair, Rosewood Thieves - Le Royale
Thursday, 7/3 - Love as Laughter - R Bar
Thursday, 7/3 - Takka Takka - Union Hall

Friday, 7/4 - Sonic Youth, The Feelies - Battery Park
Friday, 7/4 - Phosphorescent - Glasslands
Friday, 7/4 - Titus Andronicus - Solar One

Saturday, 7/5 - Dengue Fever, Apollo Heights - Central Park Summerstage
Saturday, 7/5 - The Oranges Band - Gramercy Theatre
Saturday, 7/5 - Thurston Moore - Rehab

Sunday, 7/6 - Ronnie Spector - McCarren Park Pool

Tuesday, 7/8 - As Tall as Lions - Maxwell's

Wednesday, 7/9 - Fleet Foxes - Bowery Ballroom
Wednesday, 7/9 - The Vaselines - Maxwell's
Wednesday, 7/9 - Solid Gold - Pianos
Wednesday, 7/9 - Feist, Juana Molina - Prospect Park Bandshell
Wednesday, 7/9 - The Avett Brothers - Rockefeller Park
Wednesday, 7/9 - U.S. Air Guitar Championships - Music Hall of Williamsburg

This Week in London:
Wednesday, 7/2 - Cool Kids - Scala
Wednesday, 7/2 - Funeral for a Friend - KCLSU
Wednesday, 7/2 - The Whigs - 100 Club

Thursday, 7/3 - Duran Duran - O2 Arena
Thursday, 7/3 - Idlewild - University of London Union
Thursday, 7/3 - Matt Costa - Water Rats
Thursday, 7/3 - Jay-Z - Hyde Park
Thursday, 7/3 - The Presets - Scala

Friday, 7/4 - Glasvegas - The Forum
Friday, 7/4 - Morrissey - Hyde Park
Friday, 7/4 - The Music - Astoria

Saturday, 7/5 - Comets on Fire - The Luminaire
Saturday, 7/5 - Dolly Parton - O2 Arena
Saturday, 7/5 - Fatboy Slim - Hyde Park

Tuesday, 7/8 - Gnarles Barkley - Astoria 2
Tuesday, 7/8 - Panic at the Disco - Astoria

Wednesday, 7/9 - Band of Horses - Shepherds Bush Empire

More Listings:
New York
London

The day I saw Jonathan Richman was one of the hottest days thus far of 2008's summer season. And I waited in this heat (by myself at first) for a few hours, because the show (lucky me!!) was at a tiny bar and was likely to be sold out. Now this bar, The Make Out Room, is a very warm location already, and combined with the weather and the sell out crowd, it was boiling. But I took it like a champ for one of my favorite humans of all time, Jonathan Richman.

When Jonathan stepped onto the stage and started setting up his minimalist equipment, so many bursts of excitement occurred, most notably, a woman in front of me said, "He's so humble, he sets up his own stuff!" Not like it's hard, when you only have one acoustic guitar and a few various hand held percussion instruments. He disappeared again, and I took in the fact that I was almost surely the youngest person in the hot, sweaty crowd. Perhaps that is why there was so little whining about the heat, no under 21 people, save me, and I was complaining inwardly. To kill time I started devouring some melted Hershey Kisses that were still in my bag from the Islands show.

Finally, Tommy Larkin, longtime friend and drummer, and Jonathan Richman hopped out to play some songs. They started with "El Mundo", which had a rocking dance jingle stick solo. Great way to start off the set. Next followed "My Baby Love Love Loves Me", which is a song that always makes me happy to think that Jonathan Richman has a great life somewhere. Most of his songs do that, actually, especially ones about love. He just seems to get it; in a new song "A que venimos sino a caer" he mentions that what is the point of living if everything is great all the time, there has to be some rough patches. Perhaps he's old and wise (or dignified and old, as he wished to be). He also doesn't have a cellphone, which was made painfully clear with his Cellphone song. "If I'm eating breakfast, I'm eating breakfast. If I'm at the beach, I'm at the beach, you can't reach me there." I thought, what if you have an emergency and there isn't any payphone! And he seemed to answer me, singing "I'd just walk to find a phone." The song also made my addiction to my phone painfully clear.

JR played one of my favorite songs, "When We Refuse to Suffer", right before intermission. We were all suffering from the heat (disgusting, really) by this time, and he made me feel like that was okay. "When we refuse to suffer, that's when the air freshener wins, and the real air loses." He announced that he could only pantomime hellos to fans, since the doctor told him he should not be exerting his voice anymore than he had to. This did not stop me from giving him my band's demo, and feeling so excited when he smiled at me with his big, round eyes as if to say, "thank you, Lauren." Too bad he doesn't have anyway of reaching us, since if he doesn't have a cellphone, there's no way he'll have a myspace or email. The break was short, and Richman and Larkin came back to do "No One Was Like Vermeer", a song about how weird the painter Vermeer was both in style, and in what his paintings evoke. "Vermeer was eerie, Vermeer was strange, He had his own color range, As if born in a more modern age... may be oh a hundred or so years ago."

Some things I realize about Jonathan Richman:

- He knows what his fans like. That's why he did "I was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar" with such gusto, that he compelled the overheated crowd to dance along.
- His fan base are all marriage material. Many of them attractive, 20-30 somethings. Many of them willing to suffer for him (in the awful heat). I could fall in love at a JR show.
- He's as real as it gets. Who else would admit to wanting to be more masculine as a high schooler and tell –nay sing! - stories about that awkward age. Who else could sing about how their parent died as Jonathan did on "As My Mother Lay Lying"?
-He can lead successful singalongs to songs nobody has heard before. That's a real talent.

Never can the adage "absence makes the heart grow fonder" be more accurately applied than with The Futureheads recent (and lengthy) absence from the US. I, not so fondly, recall when they were supposed to play Bowery Ballroom not one, but two Septembers ago, and oh how my heart broke when they canceled and never rescheduled that gig. But within their nearly two year absence, The Futureheads' have released News and Tributes along with their junior effort, This Is Not the World. Unfortunately, as noted above, they never toured (over here at least) to support News and Tributes. Thankfully, I do not think the same will be said for their more recent release as, much to my great pleasure they came over to New York for two, one off gigs (one was a secret, shhhhh).

I had the privilege of attending both shows, but I am here to talk about their more intimate gig at Pianos as part of BrooklynVegan's Rock n ROFL. The small space made for an intimate setting that allowed for quite humorous crowd and band banter all throughout the night. This Is Not the World had an absolute monopoly on the setlist both at their Bowery and Pianos gigs. As this new album is probably the best album released in all of 2008 (yes, I'm not even waiting for December to call it), I was extremely pleased by their choice of songs for the evening(s). Starting off with "The Beginning of the Twist" set the mood for a raucous evening of mild to not so mild pogo-ing. I was mildly heartbroken when I did not hear my favorite, and sexiest Futureheads' song to date, "Sale of the Century." But to be fair, every single track off of This Is Not the World are absolutely outstanding so the songs we were greeted with were an absolute treat!

Since T.I.N.T.W. is absolutely taking over, some of the other songs from The Futureheads' catalogue were left out. I believe only once did a song from News and Tributes make an appearance and that was their single, "Skip to the End." The last half of the set was fairly geared towards their self-titled debut and they played the songs they knew we wanted to hear, such as my favorite "Carnival Kids" and the "oh, oh, oh-ing" goodness of "Hounds of Love." While The Futureheads' absence did make my heart grow fonder, I thankfully will not have to wait as long to see them again as they are planning on returning to the States in September!

I found out Islands were playing about four hours before the show. It was sold out. I had to run on down, stand outside (like a loser) and hope for a miracle...a miracle that came in the form of a sixteen year old boy from Sacramento (ah, my nemesis town). He happened to have an extra ticket, and I bought it despite a huge ATM fee.

The first band, Crayonsmith, were very nice guys from Dublin. After the show I asked them a million questions about the foreign country of Ireland (from IRA to Bono's asset). The three piece made a lot of noise without a drummer. Danceable, happy, and occasionally synthy music. At one point the singer left the stage abruptly, only to return in a furry, white costume and a roman-military style hat.

The second act was Despot, a pocketsized rapper from Brooklyn. The boy could dance almost as well as he could rap. I was particularly impressed by "the shrug" dance, which was just a shrug and a demure look. Despot's rap stylings impressed me to no end. "Get Rich or Try Dying" was my favorite of his live tracks, though the set was pretty much flawless, as were his choice of samples (which he sang along with adorably). His DJ was just a guy holding an iPod, but apparently the position is highly prestigious, as one of the Chow brothers (wearing a name tag that said "DJ," a hood and dark glasses) jumped on stage to fight with the DJ over the job. He then pushed around the rapper, knocked over some water, "You weren't here when I started my set," said Despot. The rapper told the crowd that he was too young for certain cliches, like "saying MY NAME IS...very special to me since my parents gave it to me. That's from a bygone era." Instead, Despot chose to do some aerobics, helped by the Chow brother that had earlier caused a scene, with the crowd. The aerobics consisted mostly of running and lifting your hands above your head, but the Islands audience was super enthusiastic. Definitely one of my new favorite rappers.

Islands. I've been waiting years to see Islands. So why did this show catch me off guard? It had been moved from April (when I wasn't available) to June (lucky me!) and I had no clue! I found out about four hours before doors opened, and rushed down to Bimbo's 365 in hopes that I could buy a ticket to the sold out show. I luckily met some wonderful teenagers all the way from Sacramento who had an extra ticket, and lovely manners. Some hours later, we finally got to see Islands. The stage was completely dark when the band made their entrance, lit only by plastic, glowing red trees. On the stage was a pleathora of instruments, including a huge chain to be dropped in front of a microphone for a certain sound, lots of maracas, three violins, a bass clarinet, and many other fun things. Islands started with "Vertigo" from their newest album, which was mellow, so I had no idea what to expect. The crowd kicked into gear for "The Arm," which was what I expected them to start with, and pushed much of the front row back (not me, though, I'm a rock). A lot of the set was from the new album, though the crowd went completely wild for the "old stuff" like "Rough Gem" (where a hipster girl stepped on my foot with her heeled shoe) and "Humans" and "Where There's A Will There's A Whalebone." Despot and his DJ joined the band for that last one, and expertly executed the rap sections. Every moment of this show was filled with something magical to watch.

A few highlights of this show:
*Putting candy on the monitor in front of me, seeing them slide down to the waiting hands of whoever happened to be in front of me, (most of the time it was one of the Chows not really brothers, by the way).
*Nick Thornburn's glasses that were totally painted white. They later were found broken, and he looked pretty sad about it.
*The Chows playing the classic piano at Bimbo's. Well, one was playing, and the other was sitting seductively on it, while playing violin
*Seeing some girl let Nick hold her puppy (that she brought to a rock show?). Another person said, "I have a cute dog too"...Nick: "well, is it here?!"
*Figuring out, due to people asking Nick about the vinyl coming out, that CDs truly are dead

Click here for a YouTube video of the show, enjoy!

Official Site
Myspace

BFD, Live 105's radio festival, only cost around ten dollars this year. Tickets sold out. That being said, I never planned on going, but when things happened to work out in my favor, I couldn't have been more delighted. The fest is held in the parking lot/ground of Shoreline Amphitheater (where I saw Earth, Wind and Fire and the Arcade Fire last year), where the sun beats down, bands interact, and fans pay nine dollars for a beer. In fact, everyone has to pay nine bucks for a beer, since there wasn't any backstage (you should have seen the talent freaking out over this fact).

We arrived at BFD in style: two rented minivans packed with MGMT and crew. As soon as we spilled out of the vans it was time for reunions and hugs with friendband, the Whigs. Middle Class Rut, whom we had talked to in Sac, played a really good set at noon. We also recognized some more faces (pennywise??) from the previous day's festival in Sacramento, though I can't say the tattooed, older men were ready for hugs. The long period of waiting started. It wasn't even noon, and MGMT didn't play until 2:50! It gave me time to check out the bands, take a few notes, and munch on the free fruit.

Drive A was one of the first bands on the mainstage. I'm sorry that I could not have seen more of their performance, because I found them fascinating. The band is made up of young teens, I guessed between 14 and 16, and I was obsessed with them backstage. They looked like little punk rockers of the late 70s style. I even drank my Gatorade extra fast so that I could grab another one while one of the little Drive A boys was in the tent that held the sugary beverage! My friend really looked down on me for this (basically pedophilia, I guess) and said that he saw the kids giving away shampoo or some commercial product at a different festival (sellouts)... anyway I finally mustered up some courage and talked to one later in the day. It was disappointing because he actually was just a regular teenager who is homeschooled, probably because he has to tour all the time. Made me a little sad.

A more successful attempt at making friends came with the band Hottub, from Oakland. The brightly clothed youngsters (not teenagers, thank god) attracted us easily, with their blanket and tail gating mentality. The band, who has opened for MIA recently, was busy having fun, putting on makeup and outfits to hit the Scion Subsonic stage (sadly at the same time as MGMT, so I would have to hit the pavement several times during both bands sets). The three girls and two boys made some of the freshest tunes I've heard live since my encounter with the always wonderful Juiceboxxx. And they were some very BOLD girls. They taunted security guards, jumped into the crowd, and then made a bunch of people jump on stage with them. I laughed a lot at the expressions on security's face, a mix of happiness and bewilderment. I cut out before the last song so I could run backstage to watch the end of MGMT, but I am sure that Hottub rocked every moment.

I saw the beginning of MGMT's set from the huge crowd. I observed several people smoking illegal substances, heard many people say nice things about MGMT (one said that they were the only reason they came to the festival, others complemented the band's style). It was a far cry from Sacramento, which was a much more forbidding landscape (I'm relatively sure someone said "what you lookin' at, hippie??!" in a threatening manner there). The band played all the usual hits ("Time to Pretend", "Electric Feel", etc.) and ended with the ever popular "Kids". At this point Hottub had joined me backstage and we all had the pleasure of dancing in front of the crowd on stage for the song.

The Kooks, the last band I wanted to see, didn't come on for another forty minutes, so I killed some time exploring the festival and eating, and trying to talk to the teen from Drive A. When the Kooks hit the stage, I recognized one of them as the guy who I almost accidentally talked to because he was wearing a hat similar to Ben from MGMT (how the convo would have gone - Me: Ben, I didn't know you had a tattoo and dressed like Indiana Jones, weren't you wearing orange pants a second ago?! Him: uh...). In fact, most of the Kooks donned really nice hats! Probably a good idea, since it was still a very sunny day, and these guys looked pretty fair. The UK band, which formed at a music college, played a forty minute set of rock and roll. They were quite good looking, and I think the crowd was picking up on their vibe. I saw some heads bopping. It was fantastic. I could only imagine what this band's day was like. As far as I could tell, they were the only British act, and were pretty out of place in genre as well, sandwiched between Anti Flag and Everlast. I hope they had fun, and high tailed it out of there once they were done, perhaps to swim in the pool of whatever hotel they ended up in.

While we were packing up to leave I heard a familiar song... "Jump Around" by mothereffin House of Pain?! Everlast, frontman for the now defunct hip hop group opened with the classic hit that came out when I was four! Soon after he played "What It's Like," and I was sad that I couldn't go see it since we were leaving. Nostalgia hooks me every time. Lucky for me, there was a pool where we were headed, so I could drown my sorrows.

What I learned during my festival weekend:

Gas prices are over $4
Men are really attached to their beards
I should probably get a Mac
Sacramento is a scary place to be if you don't look like everyone else
Going to Chevy's at night on tour calls for pitchers of margaritas

Middle Class Rut Myspace

Drive A Myspace
Drive A Website

Hottub Myspace

MGMT Myspace
MGMT Website

The Kooks Myspace
The Kooks Website

Everlast Myspace
Everlast Website

It was 100 degrees outside as well as inside of Mercury Lounge on Monday night, but it was the perfect environment for a hilarious, sweaty gig from The Young Knives, a band whose best-known song includes the line, "Hot summer/what a bummer." I have been so busy falling in love with TYK's latest album, Superabundance, that I forgot about their older songs, so it was a nice surprise when they played a few "oldies but goodies" during their short set, which focused mainly on new material.

TYK's new album is all sorts of amazing. Creative, smart, sometimes humorous, sometimes melancholic lyrics mixed with a dancey, excited rhythm section make this an album that you don't want to turn off. The new album is also more full than their last, with more guitars, trumpets, and even some orchestral sounds. Needless to say, I was more than pleased when their live show captured the sound from their record; many bands aren't able to do this and it's quite a feat. They played almost all of the songs from the new album, so those in the audience who hadn't yet heard the album got a nice sampling.

Aside from making great music, The Young Knives also make great banter. I've seen them a few times before but I forgot just how funny they can be onstage. Brothers Henry Dartnall and The House Of Lords (those are the names they go by) go at each other as if they were young boys, yet they do it in such a clever way that you can't help but laugh even though they're being awfully mean to one another. The audience was in fits of laughter, even as the band mocked our bands and writers, claiming nothing good ever came out of America. For those in attendance, it was a 2-for-1 deal: we paid to see a music gig but got the bonus of a comedy act.

Myspace
Official site

The openers--all three--also made the ticket worthwhile. These days it's rare that I like one of the support bands, but I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself enjoying all three. Arriving to gigs early is worth it for nights like this one. A brief rundown on the support:

Who: Gustaf Heden
For fans of: Sondre Lerche
Sounds like: charming, endearing European who could model on the side and whose English is better than most native speakers'.
Myspace

Who: The Magic Wands
For fans of: The Kills
Sounds like: Sexy boy-girl duo who sing about...sex. They even use a drum machine, just like The Kills.
Myspace

Who: The Postelles
For fans of: Buddy Holly?
Sounds like: 1960s, surfy, preppy pop
Myspace

Juiceboxxx, the youngest of my favorite "indie" rappers, is worth just about anything to see. Even a sea of unappreciative hipsters. Even spilled drinks (on me). Even sweat.

When I met up with JB, I found him surprisingly charming for someone so tired. From what I could tell, the boy had flown from NY that day, by himself. Perhaps it was the drink in his hand (someone had gifted him absinthe!), or perhaps he just likes California. Either way I was more smitten with the now 21 year old rapper. He's very independent, he's lived on his own since he was a teen! And just his body and his lyrics and nothing else but an iPod filled with beats create a whirlwind of on stage punk rock energy. It was enough to move the regulars at "Blow Up," an indie dance club night, who are usually too busy with themselves to notice a live act. But then again, not all the acts there jump into the crowd regularly.

Juiceboxxx had twenty minutes to impress, distress, and make the audience dance. He totally did it, too. He played some of my favorites, the ever lovable "Thunder Jam III," "Center Stage," and "Sweat," which was the theme of my night since at the moment, my friend Brian was sweating up a Juice-inspired storm a little too close for comfort.

"They don't want to see me, they just want to see themselves," said JB before the show. It's true, or it was true. But Juice, you really showed them. Not only did the crowd respond, they freakin' loved this kid from middle America. And even if they hadn't, hey, you still got some rent moneys.

Myspace

I arrived at the Fillmore to find two spots right in the front of line waiting for me due to some real fans who got there a few hours ahead of time that I am lucky enough to know. I feel like, at my age, I deserve that kind of treatment. I had talked to Kristen, singer of Grand Ole Party, earlier and decided she needed a super gift (a St. Christopher visor clip for a band's van is a useful thing). I hadn't really heard the music of GOP, but was very impressed when, a few hours later, I got the chance.

The opening act, Snowblink, was as charming as you can get. This bay area group was led by a nice young lady, Daniela, whom I harassed about many things, insisting that we've met before, and asking her to show off her engagement ring. Almost married, pretty, sings like an angel and has a wireless headset microphone: yep the girl pretty much is livin' the life. Not to mention the rest of her band are pretty much just as charming, as they rock instruments like sticks, tambourines, a shared cymbal. For one song, a basket of bells was passed into the crowd and everyone grabbed one (or a few, as was my desire) and rang them. A fishing pole with ribbon was also utilized during the set. I'll definitely be seeing this band again.

Grand Ole Party took the stage a little after 9:30. I was already tired at this point (aging, remember?) but got re-energized. The San Diego three piece - simply guitar, bass and drums - really got the crowd going, whom I assume had not heard of this act. The band is fresh off a UK tour with Rilo Kiley, played their last date with Rogue Wave that night, and will be back in less than a month with the Fiery Furnaces. The band probably draws comparison to the Furnaces, and probably the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as it is simple, somewhat early rock and rollish, and woman led. Frontwoman Kristen pulled a Don Henley and sang with much emotion and energy (way better than anyone this side of Henley) while playing drums. How she can do both at the same time is a mystery. Someone in the crowd near me muttered that it was a gimmick - if so, it was working because I, and my hard to please red head friend, were pretty much won over. The smoke machine and fan behind Kristen added a great effect, even though from my position in front of a monitor she kind of looked like a floating head singing into a headset microphone. It was two for two good opening acts that night. At the end of their set, I asked the bassist for his set list, and he said, "sure but you won't be able to read it." When I looked at it later, I discovered it was just a bunch of letters on a notecard.

By the time Rogue Wave hit the stage, I was beat from a long day, and from all the previous dancing. We giggled at how cute Rogue Wave's older men vibe was, especially as we noted their guitarist's horn rimmed, ben Sherman jacket wearing style. He was the best thing on stage, making faces, jumping around, being older, and he was only five feet away. I was happy to hear some of my favorite songs, like "Medicine Ball" and crowd pleaser "Publish My Love," relative early, that way I could go home and not feel cheated. I was about to leave when I heard Zach Rogue asking Daniela to return to the stage, and one of my favorite men in town, John Vanderslice, to come sing a song with them. No words can describe my love for V-slice, I always love running into him... I made sure to holla for him, and I also got Daniela to show off her ring a little more. Despite everything the show was a little sad for me; this is the first show in the bay area since Evan died. From sfweekly's blog: "After an Elephants show at the Starry Plough in Berkeley on December 20 he slept at the home of Graham Lebron from Rogue Wave. When the basement furnace caught fire he woke everyone up in the house, but tragically was not able to make it to safety himself and died from his injuries three days later in the hospital."

Rogue Wave's Myspace
Rogue Wave's Website

Grand Ole Party's Myspace

Snowblink's Myspace
Snowblink's Website

Colin Meloy, you are a gentleman and a scholar. Seriously. Who else could write a cautionary song about prostitute mothers and have it be so amazing?

I was running pretty late, and I was tempted to skip the Colin Meloy solo show at the Fillmore that my friend had gifted me his tickets to. But I persevered, and got to venue only a few songs into his set. It's really weird to think of one guy getting a huge tour bus, but it seems pretty appropriate for a man with such an obvious talent. Everything about him is wonderful, according to my show companion, "He's so good. He's over thirty, esoteric, and wears glasses and stripes." This thought would repeat in my head as I watched the hour long set of Decemberists and solo material. Also, every time he drank a sip of wine, she would squeal...something about older men and wine must be appealing.

For every solo jaunt, Meloy puts out an EP of covers by a specific artist. First Morrisey, then Shirley Collins, and now the wonderful Sam Cooke – the cover of "Cupid" can't quite capture the power of the original, but Colin Meloy is a white guy from middle America who was born in the 70s, and did amazingly well making an EP of these songs that I could listen to over and over. Colin sang many songs about San Francisco, much to our delight, including "Grace Cathedral Hill," and "O Valencia."

Meloy is a mix a musician and an actor, this is especially true when he is by himself, wearing no outfit, just jeans and a collared shirt. He still makes the story songs come alive, and even lets the audience in on Decemberists secrets: like how bassist Nate Query has a mic in front of him only for one specific yell - the captains wail in "Mariner's Revenge." He also encouraged audience sing alongs, reminiscent to a school teacher, and regularly talked to the characters in the front row (they even got a few laughs out of him). It had been a few years since I've seen Meloy in any form, and this was a splendid reminder that he is probably a genius, but not the creepy kind, the kind that gets along with people.

Colin Meloy's Myspace
The Decemberists' Myspace
The Decemberists' Website

I'm always delighted when MGMT rolls into town. Needless to say, I didn't think they'd ever roll into town with a huge tour bus, but that's not to say those boys don't deserve it. It's hard work being young and touring all the time. Since I first befriended the lil guys, they've been in San Francisco three times...that's an insane amount of times! I know that they are huge in England, and I'm pretty sure they are huge here too. Anywho, I'll skip all that and go straight ahead to the review.

Slim's is a strange venue. Not bad, just strange. They have a real cook to make the bands food (a man named Jose, I think, who is super sweet and claims, believably, to be friends with all sorts of big names). They have a big screen to drop between set changes. They have annoying poles throughout the room, which you could conceivably put a drink down on, but seem to serve the purpose of annoying me. MGMT's van, er, large tour bus of love, was parked right outside the little venue, for all the kids in line to gawk at as they approached the show and waited in a long line. I think there is a joke about tour busses being bigger than the places a band is playing...that wasn't quite the case here, but it was pretty close. I was lucky enough to watch from inside as some MGMT crew gave out schwag (shirts, jeans, other stuff they had picked up on the road) to some lucky people outside. Free stuff is great, but you don't smile really big unless the free stuff is given to you, in some way, by a band.

MGMT is a duo, Andrew and Ben, but as a touring band they are joined by some of the nicest boys ever: Matt on bass, James on guitar and Will on drums. The band played a set of songs from their recent release, Oracular Spectacular, including: Weekend Wars, Pieces of What, Time to Pretend, and Kids (the encore). All of which were big hits with the crowd! MGMT also played some covers (the kinks!); you've got to play covers when you only have one album, I would think. I like to think that in a perfect world, everyone loves Brown Eyed Girl, by Van Morrison, and if I were the judge, the crowd at Slim's that night would definitely be in my perfect world. So would MGMT, because they somehow decided to play Brown Eyed Girl (I was surprised, I didn't hear it soundcheck!), "sha la la la's" and everything! Nothing can get a crowd of girls - which was most of the front few rows of that show - excited like that song...it's a fact! I was tempted to run onstage and dance, but I decided to mind my manners, and dance from where I was.

I expect that this little band will get bigger and bigger, hopefully not exploding in the process. In fact, I'm pretty sure they legally have to grow in popularity, it's in the contract, right? Columbia Records is ensuring us of at least three more albums. They have to pay for that bus somehow! WORTH IT.

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Rilo Kiley. It has been years indeed since I've last seen you. And, despite what people say, you have not changed! Not negatively, anyway.

Michael Runion, boy superstar and my favorite LA local, opened up the Rilo Kiley show by addressing the fact that the ads for the show all said 8 pm, when really, the show started at 7:30. "It's hard to feel anything when it's light outside," he complained, in an endearing way. I've never seen Runion with a full band, but he had one, a five piece backing band that he seemed to really like. He even got to put his guitar down, wrap the microphone cord around his self and croon for a few songs, when Whispertown's Tod picked up the electric. Michael Runion explained to the crowd that over thanksgiving, he had learned that his last name is Irish, even though he is Mexican: "I'd like to thank us, we built this state, and I'd like to thank the Europeans for stealing it." Michael pleased me, although he didn't play my favorite, "Don't Let Her Hold You."

Whispertown 2000, yet another lovely LA band, was more what the crowd was looking for: two attractive, short-dress wearing women (Jenny's friend Morgan and Vanessa), a cute boy (Tod), and a mustachioed character (a fellow who replaced old W200 member Colt). They kicked off their set with "103," a song about my favorite topic, aging! The four musicians switched off instruments, which really impressed me. Whispertown even played some new material. The band ended with their signature jamboree style finale; all of Runions band returned to the stage, (except Runion who was very late for the jam session) picked up instruments, and rocked out. The guitar player from Runion's band plucked the bass strings, while Whispertown's bassist fretted the notes: it was too cool to believe. Runion finally made it back to the stage to play the acoustic guitar and jam out for a while before the set ended.

Rilo Kiley, the band that everyone was waiting for, came out at a respectable hour - 9:25. Jenny Lewis, front woman, child star, solo star, all purpose ginger!, looked smaller than the last time I'd seen her, and everyone was swooning as soon as she stepped on stage. The band all had silver, black and white outfits on; they are an impeccably dressed band, but I would expect nothing less from Los Angeles darlings. I believe I saw Orenda Fink, one of my other favorite artists, playing with Rilo Kiley (trumpet, tambourine, keys). The lighting was brilliant - someone did a great job managing strobes, black lights, blue lights, red lights. The band kicked off the set with three songs from their newest album, Under the Blacklight, "Close Call," "Moneymaker," and "Dreamworld," which sounded so much like a smooth 70's song that I couldn't stop smiling.

"Capturing Moods," from Executions of all Things, was messed up by Miss Jenny, but noone would have noticed if she hadn't stopped to apologize, which was adorable, as usual; one of the best sing along moments came during this song, when hundreds of people sang/screamed, "you could sell your baseball cards just to pay your rent." At that moment all I could think was, 'I've never owned baseball cards, nobody I know has ever owned them either.' The lighting guy, whoever he is, produced my favorite moment of show: during the emotional high point of "Does He Love You" the stage was completely drenched in red light as Lewis sang, "your husband will never leave you for me" – it reminded me of how good of an actress she probably is, she can capture every range of emotion in the songs she sings.

Blake had an important announcement, he had to introduce his new guitar that he had driven all the way from LA to SF to retrieve from a craigslist ad in a bar. Can you imagine selling your guitar online only to find out it was for Blake Sennett, former child star, current rock star? He then went straight into "Ripchord," from More Adventurous. So many sing along moments during this set. "Absence of God," and "With Arms Outstretched," were just two of the many songs that had the crowd hot and bothered and singing like mad.

I love balloons! I am putting that out there as a pretext to my next statement - I love balloons filled with glitter. Needless to say, Rilo Kiley had balloons filled with glitter and it made my freakin' night. I texted my friend during the balloon song, "Silver Lining," that 'these balloons are floating and fucking huge...I want to marry one...and live happy with glitter latex children." One balloon even made it to the end of the song with out it's glittery insides being torn apart. However, an even luckier balloon got popped just as Jenny Lewis ended, "I never felt so wicked, as when I willed our love to die (POP)." She smiled at the balloon. The band "ended" with "I Never," a song that holds precious memories for me - I was there the first time it was performed live - complete with an epic Blake guitar solo. Now it's a sure fire sign that the show ain't over if the band leaves something running, and sure enough Rilo came out to perform a few more songs, including "Picture of Success," and "Portions for Foxes," which made the crowd completely nuts. I think Rilo Kiley is just a band that people can go nuts for...I was proved right when my friend Jen got a water bottle from the stage, and proceeded to yell "This is JENNY'S WATER!!," and pour some on my head. I guess she thought it was a sort of holy blessing - maybe everyone at that show would agree with her.

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A little Iggy and the Stooges, a little... Dane Cooke, actually. Clark Westfield, lead singer of this 2-man outfit, could absolutely be a talk show host or a standup comic - that is, if he weren't such a fucking good musician. His personality is as amped as his music. He kept the audience (i.e. me) throughly entertained, like when he goes to the people in the front row, "We're so close! It's like it's just us!" Or when he called out some dude in the audience, "You're not really on your Blackberry during the clappy hand part are you??" He threw love to the concert organizers, saying, "We'd like to thank Deli Magazine for voting us the 28th best band of 2007... 28 is where it's at. Number 29? Fuck that. FUCK that. That's white rabbit shit."

Curious about the other guy in the band? Drummer Puppy Mills aka The Snitch, like, could've been in The Stooges. His propulsive beats totally held their own with Westfield's wildly manic persona. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed watching a drummer as much as I did tonight. He just made it look so fun and easy. And as a failed drummer, I happen to know that alot of the stuff he was doing wasn't that easy.

The Gay Blades are just really fucking FUN to watch. That's basically all I can say. What a fucking blast. I want to get back in line and go again!

Epilogue: At some point during the set, I heard someone say "They're like the White Stripes but with a sense of humor!" which at the time I thought was a lazy and very lame comparison. But I know what she meant, which is why I mention it now.

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Deck-of-Jack, with the help of the Slack Pack (Long Island's favorite cable access comedy troupe) tries to shed some light on this mystery in their brand new music video, "Starter Jacket."

For those who were alive during this turbulent time, it's time to break out your pagers, peg your pants, and re-live the days when suburban kids thought Compton was Camelot.

"Starter Jacket" video:

Check out the rest of Deck of Jack's hilariously awesome (or is it awesomely hilarious?) videos here.