gabedouglas

I had seen a bit of there set in Austin @ SXSW in March. Rumor has it that the guitar tech played guitar there, but I am unsure about all of that. I do know that they were playing outside in the afternoon and weren’t anything I would write home about.
They have a lot of aspects I like. The rhythm of most songs consists of heavy drums’n'bass (think Secret Machines) and the quasi-nasal voice reminds me of a favorite lyricist (the Weakerthans), but it never really comes together for me in their short songs. The lighting they brought in was good in some parts, but mostly completely epileptic-inducing. I’m all about LED lights, but you you can’t use the brightest white setting and chase scenes under a second for more than a few songs.
I’m curious to see what they do next, but I am still not a devotee.

The Ready Goes started off the night. I was excited for this show because it involves 3 great bands that are all dancey, but all in their own way.
The Ready Goes are local and always put a great almost brit-dance show. Soaring vocals and bumping bass, a la Killers, Franz Ferdinand, but with their own twist of character.
Always a pleasure.

Ra Ra Riot played an invigorating set. They are from New York and you can tell just by looking at them. All the guys had those tight New York indie-trend jeans, the Chuck T’s (or Vans-type slip-ons alternatives). The girls (two of them) played those Bjork-esque electric strings (one on violin, one on cello). I usually hate these things, but they not only let me enjoy them, but the cello player could throw that thing around and she was about the same height as it, so it worked out quite well. The bassist had a mini-mullet and a yellow bass.
They play very tight for a 6 piece and the strings always end the songs so eloquently. Their sound could be compared to the Collectives movement (see Animal Collective, Broken Social Scene, the Aracade Fire, Bright Eyes), but they are much more cheery and more dancey. Very chaotic sound, in the fact that everyone is usually playing different melody lines, but it all works as a cohesive unit instead of just 6 people trying to sort out the other’s parts, it is always layered great and they just stun me with the way the guitar, cello, violin, bass, and drums work together so well. Lots of driving bass drum anthemic starts and breakdowns in the songs, which I always enjoy.

The Little Ones are like the Shins to me in many regards. Very quirky sound that is somewhat familiar. The band members look NOTHING like I would think they would be. They are growing more fans, but I have no idea when I will see them in a larger venue head-lining and playing tracks from new albums that I don’t really know whole-heartedly. They played great as usual. The bass player/back-up singer/keyboardist looks like an extra from a Jackie Chan Hong Kong movie, in that he is CONSTANTLY moving and looks entirely happy to be there.
Great sing-a-long moments, great auxiliary percussion from both the guitarists and the taller, Canadian-surfer looking keyboardist/bass player. They came out and played an encore for the 30 of us who were more than happy to hear another song from them. I forget how much sunny, catchy music is completely infectious and completely consuming. I love it.

It is so great to see everyone smiling and interacting on stage with each other.. not in a ‘oh, are you ready for the breakdown? okay here it comes..’ way, but a ‘i effing love this melody you wrote’..
All the band members are mouthing the words to the songs and believing them.
And that’s what it’s all about.

It is cold out. Luckily I am from Minnesota so it doesn’t phase me too much, but I guess it is a huge problem for everyone else. I’m not causing a scene though because every time that summer thermometer goes above 87 degrees I am immediately uncomfortable unless I am well-hydrated or well on my way to a merry time.

Before I left for the show I saw the Lunar Eclipse taking form.
Oh, life on Earth, constantly making me think of things in a cosmic sense.

The New Frontiers were playing when I got there. Really great stuff. The lead singer has one of those vulnerable, mellow, not fragile voices. They hail from Dallas (not surprised) as their sound definitely has a twang to it. They kill four things I enjoy, decent audible lyrics (they had really good phrasing in some parts too, like GREAT phrasing that plays off each other), three part harmonies, just singer/guitar & singer/bass breakdowns, and crushing up-swings. Most songs ended with the Manchester Orchestra / ‘Transatlanticism’ by Death Cab, all out thrashing. But not in a ‘oh-my-god-that-guy-has-an-ax-and-is-swinging-it-maniacally-and-has-never-used-an-ax-before’ way, but in the ‘good-lord-that-man-is-going-to-cut-down-this-entire-forest-and-stare-us-in-the-eye-as-he-does-it’ way.

Next up was John Ralston. I’ve seen him on bills since his Legends of Rodeo days. My friend Sidekick was a huge fan. I’m still an emo kid at heart, so I like his songwriting a lot. I envy his emo-pitched voice, that can just soar and soar and soar and when you think it is going to fall, he will hold it longer and the bass player will come in with the best harmony flannel can buy (it can buy great harmonies.) I always want him to play one or two Legends of Rodeo songs but I’m not sure how that all ended, so I’m not going to be screaming songs at him any time soon. He played all of Limbeck’s gear due to his being stuck in his van in Iowa. I guess everyone on the tour has been razzled by the weather. Understandable if you’re trying to cross states and not Minneapolis (This line is directed at you, Toyota Corrolla owner who doesn’t know what the right lane is ever used for, how to brake properly, or how to clear off ANY window on your car.) He played a quick set with full band, then him solo for a few, then a full band finish. (He played a few off of ‘Needle Bed’, including ‘Gone, Gone, Gone’, which was a great set closer.)

Limbeck was in a merry mood, as they usually are. They played a more heavier set than I have seen them play. And it was raunchy and distorted and rocking. The re-workings of a few off of ‘Hi, Everything’s Fine’, have really grown into their own and I enjoyed them. I would have liked to stay after and put back a few beers with the band, but I have to work in the morning, so did my ride, and I am still broke from Europe. I’m not regretting anything and will most definitely be searching out these bands at SXSW and throw more than a few back.

These bands excite me about the SXSW scene, because if it’s just bands like them I will be perfectly content, although I suspect it will be much more diverse.
Bring on music.
Bring on, bring on.

All in all, I picked up the New Frontiers CD and am excited to give it a listen.

First band is “Weird Al”
I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. I liked Weird Al growing up and he introduced me through covering some artists to people I would have never even known of.
Anyways, hilarious. I enjoyed it immensely. Mostly because the band was spot-on and the lead singer actually resembled Weird Al. (He was in lobby with Hawaiian shirt, curled hair, and moustache before the show.)

*Added note is that a larger man entered as they were belting out “Fat” (parod of “Bad” by Michael Jackson)

Second band “Wilco”

They started with ‘Heavy Metal Drummer’. It was alright. The singer is trying to give Tweedy justice and is barely squeaking by.
They played “At Least That’s What You Said” and they rocked the rock out pretty well.
The rest was alright.

Third band (Jason Shannon) “Johnny Cash”

Solid. His voice is much more polished and john butleresque than mr. Cash’s.. but he did a solid job.

This was the second time I’ve seen Office at the 400 bar.
The first was at the beckoning of my old roommate Sara, who said she wasn’t going to go to the show because no one else could go.
Eff that.

Anyways, I thoroughly enjoy their stuff.
Their album is 40% of their live show (and that album is good to begin with.)

Tiger City played before them. They had a great sense for the dance-pop scene and the bass player grooved every song quite smoothly. I’d definitely see them again if they come through.

The lead singer was creepy as all hell. He had a Mike Tyson eye tattoo.
I don’t care if that is permanent or temporary. It is stupid and creepy.
He sang well though and the bass player made up for all creepiness in overall zest for dance-pop, bass-player-head-nod, and lust for playing music. (You can always tell when people enjoy what they are doing. I will always support people who do that.)

Office played great. Tambourine craziness, tight playing, and saving the two favorite songs for the end. (”Oh My” to end the set and “The Ritz” to end it.)

High Life was following and my feet were shaking.
Great people, great music.
Loving it.

So, I really enjoy being American.
But the time has come for the world to be introduced to me.
I’m going to Europe January 20th - February 3rd with my college graduate roommate Drew.
Our plans are Amsterdam, Munich, Venice, and some days spent in the Swiss Alps snowboarding.

Got any advice or suggestions for a first goer to Europe?
I am a tourist type person, but also love drinking cheap beer in dive bars anywhere in the world.

I was in the library, trying to get a library card yesterday during my lunch break.
I noticed that the steps were numbered, both in english and spanish. The alphabet ran down the other side of the stairs (for when you walked down). Inside the library there were purple decal feet that let to somewhere I would imagine to be a little kid’s reading nook of some sort.

And I was waiting in line at the Service Desk, a little kid started out from the path of purple feet.
His strides were 2-3 times shorter than that of the desired length to go foot for foot with the path and he haphazardly tried to stutter step into the right stride to get it right, but not between every pair of feet. His eyes would never leave the trail of prints, but his mind would.
You could barely see it. But his little feet would drift between prints and he wouldn’t care or try to correct himself. Three feet later he might, but sometimes his mind would be off.
“Mom, if you were an octopus..,” he asked, his eyes never leaving these mysterious marks on the floor.
“If you were an octopus, would you talk to me?”
Enter Bohemian-type mom holding his little sister. She was what I think of as Bohemian, which could be completely off. She wore flowing materials, a knitted hat, and clangy jewelry.
It worked for her. And as she looked up to see people wondering what the answer was the same as her son, she smiled and looked confident and unembarrassed. You could see her actually trying to render the right answer.
“Yes, yes I would,” she replied.
“What would you say?”
“Mom, if you were an octopus, what would you say..”

“Well, I’d say.. ‘hey come swim! it’s really fun in the water.’”
And his glance went up to mom, to make sure she was actually talk to him.
The glance up made him content and he went back to trying to envisioning who left these purple marks on the floor.
“Mom.. mom, if you were an octopus.. would you sing to me?”

“Yes, yes of course I would. We’d sing together.”

As they left the library into the annex of the building, I almost swayed right out the door with them. I wanted to see what they’d sing, the octopus and him.

But the librarian waved me forward and told me I had to have a piece of mail with my address on it.

So I got dragged to a concert on a Sunday night. I was horribly tired by means of an exhausting week, a bender till sunrise hours on Friday, and a double-shift on Saturday that left me barely on my feet.

I remembered one thing. ‘Ocean’ is the single greatest song I have ever heard performed live.
Ever.
I’ve seen a good’n'plenty amount of songs live. And it is easily the best. Every time.

I manned up and got in the car to go to First Ave to hope they weren’t sold out. If they were, it wouldn’t be a night ruiner. They weren’t, but I have misplaced my ID.
They let me in.
We drank St. Pauli big girls during the opener, Brett Dennen. He was solid and good. Had an island vibe about his music, but was good hippie-driven rock.

John Butler did a lot more vocal harmonies than previous shows. ‘Zebra’ was great.
He played for about 40 minutes, then the band left and he played an introductory song.. An introductory song to ‘Ocean’.
Which always kills me. It just soars and seeps over the sides of my soul.
Organic, changing, and perfect every time.
It is just amazing. I would like to think it is reminiscent of seeing someone like Bach or Mozart play a piece over a number of years. With them slightly changing the themes and the melodies, but always having parts of the song where you know it’s going to go.

Hearing that song and the way JBT talks about music makes me want to be an ambassador of music to all people. I want to bring music to kids.
I want them to be flooded with music. I want them to be embraced by music.

Imagine an opera house. You know, like the ones where the old guys from the Muppets would always be nit-picking. With elegant stairwells, great tapestries, and carvings from some lore I could only try and understand. The ceiling will reach up above you and spider out in different patterns through the balconies. The stage will be almost too clean and too large.

Especially for a five-piece band from Brooklyn who writes songs about drinking in Minneapolis.
Luckily, I had been to the State Theater previously and knew of that horrendous lines for beers. This did not stop my entire party from buying beers, which was AWESOME.
The Holdsteady is feel-good, good-drinking music.

They played all the go-getter songs. “Massive Nights”, “Chips Ahoy”, and “You Can Make Him Like You” all were played with the energy of lions, lions who are doing the thing they love for a safari of people who live on the streets the lions write songs about.

Craig Finn did was he does. He did what he loves to do. It is a quality that is quickly recognizable and quickly soaks into you. The excitement he brings not only to the stage, but to life is one in a billion. His charismatic hitting of power chords, his almost boyish use of the consta-clap, his kid-getting-stuck-in-bag (where he thrusts his arms down and his hands out, almost penguin-like, and jumps about like a Charlie Brown character, giddy with the moment), even his arms-outstretched pose was genuine and everything he had to give.

Franz was in full-effect to. Playing the keys as almost a secondary chore to having the time of his life playing music. Leading you into every breakdown, almost busting at the seams at the start of every chorus. Keeping all the classy people in check with his scultped moustache, his three piece suit, and his drinking of wine (even if it is straight from the bottle. It’s classy when you have near-choreographed moves with said wine bottle.)

Just a splendid night. Great people, great music.

I remember seeing Emily Haines with her own band (soft skeleton, I believe) at the Varsity. I enjoyed a few tracks from the album, but her stuff never really clicked with me.
I had heard Metric before and went with my friend Heather who is in love with Emily Haines. (Which is ironic because my friend Stew is also in love with her.) Their music comes across much more danceable, more energetic, more raw, and more edgier live. Definitely a rock band who wants to dance as much as you do.
She was wearing a long shirt tailored to a dress. Which showed pretty much everything from her ankles to her butt. Very much a sensory overload of sexiness.
She made me a fan and I would definitely see them live again (with or without the seductive dress)