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Straight to Video
Rock Art Rock
The Decemberists
September 19, 2009
Terminal 5, New York, NY
By Amanda Hatfield "The Decemberists played a special one night 'lottery show,' where the songs played were picked at random by a master of ceremonies, played by John Wesley Harding..."
Ra Ra Riot
April 4, 2009
Webster Hall, New York City, NY
By Amanda Hatfield "This show was, at the time, the biggest one Ra Ra Riot had sold out as headliners, and it was clear to me after watching it that the band is destined for even bigger and better things..."
Florence and the Machine
October 28, 2009
Bowery Ballroom, New York City, NY
By Amanda Hatfield "Florence Welsh and her backing band delighted and mesmerized a sold-out crowd at Bowery in her first official NY headlining show..."
Dirty Projectors
July 19, 2009
Williamsburg Waterfront (Brooklyn, NY)
By Amanda Hatfield "I was skeptical about how well Dirty Projectors' gorgeous, complex vocal harmonies would carry over outdoors, standing under hot sunshine..."
See more in the Rock Art Rock gallery.
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Column: It Shows
Live Show Review: Monsters of Folk at Stubb’s, Austin
Monsters of Folk
November 13th at Stubb’s BBQ, Austin
I’ll spare you the comparisons to Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, or the Traveling Wilburys. I’m sure if you’ve heard of Monsters of Folk by now, you understand that this band, like the aforementioned (sorry, I guess I couldn’t avoid it), is made up of four already-successful, talented musicians, coming together to form, in popular vernacular, a “supergroup.”
It’s easy to see how this kind of thing could be a bad idea. Just because a few musicians are good at what they do, and maybe even share similar genres, doesn’t mean they’ll gel together into a cohesive whole. But when it comes to Monsters of Folk, as with CSNY and the Wilburys (sorry again), one thing is clear: This collaboration has some chemistry. I hate to rely on a cliché that’s been used in pretty much every MOF review thus far, but it’s the most concise way to say it: The coming-together of these musicians creates a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts.
Live Show Review: Mission of Burma at the Independent, San Francisco
Mission of Burma
November 14th at the Independent, San Francisco
There’s no reunited band in rock more worthwhile than Mission of Burma. At this point, the Boston-based post-punk band has been together in their present form for seven years, quite a bit longer than the four years they were originally together in the late ’70s/early ’80s. They’ve just released their third studio album as a reformed outfit (it’s their fourth overall): The Sound The Speed The Light, which is not only fantastic, but lent speedy, careening set fodder to their show at the Independent on Saturday night.
Saturday’s show was opened by Erase Errata, a mostly San Francisco-based experimental punk band that only occasionally plays shows these days. Led by the now Portland, OR-based singer/guitarist Jenny Hoyston, the band played as a four-piece, drawing several songs from 2006’s terrific Nightlife (Kill Rock Stars), still their most recent album release. One of the most fascinating aspects of their sound is the bass and drums interplay, especially on the couple of songs where bassist Ellie Erickson plays the highest notes on her bass guitar in percussive, bell-like riffs that add a hypnotic, almost disco quality to drummer Bianca Sparta’s beat. Their contemporary take on ZE Records-type grooving, scraping punk is totally captivating, and a more sprightly counterpoint to Burma’s furious onslaught.
Live Show Review: The Pixies at the Fox Theater, Oakland
The Pixies
November 8th at the Fox Theater, Oakland
I was only nine years old when Doolittle came out. So I missed out on the Pixies in their heyday. Once I finally discovered them, they had already broken up. It would have been no surprise if they never found their way back together again, as all four became fully engaged in other side projects, but the ‘00s proved otherwise. They have legions of fans, from every demographic. Few bands have such far-reaching influence. Few bands will ever uphold the credibility of the Pixies.
The Pixies swept through the Bay Area this week to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of Doolittle. The complicity of each band member, as disparate as their respective musical roles may be, is still so palpable, that incongruent chemistry surely fodder for their noise rock but also contributing to the creative differences and struggle for control and direction that ultimately broke them. That disharmony was most present in Black Francis and Kim Deal. But when they feed off each other, when they get along, the result is some of the best, most consistently awesome music that rock has ever seen. For a band so off-kilter and unexpected, circuitous while staying true to the noisy roots that defined them… well, it’s a common story. When all the haphazard elements come together so perfectly, sometimes it’s only fitting that it eventually implodes.
Live Show Review: Devo at the Regency Ballroom, San Francisco
Devo
November 6th and 7th at the Regency Ballroom, San Francisco
The recent trend of artists revisiting and performing their older, esteemed records in their entirety, chiefly inspired by All Tomorrow’s Parties’ “Don’t Look Back” concert series, can be a dicey proposition—there’s the potential that the nostalgia of the event might eclipse an artist’s other qualities and achievements, as well as, in many cases, the artist’s or band’s present, continuing vitality.
For some reason, Devo revisiting and touring behind their first and third albums, 1978’s Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and 1980’s Freedom of Choice, makes sense, and not just because they’re reissuing them. (It should be noted that Devo performed Are We Not Men? back in May as part of ATP’s “Don’t Look Back” series.) Perhaps it’s because, to most people, they’re a one-hit wonder: “Whip It”, which got played the second night (it appears on Freedom of Choice), is a great song, but it didn’t even feel like the most brilliant, exciting song they played over these two nights. The fact is that Devo wrote a ton of great songs and are widely underrated and pegged unfairly as a novelty group. Allowing these albums to resurface so vibrantly feels appropriate because, simply, these records deserve another look, and, especially in the case of Are We Not Men?, the records feel as if they’re constructed so as to translate into a killer live setlist. (As an aside: Maybe it wouldn’t have sold so many tickets, but I think 1979’s Duty Now for the Future would’ve been cool to revisit too!)
Live Show Review: múm at the Independent, San Francisco, CA
múm
November 5th at the Independent, San Francisco
Once múm took the stage at the Independent, it didn’t take long before the effects of their sonic prowess could be felt. By the time they fully opened up, spread their wings, and established their gentle grasp, gravity seemed to dissipate and a warm current rolled over all of us as we bore witness to the wonders of sheer relaxation.
Though the Icelandic outfit has endured a number of lineup changes and some shifts to their sound since their formation in ’97, they proved that they remain fully capable of creating mood-enhancing music that both captivates and quells. To get there, múm—pronounced similarly to what a cow might say while gathering its thoughts (moom)—utilized a unique array of instruments and vocal combinations that were rarely the same for two consecutive songs. Melodicas—mini-keyboards blown into by the player that are rarely seen in an average set-up—were present for the entirety of the show, used by various members. Stringed instruments of just about every shape and size imaginable also dominated the field, and the two major elements formed the main base around which the other pieces flowed.
Live Show Review: Dawes and Langhorne Slim at the Independent, San Francisco
Dawes and Langhorne Slim
November 6th at the Independent, San Francisco
I actually first heard Dawes when Crawdaddy! editor Michael Harkin hit the road with them via Daytrotter’s Barnstormer a month or so back and did this great piece on the experience. I was taken by their beautifully crafted songs and Taylor Goldsmith’s voice, rich and full of soul, but also capable of unleashing this antiquated, all-American bellow. Dawes was initially, surprisingly, a post-punk band who called themselves Simon Dawes, but their new record, North Hills, channels the Laurel Canyon sound of the ‘70s—think Neil Young, the Band, and the Byrds… this is totally listenable stuff. Dawes has a big sound that is totally commercially viable, so I can easily see them filling a larger space like the Fillmore in no time at all. On Friday night at the Independent in support of New York City troubadour Langhorne Slim, the California bred quartet played tracks directly from their album (but for one slow, somnambulant song they identified as, simply, a “new one they had never played before”).
maus haus and Tempo No Tempo at the Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco
Tempo No Tempo, maus haus
November 5th at the Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco
My Thursday of this week was punctuated by some excellent local music. I made it out to the Rickshaw to finally see maus haus—I’d caught the very end of a set some time back, but knew they were well worth seeing again. And again and again. maus haus is a six-piece art-rock band that layers and loops glitchy fractured beats to create tracks that make you move, but mostly make your ears perk up to uncover the elements that make up their off-kilter sound. Citing Brian Wilson, Kraftwerk, and surrealism as influences, maus haus occupies a similarly cerebral space, sonically and thematically. An array of instrumentation is implemented into their songs; on this night, they opened their set with a small selection of horned instrumentalists, apparently on loan from SF band Battlehooch (known for setting up impromptu shows outside of supermarkets or on gritty urban sidewalks).
Live Show Review: Sunset Rubdown at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
Sunset Rubdown
October 26th at Great American Music Hall
Sunset Rubdown may have sprung from the fertile well that is Wolf Parade in the mid-2000s, but Spencer Krugs’ “side project” should not be relegated as such. The bombastic sound that overtook the Great American Music Hall on Monday night was testament to his work as a unique songwriting force in his own right. Krug has a truly singular vision. When he isn’t sharing directorial duties, as he does with Wolf Parade co-frontman Dan Boeckner (who himself heads lo-fi synth-rock outfit Handsome Furs) to fit within that group’s more urgent, fractured sound, his compositions are vast in scope and ambitiously penned, sprawling and loose and oblique. These songs are just as grand when delivered in a live capacity as they are when captured so purposefully on record. The music is steeped in deep minutiae, with nuances like a blaring trumpet crashing alongside a vigorous dual drum sequence, or brisk vocal harmonies that coincide with a quickening tempo—all intimate and intricate details that shape disparate elements into opuses, at times both epic and surprisingly approachable.
Steely Dan at Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium, San Francisco
Steely Dan
October 25th at Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium, San Francisco
An incredibly well-oiled Steely Dan came through town for a three-show stint this past weekend. The Steely Dan orchestra is comprised of four horns, two guitars, two keyboards, bass, drums, and three back-up vocalists, working together like a locomotive hauling a deep catalog of difficult and subversive jazz-rock.
Friday, they played the legendary Aja straight through; Saturday featured a recital of The Royal Scam; and, for the fan who needs a little extra, Sunday was Internet Request Night. The perk was that audience votes nudged the band back toward a few tracks that were left out of recent tours but remain audience favorites: “Any Major Dude Will Tell You”, “Reelin’ in the Years”, and “Rikki Don’t Lose that Number.” “Rikki’s” chords were tweaked with more sustain courtesy of the horn section. The result was a jazzier, more nostalgic take on the radio hit.
The King Khan and BBQ Show at the Independent, San Francisco
by: Angela Zimmerman
November 18th at the Independent, San Francisco
Sure, it’s kind of a schtick. But when the King Khan and BBQ Show take the stage, King Khan scantily clad in a loin cloth and skimpy, shimmering top, BBQ in a hot pink turban, it’s not like you don’t know that they’re partially there to shock. Appearances aside, they put on one of the most entertaining shows I’ve seen in a while; what sounds like a band of five (or more!) is actually only two dudes.
All I knew about King Khan was that he puts on an eccentric live show. The Shrines, his last touring ensemble, was a large group replete with horns and stage theatrics, quite unlike the minimalist garage-y punk rock that the BBQ show was all about. I was sorta standing in the front/middle of the room, but I’m pretty short so I couldn’t really see what was going on up on stage. I could only see King Khan; he’s a pretty tall guy. I could tell there was a drummer sitting to his right, mostly because when I stood on my tiptoes I could see his turban. But I couldn’t tell where all the noise was coming from. Where was the tambourine? The drummer/multi-instrumentalist, BBQ (aka Mark Sultan), was playing the drums, and the tambourine, with his feet. And he was playing guitar, and singing too! Talk about a one-man show. Before too long his turban came off, a victim of the performance, and next thing I knew he was sporting a checkered cabbie cap. The set began with fuzzy, reverb-y garage rock and at times got pretty psychedelic, an onslaught of sound tinged by hypnotic fuzzy, guitar riffs. But it was mostly a punk rock, doo-wop inspired act. How about that for something different?
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by: Angela Zimmerman
published: November 19, 2009 in column: It Shows
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