WHAT A TEMPER!

Friday, April 16, 2010

COACHELLA: ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN

The moment I had been waiting for had finally arrived. The Bunnymen were scheduled to take the stage at the Outdoor Theater at 8:35 PM. I made my way to the stage a couple acts early in an effort to inch my way forward such that I would be positioned close to the stage by the time The Bunnymen took the stage.

Considering how youthful the crowd was and the fact many did not know who they were, there was not much heat in the audience for their performance compared to the band that came before (Passion Pit) and afterwards (Vampire Weekend), both young, vibrant bands better suited to the younger crowd. Quite a few negative comments from people waiting for their act, making it clear the folks around me were not motivated to see them. I felt somewhat sad for The Bunnymen. They benefited from being sandwiched between two other bands popular with the younger audience, but it emphasized their age and how old their sound has become.

But I enjoyed the performance and may have been one of the more enthusiastic in the crowd. Stoked on tequila, I grooved to the music that is so familiar to me. The shortened set list demanded by the music festival format required that they stick to their greatest hits list, 10 songs, with no opportunity to expand out to some of their lesser well known tunes (which they don't necessarily play during their other stage performances, one of my gripes about the band). Ian is appreciative of the opportunity to perform before this audience, as he should be considering many new ears are listening with a chance to broaden his fan base.

A review from Jessica Gelt of the LA Times:

From across the field, I could just make out the strains of a song that I grew up loving, "Lips Like Sugar." Echo & the Bunnymen were onstage hosting a retrospective love-in.

Through the copious amounts of smoke that shot into the air from machines beside the stage, Ian McCulloch and the boys looked just how I remembered them from when I was a depressed tween who relished dying her hair purple and piercing her own navel with a sewing needle. So real was the mirage of youth that I did all I could to avoid looking at the giant screen next to the stage that showed the band up-close and revealed their actual age -- and, by proxy, my own.

"This is the greatest song ever written," said McCulloch before launching into a keyboard-heavy version of "The Killing Moon." A great song, true, but McCulloch could have skipped the pretentious hyperbole and simply relied on the goodwill of the aging and sentimental Friday night crowd.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/04/coachella-2010-echo-the-bunneymen-want-to-be-no-1.html

Youth has escaped them

Pushed to the margins by time

Bright lights growing dim

Download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LJW1GI7T

Sunday, April 4, 2010

CRYSTAL DAYS AND VAMPIRE WEEKEND

Furlough Friday. I got some chores done around the house. Smoked a cigar with a buddy here in town late in the afternoon. And I partied late that night with a couple favorite bands.

First up was a radio broadcast of Vampire Weekend's November 23, 2009 show at the Oxford Arts Factory in Sydney, Australia. A great sounding recording with a set list very similar to the one they performed here in Denver a few weeks ago.

By Marcus on THEVINE:

US band Vampire Weekend have slunk into Sydney town for a quick promo jaunt, part of the global itinerary for their forthcoming second album Contra. Which as it happens, we had a listen to prior to this "secret show" for fan club members, media types and overzealous promoters (we'll get to that soon. We also had a long chat to keyboard player and producer of the new album Rostam Batmanglij prior to the show. Stay tuned for that also). It's an exciting record Contra, not least because it expands on the Vampire Weekend universe by introducing a heightened production nouse, a wider palette of sounds and some almost crazy deviations into house, '80s arena dance and new shades of melancholia, but because it displays a depth not seen on their debut. While still retaining everything that made them so attractive in the first place. Debut follow up = win.

It's an exciting time for Vampire Weekend. I never would've picked them to mature so far beyond their debut - while still in tribute to it. But they have and by the time they come back sometime in the new year, when Contra is the firm summer driving album of choice, "buzz band" will be an embarrassingly bygone tag for the service they deserve.

Read it all here:
http://www.thevine.com.au/music/photos/photos,-review-_-vampire-weekend,-sydney-2009.aspx

Two weeks and I see them live on stage in California.

The old guard grumbles
Try so hard to agitate
Fear they grow extinct

The grim news report
Faces fade on the screen
Young souls departing

Two hundred years tall
Swaying in the seasons winds
Branches brush the stars

Full of emotion
Hollering of the masses
Bumper sticker speak

Born unto the world
Joining the other billions
Lives so all alone

Download it here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=55UPL937

Following was disc 3 of Echo & The Bunnymen's Crystal Days, 1979-1999, a four CD retrospective of the band's work between those years. It includes some material from Ian McCulloch's solo career, but nothing from when Noel Burke led the band in the early 1990's. A great collection of music. What drew me to disc 3 was that it included a number of songs I like from Evergreen and What Are You Going To Do With Your Life. I was swooning to the music well after midnight.

Faces we don't know

Their accepted sacrifice

Dieing silently

Sunday, March 28, 2010

IDOLIZE THE BUNNYMEN

I had the pleasure of spending Saturday with an interesting group of people, a slice of society I would normally never have an opportunity to meet:

Arturo, who had a run in with an elderly gentleman when he went to pick up his daughter without having brought necessary payment.

Stephen, the sun glassed, motor mouth who ran a medical marijuana dispensary who "bitch slapped" a old rival who had the nerve to come out from California and intrude on his territory.

Richard, who got into trouble with a jerk over the use of a table at a laundromat, clearly a victim of the justice system when all the facts were shared.

Aspen, who in defense of her son got into a scuffle with a crazy woman who eventually fell down a flight of stairs.

Jeremy, the drunk who beat on a taxi cab driver in downtown Denver.

Goudi, who's car was hit by another while sitting in a parking lot, the incident getting out of control when the police arrive, another example of where the victim is penalized by the "justice" system.

Orlando and Louise, who bet on a drunk guy who had the nerve to throw a beer bottle at their passing truck.

Chris, who got ripped off by a moving company when they jacked up the fee by $1300 in order to get his belongings back, tensions raising and once again the police penalize the victim.

Celeste, the buxom blond who got totally wasted on tequila and Ecstasy at a rave party and then got into a fight with her girlfriend, who was screwing guys in the back alley, the incident ending with her ramming her car into her friends car 3 times.

Jung, a Korean who has a stall at a flea market that is frequently hit by shoplifters, one of whom falsely accused him of assault when confronted with the fact she had loaded up a bag with his stuff, the victim of a language barrier and a flawed justice system.

Matt, who got into an loud argument with his wife while at home, thereby attracting the police who found that he was carrying a concealed pistol without a permit.

Dora, who got into a fight at a restaurant waitress over the poor service she and her sister received.

Rick, ex-Detroit taxi driver who while minding his own business got into it a road rage incident with another driver who was clearly looking for trouble.

Will, who was drunk and got into an argument with his also drunk wife in a movie theater, triggering a 911 call.

La Cretia, high school student who messed up some other student who was bad mouthing her cousin, repeat offender who was eventually expelled from that school.

Fun stuff!

Therefore I was ready for more fun Saturday night when I pulled out a couple CDs and a cigar. First up was a soundboard recording of Billy Idol performing at the Rockpalast Music Festival in Nurnberg, Germany on June 5th, 2005. I guess the Nurnberg Hitler rallies of the late 1930's were replaced by music festivals. Billy put on a hard driving performance, even daring to play Van Halen's Jump, which I must say was not as good as when David Lee Roth does it. The show put me in a good frame of mind while I stood under the stars with the truck stereo blasting into the night.

Blue shields intervene

Fate in the hands of the flawed

Dangle by a thread

Just doing their jobs

Wheels grind the human spirit

Trapped in the system

See only despair

Lone life of rejection

A child's suffering

Download it here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/166048754/Billy_Idol-Rock_AM.rar

The Bunnymen followed Billy, the CD I popped into the stereo being another variation of their famed live performance at London's Royal Albert Hall on July 19, 1983. Enough said.

"Our gigs at the Royal Albert Hall were the live peaks of the Bunnymen's career. I felt like God was there conducting"
- Ian McCulloch, 1992

"A true milestone in the group's career. If there were any doubts about the Bunnymen's rise to stardom, this put them to rest."

- Goldmine, 1998

Saturday, March 20, 2010

BLOWN AWAY BY VAMPIRE WEEKEND

Friday brings both a snow storm and another night out listening to live music. The snow began in the morning and continued all day, dropping several inches, but not the 6 to 8 originally forecast. Wet roads presented no obstacle. I stayed late at the office after which I did some shopping at REI and then on to the Ogden Theater for the sold out show. When I drove by shortly before 8 oclock, a line of people stood outside in the cold and wet. By the time I parked the truck and walked to the theater, the doors had opened and people began staking out their area of floor space near the stage and along the second floor balcony railing. I found my spot near the front row. The show started at 9.

First up was The Blow, a Portland, Oregon based visual artist and performer Khaela Maricich alone up on the stage who sang her unique style song and danced to prerecorded music prepared by her invisible partner, Jona Bechtolt. The Blow "set lyrics that sound like unverbalized thoughts to herself to minimal, often electronically textured basic pop melodies." I like her sound, the songs accompanied by story telling about her experiences writing music and her association with an unnamed famous bad girl artist and performer (Lindsay Lohan) who Khaela apparently collaborates with to write music. The high heels she wore on stage for one song were given to her by that bad assed "girlie girl." I wish I had taped her show.

At the end of the evening I purchased her latest CD from her dad in the theater lobby that Khaela signed "Hey! What Gives?! Thanks for listening." Its worth seeing her perform if you have the chance.

I heard about Vampire Weekend from DivaDiana77 through The Bunnymen Underground forum. I listened to a sample of their music and like the sound, leading me to buy their latest CD, Contra, which I enjoy. I had to go see them perform live when I learned they were coming to Denver.

Vampire Weekend is an American indie rock band from New York City that formed in 2006. Wikipedia says:

"The band claims to be influenced by both African popular music and Western classical music, describing their genre of music as "Upper West Side Soweto", with such songs as "Cape Code Kwassa Kwassa" referencing Congolese soukous music."

"In 2007, Vampire Weekend's song "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" was ranked 67th on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of the year. They were declared "The Year's Best New Band" by Spin magazine in the March 2008 issue, and were the first band to be shot for the cover of the magazine before releasing their debut album. The band's debut album Vampire Weekend was released January 29, 2008. It was a success in the US and UK, peaking at number 15 on the UK Album Chart and number 17 on the Billboard 200. In December 2008, Vampire Weekend's debut album was #2 in Under The Radar magazine's "top 50 albums of 2008" issue. In the January 2009 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, their self-titled album was dubbed the 10th best album of 2008."

Their sound reminds me of Paul Simon's 1986 album Graceland. Nice beat to it that makes for good dancing. And that's all I did during their entire show, loving every minute. Vampire Weekend will also be performing on the first day of the Coachella Music Festival a month from now . I hope to see them there too.

Snowbound crowd gets hot at Ogden
March 19, 2010
Credit:Matt Farley

Vampire Weekend was a long way from both their beloved Mexico and their home state New York Friday night when they played Denver in the midst of a major snowstorm, but the sold-out house at the Ogden Theater was as enthusiastic as any they could expect from either.

Songs such as "A-punk" belied the band's mellow theme by bringing the crowd nearly to a full mosh, while calmer tracks kept things interesting regardless.

Opener The Blow threw down a confusing but danceable set of electro-pop tunes, hinting repeatedly and heavily that the songs were inspired by a certain nameless pop star (we were never certain if we were being directed toward Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan, but it was definitely one of the two) whom singer Mikhaela Yvonne Maricich claimed to have had a long-term relationship with.

http://denver.metromix.com/music/photogallery/vampire-weekend-drinks-deep/1829114/content