DEAP VALLY

Wednesday night at the Moon Room at the Summit Music Hall.  Performing were Deap Vally, the band from Los Angeles who I saw at Lollapalooza a little over a month ago.  I knew I had to see them as soon as I heard they were coming to Denver.  The Foot was a pretty good band, and Jjuujjuu was the husband of  Julie, the drummer of Deap Vally.  Everyone was waiting for this dynamic duo to perform.

Even though the crowd was small this evening, the place rocked when they took the stage.  Lindsey announced that it was Julie's birthday the following day, at midnight.  Happy Birthday to you!  What's strange is that it was here husbands birthday on the day they performed at Lollapalooza!  After the show I caught Lindsey at the merch table where she signed copies of their EP.  When asked how this compared to Lollaplooza, she was nice and said that these venues allowed her to get close to the crowd.  A great night of music, hoping they come through again after they release their album in October.

Download the show here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/vcohj7s64gh/DV_Moon_Room_Denver_CO_September_25_2013_MP3_rar

MICHAEL ASTON, GENE LOVES JEZEBEL

On September 14th I flew to LA for the sole purpose of watching Michael Aston's (blond hair) version of Gene Loves Jezebel perform at the New Wave Bar.  It's getting so easy to travel to and around LA: plane, train, bus, a short walk and I'm at the hotel door.  I was amped for the show, barely able to relax at the pool that afternoon.  I had a cigar in the park behind the bar at sunset and was inside by 7:30, with time to kill before the 10:00 show.  A seat at the bar, having drinks and listening to a succession of 80's music from a variety of artists.  I made the request for Echo and the Bunnymen's Never Stop, getting Bring on the Dancing Horses instead.  Unfortunately I probably had one too many because in my enthusiasm to see Michael, I experienced some fumble fingers and stopped the recording a half hour into the show.  This is one time I saw the "documenting" of the show as a curse because it was getting in the way of its pure enjoyment.

I toyed with the idea of following the band to Florida where they perform at a two day 80's music festival on the coast east of Orlando, easy to do, but considerably more expensive.  But I decided to wait until the band performs again in LA.  A dream would be for estranged brother Jay Aston (red hair) to go out on tour himself and put his spin on the music.  Among the fans, the the debate is similar to the one for Van Halen: Dave versus Sammy.  But instead it is Jay versus Michael.  It's all good to me.

Just two hours away
Escape, both body and mind
Life of fantasy

Three long hours to kill
A room lit by the glasses
As the eyes grow dim

Wears a lions mane
Dressed in Neo’s black trench coat
Sings like an angel

Jumping off the edge
Falling so fast with eyes closed
Soft lands on the grass

Seeks an explanation
Follows the trail, like bread crumbs
Lost in the darkness

Download the half hour here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/rl0teum6h1t/GLJ_New_Wave_Bar_Los_Angeles_CA_September_14_2013_MP3_rar

LOLLAPALOOZA DAY 2

I had a leisurely breakfast at Dollps Coffee Company a few blocks away where I consulted a pair of local publications that featured Lollapalooza, including several reviewers with their favorite bands for the music festival.  Since this Saturday was for me the weakest in terms of bands I wanted to see, I relied on the reviewers picks, coupled with my choices based on YouTube viewing, to map out the stages I would be standing in front of for the day.  Back to the Red Line that took me to downtown Chicago to stand in line for the opening of Grant Park at 11 AM.  Having the art museum nearby was great because of the easy access to a bathroom, a necessity after having a few cups of coffee.

A beautiful day that was relatively cool compared to years past, the temps in the 80's.  The quiet time of the day was right after the gates opened, an hour before anyone took the stage.  It was an opportunity to get all my gear put together and double check the schedule I'd be following through the day.

Apparently several of the bands dropped out of today's festival, messing up the schedule.  Bands I hoped to see were gone, replaced by others.  Bands scheduled to perform at a set time had been shifted to a different time.  I would have liked to see Azealia Banks at the end of the day, but she was a no-show.  But it all worked out in the end anyway.

A few of the bands I did manage to see and get some recordings of follow.  The wind always plays havoc with an unshielded microphone!

 PUJOL

Formed in 2009, this southern Gothic rock band is described as:

Daniel Pujol grew up in Tullahoma, TN then he moved to Nashville and wrote a bunch of songs about life and theology and his sister and other things.

Adam Tanaka plays drums. He is a quiet dude who also makes screen prints. Sean Thompson plays lead guitar and Joey Scala plays bass. They’re buds and bonded at the brain.

Download the show here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/3g35qp3xvqu5/n/P_Lollapalooza_August_3_2013_mp3

 REIGNWOLF

The day really began when Jordan Cook took the stage and began his set with a solo performance that shook up the crowd with his stunning guitar work.  The organizers of Lollapalooza spoke of him as such:

With a steadily growing number of two-person bands, blues-rock has become more raw and more minimal. But Reignwolf beats out the likes of The Black Keys, Deap Vally, and even The White Stripes (R.I.P.) in the latter department by having only one member at its core: an easygoing Canadian named Jordan Cook. To be fair, Cook is sometimes joined onstage by two additional band members. But he mostly flies solo—stomping a kickdrum with two guitars slung around his neck. During an especially haunting rendition of “The Chain”, he alternates between boxcar acoustic and ghost town electric, capturing Fleetwood Mac’s tortured emotionalism while adding muscle with his laryngitic howl. Stacks of amps loom behind him — shadowy monoliths that crackle with every bend, strum, and pluck. During his self-penned “Electric Love,” Cook redefines the concept of a one-man band by taking a seat behind a full drum kit with guitar still in hand. He keeps the kickdrum steady while continuing to riff. Easy enough.

Download the show here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/2a5ysu2gbxpf/n/R_Wolf_Lollapalooza_August_3_2013_mp3

 ST. LUCIA

The surprise of the afternoon was the band St. Lucia, lead by Jean-Philip Grobler with a beautiful voice and great sound. 

It is written:

Even in the urban wilds of Brooklyn, there may be no one else like Jean-Philip Grobler, aka St. Lucia. Originally from Johannesberg, St. Lucia grew up performing with the Drakensberg Boys Choir School. When the choir wasn’t traveling - they toured Japan, Australia, Europe and more - they stayed in an enclave tucked in the South African mountains, learning everything from Bach to minimalist opera.

A young musician could hardly find better training. But musically, St Lucia’s heart lay elsewhere, and South Africa was full of other rhythms. “My mom says I used to sing along to Michael Jackson,” he says - an ordinary anecdote, until he adds, “when I was an infant.” As a young teenager, he started to feel that he’d had his fill of classical, and it felt like an epiphany when he discovered the direct emotionality of pop. Eventually, he left the creative “small pond” of South Africa for England, where he spent three years studying music in Liverpool.

St. Lucia’s journey ended - as so many journeys do - in New York City, where he started working on the tracks that would ultimately turn into his self titled debut release on Neon Gold. The atmospheric quality of St. Lucia’s electronic pop is powerful, with the musician’s global travels and history of secret hideaways effortlessly passed onto the audience through his dreamy, shimmering synths.

Read it here: http://www.last.fm/music/St.+Lucia

Download the show here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/4rzauvvocyqr/n/St_L_Lollapalooza_August_3_2013_mp3

THE LUMINEERS

To be honest, this was the highlight of the day, the hot Colorado folk rock band The Lumineers.  But like I said, Saturday was the weakest day of the festival.  "A Denver, Colorado based group. The roots revival of the last few years has primed listeners for a new generation of rustic, heart-on-the-sleeve music—the kind that nods to tradition while setting off into uncharted territory. The Lumineers walk that line with an unerring gift for timeless melodies and soul-stirring lyrics."  They certainly put on a good show, and I like their music, but like similar hot, young bands that are popular on the charts, they attract  a lot of young chatty and screaming women.  Everyone seems to know the lyrics and prove it by singing along throughout the show.  That's what I paid to see and hear?  After their last song I raced across the park to see The Postal Service, standing far in the back near the second line of speakers just grooving to the music.

Download the show here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/3l0i86ouzaqp/n/The_Ls_Lollapalooza_August_3_2013_mp3

BRONCHO AT THE LARIMER LOUNGE

I bought tickets to see Broncho as soon as I heard they were coming to Denver, loving their propulsive and infectious sound.  Playing at the Larimer Lounge this evening were Dudebabes, Hindershot, Mozes and the Firstborn with Broncho closing the place down.  Being a Tuesday night, there might have been a hundred people in the place at most, with many being members belonging to the bands.  After the show I drove the truck to the Morrison exit where I parked it and slept in the back, giving myself an extra hour of sleep (versus going home) before meeting others to head off to the Western Slope.

Westword writes:

Broncho hit the stage last night like a great, long lost band from several eras. With its catchy melodies, and its infectious exuberance and aggression, Broncho recalled the Buzzcocks by way of the Stooges, except the guitar sweep and atmospherics were more like some psychedelic '60s garage band playing riffs more grounded in '90s noise rock.

Frontman Ryan Lindsey sang with a calm, cool confidence but he also let loose with fiery yelps and during the instrumental passages, and he leapt in the air to rhythms and dynamics provided by drummer Nathan Price and bassist Johnathon Ford. Guitarist Ben King seemed to synch perfectly together with Lindsey to create interlocking, searing leads and a vivid, sometimes contrasting, tonal layer.

The band really got the crowd going with "Try Me Out Sometime." It was especially impressive that the crowd was so engaged considering how little interaction the band had with the crowd. At one point, Lindsey pointed out that Denver was going to be the next capital and made mention of the artwork at DIA. Curtis Wallach from Dudebabes said something about how it was a weird airport to which Lindsey remarked, "Conspiracy weird." Other than this exchange, Broncho didn't interact much with the crowd and instead left it to the music to inspire folks to movement both inwardly and outwardly. At the end of the show, a woman said, "I think I'm going to cry."

Read it all here:
http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2013/08/review_broncho_denver_larimer_lounge_august-27-2013.php

The surprise of the evening were Mozes and the Firstborn, playing their first night here in the US on their tour with Broncho.  It is written:

"The band is a group of youngsters from the Netherlands, with the age between 18 and 22 years. The lead singer has been working on the band for 4 years and has lived a year in London where he has searched the true roots of garage-rock. After playing a few years as amateurs, Mozes and the Firstborn started to receive a lot of attention from all the major Dutch record labels last year. However, they decided not to sign any contract, but they wanted to produce a good album first. They built their own studio, quit side jobs and studied and spent months non-stop in their basement studio, practicing and creating new songs. After this, they signed a good contract with the record label Top Notch. They have released their self-titled debut album on the 2nd of March. This band is the newest talent from the Netherlands, playing old style hard rock. It is a long time ago the Netherlands produced this kind of rock. For the last couple of months, they’ve played their album at a few festivals, getting 5 star reviews and already being labeled as the most talented new artists from the Netherlands."

I liked them enough to pick up a CD of theirs after the show.

Download the Mozes and the Firstborn show here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/mvmtvgax7wd/n/MATF_Larimer_Lounge_Denver_Co_August_27_2013_rar

Broncho is good and I thoroughly enjoyed their short performance!  Others have written:

"Perhaps the best debut album of 2011 came by way of BRONCHO, a garage-punk quartet from Norman, Okla. Frontman Ryan Lindsey is better known as the keyboardist for the Starlight Mints, but this side project has been touring the Midwest since early 2010. Can't Get Past the Lips hit stores this August, and "Try Me Out Sometime" was an instant standout. It's not a complex song, by any means, and the simplicity is fantastic because the execution is so strong. Three chords are plenty enough backdrop for Lindsey to yelp out the hooks."

Download the entire Broncho show here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/ju4z22cjhzl/n/BRO_Larimer_Lounge_Denver_Co_August_27_2013_rar

BARONESS AT THE BLUEBIRD

Baroness is touring the country and one of their stops was here in Denver, headlining the night at the Bluebird Theater. 

Another killer show! Not much to say about the opening act, but Baroness knocked it out of the park! The audience really appreciated the performance and the band reciprocated by playing an extra long set. I met John, the band leader, outside before the show while I was having a cigar and commented on their enthusiasm at Lollapalloza, hoping to see the same tonight. I met him again after the show and personally thanked him for the great performance. I wish I met Peter because he's a phenomenal guitarist.  I am mesmerized while I watch him play.  But he's very modest, always letting the audience know who's the man, frequently turning and pointing to John.

Since it was a weekday night, I biked to the theater and peddled back to the area of the office after the show, choosing to sleep under the cottonwoods beside the creek.  When I woke up the next morning I noticed that my hiding spot has been discovered, with someone else having slept nearby in the past, cardboard and plastic covering a patch of the ground.  Didn't know that the night of the show because my flashlight had burned out and I made my way in the dark.  I was lucky I dd not stumble on someone in that  darkness.

Download the whole show here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/2f98a10ynhlb/n/B_Bluebird_Theater_Denver_CO_August_21_2013_rar