BIG GIG

A Saturday afternoon and evening doing more than listen to eight really good bands.  The only thing I would have wished for was better sound in the pit area in front of the stage, the speaker stacks located on either side of the stage blasting there sound out to the audience behind us.

In order of appearance:
Rumours Follow
Bad Suns
Brick + Mortar
MSMR
Walk The Moon
American Authors
Twenty One Pilots
Panic! At The Disco

Bands highlighted in red are ones that I had not seen before and think are worthwhile following, hoping they come through and perform in smaller venues here in Denver.  So much good music out there!

THE NBHD

I spent Wednesday night at the Ogden Theater here in Denver to see the LA band The Neighborhood. When I walked by the theater around 6 PM before dinner there was a line of people waiting to get in , 95% of them teenage women. What that meant was…lots of screamers. A light dinner and a drink at the Cheeky Monk, followed by a quick cigar, arriving inside the theater a half hour before the first band to take the stage. White Arrows opened up the show, a psych-pop group from Los Angeles. I liked the sound and may take a closer listen to their music. Towards the end of their show the combination of the heat and my aching knees (knee surgery only a week and a half ago) forced me to walk around and find a less crowded area to catch my breath. After the second band took the stage, I made my way back towards the front to watch The NBHD.



I continue to enjoy their indie rock sound, as did all the girls who would scream and swoon at anything happening on the stage. This was a first based on the audience in attendance at the last two shows I saw of theirs.   Most songs off their first album with new ones sprinkled in between.  The show closed with ­­ taking selfies with cameras from the audience followed by bras and panties thrown up on stage.  I think the predominantly female teenage audience in front of the stage even surprised the band.

Reverb writes:

The Neighbourhood is a crowdpleaser, for sure. Pretty much everybody in the packed venue was waving their arms in the air, shrieking in delight and swooning over the bandleader. The California natives fed off the audience in return. Rutherford dove off stage during W.D.Y.W.F.M.? — a song about exes, he explained — and came back on stage with a fan’s cellphone. He dramatically took a selfie and returned the phone to the star-struck young woman. Then three more cellphones were desperately tossed on stage, and he snapped a few more pics to satisfy the fans.

The band opened with “Female Robbery,” and other notables included fan favorites “Uh Oh” and “Let It Go” and “A Little Death” from its “Thank You” EP.

The singer said this would be the last tour for its debut album, “then we’re gonna move the ***k on.” The band did play a few new songs, though, including “West Coast,” “Jealousy” and “Honest” from “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” soundtrack. “Jealousy,” from the group’s mixtape project, marks a different direction for the band, with saxophone drops courtesy of the DJ.

More here:

http://www.heyreverb.com/blog/2014/06/26/neighbourhood-ogden-theatre-6-25-14-photos-review/91269/

All black and white photos below from Reverb.

I thought I’d have to sleep in the back of the truck this evening but the drinking was minimal and I was able to safely drive home. Forget the alcohol, it was the cigar I smoked on the way back that gave me quite a buzz by the time I pulled into the driveway.

Here’s a sample from the show, the audio recording paired up with the video. Audio quality on this video is the same as what’s available for downloading below.

Download the audio from the show here:

http://www.filefactory.com/file/326y9pz7xjvr/NBHD25062014mp3.rar



THE JEZEBELS - EL REY THEATER, LOS ANGELES

We went to LA for the purpose of visiting a school my daughter is considering going to, visiting several art museums and attending a postponed performance by The Jezebels at the El Ray Theater.  They were originally supposed to put on a show at that theater back in March but, I was told by one of the roadies unloading their equipment earlier in the day that the show was cancelled due to visa issues when trying to enter the US after their European tour.  During this trip we also saw Macklemore and Ryan Lewis at Club Nokia and WASI (We Are, She Is) at a bar near the hotel.

Beautiful SoCal weather, lots of walking, riding the bus and trains, and the usual collection of broken street people to either entertain or sadden us.  A big show at the Museum of Contemporary Art for the deceased artist Mike Kelley.  My daughter found it disturbing, I saw it as thought provoking and at times funny.  Our return flight was delayed for two hours because of severe weather in Denver, expecting a nerve rattling turbulent flight back but it was not so bad, the weather having moved onto the eastern plains.

A good performance by The Jezebels.  My only disappointment is that they focused on their newer songs and did not bother to play some of what I think are their "classic" songs from early on.  Shouted requests were ignored.  The performance lasted a little over an hour.  Had we not had other reasons to go to LA I might have chosen not to make the trip for this show alone, considering the time and money involved.

The following is a video shot that evening, using the better quality audio of the bootleg recording.

Enjoy. 

Download the audio for the entire show here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/58mks4qq9l0h/JZBLS%20LA%20June%205%2C%202014%20mp3.rar

MS MR



First it was scheduled for the Ogden, then moved to the Gothic.  Then the drummer becomes ill on the scheduled date and the show is postponed.  But they pulled it off at the original venue on the rescheduled date, after memorable performances around the country, including their time at Coachella where they performed immediately after the cancelled date in Denver last April.

 

The wait was worth it.  A great hour long set in front of a packed house, but Lizzy and Max had a bit of a struggle engaging the audience in the beginning but their choice of songs soon turned that around. 

Reverb writes:

Angst-fueled lullabies. These are three words one might use to describe the sound of MS MR. Not that the band’s music will put you to sleep — quite the contrary. Tucked in beneath a blanket of poppy-sweet soundscapes is a fiery spirit.

Fans were disappointed last month when MS MR had to cancel its April 9 show at the Gothic “due to band illness,” as it tweeted out that night; apparently touring drummer Zach Nicita was sick. But all was forgiven on Wednesday as MS MR had the crowd moving, shaking and dancing along to their one-hour set at the Ogden Theatre.

“We really, really like Denver. And we were so bummed, as many of you were, to cancel the show last month,” music maker Max Hershenow said between songs. “None of us are throwing up tonight, so we’re all good. ZACH.”

The indie/electro-pop duo from New York is comprised of producer and keyboardist Hershenow and vocalist Lizzy Plapinger, a tall, slender woman with a huge set of lungs. Along for the ride were Nicita and David Lizmi on bass. A barrage of bass feedback kicked off the night as MS MR moved into the second track of its debut album “Secondhand Rapture.” Here the audience got its first taste of Plapinger’s sweet-and-salty vocals. Bathed primarily in black and white, the stage was adorned with a giant, sparkly striped monochrome “M” flag. To match the visuals on stage, Hershenow wore a black short-sleeved T-shirt with black-and-white speckled leggings and white platform shoes. Plapinger wore an Adidas track suit. The only color showing was her dyed magenta hair.

The chemistry between the songwriting duo is palpable. During “Fantasy,” the fourth song of the evening, Hershenow stepped away from the keys to dance with Plapinger, doing near-pirouettes across the stage in his humongous shoes. MS MR’s dozen studio recordings translate well live, where the band brings added energy and aggression to the songs.

A highlight of the evening was a superb cover of Arctic Monkeys’ “Do I Wanna Know?” There was a fan in attendance with an Arctic Monkeys T-shirt (black and white, no less), and the band took notice. Plapinger asked him if the cover was worthy — he quietly nodded in agreement.

More here:
http://www.heyreverb.com/blog/2014/05/29/ms-mr-ogden-theatre-5-28-14-photos-review-video/89832/

Download the audio for the full show here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/5wutd41sx2t/n/RMSM_Ogden_Theater_Denver_CO_May_28,_2014.rar

CAGE THE ELEPHANT

After seeing them at Coachella, I had no choice but to see their high energy act when they scheduled a tour stop at the Ogden Theater here in Denver.  It was great because they performed before a sold out show this Saturday night, I not having to worry about being anywhere in particular the following day.  If I slept in the back of the truck after the show, that's no problem.

The opening act was J. Roddy Walston and the Business form Tennessee followed by the Oxford, England’s Foals.  Both very good, getting the audience pumped up for the headliner this evening.  The crowd surfing began early and peaked when Cage The Elephant were on stage, Matt Schultz throwing himself into the audience to both stand up atop the crowd as well as do a head stand.  I got exhausted just watching him run around all over the stage!  It was a fabulous show, with great songs and great vibes, making this band one of my new favorites at the moment.

Reverb writes:

If “whoa” best described the astonished reaction of Foals’ set, Kentucky’s Cage the Elephant had a ton of people yelling “wooooh!” Hitting their mark early and playing to their crowd, they quickly claimed the stage.

Like the previous two acts, CtE loves to play live. Songs from the band’s 2013 release, “Melophobia” came fast and frequent — the dancing, head bopping crowd roared its approval after each number. With a crowd-friendly live show, an equally crowd-friendly showman (singer Matt Schultz), the band had the Ogden Theatre eating out of its hands for favorites like “Take It or Leave It” and the 2008 breakthrough, “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked.”

Read it here, along with the pictures:
http://www.heyreverb.com/blog/2014/05/19/cage-the-elephant-foals-ogden-theatre-5-17-14-photos-review/89444/

Here's my short video from the show paired up with the audio:

Download the whole show here (audio):
http://www.filefactory.com/file/1ndrrw719e0r/CTE%20Ogden%2017052014.rar