Concert Critique

[Wyvern]

Last night, I went to see Jean Grae, Diverse, and S.P.P in concert at the Black Cat in Washington D.C.

 

I hadn't reserved tickets in advance for this concert, so I was worried that I wouldn't get in when I arrived at the Black Cat and saw a huge line for tickets. Fortunatly, despite the line, I was still early enough to buy myself a ticket and get a spot in the front row of the concert to dance. The club was irregularly packed with people for the show, which made for a very lively Washington D.C crowd for a change.

 

After an introduction from the female slam poet Olu Butterfly, who hosted the show, S.P.P were the first act to take the stage. Consisting of the Washington D.C M.Cs Storm the Unpredictable, Priest the Nomad, and the Poem-cees, they put on a very energetic performance that placed an emphasis on team work and different stylistic approaches. I hadn't heard of the collaboration of these M.Cs before, so I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of their set. I also picked up a single from Storm after they performed, and after listening to it I think it's some really good stuff, certainly worthy of some airplay.

 

After a short break, Diverse was next to perform. Much to my surprise, he brought along Longshot, who released one of my favorite albums of last year, as his hype man. I was really happy about this, and naturally shouted out for Longshot to perform some material from his "Sacrifice" album, which he did. D.J Rude One of the Chicago beat-making squad Single Minded Pros was also there backing them up behind the boards, which was cool. Unfortunatly, while their set was pretty good, the stage presence of Diverse and Longshot didn't quite live up to their recorded material, and they had probably the least memorable set of the evening.

 

Finally, after another break, the headliner of the evening, Jean Grae, came out to perform. She's perhaps one of the best female M.Cs out there, and she put on a very good set. I should note at this point that there was this cute girl up in the front row dancing next to me throughout the sets, who was occasionally casting me glances and smiling, and who I chatted with between sets. Near the end of Jean Grae's set, Jean pointed to this girl and her two friends and noted that they flew all the way from Minneapolis just to see her perform, and they were called up to the stage to dance, which was funny. Jean Grae had this casual, childish sort of attitude on stage that was also very fun to observe, and it was a cool set overall. My only regret is that she didn't perform the track "Under the Hammer" with Diverse, which I was looking forward to hearing.

 

Other than that, the only real downside of the evening was some commotion from a neo-Black Panther party that was in attendence, who got thoroughly drunk and began demanding that they take the stage when the artists were performing (ironic that this should occur at the Black Cat...). Overall though, it was a fun concert and a nice way to exhaust myself dancing.

[Wyvern]

This evening, I went to see MF DOOM, Labtekwon, and Shambhalla perform in concert at George Washington University's Continental Ballroom.

 

The concert was sponsered by WRGW, and as such the promotion for it wasn't the best in the world. Never the less, the crowd that showed up for it was fairly big from what I could make out, and was mostly comprised of college students and their friends outside of college. There was a fence that seperated the audience from the front of the stage, which kind of annoyed me since I enjoy being next to the artist when they're performing.

 

The first act to perform was Shambhalla, who I've seen several times in concert before and who I always enjoy. Before the show started, I met with Born Infinite and requested that he play one of my favorite Shambhalla songs, which it actually turns out that he and Agua were contemplating playing or dropping. They did end up performing it during their set, which I was happy about. The two of them set up ancient chinese scrolls on the stage before going into their songs, and put on a good show. Strangely, while Born Infinite normally shows his talents more in concert, it was Agua that really shined during this performance, as he seemed much more heated and passionate when doing his verses than his partner. This was highlighted by a spoken word piece from him that closed their set, where he practically fell to his knees while reciting his lines.

 

After Shambhalla had finished, Baltimore's Labtekwon took the stage with two of his cousins. Labtekwon is often considered one of the most overlooked M.Cs in the hip hop circuit, as he's been doing his thing for about twelve years and has always strived to be stylistically innovative. Unfortunatly, part of the reason that he's never gotten much shine is that his choice of beats is rather lackluster, and this was very apparent during his set. He did some impressive things vocally and varied up his style quite a bit, but the beats backing him up made his set difficult to dance to and rather boring. Even more burdensome were his cousins, who were somewhat comic in their thugged-out Baltimore street steeze, but ultimately sort of cheesy. The audience didn't seem to be feeling him much, which is a shame since he still shows talent as an M.C. On a final note: it turns out that Labtekwon wears rimmed glasses that are approximately the size of his entire face, which I definitely wasn't expecting!

 

There was a long, drawn-out D.J set after Labtekwon performed, which made the crowd restless and caused them to begin chanting DOOM's name. One thing to note about MF DOOM, aside from the fact that he's one of my favorite M.Cs, is that he has a rabidly loyal fan base that has memorized all of his lines and owns every single one of his numerous CDs. While I don't quite fit into that crowd, it's obvious that many of the people that showed up did, as when the lights dimmed and MF DOOM finally came out everybody went into a frenzy. The room went dark and white lights began flashing like lightning when DOOM went into his first tracks, which illuminated the metal dr. doom mask that he always wears in public. He put on a very good set which consisted of tracks that ranged from a number of his hip hop personas, including villain-from-the-future Viktor Vaughn and the three-headed space dragon King Gheedorah. The best part of his performance, however, was when he played tracks from his first recording as MF DOOM, which never get old and are super-entertaining. DOOM didn't have much movement on stage, but the way that he recited his creative verses was enough to keep the audience energetic throughout his set. Overall, it was a great performance and a very good concert.

[Wyvern]

Last night, I went to see Atmosphere, Grayskul, p.o.s, and Philmoore Brown at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C.

 

This show marks an historical moment in my concert-going as it was the first musical event that I've been to with another member of the Pen. The decision to go was made at the very last minute, without any prior knowledge of whether tickets were sold out or not, and Zariah just happened to be available to go despite the short notice. We met up in D.C and got to the club early enough to purchase tickets and take spots in the front row of the concert, which proves that spur of the moment concert decisions can work on occasion.

 

The first act that performed was a rock group by the name of Philmoore Brown, who I'd never heard of before. They came out dressed in what appeared to be a mixture of grungy T-shirts, makeshift bathrobes, and kilts (which were not St. Patrick's Day-inspired). They also brought out a variety of instruments including tamborines, whistles, and oddly what appeared to be an African statue that had a drum for a head, which the lead vocalist played on occasionally. Their vocals were mostly lost to the bass and drums and their material wasn't particularly impressive, but they served their purpose by putting on an energetic performance that hyped the crowd up. A highlight of their set was when they started tossing instruments into the audience and a whistle was passed around and blown by various people, including yours truly.

 

The next act to perform was p.o.s (promise of stress), whose name I had heard mentioned before but who I knew little about prior to this concert. His set contrasted greatly with Philmoore Browne's as he came out solo with only a tiny boombox and a microphone... not even a D.J to back him up. The crowd was very lively and he actually noted that he'd like people to calm down a bit as his throat was soar and he'd lost his voice. Despite the voice issue, he put on an impressive set, alternating between well-written acapella verses and rhyming over beats from his boombox. His songs seemed to have style, lyrics, and energy, and he struck me as one of Minneapolis' many undiscovered talents. I picked up his album after the show.

 

Grayskul came on after p.o.s, and I had seen them in concert previously in addition to having purchased their album (if anyone tuned into my Oldominion show last week, their name came up multiple times, since that's the crew that they rep). They started off their set by dimming the lights and playing a video they made for the single off of their album, a rather strange choice for a set idea which I didn't entirely approve of. After the video they went into their live set, however, and put on a good show. They played around with lighting a lot during their performance, flashing it on and off like lightning and dimming it in different colors. Their resident D.J, D.J Wicked, broke out into some impressive scratching between their songs. The only real complaint I have about Grayskul live is that, while the rapper JFK spits his heart out energetically and runs around on the stage, the other M.C Onry Ossbourn stays in one place for the most part and recites his verses without much passion. Still, it was a nice set overall.

 

Finally, Atmosphere came out to perform with a live band to close out as the headliner of the evening. I had seen Slug perform in concert several times before as Atmosphere (see: previous entries from me in this thread), but had never seen him perform with a live band and without a hypeman. The band demonstrated a strong influence in rock and jazz and really added to the set, offering melodies that improvised upon the music backing Atmosphere rather than just repeating it. Sluggo also improvised in terms of lyrics and flows, changing them to fit the setting of Washington D.C and occasionally freestyling. They definitely put on the best set on the evening, and it was one of the best Atmosphere performances I've seen to date. Highlights included the bands renditions of "Good Times" and "The Woman with the Tattooed Hands," along with the new material that Slug performed which sounded excellent.

 

I definitely enjoyed the concert overall, and got the impression that Zariah really enjoyed herself as well (I'm hoping she'll post a review here eventually... she bought an Atmosphere CD and T-shirt)! Post-concert goodies: Zariah and I got our pictures taken in a group photo with p.o.s and JFK of Grayskul, including one photo of us posing in "thug" mode. ;-p We also hit up the nearest Seven-11 afterwards for slurpees, ATMs, and potential taxi services. Good times... I'm hoping to drag more of you pennites to my hip hop venues in the future. ;-)

[Zariah]

I suppose I should have posted a critique before Evan got to it, because there’s nothing to really add that hasn’t been shared. But I guess I could just throw in a few things from my perspective.

 

Well, I realized after I heard Slug (Atmosphere) that he sounded familiar. I remembered that I had heard a song that had a hip-hop style on my Warp Tour 2004 CD. So I checked it out this morning and it was there! On CD 1 song 11 (I’m not sure of the title off the top of my head, but if anyone has that CD, you know where to find the song). It’s odd because he’s the only hip-hop artist featured on the entire album, but it made sense. While it’s not really NOFX, Flogging Molly, or Yellowcard, the music has an alternative connection that links hip-hop and alternative genres when being performed live. Slug’s albums are very beat oriented, where live, there is guitar, bass, and drums blaring as loud as his voice. It’s not bad at all, just a different sound that invokes different interpretations of the content expressed.

 

Six years ago I went to a Lauren Hill Concert (when Out Kast was so new, they were her opening act.) at Constitution Hall, and I was definitely a minority. But at the 9:30 club, I realized that Hip-hop has really expanded to different ethnic groups. Obviously people would assume it was Emenim, but I think that (and Wyv, could you verify?) underground hip-hop has had more incorporation of ethnicity than what has gone “public”, which is really a shame. Greyskul had Asian singers, and I can vouch that they were better than some of the rappers and hip-hop artists I hear on the radio. Most of the kids I saw there were white high school kids who liked both hip-hop and underground alternative. I bet there were breakers there too, but it was so packed, no one could dance.

 

If only the quality of a hip-hop group was taken into consideration instead of the quantity of money that producing companies see in artist, then maybe hip-hop could be exposed for what it truly is, and better appreciated by those who don’t know what it’s REALLY about because they only have what the media has exposed to them to as a comparison. If that sentence didn’t make sense, like I think it may not have, what I mean is that essentially, before you make a decision to as whether you “like” Hip-hop, go to a LIVE concert where you can see hip-hop artists that are not hyped up for the public eye, because that’s the root, that’s the core, that’s the soul of hip-hop and you’ll be better educated.

 

I think the more I write the more dim-witted I appear or something, but I wanted to let everyone know that I had a k1ck-@55 time. I learned more that I’m letting on, and if you go to a concert with Wyvern, you’re GUARENTEED a great time, because his excitement and enthusiasm spread to everyone around him.

 

Ohh! I’ll post links to see the pictures when I get a chance to upload them.

[Zariah]

I *FINALLY* have the opportunity to upload the pictures form the concert. So...here are the links to the pictures:

 

I feel like I'm not doing them all justice since i don't know any of their names or anything...so if anyone REALLY cares to know their names, just ask Wyv. EDIT: names editted in, thanks Zariah!

 

 

Wyv , Zariah, p.o.s. and Greyskul

 

JFK of Greyskul

 

Onry Ossbourn of Greyskul

 

D.J. Wicked

 

Slug from Atmosphere

 

Slug, with the keyboardist and one of the guitarists for his tour

 

The other guitarist for Slug's tour

 

Atmosphere drum

 

So that's all folks! I had a blast! Thanks Wyv!

Edited April 17, 2005 by Wyvern

[Hydrus]

Satriani was in Australia last Spetember Lumpen. Don't know if he went to NZ as well. A few of my friends went and said it was absolutely awesome. They neglected to rememeber me however, even though they had a spare ticket. Someone's not getting a christmas card.

 

 

And I was at the 2004 BDO in Sydey. When Metallica came on stage there was a huge thundrestorm in the backgroud, with lightning flashing across the sky and everything. You can't plan stuff like that. Crazy.

[Jareena Faye]

Minneapolis, MN. I'd hitched a ride with my friend to visit my cousin at Augsburg college, and now we were at Club 3 Degrees. The building in itself was interesting--- it had a basement with pool tables and non-alcoholic drinks, a main floor for the concert, as well as a balcony overlooking it all. And the palce was jam-packed.

 

The concert opened up with Ryan Dobson talking about how "some things are just stupid." He mentioned some of the funny lawsuits that have actually won in our country. Although he didn't mention it at the concert, I later found out that he'd written a book with the same topic (Be Intolerant: Because Some Things Are Just Stupid). It was good. He was funny.

 

FM Static opened up. They didn't do a whole lot for me, but I liked one of their songs, so what the heck. The rest of the crowd loved it.

 

Ryan Dobson spoke while FM Static took their gear away, and Falling Up took the stage.

 

Falling Up--- I don't know what it is about them. They just know how to rile a crowd. Even if you don't know any of their songs, you just want to scream and jump with the rest of the crowd. I'd highly recommend their album, by the way.

 

Thousand Foot Krutch came up next. They were exciting. A positive message, but to hard rock and rap-like shouting. A good opener.

 

But then the main band, Kutless took the stage. I completely forgot about the other bands. These guys had talent. They had heart. They were sincere about what they were singing about. At one point, two of the guitarists threw their instruments across the stage, each catching the other's guitar, and resumed playing. We all went wild.

 

There's something exhilerating about being in a crowd of people who all know the words to a song... Even though they're all strangers... you feel a connection.

 

Kutless took off after ending with a short, but heartfelt, prayer. And I rushed away to buy their CD, God-bless a random stranger, and safely say that this was probably the best concert I'd ever attended.

[Patrick]

On the 17th I saw Evergrey, a swedish band, who play a blend of power, dark and progressive metal in Budapest.

 

The opening band was a hungarian band called Moon of Soul, who played some good guitar themes, albeit a bit repetitively. They played five songs, which amounted to around forty minutes of pléay time. The music they play wasn't bad although there were some shouting parts in it, and I don't particularly like those.

 

Then came Evergrey. They started with an intro created just for the sake of this tour, and then plunged into close to two hours of their great music. They played songs from all five of their albums. Since the first album only the singer hasn't changed, all the others have. In the band the singer, Tom S. Englund also plays the guitar, there is another guitarist, Henrik Danhage, a keyboardist Rikard Zander, drummer Jonas Ekdahl and bassist Mikael Hakansson. They played the songs, which were the most successful and inbetween the songs the singer or other band members fired the audience on.

 

An interesting moment in the concert was when the singer lost his earplugs and needed the audience's help to find them. The one, who found them was rewarded with a beer. I was surprised by the small number of spectators (only around 150), but then again I hadn't been to many concerts in Budapest before.

 

Alltogether I'd have to say that this was a good concert, good musicianship. At the end the band members came out to do signings and I had a 200 Forint (worth less than 1 Euro) note signed by all five of them.

[Katzaniel]

I saw the Weakerthans, my favourite band, in concert last Tuesday. I loved being able to hear all of their songs and watch the band in action. Their live music did not differ very much at all from their recorded stuff, which makes me happy because it always annoys me when I can't sing along in my head because they've changed the sound of a song. Also, they had two shows: An all-ager and a no-minors, which was very thoughtful of them. Unfortunately, their sound people were, in my personal opinion, terrible. They treated the concert like their own private radio, turning it up every time it reached a point they liked, and very rarely turning it down. Also considering the small size of the room, it was soon so loud that the clever lyrics could barely be made out (for one who knew them already) and there was some sort of constant feedback going on. We could feel ourselves going deaf. We decided to listen to the rest of it outside the room and enjoyed it better there.

 

Also, I got a shirt, badge and sticker for $18 CD and two of them autographed the sticker for me. Yay!

[Wyvern]

I went to see Louis Logic, Glue, Educated Consumers, Mic the Finite, and the Echo Boomers at the Jaxx Nightclub in Springfield, VA this evening.

 

I immediately went to the merchandise table upon entering the club and got to meet with Maker, one of my favorite producers, there. He looked like a very large and menacing dude from a distance, but was actually a very friendly person when it came to chatting about stuff. I picked up a Glue tour CDR from him, "Snaps on the Petro," and then went to take my place in the front row next to the stage. There were a few people there who recognised me from dancing at other concerts, which was cool.

 

The first act to perform was the Echo Boomers, a local Virginia act that consisted of two very young-looking M.Cs and a D.J by the name of Throw Down. The two M.Cs of the group demonstrated an energetic teamwork that got the crowd hyped, and seemed to be personally known by several people in the audience. D.J Throw Down also did some nice scratching between songs, and it was a decent set overall.

 

Mic the Finite was next to perform, and was also a young-looking Virginia act. His set was not too bad, but there was nothing that really stood out about it that I can remember. He seemed to be having ego issues as a number of people in the audience knew him personally and gave him props, and his frequent uses of crowd participation became tiresome. The only real positive thing I remember about his set was dancing next to a girl and getting her to giggle, plus chatting with her afterwards.

 

Educated Consumers came on after Mic the Finite, and they put on a fairly good set. One problem I have with their performances is that they're pretty much the same every time I see them, and have very few variations in their set. It was a decent, though predictable, performance. Seez Mics, the group's M.C, singled me out for dancing near the end of their set and gave me props, which is always nice.

 

Once the Educated Consumers finished, Glue took the stage. Glue, comprised of ADeeM (the M.C), D.J DQ (the D.J), and Maker (the producer), released one of the stronger albums of 2004 and were one of the main reasons I went out to the show. They came all the way out from Chicago to perform, and are very rarely seen around the East Coast due to their position on the map. Well, to put it quite simply, Glue tore the house down with one of the most mindblowing hip hop sets I've ever seen in my measly little existance. There are just too many highlights to list here... The set started with ADeeM doing some impressive beatboxing and D.J DQ mimicking his beatboxing with some even more impressive scratches. Once this was finished, ADeeM cleared his throat, said hi to everybody, shook hands, and proceeded to burst into one of the most ridiculous flows I've ever witnessed in concert. The crowd was so hyped and awe-struck off of the group that they performed songs with complicated choruses that noone had ever heard before, and had the entire crowd chanting them by the end. At one point in the set, D.J DQ went into an amazing scratching solo, only to have ADeeM challenge "yeah, but I bet you can't do that backwards." DQ proceeded to do the same amazing set backwards. Another highlight was when ADeeM decided to freestyle to the tune of D.J DQ's scratches, and made up an incredible number of lines and flows on the spot. Perhaps the most memorable moment of the evening was the last track they performed, the powerful single "Haunt," where ADeeM entered into the crowd and rapped while a circular mosh pit ran rings around him. I was in the mosh pit and moshed harder than I ever have in concerts previously, actually pushing people around which is unusual for me. Glue's set was one of the best, if not the best, hip hop set I've ever experienced.

 

After the incomparable Glue set, the headliner Louis Logic took the stage. He was the other reason I went out to see the show, as he's released a number of great tracks and is a very good M.C. The set started with the D.J Jay Love tossing on The Doors "Whiskey Bar Song" (Louis Logic is known for his alcoholic tendencies), and Louis Logic came out on stage with a huge head of frazzled hair and a semi-formal brown down jacket. It was quite a way to open the show, but unfortunatly the set took a drastic turn downhill from there. Louis' rapping seemed sort of half-hearted, which may or may not have had to do with the amount he had to drink. Furthermore, he spoke a bunch of vulgarity between songs, which oftentimes lasted longer than the songs themselves and quickly became annoying. When Louis Logic decided to D.J for a bit and let Jay Love take the microphone, I had just about had enough of the set and decided to walk out on them. A very disappointing and uninteresting set from Louis Logic, which is a shame since he has a fair share of good recorded material.

 

Glue made the show more than worth the eight dollars that I paid for it, though. :-)

[Wyvern]

I found this hilarious and far too good to pass up linking here... If you skim through the first page of this thread, you'll find my concert review of Dangermouse and Jemini in San Francisco, which I went to last Summer with two of my friends. Well, it seems that I wasn't the only reviewer present, as this journalist for the IGN Insider had a few things to say about it. What's more, it seems that our dancing made quite an impression on him:

 

http://music.ign.com/articles/525/525197p1.html?fromint=1

 

The "tall and gangly" kid that he refers to as "Screech" in the review is me, and the

"couple who looked like they were still in high school" are my friends. Notice how he not only dedicates half of a page to our dancing, but also strings "Screech"s exploits throughout the review...

 

Falls over laughing!

[reverie]

Yesterday, I was introduced to something new. In what I believe to be a refreshing phenomenon in the world of folk music, I was invited to partake in a literal House concert:

 

House Concerts

 

 

My friend Dave calls me up the other day, and invites me out to see Sean Altman... Don't worry, I had no idea who he was either. Dave summed up his work as a kinda of musical-Jewish-comedic thing. Anyway, I'm like sure, why not...

 

I was supposed to meet up with Dave, his fiancée, and one of his strategy gamer friends at a Hispanic restaurant in Rockville, MD... Having arrived somewhat early and this being, for totally unrelated reasons, my third brief visit to Rockville this week, I decided to have a quick walk around town.

 

I encountered several Victorian era homes, a hundred year-old redbrick courthouse, and a several monuments to wars past. Everything from the Revolutionary War to 911... I found the 911 memorial park especially poignant: Rockville lost eleven souls to the flames of September...and thus had erected a small quiet place for her fallen. She had set aside a well-landscaped half-oval brick path adjacent to the Old redbrick Courthouse mentioned earlier. Evenly spaced along the oval, were set metallic and wood benches. Along the backs of the long sheet metal was roughly scrawled, the inspiration words and quotes that must have characterized the lives of the fallen... Quotes, ranged from William Wordsworth, Jack London, Confucius, to Kansas' 70's rock ballad, Carry on my wayward son.

 

I also noticed as disproportional amount of these momuments giving homage to the lost cause of the Confederacy. Thus harking back to the old pains of the civil war...

 

Maryland seems somewhat unaware of her middle state status. I figure she must have always wanted to be a Southern State... I can't for the life of me, think why? Why not enjoy her borderline sentimentality, and take the opportunity to function as a happily mixed gateway to both the Northern and the Southern Cultures... Like, sympathy’s one thing, but jeez girl, the civil war was over a hundred years ago... and you fought on the side of the North..."Let it go..."

 

 

Well, anyway, I left the solemn atmosphere of the park and wondered into a more commercial district. A fairly new stadium style movie theater with all the satellite amenities that come with it was only a block or so away... I don't know if you have to love or hate American for this sort of thing. On one block, you have Victorian reverence for the past... and almost directly across from it you have a Starbucks and Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Parlor .

 

Casting a thoughtful look back to the park, I turned towards the parlor thinking, "Well, who am I to stop progress..." I'd grabbed at Blue berry cone and was on my way again... About this time, my friend called me, and informed me that "Aye Caramba's" our chosen place of gastrula pleasure, was closed due to a faulty hot-water pump.... Darn the luck. Therefore, with Mexican out, we opted for Greek instead...

 

I promptly met up with Dave and Company at Apollo's ... Where his fiancée and friend enjoyed a nice Spinach Pie. I thought it was Spanakopita...but who am I to split hairs... Anyway, after some lively, though somewhat tensely subdued conversation (someone was in bad mood) we proceeded to the House Concert...

 

Now at the time, I had no idea what a 'House concert' was... Dave kept referencing it as "house music," which I took to mean the DJ inspired techno-isk dance music... This thoroughly confused me, because one, Dave and Co just didn't seem like the type that would be into that sorta thing, and two, I thought we were going to see a Comedian, albeit an musical one...

 

Well, imagine my surprise when we end up leaving the lights of Downtown Rockville, in favor of the more subdued and suburban street lamps of a satellite commuter neighborhood... Situated at the bottom of a cul-de-sac: shiny Subaru-like sedans, station wagons, soccer-mom-minivan's, and the occasional dodge prowler radiated out from the unassuming two story/two car garage house for about a block a half. My Toyota prius, complemented the mixed WASP-ie Jewish caravan quite nicely...

 

The only thing that differentiated the house from the other suburbanite’s was a very small sign in the front lawn proclaiming, "Moore Music." Apparently, we were going to pay Mr. Moore a visit...

 

Okay, how can I sum up the crowd and atmosphere of this quaint community...

 

Think: Mid thirties to Middle aged, Upper middle class WASP with a smattering of Jewish and Geek Sensitivity. And with two or three token Asians, I being among them. Well, partially at least... This neighborhood had the look and feel of something right out of Television...

 

I swear, I fully expected, the cast of Seventh Heaven to come out of the driveway and usher us all in.

 

How it works:

 

From what I was able to gather... These house concerts are an underground or as my friend Dave likes to term it "independent" phenomena within the folk music community... They operate on a donation base and are a strictly word of mouth venture...Ticket Master need not apply... The door donation at this particular venue was 15 bucks with accompanying artist paraphernalia T-shirt and music display. The food was free and potluck style: Cookies, soda, juice, chocolate birthday cake, tiramisu, cheese and vegetable plate, and the all important potato salad...

 

The concert itself was being held in Steve Moore's finished basement. As you can imagine, the accommodations were simple. Simple but surprising adequate. The main room, really the only room, could not have been larger 300 square feet. It was shoot gun style too, where the front and back of the room where shorter in length than the sides... Steve had set out about 8 or so rolls of metal fold-out chairs in front of the stage and a similarly laid out wing to the left of the stage... All and all I estimate that we had 45 to 55 ppl seated down there. They weren't all regulars either, when polled only half of the audience had ever been there before...

 

So on with the show. There were two acts this evening. The feature attraction, "Sean Altman" and the opening act, "Paul and Storm." In a strange, twist the opening actually performed last, so Steven took the stage almost immediately.

 

So, anyway, I had taken to asking about just who is this "Sean a." character that everyone is so excited about... Then it hit me: Sean Altman was none-other than author of the infamous and catchy "Where in the World is Carmon Sandiego," from the Publicly broadcasted Kid's Game Show of the same name.... You may remember him as the extremely tall singer of the A Cappella group "Rockapella" Apparently he's was a founding member. He also pinned, "Zombie Jamboree" and Vitamin C covered his song, "Unhappy Anniversary," on her self titled debut album...

 

Okay back to Sean:

 

Tall guy with guitar singing songs... I would not totally describe his songs as folk, but they do have the narrative story telling element to them. Actually they were good, silly but good.

 

Hmm, the best way to I can think to describe his style is this:

 

Think, "They might be Giants" distilled into the soul of "Tenacious D" unplugged with the voice and wit of the "Bare Naked Ladies" front man... Yep, that's him... I also noted heavy "Beatles influence" with reverence to Monarchia and calypso bands." Some Elvis Costello elements might have also been at work, but Elvis Costello is pretty much Burt Backarack chanelling the Beatles... so same difference...

 

All and all he was a very entertaining charactor, that invited much audience particapation... Ya know "carmon sandiego" IS a good song unplugged... So is the uncensored version of "Zamborie Jamboree." He also does a pretty good impersonation of a trumpet and a few other instruments... which reminded of the likes of Bobby Mcferrin

 

I picked up his ablum to see how i'd like them... Sadly, the vibe and feel that you get in personal just doesn't translate into his CD's: Where, his live preformance was raw and organic story telling through the medium of a lone guitar man...with the occassion help of the "opening act." ....his CD's relied too much on synthesizer tricks and gimics... Disapointing really.

 

Oh well, we all can't be pop-star... which is what he was going for...

 

After Sean, went on the local "opening act" came on.

 

They were funny. Giving tribute to "Randy Newman" by redoing his theme to the movie "Sea Bisquit." Newmanising it so it was more inkeeping with his style. Like "Short People" or the "You got a friend" from Toy Story... They also briefly retold the "Lord of the Rings, The Passion, and the Silence of the Lambs" in this style. All and all, I'd say they have potential...but still think they have a lot of work in front of them... Off to the proverbial woodshed with you...

 

 

Well, this was fun...

 

rev...

Edited May 1, 2005 by reverie

[drummondo]

I went to see Sage Francis performing at the Manchester Roadhouse last night (28th June). He was supported by Grand Buffet and Davinci from the Soliloquists of Sound.

 

The venue itself was really small and dark, but by the artists' request, there was no smoking. A welcome change from the usual pub gig set up, because it meant I only came out stinking of sweat

 

The poets themselves were available to talk to and interact with for most of the show, as they were all selling their own merchandise and what not at the merchandise stand.

 

The first person up on stage was Davinci; in an effort to entertain the crowd before the main acts were introduced, he decided to get up and perform a few tracks on his MPCs. It was amazing stuff, he was punching out rap and hip-hop beats with his fingers, and then bringing on drum n' bass tracks, and he even started playing the stuff with his nose and feet :\ For me, he stole the show a bit, he was that good. I'd gone to the show because I'm a fan of Sage's lyrics, but the stuff Davinci pulled off with the little modules he had was incredible.

 

Grand Buffet were the main supporting act for the night. They're a two-piece rap duo who have been touring with Sage for a couple of years. They had some sick rhymes and the songs were pretty catchy; my friend even thought one of them was Sage himself to begin with Halfway through their set, however, Grunge hit his head quite hard on a hook hanging from the ceiling. He did a few more tracks, but eventually had to be taken to hospital to have stitches. He left the little ginger dude to do a few solo tracks, including The History Of Lemonade. You ought to listen to The History Of Lemonade. It's pure genius. I think there's an Mp3 of it on their website. Go and listen. It's very good

 

We went and had a chat with Davinci and the little ginger dude from Grand Buffet over at the merchandise table, shook hands, got a few autographs, and then we made our way to the front, for Sage was about to take the stage

 

We ended up moving the little makeshift barrier at the front to the right of the stage, and standing pretty much on-stage. Seriously. We were like a foot away from being on-stage. Sage was backed up by Davinci and his guitarist guy. Davinci worked his way through the various beats, and the guitarist played whatever chords were necessary. Sage's set mixed his new material from A Healthy Distrust with some of his older stuff, mainly from Personal Journalist. It was a really energetic performance; during Dance Monkey, they all pulled off some sick dance moves on the speakers at the front of the stage They did some freestyle work over the beat to 99 Problems (By Jay-Z), and during the chorus Sage sang "I like 99 rappers, but Jay-Z ain't one". Burn, Jay-Z

 

He also told a few jokes too... like, umm, what did 50 Cent say to his mom when he saw her making him some socks?

 

...

 

...

 

Gee, you knit?

 

For their encore, they performed one of Sage's most famous tracks, Makeshift Patriot. Davinci then went absolutely sick on his MPCs and performed the American national anthem, incorporating his weird finger thing and a wah pedal. Hendrix, eat your heart out

 

This was the first hip-hop gig I've been to, and I hope I'm not disillusioned in thinking that live hip-hop is incredible. I'm going to get to more hip-hop shows in the future, but unfortunately it's difficult to find decent ones since the majority of hip-hop fans in Liverpool are into mainstream pop-rap.

 

Wyv, you seriously need to see Sage live. If only on the off-chance that Davinci is with him

[Wyvern]

Last night, I went to see Denizen Kane, Mestizo & Mike Gao, and Royce perform at the Milk Bar in San Francisco.

 

This marks the second concert that I've dragged a Pen person to, since I met up with Zool the morning before the show and we drove out to San Francisco to spend the day together. :-) We amused ourselves walking around Haight Street and hanging out in Golden Gate Park for most of the day, then made our way to the venue an hour before the scheduled starting time. We watched a silent version of the Method and Redman film "How High?" that was playing on a bar TV screen, and then met up and chatted with a couple of the artists. Mestizo, Denizen Kane, and DJ Whitelightning all struck me as some cool and humble people, and Zool and I bummed around for an hour or so while they did mic checks.

 

After a brief DJ set and a turntable scratching set from Mike Gao and Danone, Royce was the first listed act to take the stage. Mestizo introduced the four man band as Chicago's very own rock/metal/ska/electro/discofunk jam band. Their set started out a bit lackluster due to sound difficulties, but they quickly picked up momentum and put on a good set. Their performance reached it's pinnacle with the final two tracks they sung, where some of the musicians altered instruments and took a different musical direction. I was impressed that DJ Whitelightning was well-versed in playing both bass and keyboards, as I had previously only known him for his DJ work. Zool and I danced and got hype the whole time. ;-)

 

Once Royce had finished their set, Denizen Kane and Mestizo both took the stage for the evening's main event. Denizen kicked things off with an acapella slam poetry version of his track "Patriot Act," which presents a well-written, scathing attack against the current U.S government. The crowd loved it, and a political tone was maintained throughout most of the set. Like Royce, I felt that the first few tracks they performed lacked a bit of energy, but they quickly picked up the pace and turned it into a great set. The relatively calm audience went upsidedown when Mestizo performed the ultra-hype "Pick Up 52s," my personal highlight of the evening. Denizen Kane demonstrated a great deal of musicianship throughout the set, not only with his vocal stylings, but also with his skills on guitar and his ability to kick a folk song as easily as a hip hop track. I requested one of my favorite Denizen Kane/Mestizo collaborations, "Miss Carried Fortune," only to be informed by Mestizo that it was a very personal track and that they don't perform it in concert. Too bad, can't win'em all... Royce also accompanied Denizen and Mestizo at various points in their set, offering a live musical background for them to rap over. Great stuff. Once again, Zool and I were dancing and getting hype through the whole thing. ;-)

 

After the show was over, we picked up some merchandise from the artists and chatted with them again for a bit. We got our pictures taken with Denizen Kane and Mestizo in various poses, and those pictures are being developed at Long's Drugs as we speak. I'll try to get them online somehow at some point. Anyway, the show a lot of fun overall, and I'm glad that we went. Props go out to Zool once again for taking a chance with me and risking one of my weirdo hip hop shows. ;-)

 

One final thing: to those who have HBO, Denizen Kane will be performing slam poetry on Rusel's Simmon's show "Def Poetry Jam" on August 12th (this Friday). Denizen Kane has been featured on the show twice before, and has placed first both times that he's participated.

[The Portrait of Zool]

As you undoubtedly just read, Wyvern and I took in the Denizen Kane, Mestizo, and Royce concert together. Wyvern asked me to do a review on the show, and I don't want to let him down. First of all, I want to give Wyv a big "Thank you!" for inviting me to the show. I had a blast!

 

I probably would have had even more fun if I had let it happen, because Evern can come up with some of the most outrageous things to do, and half the time my immediate response was something like, "Uhh, I don't know..." For example, he had brought some Mad-Lib books to fill any extra moments left lying around, and while we were waiting for the show to start he had whipped one out and we were giving it a go. Then, he noticed Denizen Kane was sitting alone in the booth next to us, so he says something like, "I'm going to ask him for an adjective," and I'm like, "Uhh, I don't know..." Thinking about it, it would have been SO COOL to have done a Mad-Lib with Denizen Kane, two-time champion of the HBO Def Poetry Jam!! What went through my head though was something like "We probably shouldn't bother him..."

 

I have to hand it to Evern, he DID NOT rip my arm out of my hawaiian shirt and beat me over the head with it as I so richly deserved, but showed his mettle, and stoically let the once an eternity opportunity pass on by. Props to you Ev, and a big promise from me that I'll try to get out more!

 

Also, I had never participated in the Pen Mad-Libs, considering it more of a forum game, but durring the night he sold me on the fun and imagination stretching properties of Mad-Lib wordplay! I wound up buying a couple of Mad-Lib books and look forward to participating in future Pen Mad-Libs.

 

But on with the show. I think Wyv reported the technical aspects of the show rather brilliantly, and as a guy weaned on Lawrence Welk I can certainly tell in this instance when someone is far more qualified to review than I. Suffice it to say that I loved the show. The performers were all obviously very professional and competant. You could tell that they took their business very seriously, and worked very hard at it. Not only that, but the music just made you want to move!

 

I think Mestizo was the over all crowd favorite, and Wyvern was definitely Mestizo's favorite! It was a small venue, with about 50 or 60 in the audience, and we easily maintained stage front positions. Mestizo remarked a couple of times on Wyvern's energy and enthusiasm, and I have to agree. For the record, his dancing is NOT spastic as one reviewer wrote, but I thought it was simply good energetic electric-mojo locomotion - the kind that happens when one is doing something one loves. I wouldn't be surprised if the denigrating reviewer himself was not a dancer, and was in fact simply JEALOUS.

 

Denizen Kane did seem to be the more musical of the two, though things were rather fluid, with Denizen Kane and Mestizo, Royce band members, and Mike Gao and Danone backing each other up and taking different positions throughout the night. One got the impression the Galopagos4 label was a very close knit group.

 

After it was all done though, I still had one question I just couldn't figure out. Why didn't Mestizo sweat? I was down on the floor sweating my brains out, but he was up on stage workin' it hard, had like four shirts on with a sweat shirt with a hood which he kept over his head, and I couldn't see that he broke a sweat at all!

 

Ah well, as with anything magical, there always has to be some element of mystery. :wizzie:

 

[EDIT: I'm sorry man, but did you have to misspell the word in BIG, BOLD type? Fixed it --Tzimfemme]

 

(LOL! Yeah, it figgers. Thanks Tzim. )

Edited August 17, 2005 by The Portrait of Zool

[Wyvern]

First of all, a thanks goes out to reverie, drummondo, Zool and everyone else for your excellent reviews. I'm a bit late with the thanks, but just wanted you to know that I found them very engaging and well-written reads. I'm glad that you enjoyed Mr. Sage Francis, drummondo, and will be certain to see him in concert as soon as the opportunity arises. And thanks for the dancing compliment Zool, you're quite a dancer yourself. :-)

 

I went to see the White Stripes with my friend Misha a few nights ago at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. The venue was an outdoor ampitheatre that was much larger than the small-ish venues that I've become accustomed to, and got packed by the end of the evening. Misha and I got there fairly early and took spots in the standing/dancing area near the stage. We decided not to move right in front of the stage for a change, though, as it was elevated at a distance above the crowds. While we were waiting, we discussed the White Stripes and other rock bands, only to have a White Stripes fan turn to us and inform us that "White Stripes aren't rock, they're alternative." Just goes to show that labels in music can turn to pretentiousness when placed in the wrong hands... ;-)

 

I didn't catch the name of the opening act that played before the White Stripes, but they were a three person rock band that were rather non-descript and didn't hold the attention of the crowd much. It's interesting to me that they never announced their group name or even paused in their music set for a few quick words, as normally opening acts take advantage of their set to get their name out and spread the word of their music. I thought they were strictly O.K, though I'm probably not the best judge of talent when it comes to rock music (this motif will reoccur throughout this review).

 

The White Stripes set up a colorful backdrop and a large arrangement of musical instruments before taking the stage and sending the crowd into a frenzy. They came out wearing the dark shirt and hat combo commonly seen on their album covers, and put on a good two-hour set. One thing that impressed me about them was the variety of different musical approaches they took over the course of their performance, as they went from electric guitars to xylophones to pianos to bongo drums. Another thing that struck me was how sensitive a performer Jack White was, as he frequently overreacted. For example: at one point during the set, an inflated beach balloon was tossed into the audience by the radio station Live 105, and it bounced around until it fell onto the stage. Despite the balloon not touching Jack, he decided to stop his set and take a five minute break "courteousy of Live 105." Regardless of the overreacting, I thought the White Stripes put on a pretty good set overall. My favorite moment of the evening was probably their performance of the catchy track "Seven Nation Army," which they performed as an encore. On a side note; there was this drunken crowd-surfing girl that was making advances to me on and off over the course of the evening, but unfortunatly I once again proved that I have no idea how to approach girls in concert... or girls in general, for that matter. >_

 

P.S: for the record, the White Stripes struck me as a very traditional rock band, and I have no idea where that fan's "alternative" labeling came from.

[reverie]

White stripes = alternative?

 

I wouldn't classify them as alternative either, but i'm prolly biased, since my glory days were during Alternative-ROCKS peak, which ironically was propelled into the mainstream. So if something is mainstream, can you really consider it an alternative??? Heh, but that debates pretty well worn out, so there's no need to explore it.

 

Hmm, as i remember it the chronology went something like this:

 

Summary of the 80's: (The Me Generation a.k.a Video Killed the Radio Star)

 

* Motown Era and Classic Diva's Fade

* Folk rock lingers despite being driven underground in the early 70's

* Southern Rock persists amonst the baby-boomers spawning "Classic Rock"

* Punk fading, but still going strong

* Disco finally dies

* Emergence of Light Rock...and Light Rock Diva's

* New Wave begins and mutates into things whose names i can't even begin to recall...

* Late Era Beaties and respective Rolling Stones Inspired Artists Thrive in the back ground

* MTV creates another British/Europe Invasion, since, Europe was the only one really making videos at the time.

* Punk driven Underground

* Club Kid phenomenom...

* Jacksons elevate Pop.

* Boy bands reinvented...

* Rise of and Fall of Heavy/Hair Metal

* Rap gains wide acceptance, then picks up momentum

 

 

Early 90's: (New World Order a.k.a The Generation X Revolution)

 

* New Wave artists attempt various comebacks...

* Hip Hop and Adult Comtempary Diva's Emerge

* Country turns into Southern Rock with an accent (which is interesting because Southern Rock was Blues and Folk Rock tempered with Country Music in the early 70's)

* Heavy metal goes underground

* POP: first white boy band appears

* Pop Rap has it hay day via the Fresh Prince and M.C. Hammer etc.

* Hair Metal goes underground

* Gangster Rap emerges from underground

* Alternative Emerges from underground with Folk and Geek Rock riding it's coat tails...

* Techo emerges from underground Rave culture

* Hip Hop and Alternative Music Go head to head vying for dominance.

* Rock/Rap bands pioneered

---Music charts divided up into various genres---after Sir Mix Alot's "Baby got Back" constant air play annoys uptight corporate DJ's.

* Alternative Ska Bands get their 15 minutes...

* Lylith Era Chick Rock gains a foot hold.

 

 

mid 90's (Ticket Master Era or The Great Cell phone and Internet Explosion)

 

* Folk Rock driven underground

* Tribal culture emerges: tatoo's and percings as far as the eye can see...

* Rave culture goes mainstream: Club Kids emulated by the masses

* Lylith fades

* Hip Hop and Rock in General still going at it...

* Alternative and Metal merge with Rap creating the volatile Rock/Rap Crossover.

* Mainstream Alternative mainstains a presence but no longer dominate

* Pop Country sweeps the Nation...

 

Late 90's (Wag the Dog or The Napster Revolution)

 

 

* Everything seems to have a Dance Remix track...

* Rave Culture still going strong

* Rock/Rap crossover bands dominate the Rock charts..

* EMO spawned from agnst left over from the early alternative era and an alliance with Geek Rock.

* Hip Hop Reigns supreme "Eastcoast versus Westcoast Era"

* US. embraces Canadian Country

* Teeny-boper and Boy bands take over

* Adulth Contemperary, Hip Hop and Teeny-boper Diva's start to notice one another and form alliances/wage vicious Soap Opera-esk Holy Wars...

* Latin Invasion of Pop ignites then flickers out...

* Second wave of Chick Rock helps slow and eventually kill the Boy Bands

 

 

Early 2000's: ( The New New World Order or Generation Y discovers the World)

 

* Rave culture persists

* Hip Hop Reigns Supreme "Bling Bling Era"

* Teeny-bopers persist though weakened

* 2nd Generation Pop Alternative/Punk bands emerge heavily influenced by extreme sport enthusiast

* Chick Rock wanes

* EMO Festers

* Retro Rock comes into fashion paying homage the 70's

 

Mid 2000's to present: (Red/Blue Era or A New kind of Holy War)

 

* Hip Hop keeps going and going...

* Older Era Metal and Alternative Bands reinvent themselves respectively

* Country turns into 80's Suburban light rock with an accent

* Retro Rock comes into fashion paying homage to the 80's

* 2nd Gen Teeny bopers emerge, while old guard fades...

* IPOD's go mainstream

* and so forth...

 

....well that's how I remember it...

 

 

Anyway back to the White Stripes:

 

If I had to label them, I throw them together with the Retro-70's rock wave that briefly washed over the pop landscape a few years ago. I.E (The Hives, The Stroke, Jet) Taking liberally from bands like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeplin...

 

So I say that the "Stripes" were influnenced by Alternative, just like most the other radio kids that matured in the 90s, but they're not Alternative Rock, as I remember it... Yep, I think Retro fits better... As for the early 90s I have lot's of fond memories from that period... Though one terrible consquence that coincided with Alternatives' rise, was that the Music Industry figured out JUST how much more money they could make, if they started buying up more radio stations; thus accelating the homogeninization of much of the unique local scenes around the county. Turning them into the bland corporate Pop addicted landscape that exists today...

 

Of course, you can't lay all the blame on the music. Popular musics has been on this road on long time... And the Policy changes in the FCC's Telecommincation Act of 1996 cemented the trend by allowing the cullings to occur in the Radio world. (roughly one company could own 8 stations in a given area, with a mandotory review or regulations every 2 years or something like that, which is why Clear Channel emerged) Still, my knowledge does not run very deep on this subject, so I do wonder what other factors brought about the change.

 

 

Hmm, thankfully though public out cry last year thwarted the FCC's future loosing of the station ownership regulations. Hey, what do you know- Democracy still works...well provided you pay attention...

 

 

hmm,

Edited August 17, 2005 by reverie

[Wyvern]

I saw 13 & God (The Notwist & Themselves) and Boy in Static at the Black Cat in Washington D.C this evening.

 

This is the first time I've managed to get out to a show involving doseone, who is one half of Themselves and one of the most innovative and original M.Cs out there. I shook hands with him before the show started and then took my regular place in the front row to wait for the opening act.

 

Boy in Static, a downtempo/soft rock band, was the first act to perform. The three-person band consisted of a lead vocalist/guitar player, a keyboard player, and a person working an MPC drum machine. They had a very warm melodic feel to their music, though it seemed more like music to daydream to than music to dance to. The most interesting part of their set was watching the MPC get played live, as I was unaware that it was used as an instrument in live shows. It was interesting to watch the person in charge of the machine frantically jabbing at buttons for different drum sounds while they played. Boy in Static had some very good tracks, but their vibe sort of got boring before their set had finished. Overall, they were a decent opening act.

 

13 & God then set up countless instruments for their set, and doseone proceeded to completely steal the show. A few things to note about Dose from the start: for someone who's constantly labeled as head of the "nerd rap" movement, I was surprised at how well built and muscular he was. He had a bizarre red mohawk haircut, and came out wearing a formal suite with a single angel wing hanging from the back of it. He also had on a really weird belt that constantly flashed neon letters across itself. Everyone played their music well, but doseone definitely stole the show with his daring stage theatrics. He had numerous props with him, including a toy bird, several hollow containers shaped like pills, and a projector that projected images of a golden George Washington and the letter 'E' amongst other things. There was not a single moment during the set where he was still, and his body language really conveyed the things he was rapping/singing/speaking about. At one point in the set, he tossed spare change onto the ground and introduced a song by rolling around on the floor screaming "look at all this money! There's a fortune here!" Later, he licked every Mastercard in his wallet and searched the hair of audience members for flowers. Jel also did an excellent job on the MPC drum machine (much better than the Boy in Static player) and Markus Archer's guitar complemented doseone's vocals well (though I've never been a big fan of Archer's singing). 13 & God performed two encores for the lively audience, consisting mostly of older Themselves tracks. I definitely felt that my 13 dollars were well-spent at this show, and highly recommend seeing doseone live.

[Wyvern]

I went to see Qwel & Dallas Jackson, Stick Figures, and Mestizo at DC9 in Washington D.C this evening.

 

I had been looking forward to this concert ever since Mestizo mentioned it to me at the San Francisco Denizen Kane show that I went to with Zool. Qwel is often considered the most prolific member of the Galapagos4 collective for his consistant album output and originaity, and a friend of mine has always hyped me about how great his live show is.

 

My friend Phil and I arrived at the concert early, and chatted a bit with Qwel, Robust of the Stick Figures, and Mestizo (who instantly recognized me from the San Fran show!) before it started. The venue was a tiny bar that could fit maybe 100 people, and the stage didn't look like it could hold more than a turntable and three M.Cs. The crowd was unfortunatly tiny, though Mestizo mentioned that it was much better than the disrespectful audience they had experienced when passing through Johnson, Johnson.

 

Mestizo was the first to take the stage, and put on a nice short set. It was not quite as good as his performance in San Francisco, mainly because the sure-shot crowd rocker "Pick Up 52s" was not included in his set for this tour, but it was still a well done group of songs. He seemed tired from having rode around in a van all day but performed around fifteen minutes of standouts from his excellent "Blindfaith" CD and demonstrated his usual skill on the microphone.

 

The Stick Figures, a group composed of M.Cs Robust and Prolyphic, took the stage after Mestizo finished his set. Robust's last solo album, "Potholes in our Molecules," ranks as one of my favorite albums from 2004. The brilliance of Robust's recorded material didn't seem to translate well to the live stage, however, and the Stick Figures' set felt a bit lacklustre and grew boring after a while. The occasional slip ups they made in switching up the music and remembering their verses hindered their performances a bit. but it was their lack of enthusiasm and excitement on stage that really dragged their set down. Robust and Prolyphic are both talented artists in the recording studio, but I would not pay to see another of their shows.

 

Qwel's energized performance, which closed the evening out, made up for the Stick Figures tiresome stage act. He played a relentless combination of old tracks, new tracks, and unreleased tracks, never missing a beat over the course of his hour and thirty minute set. Highlights included an amped performance of his track "Brick Walls" (which some of you might remember from that "Poetic Justice" compilation CDR), a preview of a dramatic track from his "Freezerburner" album coming out next year, and a freestyle involving Mestizo and Robust that ended the evening. It amazed me that he could go from one hype track to another over such a long period of time without tiring out. Qwel's performance alone was worth the eight dollar admission.

 

A good concert, overall, though not one that ranks with the best that I've been to.

[Wyvern]

On Tuesday evening, I went to see Atmosphere, Blueprint, and p.o.s at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C.

 

Slug, Blueprint, and p.o.s did an in-store signing at Tower Records the afternoon before the show, so I had a chance to meet up with them and chat with them there. This was actually the first time that I met Slug in person, despite having seen Atmosphere perform numerous times in the past, since he's not an easy guy to catch after shows. He gave me props for the "Murs is my best friend" T-shirt I was wearing (the one with the stick figures, for those who've met me and might know what I'm talking about) and I got my picture taken with him. I chatted with Blueprint and p.o.s for a while and then interviewed them on minidisc with some D.J friends of mine, which was fun. Blueprint also got me on the guestlist for the concert after I mentioned the show I did on his record label, Weightless, which he had tuned into last semester and remembered.

 

Onto the concert itself: I arrived there a bit later than usual, right when p.o.s was beginning his set, and unfortunatly couldn't make it to my usual spot in the front row since it was occupied. Still, p.o.s destroyed it with the best set of the evening. Those who've read my previous reviews might recall the Atmosphere show I went to with Zariah, where p.o.s had lost his voice and had only a boombox to back him up. Well, this time around, he was in full energetic form and had D.J Turbo Nemesis backing him up with music and scratches. He was a beast on stage, practically screaming a number of his lines and running around the stage. Crescent Moon, another MC from Minneapolis, came out to perform a few tracks with him and act as his hype man. The set seemed to leave a very good impression on the audience, who cheered quite loud by the time he was done. Excellent performance, I'm definitely looking forward to his upcoming album now.

 

Blueprint was the next to take the stage and rock it. He was the act I was looking forward to seeing the most, since the last time he performed in D.C remains one of the best live sets I've ever seen (it's recorded in an earlier post in this thread, if you're curious). His performance this time didn't quite match the magic of the last time I saw him, but was still a very fun and impressive set. He got the stoical crowd moving their bodies by interspersing his set with sing-a-long renditions of Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean" and Queen's "We Are the Champions." He performance was mercilessly short this time around, but he still had the crowd striking funny poses and laughing by the end of it. Two of my D.J friends, Zan and Pete, were blown away by his performance, but I guess I'm a little spoiled by the last time I saw him pass through D.C. Still, highly recommended.

 

Once Blueprint finished, Atmosphere took the stage as the main act of the evening. Atmosphere have always built on their set over their years of touring, and this time was no exception Their performance started theatrically, with Crescent Moon acting as a bartender at a miniature bar they set up on stage over a jazzy piano background fprovided by the live band. Slug came out and performed tracks with the band for a while, which had a very jazzy orientation and worked well. Then, the band left the stage and, much to my surprise, Ant took the stage to back Slug up as the D.J. The reason this surprised me is that Ant, the other half of Atmosphere with Slug, is somewhat of a recluse and hasn't ever toured in the past. It was interesting to see him spinning for Slug, though the results were not quite as good as those with the band. The highlight of the evening for me was when Slug started performing tracks from Felt, a project he did with Murs, and shouted "This is going out to my man in the Murs T-shirt. He and anyone else wearing a Murs T-shirt can go up to the merchandise stand and take any one CD for free." Hahaha. Sure enough, I went and got a free CD when the set was over, and also got to speak with Ant for a bit. Good times, overall.

[Mira]

Well, last night, November 9th, I saw Ted Leo & The Pharmacists in Detroit. The venue was a club downtown on lovely Woodward Avenue called The Magic Stick. It was a pretty small club with only room for a couple hundred people, but I really liked the vibe of the place. They had a handful of Pool Tables (hence the name of the club) on one side of the room that were separated from the stage and floor by a low wall. The first warm up band was a group that called themselves The Changes. They hailed from Chicago and had a very nice stage presence and sound. They consisted of a Guitar, Bass, Drums, and a singer who played guitar, keyboards, and percussion throughout their set. Halfway through their second song, my girlfriend and I decided that they sounded like The Cure, but with a bit more Rock n' Roll in the mix. All in all they very enjoyable, and for a moment they dispelled our general weariness towards warm-up bands. The second warm-up band however lived up to our very poor expectations. They were an all female band called Slumber Party, and they were positively atrocious. Two guitarists, a bassist, and a drum-machine combined with a horrible job by the sound engineer added up to thirty minutes of unending pain. Partway through their set, people began to sit down, and the loudest applause they got was when they finally took off their instruments and began to pack up. After the audience got a second to nurse their wounded eardrums, Ted Leo popped onto the stage and promptly began to repair the damage done by Slumber Party. He was funny at times, making jokes and trading profanities with overly excited fans, but he was also serious, saying "There's a lot of talking and arguing going on all the time, but at the end of the day there's people dying on the ground... this songs for them" right before going into a pair of his more political songs. But most of all he just rocked. His entire band rocked, even though it was just him and two other guys, and they were all very skilled on their instruments. They finished up the set, and followed it with a three song encore, the first of which was just Ted covering a song by The Pogues called Dirty Old Town.

 

 

The concert was definitely worth the $12.

[Wyvern]

So, I finally got in the reach of a scanner, and have put up pictures from the Denizen Kane/Mestizo/Royce concert that Zool and I went to last Summer. :-) The pictures came out a bit small when transfered to Photobucket, but should still give a general sense of what the gathering was like. Thanks once again for attending the concert with me, Zool, qnd sorry that these photos are up so late! Hope you all enjoy. I've also included an additional photo I took with Slug (of Atmosphere) at the Tower in-store that preceded the last Atmosphere show that I went to... what can I say, I must be feeling photogenic as of late. :-p

 

Denizen Kane: http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c196/eli...denizenkane.jpg

 

Mestizo with Dwight Lightning on the bass and the drummer of Royce: http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c196/eli...k/mestizoWL.jpg

 

DJ Whitelightning getting down, astro turban style: http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c196/eli...telightning.jpg

 

Left to right- Mestizo, Wyvern, Zool, and Denizen Kane (probably the best pic of the bunch): http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c196/eli...tWyvZoolDen.jpg

 

Same line up as the pic above, only striking "I'll beat you down" poses:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c196/eli...WyvZoolDen2.jpg

 

Add DJ Om to the list (far left) and go for silly expressions, and here's what you get :

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c196/eli...twyvzoolden.jpg

(PS: is it just me, or is Om wearing the exact same shirt as Dwight Light?!)

 

Zool and Wyvern, hanging out in what appears to be a hobbit's home the day after the concert:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c196/eli.../ZoolandWyv.jpg

 

You'd never know it since he seems like such a nice guy in person, but Zool packs concealed weapons every now and then:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c196/elitwack/Zool.jpg

 

That's it for the San Francisco gathering photos. Here's the additional one of Slug and myself, though the picture quality isn't the best and the lighting gave it a very strange hue.

 

Slug and E. Literate: http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c196/elitwack/EvanSlug.jpg

[Wyvern]

This evening, I went to see P.O.S, Mac Lethal, Sims, and Educated Consumers at the Ottobar in Baltimore, Maryland.

 

This was my first time going down to the Ottobar in Maryland, and I ended up getting down there by car since one of my folks was kind enough to accompany me to it. The club was smallish with a comfortable old school rock venue feel to it, and I met Sims at the merchandise table before the show the started and exchanged a few words with him.

 

Educated Consumers were the first act to take the stage, and they remain Washington D.C's most overrated hip hop act in my opinion. There's nothing bad about Seez Mics' rapping, persay, but once you've seen one Educated Consumers set, you've seen them all. They put on one of their typical sets of average hip hop, and were the least memorable act of the evening.

 

Sims was the next act to take the stage, and he immediately livened things up with a more hype and humorous approach to the crowd. He started addressing everyone as "son" and "dunny," claiming that his position on the East coast entitled him to use that language, then went on to perform several impressive tracks. Though Sims' MCing was very good, the beats backing his tracks seemed to stand out even more, as they contained a lot of variation and swings in rhythm that added to Sims' flow. The last track he performed started out quietly, then built up in anger to the point where Sims jumped into the crowd and started moshing at the end of it. He put on a very good set, overall.

 

Next up on the performance list was Mac Lethal, and his set was something else. Repping Kansas City, probably the last place anyone would ever think of finding any hip hop, Mac Lethal put on an absolutely hilarious show. He started up the set by communicating with Sims off stage via a megaphone to figure out which songs he should play, and their communications continued throughout the set to the point where Sims was freestyling off-stage through the megaphone. Chuck Norris jokes, Applebees, and random Canada disses were central themes strung throughout his set. Highlights included Mac Lethal freestyling over several extremely cheesy mainstream hip hop beats and dissing each of the tracks with his lyrics, as well as mentioning Stewie from "Family Guy" in a song and then immediately switching to the "Family Guy" theme song, which the entire crowd sung along to. The lyrics to Mac Lethal's songs were equally funny, referencing numerous pop culture tidbits ranging from Elaine's dance in Seinfeld to accidentally getting a DUI. The only problem with Mac Lethal's set was that he seemed to talk a little too much between each track, and might have relied a bit too much on cracking jokes and audience participation instead of performing his songs. Still, while Mac Lethal's set may have not been the technical best of the evening, it may very well have been the most entertaining. This guy knows how to get a crowd in a good mood!

 

After Mac Lethal's stage show, P.O.S came out to finish off the evening as the headliner. His set contained all the energy and frantic urgency that I've come to expect from his live shows, and was probably the best of the evening. I was kind of surprised to find that almost the entire Ottobar crowd had P.O.S' lyrics memorized, which is a big step forward from opening as some obscure starter for Atmosphere. One of the major highlights of his set and of the evening was when Sims came back on stage to kick a track with him, and they both gave it their all. I can only imagine what a full Doomtree* performance on stage would be like if only the two of them can do that much damage. Great set overall, and an excellent evening to boot.

 

* Doomtree is the Minneapolis hip hop crew that both P.O.S and Sims are part of, which also boasts the rappers Dessa, Mike Mictlan, and Cecil Otter, as well as the producers Lazerbeak, Marshall Larada, Paper Tiger, Turbo Nemesis (who was DJing for Sims and P.O.S at this concert), Emynd, and some others I'm probably forgetting at the moment... They perform full shows in Minneapolis, though I don't think the whole crew has performed outside of the Minnesota area before.

[Wyvern]

Here are a few pics that I found online from P.O.S' set at the Ottobar show. I figured I'd archive them here before I lost track of them. You can spot me in the front row in the second and third ones.

 

P.O.S

 

P.O.S, with me looking awe-struck/exhausted in the front. Not the best of pic of me, but whatever. ;-p

 

P.O.S thumb wrestling various people in the crowd. I forgot to mention that P.O.S is an undefeatable thumb wrestler who always challenges people to matches during his sets and wins. I didn't take a shot at the wrestling myself, but did enjoy watching the action at close range, as can be seen here... ;-)

 

P.O.S & Sims. A major highlight of the evening, as mentioned in my review.

[Tasslehoff]

Well I just recently went to the Nickleback / Trapt Concert @ the Omaha Qwest Center. I was extremely excited to go as Trapt is by far one of my favorite bands.

 

Default opened up for both bands with a decent show. I wasnt to impressed with the overall show. I think mostly it was the stage itself. There wasnt much to it & I was quite disapointed for such a big venue as the Qwest Center. The music was decent, but my friend happened to point out that the drummer was very repative. Me, not quite the advid music fan didnt udnerstand to well untill I watched him closely for a few songs & it was like he was a scratched CD. Over & Over again..

 

Trapt, was a great show. The energy inside the arena seemed to triple once they came on stage. They had a very good presence. The guitarist didnt move around to much, but the vocals were amazing & the drummer was exceptional. I was very pleased overall with Trapts performance.

 

I however, did not stay for Nickleback so I cant anything about their show.. Well, just thought I'd write a small piece on what I saw.. Have a good one all.