Concert: The Strypes

Well well well, shame on me for not posting in so long. What with classes, spring break, and the lack of shows I've seen I'm really behind. I'm definitely going to write about the latest Broken Bells album, festivals, and the latest shows announced, but for now I'm writing a review of The Strypes when they played in Portland on the 28th.

The Strypes are a four piece band out of Cavan Ireland that consist of Ross Farrelly (lead vocals/harmonica), Josh McClorey (guitar), Evan Walsh (drums), and Pete O'Hanlon (bass). They are currently 17-19 years old, but the music they play is ageless. If their talented enough to be NME's number 1 band to watch and opened for the Arctic Monkeys all over Europe, you know they're in for big things and will only hone in their talents over time.

They first jumped on my radar when they covered the Bo Diddley song "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover"

And I even wrote a New Band Alert about them on this blog a while back.

So now to the show on the 28th at the Holocene in Portland Oregon. The venue itself is very small and quite cool. It's actually one a block and a half away from the best little coffee house in Portland - Rimsky Korsakoffee. I got there relatively early  (I didn't think there'd be a long line or anything, but I still wanted to get there before doors), and snagged the perfect spot front and center of the small stage.

I had no idea what to expect in terms of the crowd that would be at the show. I was surprised at the amount of older adults that were there (and even singing along), and actually felt sort of young. There were are few kids there that looked around 10 or 11, but other than that it was mostly adults and a few other people around my own age. Since their music is so classic I guess it's not actually that surprising that so many adults were there... 

The opening band were from Portland and they were called The Cry. They had some good songs, but I sort of felt like they spent more time on their image that they should have spent getting tighter as a group performance wise. But they did good publicity by passing out business cards to the line outside as well as inside, so props to them for that. Plus they covered Boys Don't Cry by The Cure, and they did so very well.

Then The Strypes came on. They played three songs, then stopped due to an issue with one of the speakers. They actually ended up going off stage while the problem was being sorted out, and it halted the show for about 10 minutes. They came back and apologized for the delay and played the rest of the show just fine.

The stage presence, talent, and skill of these musicians is incredible considering their age. They are talented beyond their years and are on a good track to succeed.

After the show I was taken backstage by one of the member of The Cry who I had been talking to outside and got to meet all of them. They were so humble and sweet considering how tired I'm sure they were (jet lag, different time zone, having just played, etc.).

After taking a few quick pictures and probably gushing too much about how much I enjoyed the performance, I told Josh (the guitarist) that the next time they're in Portland I'd love to show them around, and seemed really down and had me friend him on facebook to we could communicate through messaging next time they're here. When they do come back I expect they'll be playing a bigger venue than the Holocene (maybe the Wonder or even the Roseland), so I'm very glad I got the change to see them at a place that I had yet to see a show at. 

The Holocene is a 21+ venue like the Doug Fir, but because all of the band members are underage, they made the show early (doors at 6:30 show at 7. The whole show was over at 9:30) and all ages. 

Setlist

  With Josh

                                                                   

With Pete

With Ross and Evan

Concert: Jake Bugg

When I got to Ringler's next to the Crystal Ballroom, there were no decorations this time. There were a few other people waiting inside that looked like they had only gotten there a little bit before I did. Later on in the evening we all joined together into one group (four of us total including me). That's why I like going to concerts by myself; I get to meet new people and sometimes make new friends, or 'concert buds' as I call them, and see them at other shows.

Anyway, all of them were there for one of the opening acts, Albert Hammond Jr. who is actually they guitarist and keyboardist of The Strokes. He has his own band though (under his name) and they were awesome. They sounded just like the strokes basically. I honestly had no idea who he was until the group came together and they told me.

Since I was there so early, we saw the bands get there and unload all of their stuff. My group all ran out to meet Albert when he appeared later in the day, and I held down the fort inside. When Jake Bugg was going from the bus to the venue I was able to snag a quick picture and say hello. He's actually smiling in the picture (something he rarely does), but - of course - I look awful.

The show was late - doors at 8 show at 9 instead of the standard, doors at 7 show at 8. And with two opening bands I knew it would be pretty late.
One of the security guards I had befriended, John, was standing nearby when I got inside and was front and center. I asked him when it was over, and it didn't end until 12:20. I asked him how that worked since nearly all of the shows I've been to there ended before 11:30. He said it depended on the curfew that they are given, and most of the time it's midnight, but that particular night it was 1am. I should have asked him how that worked... Next time I guess.

It's very convenient to know a security guard by the way. Sometimes things get crazy and people are assholes, and to know someone's name can help get their attention to take care of the issue. That's about it though, other than knowing someone who knows the times of the shows. John did give me a bottle of water though which was awesome.

The first band were called The Skins, and they were out of New York. The had a very rock sound to them, but also a few softer songs. The lead singer had a voice that sounded to me like a combination of Adele and Amy Winehouse. Very powerful from such a small woman. The female guitarist could shred like crazy and that combined with the other guitarist playing the same lick intensified the sound and made it that much more tight.

Here's a song of theirs called Ocean:

Then Albert came out and played in a black jumpsuit. The sound was very much like the strokes and included the signature guitar's playing together and harmonizing. There were a bunch of people around me in the front who were just there for him and left afterwards.

Then Jake Bugg and two others came out. The only time I have seen the stage emptier was the night before when it was just Colin Meloy, a guitar, and a table. The drummer and bass player were only onstage about 50% of the time. Since I had only ever seen Jake play solo with an acoustic, it was really cool to finally hear those rock songs with the addition of the bass and drums. The classic trio of bass, guitar, and drums.

Jake Bugg has been compared to Bob Dylan, but says one of his biggest inspirations was actually Donovan. He has a great combination of rock songs and mellow, hauntingly beautiful acoustic songs with lyrics about getting out of his hometown and love. At only 19 he is a nice refresher from the other kids his age in music *coughJustinBiebercough*, and lets his talent and hard work shine through.

(Mini) Concert: Jake Bugg

I woke up on the morning of the 22nd and immediately checked my email. Alas, no message from KINK saying I won a spot in the Bing Lounge to see Jake Bugg do a short set and interview. I figured 'what do I have to lose?', so I called the station to see if I might be able to get in. Sure enough, the nice man in charge of the shows, David I believe was his name, said that he'd put me on the list and to come on down. Hurray!

The performance started at 1, but I took the 11:30 bus from my house which put me in line at about noon. The crowd was a mix of teenage girls, and middle aged (and older) people. Lisa, the bubbly woman who gives out tickets and is basically the front of house for the events at the lounge started passing out tickets down the line. I was second in line, and because I was alone I got the ticket for row A seat 1. Literally the first seat. I thought I was only going to get standing room, so that was awesome!

He played four songs, and did a short interview, but for some reason I couldn't find the other song and interview video, so you can find them here, here, and here.

Storm Passes Away

Lightning Bolt

He had to run off after the show so there was no meet and greet which was a bummer, but it was a great set!

Grammys: The Bands That Should Have Won

The 56th annual Grammy Awards were last night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Frankly, I don't usually watch them because there are rarely any acts that I like that are nominated. This was true of last night, but I was bored and it was on the DVR so I could skip whatever I wanted. The only people nominated that I regularly listen to were Vampire Weekend who were nominated (and won) for best indie album, which is ironic because the only real 'indie' artist in the literal meaning of 'independent' was Macklemore & Ryan Lewis who won best rap album. The other artist was Regina Spektor who was nominated for the song "You've Got Time" which she wrote and performed for the opening credits of the hit Netflix show Orange is the New Black. It was her first ever nomination and unfortunately she didn't win. However, she wasn't even there because she is 'very pregnant' so it's good she didn't have to sit through all that only to leave empty handed.

As I was watching - and fast forwarding - I noticed that there were more performances than awards given. I'm not sure when this shift started, but I only counted 16 actual awards that were handed out on the broadcast, and 20 performances. Interesting.

Anyway, if I were in charge of giving out awards for the two biggest categories, the nominees and winners would look like this:

Album of the Year:

AM - Arctic Monkeys

Evil Friends - Portugal. The Man

Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions - Franz Ferdinand

Reflektor - Arcade Fire

Shangri La - Jake Bugg

Winner: AM - Arctic Monkeys

Song of the Year
Do I Wanna Know - Arctic Monkeys
Modern Jesus - Portugal. The Man
Entertainment - Phoenix
Diane Young - Vampire Weekend
Come A Little Closer - Cage The Elephant

Winner: Modern Jesus - Portugal. The Man

Concert: Colin Meloy

The Crystal Ballroom turned 100 years old on the 21st. To celebrate, they had 100 nights of music and events leading up to the big birthday party on the 21st featuring Colin Meloy doing a solo set.
When I got to Ringler's pub next to the Crystal to wait for doors to open, there were balloons and parts hats at every table. Many people had no idea why, but it made me even more excited for the evening of music to come. I met some kids and one of their father's who had come from Bend for the show.

Colin Meloy set off on his US solo tour in November of 2013 with a month and a half break until his west coast tour leg. I had been tracking what his setlist would look like though the website setlist.fm where I could see what songs he played at the various venues throughout the tour. He changed it up a fair amount, but played Engine Driver into Bus Mall, Crane Wife 1&2, and Crane Wife 3 nearly every night.

As I got to the third level where the actual ballroom was, there were tables and tables full of cupcakes. I hurriedly grabbed one at random and secured my spot in the front. The one I ended up grabbing was a lemon poppy seed cupcake that was delicious!

Before the opening act, a representative of the Crystal came onstage and rattled off a long list of people who have played at the Crystal, and why the place was so special. Then almost the entire staff came onstage and two of the security guards brought up a giant cake and the entire audience sang happy birthday.

Then John Roderick played his set. He had opened for the Decemberists ten years previous so it was special for him to be playing with Colin again. His music was good. He reminded me of a sort of cross between Counting Crows vocals and a Guster sound to his songs.

Then Colin Meloy came out to the roars and cheers of his hometown fans. He played Hazards Of Love part 1, and then explained afterwards that the muffled shout that can be heard at the end of the song was in fact, Chris Funk shouting out the name of a sandwich played in reverse. Mystery solved! I had always been curious as to what the hell that was.

He played a nice mix of old and new songs. He mentioned the struggles of trying to get his son to eat his breakfast in a quick song called "Hank Eat Your Oatmeal" which turned into Calamity Song. He played an old song called Tristan & Isolde from his former band called Tarkio. At the encore he played a song that wasn't on his setlist called Record Year (which incidentally is my all time favorite Decemberists song), because someone in the back of the crowd shouted it out. I'm very appreciative of that man, whoever he was. However, Colin hadn't played it in so long that he kept forgetting the words, but the girl next to me and I supplied him with corrections when needed which he seemed to appreciate.

There were two new songs called Philomena and Better, which Colin said were new Decmeberists songs that were in the works as the band were in the studio again. Hurray! Before he played Philomena he prefaced it with saying he named the song before the movie with the same title came out, and that the song is rather lude and now all he can think of is Dame Judi Dench when he sings this particular song.

It was an excellent show, and I snagged another cupcake on my way out. There were quite a few left over which I can only assume is due to gluten intolerance because they were damn good cupcakes.

Leftover cupcakes

The one and only setlist that was onstage that I managed to snag

I've never seen the stage so empty

Concert: Arctic Monkeys

I haven't seen the Arctic Monkeys since 2007 when their second album Favorite Worst Nightmare came out. Their two albums after Favorite Worst Nightmare (Humbug, and Suck It And See) were good, but not my favorite. Arctic Monkeys played a show at the Crystal Ballroom the same night I had tickets to see Adele at the Edgefield after Humbug came out. I had to decide who I wanted to see, so I picked Adele figuring the next time she came through town she'd play somewhere way bigger. The next time Arctic Monkeys played was when they opened for the Black Keys at the Rose Garden not long after Suck It And See came out. I'm not a huge fan of the Black Keys, and I'm even less of a fan of the Rose Garden (which is the stadium where the Portland Trailblazers play). I had only ever been to one concert there (N*sync when I was seven), and the place is massive. After having gone to so many intimate shows, and seeing Arctic Monkeys in an intimate environment, there way so way I was seeing them someplace so big.

Then they finally came back to Portland at the Roseland Theater on December 6th. Their latest album, AM, dropped a few months before they came to town, and the album is amazing. Easily their best yet.

I got to the Roseland Theater to wait in line at around 3pm, and to my dismay I saw there was already a line of around 40 people already formed. I later learned that the people at the front got there at 11 am and drove from Seattle. I got in line and was trying to figure out a plan of action for once I got inside. At the previous Arctic Monkeys show 6 years previously I remember it being rather mosh-y and packed like sardines. Apart from not being able to see if I'm not at the front, breathing and getting trampled would also be a big issue.

I wandered up the length of the line to see if there was maybe someone I knew from another show. Low and behold, a concert bud of mine, Sarah, was about 6th in line from the front. I asked if it would be possible for me to join her and her friend since it was just me and I'm so small one person wouldn't really make much of a difference. She said sure, and we talked about music and whatnot while we were waiting. She was there when the whole Two Door Cinema Club incident went down.

It was absolutely freezing waiting outside. The temp was in the low 30s and kept dropping as the sun set.

By the time we finally got to go in at 7 I couldn't feel my toes. The first band were a local act called BattleMe. This was actually my third time seeing them. They opened for Walk The Moon when they played for $0.97 at the Crystal Ballroom as part of 94.7's "I Saw Them When Show" series. The next time was when they opened for Metric at the Roseland. Both times I was not impressed. They seemed kind of self-involved and had long, drawn out jams on stage. I was bummed I didn't like them since they're local, and I was hoping for the whole "third time's a charm" thing, but to no avail. They were as mediocre as I remembered.

Then finally, after all that waiting, Arctic Monkeys came out. They were better than I remembered. They've aged like a fine wine, and have really grown into their roles as rock stars. I was actually surprised that they were playing the Roseland and not the Memorial Coliseum or the Rose Garden.
Alex Turner was as charming as ever, and really pulled off the greaser look - complete with a comb that he pulled at twice to fix his pompadour. The energy of the band, even after touring for so long, was incredible. The crowd were all into it too, and it got very sardine-y just as the show was starting. It got hard to move and breathe throughout the night, but it was worth it. I was right in the front and center directly in front of Alex. There was one moment during the set that he made eye contact with me for about five seconds or so. Everyone surrounding me had their phones out to take pictures and videos, and I was the lone person who didn't. Alex must have noticed and saw that I was truly
enjoying the show instead of recording sloppy video to prove that "I was there".

After the show I got a shirt that's baseball style and says "Why'd you only call me when you're high?" and an Arctic Monkeys hat (sort of beanie style with a pom pom on the top). I managed to get the setlist which is great. I didn't stick around to meet the band afterwards as I had my dad waiting on me, but my friend Sarah did, and she told me that they came out about forty-five minutes after the show. She said they waved at everyone, but didn't come over and say hi. Just went straight onto the bus. She said she didn't blame them because some of the girls were freaking out and acting crazy.

I'll post some videos later when my dad uploads them to youtube. He had a great vantage point in the balcony and got some great footage.


It was truly a stellar show, and I'm so happy I got to see them again, even after 6 years.

Foster The People

Foster The People just announced the upcoming release of their sophomore album Supermodel. The announced only two tour dates at very small clubs. They are playing the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, and The Crocodile in Seattle. Tickets sold out very fast, and radio stations like KINK and KNRK are both going to be giving out tickets for the Portland show. I'm not sure why they picked these two cities considering that they're from LA, but it's exciting nevertheless. The other tour dates they have announced are all festivals, like Coachella in CA, the Governors Ball in NY, and the Big Guava Festival in FL.

Their new song Coming Of Age has the classic Foster The People guitar/synth riffs, with layered vocals and lyrics about - you guessed it - growing up coming of age.

The complete track list for their forthcoming album is:
1. "Are You What You Want To Be"
2. "Ask Yourself"
3. "Coming Of Age"
4. "Nevermind"
5. "Pseudologia Fantastica"
6. "The Angelic Welcome Of Mr. Jones"
7. "Best Friend"
8. "A Beginner's Guide To Destroying The Moon"
9. "Goats In Trees"
10. "The Truth"
11. "Fire Escape"
12. "Tabloid Super Junky"

The album will be released March 18th on Columbia Records. Stay tuned for a tour announcement.