Well it's been longer than I intended since I last blogged...
I'm back from the Bay Area and I'm home in Portland. Woo!
When I was over in the Bay Area though, I did manage to make it to two concerts.
The first was Portugal. The Man at the Fox Theater in Oakland. The band were as good as always, and they played almost the entire Evil Friends album, save for the first and last songs. They had a new background of white, triangular mountains, that shone projections of their trippy artwork.
The other show I saw was a major guilty pleasure. I splurged and bought a (very expensive) ticket to the Legends Of The Summer tour with Justin Timberlake and Jay Z. I was row 18 on the field at Candlestick Park. Getting to and from the show was a total ordeal (stuck in the parking lot for 50 minutes on a MUNI bus... Kill me), but it was worth it.
I've been to two and a half shows since I've been back in Portland. The first was Death Cab For Cutie who played the entire Transatlanticism album through as it was its tenth anniversary. It was beautiful and perfect, and I wish it didn't have to end. After the album they played several other songs, and it was just a fantastic show. The opening band Deep Sea Diver were very good too. Indie rock with nice guitar. I met the band after the show by the merch table, and asked the lead singer, Jessica Dobson, when they would be back because I liked them so much. She said they were playing a week from that day at Pioneer Square with The Head And The Heart, and Thao And The Get Down Stay Down. I mentioned something about "oh yeah, the really expensive almost sold out one..." And she had me write my email on her arm so she could get me on the guest list!!
So the second show was the MusicFest NW show with all the previously listed bands. It was a total blast, and I even got a plus one so I could bring a friend. Deep Sea Diver were as good as they were the week before, and I did some savvy internet searching and found out that Jessica Dobson was a guitarist for Beck and The Shins at one point, and is married to the drummer of Deep Sea Diver. Very cool, although I definitely had a bit of a girl crush on her..
Thao And The Get Down Stay Down killed it. They had a horn player which reminded me a lot of Cake, and Thao was a beast on multiple instruments: guitar, slide, banjo, etc.
Then The Head And The Heart came out. They were great! For the encore they each came out and did an individual song before coming back collectively to do a few more.
The half concert was Ra Ra Ruot doing a three song set at the KINK Bing Lounge. I was really happy my dad won us tickets because they were playing a 21+ venue that night, so I wouldn't have been able to see them. I wish it had gone on longer!
And I believe that's all the shows I've been to since I last posted!
