Concert: Walk The Moon/The Mowgli's

Well hi there!

Last night I ventured to the Roseland Theater yet again to see Walk The Moon and The Mowgli's. But before I talk about that, I have something quick to talk about first.

I won spots to see The Mowgli's at the KINK Bing Lounge that same day! Wooo! I even skipped my Weather class to be there. They played 4 songs, and it was a great little mini show. They stuck around to take pictures with everyone, and were so sweet and humble.

Now back to the show that night: I got in line outside of the Roseland at about 5pm. There was already a large number of people waiting, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to be in the front. I would say the average age of the concert goer that night was about 16, and I could tell it was a lot of their first concerts.

The opening band Smallpools were your typical LA pop rock. Not bad though, definitely worth it to keep on your radar if you're into that kind of music.

Then The Mowgli's came on, and it was wonderful. They're so full of love and energy, and everyone was just dancing and having a fun time. I love the message they send out: Love everyone, make the world better, perform random acts of kindness, etc.  And the fact that their music is so good and catchy makes it easily listenable and therefore sends the message out to more people.
Which is why I want to cook them dinner.
I had messaged Colin (guitar, vocals) about that, but never really heard back. So I talked to Katie (vocals) about that after their KINK show earlier that day, and she said they would love that. Between The Mowgli's and Walk The Moon, Andy (drums, vocals), Dave (keyboard), and Michael (guitar, vocals) all came over to the merch table and were talking with the fans. I first went up to Dave and Andy and told them about my plan to cook them dinner. They took my info and said they'd definitely be in touch. Then I talked to Michael and he was even more excited about the idea than Dave and Andy were.
Now, I know there's a large chance that they won't remember, won't have time, or just won't want to, but I'm hopeful. They're coming back in December, so I guess we'll see.

Anyway, after all that, Walk The Moon took the stage. They were as good as always, but I realized that was probably the last of their shows I would be going to. I remember seeing them open for the Kaiser Chiefs at the Wonder Ballroom two years ago, and how fantastic that was. And even seeing them for a dollar at the Crystal Ballroom, they were still less well known. But now the audience was mostly under 18, and I've found that kind of crowd isn't as much fun to be in. There's lots of phones in your face, petty drama, talking, and general ignorance.
Oh well, it was good while it lasted!

Concert: Metric

Well, Metric killed it as per usual last night at the Roseland Theater! I was in line at 5pm as I had gotten out of class earlier and didn't want to go home only to have to leave a half hour later... I was first in line and at the front of the stage right at the barricade. They played the usual Gold Guns Girls, Dead Disco, Speed The Collapse, Youth Without Youth, Help I'm Alive...etc. They finished the night with an acoustic version of Gimmie Sympathy which they've done the last two times I've seen them (this was number five). The crowd were all singing along, and it was a blast.

Unfortunately the guy who was standing next to me happened to be an asshole who kept trying to push me out of the way... This happens to me sometimes because I'm small and people think they can take advantage of me because I'm just this little girl. That's when I introduce them to Mr. & Mrs. Elbow. They guy kept switching places with this woman who was behind him (who was the initial asshole). It was all kinda lame, and I heard the woman bitching to the guy about me shoving and I flat out said "I'm not intentionally trying to shove anyone. I've been here since 5pm and I'm not moving from this spot." Then later on in the show when they both were shoving and pushing me I looked at them and said "Really?" like, come on..

There was someone doing something they shouldn't have been doing in the crowd at one point and three of the security guards were trying to find the person and stood right in front of me so I couldn't really see anything. Emily Haines (the lead singer) actually came over to the edge of the stage and shooed them out of the way!

She was talking about how she wanted to rip down the barricade and she would have if she were younger, but now that she was older she didn't want to disrespect the venue and had compassion for the people who worked there so she didn't do anything.

And, of course, I got the setlist:

Just announced!

Jake Bugg will be returning to Portland on January 22nd at the Crystal ballroom!

And Arctic Monkeys announced their first show in three years at the Roseland of all places. That show is December 4th. It should be great.

Presales for both shows will happen later this week I believe.

Pretty damn exciting if I do say so myself!

The Fratellis

Good news! The band The Fratellis are playing in Portland for the first time ever in November! They were supposed to play as the opening band for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club a number of years back, but something happened and they had to cancel.

I have seen the lead singer of The Fratellis play before as part of his side project, Codeine Velvet Club (they opened for Metric). They were really great, and I'm super excited to finally see The Fratellis!

They're playing November 8th at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland. You can get tickets here and see their full list of tour dates here.

This is probably one of their more popular songs, as it was used in one of the original iPod commercials:

Concert: Fiona Apple

Natalie Behring/Getty Images

Wow, so on Thursday I went to see Fiona Apple play at the Newmark Theater in downtown Portland. The show started a half hour late, and when the four musicians finally came out it seemed a little disjointed. Fiona was all over the place, and kept taking different pieces of bark and sticks out of a plastic tub she brought on stage with her. My parents who had both seen her before told me that she was always like this when she performed (eccentric and scattered). Nevertheless, the woman can sing.

Her and Blake Mills alternated between songs, and there were some really lovely moments. And then one person had to ruin everything. "Get healthy, we want to see you in ten years!" some woman shouted. Fiona said "Oh you fucked up" and started to become visibly distressed. It was bizarre. I couldn't tell where the shouting dumbass was sitting, but she actually demanded that the house lights be brought up so she could watch the woman leave.

The show almost ended right there, but she plowed on through one more song before calling it quits. There were only two more songs left on the setlist when she walked off, but still. Yikes.

And if it wasn't bad enough that the one woman shouted something, EVERYONE ELSE JOINED IN. Giving their two cents about it. "Don't listen to that bitch!", "Don't let her win!", "You're beautiful!".

People just needed to keep their mouths shut.

Lots of media outlets reported on the events of that night. Oregon Live, Stereogum, Rolling Stone, and even The Huffington Post.

It was an unfortunate end to what should have been an evening of fun collaboration.

December To Remember

Every year the local radio station 94.7fm puts on a series of concerts called December To Remember. The lineup for this year was just announced today and is as follows:

December 1: The Neighborhood
December 2: Foals (at the Wonder Ballroom)
December 2: Alt-J
December 3: The Mowgli's and Said The Whale
December 4: Vampire Weekend and Tame Impala
December 5: Grouplove and MsMr
December 6: Young The Giant
December 7: Fitz And The Tantrums and The Features
December 8: Bastille and NoNoNo
December 10: Phoenix
December 12: Portugal. The Man

It's a great lineup this year! The presale started today at 10am (only two hours after the lineup was announced), and almost all of the shows are now sold out.
Although I was confused as to the whole show was sold out or just the presale. So I called the station and asked, and Gustav (one of the DJ's) said he thinks that the venue legally has to have some to sell when the shows go on sale to the general public.
I was in class all day, and only after getting a frantic text from my sister about Vampire Weekend did I see the big sold out banners on the radio's website. I managed to get tickets for Portugal. The Man, but it was only them and Alt-J that I absolutely HAD to go to. I only was able to get Portugal tickets though, so I'm really hoping to win Alt-J tickets or get them when they go on sale to the general public (if that even happens).
When tickets do go on sale to the general public Monday October 7th at 10am. My dad will be at the box office to the Crystal (where all but one of the shows are) to see if he can get tickets to a few more shows.

I'm hoping I'll get lucky and win some tickets to the shows! My dad has twice won tickets to every Dec2Rem show. I like all of these bands, but I don't have the kind of money to spend on every concert. I'd love to see Phoenix, but 38 bucks plus service charge is a lot.

I'll just try to get lucky!

Here's a link to the 94.7fm web page with all the Dec2Rem info.

Colin Meloy

It's finally happened! A few months ago, Colin Meloy (lead singer of The Decemberists) announced that he was going to be doing a solo tour, but only the east coast and Midwest dates confirmed. I knew he would be playing Portland since he lives here, but it took forever for him to finally announce it. And now I can happily say that Colin will be playing the Crystal Ballroom on January 21st.

The presale sold out extremely fast, and I'm sure the show will sell out in a matter of days. I highly recommend going! Since I'm such a huge Decemberists fan, anything I can get is amazing.

You can get tickets here, and see the full tour details here.

In the meantime while The Decemberists are still on a hiatus, and Colin won't be playing until next year, you can read the Wildwood Chronicles which are written by Colin and illustrated by his wife Carson Ellis. The books are targeted as young adult novels, but much like Decemberists songs, they have complex plot lines, excellent character development, and an extensive vocabulary.

You can check out both the first and second books (Wildwood, and Under Wildwood), here.