(Mini) Concert: Alt-J

Alt-J are notorious for selling out whichever venue they play in Portland... EVERY time. There's something about their eclectic sound that Portlanders swoon over.

Their last gig in town was back on October 16th of 2014 at the Roseland. They have slowly progressed through the venues in town over the last few years in Portland, starting at the Star with a capacity of 500, then moving to the Crystal Ballroom with a capacity of about 1,000, over to the Roseland with a capacity of 1,410, and now in the fall of 2015, the Memorial Coliseum with a whopping 13,000 capacity.

My good buddy Brendan (@indiealtpdx) who I met back at Lily Allen was kind enough to hold a spot in line for me since I had a class. I got there about a half hour before the show, and fifteen minutes before they handed out tickets.

Because of how popular Alt-J are, lots of people with the radio station had called in favors, and not everyone got guaranteed entry. So even though Brendan was one of the first people in line, the seats we ended up with were in row B. But hey, a free show with Alt-J is great no matter where you're sitting!

Joe Newman (lead vocals and guitar), and Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboard/vocals) came into the Bing Lounge before their first of two nights sold out shows at the Roseland. They played three songs: Warm Foothills, Left Hand Free, and Every Other Freckle, plus a short interview.

Before starting into the song Left Hand Free, Gus moved from a stool next to Joe (where he had been playing the glockenspiel) to the piano. When he sat down on the (cushioned) piano bench, it let out a small puff sound, and the entire audience started cracking up along with Gus and Joe - proving that fart jokes are funny no matter what age you are. 

Joe couldn't even get out all the lyrics to Left Hand Free because he was still laughing when they began to play it.

There was no meet and greet after the set because they had somewhere else to be, but a handful of us were waiting by the side door for them to come out so we could say hi. A woman with KINK came out to us and said the band really had no time for signing anything when they came out, but she counted how many of us there were and returned a little bit later with press photos signed by Joe and Gus. A great little consolation prize! Joe had circled Thom Green (drummer who wasn't at the Bing show) in one person's photo, and written "Absent, lost shoes" next to it which we were all laughing about.

When Joe and Gus came out they apologized they didn't have more time to stay and chat, but they did end up signing a few things, and I somehow even got a photo!

All in all it was a really great little set, and I'm really glad I was able to see it!

Warm Foothills

Left Hand Free

Every Other Freckle

Interview

Concert: Lily Allen

Lily Allen has only ever played Portland twice (once before at the Crystal, and the time before that at the Aladdin). As soon as I heard about her latest album, Sheezus, I knew she would tour and was hoping for a US leg! Lily had been on a hiatus since 2009's It's Not Me, It's You, and fans and cirtics alike were abuzz with excitement of the forthcoming album. October 6th couldn't get there fast enough!

The first single off Sheezus was a song called Hard Out Here which was critically acclaimed as a feminist anthem which discusses gender roles of women in the music industry as well as in society as a whole. The lyrics perfectly capture the thoughts of millions of women faced with the pressures of today's society, and the unfairness of how women and men are persevered in the media "If I told you 'bout my sex life, you'd call me a slut/When boys be talking about their bitches, no one's making a fuss". Lily Allen has always been outspoken about the inequality of genders and societal issues with women in the media, and it's a breath of fresh air from the usual popular garbage we're spoon fed from popular artists (most of whom don't even write their own lyrics).

I got to Ringler's Pub early to wait for the concert, and ended up meeting some like-minded people that let me join their table as we all waiting together. Once doors opened we rushed up the two flights of stairs, but saw four people already standing front and center even though we were the first people though the doors. I discovered late on that it was due to one of the girls having a brother that worked at the venue, so they were allowed in early. Unfortunately, these University of Oregon students were not very big fans and one of them (the tall brute of a man next to who was front and center) was on his phone the whole night. Totally disrespectful.

The opening act, Lolawolf, are a New York trio comprised of Jimmy Giannopoulos, James Levy, and none other than the daughter of Lenny Kravitz - Zoe Kravitz. They have a dreamy-synth sound with electronica undertones. They put on a good show, but it was a bit slow and most of the songs sounded alike to my mind, and no song was particularly distinct.

A friend of mine who somehow managed to get on the VIP list said she saw Alia Shawkat - best known for her role in Arrested Development as Maeby. Appearently Alia and Zoe are friends and Alia happened to be in town. Fun!

Lily's set consisted of oversized, light-up baby bottles scattered across the stage, and heavy, dense fog machine cover. I was wondering how the stage would be set considering the stage at the Crystal Ballroom is awkwardly in the corner, and not very large. I'm sure Lily is used to performing on big stages with lots of space for herself/the band/the backup dancers. They utilized the space well though, and everything fit nicely if not a bit snug.

Lily Allen and her back up dancers came on and started the show with the title track of the new album, Sheezus. She went right into the song It's Not Fair next, and at the beginning of the next song LDN she removed her sparkly top to reveal a pink polka-dot unitard. A mom of 2, Lily looked fantastic with her pink hair, sky high heels, and unitard. 

After the song URL Badman she exited the stage for a quick costume change - wile still speaking to the audience via her wireless microphone. She appeared a few minutes later wearing an oversized hockey jersey emblazoned with the number '420', with platform jelly sandals and pink socks, and a cigarette in her hand.

The song Smile concluded with a remix with heavy beats that her backup dances came on and grooved to.

For the encore, Lily came out in gold sparkly track pants and an Oregon State University Beavers T-shirt, much to the chagrin of the disrespectful U of O students next to me who booed at the sight of it.

The last song of the night was Hard Out Here, and the backup dancers all came onstage wearing black full body spandex and dog masks over their heads (get it? Bitches?).

All in all it was a great show! I was disappointed by the number of audience members with phones in their hands filming the show rather than actually enjoying it and not being an asshole to the people behind them, but it seems that's a train that is going full speed ahead and can no longer be stopped.