Hearing “Kingdom of Love” and “Not Dark Yet” back-to-back were the highlights of the evening. I was absolutely mesmerized during both of them.
“I’m not sure what to make of this evening, number five of Noise Pop 2007. It’s the last night and I’ve of two minds about it. I’m glad to be able to stay home tomorrow evening after five nights out (and working full time), but I’m also a bit sad that I won’t be out tomorrow night seeing live music as it’s been a good laugh. I haven’t been to this club, Bimbo’s 365, in a while and had forgotten how beautiful this place is—without a doubt the jewel of SF music venues.”
“Goodbye Great American Music Hall, hello Bottom of the Hill. I’m particularly excited about the headliner as I am a fan and I’ve got a soft spot for bands from the Midwest (Chicago especially). Add to the mix that The Ponys haven’t graced an SF stage in about 18 months, and my anticipation has only grown. It’s also been some time since I’ve seen the Gris Gris and they’ve never let me down in the past, and I’ve no reason to think tonight will be any different.”
“It’s Friday evening of the Noise Pop festival and that means back to the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. I’m here to see Leo but I bring an open mind about the other three, of course. And when Leo hits the stage with his band, the energy level off all four members is through the roof.”
“Noise Pop night number two began in similar fashion to the previous, what with me arriving painfully early at the Great American Music Hall. As I mentioned yesterday, this venue served as the destination for those seeking fine dining and loose women from 1906 up until the Great Depression. This being Roky Erickson’s first show in San Francisco in nearly 25 years it seemed best to sit back and watch the freak show begin.” A blow by blow description of the whole night!
“It’s been 15 years since Kevin Arnold put on the first Noise Pop festival. No, I can’t believe it either. Dedicated to showcasing bands with a sense of melody and distortion, the first “festival” was a single night, five bands on the bill and one venue—not a bad night out I’m sure. OK, six bands counting the surprise appearance by The Fastbacks (who went on to a record nine appearances). Since I don’t know Kevin, I haven’t been able to verify this, but I have to believe he had no idea that Noise Pop would turn into the institution it has. That said, I’m sure he’s pleased, but I’m guessing even he would have to confess some surprise that 15 years on from Noise Pop ’93, the event has expanded to 15 venues and over a hundred bands.”
It’s always a treat to hear JAMES MCNEW’s falsetto and to hear IRA KAPLAN wail mercilessly on his guitar.
Please turn your cell phones off. No one cares what band you’re seeing and how cool you are. Just sit back and enjoy the show.
The sheer live intensity of Dir en grey and the band’s effusive, excessively adoring fans made their sold-out show last Saturday quite an engaging spectacle.
Opening with “We are the One”, they hurled one grenade after another in the forms of “Car Crash,” “I Believe in Me,” “Open Your Eyes” and others.
The first show by the dB’s in a year and a half was immensely enjoyable despite the rustiness of their playing.
A riveting show is rare, and I can count on one hand the number of times that I’ve been truly engaged by the live performance of a band I’ve never heard before.
I was disappointed, but I nevertheless await their next appearance in town as I hope the choice of venue and atmosphere is better-suited for them.
First, though I haven’t posted here in two weeks, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been heard from on the net. No! Perish the thought! Actually, a reasonably lengthy interview with me has been posted in the interim at Rocksellout.com / ...”Tonight, Townshend limited himself to three songs, but gave fans a treat by dusting off Quadrophenia’s ‘Drowned.’”
This was no ordinary LOU REED concert. This performance of Berlin in its entirety was a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Though Lollapalooza’s sophomore installment at Chicago’s Grant Park provided picky critics with ample fuel for grumbling (ubiquitous corporate signage, long walks between stages), the festival provided an impressive line-up for those who simply came to enjoy the music
THE EX build up tension throughout every single song, but they don’t ever release it.
Live a Little marks a stylistic return to their first two albums and as such, this show drew heavily upon their second album, the 2001 masterwork The World Won’t End, along with the new album.
They were hooting, hollering, singing along and even DANCING to all the songs. It was no mere pose and without pretension, but rather pure, unadulterated joy!
Slits shambolic, Green Milk schizo, Genghis Tron clever, Apes still rock
Thirty years after these British punk pioneers pressed a stun gun to rock’s sagging bottom, The Damned remain electric.
For the record’s 10th anniversary, AMY RIGBY payed tribute to herself by playing all of the songs on her debut album, in order.
For all its perceived ‘difficulty,’ the new album was very well received.
A segment of this Los Angeles ensemble journeyed cross-country to team with some of the elite members of NYC’s downtown improvisational scene.
I don’t know what planet ARI UP is on, but it’s a rather interesting one.
The performance was less about subtlety, layering and mood than about in-your-face rocking.
Arthur Lee is no longer with us but thanks to bands like Shaw ‘Nuff his music still is.
“The Story of Yo La Tango” was so intense that I’m surprised the roof didn’t cave in after all the feedback and noise IRA KAPLAN generated.
Although they were technically the openers, THE DEARS were the real stars of this free lunch-time show that was broadcast live on WXPN.
THE LONG WINTERS have never had much luck in this town. Fortunately, this was not the case on this evening as they drew a fair number.
Songs like XTC’s “Making Plans for Nigel” are stripped of their anger, angst and passion and are instead transformed into bossa-nova ditties.
Singer BETH DITTO sounds like a ‘60s soul shouter, and it’s almost impossible to take your eyes off her.
This was my favorite show of the year so far. RADIO BIRDMAN just completely knocked my socks off.
Hopefully we won’t have to wait another twenty-seven years for them to come back!
Shellac was absolutely incredible. At times the fact that Albini and Weston trade off vocals reminded me a lot of the sadly now “on hiatus” Fugzai.
Although I was only able to make it to the second day of Drop Dead Festival IV, I still managed to catch some captivating sets.
After this performance, I had to listen to my copy of GI again to remind myself of why I went in the first place!
While Faster Pussycat emerged from the much-maligned Los Angeles hair/sleaze/pop metal scene of the mid-1980s, a lot has changed since then.
MAYO THOMPSON, dressed in jogging pants, leaped around the stage like a man half his age, gazing upon the audience with a slightly mad look.
Three extremely rare tours by longtime Big Takeover favorites are hitting the U.S., one American, one English, and one Australian. And take it from this writer; you need to see each one of these if you can!
The venue felt like a raging inferno, but somehow it seemed appropriate for SLEATER-KINNEY’s final show in Philadelphia before they go on an indefinite hiatus.
The most vital show I’ve seen recently was not a long-awaited re-appearance of yet another 1980’s luminary, but an evening with two local bands, BELL HOLLOW and BLACKLIST.
It turns out that some drunken, small-minded fools decided to throw a PINK FLOYD poster at the band!
They opened with the great B-side “Lust in the Movies” and ran through all of their singles in a short, thirty-minute set.
On a quiet Tuesday night, Midlake showed why they’re one of the best up-and-coming bands in the US today.
While JENS LEKMAN is an entertaining, charismatic and funny performer, he has the annoying habit of radically rearranging his songs in a live setting.
It was worth sweating bullets in the insufferable heat of the First Unitarian Church basement to witness another great MISSION OF BURMA show.
The set was truly like a force of nature in terms of its intensity, power and passion.
All in all, it was a fantastic night of Swedish indie-pop, covering both the noisy and the gentle ends of the genre.
Touring behind their fantastic new album, Glaswegian twee-pop torchbearers CAMERA OBSCURA played a terrific, hour-long set.
