Live Music Reviews

The War on Drugs prove in Adam Granduciel’s new hometown why they deserved to win a Grammy more than four years ago

March 4, 2022 by Josh Herwitt 1 Comment

The War on Drugs //
Shrine Auditorium – Los Angeles
February 26th, 2022 //

What can you say about Adam Granduciel that hasn’t already been said or written?

Let’s just cut to the chase then: the guy keeps getting better and better with age. And though he might give off the impression that he’s a tad bit older than the 43 years he just turned last month thanks to all of those late nights writing songs in his bedroom or at the studio, Granduciel has continued to push the band he formed in Philadelphia more than 17 years ago to new and greater heights.

The War on Drugs’ foray into music’s mainstream has been a slow churn dating all the way back to 2005 before it culminated four years ago when they beat out a number of hard-rock heavyweights in Metallica, Mastodon, Queens of the Stone Age and Nothing More to win the Grammy for “Best Rock Album” at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.

It was a career-defining moment for the group that’s heartland sound has centered around Granduciel’s fascination with Bob Dylan — an enthusiasm for the legendary folk singer-songwriter that he and fellow Philly-bred indie rocker Kurt Vile shared when they first started playing together in each other’s projects — and continued with his love for Bruce Springsteen. (There’s also a hint of Rod Stewart and Tom Petty in Granduciel’s work for good measure.)

Six months prior, I had caught The War on Drugs at Apogee Studio for KCRW’s Apogee Sessions (read our review here), and after hearing them preview a few songs off A Deeper Understanding that evening, it was right then and there that I knew the album was well deserving of some significant hardware.

But following 2014’s seminal Lost in the Dream — the band’s third album which might be arguably better than its award-winning follow-up — with another 10-track masterpiece, Granduciel had done what only a few are capable of these days, particularly in the rock space, by creating an emotional, yet timeless gem for our earholes to bathe in.

With little room to go up from there, Granduciel certainly had a challenge on his hands when it was time to make another LP. It wasn’t just that he had become a father to his son Bruce (yes, he really is named after the Boss) in 2019 and officially moved to LA’s San Fernando Valley shortly thereafter even if those were two major life changes, but the expectations surrounding The War on Drugs’ next studio effort had only grown even more since the last one.

For Granduciel, it didn’t matter. He went back to the grind and delivered once again. What resulted after hours at his Burbank rehearsal space with engineer and producer Shawn Everett was I Don’t Live Here Anymore, which arrived back in October and peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200. It’s another record worthy of high praise — in fact, I ranked it my favorite album last year (see our 2021 picks here) — and at the same time more accessible than its predecessors.

What makes The War on Drugs’ albums so great, however, is that you can just let them run. There’s no need to skip a track as one flows right into the next, and I Don’t Live Here Anymore follows suit much in the same way Lost in the Dream and A Deeper Understanding do. And as Granduciel seemingly settled into his new environs with music videos filmed in California for “Living Proof” and the title track featuring Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius, I was eager to hear the new material with an audience on hand.

So when The War on Drugs announced a tour for 2022 last summer and scheduled only one show in 2021 at Desert Daze, I knew their gig in LA at the Shrine Auditorium would feel even that much more special given Granduciel’s story but also because it was the final U.S. date before the band heads to Europe for a month. While that fact wouldn’t completely hold up with The War on Drugs replacing My Morning Jacket at Innings Festival the ensuing day, they made sure to offer quite a proper 2 1/2-hour concert experience for the nearly capacity crowd inside the landmark venue of 6,300.

Granduciel (vocals, guitars, harmonica, keyboards, samplers) and his cohorts — David Hartley (bass, backing vocals), Robbie Bennett (keyboards, piano, guitar), Charlie Hall (drums, organ), Jon Natchez (saxophone, keyboards), Anthony LaMarca (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) and Eliza Hardy Jones (keyboards, backing vocals) — were treating us to “An Evening of LIVE DRUGS” and most were happy to oblige. That meant “Old Skin” leading things off with “Pain” batting second. “An Ocean in Between the Waves” never disappoints, and slotting it third before one of the highlights off I Don’t Live Here Anymore in “I Don’t Wanna Wait” created a huge wave of momentum that The War on Drugs carried through the rest of the set, which boasted “Strangest Thing” and “Red Eyes” back to back, another new standout in “Harmonia’s Dream” that has been extended live and an appearance by Lucius as expected with Wolfe and Laessig leaving their East Coast origins for the City of Angels a few years ago.

When it came time to take things up a notch, Granduciel turned to “Under the Pressure” as still one of the most shining achievements in his ever-expanding repertoire. That’s not to say what came after — the previously unreleased “Ocean of Darkness” that didn’t make it onto I Don’t Live Here Anymore but was debuted during The War on Drugs’ performance on “The Tonight Show” in 2020 — didn’t carry the same weight, because in many ways it did considering the song has only been played live seven times in total so far.

After taking a couple nights off in Portland and San Francisco, “In Reverse” subsequently returned to the setlist and propelled us into a short-lived encore break that only lasted a minute or two. Granduciel, after all, had more to get to before saying goodbye, as he used “Thinking of a Place” to jumpstart a four-song finish that included a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Born in Time” and “Comin’ Through” from The War on Drugs’ 2010 EP Future Weather to mark only the second time fans got to hear it on this tour and since 2019.

Granduciel isn’t one for much stage banter, and after one last thank you, he broke into I Don’t Live Here Anymore finale “Occasional Rain” to take us all home. Even though it has served as The War on Drugs’ closer for several shows on this tour, the title seemed rather appropriate in a city as dry as LA where we haven’t seen a whole lot of precipitation this winter.

People often say the phrase “when it rains, it pours” when they experience a barrage of misfortune all at the same time. In Granduciel’s case notwithstanding, the past eight years have been one big downpour of success for The War on Drugs. Now with the band at an all-time high, it doesn’t appear that the storm Granduciel has been riding will be letting up anytime soon.

Setlist:
Old Skin
Pain
An Ocean in Between the Waves
I Don’t Wanna Wait
Victim
Strangest Thing
Red Eyes
Living Proof
Harmonia’s Dream
Your Love Is Calling My Name
Come to the City
Rings Around My Father’s Eyes
I Don’t Live Here Anymore (with Lucius)
Under the Pressure
Ocean of Darkness
In Reverse

Encore:
Thinking of a Place
Born in Time (Bob Dylan cover)
Comin’ Through
Occasional Rain

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Holly Laessig, Innings Festival, Jess Wolfe, Lucius, Mastodon, Metallica, My Morning Jacket, Nothing More, Queens of the Stone Age, Rod Stewart, Shrine Auditorium, Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall, The War on Drugs

Tool are finally back on the road to finish their ‘Fear Inoculum’ tour & it couldn’t come at a more fitting time

January 21, 2022 by Josh Herwitt 1 Comment

By Josh Herwitt //

Tool with Blonde Redhead //
Viejas Arena – San Diego
January 19th, 2022 //

Did Maynard James Keenan really foresee what most of us didn’t?

When Tool unleashed their long-awaited fifth studio album Fear Inoculum in 2019 less than six months before COVID-19 started to ravage the world, it was quixotic to assume then how much the frontman’s lyrics would resonate with the times we’re living in right now. But that’s exactly the case after everything we have been through for close to two years.

Keenan doesn’t see his recent work whether it be with Tool, A Perfect Circle or Puscifer as prophetic, however, despite surviving two nasty bouts with the virus himself. As he explained during an interview with Zane Lowe at the beginning of the outbreak, “it’s just understanding patterns, and understanding human nature and where we’re going.”

While he might not have a sixth sense like some fans have speculated, Keenan is certainly a lot more perceptive than your average person when it comes to the ever-changing ways of the world. At the not-so-young-anymore age of 57, he continues to find inspiration in the “human experience” more than from any particular event or person, and yet I wouldn’t blame him if he ever dropped an “I told you so” simply based on our current state of affairs.

And when Tool revealed last year after being forced to cancel their remaining 2020 tour dates that they would be hitting the road again in 2022 to “finish what we started” as Keenan succinctly put it, there was no way I was going to miss seeing my favorite band for the past 25 years even with the highly infectious omicron variant sweeping across Planet Earth.

So after catching Keenan (vocals), Adam Jones (guitar), Danny Carey (drums, percussion) and Justin Chancellor (bass) pack a sold-out Honda Center in Anaheim with over 18,000 fans the prior evening, I made the 133-mile trek south to Viejas Arena located on the campus of San Diego State University for what would be my 15th Tool show. What was different this time around though was a chance for me to photograph the band, something I had never done but always wanted to check off my bucket list.

Triple-vaxxed and triple-masked, I entered the 12,200-person indoor venue with my camera equipment knowing full well the risk that I was assuming but also what a unique opportunity this was for me. Every performance by Tool these days feels a little extra special given our present circumstances, but if there was ever a time for firsts, photographing the band’s “Fear Inoculum” tour during a global pandemic felt rather apropos to me. With 90’s alt-rockers Blonde Redhead tapped as support for this leg of Tool’s 55-stop tour across the U.S. and Europe, the New York City trio’s dreamy, shoegaze-tinged set offered an interesting dichotomy ahead of what would follow.

There’s almost a meditative and spiritual-like quality to Tool’s music since 2001’s seminal Lateralus, and although heavy at points, it has only become more palpable with each new LP in spite of how much time has passed. Of course no one would argue in today’s industry that 13 years isn’t a lengthy gap between albums no matter who the artist or group is, but Tool still stand among rare company after forming more than three decades ago in Los Angeles. The prog-metal titans, in fact, have been playing snippets from Fear Inoculum for live audiences dating back to 2012 — it just wasn’t until the record was released that they began opening with the title track, which hears Keenan belt out lines like “Immunity, long overdue / Contagion, I exhale you” and “What you say inoculated / Bless this immunity” to help raise the hairs on the back of your neck if you weren’t already worried about contracting a deadly respiratory disease at a concert in the dead of winter.

The quartet’s song selection for this latest tour has featured a core of 10 highlighted by Ænima deep cuts “Pushit” and “Hooker With a Penis” as well as the epic “Descending” off Fear Inoculum with four older gems — “Opiate”, “Sober”, “The Patient” and “Right in Two” — rotated in and out. On this night, Keenan teased the capacity crowd early on with a comparison to Bakersfield but was kind enough to reward us with “Sober” from Undertow and “Right in Two” on 10,000 Days after hearing “Opiate” and “The Patient” a day earlier. Even if Tool’s sonic rollercoasters often comprised of odd time signatures and abrupt tempo changes while regularly eclipsing the 10-minute mark don’t impress you with all of those twists and turns, at least their stage setup and production should with Jones’ art direction and plenty of modern advances in visual technology you can expect from a band of this stature to employ.

Tool’s material has always showcased top-notch musicianship going back to the Opiate and Undertow days that included former bassist Paul D’Amour, but with Chancellor now leading in spots as essentially a second guitarist to Jones thanks in part to his inventive bass effects and tones, you won’t find a whole lot of drummers who are quite as creative, technically skilled and powerful as Carey. Case in point: his psychedelic drum solo entitled “Chocolate Chip Trip” that he recorded for Fear Inoculum and sees him manipulate a massive modular synthesizer to build its 7/8 groove has become a staple at Tool’s shows in the last five years.

The four-time Grammy winners, meanwhile, have been known to evolve from one tour to the next. This one has been no different, with “Culling Voices” recently solidifying a spot in their setlist for the first time as the four of them started the song by sitting at the front of the stage in a half circle with Carey playing rhythm guitar on Jones’ custom Gibson 1979 Les Paul before returning to his drums and Keenan to his two platforms midway through to complete the 10-minute tune that ends in a flurry of angst. If somehow that wasn’t enough, Carey’s use of his Buchla Marimba Lumina, a marimba-styled MIDI controller, down the final stretch of “Invincible” definitely leaves a lasting impression before you head home wondering if or when you’ll ever get to witness that kind of virtuosity again.

After all, taking the safe or easy route has never been an option for Tool, and regardless of what Keenan might portend down the road, it’s why we keep coming back for more.

TOOL

Setlist:
Fear Inoculum
Sober
The Pot
Pushit
Pneuma
The Grudge
Right in Two
Descending
Hooker With a Penis

Encore:
Chocolate Chip Trip
Culling Voices
Invincible

BLONDE REDHEAD

Setlist:
Falling Man
Bipolar
Spring and by Summer Fall
Elephant Woman
Doll Is Mine
Dr. Strangeluv
(Unknown)
(Unknown)
23

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: A Perfect Circle, Apple Music, Aztec Bowl, Blonde Redhead, Puscifer, San Diego State University, Tool, Viejas Arena, Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl, Zane Lowe

Caribou kick off their North American tour at LA’s Greek Theatre & make the case why they’re among today’s best live-electronic acts

November 19, 2021 by Josh Herwitt 2 Comments

By Josh Herwitt //

Caribou with Jessy Lanza //
Greek Theatre – Los Angeles
November 15th, 2021 //

Whether he’s creating new material in the studio or hitting the decks to share the music that has inspired him with others, Dan Snaith has been honing his craft for more than two decades now.

The Canadian musician who performs under several stage names got his start recording as Manitoba, but in 2005, NYC punk rock singer Richard “Handsome Dick” Manitoba of The Dictators came calling and threatened Snaith with legal action, prompting him to make a change. Shortly thereafter, Snaith’s new recording alias Caribou was born.

But maybe Manitoba barking up Snaith’s tree over a silly name more than 15 years ago was actually a small blessing in disguise. After all, it’s only subsequently led Snaith to make several excellent Caribou records, most notably 2014’s seminal Our Love but also last year’s Suddenly that dropped just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm. And of course there’s Snaith’s DJ side project Daphni that allows him to focus on more club-oriented sounds as Caribou’s live-electronic aesthetic has simultaneously grown in its appeal to larger audiences.

So after having his return to Coachella in 2020 postponed due to coronavirus cases skyrocketing at the time, that could be why Snaith decided to kick off Caribou’s tour across North America in LA to mark the Greek Theatre’s final gig of the year. While it would have been a lot to expect a full house on a Monday night in mid-November, the outdoor amphitheater with a 5,900 capacity still managed to welcome a few thousand folks inside its gates as Snaith’s fellow Canadian Jessy Lanza, who collaborated with him on the Grammy-nominated Our Love, warmed up a modest crowd as part singer, part electronic producer.

Snaith, like Lanza, has taken a somewhat similar approach with Caribou, though even one step further live as a four-piece band that sees him not only incorporating various samples into the performance but also his vocals. Suddenly is actually the first Caribou album that features Snaith singing on every track, and you could sense it was a point of emphasis at the Greek over the course of 14 songs that spanned the project’s last three studio efforts and included new single “You Can Do It” from this past August.

That said, it isn’t often that you come across an electronic act as eclectic as Caribou. Snaith, in fact, has a knack for making dance-ready tracks that blend everything from 70’s funk and soul to 90’s hip-hop and R&B, with some of the highlights on Suddenly — whether it be the glitchy “New Jade” or soulful “Home” — serving as prime examples. But the real standout on the 12-track LP has to be the infectious “Never Come Back”, which has amassed nearly 28 million streams on Spotify and closed Caribou’s set with a version that employed elements of Four Tet’s extended remix.

And while it was a little bit surprising that Lanza did not join Snaith and company onstage at point in the evening, a Caribou concert wouldn’t be complete without hearing “Can’t Do Without You” before heading for the exits. The Our Love opener is no doubt a favorite for many Caribou fans, and at a time when the live music industry is still recovering after being shut down for 18 months or so, it was a simple reminder to soak up every second of the show we had left.

With plenty of uncertainty still surrounding the pandemic, there’s no telling what the future will hold for live music. If all goes as scheduled though, Snaith and his sidekicks will be back in California next year for a date at the Fox Theater Oakland on February 16th, and we can tell our Bay Area friends right now that’s one you won’t want to miss in 2022.

Setlist:
New Jade
Odessa
Our Love
Silver
Lime
Bowls
Like I Loved You
You and I
Ravi
Sun
Home
You Can Do It
Never Come Back (with elements of the Four Tet remix)

Encore:
Can’t Do Without You

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Caribou, Coachella, Coachella 2020, Coachella Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Music and Arts Festival 2020, Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival 2020, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2020, Greek Theatre, Jessy Lanza, The Dictators

My Morning Jacket spotlight the long-awaited return of live music to SoCal with a powerful performance at the Santa Barbara Bowl

September 28, 2021 by Josh Herwitt 3 Comments

By Josh Herwitt //

My Morning Jacket with Durand Jones & The Indications //
Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA
September 23rd, 2021 //

The past 18 months have been hard to say the least. No matter how you’re feeling at this moment in time, the COVID-19 pandemic has undeniably created additional issues and stressors for many folks while also taking away some of the things we enjoy most about life.

And for those of us who love live music, its absence has been quite a blow to the psyche.

If anything, being locked down at home for more than a year has only made us long for the thrill of watching an artist or band command an audience’s attention and completely mesmerize its fans.

Yet with so much uncertainty still in the world, it’s almost surreal to think that concerts have finally made their return. Yes, you’ll need to offer proof of your COVID-19 vaccination status or a negative test within 48-72 hours, but it sure beats tuning into another livestream from your couch.

So when My Morning Jacket announced a 23-date jaunt across the U.S. for the second half of 2021 that included a stop at the always-exquisite Santa Barbara Bowl where we caught them nearly six years ago (read our review here), I knew that was one show I couldn’t miss and boy, am I glad that I didn’t.

The Louisville-bred rockers are back on the road touring in support of their forthcoming self-titled LP — and ninth studio album — this October after releasing The Waterfall II in 2020, and they wasted no time reminding us of that fact by beginning with its first single “Regularly Scheduled Programming” to follow what was an upbeat and soulful opening set from Durand Jones & The Indications.

But this headlining performance on the second day of the fall season was as much about the quintet’s new material, including the slow burn of “In Color” for our very first listen of the My Morning Jacket cut, as it was a golden — pun intended since the It Still Moves track by the same name made it onto the setlist this night — opportunity for Jim James (lead vocals, guitar), Tom Blankenship (bass), Patrick Hallahan (drums, percussion), Bo Koster (keyboards, percussion, backing vocals) and Carl Broemel (guitar, pedal steel guitar, saxophone, backing vocals) to put their expansive catalog on display.

MMJ, after all, gifted us not only both parts of “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream” but also hair-raising renditions of “Lay Low”, “One Big Holiday”, “It Beats 4 U”, “Spring (Among the Living)” and “Anytime” while James belted out the lyrics to songs like “Wordless Chorus” (with the disco ball in full effect), “Circuital” and “Feel You” that reaffirmed why he has had one of the best voices in rock, if not all of music, for more than two decades now.

When it came time for the encore though, James and company once again delivered the goods to a crowded amphitheater that was already brimming with excitement. Starting with fan favorite “Victory Dance” before transitioning into “Off the Record” from their seminal record Z, they offered “Where to Begin” on the “Elizabethtown” soundtrack for the first time since 2015. Nonetheless, that brief respite was quickly countered with a final rush of blood to the head that featured “Wasted”, “Run Thru” and “Dancefloors” as the clock struck 10 p.m. to mark the Bowl’s early curfew time.

Cruising back down U.S. 101 to Los Angeles later that evening, I reflected on the last year without live music and how rough it has been to not see some of my favorite acts in the flesh. But after witnessing more than two hours of pure sonic bliss at one of the best venues along the West Coast, I am beyond grateful that there’s MMJ to welcome us all home again.

Setlist:
Regularly Scheduled Programming
Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 1
Wordless Chorus
Circuital
Lay Low
I’m Amazed (Jim and Carl solo, then full band)
Evil Urges
Golden
Feel You
Climbing the Ladder
One Big Holiday
In Color
It Beats 4 U
Love Love Love
Spring (Among the Living) (>)
Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2
Anytime

Encore:
Victory Dance
Off the Record
Where to Begin (last played 11/25/2015)
Wasted (>)
Run Thru (End>)
Dancefloors

Durand Jones & The Indications - Santa Barbara Bowl

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Durand Jones, Durand Jones & The Indications, Jim James, My Morning Jacket, Santa Barbara Bowl

The prolific, often unpredictable King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard turn heavy at LA’s Greek Theatre

August 19, 2019 by Josh Herwitt 2 Comments

By Josh Herwitt //

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard with Stonefield, ORB //
Greek Theatre – Los Angeles
August 13th, 2019 //

Are King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard the most prolific and unpredictable band in all of rock?

If they aren’t, they’re certainly making a convincing case for that crown right now.

The Australian septet that’s made up of Stu Mackenzie (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, flute), Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, harmonica, keyboards), Cook Craig (guitar, bass, vocals), Joey Walker (guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals), Lucas Skinner (bass, keyboards), Michael Cavanagh (drums, percussion) and Eric Moore (drums, percussion, management) have put out 15 studio albums, including five in 2017, and two EPs since forming almost a decade ago while shifting styles and genres with each one. It’s in part why they have harvested one of the strongest and fastest-growing cult followings out there today as more new fans jump on the bandwagon (no pun intended) like yours truly.

In fact, just last year, a sold-out crowd packed the 5,000-person Hollywood Palladium to see the Gizz on a Thursday night, affirming that these guys’ popularity is no joke even if you feel compelled to laugh at their name (a colleague, who was unfamiliar, did when I brought them up recently during one of our conversations about music).

Fast forward more than a year later to now, and King Gizzard’s popularity has only continued to rise, with their latest date in LA at the historic, 5,870-seat Greek Theatre serving as another example of how far they’ve come since their early days in Melbourne. Also on the bill for this North American tour opener were their fellow countrymen and women in ORB and Stonefield respectively, and with both supporting acts leaning in the direction of psychedelic rock upon first listen, the table was set quite nicely for Mackenzie and company to showcase their most recent sonic foray into the world of none other than thrash metal.

Yep, that’s right. You know, like, Metallica pre-1990?

Of course, with the arrival of Infest the Rats’ Nest just a couple of days away, I was prepared to have my ears pummeled while hearing a good portion of the nine-track LP that sees the group diving even deeper into heavy metal than it ever has before. This is what KG&TLW do, though. There simply are no boundaries or formulas when it comes to their songwriting. Sure, most of their albums fall under the general “psych rock” label, but 2015’s Quarters!, for instance, was inspired by jazz fusion and prog rock, and their third LP from 2017, Sketches of Brunswick East (with Mild High Club), was also rooted predominantly in jazz. So far this year, they’ve already taken their shot at the blues with the release of Fishing for Fishies and now they’ve unleashed their new doom-filled effort. Because after jazz and the blues, what could be a more respected musical genre than heavy metal?

All jokes aside, as these Aussie weirdos continue to explore other creative avenues, catching a King Gizzard show remains a fairly unique experience in its own right. You can usually expect at least one mosh pit, if not more, to form, but with the Greek only having a small floor area at the front of the stage, the lively audience that showed up on a Tuesday night could only get so rowdy with most of it resigned to the venue’s seated sections. That, however, didn’t stop these mates from delivering the goods. Over the course of a 90-minute set, they touched upon seven of their 15 albums, including opening and closing with three straight tracks off Infest the Rats’ Nest. There was “People-Vultures” from 2016’s Nonagon Infinity, plus a version of “Wah Wah” that featured a snippet of “The River” at the performance’s midway point. I’m actually a little surprised that they didn’t throw us a couple of curveballs before saying goodbye to be honest, because for as prolific and unpredictable as they’ve become lately, King Gizzard might be one of the most versatile rock bands on Planet Earth, too.

Setlist:
Self-Immolate
Mars for the Rich
Venusian 2
Inner Cell
Loyalty
Horology
People-Vultures (tour debut)
Alter Me III
Altered Beast IV
The River
Wah Wah (with “The River” snippet)
Road Train
This Thing
Beginner’s Luck
The Bird Song
Acarine
Murder of the Universe
Boogieman Sam
Cyboogie
Planet B
Perihelion
Hell

*Editor’s Note: “Venusian 1” and “Organ Farmer” were originally listed on the setlist after “Hell” but were not played.

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Greek Theatre, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Metallica, Mild High Club, ORB, Stonefield

FKJ is a one-man, groove-making machine who’s full of surprises as he demonstrates at Shrine Expo Hall

August 8, 2019 by Josh Herwitt Leave a Comment

By Josh Herwitt //

FKJ with (((O))) //
Shrine Expo Hall – Los Angeles
August 5th, 2019 //

I’ll be completely honest: I had no idea who FKJ was before this year. In fact, I had no clue who he was six months ago.

I found out about Vincent Fenton, better known by most fans as French Kiwi Juice, while watching Coachella’s Weekend 1 webcast on my couch back in April. It was there on that Saturday afternoon where I came to see how talented the French musician actually is.

Originally from the city of Tours, the multi-instrumentalist and singer is considered to be a pioneer of the New French House movement, having garnered a strong following in a short amount of time thanks to his live show that sees him incorporate live loopings through the software sequencing program Ableton while holding his own on a number of instruments, including synthesizer, piano, guitar, bass, saxophone and digital percussion.

But with 2017’s self-titled LP serving as FKJ’s only studio album to date, we weren’t sure how long Fenton would be able to entertain the sizable crowd in LA that showed up on a Monday night and braved the sauna-like conditions inside the Shrine Expo Hall. The set times, from what we were given, indicated that he was scheduled to play for 90 minutes, yet the 28-year-old must have had other ideas either before or once he took the stage.

It’s rare to see an artist these days blow past their scheduled out time, especially on a Monday evening. In the City of Angels though, you never know what you’re going to get at a concert on any given night of the week. That’s what makes it one of the best cities in the U.S. to catch live music (we see you Austin, Nashville and New Orleans, too).

And just like we didn’t know that FKJ would go more than 20 minutes long, his snippet of “Xxplosive” from Dr. Dre’s legendary album 2001 around the performance’s midway point also came as a pleasant surprise. Sure, it would have been extra sweet to see the one-man, groove-making machine drop a few bars of “California Love” on us as well, but those who were there showed plenty of enthusiasm when Venton’s wife June Marieezy, who performs under the moniker (((O))) and served as the show’s opening act, came out to sing on their “Vibin’ Out” collaboration.

Covers and guest appearances aside, what’s almost as impressive about FKJ as his mastery of so many instruments are his improvisation skills onstage. Fenton, who went to film school as a way to study sound engineering for free, doesn’t stick strictly to a script like most electronic musicians, even those who play instruments instead of just pushing buttons. That’s probably why the show extended past 11 p.m. with FKJ performing almost two hours of material, much of which bordered at times on nu jazz, alt-R&B and naturally, French house.

2019 has already been a banner year for Venton in several ways. Besides making his debut at Coachella less than four months ago, he partnered with livestream media company Cercle to release this jaw-dropping live video that sees him performing on the world’s largest salt flat. Plus, he married Marieezy in March after previously working with the Filipino songstress. So with Marieezy by his side and fan bases in both Europe and North America now solidified, it appears that FKJ is ready to share his one-of-a-kind live show with the rest of the world.

Because for those who still haven’t heard of him yet, they certainly will soon.

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: (((O))), Coachella, Coachella 2019, Coachella Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Music and Arts Festival 2019, Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival 2019, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2019, Dr. Dre, FKJ, French Kiwi Juice, June Marieezy, Shrine Expo Hall

The Raconteurs show all at the Santa Barbara Bowl why we need them after 11 years between albums

August 1, 2019 by Josh Herwitt 2 Comments

Photos courtesy of The Raconteurs & David James Swanson // Written by Josh Herwitt //

The Raconteurs with Melvins //
Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA
July 27th, 2019 //

“Rock is dead.”

It’s one of those overused catch phrases we have clung to at a time when clickbait headlines, Twitter beefs and heartbreaking stories now dominate our news feeds and timelines.

Vice’s music channel Noisey made the case only a year ago in fact, explaining that “the genre has been eclipsed in all measures of popularity and profitability by pop, hip-hop, and EDM.”

But whatever the metrics say, this isn’t the first time that argument has been advanced before.

In Cameron Crowe’s 2000 film “Almost Famous” for those who remember it, renowned music journalist and rock critic Lester Bangs tells a 15-year-old William Miller, “It’s just a shame you missed out on rock and roll.” That didn’t stop Miller from chasing his dream, though. After all, his character is based off of Crowe’s real-life experience covering rock bands like Led Zeppelin as a teenager in the early 70’s, and if anything, Miller proves over the course of the movie that the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll is alive and well, that it hadn’t died by the end of the 60’s like a lot of the counterculture had after Altamont.

Much like then, there are plenty of examples today that make us question the current zeitgeist surrounding rock music and The Raconteurs have the distinct honor of being some of the best in the business right now to dispel this notion after landing at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

With the release of its third studio effort Help Us Stranger in late June after more than 11 years between albums, the four-piece consisting of Jack White (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brendan Benson (vocals, guitar), Jack Lawrence (bass) and Patrick Keeler (drums) is finally back in the spotlight where it belongs — and for good reason.

While there are still a few months to go, we can say with confidence at this point that Help Us Stranger will most likely be one of our five favorite LPs from 2019 (see our 2018 picks here). At 41 minutes, it’s another gem from The Raconteurs and especially for White, who continues to put out music at a prolific rate — he just dropped his third solo LP Boarding House Reach last year on his own Third Man Records — that rarely seems to fall flat or short.

Led by “Sunday Driver” and “Now That You’re Gone” as its first two singles, Help Us Stranger is one of those albums you can pop on and listen to from start to finish. Its most abrasive cut “Don’t Bother Me” struggles at the onset but recovers midway through thanks in large part to White’s virtuosic guitar work. There are plenty of other standouts, though, including “Bored and Razed”, “Help Me Stranger”, “Somedays (I Don’t Feel Like Trying)” and “What’s Yours Is Mine” across the record, and it’s impressive how tight The Racs sound despite the long layoff.

On a Saturday night at the picturesque Santa Barbara Bowl — which we’ll argue is the best music venue in Southern California and where we caught White’s first-ever show there last year — The Raconteurs brought those songs to life as they stormed onstage and unleashed total sonic bliss on our ears with a 90-minute performance highlighted by Consolers of the Lonely tracks “You Don’t Understand Me” and “Carolina Drama”, the latter of which came during an extended encore that was capped off by the quartet’s biggest hit “Steady, as She Goes” and what ultimately inspired White and Benson to form the group back in 2005 as a couple of longtime friends from Detroit. All of this, of course, without having access to our mobile phones after locking them in a Yondr pouch and Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age, The Dead Weather) assisting on keyboards and guitar as a touring member.

So hey, maybe this will be the year rock rebounds. For this music writer, it’s starting to feel that way with the return of new Raconteurs material after more than a decade and another one of our favorite rock bands releasing its first album in 13 years later this month (we’ll let you take a guess). Plus, we didn’t even mention that garage-rock duo The Black Keys issued their first record in five years this summer.

Yet, even if rock ‘n’ roll doesn’t attain the same commercial success it once had, those of us who are still giving it our time and ears at least have The Raconteurs (or “The Saboteurs” if you live Down Under). And that, my friends, should be a blessing in and of itself.

Setlist:
Bored and Razed
Level
You Don’t Understand Me
Old Enough
Broken Boy Soldier
Only Child
Together
Now That You’re Gone
Live a Lie
Don’t Bother Me
Sunday Driver

Encore:
Consoler of the Lonely
Help Me Stranger
Somedays (I Don’t Feel Like Trying)
Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness) (Donovan cover)
Carolina Drama
Steady, as She Goes

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Almost Famous, Altamont Speedway Free Festival, Jack White, Led Zeppelin, Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age, Santa Barbara Bowl, The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs

In times when we need it most, COMMON continues to spread worldwide love at Apogee Studio

July 30, 2019 by Josh Herwitt Leave a Comment

Photos by Brian Lowe // Written by Josh Herwitt //

COMMON //
Apogee Studio – Santa Monica, CA
July 25th, 2019 //

There’s something about the way Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn looks at the world that can give even the biggest cynic a slight glimmer of hope. It’s not just the sense of wonder, but a tranquility in his eyes that makes you contemplate what he’s thinking about amid all of the chaos and daily distractions we have created for ourselves.

Most people know Lynn as COMMON, the Grammy-winning rapper who got his start back in the early 90’s and has since collaborated with everyone from Lauryn Hill to Kanye West, but he’s simply much more than that. An Oscar and Golden Globe winner, the Chicago native is also an actor, writer, filmmaker, model, activist, philanthropist and entrepreneur. First and foremost though, he’s a lover at heart.

For COMMON fans or those who have at least seen him perform live before, this is probably nothing new. Yet, it couldn’t have been more evident than during his private show in Santa Monica last Thursday for KCRW’s Apogee Sessions while currently on tour in support of his 12th studio album Let Love, which drops August 30th. So much so, that at one point during the performance, he rather spontaneously invited a female audience member onstage and serenaded her with a couple of songs. And while it made for a few awkward moments, you could tell that COMMON had the best intentions. Sure, Cynthia felt more than a little out of place up there with embarrassment written all over her face, but she’ll certainly remember those 15 minutes for the rest of her life now while others can see and hear it for themselves when the session premieres Friday, August 23rd on KCRW.

COMMON & KCRW DJ Anthony Valadez (right)

That’s what COMMON does — he spreads love to each and every person his music reaches. As KCRW DJ Anthony Valadez pointed out during his sit-down interview with the emcee midway through the evening, COMMON has lots of songs about love, and you could quickly find more than enough evidence to assert that fact by looking at the setlist alone. Of the seven tracks he showcased off Let Love, five had the word “love” in its title, starting with “Show Me That You Love” that opened his set. The album, which is inspired by COMMON’s new memoir “Let Love Have the Last Word”, remains a departure from the political deliberations that dominated his 2016 LP Black America Again and spawned out of our most recent U.S. presidential election. I don’t think we need to revisit that moment in history right now, so let me stick to the script.

When he returned to the stage with his full backing band, COMMON made sure to turn things up another notch with a cover of West’s “Get Em High” that had most in the small, yet vibrant crowd rapping and grooving along to the beat. After almost three decades in the game, the 47-year-old still knows how to command a room’s attention whether he’s debuting new material or falling back on some old favorites like “Go!” from 2005’s Be and “The Light” on 2000’s Like Water for Chocolate.

But on this night inside the 180-person Apogee Studio, COMMON’s overarching message to us stood clear: let love rule today and every day. And to that we say, “Amen, Lonnie … amen.”

Setlist:
Show Me That You Love
South Side
The Corner
The Food
Memories of Home
I Used to Love Her
Take It EZ
Her Love
Love of My Life
Come Close
The Day the Women Took Over
Fancy Free Future Love
Get Em High
Hercules
Go!
Good Morning Love
God Is Love
The Light

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Apogee Sessions, Apogee Studio, COMMON, KCRW

Jim James, The Claypool Lennon Delirium take us on a psych-rock roller coaster at The Wiltern

July 8, 2019 by Josh Herwitt 1 Comment

Jim James

By Josh Herwitt //

Jim James & The Claypool Lennon Delirium with Uni //
The Wiltern – Los Angeles
July 3rd, 2019 //

Ever since he launched his solo career more than five years ago, Jim James has been trying to bring people closer together.

The frontman and primary songwriter of My Morning Jacket frequently preaches peace, love and equality on and off the stage, but at a time when technology continues to dominate our way of life and our political divides grow bigger by the day, unity has become a challenging proposition to achieve no matter how famous or popular you are — unless you’re Oprah.

It’s not for a lack of effort from James (born James Edward Olliges Jr.), though.

Claypool Lennon Delirium

The Louisville native remains steadfast in his commitment to doing and saying the right things, whether it’s helping to get out the vote or raising awareness and funds around a number of important environmental, climate and humanitarian issues.

Because when James sings “No use waiting and wondering why / Better get together while we still got time” on his third solo album Uniform Distortion that dropped last year, it’s a message that many of us could learn from. After all, actions speak louder than words, and a songwriter with as much talent, insight and creativity as James certainly knows that.

Embarking on a 33-date North American tour that included festival stops at Shaky Knees and Bonnaroo in support of the 11-track LP, the 41-year-old multi-hyphenate was back in LA — the city he now calls home since moving there in 2016 — on the eve of Independence Day for only one night at the always-beautiful Wiltern. The last time we caught James in the City of Angels, he was headlining another historic SoCal venue just a few miles down Olympic Blvd. after the release of his second solo effort Eternally Even. And boy, was that a lot of fun at the Orpheum Theatre as celebrity fanboys like Christopher Mintz-Plasse (aka “McLovin” from the 2007 film “Superbad”) showed their appreciation for one of rock’s last remaining guitar heroes.

Jim James

But things were a little different for this occasion, in large part because James would be billed as a co-headliner alongside his psychedelic counterparts in The Claypool Lennon Delirium for much of the tour. Even so, with Primus bassist and lead singer Les Claypool being a legend in his own right and guitarist/vocalist Sean Lennon conceived by a couple himself, we had quite the pairing for a Wednesday affair. Heck, the duo even covered Pink Floyd, King Crimson and The Beatles among cuts off 2016’s Monolith of Phobos and its stellar follow-up South of Reality that arrived in February. So if you like psych rock with an extra dose of weird, then these guys are probably for you.

That said, one could argue fairly easily that James’ songs are a bit more accessible than The CLD’s, and with that in mind, it wasn’t hard at all to understand why the man who has also put out music under the pseudonym Yim Yames assumed the closing duties for this tour. It became even more evident once James took the stage, shredding his way through tracks on Uniform Distortion like “Over and Over” and “You Get to Rome” before going to an acoustic guitar for “A New Life” from 2013’s Regions of Light and Sound of God. James would end up performing almost all of Uniform Distortion, but the real standouts of the show were in fact slightly altered versions of the Marvin Gaye-inspired “Here in Spirit” and the ever-haunting “Same Old Lie” to close what felt like a roller-coaster set full of peaks and valleys — and of course, plenty of screeches and squeals emanating from his Gibson ES-335, too.

James didn’t break for long before beginning a three-song encore with one from My Morning Jacket’s catalog in “I’m Amazed” and then dueting with Amo Amo’s Lovell Femme on “Of the Mother Again”. While it may have been somewhat predictable for him to offer us “State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.)” as a parting gift, it wasn’t as if it came unwanted. If anything, it was a strong reminder of how powerful music can be as a unifying force and a gateway to a more positive and promising future, especially with someone like James serving as a guiding light.

JIM JAMES

Setlist:
Over and Over
You Get to Rome
A New Life
Out of Time
Just a Fool
Throwback
No Secrets
Here in Spirit
No Use Waiting
All in Your Head
The World’s Smiling Now
Yes to Everything
Same Old Lie

Encore:
I’m Amazed (My Morning Jacket song)
Of the Mother Again (with Amo Amo lead singer Lovell Femme)
State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.)

THE CLAYPOOL LENNON DELIRIUM

Setlist:
Astronomy Domine (Pink Floyd cover)
Blood and Rockets: Movement I, Saga of Jack Parsons / Movement II, Too the Moon
Little Fishes
Cricket and the Genie (Movement I, The Delirium)
Cricket and the Genie (Movement II, Oratorio Di Cricket)
South of Reality
The Court of the Crimson King (King Crimson cover)
Easily Charmed by Fools
Boomerang Baby
Breath of a Salesman
Cricket Chronicles Revisited: Part 1, Ask Your Doctor – Part 2, Psyde Effects
Tomorrow Never Knows (The Beatles cover)
Third Rock From the Sun

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Amo Amo, Jim James, King Crimson, Les Claypool, My Morning Jacket, Pink Floyd, Primus, Sean Lennon, The Beatles, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, The Wiltern, The Wiltern Theatre, Uni

A sold-out crowd at Hollywood Palladium propels Local Natives to new heights in their hometown

June 28, 2019 by Zach Bourque Leave a Comment

Zach Bourque //

Local Natives with Middle Kids //
Hollywood Palladium – Los Angeles
June 22nd, 2019 //

Hometown indie heroes Local Natives packed the Hollywood Palladium to its capacity while on tour in support of their fourth studio album Violet Street. Selling out the venue is a pretty rare achievement that’s often reserved for more popular acts such as LCD Soundsystem and Nine Inch Nails, but low and behold, the local boys made it happen with Middle Kids on the bill as the evening’s opener.

A brand-name indie show on a weekend night normally draws a big crowd in LA, but this one proved to be even grander. By the time Local Natives took the stage around 10 p.m., there was nary a space to stand unless you were camping out through Middle Kids’ exceptional opening set. The Aussie rockers have been making a name for themselves on the festival circuit of late, and they did a fine job filling up the Palladium’s expansive floor. With Hannah Joy cementing the power trio’s sound on guitar and vocals, it was a performance that seemed to catch many spectators off guard. Middle Kids’ songs possess the perfect amount of 90’s nostalgia to keep things catchy while remaining unpretentious and accessible, so expect big things from them in the future.

Middle Kids

Local Natives, subsequently, began with “Vogue” off Violet Street before cranking up the heat during fan favorite “Sun Hands” from their 2009 debut LP Gorilla Manor. Midway through the tune, Taylor Rice (vocals, guitar) launched himself into a sea of arms in what appeared to be a joyful exercise, which apparently didn’t bother the ecstatic crowd that was pressed up against the barricade. The harmonies didn’t stop with the quintet’s vocals either, as fans experienced a 21-song set that ebbed and flowed between old hits and new sounds with relative ease. Even more, material from all four Local Natives records coalesced into one fluid live experience that put the exceptional musicianship of Rice, Kelcey Ayer (vocals, keyboards, percussion, guitar), Ryan Hahn (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Matt Frazier (drums) and Nik Ewing (bass, keyboards, vocals) on full display.

The band’s subdued lighting setup let the music do the talking and echoed its simple formula for success. Sometimes three amazing vocalists singing in harmony is all that you need to sell out a 5,000-person theater. While Local Natives haven’t taken a whole lot of risks over the last decade, including on the 10-track Violet Street, they still know how to hit you right in the feels every time. Nonetheless, time will tell which room they can sell out next. Here goes nothing …

Setlist:
Vogue
Sun Hands
You & I (extended intro)
Shy
Ceilings
I Saw You Close Your Eyes
Coins
Megaton Mile
Someday Now
Heavy Feet
Past Lives
Fountain of Youth
Café Amarillo
Airplanes
Wide Eyes
Garden of Elysian
Dark Days
When Am I Gonna Lose You

Encore:
Gulf Shores
Tap Dancer
Who Knows, Who Cares

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Hollywood Palladium, LCD Soundsystem, Local Natives, Middle Kids, Nine Inch Nails

The Chemical Brothers give fans at Shrine Expo Hall the electronic show they desperately need in 2019

May 20, 2019 by Josh Herwitt Leave a Comment

By Josh Herwitt //

The Chemical Brothers //
Shrine Expo Hall – Los Angeles
May 15th, 2019 //

When former childhood classmates Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons burst onto the scene in the mid-to-late 90’s as The Chemical Brothers, electronic music for most was still a relatively new phenomenon — even in their home country of England.

Sure, some of the UK duo’s counterparts such as The Prodigy and Fatboy Slim were attracting more mainstream appeal around the same time, but that commercial success at the height of the big beat movement doesn’t hold a candle to what many of the biggest EDM stars today are amassing in the social media age. Just look at what Calvin Harris, Diplo, Skrillex, Zedd or The Chainsmokers are bringing home if you don’t believe me (hint: it’s well over eight figures). Of course, those Las Vegas hotel residencies sure do help their cash flow.

The Chemical Brothers, nevertheless, have managed to maintain a loyal following for three decades now and that was evident by the sold-out crowd that welcomed them to the Shrine Expo Hall last Wednesday for the first of two dates in LA. It’s not often that an artist or band books two different venues in the same city while on tour, but that’s exactly what Rowlands and Simons did with their other LA show taking place up the road at the Greek Theatre only one day later. That said, the Shrine Expo Hall’s open floor plan proved to be perfectly suited for the pair’s dance-ready tracks.

Leading off with “Go” from their 2015 LP Born in the Echoes, The Chemical Brothers delivered a 24-song set that covered all nine studio albums, including their newest effort No Geography that dropped in April. They seamlessly transitioned from one banger to the next, keeping our spirits high and leaving us not a minute to rest our feet. The onstage production, meanwhile, was next level. With an arsenal full of lights and lasers as well as a massive projection screen mounted behind them, Rowlands and Simons created a scintillating audio-visual experience to remember and one of the best we’ve witnessed in a while.

At a time when electronic music has become relatively predictable and almost formulaic, The Chemical Brothers are still experimenting with new sounds and breathing some fresh air into their live sets. Case in point on this night was a cover of New Order’s 1982 single “Temptation” and a rendition of Come with Us cut “Star Guitar” that wrapped up with a snippet of “Gravity Drops” from No Geography. But the Brothers saved what we all had been anticipating for last, uncorking “Block Rockin’ Beats” off 1997’s Dig Your Own Hole before their encore break.

When they returned, Rowlands and Simons gave us a few more before waving goodbye — not that we needed anymore to feel satisfied. Because if this was what an electronic show in 2019 is supposed to feel like, then we can safely say … mission accomplished, boys.

Setlist:
Go
Free Yourself
Chemical Beats (with vocal sample from “Sometimes I Feel So Deserted”)
MAH
EML Ritual
Swoon
Temptation (New Order cover)
Star Guitar (with “Gravity Drops” outro)
Got to Keep On
Hey Boy Hey Girl
Eve of Destruction
Saturate
Elektrobank
No Geography
Escape Velocity
Hoops / Get Up on It Like This
Under the Influence / Dig Your Own Hole
Wide Open
Galvanize
Leave Home / C-H-E-M-I-C-A-L / Song to the Siren
Block Rockin’ Beats

Encore:
Got Glint?
Catch Me I’m Falling (with “Hold Tight London” intro)
The Private Psychedelic Reel

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Calvin Harris, Diplo, Fatboy Slim, New Order, Shrine Expo Hall, Skrillex, The Chainsmokers, The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Zedd

Modeselektor return to U.S. soil & pound our ears with their new material at a sold-out Echoplex

April 11, 2019 by Josh Herwitt 1 Comment

By Josh Herwitt //

Modeselektor //
Echoplex – Los Angeles
April 4th, 2019 //

As electronic music continues to evolve in 2019, it appears as if the EDM craze that once was has started to fade. Sure, dance-centric festivals such as Ultra, EDC and Electric Zoo continue to thrive, but the amount has slowly tapered off over the last few years with hip-hop and R&B grabbing more of the mainstream spotlight lately.

So, where does a veteran electronic act like Modeselektor fit into the equation these days?

We’re not quite sure to be honest, but after making music together for more than two decades, Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary are still selling out clubs with their dark, pulsating beats and brash, in-your-face sounds.

The Berlin IDM (short for “Intelligent Dance Music”) duo is a favorite of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke’s believe it or not and yet, has only released four studio albums to go along with a handful of EPs since forming in 1996. Although to be completely fair, their side project with fellow German electronic musician Apparat (born Sascha Ring) under the name Moderat has also been quite the success in recent years as we have witnessed on more than one occasion, including the 2016 edition of Lightning in a Bottle (read our festival review here) and a stellar performance at the Mayan (read our show review here) in 2017 after playing Coachella’s first weekend (read our review here).

One of those four LPs is Who Else, the eight-track release after a nearly eight-year layoff that dropped in February on Modeselektor’s own Monkeytown Records as the follow-up to 2011’s Monkeytown, which earned them a closing set in the Mojave Tent at Coachella a few months later where Yorke surprisingly joined them onstage for “Shipwreck” during Weekend 2.

At LA’s Echoplex last Thursday, we didn’t have the fortune of getting another surprise cameo from Yorke, but it was intriguing to see a sold-out crowd welcome Bronsert and Szary back to the City of Angels under the Modeselektor moniker for the first time in a long time (and on a school night no less). And considering they were only stopping through two U.S. cities — LA and NYC the night before at Elsewhere in Brooklyn — on this tour, the show felt a little extra special for those of us in attendance due to the circumstances.

Bronsert and Szary made mention of the jet lag that they were experiencing more than once, and with both now being of a certain age, it’s not quite as easy as it once was for them to get onstage night after night and do their thing. They certainly overcame it, as Szary jumped on top of their DJ booth several times while performing to engage an audience that conveyed its appreciation for his efforts (he even took a cigarette break onstage later on, too).

Who Else runs only 34 minutes long, with “Wealth”, “I Am Your God” and “Who” serving as its three singles, which meant that Modeselektor had time to sprinkle in some of their older material throughout a 17-song gig lasting roughly 90 minutes. One of those tracks was “The Black Block” off their 2007 sophomore full length Happy Birthday!, while even two remixed covers — Shed’s “Dark Planet” and Headhunter’s “Prototype” — were on the setlist. But the finale is what stuck out most, as Modeselektor showed Yorke some more love with an Atoms for Peace cover of “Default” on the supergroup’s lone record Amok that came out more than six years ago. It was a fitting choice given the connection Yorke has had with the outfit, and one that proved Bronsert and Szary, nevertheless, have what it takes to keep us right on our toes after all these years.

Setlist:
Grillwalker
Dark Planet (Modeselektor remix) (Shed cover)
WMF Love Song
Kalif Storch
German Clap
The Black Block
I Am Your God
(Unknown)
Prügelknabe
Wealth
Prototype (Modeselektor’s Broken Handbrake Remix) (Headhunter cover)
One United Power
Who
Wake Me Up When It’s Over
Berlin

Encore:
Blue Clouds
Default (Atoms for Peace cover)

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Apparat, Atoms for Peace, Coachella, Coachella 2012, Coachella Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Music and Arts Festival 2012, Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival 2012, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2012, Echoplex, Mayan Theater, Moderat, Modeselektor, Radiohead, The Mayan, Thom Yorke

Courtney Barnett reminds us why she’s simply the coolest at LA’s Greek Theatre

October 10, 2018 by Rochelle Shipman 1 Comment

By Rochelle Shipman //

Courtney Barnett with Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Waxahatchee //
Greek Theatre – Los Angeles
October 5th, 2018 //

Courtney Barnett is the coolest. There’s no way around it. And if you’ve been lucky enough to see her live, you know it and you also know that she, somehow, still doesn’t know it herself.

Take this for example: Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks and Waxahatchee supported her at the Greek Theatre last Friday, and Malkmus brings out former Sonic Youth member Kim Gordon (maybe the only person cooler than Barnett). I felt like they were going to turn the lights on after Malkmus’ set and end the show by accident.

Of course, they didn’t, and towards the end of her headlining set, Barnett introduced her own special guest, which, mind you, could’ve been almost anyone on the planet since this was LA after all and Gordon was probably still backstage.

But she reintroduces Waxahatchee, who joins her for a cover of Elyse Weinberg’s “Houses”. It was a song I’d never heard before, but it was crisp and tender and almost broke my heart with how perfect they sounded. I was so damn happy that Barnett was cool enough to invite one of her opening acts back out onstage instead of inviting, say, Slash.

When she wasn’t sharing the spotlight with Waxahatchee, Barnett was sharing it equally with the rest of her stellar backing band, but it was mostly just difficult to take your eyes off of her. Everything she does feels casual, from her outfit to her guitar playing, slinging her instrument around like it was an extension of herself. Even her delivery of the wrenching reality that the 30-year-old Australian singer-songwriter articulates so well is casual, singing like the end of the world isn’t a mere 22 years away.

Barnett’s second studio LP Tell Me How You Really Feel is the pissed-off soundtrack that 2018 deserves, but she still couldn’t help but smile throughout the show. She walked the length of the stage as if she owned it (though casually), clearly having found her comfort level playing to thousands.

For an hour and a half, Barnett mostly just reveled in the music and the company, keeping the banter limited and the breaths nearly nonexistent. But for a few moments here and there, she looked like she’d just realized that she’s the coolest. And then she’d switch the focus and start another riff.

Setlist:
Hopefulessness
City Looks Pretty
Avant Gardener
Need a Little Time
Nameless, Faceless
I’m Not Your Mother, I’m Not Your Bitch
Crippling Self Doubt and a General Lack of Self Confidence
Small Poppies
An Illustration of Loneliness (Sleepless in New York)
Small Talk
Depreston
Are You Looking After Yourself?
Elevator Operator
Houses (Elyse Weinberg cover) (with Waxahatchee)
Charity
History Eraser

Encore:
Everything Is Free (Gillian Welch cover)
Anonymous Club
Pedestrian at Best

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Courtney Barnett, Greek Theatre, Stephen Malkmus, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Waxahatchee

Grizzly Bear & TV on the Radio unite for one night in their new hometown to play the Hollywood Bowl

September 28, 2018 by Josh Herwitt 2 Comments

Grizzly Bear

By Josh Herwitt //

Grizzly Bear & TV on the Radio with Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith //
Hollywood Bowl – Los Angeles
September 23rd, 2018 //

In the early 2000’s, Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio emerged out of Brooklyn’s crowded indie-rock scene as two of its biggest darlings. Both bands, in fact, would go on to release their seminal albums a little less than a decade later, starting first in 2008 with TV on the Radio’s Dear Science and continuing the following year with Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest.

But Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio have each issued two additional LPs since then and somewhat surprisingly, have both made the cross-country move out to LA within the past several years. So, when NPR member station KCRW revealed the lineup for its 2018 World Festival series at the iconic Hollywood Bowl, the final performance on the docket was one that easily stuck out with the two Brooklyn-bred outfits co-headlining and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith opening.

As the glow of a full moon shined bright against a dark sky, Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio gave us one last taste of summer on the season’s final day. And though it felt rather fitting for them to share a stage in their new hometown, especially one that’s as big as the Bowl’s, each group exhibits its own unique sound and style through a wide range of influences. They may get slapped with the generic “indie rock” tag by some lazy music critics, but without a doubt, their music is much different from the other’s.

TV on the Radio

The last time we caught Grizzly Bear was almost a year ago, when they performed at Apogee Studio for KCRW’s Apogee Sessions series (read our review here) and reminded us how they were making “chamber pop” sound cool again. The intimate gig came just a few weeks prior to TV on the Radio’s last show in LA (at David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption), and with their most recent album Seeds from 2014, this was probably one of the final times that they would be specifically showcasing that material live. Nevertheless, they made sure to close out their 70-minute set with a bang, finishing with classics like “Repetition” from 2011’s Nine Types of Light, “Wolf Like Me” off 2006’s Return to Cookie Mountain and lastly “Staring at the Sun” on their 2004 debut Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes.

Similarly, the gig also marked one of Grizzly Bear’s last performances in support of their fifth LP Painted Ruins, which they released last year on RCA Records, and having already played a two-night run at The Wiltern back in December, this was more of a victory lap than a coming-out party. Unfortunately for us, the five-piece had to cut things short due to the venue’s strict Sunday night curfew, ending on a rather sudden note. That’s just part of the deal at the Bowl, though. For those of us who have to work on Monday morning, it’s actually more of a blessing in disguise than a disservice to the overall concert experience as we’ve come to realize.

After all, any evening under the stars at the Hollywood Bowl feels like a magical one. There’s just something comforting about taking in some live music at one of the world’s most famous amphitheaters, no matter who’s listed on the marquee. And although there’s no telling when Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio will tour again, let alone together, this was one pairing that we’re glad we didn’t miss before we officially said goodbye to summer.

GRIZZLY BEAR

Setlist:
Southern Point
Losing All Sense
Yet Again
Fine for Now
Ready, Able
Four Cypresses
Sleeping Ute
Two Weeks
Foreground
While You Wait for the Others
On a Neck, On a Spit
Three Rings
Sun in Your Eyes

TV ON THE RADIO

Setlist:
Young Liars
Lazerray
Golden Age
Province
Happy Idiot
Could You
Winter
Red Dress
Shout Me Out
Trouble
Repetition
Wolf Like Me
Staring at the Sun

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Grizzly Bear, Hollywood Bowl, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, KCRW, KCRW World Festival, TV on the Radio

After winning their first Grammy, The National don’t hold back at the Hollywood Palladium

September 27, 2018 by Josh Herwitt Leave a Comment

By Josh Herwitt //

The National with Phoebe Bridgers //
Hollywood Palladium – Los Angeles
September 20th, 2018 //

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve only been a fan of The National for a little more than a couple of years now. And though I was familiar with the band before then, it was merely by accident that they finally piqued my interest not that long ago.

It was a Thursday evening in the middle of summer when I got a text from a friend who said he had an extra ticket to their show at the Greek Theatre that very same night. The ticket, of course, was supposed to be for his girlfriend at the time, but they had just gotten into one of their volatile back-and-forths and there was no way she was going to go with him. I, like any devoted live music fan, wasn’t about to let her ticket go to waste, so I said yes on a whim and made my way to the venue, where The National invited St. Vincent and Adam Granduciel (of The War on Drugs) onstage as surprise guests and even performed “Morning Dew” from their massive Grateful Dead tribute box set for the first time. Pretty cool, right?

From that point on, I’ve made an effort to pay closer attention to what Matt Berninger, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Scott Devendorf and Bryan Devendorf have been up to. I knew I had some catching up to do considering that they’ve been at it for close to 20 years, but when the group’s seventh studio album Sleep Well Beast dropped last September on British indie label 4AD, much of it caught my attention thanks to SiriusXMU — and for good reason.

The 12-track LP, after all, would not only go on to produce five singles, but it also took home a Grammy for “Best Alternative Music Album” in one of the more encouraging moments at this year’s 60th Grammy Awards. And at the Hollywood Palladium for the first of two nights in LA last Thursday, The National gave us all five of those singles, beginning with “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” and running through the remaining four as part of a 22-song setlist that opened with “Nobody Else Will Be There” just as Sleep Well Beast does.

Berninger, by now, is well-known for his baritone vocals and somber lyrics, and for that same reason, The National have never come across as one of rock’s more uplifting acts. Their music often sounds perfect for a rainy day, even though there are some energetic moments on Sleep Well Beast, be it “I’ll Still Destroy You”, “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” or “Day I Die” as maybe the record’s most uptempo cut despite its obviously melancholy message.

Right before that final aforementioned single, they brought out Phoebe Bridgers to help them perform “Sorrow” from 2010’s High Violet, as Berninger and the 24-year-old singer-songwriter, who said during her brief opening set that The National were her favorite band, traded vocals on the tune they once played 105 times in a row, with the performance at an art installation in New York lasting all of six hours. We weren’t quite as fortunate to get that kind of show in LA, as The National opted for one of their more traditional, two-hour events. But whether you’ve been a fan from the start or one like myself who arrived rather late to the party, The National continue to make some of the most compelling music in rock, expanding their fan base with each and every album they release. That’s the sign of any good band these days, and though there’s only a handful of others that could even say the same right now, The National should take comfort in knowing they’re one of those select few.

Setlist:
Nobody Else Will Be There
The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
Walk It Back
Guilty Party
Don’t Swallow the Cap
Bloodbuzz Ohio
I Need My Girl
Green Gloves
Lemonworld
Born to Beg
I’ll Still Destroy You
Slow Show
Sorrow (with Phoebe Bridgers)
Day I Die
Carin at the Liquor Store
Graceless
Rylan
Fake Empire

Encore:
Light Years
Mr. November
Terrible Love
Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Greek Theatre, Hollywood Palladium, Phoebe Bridgers, St. Vincent, The National, The War on Drugs

At the age of 66, David Byrne is completely nailing one of the year’s most ambitious tours

August 28, 2018 by The Bam Team Leave a Comment

By Tim O’Shea //

David Byrne with Ibeyi //
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium – San Francisco
August 22nd, 2018 //

“Music resonates in so many parts of the brain that we can’t conceive of it being an isolated thing. It’s whom you were with, how old you were, and what was happening that day.” – an excerpt from David Byrne’s 2012 book “How Music Works”

My first memories of Talking Heads bring me back to my family’s living room, where I would sit in front of our Hi-Fi turntable at the age of five. My mother had just replaced the needle in anticipation of playing a new LP, Talking Heads’ Speaking in Tongues. It is a memory that I’ll always have.

For the last 35 years, every time I hear “Burning Down the House” or “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)”, I am instantly transported back to that moment. It’s a nostalgic trip for me, the listener, one that we all share with our own favorite music.

And you may find yourself subsequently taking in one of the most ambitious concerts of the year, with this current Byrne iteration seeing him promote his seventh solo album American Utopia, which he released back in March, all over the country across more than 100 dates — from a couple of appearances at Coachella (read our festival review here) to two sell-outs at Red Rocks Amphitheatre — on his 2018 tour schedule at the ripe age of 66.

Opening for Byrne were Ibeyi, a downtempo experimental duo, named after the Yoruba word for “twins”. They mixed soul, R&B and some trip-hop into their performance, relying heavily on two drum machines and their incredible vocals.

Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz are French, but they highlight their ancestry by combining Afro-Cuban elements with vocals that are sung in a number of languages, including English, French, Spanish and Yoruba. The Yoruba language comes from Nigeria and was often spoken by the two sisters’ ancestors, who in the 1700s were taken to Cuba from West Africa and then sold as slaves.

Ibeyi’s show was slightly underappreciated by the throngs of latecomers who visited the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium last Wednesday, but they delivered a performance that was worthy of their supporting slot. Several neighbors in the audience agreed that their vocals reminded them of Björk, which was not a slight at all. I noticed the same thing, in fact, when it came to their dark, passion-filled timbre.

Ibeyi

The sisters’ lyrics are sparked and inspired by social issues, whether they include references to President Donald Trump’s lewd “grab them by …” remark from the now-infamous “Access Hollywood” tape or address an ongoing problem with police brutality, but they’ve still found ways to touch upon such topics as faith, responsibility, family, love and perseverance. There was no truer example of this than during “No Man Is Big Enough for My Arms” at the start of the night as a clip from Michelle Obama’s 2016 Democratic National Convention speech that highlighted Trump’s treatment of women played over the song.

Following a short break between sets, the stage was primed for Mr. Byrne. With a 12-piece ensemble nearly in perpetual motion for 90 minutes (that included a pair of encores), the crowd was brought into the middle of this performance-art circle.

Byrne’s show was mildly reminiscent of “Stop Making Sense”, the 1984 production directed by Jonathan Demme, in its use of disjointed, awkward movements and percussive elements that connect everything onstage, but it was updated in a way that made it not only relevant today, but also completely engrossing.

There has definitely been a jovial feeling on this tour, with all of Byrne’s band members either barefoot or subtly wearing slippers while also donning slightly-too-large grey suits. The entire production resembles a well-oiled, perfected marching band’s field show, with both the drum line and accompanying pieces intertwining to precisely hit their marks.

Visually, Byrne’s show should be commended for its use of light and minimalism. There were no tricky pyrotechnic elements or an overuse of strobe lights/spotlight. Instead, Byrne slowly revealed himself as he sat at a tiny desk while holding the human brain; heavy shadows were cast on his face with the light behind and above him.

As the show progressed into his songs “Here” and “Lazy”, Byrne’s band joined him onstage. The light changed and filled in the stage, giving the audience a happier tone and providing a seamless transition into a Talking Heads interlude. Then, later on during “Blind”, one of the more stunning visual elements was made possible by a simple lamp that was placed in front of the band, casting whirling shadows on the strands of beads hanging behind them.

The performance concluded with a powerful cover of Janelle Monáe’s “Hell You Talmbout” as Ibeyi joined in the fun. Featuring simple afrobeats and chanting vocals that showcased fervor and palpable energy, the song brought the entire audience into the fold as handfuls of victims of police brutality were made known: “Walter Scott, say his name, Walter Scott, say his name, Walter Scott, say his name, won’t you say his name?” It was visceral and raw and captured the brilliance of a poet like Byrne, who knows how to mix his mediums to absolute perfection.

DAVID BYRNE

Setlist:
Here
Lazy
I Zimbra (Talking Heads song)
Slippery People (Talking Heads song)
I Should Watch TV (David Byrne & St. Vincent cover)
Dog’s Mind
Everybody’s Coming to My House
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads song)
Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads song)
Doing the Right Thing
Toe Jam (Brighton Port Authority cover)
Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) (Talking Heads song)
I Dance Like This
Bullet
Every Day Is a Miracle
Like Humans Do
Blind (Talking Heads song)
Burning Down the House (Talking Heads song)

Encore:
Dancing Together
The Great Curve (Talking Heads song)

Encore 2:
Hell You Talmbout (Janelle Monáe cover) (with Ibeyi)

IBEYI

No Man Is Big Enough for My Arms
Deathless
River
I Wanna Be Like You
Oya

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, Coachella, Coachella 2018, Coachella Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Music and Arts Festival 2018, Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival 2018, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2018, David Byrne, Ibeyi, Talking Heads

Jack White proves at the Santa Barbara Bowl that a phone-free show is a better experience for us all

August 24, 2018 by Josh Herwitt 3 Comments

Photos courtesy of Jack White // Written by Josh Herwitt //

Jack White with William Tyler //
Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA
August 19th, 2018 //

In case you haven’t heard, Jack White isn’t the biggest fan of technology. Well, at least when it comes to some modern technological advancements.

Sure, White has been a self-proclaimed fan of Tesla for quite a while now. He was one of the first Model S owners in Nashville, which the Detroit native has called home since 2006, and just a couple weeks ago visited the company’s factory in Fremont, Calif., where he played a private show for its employees.

But the former White Stripes leader, whose old-timey passions for vinyl records, baseball and furniture upholstery are well-documented, doesn’t view mobile technology in nearly the same way. In fact, he never really has.

White first started to make his disdain for cell phones publicly known in 2014. At the time, he didn’t even own one himself (and he still doesn’t from what he told Rolling Stone in March for the magazine’s cover story). That same year, on the day he gave us his sophomore solo album Lazaretto, I caught White’s show at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles. It was there that one of his stagehands stepped to the mic minutes before the performance and politely requested that we refrain from using our cell phones, and while most of the sold-out crowd seemed to oblige, there were some who still couldn’t help themselves.

Pics or it didn’t happen, right?

Since then, our lives have only become more centered around our Instagram feeds, and for as cynical as it sounds, it’s probably only going to get worse from here on out.

It’s why White announced before kicking off a world tour this year in support of his third LP Boarding House Reach that all of his non-festival dates would be phone-free. But what does that actually mean?

Adopting the same methods that stand-up comedians Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle have employed for their own gigs, White partnered with Yondr, a San Francisco-based company that creates mobile phone pouches with a proprietary lock. Upon entering the venue, your phone is placed in one of their pouches and then locked. If you need to use your phone for any reason during the show, the pouch can be unlocked at one of several designated areas inside the venue. Think of them as smoking sections but for phones. That’s how powerful, and simultaneously obnoxious, smartphones have become for fans and musicians such as White, who has said that he relies on human connection and fan interaction to help guide him through his always-unplanned setlists. For the 12-time Grammy winner, the myriad of distractions that an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy offers is not only disruptive, but it’s also a major obstacle in trying to hold a person’s attention for any extended period of time. And, quite honestly, I can’t blame White for implementing the ban. If we could control our own impulses, then he simply wouldn’t have to do it for us.

It hasn’t exactly hurt him either. You can say what you want about his cell-phone policy, but White has sold out the majority of his U.S. dates over the past four months while headlining many of the country’s most popular music festivals, including Shaky Knees, Boston Calling, Governors Ball, Lollapalooza and Arroyo Seco Weekend (read our review here) this summer.

So, on a warm, mid-August night in Southern California, White paid his first official visit to Santa Barbara. The White Stripes, somewhat surprisingly, didn’t make it to the coastal city during their 15 years together, so White’s show at the always-stunning Santa Barbara Bowl seemed well overdue for one of rock’s last remaining guitar heroes. The amphitheater at a capacity of 4,562 stacks up as one of our favorite places in all of California to see live music (read our First Times review here), even with the shows running on a tight schedule due to some strict curfew laws until 10 p.m. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for those of us who live in LA, considering that the drive back is often no more than 90 minutes at that time of night. But with White’s sold-out show in Santa Barbara falling on a Sunday evening, those who showed up made it clear that they weren’t ready for the weekend to end.

Boarding House Reach has drawn its fair share of critics, and I couldn’t necessarily disagree with many of the album reviews that I read when it was released in March. It’s undoubtedly White’s weakest studio effort to date — and I admit that as a big fan — but that’s not to say I don’t commend him for trying something new or different. Plus, I’ve come to realize that the more experimental songs like “Corporation”, “Respect Commander” and “Ice Station Zebra” play much better live than they do on the record.

Yet, for as eclectic and wide-ranging as White’s output has been over two decades, it’s the unpredictable nature of his live shows that makes them so intriguing to see. This time, we were treated to a rare cover of The Stooges’ “T.V. Eye” from their 1970 album Fun House, as well as a number of fan favorites, from set closer “Ball and Biscuit” to an eight-song encore that featured “Icky Thump” (with some amusing “Icky Trump” messaging), “Steady, as She Goes” (with a snippet of Richard Berry’s 1955 song “Louie Louie”), and of course, what has easily become the biggest stadium anthem in the world, “Seven Nation Army”. And though the show didn’t conclude without a few hiccups during some of White’s improvised playing between songs, he hasn’t lost his unique ability to surprise an audience — whether it means bringing out his mother in Detroit to perform “Hotel Yorba” with him or covering Pearl Jam’s “Daughter” in Seattle — at any given moment, especially when we all aren’t staring down at our phones.

Setlist:
Over and Over and Over
Corporation
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground (The White Stripes song)
Missing Pieces
Lazaretto
Hotel Yorba (The White Stripes song)
Why Walk a Dog?
Cannon (The White Stripes song)
Broken Boy Soldier (The Raconteurs song)
Respect Commander
Do (The White Stripes song)
T.V. Eye (The Stooges cover)
Just One Drink
Ball and Biscuit (The White Stripes song)

Encore:
Icky Thump (The White Stripes song)
My Doorbell (The White Stripes song)
Connected by Love
Freedom at 21
We’re Going to Be Friends (The White Stripes song)
Ice Station Zebra
Steady, as She Goes (The Raconteurs song) (with “Louie, Louie” snippet)
Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes song)

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Arroyo Seco, Arroyo Seco 2018, Arroyo Seco Weekend, Arroyo Seco Weekend 2018, Autolux, Jack White, Santa Barbara Bowl, Soulive, The Raconteurs, The White Stripes, William Tyler

Deafheaven continue their evolution at The Wiltern

August 22, 2018 by Zach Bourque Leave a Comment

By Zach Bourque //

Deafheaven with Drab Majesty, Uniform //
The Wiltern – Los Angeles
August 18th, 2018 //

Bay Area black metal genre benders Deafheaven stopped through The Wiltern last Saturday in support of their latest album Ordinary Corrupt Human Love. Echoing the band’s newly evolved sound were two unique openers that each brought something fresh to the table.

New York industrial-punk duo Uniform took the stage first, with the band’s striking logo of a crucifix intersected by a sickle serving as its backdrop. If that’s not “goth,” then I don’t know what is. The two-piece act composed of guitarist Ben Greenberg and vocalist Michael Berden belted out fast, energetic punk with an industrial twist. Adding to the overall experience was a live drummer who did his best imitation of a drum machine. What a time to be alive. While the venue was still mostly empty at this point in the night, Uniform undoubtedly made their mark on everyone in attendance with a startling sound that left a mark — even if it wasn’t to everyone’s liking.

Drab Majesty couldn’t have been more of a tone shift from the aggression of Uniform. Donning white face paint and platinum blonde wigs, the LA duo made up by Deb Demure and Mona D filled The Wiltern with a dense, 80’s-inspired new wave sound that remained dark and gothic. Drab Majesty were shrouded by giant flumes of fog throughout most of their set, which fueled an already dream-like atmosphere that felt at once out of place and right at home opening for Deafheaven. Slower tracks like “39 By Design” off their 2017 sophomore LP The Demonstration sounded particularly incredible live with The Wiltern’s high ceiling.

Uniform

Few bands have evolved with the confidence of Deafheaven. What began as a twosome consisting of vocalist George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy has grown into a nearly undefinable force in heavy music that has gained popularity and notoriety worldwide. Deafheaven’s second album Sunbather in 2013 made many throughout the black metal community blush with its trademark bright pink cover art and quite a few unorthodox elements sonically, including post-rock ambience and emotional lyricism.

Fortunately, Deafheaven haven’t bowed to convention or criticism. Their fourth studio album Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, which ANTI‐ released last month, is their arguably their most experimental to date, spanning more than an hour over seven songs. There’s a sense of angst and nostalgia in the music that leans far more positive and hopeful than their previous work. There are still echoes of black metal at times, but you can feel this is a band that’s embracing its differences instead of defending them.

Seeing Deafheaven live reinforces that notion. While vocalist George Clarke still dresses the part in all black with black gloves, sunflowers were placed carefully all across the stage and home movies played in the background. Clarke himself appeared liberated onstage as he ran around and banged his head with a newfound energy in sharp contrast to his rigid and stoic look from years past.

Drab Majesty

A headlining show at The Wiltern is nothing to sneeze at, and this particular one most likely marked Deafheaven’s biggest LA show to date. Fortunately, the venue’s early vacancies were filled by the time Deafheaven stepped onstage. The fans were just as eclectic as the opening acts, with a mixed crowd ranging from goths to hipsters and everyone in between.

Furthermore, it’s hard to call an eight-song setlist short when each song is nearly 10 minutes long. Fortunately, Deafheaven spread the love evenly across their catalog on this night before the quintet capped things off with a monster encore that concluded with fan favorite “Dream House” off Sunbather.

Few artists or bands could pull together to create such a unique lineup like this one, and it was refreshing to see a metal outfit such as Deafheaven take a chance on Drab Majesty and Uniform. It was a gig that had something for everyone, one that stood as a metaphor for the band’s evolution and the scope of its fan base. With an upcoming show at Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown on October 19th, Deafheaven won’t be making their Southern California fans wait too much longer for another taste.

DEAFHEAVEN

Setlist:
Honeycomb
Canary Yellow
Sunbather
Brought to the Water
Worthless Animal

Encore:
You Without End
From the Kettle Onto the Coil
Dream House

DRAB MAJESTY

Setlist:
Induction
Dot in the Sky
39 by Design
Kissing the Ground
Not Just a Name
Too Soon to Tell
Cold Souls

Filed Under: Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Deafheaven, Drab Majesty, Pappy & Harriet's, Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace, Pappy and Harriet's, Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace, The Wiltern, The Wiltern Theatre, Uniform

Weezer show a sold-out crowd in their hometown that they can still be wildly entertaining

August 13, 2018 by Josh Herwitt 1 Comment

By Josh Herwitt //

Weezer & Pixies with Sleigh Bells //
Kia Forum – Inglewood, CA
August 8th, 2018 //

It has always been hard for me to take Weezer completely seriously. Of course, when one of your oldest and biggest hits is called “Undone – The Sweater Song” while others like “Pork and Beans” and “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You to) I Want You to” have cultivated their own commercial success, it’s easy to think that the Los Angeles foursome must have shared the stage with Green Jellÿ, Tenacious D or “Weird Al” Yankovic at one point in time over the last 26 years.

Well, one of those whimsical pairings actually became a reality last Wednesday. With a sold-out audience at The Forum welcoming them home during their 30-date, North American co-headlining tour with the Pixies, frontman Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards) and his cohorts — Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell (guitar, backing vocals, keyboards) and Scott Shriner (bass, backing vocals) — gave many of us exactly what we wanted to hear near the end of a 20-song set: their now-viral cover of Toto’s single “Africa” from the group’s 1982 album Toto IV.

But what we didn’t expect to see midway through the tune was Cuomo introducing “Weird Al” Yankovic, who stepped onstage in one of his patented Hawaiian shirts and accordion in hand to perform the last half of it with the band. The crowd erupted upon the announcement, with many shocked by what they were witnessing. For me though, the surprise cameo only further validated some of those preconceptions I had about Weezer being one of rock’s goofiest acts.

Pixies

That’s not to say that Cuomo isn’t a talented musician. In fact, quite the opposite is true. The Harvard grad shreds without question, something I never really realized until he uncorked a number of guitar solos, whether it was during “Buddy Holly” to open Weezer’s performance or “Say It Ain’t So” (with a snippet of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”) to put a bow on the show. And while there aren’t many lead singers who can do both, Cuomo certainly remains among some elite company, with Jack White, Trey Anastasio (Phish), Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) also immediately coming to mind.

Cuomo, however, might have all of them beat in one category: costumes. Appearing first in his preppy sweater-and-tie look, he eventually changed into a soccer jersey before later wearing a classic Nirvana T-shirt with the sleeves cut off. If anything, it was even more proof that Weezer don’t take themselves too seriously, considering that the only rock star who I’ve seen live with more costume changes than Cuomo is Axl Rose (and that shouldn’t be very surprising). It’s all part of the band’s playful attitude at the end of the day, and despite the political state that we currently find ourselves in, many of us could use a good laugh or at least a chuckle from time to time (I know I could).

After watching Cuomo and company do their thing for a little more than an hour, there’s no doubt that I have newfound respect for Weezer now. Selling out a 17,505-person arena in the middle of the week is no easy feat, even if the Pixies, who ripped through their own 22-song set in the same amount of time, were on the bill. But there’s a reason why Weezer have been performing second on this tour, and it’s simply because they’re still one of rock’s most wildy entertaining bands out there today — with or without Mr. Yankovic by their side.

WEEZER

Setlist:
Buddy Holly
Beverly Hills
Pork and Beans
Undone – The Sweater Song
Hash Pipe
Perfect Situation
My Name Is Jonas
El Scorcho
In the Garage
The Good Life
Happy Together (The Turtles cover) (with a snippet of “Longview” by Green Day)
Keep Fishin’ (Brian Bell on vocals)
Island in the Sun (Rivers Cuomo solo acoustic)
Take on Me (a‐ha cover) (Rivers Cuomo solo acoustic)
Burndt Jamb (Brian Bell on vocals; with lyrics from “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana)
(If You’re Wondering If I Want You to) I Want You to
Feels Like Summer
Africa (Toto cover) (with “Weird Al” Yankovic)

Encore:
Susanne
Say It Ain’t So (with a snippet of “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath)

PIXIES

Setlist:
Gouge Away
Wave of Mutilation
U-Mass
Um Chagga Lagga
Isla de Encanta
Caribou
All the Saints
Cactus
Nimrod’s Son
Mr. Grieves
All I Think About Now
Debaser
Classic Masher
Monkey Gone to Heaven
I’ve Been Tired
Head On (The Jesus and Mary Chain cover)
Tame
Hey
Gigantic
Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
Where Is My Mind?
Vamos

Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Featured, Live Music Reviews Tagged With: Jack White, Jim James, Josh Homme, Kia Forum, My Morning Jacket, Phish, Pixies, Queens of the Stone Age, Sleigh Bells, The Forum, Trey Anastasio, Weezer

The unusual pairing of Glassjaw & Quicksand at the Observatory OC proves to be fruitful for both bands

July 27, 2018 by Zach Bourque Leave a Comment

Glassjaw

By Zach Bourque //

Glassjaw & Quicksand //
Observatory OC – Santa Ana, CA
July 20th, 2018 //

Last Friday, fans flocked to the Observatory OC for a night of legendary post-hardcore with Glassjaw and Quicksand co-headlining. The unusual pairing seemed odd on paper, but the more you look at the two side by side, the more you start to see their important similarities.

And though Quicksand reached peak popularity in the mid-90’s while Glassjaw’s rise came later during the mid-2000’s, both bands were trailblazers within the genre, with Quicksand virtually inventing it and Glassjaw redefining it.

Both outfits also hail from New York and were inspired by the local hardcore scene in their own unique ways, shaped largely by the music of their perspective times. While Quicksand took cues from the grunge scene, Glassjaw found inspiration in the emo scene that came to prominence in the 2000’s.

Glassjaw and Quicksand, furthermore, were in town fresh off the release of their newest LPs from 2017. Quicksand’s Interiors stands as arguably their finest record yet, marking 22 years since their last full-length effort. Glassjaw’s powerhouse return entitled Material Control, in the meantime, was released quietly and without fanfare but quickly built hype as one of the year’s best releases. For both acts, the albums were fantastic reminders of their own unique styles that remain unprecedented to this day.

What the groups didn’t share in common on this warm evening in Santa Ana, though, was a fan base. There was a very noticeable age gap between audience members, one that was felt the second you entered the parking lot. A crowd of late 20-somethings could be seen — and heard — tailgating and blasting Glassjaw while Quicksand got into their hour-and-a-half set around 8 p.m.

Inside the venue, unenthused Glassjaw fans lined the walls as they waited for the band’s 10 p.m. set time. It was certainly a disappointing sight considering how influential Quicksand were to the post-hardcore genre and because of how truly incredible their performance was when looking back at it.

Quicksand

Glassjaw and Quicksand have alternated headlining spots on this tour, and while Quicksand played first for this particular show, it didn’t seem to affect their spirits. The quartet sounded incredibly tight and full of energy. For every Glassjaw fan who was waiting it out with a beer, there were two Quicksand fans surrounding the packed stage.

Quicksand played an eclectic set from their catalog that spans nearly 30 years, including plenty of tracks off Interiors such as “Illuminant”. As the group kicked into their final few songs, vocalist/guitarist Walter Schreifels shouted “get ready to bang the fuck out of your heads,” and with that, the crowd immediately followed orders. Schreifels, toward the end, even took a seat behind the drum kit for a final jam session with Quicksand/Deftones bass player Sergio Vega.

As the sea of Glassjaw fans started to fill in the various levels of the Observatory’s floor, you could feel the room’s energy building. Everyone appeared to be pretty psyched for what they were about to witness. In general, few bands have as much of a passionate cult following as Glassjaw, and their two-year hiatus from 2004-2005 only increased the enthusiasm that was emanating from inside the venue. As lead vocalist Daryl Palumbo came out of the shadows and grabbed the mic, the floor erupted.

Glassjaw’s show covered their entire discography, and very few fan favorites were left off the setlist. While it was to be expected that newer tunes like “Shira” and “New White Extremity” would rock, it was staggering how well their older songs held up in a live setting. Palumbo’s voice, though slightly less manic than it once was, is still unmatched in its vocal range and shear intensity.

Older Glassjaw tracks like “Tip Your Bartender” and “Two Tabs of Mescaline”, meanwhile, sounded as sharp as ever. The instrumentation was similarly top-notch with bassist Travis Sykes serving as the catalyst for the group’s evolved sound on Material Control, which was released in December. But to close out their 17-song set, these Long Islanders delivered an explosive performance of “Siberian Kiss” from 2000’s Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence.

Having the chance to see Glassjaw and Quicksand share the stage is something that we’re likely never going to get again. And for those of us who drove down to Orange County from LA, we can only hope and pray to see more from both after what proved to be one hell of an experience for us.

GLASSJAW

Setlist:
Cut and Run
Tip Your Bartender
You Think You’re (John Fucking Lennon)
Pink Roses
Jesus Glue
Mu Empire
The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports
New White Extremity
Shira
Citizen
Strange Hours
Two Tabs of Mescaline
Bibleland 6
El Mark
Closer
My Conscience Weighs a Ton
Siberian Kiss

QUICKSAND

Setlist:
Freezing Process
Head to Wall
Brown Gargantuan
Omission
Backward
Illuminant
Warm and Low
Fazer
Blister
Shovel
Cosmonauts
Too Official
Multiverse
Unfulfilled
Thorn in My Side
Dine Alone
Delusional
Landmine Spring
Delusional
Jam (Sergio Vega on bass with Walter Schreifels on drums)