I will be embarking on my first road trip of the year with my good pals this weekend to see NOFX, Tony Sly, Teenage Bottlerocket, and The Menzingers play at the Madison Theater.
I am beyond stoked to see such a line up and will be covering it so expect a full review of the shows and my personal shenanigans before, after, and during.
Until then, have a good one!
Every once in a while I like to go to a concert to enjoy it and not worry about trying to take a ton of pictures and take notes to try and make a vivid review of my experience. Honestly I do not mind doing it but sometimes it is nice just to sit back and soak in a performance by a great musician. Thanks to my pal Matt from that Addicted To Vinyl website, I got to do just that enjoy an amazing performance by one of my favorite pianists out there, Mr. Bed Folds – and yet I could not help but write a little something about it.
It’s been years since I actually waited in line for a show before the doors opened but only because I needed to try and score a good spot for Matt and special guest. A lot has changed over those years too come to think. Back in the day I used to park blocks away from a venue for free or cheap parking and then wait upwards to an hour just to get a close spot to the stage. These days I am feeling rather pretentious as I hand my keys over to a valet just around the corner and mosey in a venue whenever I feel like it.
I don’t need to be close to the stage anymore. I have been there and still have scars to prove it. I am perfectly contempt hanging in the shadows soaking in a live show. In other words – I am getting older. I am not old yet but you can bet your ass when I am old I will still be going to shows.
Matt Pond opened up the night for the sold out crowd at the House of Blues in Cleveland. I am not sure really how I felt about his performance. He was talented and had a singing style that kept reminding me of The Verve Pipe but it just lacked oomph. With just Matt Pond and a guitarist on stage it didn’t have that energy needed to warm up the crowd enough. Luckily with good conversation and a couple of PBRs the opener thanked the crowd and left the stage.
With just a piano on stage and also a black mat with a couple mics surrounding it, Folds casually walked onto the stage and the place erupted in cheer. The more modern day Elton John, but much more vulgar, took a seat on his stool, greeted the crowd and began playing “Free Coffee” followed by “Annie Waits”, a song I should add was deemed “my jam” my our special guest of the evening.
I was thrilled to hear “All You Can Eat” which might be one of my favorite songs by Folds. As I sang along I just was happy and enjoying myself with good friends and amazing music. Of course that had to be interrupted. Every single time Matt and I hang out something stupid happens. I will explain in a moment.
Not only is Folds an amazing pianist but he is also a story teller and just hilarious to listen to. Throughout the night in between songs I found myself cracking up at his remarks and comments be it him talking about the next song that he would play or just responding to the crowd. It was not just the man on stage those being funny, there were some witty folk in the crowd as well. I still laugh to myself at the fan who loudly and randomly said “Hi Ben” that just about caused Folds to even lose his concentration.
I might as well mention the other kinds of fans that were there…you know those fans. The ones that pay money to see an artist and just talk through the whole set. The ones that scream stupid things at the wrong moment thinking they are funny but results in a pissed off surrounding crowd.
Sadly I had a group of loud mouthed supposed fans behind where I was perched and they just had to lose all control of the volume of their voice and talk about how good their dinner was. I finally could not take it and turned around and asked nicely for them to lower their voices so I could hear Folds play, you know, the guy who the tickets were purchased for. I thought everything was fine and they seemed to agree until a hot head in the gang started yelling at me. I did not take that kindly, exchanged some more words with “F”, “S”, and “A” being the first letters of those words and finally turned around. They kept a respectful level of chit-chat after that. I was so pissed off that I missed out on a couple of songs and apparently during my incident Folds was taking requests from the crowd on what songs to play next.
I was not the only one who had this issue either. From all over the venue you could hear people screaming “shut up” to people who apparently like to spend money to sold out shows just so they could ignore the music and talk loudly.
So by the time I focused on the show Folds was holding a maraca in head and started playing the fake version of “Bitch Went Nutz” using the maraca and his fingers on the microphone to aid in a percussion of sorts. It was awesome and it just got better from there as Folds played a brand new song from his up coming album he has been recording with Nick Hornby. The song was called “Levi Johnston’s Blues” and is was all about Sarah Palin’s daughter’s former fiance. I laughed my ass off during this song and well as nodded my head along with.
Another highlight to the evening for me was when Folds played “Steven’s Last Night In Town” a stagehand ran out with a tom drum so that Folds could play the ending beat. While beating on the tom Folds and stagehand made way to the black mat I spoke of previously and as Folds played the tom the stagehand kept bringing out pieces and parts to the set until it was a full kit and Folds then played a crowd approving drum solo.
Instead of returning to the piano Folds took it upon himself to play “Hiro’s Song” while playing the drums. He also added in a little freestyle song in so that no one would be able to sing along. He then returned to the piano and played “The Luckiest” followed by the always amazing “Rock This Bitch”, which was requested by a fan.
The crowd helped with “Not The Same” adding a chilling harmony at Folds’ request. Leave it to some drunk ass who sung out of key on purpose for a brief moment to piss off, one again, his surrounding neighbors. “Shut the f— up” was screamed at the moron by another fan which apparently got some other drunks excited and they started shouting out stuff. Way to go drunk-tards of Cleveland for adding your spice to an amazing song. Seriously, thanks.
Playing “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces” Folds just beat the hell out of his piano as the crowd went nuts. I am always in awe watching him play live, it is something that needs to be seen. Striking the last note of the song Folds took his stool slammed it on the piano and left the stage.
Luckily he returned for an encore as it was apparent the crown was not done just yet. Playing “Rockin’ The Suburbs” the crowd once again erupted in approval and sang along. Ending the near two hour set Folds merged into “Song For The Dumped” and upon finishing it thanked Cleveland and left the stage.
It was a great concert, the kind where you leave satisfied and talk about the show all the way to your car, or to the valet in my case. I was thrilled to hear so many Ben Folds Five songs played as well as hearing some of the other tracks from albums like Rockin’ The Suburbs and Songs For Silverman. I can admit I was not the biggest fan of Way To Normal but regardless I enjoyed the selections he performed from that release as well. Folds was on top of his game as always and put forth a great solo show to all. I can not wait till he comes back next time, hopefully with Nick Hornby…that would be amazing.
Here’s a review of a Ben Folds performance at an over sized venue and free for students resulting in even more annoyance for the true fans.
Set List:
Free Coffee
Annie Waits
Sentimental Guy
Effington
Time
Landed
All U Can Eat
Brainwascht
Gone
Bitch Went Nutz (Fake Version)
Levi Johnston’s Blues (new track featuring lyrics by Nick Hornsby)
Picture Window
You Don’t Know Me
Still Fighting It
Zak and Sara
Steven’s Last Night in Town (Ben Folds Five Cover)
Hiro’s Song
The Luckiest
Rock This Bitch
Emaline (Ben Folds Five cover)
(Unknown)
Army (Ben Folds Five cover)
Not the Same
One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces (Ben Folds Five cover)
Encore:
Rockin’ the Suburbs
Song for the Dumped (Ben Folds Five cover)
It’s true. Rap pioneers Public Enemy are coming back to Cleveland on Sunday June 27th to the House Of Blues.
That right there deserves The Awesome.
Having seen them for the first time ever at the 2009 Bonnaroo I can tell you this – they put on an amazing live show, even at 3 in the morning. Age aside these guys are kings of what they do. I am more than thrilled to see them come back to Cleveland and will be making sure I am in attendence that night.
According to my pal Matt over at that Addicted To Vinyl site (who I should add was there with me at that amazing Bonnaroo performance):
Public Enemy
featuring Chuck D, Flava Flav, Professor Grif, DJ Lord and the S1W
Sunday, June 27
House of BluesFrom their multiplatinum 1987 debut, Yo! Bum Rush the Show!, to seven records later, Public Enemy’s influence on hip-hop and rap shows little sign of slowing down. Arguably the most frequently sampled rap artists of all time, they proclaim, “We got a right to be angry.” They’ve been channeling that anger into articulate, revolutionary lyrics, as much to educate as to entertain. They use deep Funk basslines with layered rhymes from Chuck D interspersed with funny quips from Flava Flav (notorious for wall clocks hung around his neck). The beats, rife with police sirens, screeches, and heavy sampling, speed each tune to a cathartic release. Anyone who thinks that racial equality has been reached in the U.S. can think again, and let Public Enemy do the talking.
Tickets go on sale on 03/31/2010 and I am positive this will sell out.
Prices:
$32.50 – GA- Standing Room Only – Advance
$35.00 – GA- Standing Room Only – Day of Show
$45.00 – Reserved Seats
For more information visit the House of Blues website.
It’s really not a secret anymore, The Avett Brothers are kind of a big deal these days. Not even a year ago brothers Scott and Seth Avett along with bassist Bob Crawford and cellist Joe Kwon brought their folk act to the Akron Civic theater to a decent sized crowd.
That show was just months before the release of the Rick Rubin produced I and Love and You, an album that would change their status as a band forever putting them in the spotlight they so deserve.
Last Saturday night the North Carolinian foursome returned to Ohio and played to a sold out crowd at the House Of Blues in Cleveland. With tickets being sold out months prior, it was pretty apparent that this was a show many folk were looking forward to be it new fans or long time followers. Looking around the venue as I arrived it was clear that the attendees of the night were a fine mix old and young. There were frat boys pounding Miller Lite’s as well as a dread-locked couple hanging back against a wall and even a couple punk rockers loitering by the bar. It would almost seem as if the night was all about bringing people together at the expense of music.
Folk act The Low Anthem from Providence, Rhode Island had the pleasure of being the opening act. Starting off with a couple slow folk songs off their latest release Oh My God Charlie Darwin it was clear that most of the crowd was not interested in them at all. Lead singer Ben Knox Miller did not let that bother him one bit though and continued playing songs to the packed house along with Jeff Prystowsky primarily on the stand-up bass. Joining them as well was Jocie Adams who took care of most of the percussion duties, and Mat Davidson. The band all played multiple instruments throughout their set showcasing their talent.
Just about half way into the set they switched gears and started rocking out heavily with Miller and Adams belting out vocals and Prystowsky beating the crap out of his stand up bass ever so passionately. Adams really caused some jaws to drop when she sang in full force as she was just a small framed thing. Many of the crowd soon quieted down and gave them the respect they deserved and by the set’s end the whole place was cheering for them.
It was clear that The Avett Brothers have reached that “rock star” level once the curtains were drawn introducing the Avett brothers, Bob Crawford, Joe Kwon, and a new touring drummer Jacob Edwards (of Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers) to the crowd that night. The entire place cheered and sang along as they opened up with the ever appropriate “Salina”. When the lyrics “Cleveland, I ain’t never felt nothing so strong” were recited the entire crowd went crazy and that would not be the last time that happened. In fact the boys kept the momentum going following the opening song by playing “Slight Figure of Speech”.
Continuing for the hour and a half set the band played a few songs off their latest release but also dug deep into their catalog as well as even hammered out “Where Have All The Average People Gone”, a Roger Miller cover. Not surprisingly the touring drummer entered and exited the stage when the time came for Scott Avett to get behind the drums. It was also nice to see a very energetic Joe Kwon stay on the stage for the entire show. The last time I had the please of seeing the Avett’s the celloist walked on and off the stage throughout the night but this time he stood his ground and played his heart out.
There was no “Kick Drum Heart” or “I and Love and You” played during their as many might have wanted to hear but “January Wedding” as well as “And It Spread” was suffice to all as everyone sang along when each was played. I myself was most thrilled to hear “Murder In The City” as I just had listened to the song the other day on my record player. Still fresh in my mind I sang along with everyone around me just enjoying every second of it.
“Go To Sleep” was perhaps one of my favorite tracks to hear during the evening. Joe Kwon took his cello and played the beginning of the song and in no time the entire crowd decided to help by screaming “La La, La La La La” throughout as the rest of the band sang and played the boot stomping jam. Sure the song is not about the happiest of times but the energy exhumed out of the song from all was just incredible. As the song came to an end the boys left the stage to an over-adoring crowd.
All I could think of in my head was “they get it”. When I say “they” I meant the crowd, and “it” of course was the music. Sure the place was sold out, packed, and full of people who had one too many but they all were there for a good time with good people thanks to good music. Better yet I was overly pleased with the set list of the night as the Avett’s took and played songs from a whole slew of their albums and tried not to just focus on the new stuff and most of the fans around me sang along to every single song.
As the crowd continued to sing “La La, La La La La” in a rather collected harmony the boys returned to the stage and started their encore with a slowed down version of “Traveling Song”. Ending the night with “If It’s The Beaches” off of The Gleam, the crowd was not ready to let the Avett Brothers call it a night but sadly they exited the stage and the lights were turned back on. As those lights became brighter I could start to see more people’s faces with smiles reaching ear to ear. It was proof of how amazing the night was and just how great of a time was had in the venue on a Saturday night in Cleveland.
Set List:
Salina
Slight Figure Of Speech
Where Have All The Average People Gone? (Roger Miller Cover)
Please Pardon Yourself
Distraction #74
Perfect Space
Murder In The City
Tear Down The House
At The Beach
Laundry Room
And It spread
Head Full Of Doubt
I Would Be Sad
January Wedding
Famous Flower of Manhattan
Colorshow
Go To sleep
Encore:
Traveling Song
If It’s The Beaches
Culture was shocked in Akron last night thanks to Tokyo, Japan’s Polysics making a special appearance at Musica. The orange jumpsuit wearing foursome traveled half way around the world to perform their Devo inspired music to a packed club on what normally would have been just another regular Friday evening. Scenesters as well as a couple punk rockers and plenty of proud geeks piled into the quaint club in downtown Akron with perfect knowledge of what would soon progress.
Polysics is best defined as a pop power punk electronica experimental new wave outfit or “technicolor pogo punk” as they dub themselves. Think heavy synthesizers and guitar matched over insane voice altering vocals as well as a very energetic male lead vocalist Hiroyuki Hayashi (Hiro – and yes, he sounds like Hiro from the TV show Heros) who blasts out English, Japanese, and gibberish lyrics. Formed in 1997 out of the pure love for Devo as well as The Tubes the band is an underground sensation thanks to their extremely energetic live shows and of course their orange jumpsuits and straight bar-style sunglasses.
Opening the evening was a band called Stiletto hailing from Kent, OH. The band reminded me of Bedlight For Blue Eyes and Roses Are Red with their slight heavy rock sound. The lead singer had a good voice and when the band had it together they sounded fine. They sadly kept having issues starting their songs and it became apparent that they needed some more practice as it became downright annoying to some of the crowd. Still, they did well and get props from me when the lead signer quoted Tupac but really did not match up to the headliner at all.
Armed with my trusty camera I really thought upon entering Musica that I was going to grab some photos during Polysics’ set but while inside the venue I saw this:
That really was something I did not want to see. I respected the artist though and did not shoot anything until the very end of the show because who am I kidding…I need at least one shot.
Good thing I did not take photos as there was a dual braided memory card deleting bandit who was part of the Polysics crew. I understand the premise of his doings but you should have seen this guy. He stood upon a stool and the moment a flash went off he was bolting over to that non-sign reading schmo and erasing any Polysics related photo from their camera. Seeing what this guy was all about I really did not want him touching my gear so I parked the camera to my side and just enjoyed the show.
You know a crowd is excited to see a band when they cheer insanely as the band is setting up their gear on stage. Things just got better when the band actually took the stage and just started hammering out songs. The songs they played ranged from almost industrial heavy pieces to absolute insanity jump-all-over-the-place songs.
Still a novice to this band I just started with amazement throughout their set not having any idea what was going on other than a damn good time. The couple songs I did recognized were “Young OH! OH!”, “Fire Bison”, and just amazing “Shout Aloud!”
As entertaining as Hiro was throughout the night (especially when he screamed “you gruys awre awresoooooome!!!”) I absolutely adored the straight faced Kayo on the synthesizer and vocoder. I could not help but envision the scene in Revenge Of The Nerds II when the nerds played the concert at Hotel Coral Essex.
According the band’s MySpace page Kayo will be parting ways with the band after the tour so I am pretty psyched I was able to the original line-up. The whole night was a party with Polysics controlling it. Fans danced and tossed their hands about to the music. It was indeed a interesting and fun evening. If I had to describe the evening I would have to say just imagine Daft Punk, Devo, and the Teen Titans humanized and in orange jumpsuits and you might have some idea what happened. It was amazing.
Polysics – Young OH! OH!
POLYSICS | MySpace Music Videos
Pretty Good
POLYSICS | MySpace Music Videos
Polysics – Moog Is Love
POLYSICS | MySpace Music Videos
I had to throw this in too…