Category Archives: Live Shows

DIY, Hip Hop, Live Shows, Music, Music Video

MC Chris Putting On The Brakes???

26 November, 2008 Brian Mc 1 Comment

I saw this yesterday on one of MC Chris‘s daily bulletins on MySpace (click the picture to go to his MySpace profile):

Looks like the one man show is going to be taking a break. Rightfully so, the guy has been touring mad crazy ever since I have first heard about him. In the last 3 years I have seen him 3 times and was supposed to see him just a few weeks ago but could not get off of work.

Are you wondering who I am talking about? The best way to describe MC Chris is nerdcore even though the artist tries his hardest to stay away from that scene. Nerdcore is hip hop beats with nerdy lyrics. Imagine a sweet beat layed with rhymes about Star Wars or robot dogs and you have a hint of nerdcore. Mind you not all of MC Chris’ songs are in fact nerdcore, but still many associate him with it. Aside from songs MC Chris also likes to throw in a few little comedy skits and trust me some of it is hilarious. It’s hit or miss, you love it or hate it, and of course I love it.

The one thing I admire about the man is that he has done it all by himself. He used to work on the Adult Swim show Sealab 2021 as well as on Aqua Teen Hunger Force and opted to leave to persue his own passion, music. He tours with just a merch guy and handles everything himself. One man show indeed.

He has released 6 CDs since 2001 and not one has been on a record label. He is an internet addict posting blogs daily and is very personal with his fans. I love reading his blogs as he just talks about random things from dates he went on to the newest Xbox 360 game he got sucked in to. He is real and does not act like a rock star at all. Yet another reason why I like this guy so much.

Hearing he is taking a break is good and bad at the same time. It’s good because I know he was at one time was trying to have his own show of sorts on Adult Swim. Details about his project are unclear but I know it will be entertaining as his music.

Also if you are wondering what Black Friday 2 is, it is MC Chris’ sale of the year for his merch on his very own website. Head over to www.mcchris.com if you want to buy some gear at pretty good prices.

Here’s a bad quality video I took at him at one of the shows I was at (WARNING: Cussing Will Happen):

To clarify what was going on in the video: There was a drunk kid who was being drunk and dumb and MC Chris asked the kid to come up on stage and stand in the corner. When said drunk kid kept dancing and mocking the main act, MC Chris helped the kid exit the building. The quality of the video was crap, but it should give you a small taste of the sold out show that night…

90's, Cleveland, Live Shows, Music, Review, Rock

Filter @ Hard Rock Café – Cleveland, OH 11/01/2008

11 November, 2008 Brian Mc 1 Comment

So I am a little late on this post… I have been so busy with work and just life in general and have not had a moment to sit down until this now.

A couple Saturday’s back I was invited to check out Filter at Cleveland’s Hard Rock Café thanks to Big Machine Media. Little did I know, I was invited to a more intimate setting with proceeds being donated to the Cleveland Food Bank. It was also the world famous rock n’ roll restaurant’s ten year anniversary since it first opened it’s doors in Cleveland.

Just a quick note and tip for that matter… If you want a free Rolex, all you need to do is work at the Hard Rock Café for ten years. It’s no joke; a bunch of hard working employees were recognized for their decade of service before the show with an expensive timepiece. Just before the show started, a handful of dedicated workers at the Hard Rock Café were all presented with a fancy Rolex. It was nice to see such an award/thank you handed out, but who am I kidding…on with the show!!!

With the venue usually operating as a restaurant, it was no surprise that there was not much room for people to gather around the stage. Meeting up with Matt from AddictedToVinyl.com, we chose to stand our ground by the stage with our backs to the security gate that protected the large soundboard. Not the best place to be standing for picture taking, but I did my best to capture the evening.

Opening act Electric Touch from Austin, TX hit the stage for a set that I really was wishing could have been sped up. The rock act, reminding me of all sorts of acts from the Strokes to the Rolling Stones (the lead singer looked like Elijah Wood with Mick Jagger like moves), blew through their songs with high energy but really did not do much for myself or the rest of the crowd for that matter. Even if the lead signer had an English accent and two of the musicians were twins, their pop rock sound did not sit well with many who anticipated Filter. I am sure this will not the the last time I hear about Electric Touch though, with their self titled Electric Touch hitting shelves over the summer the poppy rock act should be gaining some attention…just not mine.

Cleveland’s Filter took to the stage that very well may have been the smallest stage they have ever performed on. That was the least of the industrial/hard rock’s worries though as they delivered an amazing performance to the very lucky crowd opening with “Welcome To The Fold” off of the band’s second release Title of Record. The current line-up all looked great and appeared to be having a great time. Lead signer Richard Patrick was full of smiles and energy that really lead the band through the eleven song set.

My highlight of the evening was when the band broke into “(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do”, a song that was actually created by Filter and electronic music duo The Crystal Method found on Spawn: The Album (1997 Film). I immediately sang along from start to finish is it is one of my favorite tracks by Filter. It sounded amazing live.

It was fun to people watch while the band continued to play. There were lots of fans there who clearly have been fans of Filter during their 13 year career. Having grown up, well most of them, some even brought their kids to the show. At one time Richard Patrick stopped in between songs to ask how old a certain young fan was. She let everyone know via microphone she was only nine years old.

The band continued through their set and performed “Hey Man, Nice Shot” the bands first commercial hit. Everyone sang along to the track pumping their fists in the air. It was indeed a very interactive evening. After the song ended the band left the stage with all, if not every, fan begging for more.

With a brief pause the band returned to the stage for their adoring fans and broke into “The Take” off the band’s 2008 release Anthems for the Damned. From there the band played “Take A Picture”, one of their other mainstream hits. After the last note was struck and the mic was put down, the band gave out sincere thank yous to everyone in the house. With a quick bow and many handshakes and hi-fives the band exited and called it a night.

I admit this was the first time seeing the band live. For some reason I thought I saw Filter live back in the day at a festival in the 90’s but apparently I was wrong (sorry Matt, I have no idea who I was thinking of) I found out after the show by rifling through my huge stack of ticket stubs and then went so far as to research the number of times Filter played Cleveland.

It was a great experience. Minus a couple of folk who clearly had too many pre-game drinks, most of the fans were really excited to be there and, like myself, really enjoyed their Saturday evening. After the show staff from FYE were selling the band’s latest release Anthems for the Damned for twelve bucks.

What I didn’t know was that if you bought a CD, the band would sign it for you. I picked up copy as I had not heard the politically charged album yet and needed something to listen to on the drive home. After making my purchase I was handed the CD and given a wristband and pointed where to stand in line if I wanted my CD signed. Since I was the only person standing there I decided to start the line and get the CD signed. After I chatted with the band briefly I turned around to make way to the parking deck and discovered that the line had grown quite large. Good timing on my part.

Thanks to my music loving guru Matt, who spoke about the show as well on his site AddictedToVinyl.com, I was able to score the entire set list:

Welcome To The Fold
American Cliche
Dose
(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do
It’s Gonna Kill Me
So I Quit
Jurassitol
Cancer
Hey Man Nice Shot

Encore:

The Take
Take A Picture

More pictures from the evening:

Art, Experimental, Indie, Live Shows, Music, Music Video, New Release, Punk, Review

Japanther – Tut Tut Now Shake Ya Butt – CD Review

6 November, 2008 Brian Mc Leave a comment

I didn't know Shaun White was in a band... — I didn't know Shaun White liked ice cream...

Japanther, an amusing, Brooklyn, experimental, trash punk rock act has recently released Tut Tut Now Shake Ya Butt on Wantage Records. This twosome do-it-yourself band has been going strong for over seven years thanks to their inimitable style and rareness. If you are artsy or into performing arts, chances are you may have already heard of this duo. Far from being in the spotlight, they hold their own having played shows in famous NYC museums and venues but have caught a taste of mainstream recently opening for Against Me!

I heard their band name before I ever actually heard their music and I must say after checking out Tut Tut Now Shake Ya Butt I have to say this is a weird yet interesting band reminding me of Negativeland meets the Dead Milkmen. It’s good though in the sense that the duo, art school heroes, do things all by themselves with limited assistance.

Opening tracks “Um, Like Your Smile Is Totally Ruining Me” sounding like a high school basement project and the unusual “Bloated Corpse” made it clear that these guys are in their own little world. Their sound is not what I thought at all but I found myself enjoying it.

“Bumpin’ Rap Tapes” was a cute friendless love track with lyrics that reminded me of something I might have written back in the days of high school hell. The cover of New Bad Things “The Dirge” entertained with under processed rock, but just wasn’t enough for me.

I was impressed to see that legendary Crass drummer Penny Rimbaud was not only the executive producer of their album but also contributed some of his poems for use in “Africa Seems So Far Away” and “I Thee Indigene”. Both tracks were spoken words of sorts with strange beats accompanying Penny Rimbaud reciting his works. Perhaps boring to some but when you are a fan of William S. Burroughs or spoken word in general, like I am, you tend to like stuff like this.

MC Spank Rock from Baltimore added his style to “Radical Businessman” an indie sounding track inspired from actual events of MC Spank Rock getting arrested. “Before The Sun Goes Down” closed out the CD with a track I favored over the rest. The song was a little more punked out over the previous.

The CD may not seem too exciting at first listen but then again this band is more of a DIY performing arts band and probably could care less what anyone thinks. They are known to take their music to the next level with interesting live shows that have featured synchronized swimmers at one show and puppets fighting at another. Not knowing this in advance may really stray you away from their material but once you see a clip of a live performance you can start to understand what the hell is going on…maybe.

The following videos are from previous releases. After viewing them I really see that Tut Tut Now Shake Ya Butt really strays in a different direction and I am thinking it was a result of Penny Rimbaud working with the duo. From what I have seen I think it would be best if I checked out Japanther’s catalog.

90's, Hip Hop, Live Shows, Music, Pop, Random, Rock

Beastie Boys and special guests to play Youngstown, OH 10-29-2008

15 October, 2008 Brian Mc Leave a comment

Thanks to my pal Matt (who I seem to thank a lot) I learned that the Beastie Boys are coming to Youngstown, OH on 10/29/2008 with special guests Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, and Norah Jones.

The Beastie Boys are counting on you to rock the vote this year.

This is the first time the Beasties have even come close touring in Cleveland since 1998. I saw them last year and even got to interview them at the Virgin Mobile Tour. I have to saw they are still awesome. My interview was not much of an interview as much as us just shooting the you know what… I really need to post that on here one day. Their live show was incredible. It was my third time seeing them live.

So now I am trying to figure out if I should go… I have so much going on late October. Decisions decisions… Pre-sale starts tomorrow at 10am. Password is VOTE. Go to their website for more info.

Concert, DVDs, Live Shows, Music, Music Video, New Release, Pop, Punk, Review, Rock

Unwritten Law – Live & Lawless – DVD/CD Review

3 October, 2008 Brian Mc 4 Comments

California punk rockers Unwritten Law have recently released their second live DVD for your visual and listening pleasure. This time around the band has teamed up with Suburban Noize Records to release Live & Lawless, a CD/DVD release that is more of a celebration of their success as a modern punk rock band rather then just another live show.

Recorded in March of 2008 at the historic Key Club on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, the band consisting of singer Scott Russo, guitarist Steve Morris, bassist Pat “PK” Kim, and temporary stand-in drummer Dylan Howard, make a point to play their hearts out to their hardcore fans.

Formed in the early nineties, Unwritten Law first started out as a speedier punk band but throughout the years they took different approaches to making music, and soon matured into more of a hard rock act. 1998’s self titled album had a couple of tracks that were put into heavy rotation on the radio but nothing more than that. In 2002, the band came out with Elva and their song “Seeing Red” became a chart topping hit.

Just one year later, the band was approached accidentally by VH1 (they meant to call Jimmy Eat World) to see if they would play some acoustic tracks. The result was Music In High Places, a part studio part live acoustic album that coincided with a separately released DVD called Live In Yellowstone.

Live & Lawless is the band’s first start-to-finish live DVD. This release also comes with a CD full of the tracks the band played that night in Hollywood. The CD has seventeen tracks plus a bonus track. The DVD covers the twenty-two song set and also contains some bonus footage.

The show starts with the band on stage in full force playing “Underground”. One of the first things I notice is that there are no bouncers in front of the stage and to me that is a nice thing to see. This show is strictly the band facing the fans. Hit songs “Teenage Suicide” and “Calin” were played to approving fans as they sang along as loud as they possibly could

The acoustic version of “Rest Of My Life” featured just Scott Russo and the crowd. His voice was on point throughout and did not crackle or show any signs of being tired even though sweat was dripping off his forehead. The rest of the band slowly snuck on stage where they smoothly depart into “She Says”. The crowd erupted as soon as they sang the refrain to the song.

“Before I Go” is a bonus treat to the crowd as the band starts a mini acoustic session with the entire band playing their acoustic instruments. I love the way this song sounds. They continue with “Elva” and surprisingly “Shallow”, a real old track by the band.

This was the first time I had heard the old school song performed acoustically and Scott Russo even admitted to the crowd that is was a special song they were going to play. I must say the song brought back some memories. Hearing the band slow the track down a bit and play it unplugged just made it that much more enjoyable. The only sad thing about this song is that I would guess two thirds of the crowd may never have heard this before. Arms waving and smiles were among the many but when it came time to sing along there was not as much partaking.

Before engaging in “Save Me” front man Scott Russo took a moment to spread some love to all the sardine packed fans in the front row. He asked everyone for some crowd participation before starting the song and just about everyone complied. With big thank yous it was clear that the concert was coming to an end.

Making this show even more memorable to myself, the very first song the band ever wrote, and one of my personal favorites, “CPH” closed out the show. Nothing like an oldie to wrap things up, especially when it was one of the first songs I heard as a teenager that caused me to become an Unwritten Law fan.

DVD bonus features included the music video for “Shoulda Know Better” as well as a intimate interview session with questions coming from the fans who were actually at the DVD shoot that evening. Hearing the story from Pennywise about Fletcher jumping a van into someone’s backyard was amusing. The band answered questions individually, shared their influences, decisions to change up their style, and even some more personal stories. The answer to how would Pat “PK” Kim look if he were bald had me laughing out loud as the bassist drew up a picture of himself.

There was not a dull moment throughout the entire live show. This DVD is pure evidence what a punk rock show should be. Seems like only yesterday a young punk rock me was in the crowd checking out Unwritten Law singing all of the songs they sang at the top of my lungs. Over ten years later, they still have it and show no signs of tiring out one bit.

Here’s a couple of clips from the DVD just for a small taste: