Covering the crossroads of music and film.
Entries tagged “Live”
LIVE: 3 Shows That I'll Recall Fondly
By James Ziegenfus on 01/02/2009
Filed under: '08 WAS GREAT!, LIVE2008 was a pretty decent year between me and my favorite music. I liked a handful of albums, but hardly loved any. (Tim Goldsworthy's production with Cut Copy and Hercules and Love Affair was probably the one thing that impressed me more than any specific record.) (left: Kraftwerk, "I couldn't hold their inaction against them.) I went to a lot shows and enjoyed many, but rarely walked away dragging my jaw on the ground from amazement. And isn't that the point of going to shows? To feel like there's nowhere else you'd rather be during that hour, or so?... MORE »
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SUMMER FESTIVAL UPDATE '08: Aug. 1-3
By Jim Shearer on 08/01/2008
We enter the last full month of Summer Festival season with one of the biggies, a folk staple, and two great reasons to travel up to Montreal this weekend: Lollapalooza (Chicago, IL) August 1-3 Radiohead Nine Inch Nails Rage Against The Machine Kayne West Wilco The Raconteurs Love & Rockets Gnarls Barkley MORE »
Attend a Live Ting Tings Concert Right Now
By Jim Shearer on 07/24/2008
Filed under: LIVEIf you've never seen or heard The Ting Tings live, you could do the latter right now. Their July 22nd performace at the 9:30 Club (Washington D.C.) was recorded live for NPR's All Songs Considered program. (left: Katie White, one-half of The Ting Tings.) To listen to the show, click HERE, then click on The Ting Tings Live In Concert under the headline: The Ting Tings Light It Up. MORE »
"Give It Up" for Corn Mo
By Jim Shearer on 07/24/2008
Filed under: FREE SONGSAnytime I can support Corn Mo and his backing band .357 Lover on the Indie Ear blog, you better believe that I'm going to do it. If you've never seen Corn Mo live in action, just close your eyes and envision Meatload, Sam Kinison, Freddie Mercury, and your favorite "big rock" band from the 70/80's melted down into one musical act. Throw in a masterful rock-star falsetto, an accordion, and an affinity for old-school professional wrestling and you've got yourself Corn Mo. (left: This is he, the one, the only: Corn Mo!) Corn Mo is offering up a free... MORE »
Bouncing Souls Mini-Tour, Yey!
By Jim Shearer on 07/23/2008
Filed under: SOONBecause punk rock bands never stop touring (even those that have earned their stripes and rest among the punk rock gods), The Boucning Souls kick off a mini-tour tonight in Mansfield, MA. The Jersey punk legends just finished doing a leg of the Warped Tour (God bless those fellas)! (left to right: Bryan Kienlen, Michael McDermott, The Pete, Greg Attonito) P.S. I'm super excited about the show in New York City (Sept. 19), the Souls will be sharing a bill with Sick Of It All! 07.23 - Mansfield, MA 07.24 - Darien Center, NY 07.25 - Camden, NJ 08.06... MORE »
Highlights From Pitchfork (Day #3)
By Jim Shearer on 07/21/2008
Filed under: LIVENo rain today, just a lot of hot summer sun to end this year's Pitchfork Festival. Here's a quick recap of Day #3: The Apples In Stereo Robert Schneider and crew treated everyone to a fun afternoon set. C'mon, how can you not have fun with the bubbly, positive, and upbeat Apples In Stereo? Schneider seemed to be a wee bit affected by the heat, guzzling down water after every few songs. At one point in the set he apologized to the fans, "Sorry I'm drinking so much water, but I'm sweating a lot and you can only sweat... MORE »
LIVE: Dizzee Rascal (Pitchfork '08)
By Jim Shearer on 07/19/2008
Filed under: LIVEAmazingly, Dizzee Rascal churned out one of the most crowd-friendly sets of the day--also one of the funniest. (left: Dizzee Rascal, maybe the only artist at this year's Pitchfork Festival who will publicly admonish the soundman.) It's been a few years since I've seen Dizzee perform live, but in those few years he's grown as both a performer and entertainer. Anyone familiar with his quick-fire rhyme flow knows that he's spittin' hundreds of words per minute, and somehow, he never runs out of breath--the kryptonite of many stateside MC's. He does have a hypeman, Scope, but for the most... MORE »
LIVE: Jay Reatard (Pitchfork '08)
By Jim Shearer on 07/19/2008
Filed under: LIVEToday was the first time I witnessed Jay Reatard live in action. Some of you Indie Ear bloggers may recognize him as the man that took out #2 seed Mars Volta in this year's Indie Ear Madness tournament. I told you then and I'm telling you now, the kid is a prime time player, baby! (left: Hell yes! A flying-V bass and a flying-V guitar!) Though early afternoon festival performances are sometimes a snooze, Jay Reatard and crew (Billy Hayes and Buzz Melvin look-a-like, Stephen Pope) brought their bouncy-garage-punk to Chicago and even managed to whip up a little... MORE »
LIVE: Public Enemy (Pitchfork '08)
By Jim Shearer on 07/19/2008
Filed under: LIVEBecause I grew up on Public Enemy, and because It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back is one of my favorite hip-hop albums of all-time, I was both thrilled out of my mind and scared to death to see P.E. perform it in its entirety. (left: Nothing like taking pictures of Chuck D on the jumbo-tron when the lighting gets bad.) On one hand, if done correctly, by letting the Bomb Squad's instrumentals breath freely on the turntables and hoping that Chuck D and Flavor Flav could co-exist in perfect harmony, this performance could be downright... MORE »
LIVE: Sebadoh (Pitchfork '08)
By Jim Shearer on 07/19/2008
Filed under: LIVEHaving Sebadoh play their Bubble and Scrape album in its entirety sounds good on paper, but executing it live is a different story. Let me explain: When Sebadoh was actually playing their distorted little gems from their 1993 album, they sounded great, sounded relevant, sounded like they should be touring the world today. But here's the problem--and I'm sure when the band recorded Bubble and Scrape they never realized that they'd be playing the album from beginning to end some 15 years later--the three members of Sebadoh share lead singing duties on the album's 17 tracks. Not only that,... MORE »
LIVE: Mission Of Burma (Pitchfork '08)
By Jim Shearer on 07/19/2008
Filed under: LIVEMission of Burma kicked off this year's Pitchfork Festival by performing their landmark album, Vs., from start to finish. No diss on early 80's recording techniques or even the re-mastered version of Vs. that was later released, but Mission of Burma sounded better live than on disc. Just like a good bowl of porridge, the bass was warm, and the drums and guitar sounded crisp, or as the bear in Goldilocks would say, "just right." (left to right: Peter Prescott, Roger Miller, Clint Conley)... MORE »
LIVE: Vampire Weekend, Kid Sister, Born Ruffians
By Jim Shearer on 06/16/2008
Filed under: LIVEOn Saturday afternoon, my wife and I thought it would be a good idea to catch the free Vampire Weekend concert at Central Park's Summerstage (New York City). Since there were two supporting acts and the weather was a little muggy, we thought arriving an hour beforehand would do the trick--boy were we wrong. When we approached the band shell it took us a good half-mile walk to reach the back of the line. Since I was calculating the math in my head with the number of people the Summerstage holds, I deducted that--just like at SXSW earlier this... MORE »
Tapes 'N Tapes Walk It Off w/ Conan O'Brien
By Jim Shearer on 04/09/2008
Filed under: SOONIt feels like it's turning into a Tapes 'N Tapes theme day here on the Indie Ear Blog, with their full-length interview just posted and all. Anyway, just to let you know (or remind you) Tapes 'N Tapes will be performing live on Late Night With Conan O'Brien tonight. This will jump-start their North American tour which starts tomorrow (April 10). (left: Josh Grier showin' some hometown purple-people-eatin' love in his Minnesota Vikings t-shirt) MORE »
LIVE: Anti-Flag
By Jim Shearer on 03/27/2008
Filed under: LIVEWednesday, March 26 New York, NY The Knitting Factory Last night's Anti-Flag concert at the Knitting Factory was my first ever "MySpace Secret Show." I'm still confused as to what a "MySpace Secret Show" entails? Besides a small banner hanging from the wall and some extra room in the mosh pit, you couldn't even tell the evening was being presented by MySpace. Um, I think if you add "Secret Shows" to your MySpace friend-list, you get alerted to the concert a couple days before everyone else?? I don't know what the hell I'm talking about--let's just get to the... MORE »
SXSW: MSTRKRFT (Live)
By Jim Shearer on 03/16/2008
Filed under: LIVEArmed with a mixer, two turntables, a CD-deck, and a laptop, MSTRKRFT closed out the night with a thick blend of dance grooves, or as Al-P likes to say, "maximal beats." Jesse Keeler is definitely the rockstar of the group, as well he should be--being a former member of the powerhouse thrash duo Death From Above 1979. I know purists claim electronic music is faceless, but when Keeler wipes back his bangs, or throws up his fist (dice-rolling style) during build-ups and break-downs, it only adds to the spectacle.... MORE »
SXSW: Modey Lemon (Live)
By Jim Shearer on 03/16/2008
Filed under: LIVEClassic rock on anabolic steroids--that's the best way I can describe the sound of Modey Lemon. By far, this was the loudest performance that I've taken in at this year's SXSW. When a drummer has two floor toms, that's a good indication that things are going to get noisy. Speaking of which, Paul Quattrone obliterated his drum-kit throughout the set and bassist/organist Jason Kirker isn't going to have a neck left in 5 years the way he thrashes it around on stage. Frontman, Phil Boyd also shouted out the band's hometown a couple times, proving once again that people... MORE »
SXSW: Jim Noir (Live)
By Jim Shearer on 03/16/2008
I think a lot of people were surprised by Jim Noir's new look. He's done away with his three-piece suit and bowler's hat and replaced it with a headband, a shaggy hairdo, and a pair of blue jeans. Noir sandwiched his set tonight with his two biggest hits to date--opening with "Eanie Meany" and closing with "My Patch." In the midst of a song, Noir's voice sounded sweet and confident. In between songs though, Noir seemed uncomfortable as a frontman, having a hard time connecting with the audience. Without a suit and tie to hide behind, Noir lost his... MORE »
SXSW: Nada Surf (Live)
By Jim Shearer on 03/15/2008
Nada Surf is the Seabiscuit of indie-rock music. They went from one-hit wonders, to not having their label release their sophomore album, to resurrecting their career and becoming one of the most consistently good bands in indie rock music today. It must have been "Hat Night" for the Nada Surf--Matt Caws was decked out in a top hat, while drummer Ira Elliot was wearing a cowboy hat. Daniel Lorca probably skipped out, cause there's no way he's going to fit a hat over his years of grown-out dreadlocks. Nada Surf showed the youngsters how to do it tonight. As... MORE »
SXSW: Tapes 'N Tapes (Live)
By Jim Shearer on 03/15/2008
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I saw the members of Tapes 'N Tapes set up their own equipment. Despite being a case study in the successful "blog band" phenomenon, they all still work day jobs when they're not touring. Tapes 'N Tapes' set echoed the band's demeanor--nice, honest, not overly dynamic, and a bit unpredictable. They showcased a few new tunes, which I won't be able to explain, cause I've never been able to pinpoint Tapes 'N Tapes' sound. Tonight, whenever I predicted a high-hat hit or a certain chord progression on the new material, they... MORE »
SXSW: Vampire Weekend (Live)
By Jim Shearer on 03/15/2008
Filed under: LIVEDenied. The picture to the left sums up my Vampire Weekend experience. This is the first time in all the years I've come to SXSW that I wasn't able to get into a show. I got to the venue a good 40 minutes before Vampire Weekend's set, and in those 40 minutes I probably moved up 10 feet. The irony in all of this, is that for all the people wrapped around the building to see Vampire Weekend, they didn't even notice when frontman Ezra Koeing popped out a side door, hung out for a couple minutes and brought... MORE »
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