So it’s that time of the decade where everyone makes a list of the best/most important albums of the past ten years. After looking at the lists, a lot of the same names start cropping up. For examples, most lists will have…
Which are all very good but if this is what defines a decade, well, it was often an excellent decade but did any of these albums/songs break new ground or set the world aflame? Personally, I’d have to argue that this was the song of the decade…
And I think this is the album that defined a decade dominated by music piracy (Napster turned 10 this year) and laptop maestros…
Okay, some of you will say that I’m being unduly hard on this nascent century or that I’m just a child of the 90s but can we take a look at some of the albums that defined the last decade?
Yeah, right, I know! Unbelievably great albums.
Okay, let’s see if the 2000’s teen years can kick some ass.
I knew nothing about the band when I stepped though the door. I was more curious about the space.
First three music videos played. I thought about leaving before the band hit the stage but when they did, they were much better than I thought they’d be. I’d describe them as a Scandinavian Death Cab for Cutie minus the longer, epic, guitar-driven songs.
As for the space, it was pretty cool. I’d love to see a real art instillation there instead of stills from pretentious music videos but I’d go again.
Of all the pop shows I’ve seen at The Hollywood Bowl, this was by far the most consistently enjoyable. By that, I mean that all the bands were good, not one was a dud (as is usually the case but I’ll address that phenomenon at the end of this post).
The first opener was The New Pornographers. While their melodies are sweet, clean pop confections their sound last night was anything but. It felt like they needed another 30 minutes for a sound check… or maybe the bowl just swallowed them up. It’s been known to happen to good bands and I can vouch for The New Pornographers. These guys rocked their SXSW set a few years back.
Also, as good as their female singer was, she can’t compare to the power and clarity of Neko Case.
The second opener was Tegan and Sara and they were much improved since I saw them open for Ryan Adams (dude, when you gonna make another album that floors us?). First, it helped that this time they had a backing band; the two of them acoustic = tedious. Second, their sound was clean and tight (New Pornographers, take note of what they did for next time). Lastly, these two girl have a great stage presence/banter. They reminded me of the Smothers Brothers. Hey, Logo, are you developing a variety hour for these two?
Finally, Death Cab for Cutie took the stage. Like all previous pop acts that have played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the first half of Death Cab’s set was loaded with their heavier songs while the second half focused on slower songs with a more cinematic scope. In my humble opinion, I thought Death Cab did a great job.
Now, those points I was going to address. First, The Hollywood Bowl is an unforgiving space for pop acts. While it’s a cool novelty for a band to play there and it’s awesome that the audience can bring in a picnic, I think most bands should avoid the Bowl. Second, if you’re gonna play with the LA Philharmonic, embrace it, don’t treat it like jamming with a buddy. Death Cab should have dumped their usual instruments and only had the orchestra backing them. That would have been amazing. Lastly, Transatlanticism is their best album but this might be my favorite song/video of theirs:
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