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SXSW 2010 Day 1 – 18. March, 2010

Welcome to day one of my SXSW experience. Only minutes after I landed was I scooped up by a hippie-looking bus and treated to an advance of the upcoming album by The New Pornographers.

BTW, it sounded great.

After grabbing my badge and a quick bite at Stubb’s it was time to check out Visqueen.

Rachel Flotard sure can rock and man does she have a great set of pipes… and the rest of her ain’t bad neither. Rachel, if you’re ever in LA I’d be more than happy to treat ya to dinner and drinks.

Next up was The Walkmen.

Having seen them before, I knew they’d sound great but probably still feel as if they’re… I dunno, I’m not a fan of their stage presence.

I quickly ran up the block to see Here We Go Magic.

It wasn’t magic for me.

Two blocks down (gotta love these short sprints) I saw Power Solo at someone’s insistence.

It was different.

As I raced across 6th Street for my next show I stumbled across an awesome, mesmerizing voice and beat. Turned out to be The Asteroids Galaxy Tour.

.

Must check them out, give them a proper listen.

The room was packed for We Were Promised Jetpacks and it’s clear why.

These youngins from Scotland rocked it.

Finally I caught one of my favorite acts, Frightened Rabbit, and while I’m still warming up to the new album (it didn’t knock me out instantly like the last album did) their stage presence and musicianship is only that much better.

Fuck, they were awesome.

I tried to end the night with Surfer Blood but the room was so packed I was never gonna get in. I decided to stumble home but instead wandered in to see a bit of Spoon. They sounded great but I’ve seen them a few times and the siren song of a full night’s sleep was just too powerful.

That wraps my first day. That means it’s time for my pick-of-the-day. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to fall in love with We Were Promised Jetpacks.

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Until next time.

Posted in Off-Topic

Death Cab for Cutie @ Hollywood Bowl – 6. July, 2009

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:

Posted in Off-Topic