29 -- Coldplay -- Friday, October 31, 2008 -- Verizon Center – DC

I fell asleep. I bought my ticket, found my seat, settled into the first few songs, and fell asleep. Strangely, however, this was not a bad reflection on Coldplay. Coldplay actually put on a heckuva show, as I’ll describe in a minute. The problem was the concert was held on a Friday night during the school year. I sleep in Saturday mornings, so I’m good to go Saturday nights, but social events Friday…just don’t work. No matter what the activity or the venue – Gone Baby Gone at Tysons’ Corner, dinner and drinks at Adams’ Morgan, this concert at the Verizon Center – 5am catches up with me. A Metallica drummer could probably be standing in front of me pounding in both ears, and I’d still start to doze off.














All that being said, I was able to stay awake and enjoy most of the show. As you’d expect, “Viva La Vida” was the clear high point. From my upper deck seat, I could see the entire arena lift up and join in. There was head bobbing, thigh slapping, and actual rhythmic dancing – which was quite an accomplishment, given the sizable white male contingent. Other musical highlights included the “Clocks” laser light show, the twisty “Don’t Panic,” and the moody “Cemeteries of London.” Memorable non-musical moments included the unveiling of the giant disco ball Jack O’ Lantern, the mad dash band members made across half the arena into the crowd, and the fact that they pledged not to make any political statements two days before an election...right before implicitly sharing their support for Obama.









Grade: A-

27 & 28 -- Alkaline Trio & Rise Against -- Monday, October 13, 2008 -- Roseland Ballroom – NYC

Alkaline Trio

I would never want to be an opening act. After seeing Alkaline Trio open for Rise Against last October, I don’t know if I’d even want to see another opening act. No matter how good you are – even if you are an audience member’s favorite band – you’re destined to be second best. Most of the crowd won’t know you, and may even talk through your performance. The part of the crowd that does know you will be angry that you didn’t play half the songs they wanted to hear and angry that the other people won’t shut up. You just can’t win.

This is basically what happened to Alkaline Trio at Roseland Ballroom. It did not help that virtually all of the songs they played came from their latest album, the disappointingly poppy Agony and Irony. “I Found Away” has a nice verse-chorus contrast and “In Vein” has a strong beat, but overall, the album pales in comparison to earlier entries. “Help Me” and “Live Young, Die Fast” sound like Fall Out Boy rejects and “Love Love Kiss Kiss” is just embarrassing. A drippy ballad from the guys who brought you “Private Eye”? Really? If a bunch of edgy songs had been thrown into the mix, I probably would be able to embrace “Calling All Skeletons” – which is incredibly catchy, hand claps and all. As is, though, it sounded like the first of many sell out songs.







Grade: C+


Rise Against

I had far from given up on Alkaline Trio as musicians – one listen to “We’ve Had Enough” is all they’d need to return to form – but I had given up on the night. I was so embittered by the opening that I seriously considered leaving before the main show. I knew it would only go downhill from there. I had listened to all of the Rise Against albums and had difficulty remembering any of the songs, mainly because most of them were equally bad. Appeal to Reason had its moments but The Sufferer and the Witness was abrasive and Siren Song of the Counterculture was unlistenable. Who wants to listen to a bloodcurdling, lyricless wail for a minute and a half (i.e. “State of the Union”)? And how is that music?

Thank God I decided to stay. Over the next two hours, I witnessed a revolution. I watched as fundamental concert rules were broken; I listened as my basic assumptions about live shows were proven wrong. The first basic assumption that was proven wrong was the idea that I needed to know the songs beforehand to get anything out of them. The second was that I needed to like the songs I knew to get a lot out of them. And as I made clear in previous paragraph, I neither liked nor knew most Rise Against songs.

Standing there, though, among 3000 rabid Rise Against followers, was incredible. They pounded their fists, pounded their thighs, and spit out every word of every song. It was like being taken in by a pack of rhythmically gifted wolves. Or, more to the point, it was like attending a left-wing Hitler Youth rally. The whole Hitler Youth comparison is an exaggeration of course, but it did seem hilariously plausible when the band told the crowd to “RISE” – that is, to raise one arm up in unison! Hippie Fascists Unite!







As it turned out, the most powerful songs ended up being the least aggressive. Frontman Tim McIllrath spend the majority of the show running and screaming across the stage, so it made the moments in which he pulled back euphoric. On the album, “Hero of War,” a bitter acoustic tribute to soldiers in Iraq, was poignant. Performed live, I got chills. Nearly as moving were the covers he played for two of the opening bands, Thrice and Gaslight Anthem. Instead of feigning enthusiasm for the openers by saying their names and insisting how “great” they were, McIllrath actually introduced and performed two of their songs. I would have been in the stratosphere if he had also performed one of the Alkaline Trio songs, but you can’t have everything.



The final fundamental rule Rise Against broke was that you should not end on your biggest hit because it will feel like pandering. In other words, true fans (/people who have connected with you the entire show) will feel that you are cynically dragging out a song you have lost affection for long ago. (See Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle,” Alkaline Trio’s “Radio,” Coldplay’s “Yellow,” etc.) Remarkably, Rise Against was able to end on “Prayer of the Refugee” and make it seem like a bold move. They knew just when to push forward and pull back. Moments before, they had played the Siren Song ballad “Swung Life Away.” Knowing the audience had sufficiently rested with that softer song, they tore into “Refugee” with a vengeance. The crowd, understandably, flipped out. They started jumping, thrusting, screaming…it was incredible.

I may not be a card-carrying member of the Fascist Hippie community, but rest assured: next time Rise Against comes to NY or DC, I am there.





Grade: A+

26 -- Cake -- Thursday, October 2 -- Pier Six -- Baltimore, MD

They gave away a tree. They built it up throughout the show, asking pseudo serious questions between songs, culminating in a final Guess the Species round before the encore. And then, after the encore, they yanked the ten-foot sapling out of the soil it had been sitting in on stage and passed it off to the lucky winner. Who does that?!














Cake, clearly. It did not occur to me at the time, but the tree stunt actually fit the band perfectly. It was arresting, daring, and hilariously offbeat. You did not fully know what was going in, but you picked up on the sarcasm, the fake eco enthusiasm. They let you in on the elaborate, sly joke.

All of those characteristics also fit Cake’s music. I was happy to find that they played virtually all of my favorite Cake songs. It was also gratifying to hear that frontman John McCrea's voice lost nothing on stage – it was every bit as deep and snarky as on the albums.





Grade: A-

25 -- Weezer -- Friday, September 26 -- The Borgata -- Atlantic City, NJ

Ok, so this concert brought good news and bad news.

Bad news first: the concert disappointed me. The venue seemed like it doubled as a studio for a ‘70s dating show, the audience seemed to be filled with overgrown frat boys, the band played very little Pinkerton, and, most importantly, Rivers Cuomo’s mustache was horrible. I’m kidding to an extent when I say that the mustache was the ‘worst’ part, but it was hard to get past. Like the fleeting cowboy hat and extended Hootenanny stunt, it felt like he was trying to be eccentric – looking for some Cake-style funk. The problem was that has never been Weezer’s appeal. They have always been more about sincerity than irony. You could count on them to rock, not smirk – to show emotion, not hide behind a wink.

The good news was that for most of the show, Weezer did rock; they did show emotion. I was disappointed because Weezer had long been my favorite band, and I wanted them to be perfect, but it was still thrilling to hear so many meaningful songs on one night. I had waited four years to hear “Say It Ain’t So,” “Undone,” “Pink Triangle,” and “Buddy Holly” live, and now I could finally hear them! I had also been waiting months to hear a number of the Red Album tracks. Some fans seem to hate the new album, but they seem to have confused it with Make Believe (a truly awful record). Other than “Everybody Get Dangerous,” the songs are remarkably strong. “Troublemaker” and “Pork and Beans” are catchy as anything on Green, “Greatest Man Who Ever Lived” is an stunning, ten-style epic, and “Dreamin’” / “Heart Songs” sound like hidden tracks from a hopeful Pinkerton.

The fact that they opened with “My Name is Jonas” was a pleasant surprise. The distinctive smell that circulated through the crowd during “Hash Pipe” was…not that surprising.

In the end, despite my disappointments, despite the fact that I nearly died on the way to the show (driving five hours on a Friday night after a full work week is not a good idea), I am glad I went. If I scale back my expectations for August’s NJ/MD shows, I’m sure the grade will bump up to an “A.”

Grade: B+

24 -- Ben Folds -- Wednesday, September 24, 2008 -- DAR Constitution Hall -- DC

There are a lot of adjectives I could use to describe Ben Folds: poignant, perceptive, funny, corny, clever, etc. One adjective I never would have expected to apply is “arrogant.” Sadly, though, Folds’ arrogance took center stage at DAR Constitution Hall. The first SIXTEEN songs were tracks that no one had heard before. Twelve were from his yet-to-be-released Way to Normal album, and four were “fake” versions of the new songs that they “made up on the flight.” If he wasn’t arrogant, he was really unobservant because the audience clearly was not amused. He may have expected them to find the fake versions ‘cutting edge’ and the full album a ‘rare privilege,’ but they clearly didn’t. Their reaction was less ‘rapt silence’ than ‘rising hostility.’

Thank God, for the audience’s sake (and Folds’ safety), there was an encore. “Zak and Sara” was a perfect transition song, an infectious piece of rhythm candy that could take anyone out of the deepest malaise. “Badoodoodoodoodoodoo… Zak and Sara spelled without an ‘h’ were getting bored, on a peavey amp in 1984. Zak without a ‘c’ tried out some new guitars, playin’ Sara with no ‘h’’s favorite song…Ladadaladadaladada, Zak and Sara!”



I’m not a huge fan of the next song, “Landed,” but it was a song the audience would know, so it was a wise choice. The final song was another wise choice, “My Philosophy.” (I’m going to pretend he didn’t end with an abysmal fake version of the already abysmal “Frown Song.”) “My Philosophy” was a known song, it satisfied the need to be both moved and entertained, and it actually improved upon the original.



I should probably remove the ‘actually’ qualifier from that description because, in general, Ben Folds is a talented live performer. The decision to start with sixteen unheard tracks was incredibly dumb, but everyone was into the last three songs, and Ben Folds Live is the best live album I’ve ever heard. On the album and in the encore, he managed to do what Guster, Death Cab, and Jack Johnson couldn’t: he sold acoustic. He made minor alterations in melodies, shared insights into the creation of certain songs, and threw in more than a few witty comments. He understood that these touches enhanced, not detracted from, the songs themselves. In short, he made Soft rock.







Grade: B

23 -- Counting Crows -- Saturday, August 9, 2008 – Nissan Pavilion -- Bristow, VA

My main criticism of Guster, Death Cab, and The Offspring’s performances was that they were a bit forced – they tried too hard to be something they weren’t. All of these bands were models of restraint in comparison to Counting Crows.

Frontman Adam Duritz’ intention was presumably to pour his heart out. The problem was, he seemed determined to do this literally, not metaphorically. He flailed his limbs, pounded the microphone into his chest, yanked his head back and forth, and most importantly, threw the words out as if they were unsavory projectiles. His vocal inflections on some of the albums are superb. The progression of pain to pleasure in “Round Here” and “Rain King” is incredible. The first three tracks of Foo Fighters’ In Your Honor are the only ones that I’ve heard capture the progression better. And to hear those intricate inflections bludgeoned time and time again…it was depressing.





The last thing I wanted to do was trash Duritz. I’d looked forward to seeing Counting Crows for nearly a year. Other than Arcade Fire, their Wikipedia page was probably the one I checked most to see if they were ever scheduling any new shows. “A Long December” helped me through the first few months at Frost, and “Mr. Jones” got me the rest of the way. (Call “Mr. Jones” played-out frat rock if you want; I would never have gotten that support from Hootie…)





Overall, though, if I’m being fair, I have to declare the concert a huge letdown. I give him credit for going there -- it takes guts to be that earnest – but he needed to know when to pull back. Shrieking does not make you genuine; a seizure does not show you’re sincere.

Grade: C-

19 & 20 & 21 & 22 -- Wilco/The Offspring/Jack Johnson/Foo Fighters AKA Virgin Mobile Fest 2008 – Sat, Aug 9, 2008 -- Pimlico Race Track -- Baltimore

First Festival!

The main cool thing about attending a festival is that you get to see a bunch of different bands. That gives you more bang for your buck, leaves you clamoring for more if there’s a band you like, and enables you to quickly move on if there’s a band you don’t.

The main cool thing about blogging a festival is that you don’t have to write as much for each band. They play fewer songs, so it’s perfectly acceptable to write less. Yay, laziness. I hope to continue this laziness at Austin City Limits and Bonnaroo in the near future. ;) For now, here are four capsule reviews from the 2008 Virgin Mobile Fest.

Wilco

“Spiders” still rocked! I thought it would be a letdown after the mind-blowing Merriweather performance the year before, but it sounded as good. “Muzzle of Bees” and “Sky Blue Sky” sounded just as smooth. A.M./Summerteeth songs sounded better because this time I’d actually heard the albums before the concert. ;)

Both aspects of the concert that I found disappointing were out of Wilco’s control: (1) There were not enough Wilco fans in the audience. A fair number of morons talked through the performance. Great as festivals can be, the presence of non-fans is a definite disadvantage. (2) There were not enough Wilco songs. I said earlier that it’s good to be left wanting more, but here it was simply too few to be satisfied.

Grade: B


The Offspring

It was a solid show: they brought a ton of energy, made several genuine attempts to talk with the crowd, and played as many hits as time would allow. I particularly liked “Self Esteem,” “Original Prankster,” “You’re Gonna Go Far Kid,” and “The Kids Aren’t Alright.” “The Kids Aren’t Alright” was the best for me because I’d already connected to it through my kids at school. To get the kids pumped for the school-wide ping pong tournament I organized, I played a You Tube version of the song in all the classes. The song plays as each of the Top Ten Ping Pong Shots of All Time are revealed. After watching the clip, one of the kids even said, “The shots wouldn’t be the same without the song!”




Solid as the show was, it couldn’t enter the “A” range because the Offspring didn’t have the gravitas of a dark punk band. The moshing was fun, and “Pretty Fly” was amusing, but you didn’t feel the weight you’d feel at a Rise Against or Alkaline Trio concert. The performance also felt…forced at times. True Punk is about cunning, menace, and focused aggression. It’s a metaphorical finger to the Man. If you feel the need to actually extend that finger every three seconds, to shout “F’in A” after every song, you’re not true Punk. You’re just trying too hard.




Grade: B+


Jack Johnson

My minor Offspring criticism was that they tried too hard. My MAJOR Jack Johnson criticism was that he didn’t try AT ALL. He strummed, he mumbled, and he left. He made no attempt to emote, no attempt to relate to the crowd; he just stood there and strummed.

As I said in my Death Cab review, I’m not expecting someone with a soft sound to go hard. A rendition of “Flake” that included guitar smashing would be amusing -- but ridiculous. Finishing “Bubble Toes” with a feet-first slide across the stage would be just as unfortunate.

Your job as an acoustic artist is not to rock out; your job is to draw your audience in. If he’d made minor alterations in certain melodies, shared a few insights into the creation of certain songs, threw in a witty comment or two, he’d have been golden. These touches would not have detracted from the songs themselves; they would have enhanced them. Yet…he stood there and strummed.

The infuriating low point of the show was the gnat. Midway through “Wasting Time,” a gnat buzzed around the frets of his guitar, causing him to mess up the melody. Here it came, the human moment, the opportunity to augment the album, to show everyone the man behind the ‘magic.’ “Oh. Again, I guess.” That was his response. The backup guitarist tried to help him seize the moment, goading him about how rude the bug had been. “Oh. Yeah. Ok.” The gnat continued to buzz. Johnson started playing again. Eventually, the gnat went away – as did any chance that this concert would end up as anything other than the worst that I have ever attended.







Grade: D- (He escapes without an ‘F’ because, performance or not, “Breakdown” is still so smooth.)


Foo Fighters

Other than having a few less songs, this Foo Fighters concert was a virtual repeat of the Montreal one. The lack of originality did not remotely dampen my enthusiasm, though, because it was still a first-rate, fist-pumping performance.

If anything, I enjoyed this show more because I had something to directly compare it to – the Jack Johnson debacle two hundred yards away. I actually started at the Jack Johnson concert, intending to check out Foo Fighters only briefly, since I’d already seen them. (Why festival organizers forced festivalgoers to choose between the two headliners in the first place is another question. I suppose they thought the bands would not have overlapping fans, but the bands were high profile enough that people would have wanted to hear both.) After discovering that an insect flying on stage had more stage presence than the actual performer, though, I fled to Foo and never went back.




The only awesome element I did not mention in the Montreal review was the Triangle Solo. You kind of had to be there to appreciate it, but there was this hilarious moment during the acoustic section of the show when Dave Grohl gave generic props to everyone in the band, paused, paused again, and said, “And finally, we have Drew Hester. Drew Hester, you see, is no ordinary triangle player. And you’re not about to hear any ordinary triangle solo. Get ready, because you are about to hear a triangle genius perform the greatest f'ing triangle solo you’ve ever heard!” Grohl was right. Drummer Taylor Hawkins also did well on the extended solo he was given later in the show, but nothing could compare the triangle…

Grade: A

Bruce Springsteen – Monday, July 28 – Giants Stadium – East Rutherford, NJ

Sadly, I can give this concert neither a grade nor a full review. I did not miss all of the concert, but you can’t judge a show on 10% of its songs.














I missed almost the entire show because while driving through the city on the way to the show, my dad, sister, and I got hit by an ambulance (irony, no?). We were all fine, thankfully, but didn’t make it to the Meadowlands until two hours in. Then it took us another 45 minutes circling the stadium trying to find a gate that would let us in that late. It was especially painful for my dad, walking all that way on a bad back.

I was glad that we made it in for the encore. At least my dad was able to get a taste of a Springsteen show.

18 -- Bruce Springsteen – Sunday, July 27, 2008 – Giants Stadium – East Rutherford, NJ

I mentioned in the REM / Modest Mouse review how excited I was that I had scribbled a “liveblog” during the concert that I could simply transcribe here. Moments ago, I discovered that I also did a write up for this Bruce Springsteen show! Yay, laziness! Here is what I wrote the morning after the show:

The coolest thing about this concert was seeing it with old people. Ok, older people. I thought I’d feel resentful of my cousin Kevin and his friend Mike McDonald, who were able to see Springsteen in high school, in college, and thirty times in between. At the Meadowlands, though, it ended up being moving watching how much it still affected them. Mike kept shaking his head through the opening set, which included numerous old songs like “Spirit in the Night,” “No Surrender,” “Bobby Jean,” “Workin’ on the Highway,” and “Youngstown,” which Kevin said Springsteen hadn’t played in concert in 20 years! The high point of the first section was “Atlantic City,” a nostalgia song that moved Mike to tears.



The overall high point of the concert was “Jungleland” – as it had been at UVA. It was less a song than an experience – eight minutes of Bruce’s voice at its most subtle and soulful, eight minutes for you to close your eyes and get lost in a knife fight. The thing that made the song at UVA was the physical distance I was from the stage. Buried in the dark under an awning a football field away from the performer, I could still feel every note, pause, and piano chord. It worked more than the rest of the concert because I wasn’t being dragged down by the lifeless fogies around me – it was just me and the voice in the distance.

Because it was a giant outdoor stadium, “Jungleland” didn’t have quite that intimacy, but it had its own advantage: the fact that 45,000 people became dead silent during certain sections of the song. This time there was also the excitement of wondering whether he’d actually play the song (Kevin said he rarely does)...and leaping out of your seat when you realized he was.



Grade: A

17 -- Alkaline Trio – Friday, July 11, 2008 – Rams Head Live – Baltimore, MD

The only thing that prevented this from being another perfect show was “Radio.” I was thrilled when they ended on it in Richmond because I thought it was an inspired choice – the first Trio song I ever loved happened to be the last song they’d played that night. I realized this time, though, that it was the last song they played at every set, like “The Middle” was for Jimmy Eat World. I’d probably be projecting if I said the band was not as into it as they were the other songs, but it still felt cheap.

Fortunately, the rest of the concert did not feel remotely cheap. It was every bit as frenzied and euphoric as it was in Richmond. The two best songs, the songs that I will look for them to sing at every subsequent concert, were “Mercy Me” and “Armageddon.” The former hinges on the chorus, which includes the deliriously confusing line “Oh mercy me, God bless catastrophe.” (What does that mean?! So many possibilities…) The latter hinges on the verses, which build and build and build better than any song I’ve heard. I jumped so high and so continuously during the two songs (they were played back to back) that my calves become sore afterwards.

The new measure of a great punk concert? Sore calves.

16 -- Alkaline Trio – Thursday, June 19, 2008 – The National – Richmond, VA

I can now definitively say that Alkaline Trio is my FAVORITE band. I do not claim they are virtuosos, I do not even strongly recommend you listen to them, but I do know they move me most. I first started to recognize this three years ago in Mexico. I did not include my reflections on them in the original ColinitoEnOaxaca blog because they did not seem to fit its travelogue theme, but they certainly seem relevant now. Here is what I wrote:

Since I recently started listening to music, I’ve developed favorite bands. Weezer, White Stripes, Red Hot Chili Peppers – I could go on. This is an accomplishment unto itself. I don’t think, though, I have ever connected as consistently and completely as I have with Alkaline Trio. Every time I begin to doubt them – they’re too morbid; they’re too one note – they come up with another solid song. Other than “Radio,” I probably couldn’t distinguish between many of them, but that indistinguishability, for my purposes, is a strength. I’m not looking for a unique, unapproachable Elliot Smith track every time I listen. I’m looking for a varied, driving rhythm; an authentic, acidic voice; and above all, an evocation of dark emotions: anger, fear, bitterness, dejection, etc. And virtually every time, Alkaline delivers.

Grade: A+

14 & 15 -- Modest Mouse & REM -- Wednesday, June 18, 2008 -- Mann Center -- Philadelphia, PA

‘Live blogging’ is a common feature of well-known online blogs. AndrewSullivan.com, for example, live blogged the Presidential Debates. EntertainmentWeekly.com live blogged the American Idol finale. Live blogging is an exciting idea for me because it means no paragraphs – no obsessive editing! It is pure bullet points, edited only for typos.

I mention this because I scribbled down numerous hand written notes during the Modest Mouse / REM concert, effectively live blogging my first concert. This means I don’t have to write up anything new now! Woohoo! Only 47 concert writeups to go…

Modest Mouse

Yay, they begin the “The View”! It’s loud and driving and so not Death Cab! The vocals are a little garbled, but the guitar is much better than on the album. So aggressive – especially on the second “are you dead or are you sleeping?” song. “Dance Hall” is an angry too, in a funky, offbeat way. “Fire It Up” is more passive, particularly the intro. This contrast works well.


I love the idea of a legit band being “the backup band.” It cuts out all the filler; they just play their best. …Not that this awful crowd appreciates it. All they do is wander around their seats, not paying a lick of attention, waiting for the odd young punks to get off the stage.

Ooooh, pounding drums, intrigue. Oh, it’s “Dashboard”! No wonder “Dashboard” has become popular. It’s the most rhythmically complicated song so far. “Bukowski” is simpler, but solid.


I wonder how to categorize Modest Mouse. They’re not whiny enough to Emo, or formulaic enough to be Pop. I’ll go with Driving, Stylized Oddness.

“Spitting Venom” – WOW. That was a legitimate concert MOMENT. Began with the ultra bass “let it all drop,” added horns, drums, feedback, and swiveling lights, started to fade, and then went back to the horns, drums, feedback, and lights. Finally, in the last few seconds, the sea of noises dissipated. This is why I go to concerts. So much better than the album version.

Unexpected bonus: they didn’t even play “Float On.” That’s so punk.



Grade: A-


REM

Solid, packed crowd. Are there five times more bald white men here than in the general population, or do I just notice it more because of Michael Stipe?

Mirrors behind the stage are a cool effect, if a bit, uh, narcissistic.

Lol. Stipe’s gyrating like a pasty, middle-aged Shakira.

Sound-wise, “Bad Day” (an old Bush basher) is the best so far, but it is kind of strange: a bouncy, upbeat sing-a-long about what he considers a catastrophic presidency?!

I love the fact that almost everything is coming from Greatest Hits and Accelerate, the only two albums I listened to!

Such quick songs, so little talking. I wish he were less workmanlike.

“Electrolite” gets a check-plus. The delicate lyrics, the piano key change, and all the colorful holograms in the background make it memorable.

Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam walks on stage, surprising everyone, and joins the band for “Begin the Begin.”

The crowd liked “The Great Beyond” and “Losing My Religion,” but “Orange Crush” deservedly gets the biggest reaction. The melody soars.

Brilliant transition to the frenzied “End of the World…” after “Orange Crush.”





People are leaving early? Really?

Nice, sentimental finish with “Man on the Moon.”



Grade: B

13 -- Death Cab for Cutie – Monday, June 9, 2008 – Merriweather Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD

A Lack of Consistency

My relationship with Death Cab has been turbulent. I started off hating them -- as many of my woefully ignorant students still do. ;) The tracks I heard in passing sophomore year sounded whiny and depressing. They were a Radiohead ‘homework’ band that I was supposed to listen to. It did not matter that my ears hurt afterwards; the stimulation of my brain would make up for it! They were not meant to be liked; they were meant to be appreciated!


Then I heard “Title and Registration.” The scratching/swaying rhythm, the baffling images, the soaring melody change two-and-a-half minutes into song....I couldn’t get it out of my head. My interest was piqued further when James Porter, Sara Rutter, and a few of the TDX pledges included Death Cab songs on their lists. “A Lack of Color” was poignant, “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” was haunting, and “Marching Bands of Manhattan” was something I never would have expected – upbeat! (Alright, so ‘upbeat’ might not be the best word to describe a song that ends with “your love is gonna drown”…but the tone and rhythm of the song were encouraging. How about ‘upbeat for Death Cab’? There – that’s better…)

In the weeks before the concert, I listened to Plans, Transatlanticism, Something About Airplanes, and all the Postal Service singles. I also scoured Songmeanings.com to get an idea of what some of the more puzzling lines meant. This was not dutiful concert prep; I genuinely enjoyed what I was listening to / researching about and couldn’t wait to hear them live.




So What Went Horribly Wrong at Merriweather Post Pavilion?

Well, there’s a thing called ‘stage presence.’ And it turns out, Ben Gibbard does NOT have it. It’s not that he didn’t try. He did pluck at his guitar forcefully; he did try to infuse life into most of the melodies. It was just…awkward. Remember that Simpsons episode where Bart and Millhouse get vocal aid mics that enable them to go on tour as this popular boy band. It’s the one where at the end, their mics accidentally get yanked out, and everyone can hear that they’re just tone deaf 12-year-olds? You should never have to think of that episode at a rock
concert.










I was not even expecting a ‘ROCK CONCERT.’ I mean, if Gibbard went on and started roaring at the crowd, sliding across the stage, and smashing random guitars, that would be equally strange. I expected him to use vulnerability as a strength – to deliver the type of tender, show-stopping ballad an American Idol contestant delivers once a season (Bo Bice’s “In A Dream,” David Archuleta’s “Imagine,” Katherine McPhee's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow.") Death Cab’s style is certainly suited for it: impeccable vocals, elegant arrangements, poetic lyrics….The audience would have to be moved.

Sadly, though, it seemed that most weren’t moved because Gibbard made a fundamental mistake: he tried to go “bigger.” He recognized that he wasn’t in a studio or in a coffee shop (his ideal environment), so he compensated by shouting and pounding in parts where he needed to whisper and strum. You felt for him, but you didn’t like what you were hearing. You came for Death Cab, not a well-meaning Death Cab cover band.

GIANT EXCEPTION: “Transatlanticism”

The one giant exception to this rule was “Transatlanticism.” The first reason this song was an exception was that it didn’t suck. There was that. ;) It also went against the idea that he should steer clear of “big” moves. The whole song was one big move – a nine-minute crescendo complete with piano, guitar, synthesizer, and triangle.

It worked brilliantly, though, because it wasn’t just Gibbard – the melody and instruments took center stage. If you listen to the linked studio version, you should be able to feel some of emotion/atmosphere. It is more stirring live obviously, but unless you’re one of my hopelessly misguided students ;) it should still be powerful.


Overall: C

Lifehouse – Friday, April 4, 2008 – 9:30 Club – Nada Surf – Saturday, April 12, 2008 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC

Prepped extensively for both, bought tickets for both, missed both. It was frustrating. The explanations for why I missed them are not remotely interesting, however, so I’ll just leave you with samples from the much better band. Here’s Nada Surf’s “Popular,” "Concrete Bed," and “Always Love.”

12 -- Bruce Springsteen -- Wednesday, April 30, 2008 -- John Paul Jones Arena -- Charlottesville, VA

Behind the Music

It turns out that the route to UVA is one long, straight road. Good to know.

Dinner with Jason Lee and Mick Andersen before the concert was fun. Mick was painfully boring – as usual. ;)

RIP

Danny Federici, a lifelong member of the E-Street Band, died a week before the show. The stories and videos that were shared during the show did him justice.

None But The Old

So I was not four rows from the stage this time – not by a long shot. I was in the Upper Level, Section 310, Row W – about as far from the stage as you could get. The biggest problem was not that it was harder to see (which it was) or that it was harder to hear (which it definitely was).

The biggest problem was that I was surrounded by senior citizens. I’m not being mean, unfairly trashing diehard fans because they happened to be middle aged. I’m simply stating facts: I was surrounded by 60 year olds who refused to chant, cheer, or even sway. Expecting them to be truly hip was probably expecting too much, however; they had just finished surgery… (Ok, so that part was a little mean – but deserved!)

Still Had One Thing Going For Me

I still had Springsteen. In the end, the sound and the audience were secondary. I was still there experiencing the past, present, and “future of rock and roll.”

Everything But "Jungleland"

…was covered in the November 18, 2007 entry.

“Jungleland”

“Jungleland” never stood out for me on CD. It was a good story song, but it seemed a bit dated – not a song I would cross my fingers for him to play live. After the UVA rendition, I’ll consider any subsequent concert in which he does not play it a disappointment.

The power of the moment was the pacing. The song before it was “Badlands.” He worked the crowd into a lather; they were stomping, cheering, fist pumping – willing to spit in the face of anything that got in their way.

Revved as they were, though, they’d also expended a ton of energy. They were ready for something more calm. Enter “Jungleland.”

After a brief pause and clever “Meeting Across the River” transition, the familiar piano keys started up: do, do, doot, dooo, doot, do, doot, doot, do, dooo… “The RANGErs had a homecoming in Harlem late last night…”

For the next nine minutes, I closed my eyes, crossed my arms, and listened. The nosebleed seats, which had previously been a burden, now became an advantage. Others had not had to struggle the whole night to hear the songs; I had. Now, with the arena dead silent, I could finally hear. And, oh, what I heard: an opera out on the turnpike, a ballet fought in the alley, a rasp for “barefoot girls sitting on the hood of a Dodge drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain.” It probably sounds painfully earnest to a non-fan. Listen to 4:05-9:48, though -- through the sax solo, piano solo, and key change. I hope, in some small way, you’re moved.

Grade: A

11 -- The New Rockers -- Tuesday, April 15, 2008 -- 9:30 Club – Washington, DC

I refuse to fully recap this concert. They have a number of well-sung, well-arranged songs (“Sing Me Spanish Techno,” “Letters from an Occupant,” "Challengers," and the euphoric “Bleeding Heart Show”), but I refuse.

Why? Their supreme arrogance. The arrogance starts with their name. Yes, rock and roll can be stimulating; we get it. But why the name?! Your music does not contain a lick of sex, violence, or profanity. Why immediately mislead newcomers and force fans into many awkward defenses of your merits? I suppose you think you’re being clever and non-conformist, but frankly, you’re just being dumb.

Equally dumb was their decision to play it ‘cool’ during the concert – and by ‘cool,’ I mean putting little-to-no passion into any aspect of the performance. The lead male guitarist joked with a guy in the crowd occasionally – that, I suppose, was acceptably hip. For the most part, though, they came on, played their songs, and left. They’re talented songwriters, so the concert escaped with a C+, but they could have earned a lot more. If only, to paraphrase Ok Go, they could “g-g-get over themselves.”

Grade: C+

10 -- Foo Fighters – Monday, March 17, 2008 – Centre Bell – Montreal, Canada

Behind the Music

I was furious that I missed the Foo Fighters show in Memphis. I had paid full price for the concert ticket / plane ticket, had re-listened to every song, and had really looked forward to seeing Aunt Mary, Karen, Jeff, Robbie, Joanna, and the kids.



Fortunately, although I was never able to recoup the money, I was able to make up for everything else. Within a year, I was able to visit everyone in Memphis, and within two months, on the date above, I was able to see Foo Fighters in Montreal. The concert was part of my Subzero Spring Break, a 2000-mile excursion that took me across Virginia, DC, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Montreal. Anything for you, Dave… ;) The trip enabled me to connect with more than just Grohl; I was able to visit ‘Sketchy’ Matt Decarlo, Paul Trifiletti, Paul/Jennifer/Zoey/Alex Verbesey, Patrick Hattan, and Erin Hattan along the way. I’d share amusing anecdotes from each of those visits, but that’d be for a different blog. The relevant question here is…

How Was The Actual Concert? Was It Worth It?

Absolutely. They did not mail it in for a minute. They rocked out from beginning to end, fully aware that many fans had traveled a considerable distance and paid considerable money to see the show.

I love that they started with “Let it Die” and not “The Pretender.” I’m a fan of “The Pretender,” don’t get me wrong, but “Let it Die” is darker and less well known – thus a more intriguing first choice. It was also a nice inversion of Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace – “Pretender” is first on the album; “Let it Die” is second. They nailed both songs’ crescendos – starting off slow, quiet, and demonic, adding more and more menace as they built, and exploding in anger at the end. “Stacked Actors,” another slow burner, worked just as well later in the show.





My Only Quibbles

I wish I’d listened to Skin and Bones (their acoustic album) before the show, and I wish they’d played “Aurora” (my first Foo Fighters song). It also would have been nice if they had played “In Your Honor,” “No Way Back,” and “Best of You” in succession – if they had recognized that listening to those one after the other had been a seminal moment in my musical childhood. How could they not care?







The only legitimate criticism I will offer is that Grohl did scream at points. I don’t mean the controlled, melodic screaming from the albums; I’m talking full-on banshee shrieks. You could argue that these added to the raucous atmosphere, or that they had just visited L.A. and had decided to pay homage to a pre-Idol Adam Lambert. In general, though, you want to avoid straight-up shrieking.

High Point

The fusion of “Everlong” and “Monkey Wrench” was the musical high point of the evening. This final crescendo actually began before “Everlong,” as the band performed a four-song acoustic set on the secondary stage. Starting with these lesser known Skin and Bones tracks made the transition into the revamped acoustic version of “Everlong” seamless. The best (and most unlikely) transition of all was the one from “Everlong” RIGHT into “Monkey Wrench.” On paper, slowly building through five songs and then LAUNCHING into the sixth sounds too jarring, too abrupt. In concert, though, it was incredible – something you could never burn onto a CD.



Beyond the Music

Grohl and the band performed the actual songs remarkably well. There was no real fall off from the albums; an occasional yelp can be forgiven. Beyond the music, though, what earned them an unqualified “A” was their charisma. Like the E Street Band, they understood the “show” element of a live show.

During rowdy songs, Grohl ran up and down the main stage, the secondary stage, and the strip in between them. During some of the calmer songs, he shared tales of his cannabis past (clearly knowing his Canadian audience ;)).

Before the encore break, he asked who had been to a Foo Fighters concert before; thousands cheered. He then asked who were at their first Foo Fighers concert; thousands cheered. He abruptly stopped and asked, “Wait, stop cheering! Where the ---- have you been?!” Both groups laughed and cheered in unison.

During the encore break, a Blair Witch Project style video appeared on the screen, with the band members slowly revealing the set list and angrily ‘arguing’ over how many ‘last song’s there’d be. They ended up settling on three. They had said, after all, “This is gonna be a long show. Does anyone want a short show? If you guys would prefer it, we can definitely do a short show.” Awesome. Long show every time.

Overall: A

9 -- Ok Go – Monday, February 2, 2008 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC

FUN!
Ok Go brought fun. Indie bands and fans (myself included) often become so concerned with poetry and complexity that they forget to…actually have fun. Ok Go certainly had that. They came out strong with “You’re So Damn Hot,” playfully picking their guitars, playfully showing off their tight, tiny-tied suits. After that, they powered through high-energy hit after hit – “Here It Goes Again,” “The Fix is In,” and “Get Over It” worked best. Thirteen songs and less than ninety minutes later, they were done. Times flies, no?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BxfpbyV-uc



Grade: B++

Foo Fighters – Friday, January 25, 2008 – Fedex Forum – Memphis, TN

Never happened.

I’d booked plane tickets, listened to every album more than once, and had a full Memphis weekend planned. And then I missed the flight. I planned badly, then got lost in the 495 mixing bowl. I was not a happy camper at the time.

Fortunately, eventually, I was able to go to two other Foo Fighters concerts. See the March 18th and June 23rd, 2008 entries for those.

8 -- Bruce Springsteen – Sunday, November 18, 2007 – Verizon Center – Washington, DC

A Prediction
 
I will never see a better show as long I live. I would love to be wrong, I would hope that some other performance can conjure up as much heart and soul as this one, but I’m not holding my breath. Nothing will compare to the first time seeing Bruce.

 













Almost Never Happened

I had prepared for weeks for the show. I called Ticketmaster the morning tickets were made available, stalked Ticketmaster.com that afternoon, Metro’d to the Verizon Center box office a few days later…and came up empty. With those tactics, I could have had ten tickets for any other artist, but the problem is, everyone uses those tactics with Springsteen. In desperation, I searched Stub Hub, Tickets Now, and Craigslist, but the cheapest tickets there started at $600!


My savior, I thought, was my cousin Kevin. He was a lifelong Springsteen fanatic, so I thought he’d know if there was any way to get anything. He surprised me when he casually insisted, “Yeah, no problem.” He guaranteed something would turn up by the day of the show. I called back a few weeks before, then a few days before, and finally the day before, and the response was always the same: “Yeah, no problem.”

Yet there I was, the day of the show, without a ticket. Kevin’s final response, an hour before the show, as I Metro’d in, was that there would still be tickets available at the door. This infuriated me because there clearly wouldn’t be. There had been none available for months; tickets were not just going to appear at the door.
Out of options, in defeat, before I took the train home, I walked up to the box office, and asked the woman, “Are there any tickets left behind the stage? Or in one of the nosebleed sections?”

 










“No” was the expected reply. I started to walk away and the woman said, “Wait. There are none available there, but there still may be tickets.” Rejuvenated, I insisted, “Anywhere. Wow, that’d be awesome.”

I didn’t know the half of it.

I paid for the ticket, went through security, and found my seat. I was FOUR ROWS FROM THE STAGE. I had come to the arena at 7:58 the day of the concert and secured a face-value seat four rows from the stage! 

 











Just the Beginning
 
Over the next 3.5 hours, for the first time in more than 3.5 years, I went to church. To a non concertgoer, this may sound hyperbolic, but it really did feel spiritual. There was the charismatic preacher, reverent congregation, and religious imagery, but beyond that, there was this aura of…communion – of purpose.

The E Street Band had united every demographic in the arena: middle-aged white men, middle-aged black women, male Asian college students, female Indian teens, etc. These groups were united not by some catchy chorus or some radio hook; they were united by genuinely meaningful songs that captured what it’s like to grow up in America. Virtually everyone could relate to the suffocation of a small town and the bloodshed of 9/11. Virtually no one could present it as well: i.e. as a death trap that “rips the bone off your back,” as a life-giving/life-taking substance that “mix[es] with mine.”


Badlands : Bruce Springsteen from Olas Oasch on Vimeo.
 

[Here's a link to "JUNGLELAND" -- to me, his Everest: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw572hRD1diCaVNaRVowNENKZEk/view?usp=sharing]

In the end, great as the E Street Band was, the concert came down to Bruce. 57 on the day of the concert, he invested more blood, tears, and sweat into each song than any performer half his age. Each line was inflected with care. His rising growl during “Badlands” was remarkable. Each verse, as his anger built, it got throatier. You could hear his determination; he needed to rise above. Conversely, during “Empty Sky,” all aggression was gone. He seemed to quietly consider every syllable of every line. I tried to explain to the kids that his voice reflected the way citizens uneasily considered the skyline right after 9/11, but they didn’t fully understand. They were too young; they didn’t remember.

Overall, the best use of his voice, and the last thing I remembered as I left the arena that night, was “Mary’s Place.” In lesser hands, the squeal of delight he let out at the end of the song could have been over the top. He built to it gradually, though, so it was believable. He started off hushed, a mere “black hole on the horizon,” but little by little, he grew. By the time he got to the squeal, you had to buy it. As had been the case innumerable times during the course of the night, he fully earned the “shout from the crowd.”

 

Grade: A+