Note: In a few weeks, my students will read this entry as part of a music analysis lesson. That is why some of their achievements appear in it. ;)
There are many perks to being a teacher: working with hilarious students/colleagues, creating meaningful lessons, seeing students improve, etc.
One specific perk I get every November is participating in Rock and Cole. In the Rock and Cole project, students create their own mixed CD, matching five characters from the novel Touching Spirit Bear to five songs. (The project gets its name from Spirit Bear’s central character, Cole Matthews.) In the days leading up to the in-class concert, students scour book passages and song lyrics to find things that connect. On concert day, each student analyzes another student’s CD, trying to match the characters, songs, traits, and quotes. It’s also a pretty entertaining day, considering the desks are filled with 30-plus CD players, boom boxes, and headphones, and several students rock out as they work.
The best part for me is that I get to listen to all the CDs. New discoveries this year were The Apache Relay’s “Power Hungry Animals,” Weezer’s “Islands in the Sun,” Kansas’ “Carry On, Wayward Son,” The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated,” Ylvis’ “The Fox,” Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball,” and Disney’s “Colors of the Wind.” (Ok, so the last three weren’t ‘new discoveries.’ I had, sadly, heard those three 300 times before.)
Student award winners for this year included:
-- Star Performers MO, JF, AB, JM, JL, SG, LV, DD, AA, RH, JZ, MG, AN, MC, JS, MD1, MD2, AN, HD, JL, LA, KS, NT, BG, BY, JC, CM, JS, and Skrillex-victim / Carter-Brown-impersonator BJ. These students proved they did not need a band or stage to perform. They could rock out in a DESK!
-- Rock Survivors JM, ND, MT, BH, ON, NT, GD, NN, SK, LA, YS, CN, AN, and CM. These students made it all the way through their CDs, despite multiple CD / headphone debacles.
-- Star Vocalists TS, AM, BG, MD, HD, and DK. These students totally understood how to speak with headphones on. They always spoke AT AN APPROPRIATE VOLUME…
-- Star Reviewers SR, MO, JM, EK, EB, DD, LK, SC, MT, BH, KB, JJ, AT, KP, AF, LS, CE, AN, EO, SM, AV, NT, MG, MS, GU, KB, MD, YK, KS, GD, GC, SF, DC, AN, JM, and CN. These students reviewed their CDs with the precision of professional rock critics. Wonder if Rolling Stone magazine is in any of their futures…
-- Rock Comics MD, AN, AM, JJ, CK, JS, MC, HH, DK, and JC. These students should be recognized for filling the concert with funny moments. MD reacted “Omg, this is the scariest song ever” to Simon and Garfunkel, and AN reacted “Omg, this is the best song ever” to One Direction. These descriptions may have been inaccurate, but they were both funny. Even though they heard it separate periods, as they heard “The Gilligan’s Island Theme Song,” AM and JJ both squawked, “This song is too catchy – stop being catchy!” CK and JS were also in separate periods, yet their anthropomorphic computers both decided to blast out Phillip Phillips’ “Gone Gone Gone” despite their attempts to stop them.
No one tried to stop MC from transforming Eminem into Bob Marley; it just happened. The way MC karaoked “Lose Yourself,” it sounded more like “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” Eminem The Jamaican – interesting interpretation. ;) A hilariously ironic interpretation was HH’s reaction to George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone.” HH insisted, “I love this song. This is my jam.”
DK could not choose a ‘jam’; he was too busy getting amusingly angry at the number of songs that matched Spirit Bear’s main character. The songs prompted DK and other students to ask the same basic question, “I get that Cole is a round, dynamic, three-dimensional character, but does EVERY song have to fit him?” All periods got to share in the amusing misery in the preceding days, as they heard parts of that song and other ridiculous songs: “I’m a Little Teapot,” “I’m a Gummy Bear,” Frank Sinatra’s “Happy Birthday,” and [thanks to JC], Tiny Tim’s “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” / “Living in the Sunlight, Loving in the Moonlight.”
-- All students, for making this Rock and Cole the best in seven years. New policy changes made everything smoother: i.e. using more laptops than CD players, including friends’ names on friends’ folders, writing concert achievements directly on the whiteboard, making whiteboard students eligible for White Chocolate Oreos, etc. More students also submitted full folders and got playable CDs than ever before, and all students were able to find classmates’ Favorite Word on their folders, which has not been true in previous years. In the end, SS and JL still said it best: “Couldn’t we listen and learn from music every day?” If only…
Grade: A
Monday, December 30, 2013
146 -- Kanye West -- Thursday, November 21, 2013 -- Verizon Center -- DC
Ummmm, what did I just watch? This was my reaction as I walked out of the Kanye West Verizon Center show. It was surreal, one of the strangest concerts I have ever been to – yet utterly engaging the entire time.
Grading the show is tricky. A lot of it was unpleasant, yet it was almost always gripping. How do you balance Kanye’s ambition and self-absorption? It turns out you balance it with a B+. It was not an A, it did not succeed on all levels, but it threw in everything it possibly could to get there. B+ keeps it honest and rewards the risk-tasking.
Writing about the show for a mass audience is trickier than grading it. How do you include details from a song that rhymes Judge Joe Brown with.....well, there’s the problem. It turns out you do it with dashes. Lots and lots of dashes. ;)
Flicking through the live blog below will not give you the full experience of being at a Kanye West show. Only Jimy Shah can know that. If anything I’ve typed seems strange, though, I’ll have done my job. If he seems to veer from careful plans to stream-of-consciousness rants, you’ve gotten the idea…
> First thought: Whoa. This is the polar opposite of where I was for Monday’s Macklemore show. It’s like listening to an autotuned fire ant.
> The voiceover word-checks “truculent” and “bellicose.” That’s a good sign. He must know an English teacher’s in the building.
> All these discordant alarms in “Send It Up” somehow work live. They add to the train wreck. Hard to tell why someone would want to listen to it on an album though. Must be the Skrillex effect. I.E. Some people’s confusing attraction to electrocution.
> Apparently he is a god. And you should get on with his ---- massage. And his ---- croissant. And get his car out of the ---- garage. HA: “I just talked to Jesus, he said what up, Yeezus?”
> This crowd is so into everything; they may be the best upper deck crowd I’ve ever been in. Wish it wasn't wasted on this.
> Lol, the guy a row in front of me shouting “yes” like nine times for "Lost in the World." A single plink of the piano, and the guy is at it again. HA: Kanye waits like 30 seconds, plinks one more time, waits again. Yes Guy: “Kanye is such an -------." Yet he means it as a positive… One genuine positive: the Bon Iver section of the song.
> “There are leaders and there are followers; I'd rather be a ---- than a ---------.” Lol, this young girl in front of me is all about it, finger wagging word for misogynistic word. I feel like wagging a finger at her parents…
> How can I find it depressing? I never feel that way about Muse, Alkaline Trio, or Rise Against, who have much darker content. What's the difference? Hmm, they have melodies, instruments, and talk with the audience. They seem like punk rebels, not brooding jerks.
> Intro the “Black Skinhead”: “DC, can you hear me tonight?” Whoa, we do exist. He acknowledged other people; that must make him feel dirty.
> “Power”: Yay, a song I mostly like. “Runaway” is also hilarious: full-arena ‘toast’ and all.
> What is this song? The lights are on, the lyrics are good, and the crowd is singing more. This must be from an earlier album. [Yep, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” off Graduation.] He incorporates some of "Gorgeous" as well. “Choke a South Park writer with a fish stick”: lol, nice.
> Intro to “Coldest Winter”: some actual humanity comes through! “When I was in London, my mother died. I felt like I was losing my religion, losing myself.”
> “I’m In It.” Features his best line in months: “Pop a wheelie on the zeitgeist.” HA.
> “Heartless”!! By far the best of the night. Coincidence: an actual melody!
> Gah, can’t take any more chirping from “Blood on the Leaves.” At least there's fire and a darkly gripping blare. Now it's a swirling volcano.
> HOLY!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! That was twenty minutes of unhinged narcissism. Honestly, though, that may have been the most memorable moment of all of the fall concerts. Here’s the transcript: “I think for the first time in my ------------- life, I'm gonna be politically correct. A lot of people stop talking when they get money. Not me. I'm not narcissistic; I'm doing it for creativity; I'm doing it all for you. [Wait: what?] Nike wouldn’t take a meeting for me for EIGHT MONTHS. Yee, you see, IS US. Don't you see?? [I see what you’re saying and reject it.] You going to tell me I can't be a black Steve Jobs?? [Who on earth is telling you that?]
> Comes out of the rant with a solid song (“Stronger”) and his all time best (“Jesus Walks”). Awesome to see actual music shine through!
> “All of the Lights.” Fireworks, red demon flares, him screaming “ghetto university”: powerful.
> Whoa, he wasn’t done. BLOODCURDLING RANT # 2: “They just wanna make jokes on South Park and ----. They think it’s a joke. Like I said on Jimmy Kimmel, I live this ----. I don’t give a ---- about no press; it's keeping me up at night. All I care about is God and my family. Cuz when I go, I know I'm gonna see all of the lights and my momma again. I'm gonna give ya about 35 more seconds. Nike don't want your ideas; they just want you to be the face of the company. These ------ be playing me; they never got some good ----- in their life. Forget Nike; I am Disney! When I walk down the street, the street is happy!!! I may not be liked, but I will be respected, I will not be neglected, and all those ------ that passed on me, they will be AFFECTED.”
> Gotta admit: absurd as it was, I was affected by it. The next song, “Good Life,” is normally mediocre, nowhere near as good as the Weezer song whose title inspired this blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjLt0LS1M0I. After hearing the rant, though, I was so amped up that I got into it.
> He gives a single shoutout to the keyboardist, lies that “y'all are the reason I talk so much ----,” and then…it just ends. With cacophonous chords half-playing on the way out...
> Tweet at the end of the night: Whatttt did I just watch? Incredibly unlikable person, incredibly memorable show. # kanyewest
Grade: B+
Grading the show is tricky. A lot of it was unpleasant, yet it was almost always gripping. How do you balance Kanye’s ambition and self-absorption? It turns out you balance it with a B+. It was not an A, it did not succeed on all levels, but it threw in everything it possibly could to get there. B+ keeps it honest and rewards the risk-tasking.
Writing about the show for a mass audience is trickier than grading it. How do you include details from a song that rhymes Judge Joe Brown with.....well, there’s the problem. It turns out you do it with dashes. Lots and lots of dashes. ;)
Flicking through the live blog below will not give you the full experience of being at a Kanye West show. Only Jimy Shah can know that. If anything I’ve typed seems strange, though, I’ll have done my job. If he seems to veer from careful plans to stream-of-consciousness rants, you’ve gotten the idea…
> First thought: Whoa. This is the polar opposite of where I was for Monday’s Macklemore show. It’s like listening to an autotuned fire ant.
> The voiceover word-checks “truculent” and “bellicose.” That’s a good sign. He must know an English teacher’s in the building.
> All these discordant alarms in “Send It Up” somehow work live. They add to the train wreck. Hard to tell why someone would want to listen to it on an album though. Must be the Skrillex effect. I.E. Some people’s confusing attraction to electrocution.
> Apparently he is a god. And you should get on with his ---- massage. And his ---- croissant. And get his car out of the ---- garage. HA: “I just talked to Jesus, he said what up, Yeezus?”
> This crowd is so into everything; they may be the best upper deck crowd I’ve ever been in. Wish it wasn't wasted on this.
> Lol, the guy a row in front of me shouting “yes” like nine times for "Lost in the World." A single plink of the piano, and the guy is at it again. HA: Kanye waits like 30 seconds, plinks one more time, waits again. Yes Guy: “Kanye is such an -------." Yet he means it as a positive… One genuine positive: the Bon Iver section of the song.
> “There are leaders and there are followers; I'd rather be a ---- than a ---------.” Lol, this young girl in front of me is all about it, finger wagging word for misogynistic word. I feel like wagging a finger at her parents…
> How can I find it depressing? I never feel that way about Muse, Alkaline Trio, or Rise Against, who have much darker content. What's the difference? Hmm, they have melodies, instruments, and talk with the audience. They seem like punk rebels, not brooding jerks.
> Intro the “Black Skinhead”: “DC, can you hear me tonight?” Whoa, we do exist. He acknowledged other people; that must make him feel dirty.
> “Power”: Yay, a song I mostly like. “Runaway” is also hilarious: full-arena ‘toast’ and all.
> What is this song? The lights are on, the lyrics are good, and the crowd is singing more. This must be from an earlier album. [Yep, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” off Graduation.] He incorporates some of "Gorgeous" as well. “Choke a South Park writer with a fish stick”: lol, nice.
> Intro to “Coldest Winter”: some actual humanity comes through! “When I was in London, my mother died. I felt like I was losing my religion, losing myself.”
> “I’m In It.” Features his best line in months: “Pop a wheelie on the zeitgeist.” HA.
> “Heartless”!! By far the best of the night. Coincidence: an actual melody!
> Gah, can’t take any more chirping from “Blood on the Leaves.” At least there's fire and a darkly gripping blare. Now it's a swirling volcano.
> HOLY!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! That was twenty minutes of unhinged narcissism. Honestly, though, that may have been the most memorable moment of all of the fall concerts. Here’s the transcript: “I think for the first time in my ------------- life, I'm gonna be politically correct. A lot of people stop talking when they get money. Not me. I'm not narcissistic; I'm doing it for creativity; I'm doing it all for you. [Wait: what?] Nike wouldn’t take a meeting for me for EIGHT MONTHS. Yee, you see, IS US. Don't you see?? [I see what you’re saying and reject it.] You going to tell me I can't be a black Steve Jobs?? [Who on earth is telling you that?]
> Comes out of the rant with a solid song (“Stronger”) and his all time best (“Jesus Walks”). Awesome to see actual music shine through!
> “All of the Lights.” Fireworks, red demon flares, him screaming “ghetto university”: powerful.
> Whoa, he wasn’t done. BLOODCURDLING RANT # 2: “They just wanna make jokes on South Park and ----. They think it’s a joke. Like I said on Jimmy Kimmel, I live this ----. I don’t give a ---- about no press; it's keeping me up at night. All I care about is God and my family. Cuz when I go, I know I'm gonna see all of the lights and my momma again. I'm gonna give ya about 35 more seconds. Nike don't want your ideas; they just want you to be the face of the company. These ------ be playing me; they never got some good ----- in their life. Forget Nike; I am Disney! When I walk down the street, the street is happy!!! I may not be liked, but I will be respected, I will not be neglected, and all those ------ that passed on me, they will be AFFECTED.”
> Gotta admit: absurd as it was, I was affected by it. The next song, “Good Life,” is normally mediocre, nowhere near as good as the Weezer song whose title inspired this blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjLt0LS1M0I. After hearing the rant, though, I was so amped up that I got into it.
> He gives a single shoutout to the keyboardist, lies that “y'all are the reason I talk so much ----,” and then…it just ends. With cacophonous chords half-playing on the way out...
> Tweet at the end of the night: Whatttt did I just watch? Incredibly unlikable person, incredibly memorable show. # kanyewest
Grade: B+
145 -- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis -- Monday, November 11, 2013 -- Verizon Center -- DC
[Note: The first two paragraphs below are taken from my review of Macklemore’s Philadelphia show. If you already read that review and are interested in the DC show, skip to the third paragraph.]
Macklemore changed the way I look at rap. I had always thought that rap’s intense focus on language would make it a perfect genre for me, and I had heard flashes of brilliance before: “Jesus Walks,” “The Prayer,” “Lose Yourself,” etc. All too often, though, I found myself bogged down by overused curses, minority-bashing slurs, and topics I could not quite relate to. (Hard as it may be to believe, I do not regularly encounter blood-crip drive-bys on my way to work. I’d admit to having at least 99 problems, but a habitual need to trash women is not one of them.)
Macklemore changed all that by offering songs of conscience (“Wings,” “Other Side”), songs of compassion (“Same Love,” “Starting Over”), and songs that made me start dancing...and not feel gross at the end (“Thrift Shop,” “B Boy”). His attention to detail in the lyrics and Ryan Lewis’ attention to detail in the videos enhanced the style and substance of each song. As with Bruce Springsteen, the songs felt not just exciting, but urgent – these were about real people and real issues. Three tracks on his first album, “I Said Hey,” “Contradiction,” and “White Privilege” even address all of my prior rap issues! (I.E. Overused curses, minority-bashing slurs, and socioeconomic rifts.) If you’ve only heard The Heist, I strongly recommend these off Language of My World. I can’t recommend the DC live blog as strongly (you’re probably better off listening to the linked songs), but if you’re interested, keep reading…
--- I walk down sketchy back stairs, a sketchy hallway, and emerge on the floor. My first floor tickets for a Verizon show.
--- Macklemore walks on to “BomBom,” Heist’s all-instrumental track. Clever! It works as a mood builder, a transition from small clubs to an arena, and a shoutout to indie rock. All good signs this will be a good show.
--- HA, he’s already priming the crowd with “DC! DC!” This guy’s a pro.
--- The video backdrop for “Ten Thousand Hours” features typed words, handwritten words, so many beautiful WORDS. It’s like he’s catering the show directly to me.
--- As the song ends, he pauses, soaks it all in. Nice.
--- “Life is Cinema”! Killer(s) sample / song. Hope this means there will be a bunch of other non-Heist tracks.
--- Story time! Like Dave Grohl, Ben Folds, and Bruce Springsteen, Macklemore recognizes the importance of telling stories between songs. Musicians that don’t must think doing so is pandering or takes away time from playing more music. They could not be more wrong. Songs that have stories introducing are always better than those that don’t.
--- Short Story [summarized intro to ‘Can’t Hold Us’]: “This one time, on the road, I had hot dogs with Snoop Dog and Bill Clinton.” There was not much more to the story, but its random humor fit “Can’t Hold Us.”
--- Long Story [summarized intro to ‘Thrift Shop’]: “Usually I’m all about the snooze button. This was DC, though, so I had to wake up at 4:45. I had to meet with senators. I had to see Obama’s house. There was ---- to do. To get it all started, I decided to go meditating in the Potomac. I did not have a swimsuit, so I had to go with a birthday suit. This probably wasn’t smart because it was freezing in there. I’m swimming away, my stroke’s on point, when I see these two dudes on the shore, going through my stuff.
Within a few seconds, my clothes were gone. I try to get out and intimidate them, but bicep flexing doesn’t really work when you’re shriveled... I think maybe I can get this woman to help me, but she’s busy feeding the birds. Plus, she’s 90 years old, and her fists are about 110, so that wouldn’t work. She did, however, give me an idea. She said, ‘Hey, if you don’t have any clothes, I know a great place for you to get new ones…’” [Thrift Shop’s trademark trumpet blares, delivered by Owuor Arunga, the ‘Dizzy Gillespie of hip hop.’] It was a long road getting there, but it was worth it.
--- Moving Audience Story [intro to “Same Love”]: “Steve and Dan have been together for 16 years. Steve and Dan, come out on stage…” He later used this as an intro to a freestyle rap with Talib Kweli: “In the age of YouTube, I’m afraid and most rappers are afraid to freestyle in public. You know that, though, if people in ten states can put themselves out there, if Steve and Dan can do that in front of 18,000 people, I can take that risk.”
--- Moving Personal Stories [intro to “Otherside” / “Starting Over”]. The ‘stories’ here are the addiction backstories the audience already knows. Deciding to do “Otherside” acapella and sampling Band of Horses in “Starting Over” makes them even more powerful.
--- Huge tone shifts with “White Walls,” “Wings,” and “And Then We Danced.” Love the pause / glance at the hanging shoes at the end of “Wings.”
--- Smart to end with “Irish Celebration.” I’m not thrilled about him wearing a Wizards' jersey during it, but at least the Supersonics jersey also made an appearance. I’m not thrilled that he has not featured a single song off Language of My World (he better do that next time!), but at least he mentioned its producer.
--- HA: “They're tellin' us we've reached our curfew. We have to shut it down.” Translation: YES, one more unexpected song. What will it be though? They’ve played all other major ones.
--- “Barack Obama’s in a suite here tonight, so we must do something special.” Hard to tell if he’s joking about the Obama part. Maybe it’s true; there is photographic evidence of Macklemore at the White House earlier in the day.
--- “We can’t hold anything back it at this point…” Wait, that sounds like…they’re not…are they? They’re playing “Can’t Hold Us” again!!! I flip out; Frost students LH and MM presumably flip out; everyone flips out. 145 concerts in, my first true encore. What a moment.
Grade: A
Macklemore changed the way I look at rap. I had always thought that rap’s intense focus on language would make it a perfect genre for me, and I had heard flashes of brilliance before: “Jesus Walks,” “The Prayer,” “Lose Yourself,” etc. All too often, though, I found myself bogged down by overused curses, minority-bashing slurs, and topics I could not quite relate to. (Hard as it may be to believe, I do not regularly encounter blood-crip drive-bys on my way to work. I’d admit to having at least 99 problems, but a habitual need to trash women is not one of them.)
Macklemore changed all that by offering songs of conscience (“Wings,” “Other Side”), songs of compassion (“Same Love,” “Starting Over”), and songs that made me start dancing...and not feel gross at the end (“Thrift Shop,” “B Boy”). His attention to detail in the lyrics and Ryan Lewis’ attention to detail in the videos enhanced the style and substance of each song. As with Bruce Springsteen, the songs felt not just exciting, but urgent – these were about real people and real issues. Three tracks on his first album, “I Said Hey,” “Contradiction,” and “White Privilege” even address all of my prior rap issues! (I.E. Overused curses, minority-bashing slurs, and socioeconomic rifts.) If you’ve only heard The Heist, I strongly recommend these off Language of My World. I can’t recommend the DC live blog as strongly (you’re probably better off listening to the linked songs), but if you’re interested, keep reading…
--- I walk down sketchy back stairs, a sketchy hallway, and emerge on the floor. My first floor tickets for a Verizon show.
--- Macklemore walks on to “BomBom,” Heist’s all-instrumental track. Clever! It works as a mood builder, a transition from small clubs to an arena, and a shoutout to indie rock. All good signs this will be a good show.
--- HA, he’s already priming the crowd with “DC! DC!” This guy’s a pro.
--- The video backdrop for “Ten Thousand Hours” features typed words, handwritten words, so many beautiful WORDS. It’s like he’s catering the show directly to me.
--- As the song ends, he pauses, soaks it all in. Nice.
--- “Life is Cinema”! Killer(s) sample / song. Hope this means there will be a bunch of other non-Heist tracks.
--- Story time! Like Dave Grohl, Ben Folds, and Bruce Springsteen, Macklemore recognizes the importance of telling stories between songs. Musicians that don’t must think doing so is pandering or takes away time from playing more music. They could not be more wrong. Songs that have stories introducing are always better than those that don’t.
--- Short Story [summarized intro to ‘Can’t Hold Us’]: “This one time, on the road, I had hot dogs with Snoop Dog and Bill Clinton.” There was not much more to the story, but its random humor fit “Can’t Hold Us.”
--- Long Story [summarized intro to ‘Thrift Shop’]: “Usually I’m all about the snooze button. This was DC, though, so I had to wake up at 4:45. I had to meet with senators. I had to see Obama’s house. There was ---- to do. To get it all started, I decided to go meditating in the Potomac. I did not have a swimsuit, so I had to go with a birthday suit. This probably wasn’t smart because it was freezing in there. I’m swimming away, my stroke’s on point, when I see these two dudes on the shore, going through my stuff.
Within a few seconds, my clothes were gone. I try to get out and intimidate them, but bicep flexing doesn’t really work when you’re shriveled... I think maybe I can get this woman to help me, but she’s busy feeding the birds. Plus, she’s 90 years old, and her fists are about 110, so that wouldn’t work. She did, however, give me an idea. She said, ‘Hey, if you don’t have any clothes, I know a great place for you to get new ones…’” [Thrift Shop’s trademark trumpet blares, delivered by Owuor Arunga, the ‘Dizzy Gillespie of hip hop.’] It was a long road getting there, but it was worth it.
--- Moving Audience Story [intro to “Same Love”]: “Steve and Dan have been together for 16 years. Steve and Dan, come out on stage…” He later used this as an intro to a freestyle rap with Talib Kweli: “In the age of YouTube, I’m afraid and most rappers are afraid to freestyle in public. You know that, though, if people in ten states can put themselves out there, if Steve and Dan can do that in front of 18,000 people, I can take that risk.”
--- Moving Personal Stories [intro to “Otherside” / “Starting Over”]. The ‘stories’ here are the addiction backstories the audience already knows. Deciding to do “Otherside” acapella and sampling Band of Horses in “Starting Over” makes them even more powerful.
--- Huge tone shifts with “White Walls,” “Wings,” and “And Then We Danced.” Love the pause / glance at the hanging shoes at the end of “Wings.”
--- Smart to end with “Irish Celebration.” I’m not thrilled about him wearing a Wizards' jersey during it, but at least the Supersonics jersey also made an appearance. I’m not thrilled that he has not featured a single song off Language of My World (he better do that next time!), but at least he mentioned its producer.
--- HA: “They're tellin' us we've reached our curfew. We have to shut it down.” Translation: YES, one more unexpected song. What will it be though? They’ve played all other major ones.
--- “Barack Obama’s in a suite here tonight, so we must do something special.” Hard to tell if he’s joking about the Obama part. Maybe it’s true; there is photographic evidence of Macklemore at the White House earlier in the day.
--- “We can’t hold anything back it at this point…” Wait, that sounds like…they’re not…are they? They’re playing “Can’t Hold Us” again!!! I flip out; Frost students LH and MM presumably flip out; everyone flips out. 145 concerts in, my first true encore. What a moment.
Grade: A
Sunday, December 29, 2013
144 -- Elton John -- Thursday, November 14, 2013 -- Verizon Center -- DC
If you’re a huge Elton John fan, you probably would have loved the show. If you’re a casual Elton John fan (like me), you probably would have been underwhelmed. The main issue was I kept comparing it to the show of another ‘old’ performer with an ‘old’ audience: Bruce Springsteen. Bruce concerts always feel fresh and energetic; this Elton concert seemed to show its age.
One major thing I will give Elton John credit for is he did play virtually all the hits. Coming off an Alkaline Trio show that left out a lot of good songs, I at least appreciated that. Some of those hits, as well as quick hits from the live blog, appear below…
--- Nice prompting the audience during the chorus of “Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting.”
--- “Philadelphia Freedom,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” and [Baby, You’re] “The One” are meh.
--- All of the audio seems muffled.
--- HA at him standing on top of the piano during “The B is Back” and the bluesy woman Joshua Ledeting the ending of “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.”
--- They weren't kidding with Limited View seats. It's like watching a movie next right in front of the screen -- if the screen were turned upside down. You could crane your neck and get the basic plot of the whole movie, but it's awkward and makes you wish you wish you for there earlier (paid for better seats). He gets out of his seat, walks to us, and directly bows to us after “Rocketman” though. Good for him!
--- Pretty sure they don't offer a senior discount at this show. If they did, they wouldn't break even...
--- The giant chandelier above the stage is hilarious. Looks like the Roundup at the Our Lady of Lourdes carnival.
--- “This next song is a tribute to the men, women, and animals, yes, animals, who gave their lives in WW I and II.” What the? Lol. The actual song, “Oceans Away,” off his new Diving Board album, is surprisingly good.
--- Yay, a big orange circle comes out, time for “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”! Can’t measure up to the James Porter version, but it’s my favorite Elton song, so it’s my favorite part of the show.
Grade: B-
One major thing I will give Elton John credit for is he did play virtually all the hits. Coming off an Alkaline Trio show that left out a lot of good songs, I at least appreciated that. Some of those hits, as well as quick hits from the live blog, appear below…
--- Nice prompting the audience during the chorus of “Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting.”
--- “Philadelphia Freedom,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” and [Baby, You’re] “The One” are meh.
--- All of the audio seems muffled.
--- HA at him standing on top of the piano during “The B is Back” and the bluesy woman Joshua Ledeting the ending of “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.”
--- They weren't kidding with Limited View seats. It's like watching a movie next right in front of the screen -- if the screen were turned upside down. You could crane your neck and get the basic plot of the whole movie, but it's awkward and makes you wish you wish you for there earlier (paid for better seats). He gets out of his seat, walks to us, and directly bows to us after “Rocketman” though. Good for him!
--- Pretty sure they don't offer a senior discount at this show. If they did, they wouldn't break even...
--- The giant chandelier above the stage is hilarious. Looks like the Roundup at the Our Lady of Lourdes carnival.
--- “This next song is a tribute to the men, women, and animals, yes, animals, who gave their lives in WW I and II.” What the? Lol. The actual song, “Oceans Away,” off his new Diving Board album, is surprisingly good.
--- Yay, a big orange circle comes out, time for “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”! Can’t measure up to the James Porter version, but it’s my favorite Elton song, so it’s my favorite part of the show.
Grade: B-
143 -- Alkaline Trio -- Thursday, November 7, 2013 -- The Fillmore -- Silver Spring, MD
The success of an Alkaline Trio show rests almost entirely on their setlist. The shows are absurdly short (66 minutes this time), so every track counts. This show did not feature what I would consider an amazing setlist. I’m interested to see what Casey Cunningham, who was also at the show, thought. Casey’s got incredible punk credentials, having probably gone to more A.T. concerts than me and braving this one on crutches! Navigating mosh pits on crutches? Hard to get more punk than that.
In any case, rather than march through each part of the show, I’ll make my own setlists: that is, divide what I heard into Good, Very Good, Bad, Huh, Hmm, and, (to quote the band itself), Hell Yes. Anyone who knows A.T. and would arrange the songs differently, lemme know…
Good: “I Wanna Be a Warhol,” “Standard Break,” “Bleeder,” and “I Lied My Face Off.” The newborn babies part of “I Lied My Face Off” is so scary.
Very Good: The underrated “Cringe” and “I Found Away.” The whoas make “Sadie;” the lalalas make “Help Me.” Loved that I was thrown everywhere during “This Could Be Love.” “Time To Waste” was the best surprise of the night: they got everyone to clap at the start and built a killer atmosphere by the end.
Bad: “Every Thug Needs a Lady.” It’s not bad necessarily, but they play it every show, and it doesn’t deserve it. “Kiss You to Death” / “Young Lovers.” These two songs, like the crowd that night, were way too tame.
Huh: “Warbrain,” “Queen of Pain,” “Dead and Broken.” (‘Huh’ means I had somehow never heard of the songs -- even though I’ve listen to all albums ten-plus times??)
Hmm: Where was “Armageddon”? Where was “Radio”? Why was the trademark skeleton heart backdrop replaced with a girl with dripping eyeliner?
HY: “Calling All Skeletons.” I heard it two feet from the stage; everyone was so amped up. “Take Lots With Alcohol.” It took me eight shows, but I finally got it!
Grade: B
In any case, rather than march through each part of the show, I’ll make my own setlists: that is, divide what I heard into Good, Very Good, Bad, Huh, Hmm, and, (to quote the band itself), Hell Yes. Anyone who knows A.T. and would arrange the songs differently, lemme know…
Good: “I Wanna Be a Warhol,” “Standard Break,” “Bleeder,” and “I Lied My Face Off.” The newborn babies part of “I Lied My Face Off” is so scary.
Very Good: The underrated “Cringe” and “I Found Away.” The whoas make “Sadie;” the lalalas make “Help Me.” Loved that I was thrown everywhere during “This Could Be Love.” “Time To Waste” was the best surprise of the night: they got everyone to clap at the start and built a killer atmosphere by the end.
Bad: “Every Thug Needs a Lady.” It’s not bad necessarily, but they play it every show, and it doesn’t deserve it. “Kiss You to Death” / “Young Lovers.” These two songs, like the crowd that night, were way too tame.
Huh: “Warbrain,” “Queen of Pain,” “Dead and Broken.” (‘Huh’ means I had somehow never heard of the songs -- even though I’ve listen to all albums ten-plus times??)
Hmm: Where was “Armageddon”? Where was “Radio”? Why was the trademark skeleton heart backdrop replaced with a girl with dripping eyeliner?
HY: “Calling All Skeletons.” I heard it two feet from the stage; everyone was so amped up. “Take Lots With Alcohol.” It took me eight shows, but I finally got it!
Grade: B
Sunday, November 3, 2013
142 – Franz Ferdinand -- Thursday, October 17, 2013 – Strathmore Music Center -- Bethesda, MD
Almost every A+ show makes some sort of comeback. It overcomes a slow start, a slow previous show, unfairly low expectations, or impossibly high ones.
Franz Ferdinand made no such comeback. They got the audience in their crosshairs from minute one (the first song was literally called “Bullet”!) and spent the next 90 minutes taking them out again and again and again. The band’s outfits, accents, vocals, instruments.....everything was irresistibly smooth. It took half the concert for “This Fire” to arrive, but you could feel the heat from the beginning. Girls wanted them; guys wanted to be them; everyone just wanted them to keep playing more songs.
You would think all of this would come off as too slick or self-involved, but it didn’t. It felt natural – like they could not help who they were. It would be like faulting Elvis Presley for not being Elvis Duran, or Usher for not being Urkel. To quote an equally slick stage production, “When you’ve got it, flaunt it.”
And flaunt they did, tearing into 19 songs with urbane abandon. They may have claimed they “hate pop music,” but if there were any justice in the world, they would be bonafide British pop stars.
Quick hits from the show below:
--- Whoa, ZERO vocal dropoff from the album.
--- “Matinee”!!! Love the ninja stage move, the unexpected slowdown, the nine other rhythm changes, the bouncing guy in front of me, and the fact that I have the best view in the whole auditorium -- dead center stage!
--- Nice call-and-response during “No, You Girls,” backup vocal during “Tell Her Tonight,” and guitar solo during “Evil Eye.”
--- Called “Do You Want To?” from the opening strum! Alex Kapranos has started walking through the audience, five feet away! ‘Lucky lucky lucky lucky’ indeed. Everyone has started bouncing. BEDLAM has begun.
--- Huge contrast with “Walk Away.” Slows everything down to a crawl. One audience member whistles in the silence as he does. How is Franz Ferdinand not more well known? They are pros.
--- Hahaha, the lyrics are making this too easy. “Can't Stop Feeling” literally contains the phrases “I feel love,” “so good,” and “I can’t feel anymore.” Killer keyboard too.
--- “Stand on the Horizon” is mediocre -- until the electric orange arrives.
--- Other than the all-too-relatable line “we all lose our keys,” “Brief Encounters” is a letdown.
--- Whoa, “The Fallen” is a tongue twister. I like the la-la-s and the last line.
--- “Take Me Out”!!! Never knew it had a banjo part.
--- “Sweet Love Illumination”!! By far the best song from the new album.
--- “Ulysses”! Don’t ask us to get high; everyone already is. If we're never going home, does that mean the show doesn’t have to end?!
--- “This Fire”!!! Red flames, blue flames, hot white ones – whoa. Slight excess in the middle, but epic / euphoric overall. Worthy of a rollback from Pancho Hernandorena.
--- “Goodbye Lovers and Friends.” Noooo, does that mean this is end? I know you hate pop music, but please, Franz, don't leave us!
--- HA, random compliment: “Thank you, people of DC and Mary-land. We appreciate your high ceilings.”
--- “Jacqueline”!!! Their first song, my first song, so glad they played it! Yes. Darts remains.
--- “Treason! Animals” is trippy – the word ‘narcissist’ is well pronounced.
--- Heh, “Outsiders” ends with a MEGA DRUM SOLO, a la Imagine Dragons. Great minds…
Grade: A+
Franz Ferdinand made no such comeback. They got the audience in their crosshairs from minute one (the first song was literally called “Bullet”!) and spent the next 90 minutes taking them out again and again and again. The band’s outfits, accents, vocals, instruments.....everything was irresistibly smooth. It took half the concert for “This Fire” to arrive, but you could feel the heat from the beginning. Girls wanted them; guys wanted to be them; everyone just wanted them to keep playing more songs.
You would think all of this would come off as too slick or self-involved, but it didn’t. It felt natural – like they could not help who they were. It would be like faulting Elvis Presley for not being Elvis Duran, or Usher for not being Urkel. To quote an equally slick stage production, “When you’ve got it, flaunt it.”
And flaunt they did, tearing into 19 songs with urbane abandon. They may have claimed they “hate pop music,” but if there were any justice in the world, they would be bonafide British pop stars.
Quick hits from the show below:
--- Whoa, ZERO vocal dropoff from the album.
--- “Matinee”!!! Love the ninja stage move, the unexpected slowdown, the nine other rhythm changes, the bouncing guy in front of me, and the fact that I have the best view in the whole auditorium -- dead center stage!
--- Nice call-and-response during “No, You Girls,” backup vocal during “Tell Her Tonight,” and guitar solo during “Evil Eye.”
--- Called “Do You Want To?” from the opening strum! Alex Kapranos has started walking through the audience, five feet away! ‘Lucky lucky lucky lucky’ indeed. Everyone has started bouncing. BEDLAM has begun.
--- Huge contrast with “Walk Away.” Slows everything down to a crawl. One audience member whistles in the silence as he does. How is Franz Ferdinand not more well known? They are pros.
--- Hahaha, the lyrics are making this too easy. “Can't Stop Feeling” literally contains the phrases “I feel love,” “so good,” and “I can’t feel anymore.” Killer keyboard too.
--- “Stand on the Horizon” is mediocre -- until the electric orange arrives.
--- Other than the all-too-relatable line “we all lose our keys,” “Brief Encounters” is a letdown.
--- Whoa, “The Fallen” is a tongue twister. I like the la-la-s and the last line.
--- “Take Me Out”!!! Never knew it had a banjo part.
--- “Sweet Love Illumination”!! By far the best song from the new album.
--- “Ulysses”! Don’t ask us to get high; everyone already is. If we're never going home, does that mean the show doesn’t have to end?!
--- “This Fire”!!! Red flames, blue flames, hot white ones – whoa. Slight excess in the middle, but epic / euphoric overall. Worthy of a rollback from Pancho Hernandorena.
--- “Goodbye Lovers and Friends.” Noooo, does that mean this is end? I know you hate pop music, but please, Franz, don't leave us!
--- HA, random compliment: “Thank you, people of DC and Mary-land. We appreciate your high ceilings.”
--- “Jacqueline”!!! Their first song, my first song, so glad they played it! Yes. Darts remains.
--- “Treason! Animals” is trippy – the word ‘narcissist’ is well pronounced.
--- Heh, “Outsiders” ends with a MEGA DRUM SOLO, a la Imagine Dragons. Great minds…
Grade: A+
141 – The Flaming Lips – Friday, October 4, 2013 – Merriweather Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD
T.F.L. were a giant, flaming disappointment. Two respected musicians (my Memphis cousin Robbie and my Chaminade friend Tom) swore by the band, saying their Lips concerts were the best concerts they had ever been to. I understand where they were coming from in the sense that it was an intense experience, but I could not say it was an enjoyable one.
I could not recognize almost any of the Lips’ songs, despite having listened to their entire discography. The sounds and visuals also never seemed to cohere. Usually, if I wrote about a concert “most extreme sounds/visuals ever,” that would be a good thing. (See Rise Against, Smashing Pumpkins.) This felt different though. It made me uncomfortable: like, at any moment, it seemed the band would invite someone on stage to be burned alive – and the crowd would cackle in glee at what it just saw.
The Lips kept trying to encourage drug use, but I feel like that would have made it worse. The swirling ash clouds and the blinding stage lamps were scary enough sober; I can’t imagine how scary they would have been high! The stage lamps literally hurt my eyes at one point; I had to stare back down at my seat. The mingling scents of pot and cap guns (?!) didn’t help matters.
There remain a number of Flaming Lips songs I really like: “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” “She Don’t Use Jelly,” and “Do You Realize??” And it was not as if every moment of the show was miserable. “Nobody's Fault But My Own” had a cool White Stripes guitar riff, and “Silver Trembling Hands” had a cool crescendo -- slowly but surely taking the audience up its rainbow mountain.
Overall, though, it did not seem like a mountain I would want to scale again…
Grade: C-
I could not recognize almost any of the Lips’ songs, despite having listened to their entire discography. The sounds and visuals also never seemed to cohere. Usually, if I wrote about a concert “most extreme sounds/visuals ever,” that would be a good thing. (See Rise Against, Smashing Pumpkins.) This felt different though. It made me uncomfortable: like, at any moment, it seemed the band would invite someone on stage to be burned alive – and the crowd would cackle in glee at what it just saw.
The Lips kept trying to encourage drug use, but I feel like that would have made it worse. The swirling ash clouds and the blinding stage lamps were scary enough sober; I can’t imagine how scary they would have been high! The stage lamps literally hurt my eyes at one point; I had to stare back down at my seat. The mingling scents of pot and cap guns (?!) didn’t help matters.
There remain a number of Flaming Lips songs I really like: “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” “She Don’t Use Jelly,” and “Do You Realize??” And it was not as if every moment of the show was miserable. “Nobody's Fault But My Own” had a cool White Stripes guitar riff, and “Silver Trembling Hands” had a cool crescendo -- slowly but surely taking the audience up its rainbow mountain.
Overall, though, it did not seem like a mountain I would want to scale again…
Grade: C-
140 -- Imagine Dragons -- Friday, September 20, 2013 -- Merriweather Post Pavilion -- Columbia, MD
Imagine Dragons had three things stacked against them: (1) No matter how many times I listened to their debut album, I kept forgetting half of the tracks. (2) The concert was held on a Friday night, and I don’t have a great track record with shows that night. (3) The crowd had more poppy tweens than I was used to or comfortable with.
Very early on in the show, however, I started to realize that not only were these ‘problems’ not problems, they would help turn this into an A+ show. I did not have strong attachment to the album versions of a lot of the songs, so I could take in the live versions for the first time. I was used to falling asleep on Fridays, so it meant more that I was wide awake this time. And most importantly, by judging the young people I saw there, I set myself up for a huge surprise.
This was anything but a pre-packaged pre-teen arena show. It was a roaring indie-rock explosion. Young kids, young adults, college kids, and actual adults watched as the band laid waste to the stage – smashing cymbals, tearing through timpanis, chucking sticks left and right. The fact that most of the vocals (or at least the verses) were rough added to the vibe. This was Imagine Dragons unfiltered. In their own words, this was “a band who started out three years ago dirt poor in Vegas headlining the biggest stage they ever played.” I’m just glad I was there to witness it.
Live reactions below:
--- “Round and Round.” HA, they’re smashing the drums just like in the Carlock clip. Kyle was right: this band’s gonna be big.
--- So glad I got the wristband and am right up in front. This feels so exclusive haha.
--- The look of the backup guitarist is funny: like a stoner Dave Grohl, with even longer hair.
--- “Amsterdam.” Big vocal dropoff from the album. He’s half-croaking, half-speaking the verses. The soaring choruses totally work though. And I love how he waits for the crowd to finish “any other wayyyy” and “much lonnnnger.”
--- I appreciate “Tiptoe”’s empowerment message, but the sound is mediocre. No! He prompts the crowd with “nobody else…can take me higher,” and then it totally works!!
--- “This is the biggest headline show we've ever played. We're not going to act like that doesn't mean a lot to us. We're not going to try to be cool.” Awwww.
--- “Hear Me.” The song's meh, but the way Dan Reynolds destroys the cymbal is hilarious.
--- HA: “My cousins are from DC. I threw up the first time I came here. It's okay; I love you guys anyway.”
--- Why do more bands not talk with the crowd? This intro makes the song ten times better: “‘Cha Ching’ is about being dirt poor. We wrote it in an apartment in Vegas three years ago. It's on the deluxe album. If you've heard it, you're a true fan. If you haven't, you're here, so you're about to be.”
--- HA, the front rows [understandably] flip out when Reynolds flicks water from his water bottle at them.
--- “What day is it? Is it Friday? I didn't even know that. We hope you can forget about work and school and all that and just exist. Get loose.” Swoooon.
---- Love the Vampire Weekend calypso vibe in “Nothing Left to Say / Rocks."
--- “It's Time”!!! Brilliant slowdown intro, then click into it. No gimmicks, just the crowd and the band passionate delivering a really good song.
--- A rare dud: “Lay Me Down.” Evil audience members talking through it too.
--- “Demons” gets an extended heavy electric intro!! Adds variety. As do the Cold War Kids / “Stand By Me” covers.
--- Ooh, confetti balls for the Owl City-y “Underdog”!
--- “Most importantly, congrats to you guys for supporting live music.” YES.
--- “On Top Of The World”!!! The entire crowd jumps at once. Over and over again.
--- “I can't believe how many people are here.” They’re so sincere. It’s awesome.
--- “Radioactive”!!! Mega drum. It’s literally hard to hear yourself think the audience has gotten so loud. Surreal.
--- Finished with the more-restrained, lesser-known “Fallen.” It is, in its own way, just as emotional.
--- I am so getting a shirt.
Grade: A+
Very early on in the show, however, I started to realize that not only were these ‘problems’ not problems, they would help turn this into an A+ show. I did not have strong attachment to the album versions of a lot of the songs, so I could take in the live versions for the first time. I was used to falling asleep on Fridays, so it meant more that I was wide awake this time. And most importantly, by judging the young people I saw there, I set myself up for a huge surprise.
This was anything but a pre-packaged pre-teen arena show. It was a roaring indie-rock explosion. Young kids, young adults, college kids, and actual adults watched as the band laid waste to the stage – smashing cymbals, tearing through timpanis, chucking sticks left and right. The fact that most of the vocals (or at least the verses) were rough added to the vibe. This was Imagine Dragons unfiltered. In their own words, this was “a band who started out three years ago dirt poor in Vegas headlining the biggest stage they ever played.” I’m just glad I was there to witness it.
Live reactions below:
--- “Round and Round.” HA, they’re smashing the drums just like in the Carlock clip. Kyle was right: this band’s gonna be big.
--- So glad I got the wristband and am right up in front. This feels so exclusive haha.
--- The look of the backup guitarist is funny: like a stoner Dave Grohl, with even longer hair.
--- “Amsterdam.” Big vocal dropoff from the album. He’s half-croaking, half-speaking the verses. The soaring choruses totally work though. And I love how he waits for the crowd to finish “any other wayyyy” and “much lonnnnger.”
--- I appreciate “Tiptoe”’s empowerment message, but the sound is mediocre. No! He prompts the crowd with “nobody else…can take me higher,” and then it totally works!!
--- “This is the biggest headline show we've ever played. We're not going to act like that doesn't mean a lot to us. We're not going to try to be cool.” Awwww.
--- “Hear Me.” The song's meh, but the way Dan Reynolds destroys the cymbal is hilarious.
--- HA: “My cousins are from DC. I threw up the first time I came here. It's okay; I love you guys anyway.”
--- Why do more bands not talk with the crowd? This intro makes the song ten times better: “‘Cha Ching’ is about being dirt poor. We wrote it in an apartment in Vegas three years ago. It's on the deluxe album. If you've heard it, you're a true fan. If you haven't, you're here, so you're about to be.”
--- HA, the front rows [understandably] flip out when Reynolds flicks water from his water bottle at them.
--- “What day is it? Is it Friday? I didn't even know that. We hope you can forget about work and school and all that and just exist. Get loose.” Swoooon.
---- Love the Vampire Weekend calypso vibe in “Nothing Left to Say / Rocks."
--- “It's Time”!!! Brilliant slowdown intro, then click into it. No gimmicks, just the crowd and the band passionate delivering a really good song.
--- A rare dud: “Lay Me Down.” Evil audience members talking through it too.
--- “Demons” gets an extended heavy electric intro!! Adds variety. As do the Cold War Kids / “Stand By Me” covers.
--- Ooh, confetti balls for the Owl City-y “Underdog”!
--- “Most importantly, congrats to you guys for supporting live music.” YES.
--- “On Top Of The World”!!! The entire crowd jumps at once. Over and over again.
--- “I can't believe how many people are here.” They’re so sincere. It’s awesome.
--- “Radioactive”!!! Mega drum. It’s literally hard to hear yourself think the audience has gotten so loud. Surreal.
--- Finished with the more-restrained, lesser-known “Fallen.” It is, in its own way, just as emotional.
--- I am so getting a shirt.
Grade: A+
Thursday, August 22, 2013
139 – Jimmy Eat World – Sunday, August 11, 2013 – 9:30 Club – DC
Six years ago, Jimmy Eat World was my first 9:30 Club show. I have now seen them there four times, more any other 9:30 Club band. They’re not perfect, but they’re solid. You can always count on them for satisfying, guitar-driven rock. If you too are a Jimmy Eat World fan, and sometimes all you want is to hear a song you know, scroll to the bottom, and click on any of the links.
In the meantime, if you’re interested, here are some quick hits from the concert:
--- Pleasantly surprised they started with “Big Casino”
--- Less pleasantly surprised that Jim Adkins’ voice sounds strained. “Appreciation,” “Kill,” “Damage,” and “No, Never” continue the trend. The low point is “For Me This Is Heaven.” The “me” the title refers to must not be in the audience. The lack of choruses and all other background music exposes the strain – to the point that the crowd starts talking halfway through!
--- Fortunately, strangely, the strain was not evident on any other songs, and every other aspect of the show was great!
--- “A Heart is Hard to Find,” “My Best Theory,” “Work,” “Lucky Denver Mint,” “Your New Aesthetic,” “The Authority Song,” “Coffee and Cigarettes,” and “23” were all better than they’d ever been before. I especially liked the mini swing, the circle back to the ‘townie kid,’ and the guitar solo in those last three.
--- I also loved the fact that I was now at the point where I could call certain songs before they even played a note! Band ESP made me call “The Middle,” “Always Be,” and “Chase This Light” beforehand.
--- Their Taylor Swift cover was hilarious. Enough of those jagged solos and ooh-e-oohs, and I’d get back together, no questions asked.
--- It was great to share Jimmy Eat World live for the first time. Hark Tagunicar seemed to most enjoy “Futures,” “Hear You Me,” “Let It Happen,” and what I’ll call The Fantastic Four. The straight-to-the-encore march of “Pain,” “A Praise Chorus,” “Sweetness” and Bleed American” was an adrenaline RUSH. I did not take a single note for four straight songs. It felt like Rise Against; it felt like Mumford and Sons; it felt like the mark of a band I’ll be seeing for many years to come…
In the meantime, if you’re interested, here are some quick hits from the concert:
--- Pleasantly surprised they started with “Big Casino”
--- Less pleasantly surprised that Jim Adkins’ voice sounds strained. “Appreciation,” “Kill,” “Damage,” and “No, Never” continue the trend. The low point is “For Me This Is Heaven.” The “me” the title refers to must not be in the audience. The lack of choruses and all other background music exposes the strain – to the point that the crowd starts talking halfway through!
--- Fortunately, strangely, the strain was not evident on any other songs, and every other aspect of the show was great!
--- “A Heart is Hard to Find,” “My Best Theory,” “Work,” “Lucky Denver Mint,” “Your New Aesthetic,” “The Authority Song,” “Coffee and Cigarettes,” and “23” were all better than they’d ever been before. I especially liked the mini swing, the circle back to the ‘townie kid,’ and the guitar solo in those last three.
--- I also loved the fact that I was now at the point where I could call certain songs before they even played a note! Band ESP made me call “The Middle,” “Always Be,” and “Chase This Light” beforehand.
--- Their Taylor Swift cover was hilarious. Enough of those jagged solos and ooh-e-oohs, and I’d get back together, no questions asked.
--- It was great to share Jimmy Eat World live for the first time. Hark Tagunicar seemed to most enjoy “Futures,” “Hear You Me,” “Let It Happen,” and what I’ll call The Fantastic Four. The straight-to-the-encore march of “Pain,” “A Praise Chorus,” “Sweetness” and Bleed American” was an adrenaline RUSH. I did not take a single note for four straight songs. It felt like Rise Against; it felt like Mumford and Sons; it felt like the mark of a band I’ll be seeing for many years to come…
Grade: A-
138 – American Idol Season 12 Tour – Thursday, August 8, 2013 – Time Warner Cable Arena – Charlotte, NC
I’m pretty sure the few, ‘elite’ Idol viewers will be the only ones reading this, so let’s go straight to the live reactions…
--- Love the Southern hospitality as I enter the arena. “Welcome, sir.” “Thank you kindly.” “Enjoy the show, ya hear.” Now I see where awesome host Lindsay Ellis gets it from!
--- It seems that more people auditioned in Charlotte than came to see the winners?! Can’t complain about the second-row seats though.
--- Starting the show with a Ryan Seacrest video and the Idol intro music is a smart choice. You feel like you’re part of an episode.
--- Who gets the second biggest applause in the contestant countdown on the video monitor? Burnell Taylor! Candice deservedly gets first, followed by Kree third, and Angie fourth.
--- Kree and Candice shout, “Let's welcome Aubrey Cleeland!” And…no one reacts. Her performance, “[Nutra] Sweet Dreams and [Generically] Beautiful Nightmares,” doesn’t help matters.
--- Paul Jolley goes for Carrie Underwood's “Blown Away.” Well sung, but I wasn't. His rendition of Rascal Flatts’ “Summer Nights” sounds like the waiter from Office Space trying to sing.
--- Curtis Finch Jr. shimmied out in his blindingly white suit, and I was ready to bash him. Yet, he came out and did Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man," and he tore it UP!!! He restrained himself for so long. The extended Mickey Mouse falsetto at the end was a bit much, but he earned that. Best of the night so far.
--- I may be a “Hopeless Case” when it comes to dance music, but Amber Holcomb’s bland performance did nothing to convert me.
--- The boys' “Locked Out Of Paradise” is much better. It helps that it’s a much better song. Surprised they actually said the “sex” chorus – at least it’s not “Gorilla.” Like the yellow lights and the mini spin from my new friend Curtis.
--- Devin Velez slays “Somos Novios” – especially the “mas oscuro” part. It’s impossible to see Paul Jolley doing that.
--- All these angelic, family-friendly girls perform Pitbull's “I Know You Want Me” about “getting nasty.” Awkward.
--- Burnell, in all red (heh), sings Rihanna's “Diamonds in the Sky.” Amber gradually joins in from the other side of the stage. Powerful.
--- “We Are Young” is by far the best full-group song they’ve done. Again, it helps when you have a good song. Lazaro Arbos sings for the first time haha. It’s for four seconds – he sings for another four the next song… PJ actually does well. Omg, Candice emerges, barely sings a verse, and it still stands out.
---Sigh, One Direction’s “Live While We're Young.” Fine, it's catchy -- and enjoyable to hear the screams.
--- An intermission??? First intermission in 138 concerts. A really long one too. At least Randy Jackson comes on the screen at one point and says something informative. Kidding. Randy does come on, but it’s not informative.
--- The Phillip Phillips commercial is somewhat informative. It teaches me this equation: Elliott Yamin + Jack Johnson = Phillip Phillips. Good voice, likable, but boring. None of Elliott’s runs or underdog charisma.
--- Angie Miller's cover of Jessie J's “Mamma Knows Best” on top of the piano is hot. There’s no pyrotechnics, but there’s fire. Second best of the night, half standing O. Crazy to think last year she was graduating high school. Here comes her original song! The background instruments distract, and I wish she wasn't in red / the whole thing was quieter, but still good.
--- Awwww, Janelle Arthur auditioned in Charlotte and was at the show in Nashville last year in the last row! For all its negative aspects, that’s what Idol is all about! Her cover of Keith Urban’s “Where the Blacktop Ends” is solid.
--- Lol, Lazaro is “Feelin' Good” in his all-pink ensemble. I swear, James Porter, vocally, he does a good job.
--- A good job should not get Lazaro a second song. Power slurring does not put you on the “Edge Of Glory.”
--- Kree Harrison, “Up to the Mountain”!!
--- Kree, Alabama Shakes!!! I literally shouted this band name out loud I was so pleasantly surprised. “Hold On”’s got soul. I swear she looked and motioned at me at one point. Perhaps because the rest of the crowd was AWFUL. Worst first four rows ever. I felt inappropriate getting out of my seat. She lied about how good the crowd is, but it was a lie. Brittany Howard's voice is, honestly, more varied and powerful, but "Hold On" remained the best moment of the concert.
--- Upbeat group dance number led by CANDICE GLOVER. She auditioned here too! Glad she got her single out of the way early. The whole arena swayed to it, without prompting. The lyrics made it much better than expected: “Get rejected, look yourself in the mirror, and tell yourself…I Am Beautiful.”
--- I’m biased against midtempo, but Candice’s new song about summer grew on me by the end.
--- The crowd FINALLY got its act together and gave a standing ovation for “Love Song,” by far the high point of the Idol season.
--- HA, we go from the deeply meaningful “Love Song” to a bescarfed Paul Jolley singing about wanting to touch my face. Huh?
--- The final song’s transition from Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” to Phillip Phillips’ “Gone” was clever – and, if you have to incorporate the whole group, the perfect ending.
American Idol Season 12 - Angie Miller "You Set... by FanReviews
Candice Glover - Love Song - American Idol 12... by IdolxMuzic
--- Love the Southern hospitality as I enter the arena. “Welcome, sir.” “Thank you kindly.” “Enjoy the show, ya hear.” Now I see where awesome host Lindsay Ellis gets it from!
--- It seems that more people auditioned in Charlotte than came to see the winners?! Can’t complain about the second-row seats though.
--- Starting the show with a Ryan Seacrest video and the Idol intro music is a smart choice. You feel like you’re part of an episode.
--- Who gets the second biggest applause in the contestant countdown on the video monitor? Burnell Taylor! Candice deservedly gets first, followed by Kree third, and Angie fourth.
--- Kree and Candice shout, “Let's welcome Aubrey Cleeland!” And…no one reacts. Her performance, “[Nutra] Sweet Dreams and [Generically] Beautiful Nightmares,” doesn’t help matters.
--- Paul Jolley goes for Carrie Underwood's “Blown Away.” Well sung, but I wasn't. His rendition of Rascal Flatts’ “Summer Nights” sounds like the waiter from Office Space trying to sing.
--- Curtis Finch Jr. shimmied out in his blindingly white suit, and I was ready to bash him. Yet, he came out and did Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man," and he tore it UP!!! He restrained himself for so long. The extended Mickey Mouse falsetto at the end was a bit much, but he earned that. Best of the night so far.
--- I may be a “Hopeless Case” when it comes to dance music, but Amber Holcomb’s bland performance did nothing to convert me.
--- The boys' “Locked Out Of Paradise” is much better. It helps that it’s a much better song. Surprised they actually said the “sex” chorus – at least it’s not “Gorilla.” Like the yellow lights and the mini spin from my new friend Curtis.
--- Devin Velez slays “Somos Novios” – especially the “mas oscuro” part. It’s impossible to see Paul Jolley doing that.
--- All these angelic, family-friendly girls perform Pitbull's “I Know You Want Me” about “getting nasty.” Awkward.
--- Burnell, in all red (heh), sings Rihanna's “Diamonds in the Sky.” Amber gradually joins in from the other side of the stage. Powerful.
--- “We Are Young” is by far the best full-group song they’ve done. Again, it helps when you have a good song. Lazaro Arbos sings for the first time haha. It’s for four seconds – he sings for another four the next song… PJ actually does well. Omg, Candice emerges, barely sings a verse, and it still stands out.
---Sigh, One Direction’s “Live While We're Young.” Fine, it's catchy -- and enjoyable to hear the screams.
--- An intermission??? First intermission in 138 concerts. A really long one too. At least Randy Jackson comes on the screen at one point and says something informative. Kidding. Randy does come on, but it’s not informative.
--- The Phillip Phillips commercial is somewhat informative. It teaches me this equation: Elliott Yamin + Jack Johnson = Phillip Phillips. Good voice, likable, but boring. None of Elliott’s runs or underdog charisma.
--- Angie Miller's cover of Jessie J's “Mamma Knows Best” on top of the piano is hot. There’s no pyrotechnics, but there’s fire. Second best of the night, half standing O. Crazy to think last year she was graduating high school. Here comes her original song! The background instruments distract, and I wish she wasn't in red / the whole thing was quieter, but still good.
--- Awwww, Janelle Arthur auditioned in Charlotte and was at the show in Nashville last year in the last row! For all its negative aspects, that’s what Idol is all about! Her cover of Keith Urban’s “Where the Blacktop Ends” is solid.
--- Lol, Lazaro is “Feelin' Good” in his all-pink ensemble. I swear, James Porter, vocally, he does a good job.
--- A good job should not get Lazaro a second song. Power slurring does not put you on the “Edge Of Glory.”
--- Kree Harrison, “Up to the Mountain”!!
--- Kree, Alabama Shakes!!! I literally shouted this band name out loud I was so pleasantly surprised. “Hold On”’s got soul. I swear she looked and motioned at me at one point. Perhaps because the rest of the crowd was AWFUL. Worst first four rows ever. I felt inappropriate getting out of my seat. She lied about how good the crowd is, but it was a lie. Brittany Howard's voice is, honestly, more varied and powerful, but "Hold On" remained the best moment of the concert.
--- Upbeat group dance number led by CANDICE GLOVER. She auditioned here too! Glad she got her single out of the way early. The whole arena swayed to it, without prompting. The lyrics made it much better than expected: “Get rejected, look yourself in the mirror, and tell yourself…I Am Beautiful.”
--- I’m biased against midtempo, but Candice’s new song about summer grew on me by the end.
--- The crowd FINALLY got its act together and gave a standing ovation for “Love Song,” by far the high point of the Idol season.
--- HA, we go from the deeply meaningful “Love Song” to a bescarfed Paul Jolley singing about wanting to touch my face. Huh?
--- The final song’s transition from Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” to Phillip Phillips’ “Gone” was clever – and, if you have to incorporate the whole group, the perfect ending.
Grade: B+
American Idol Season 12 - Angie Miller "You Set... by FanReviews
Candice Glover - Love Song - American Idol 12... by IdolxMuzic
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