Concert Review: Local Bands @ UU

Bands: Jeff Mitchell, Envy of August, Foxglove, Calling Aviv, With The Punches, The Big Sanchez
Venue: Unitarian Universalist Church Basement in Wakefield, MA

Comments: Everyone that participated in the show is a great performer and musician. That said, the pop-punk genre just isn't my thing. It's sometimes catchy (credit to Foxglove), but there seemed to be very little variation between songs. Calling Aviv was really good, playing some old and new. Bill's use of the electronic switch as an instrument was cool. I thought The Big Sanchez's performance of "Maria" was the best of the night.

Concert Review: Animal Collective (HoBo)

Bands: Grouper, Animal Collective
Venue: House of Blues in Boston

Comments (Chris DeCarlo):
As soon as I walked in, I was a tad bit disappointed (though, not surprised) by the sea of Animal Collective fans that had arrived before me. Not being the first to arrive nor the person in the front row is uncommon for me at non-seated shows. Being my height, I couldn't see a thing; if I stepped on my tip toes I could see merely some of the stage. So, initially I simply anticipated hearing great music, but not feeling the whole experience. However, when their new classic "Summertime Clothes," (one of my favorites) emerged, I began pogoing away and with the advice of a female concertgoer, I pushed my way through the crowd so I could see the band. From this point on it was chaotic, but fun and exciting. I must say the dancing and moshing and what not was crazier than I expected and greater than anything I have ever encountered.

It was like one big hugging, sweat fest, which at times became obnoxious and unnecessary to the point that I was almost falling over every other second. One other flaw for me was the lack of personal favorites performed. Don't get me wrong AC put on an amazing and entertaining show and played all great songs. Some of my faves [were played] ("Summertime Clothes" and "My Girls" and technically "Who Could Win a Rabbit," but it was a different version of it and therefore did not achieve the same reaction for me anyway. Since, these guys are one of my top 20 favorite artists, I anticipated them playing more of my favorites than other bands I see.

Finally, I want to mention an additional treat to the band was a gigantic, white ball which served as a screen for random, archive footage of various images including that of race cars, a Native American, and countless others. A fellow fan summed it up perfectly whilst we were hopping and bopping in the pit: "Buy the ticket, take the ride." He, of course, was referencing the famous Hunter S. Thompson quote, which perfectly captures the musical, emotional, and perhaps spiritual trip that is Animal Collective live.

Comments (Glen):
I made the terrible mistake of reading a review of the concert in the Boston Globe this morning. The review was really awesome and captured the concert to a very accurate extent. First, I would like to say (to the dismay of probably a few people reading this) that Grouper was the most boring act ever. It just felt like one forty-five minute song. Animal Collective, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Offering a small array of tracks, including rarely performed "#1" and "Bleed," Animal Collective decided to go for more electro-pop/dance than freak folk/experimental. That of course meant that the majority of the set featured tracks from Merriweather Post Pavillion. The mosh-pitting and crazy dancing was extremely unexpected, but luckily for me I got pushed from being 12 rows back originally to six feet away from the trio at the very end. I would say the inexperience from the all ages crowd was the principal cause of the raucous. Some songs that definitely contributed to the madness were "Brother Sport" and "Fireworks." Overall, the band performed extremely well. I look forward to seeing them again in the future.

Concert Review: King Khan (Paradise)

Bands: The Homosexuals, Mark Sultan, King Khan
Venue: Paradise Rock Club

Act One: The Homosexuals

Glen: The Homosexuals, or in this concert's case Bruno Wizard and two members from the noise rock band Fiasco, started things off. Wizard, who has an affinity for saying 'fuck' and acting crazy as 'fuck,' didn't fail at moving about the stage like an asshole. Wizard's most notable song was "Hearts in Exile," a lengthy and repetitive proto-punk jam that got the crowd semi-excited. He finally sang "Don't Touch My Hair," an obnoxious rhyme that was undoubtedly written while Wizard was under some form of narcotic. I give a lot of credit to Julian (drums) and Jon (guitar) for playing excellent music.

Chris: Well, the singer was a bit obnoxious and got really old rather quickly. Speaking of being old, he was middle aged, but tried to act like a buzz cock. Perhaps a bit more cock than buzz. His vocals and the songs themselves were average. He repeated one particular line at least 50 times. Ridonculous. With that being said, I appreciated his high energy, albeit a cliched, poor man's Mick Jagger. Also, the guitarist and drummer had the musical chops and I suggest they find a new front man or create an entirely different group. [Editors Note: They are a part of Fiasco, which has a different lead singer. They were just filling in, bud.]

Act Two: Mark Sultan

Glen: Mark Sultan, or as the guy standing next to me said "the man they call B-B-Q" was very impressive. Complete with a makeshift drum kit and an old-school electric guitar, Sultan provided the audience with vintage rock n' roll sounds. For me, Sultan's highlight was "Waddlin' Around." The crowd really got into this song in particular. It was too bad Sultan only played for 30 minutes. That wasn't the last of him though...

Chris: Mark Sultan or BBQ- Impressive. That's the first word that comes to my mind when I think of his performance. For all ye musicians out there that merely play 1 instrument (I play none!), the BBQ has you beat! Simultaneously Sultan commands the microphone, plays the chords, and bangs the drums with the assistance of some handy dandy foot pedals. Sultan gave the audience a nice, little balance between slow, doo-wop echoing, love numbers and kick ass rockers you could rock your head and bop around to. A notable set to say the least.

Act Three: King Khan and the Shrines

Glen: I witnessed the soulful Supreme Genius! I actually noticed King Khan an hour before the show. I yelled "King!" and he stopped and gave Chris and I handshakes. Seriously, though, he puts on an amazing show. It couldn't be done, though, without the help of the eight other members of the band. The cheerleader -- unnecessary, yet unbelievably necessary -- sprinkled glitter all over us in the pit. Her fine dancing was a great adjunct. The saxophone players don't get as much credit as they deserve. They were instrumental (literally). The guitarists were fun, often interacting with the crowd (by jumping off stage). BUT it was the King who got everyone going. The minute he walked onto the stage, everyone just smiled, clapped, and knew that one hell of a show was in store. King's swagger on stage is unprecedented. His gimmicks are vast and varied. Lying on the ground, sticking his head out to the front row, dancing over the cheerleader, whatever, you name it. His energy simply never relented. God bless him. He performed classics such as "I Wanna Be Your Girl," "Welfare Bread," and "Shivers Down My Spine," before delving into a Gospel track -- a brand-new 5+ minute epic that involved intensive crowd participation. King Khan came back on stage (thanks in large part to a certain energetic Shrines percussionist) after saying "this is our last song" and performed my personal favorite "Took My Lady To Dinner" followed by a few others, including a never-been-done-live-before song with Mark Sultan. Unfortunately, the experience had to come to an end. The keyboardist was doing crazy shit with his keyboard and having one hell of a time as he tackled it (which probably rendered it unusable). After slightly more than fifty minutes of moshing, sweating, and smacking King Khan's helmet (yes, I got the privilege), the King, his underwear and animal teeth necklace, and his Shrines walked off the stage. The lights in the club turned on. We bounced.

Chris: I did not truly comprehend just how supreme the genius of King Khan and the Shrines was until Thursday night. Rarely have I ever seen such a build up to a band arriving on the stage. The Shrines, all in their black Shrine uniforms, began playing their various instruments, increasing the overwhelming anticipation of King Khan and his lady. Finally, our hero, accompanied by his ever-grinning cheerleader (pom poms and all!), hit the stage all decked out in his white suit and ready to go!. The crowd immediately danced into the "Land of the Freak," which the Paradise Rock Club had transformed into by this point. The sensational opener was followed by even more notorious numbers including "How Do I Keep You (Outta Harm's Way)," "Sweet Tooth," "Shivers Down My Spine," "Welfare Bread" (one of my favorite moments during the concert; the cheerleader sprinkled glitter all over herself and us!), "I Wanna Be A Girl" (I'd say the tune earned the biggest crowd response, at least from me anyway), "No Regrets," "Took My Lady to Dinner," and "Live Fast Die Strong." The last 3 were performed as the encore in which the King appeared in his traditional golden cape, mask, and nothing but underwear!

Final Comments:

Glen: King Khan and the Shrines probably put on the best show that I've seen yet. It wasn't quite a religious experience, but it was a genius experience. I've never gotten the privilege to see eight amazing musicians (plus one cheerleader) perform so amazingly together. I didn't really listen to King Khan too much before the show, but now I'm absolutely hooked. But seriously this show has to be in its own category because of that. With the Black Lips and No Age, I pretty much recognized all their live music and that made seeing them so great. Bottom line: I absolutely can't wait to see King Khan and the Shrines again!

Chris: Grade: A. Stage diving, crowd surfing, pogoing, and heartfelt singing insured one of my top 3 greatest concert experiences.

Concert Review: No Age (Wellesley)

Picture Credit: Pitchfork Media

Bands: Lemonade, The Beets, and No Age
Venue: Wellesley College
Date: April 2, 2009

Introduction: When the three amigos and Paul arrived at Wellesley College we searched for nearly a half hour for the music center. Slowly, but surely we reached the place we were seeking (I had to run, not cool). So, we asked to step inside, but of course we have penises and it was an all girl school, clearly not our turf. We were instructed that entrance could only be granted, if we knew someone that attended the college. Well, we did not, but with our impeccable boyish charm we were able to coax the sweet girl at the door to let us in. The show cost a mere five singles. An excellent deal by any standard.

Act One: Lemonade
Excellent dance rock meets hard rocking noise pop. This trio rocked out for sure. All three members were highly energetic, especially the drummer; it appeared as though he would smash his entire set at any second. Now, with all that being said, I don't want to confuse readers, they are extremely poppy, but in a very endearing way. I hope to hear more of them in the future.

Act Two: The Beets
Not the Beets that Doug and Skeeter adored, but rather an early Black Lips meets Beat Happening kinda group. They meshed garage rocky, bluesy, noisy sounds (Black Lips) with 60s pop and somewhat callow musicianship (Beat Happening, but perhaps better musicianship than Beat Happening). They weren't as good as the first act and certainly nowhere near the next act lol, but they were overall entertaining and clearly talented. I heard some hooks beneath the noise. Some flaws were the start stop thing that occurred at the beginning of the first number and most of the songs sounding alike.

Act Three: NO AGE!!!
Simply said, one of the top five greatest bands out there today. Glen, Ben, and I had the magnificent pleasure of chatting with the dynamic duo at various junctures throughout the show. We stood right between Dean's drum set and Randy's amps and hopped up and down, raising our arms straight in the air relentlessly as soon as they opened with "Teen Creeps," a tune I personally requested to Randy Randal. I hopped back and forth between the mosh pit and the front where it was a bit tamer. The crowd (30 , give or take) shared in our enthusiasm and loved each song. Along with TC, they played such classics as "Neck Escaper," "Every Artist Needs A Tragedy," "Eraser" "Miner," "Keechie," "Cappo," "Here Should Be My Home," "Ripped Knees," "Sleeper Hold," "Brain Burner," and two new songs. Unfortunately, the band did not play their triumphant anthem, "Everybody's Down," but what are you going to do? There was no stage and perhaps Randy thought it would be too much of hassle to find some way to do his signature crowd surfing at the end of the song. Oh well, it was still a fabulous show. Can't complain.

Conclusion: Small Venues make the best shows! Not an absolute, but an experienced truth. As I said before, fabulous. My second favorite concert ever! and I'm sure it ranks fairly high for Glen and Ben. Grade: 10/10. I strongly recommend No Age to those who have not seen them, fan or non fan.

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Editors Note: Definitely the second best show I've seen. The up-close and personal nature of the show contributed to its awesomeness. The fact that the group traveled out of their way to put on a show for a relatively small number of college students is simply impressive. The showmanship of Randy Randall and Dean Allen Spunt is second to none. - Glen

Concert Review: The War on Drugs

Bands: Tsui, The Drones, The War on Drugs
Venue: TT The Bears
Date: March 29, 2009

Introduction - Chris - It was a nice little venue with a tiny stage, common for such venues. The show started a bit late, sometime between 9 and 9:30. Unfortunately, I'm assuming since it was a Sunday night, there was a lack of showing with roughly 30 people in attendance.

Act One - Tsui

Glen: Tsui combined elements of folk (thumbs up to the drummer's use of the glockenspiel!) and poppy guitar chords. Their lyrics are touching and meaningful and their performance gentle. They have great potential, especially if they continue to write and record songs at a high level. I don't think they played my favorite track of theirs, "Ms. Is On The Phone," but I'll forgive them for that. They certainly compensated for this during their rather short set.

Chris: Decently catchy songs. Not too much movement from them, in their performance, but maybe that worked.... maybe.

Act Two - The Drones

Glen: The Drones are an incredibly energetic Australian garage-punk band. Garage-punk not really in the same sense as, say, the Black Lips, but in a constant heavy strumming/heavy drumming kind of way. At times, I saw glimpses of Rage Against the Machine, but I'll blame the weak vocals (not the singer's fault; the tech guys didn't have the mic tuned at the best level) for having mistakenly heard Zach De La Rocha. My favorite song was "Minotaur," which was a scary kind of death punk. Other than that, The Drones southern rock influences were very very evident in their set. And Ozzy Osbourne. A little bit of him in there too.

Chris: Good Australian band, almost British sounding. They were humorous, energetic (especially the lead singer), and certainly rocked out. The guitars were pulsing, but the vocals lacked the same merit. Not to say that they were bad, just not as good.

Act Three - The War on Drugs

Glen: The experimental trio from Pennsylvania really got me going. That's right, they didn't get the crowd going...they got me going. That's because they played every song that I was familiar with. I liked how the singer asked the drummer, "Boulders?" but before the drummer could respond he said "Fuck it" and they jumped right into "Arms Like Boulders," a particularly catchy freak folk track. Before that they played "Taking the Farm," an electronic ode to the likes of Animal Collective et al. But by far the best part of their set was their last song, "A Needle in Your Eye." For this song, the singer set aside his guitar and turned on his keyboard. I liked the noisy aspect of the keyboard -- it was loud, but not so loud that the other instruments, bass and drum, weren't able to be heard." On a final note, I was under the impression that the drummer was simply a member of the band's crew because of his stereotypically ordinary crew look (long hair, shitty clothes). He was the man though -- I appreciate his showmanship.

Chris: It was a decent set, very loud, very noisy, but this wall of pandemonium worked very well (my ears are just starting to recover!). Excellent use of keyboards from the singer. The drumming was pile driving and reminded me of Peter Prescott. Unfortunately, they only played for 30 minutes, shorter than their predecessors. I had the feeling that they didn't want to play, mainly because the audience was small and not particularly enthusiastic. So I can't blame them.

Conclusion

Glen: Though I doubt that these bands will rise to the kind of prestige they deserve, I will be following each of them all the more closely because of their very solid performance Sunday night.

Chris: Good show! 7.5/8 out of 10. Disclaimer: I was not familiar with any of the bands to an extent (I heard two WOD songs a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot them).

Concert Review: Black Lips (Middle East)

Bands: Mean Creek, Gentleman Jesse and His Men, Black Lips
Venue: Middle East Downstairs
Date: March 7, 2009

Act One - Mean Creek

Chris: I really liked them. I dug the hip attitude and appearance meshed with a somewhat sociopolitical commentary on our frail society..... or something like that. I think they had a great sound; the heaviness was just about right for what they were doing. They were fairly energetic and it definitely showed in their performance. And of course there was the cute female guitarist.

Glen: I second Chris in that Aurore Ounjian, the vocalist/guitarist/harmonica player, is very cute. Mean Creek played heavy power pop that was catchy and was almost a throw-back to '80s and '90s alternative rock/shoegaze. "Not to Dream" particularly stuck out as a great song with a hopeful message. Chris Keene, vocalist/guitarist, and Aurore called for America to dream about a society where money is burnt and freedom is free. Mean Creek reminded me of Faces on Film, another passionate local folksy band. They were very good and it will be interesting to see how they emerge in the coming months.

Act Two - Gentleman Jesse and His Men

Chris: Gentleman were okay. The volume was a bit unnecessarily high. Some bands can have the volume that loud, like the Black Lips, but for them it just didn't sound right, in my opinion. Just noise that hurt my ears, not to sound like an old bitch. Overall, they were pretty good and I could see 70s rock elements underneath the wall of noise.

Glen: Heavy stuff. My hearing was shot about 30 seconds into their 10 song set. These Atlanta natives combined elements of punk, pop, and lo-fi with sweet guitar solos and choruses. They kind of remind me of a heavier Click Five. I can't see why they aren't bigger. I'm usually not a huge fan of their strand of garage rock, but it's irresistably fetching. Check out "All I Need Tonight Is You."

Act Three - BLACK LIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chris: The Black Lips put on the best show I've ever seen. Very extraordinary, wild, and unpredictable. Of course, they garnered the most audience response and rightfully so. As soon as they stormed into "Sea of Blasphemy," the crowd went into a frenzy, never remaining still or apart till the end. They played a fairly diverse set with songs from 4 of their 5 studio albums. In my opinion, the best performances were "Dirty Hands" (by far, the whole crowd was most united for this number, rocking back and forth and singing the chorus, def. a highlight of not just this show, but all shows in my somewhat brief concert going career), "Buried Alive," "Fairy Stories," "Bad Kids," "Starting Over," you know what they were all amazing.... I tried avoiding that, but I couldn't. The band was more energetic and enthusiastic then most other bands I've seen, specifically singer/guitarist Jared Swilley, who often hopped into the crowd and shredded on his guitar. Excellent use of feedback, I must say. He was just a pro in stage antics. Overall, my favorite show by miles. I can't wait to seem them again, whenever that is.

Glen: Obsessed with the Black Lips for well over two months, I was, for lack of a better word, pumped to see them. Chatting it up with guitarist Cole Alexander before the show was quite a treat. Cole talked to us about what kind of venues the Black Lips are capable of playing in, their lack of ability to play certain songs, and finally their snorting coke and partying with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich in England. When Alexander and his crew took the stage, the crowd erupted in shouts of "ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh" -- similar to the Mexican crowd on the opening track off their spectacular live album Los Valientes Del Mundo Nuevo. Then, in a blink of an eye, Jared Swilley picked up his guitar, and so did Cole and Ian St. Pe. Joe Bradley readied himself behind the drumset and the group opened with "Sea of Blasphemy." The crowd erupted in a moshpit that involved lots of contact and screaming. The contact and the screaming never relented. Between songs, Jared kept remarking how he couldn't hear the audience for shit (they were screaming out requests). Also between songs involved the tossing of multiple beers. Swilley dropped a pass and joked, "I didn't play football in high school." St. Pe, who a little later caught a beer pass, said "I played football in high school." St. Pe was playing guitar in front of me the whole time. He was clearly inebriated but was still able to strum amazingly. He handed me one of the beers he caught and gave me a high five. Good man. The band was absolutely full of energy and lived up to their "one of rock's best live acts" reputation. There was no mooning, making out, or pissing on the audience -- and there didn't need to be...crowd surfing and spitting sufficed. The Black Lips played a hodge podge of great tracks ranging from oldies "Bad Kids," "Buried Alive," "Dirty Hands," "Cold Hands," a 10 minute epic of "Hippie Hippie Hoorah," "Not a Problem," "Stranger," "Katrina," to songs off their 2009 release 200 Million Thousand like "Drugs," "Short Fuse," "Starting Over," and "Take My Heart." The last song came, at least for me, unexpectedly. I was having the most fun I've ever had and thus began "Juvenile." Jared let the front row play with his guitar a little before full out diving into us. He was hanging onto the condensation-dripping wall while being pushed around. Beers were being spilled everywhere and everyone was going absolutely nuts. The security guards were getting so pissed that they cut the plug to the mics and started dismantling the band's equipment. The crowds' calls, "Encore! Encore!" were repudiated as the lights turned on and the background music played. I would have loved one more, but I can't complain. If they were going to do an encore...the security were just assholes. It took almost 2 days for my inner-ear buzzing to stop, but it was well worth it and I'd relive the concert again in a heartbeat. Black Lips, if you read this...Boston loves you! Come back this summer...please!

Concert Review: Mission of Burma (Somerville)

Coming Soon: Arts at the Armory in Somerville

Line-Up:
Jimmy Tingle (Comedian and MC)
Faces on Film
The Neighborhoods
Mission of Burma

Venue: Somerville Theatre

Jimmy Tingle:
Glen: Tingle, 53, a native of Cambridge, was comical. His comedic theme for the night was politics and he did not hesitate to show his support for Barack Obama. With that support came a general loathing towards Bush Jr. With that, he had some good knocks on Bush and Cheney. This was the first show that I've been to that featured a comedian so having Tingle was an added treat.

Chris: Jimmy Tingle provided some witty, observational humor ranging from knocks at President Bush to the value of Beer warning labels.

Faces on Film
Glen: Faces on Film, a former comedy troupe from Boston, was, if you ask me, awesome live. I did hear a little FoF prior to the show, but I wasn't so familiar that I instantly recognized any one particular song. When the first words ("your desperate children") came out of singer Mike Fiore's mouth, I instantly felt like I was listening to Connor Oberst. Fiore is a bit less emotional than Oberst, but his general folk vocal approach is enough to mention the similarity. Fiore was excellent sans his band (a few songs), but I thought the band added a nice element of instrumentation, warranting an almost immediate comparison to Hamilton Leithauser and his Walkmen. My favorite song of the less than one hour set was "I'll Sleep to Protect," off of FoF's hit 2008 album The Troubles. A polished guitar riff, slick bass line, light drums, powerful keyboards, and Fiore's "oh oh oh oh oh oh" all coalesced into a memorable four minutes.

Chris: Faces On Film were pretty chill. They didn't seem too loud, nor too soft. Just right. The whole band was decent, but I actually prefered the lead singer/guitarist performing solo. I saw elemets of Bright Eyes and Radiohead here, and actually a would be polished Daniel Johnston, if you can fathom that. There was also a female singer, whom briefly appeared on the stage, and to be honest her role seemed "unnecssary,"seeing that 90% of the time she just stood there and looked she was sick, ready to collapse any second.

The Neighborhoods
Glen: The Neighborhoods were interesting. They played mainly guitar driven garage/hard rock. I could tell that they were signed to a major label. This wasn't a downfall or anything, but it was just that they were super clean. Almost like really really clean. Dave Minahan is a good singer. Basically, a lot of their songs are excellent Guitar Hero material. The crowd really seemed to appreciate the lengthy guitar solos and solid drum play.

Chris: It was a treat, to see The Neighborhoods follow FoF, mainly because of their stark contrast in performance and sound. While, FoF were chill and mellow, this band rocked out (they weren't wild per se, but certainly good time rocking and their energy transferred to the audience who responded positively. They reminded me of a poppier, safer version of The Replacements. I guess you could say they resembled The Rifles a bit. Most songs were straight up rockers (power pop/garage pop?), but the band broke this mold for a few songs, demonstrating their ability to throw in some slower, perhaps more mainstream, numbers in the mix. Overall, they were decent, about a B-.

Mission of Burma
Glen: Mission of Burma made me happy. I read on Wikipedia prior to the show that their live performances are hit or miss: either really really good or really really bad. Last night was the former. The second song played, "This Is Not A Photograph" featured the spot on duel vocals of Roger Miller and Clint Conley. Pitching in his voice from time to time was drill sargent drummer Peter Prescott. I give a lot of props to Prescott for setting the tone throughout the show. I thought they could have turned Miller's microphone up a little higher, but that wasn't a big deal. Conley's "Academy Fight Song" also happened to come out real well. The effects pedals really added to the noise element of Burma's set -- a benchmark of their inspirational and, as Prescott said, therapeutic music. A few songs came off of the band's critically acclaimed reunion releases, OnoffOn (2004) and The Obliterati (2006). The final song of Burma's encore was a cover of The Stooge's "I Wanna Be Your Dog." In fact, Minahan came back on the stage to play guitar to close out a great night all in benefit of the arts.

Chris: Clearly, everyone came to see these guys, and certainly they got their money's worth. Burma played, a loud, noisy set filled with numerous fan favorites, including "This is Not a Photograph," "Academy," and many others. Crowd response was extremely positive, unsurprisingly, with fans singing along, head banging, and even one woman shaking and girating vigorously back and forth, catching much of the crowd's attention. It was also nice to hear all 3 members sing (or scream, esp. drummer Peter Prescott). The band concluded with a cover of the classic Stooges song, "I Wanna Be Your Dog," they were accompanied by the Neighborhoods' guitarist. It is clear, that Burma's legacy is alive and well and they are more popular and respected now than ever before. On one sad note, it is too bad they did not play their signature song, "That's When I Reach For My Revolver." Oh well. Overall, great show. B+

Concert Review: No Age (Middle East)

It's always fun searching online for bands that play local all ages shows. Especially difficult is finding one at a small club-like venue. Not to worry for Chris, Ben, and I as we noticed No Age, an LA based noise rock band we saw back in July, scheduled to play at the Middle East Downstairs. Recalling No Age as one of the more preeminent live acts we've seen, we didn't hesitate to make the journey to Cambridge on Monday night.

Act One: Silk Flowers - I didn't really know what to expect from this trio. Judging from looks alone, I saw diversity. The guy on the left with the long hair seemed more apt as a 90s garage rock guitarist than a synthesizist (no such word, is there?). The center-man was just kind of there. That's not a bad thing. He was doing some heavy duty rocking out and I greatly admire that. The dude on the left handling the drum machine (and singing...if we can call it that), who I figured out is Aviram Cohen, reminded me of Mr. O'Brien in his youth (not that I know what O'Brien looked like back then). The group showed flashes of potential with catchy dub beats and a tribute (or seemingly so) to the post-punk/industrial scene of the '80s. I recall Ben comparing their music to '70s horror music, a fairly accurate comparison. I admittedly heard more Palm (the electronic one-man band from the first No Age show) than Kraftwerk. Overall, it was quite a respectable performance for a three song set.

Act Two: Soft Circle - Guitar. Drums. Electronic Percussion. Vocals. Hiram Akira Bharoocha can literally do it all...in one song at that. He picks up the guitar and plays a one or two minute riff. He then goes over to the electronic percussion kit and mixes a string of noise. All the while he records a spacey chant. With the guitar riff, percussion noise, and vocals all on loop, he picks up his drum sticks and starts going nuts. Being able to do all of this effectively proves he is a masterful musician, but what impressed me even more were the songs themselves. They were more dub than anything else, but the heavy drum was really the kicker. Watch out for Soft Circle. That's all I have to say.

Act Three: No Age - Words really can't describe how good No Age is live. You kind of have to be there. Further, you kind of have to be in the front row. Starting things off with "Keechie" -- an experimental and instrumental track off their 2008 highly acclaimed CD release Nouns -- was a bit unexpected, but proved to be a great segue into more heavier, noise driven tunes. The crowd, rather shiftless during Silk Flowers and Soft Circle, went into an uproar as soon as Dean Allen Spunt, the drummer/vocalist, began pounding the bass drum. Randy Randall's near flawless guitar play was an excellent complement as usual. Lesser known songs like "Brain Burner", "Cappo", and "Sleeper Hold" drew great crowd involvement in the form of head banging and dancing while more popular songs like "Here Should Be My Home", "Eraser", and "Ripped Knees" put everyone into a comfortable position to rock out and bang into each other. Two particularly awesome moments I recall were: Randy Randall playing "Eraser" right in front of me (I could've and should've memorized the chords) and an attractive female, approximately my age, dancing and throwing herself around with ease (whilst not giving any shit at all). I was a little disappointed when No Age left the stage having not played the classic "Everybody's Down." Of course, they came back for an encore. The first encore included Aviram Cohen on vocals singing a cover of G.G Allin's "Don't Talk To Me." That was pretty much out of the blue, but awesome, and went along well with the pace of the previous set of songs. The second encore was in fact "Everybody's Down." This is definitely one of No Age's better songs (Chris would argue its their best) and ended in a spectacularly awesome way -- Randall crowd surfing while finishing the final minute of the song on guitar. He was thrown back on the stage and the concert ended. Amazing. Oh yeah, Aviram gave Ben and I high-fives. That was cool.

Final Comment: 3rd Best Concert Of All Time (Following Radiohead and Dinosaur. Jr/Meat Puppets/Built to Spill)

Concert Review: Paul Weller (Berklee)

Opening Act: The Rifles - Certainly one of the finest opening acts I've seen in my brief concert-attending journey. Reminiscent of The Libertines, The Cinematics, and The Jam, these guys truly rocked. Songs such as "Repeated Offender" and "Peace and Quiet" handled the group's brief act. Combining pop elements and punk riffs, these songs (and more) came out as polished as you can expect for a band that is just starting to acquire fame. The crowd seemed especially impressed by "She's Got Standards" -- a revival of post-punk that sounds more 80s than 00s. Chris dug them, too, saying, "The Rifles were fantastic. They reminded me of the Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines ( not just cause they're all British)."

Paul Weller:

Glen - They call him the Modfather (or at the least the guy behind does...after every song) and Weller couldn't be more deserving of such a title. Weller's strain of rock, dub, and soul is as alive now as it was thirty years ago. Offering tracks dating back to Weller's old Jam days, old proved to be just as good as new. "Wild Wood" and "You Do Something To Me" were awesome, but it would be a shame to forget the sheer greatness of newbies like "Sea Spray" and "From The Floorboards Up." Too, it would be a travesty to not give credit to Weller's bandmates, who along with Weller put on a hell of a show. One of the highlights was a harmonic acoustic belting of "All On A Misty Morning."

Chris - "I often hear that Weller's shows were quiet and chill, but this show displayed the contrary, well at least for most songs. He had a whole band backing him and they bashed out numerous rockers. To be honest, I don't know much about his solo career; I'm a major Jam fan though. Of course, I was ecstatic when he and his band played two Jam tunes: "Butterfly Collector" and "Town Called Malice" (the encore). All the forty somethings in the audience were dancing their arses off to that number! It was hilarious, with the exception of a few other young lads [including Adam Amoroso of Lynnfield's Mystery Tramps], Glen and I were standing amongst middle class, middle aged, Mod fanatics. I was disappointed that he didn't play "That's Entertainment," but what are you going to do, right? My favorite song from the evening was the classic "Wild Wood." You could hear the entire audience singing along; it was really serene and special. Weller displayed his talent as a singer, guitarist (damn, he and his band love their guitars; they went through at least five during the show, no lie) and pianist. It was quite humorous when he smoked cigarettes whilst performing. You couldn't even tell any difference in his vocals, his voice still sounded magnificent. I was disappointed about the admission: $39, a bit much! But, oh well. I don't regret it, it was a great show. Dozens of fans (including yours truly) tried to meet up with Weller and talk to him, sign shit, etc. But, unfortunately security claimed "the band have gone." Lol, I for one, do not believe they had two buses, one for the band and one for the crew. Bullshit, what's next? Daniel Johnston has a private jet and Wesley Willis is singing songs from the grave? Well, this is the modern world I've learned about. It's too bad cause there was a thousand things I wanted to say to him. But, I guess that's entertainment!"

Concert Review: Journey with Cheap Trick, Heart

He does a great Steve Perry impression.

Venue: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
Imagine Aerosmith without Steven Tyler, or if The Doors had existed without Jim Morrison. Exactly - you can't, and Journey will never be the same without Steve Perry for that same reason. That doesn't stop them from trying, and on Sunday night, supported by a couple killer opening acts, they just about succeeded.
Despite pitch-perfect live renditions of the old stuff and identical sounding new songs, the headliners might as well call themselves Open Arms: The Journey Experience without the original singer of their hits. Now led by sound-alike Arnel Pineta, the band is little more than a nostalgia act, akin to the Brian Wilson-less Beach Boys. Predictably, the new stuff almost put the crowd to sleep, but the set contained many more hills than valleys, with just enough pop-metal classics to merit an encore.

Guy on the right believes you have his stapler.

I can't complain nearly as much about the preceding bands. Cheap Trick threatened to get gimmicky with the constant guitar switching and Rick Nielsen's pick throwing between strums, but they set the power pop tone of the night with "I Want You To Want Me", "Surrender", and plenty of songs you haven't heard.  Their short songs recalled classic punk, and their style was the most lo-fi of the night - and that's a good thing.

 

Ann has since gained a little weight.

Even better was Heart, whose six members produced a heavy sound between the many instruments and Ann Wilson's powerful pipes.  Their set was a perfect mix of their hits, their more obscure tunes, and surprising covers.  Their takes on The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me" and Zeppelin's "Going to California" proved that Ann and Nancy could rock just as hard as their male contemporaries.
Good thing Journey has such fine tourmates who set a high bar.  If only they would ditch "After All These Years" and throw in a song that won't kill all momentum.  Then we could forget about Steve Perry.

Concert Review: Radiohead (Comcast Center)

Act 1 (The Ride To The Concert): I left my house at 5:40 to pick up Chris. We got on the highway around 5:50. It was truly smooth sailing until about 7:00 when we ran into a huge back-up. I'm not talking about any old back-up, I'm talking about bumper to bumper, no movement for more than an hour kind of jam. As Chris says "the traffic was longer than any soul would expect." It got kind of annoying waiting in the car about two miles away from the venue. Obviously other people thought the same as we saw some guys get out of their car to take a piss in the woods to the right of the breakdown lane. In addition, there were the real pissy types who decided to use the breakdown lane to cut in line. Those bastards...I suggested to Chris something that I never would have envisioned myself doing: getting out of the car and running towards the Comcast Center (which I thought was only about .5-1 mile in front of us, but in reality was more than two). If Chris had known it was that far away, he says he never would have stepped foot out of the car. Well, we said what the hell, got out of the vehicle, and bolted straight ahead. Not a very fast runner (9:30 mile time), I was very impressed by my speed on foot. I could have kept going, but Chris, one not very apt in running either, was out of breath. As Chris says, "It shall be noted that I stopped the running. I couldn't do it anymore; my arms and legs were so tired. Plus Glen almost got hit by the car. There were patrons yelling 'Get off the fucking road', 'what the fuck are you doing' and my favorite 'you guys are crazy' and she said that in a pissed off tone. I saw a lot of people laughing. I just kept running, looking straight and of course backwards to see if cars were coming." "We used the little space we had to dodge them. Like I said Glen almost got hit by one. It was one of the dumbest and yet funniest moments of my life." Apropos, he told me that we should probably ask somebody for a ride because he couldn't run any longer. I was a little hesitant at first, but I realized that if we picked just the right kind of people it wouldn't be that bad of an experience. We lucked out. We jumped into the backseats of the car of Ray and Briana, two college age folk. They said "why are you running? Where are you going?" "We were grossly out of breathe, but still mustered up the energy to quickly reply: TO SEE RADIOHEAD," Chris recounts. They, too, weren't totally accepting of our idea of getting into the car, but Ray said "fine, get in the back." Once we settled ourselves in, Chris recalls Ray saying one of the night's greater lines: "I don't want to get arrested for kidnapping." I was under the impression that they were boyfriend and girlfriend, but oh no. Briana published a classified on Craig's List asking for a two way ride to the Radiohead concert in Mansfield. Ray, sick of driving alone, did a search on google for rides to the Comcast Center to see Radiohead. Boom goes the dynamite: he picked her up at her Boston home and they went together! We thought that was pretty crazy and gave credit to Briana for risking her life to drive to the concert with a stranger. We began talking about music and all other sorts of topics including past concert adventures and my love life or lack there of while a great band, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah played in the background. Then Ray said the line that made Chris's day: "You two lead very interesting lives" Chris replied, 'yeah I guess we do; I go day by day'."We finally reached the parking lot at 8:15. The sad part was the opening act (a fine act, indeed) Grizzly Bear already finished their set by the time we got there. I was only mildly disappointed; Ray and Briana were more down.

Act 2 (The Concert):

Glen: Having never been to the Comcast Center, I was surprised at how large a complex it was. And of course, it was supremely packed once we entered the concourse. Ray, who had lawn seats like us, managed to score a nice center spot in the front row of that section. We only had to wait five or ten minutes to Radiohead to get onto the stage, which I guess was great timing. All of sudden, I spot Thom Yorke and his crew on the stage! The lights behind the stage go on and the band starts playing their hit song "Reckoner" off of In Rainbows. They followed that with a fantastic rendition of "15 Step." Let me just make something real clear: the light show was without a doubt the best I've seen. The lights changed perfectly with respect to the mood of every song and the huge HD screens projected the band as good as an HD screen can project something. During "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" little fishes (gold spots on the big screen) appeared. During another song, the lights shifted so you could make out the lyrics of the song (I can't remember which one, unfortunately). Some of the other highlights of the night, in my opinion, were "The Bends" and "House of Cards". When "The Bends" came on, everyone was cheered considering that's one of the group's most popular tunes. "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" brought us perhaps the best variation of lights and effects. Unfortunately for Chris, there were "No Surprises" and no "Creep" obviously. Perhaps one surprise, if you call it that, was "Karma Police" which hasn't been played all that much in recent times. "Karma Police" was one of the first songs I heard by Radiohead so it was a pleasant experience to hear it live. About 30 minutes into the concert, these two men decided to stand right in front me. Of course, it made my view all that much more suckier. I had to remind myself at this time that I am non-violent human being. That's because they were fondling each other in addition to other ungodly acts of affection. I felt like tapping the lad's shoulder and saying "the George Michael concert was a few weeks ago, bud."

Chris: All excellent performances of excellent songs. Mostly tunes from their latest album In Rainbows, which of course was no surprise since they are touring behind it. There were a few from Kid A and OK Computer. In fact "Karma Police" and "Paranoid Android" imo got the biggest reaction, oh along with "The Bends" (the only song from the album of the same name). I can't forget the unpleasantness that happened during "Paranoid Android" some male concertgoer was taken from the audience, he was stumbling and clearly intoxicated and taken aside. He couldn't stand up; he could barely breathe. As security tried to cope with him through this heinous situation, which ended in him being wheel chaired out of there, Thom Yorke was softly singing "God Loves his children" I don't know I just found that weird, surreal in a way. Poor guy though. I also want to note, that I saw them search him too. "The people generally seemed enthusiastic, energetic, happy. That's something I always notice. You know everyone says: 'Look at these mopey, downer bands, all the fans must want to kill themselves, etc.' I never see that. Whether its Deftones, Thrice, The Used, Morrissey, the Editors, No Age, Radiohead, or whomever. People always get the wrong idea. I felt like everyone was united during "The Bends" when everyone sang together "Where do we go from here?" The song might be pessimistic, but if everyone is together, then they realize that they're not alone. That's key. That saves people. That's one of the main problems with so many bands. As far as I know "Souljah Boy" doesn't save people. And so people always ask me why I'm so crtical of songs such as the aforementioned SB. It's real simple: you can't just act like everything is great all the time. That's not real. Like Maynard James Kennan says if we recognize that the bad is just as important as the good, then we can move one, we can evolve.... and you can have fun along the way! Of course you can mindlessly dance to the mainstream pop hits and never learn anything about yourself or anything about those around you, but it's certainly not necessary, there are alternatives."

Act 3: The show ended at 10:55 PM. To put things simply, we waited in the parking lot from 11:30 PM to 1:15 AM before the line of cars started moving. We got home around 2:30/3:00 AM, which sucked, but because the concert was so awesome, it was worth it.

Conclusion: Chris summed it up very well: "Despite the fact that I could barely see the band play 90% of the time (I mostly watched them on those massive screens) I'd still consider it the best concert I've been to." Personally, I can't wait until the next RH performance; you know damn well we will get seats next time.

Concert Review: George Michael

Venue: TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA
A few songs into his show, George Michael remarked, "I know a lot of single guys won't tell anyone they were here."  Fortunately, he put on a great show that anyone present should spread the word of.  He performed a quality selection from his 25 years in the biz, full of catchy dance songs and surprising ballads, and his singing was fantastic.
Highlights included an early song from the Wham! days, "I'm Your Man", that recalls the golden age of Motown.  Then there was the gospel-tinged ballad "Father Figure", the Elvis throwback "Faith", and a fantastic jazz version of "Roxanne".  George followed the classic cover with another smoky jazz song, his late 80s composition "Kissing a Fool".
Many of George's fans are, like him, openly gay, and many moments of the show celebrated homosexuality.  I felt more like a party crasher than a rabbi in Mecca, though.  He remarked that "Flawless" may be "the gayest song of the night", but I think that honor goes to "Outside", his disco song poking fun at the embarrassing incident that outed him.
The smooth jazz of "Careless Whisper" would have been a fine finale, since it was the only song not accompanied by videos on the huge screens that defined the stage.  The souped-up screen savers and music videos threatened to turn this concert into a movie, especially when credits rolled at the end.  Nevertheless, George and his magic screens returned for a more fitting closer, the upbeat anthem "Freedom! '90".
This might be George's last tour, so see him while you can.  Hope you like disco and its post-70s equivalents.  And if you have something against gays...what's wrong with you?

Chris, Ben, Glen Discuss Concert

Part One



Part Two

Concert Review: Suzuki Smith

Call this the shortest concert review in the history of concert reviews. Specifically, I went to Cambridge (the Middle East) to get tickets for Monday's show that (Chris, hopefully too) I will be attending. I decided to pop into the Upstairs section and see what was going on. Suzuki Smith, a punk band from Boston, was playing. Keep in mind that I only stayed for one song called "Kamikaze Irishmen". Now, the song actually is very similar to the Bad Brains and the Circle Jerks in terms of sound. The lyrics, however, made me think of the Dropkick Murphys (a no-no). This was the first time I've heard a (hardcore) punk band live -- keep in mind that the room was about 8 feet by 10. I didn't want to go deaf so I departed after that one song. I can't complain considering I wasn't expecting to see anyone play today.

Here is what the band has to say about punk music:

Fact is, most people don’t get what the meaning of “punk” truly is. We, as Americans, are so engrossed in what people wear, look like, etc, that we put people in groups based on appearance. Punk is not those dudes from Blink 182 running around on the beach doing stupid stuff on MTV or that guy with the leather jacket throwing dice in the alley. What punk is couldn’t be further from that. That, right there, are 2 great examples as to what commercialism has programmed us to think about what punk rock and what being a punk is in general. Punk is a mind set. You CAN’T buy it or sell it. Punk is not about hating someone else or being physically abusive. It’s about standing up for what you believe in and being man (or woman) enough to accept the consequences of not following the masses, doing what you are told or maintaining the status quo – as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. Sometimes, those consequences are pretty heavy. But, punks in all forms, from lawyers to dropouts, know that they are never alone. People tell us all the time that they “grew out of that stage.” We feel sorry for them. Punk is not only for the young and rebellious. It’s for everyone who is brave enough to take their heads out of the sand and stand up and say “fuck you!” to those who try to tell you what to feel, how to live, where to hang out, etc.

Good words right there.

Concert Review: Ben Tan's Band

All I can say is that they rock. They played nearly all of my requested tunes well. My favorites were "Anarchy in the U.K." by the Sex Pistols, "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones, and "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve. I'm leaving some other goodies out, but those stick out in my mind. Ben, you are great at remembering lyrics and melodies. Brian, if you are reading this, you are better than Dave Grohl. Liz, you make Kim Gordon look like the 2006-07 Boston Celtics. You guys are good...keep it up.

Concert Review: Friday the 13th Concert

Venue: Unitarian Universalist Church, Wakefield, MA

Contrary to superstition, those present at Friday's show lucked out. Zephyr and their friends entertained the basement for hours. The many acts delivered everything from psychedelia to punk to rap.


ITtheverb

ITtheverb kicked things off with a set as unusual as their band name. The duo rocked the house and blew the audience away, armed with only a drum kit, a guitar, and a ton of pedals. Not to mention that they perfect warmed up the crowd for the equally superb Jeff Mitchell and his original acoustic love songs.


The Transitions

The Transitions brought some more rock with a mix of originals and covers - like Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life" and Guns N' Roses' "Patience". Things got more manic when the Pluto Gang took the stage. Lots of noise, speed, and jumping around...and I loved every minute of it.

Red Rock may have a Patrick Stump sound-alike lead singer, but their songs are much more akin to the classic rock of your fathers' days. Billford, backed by Zephyr, payed tribute to Tupac once more and lent some rhythm guitar to "Mr. Jones". Zephyr rocked as always with powerful numbers like "Crash", "The Celtic Song", "Play It Through Your Heart", and "It's Been a Pleasure."


Zephyr

These talented kids delivered yet another solid show. Despite the date, the only sign of bad luck was a frighteningly low turnout at the beginning. Zephyr's a fantastic band, but perhaps they've been playing a few shows too many lately. I love you guys, but you need to take a break after those 10 million upcoming shows.

Concert Review: TV BBQ

And now, an epic three-man review of yesterday's TV BBQ!

Venue: Wakefield High School Courtyard, Wakefield, MA


Ben: Alright...let's start with my band. Be honest, I can handle it.
Glen: What is the name of it?
Ben: We don't have a name at the moment. Brian, Liz, and Ben? Let's go with that. Ha, "Swimmer" went well, so did the funk jam up until the very end, we ended abruptly because we were losing the crowd
Chris: It happens.
Ben: "What'd I Say" went pretty well I'd say.. Got the crowd singing along, that's a good thing.
Chris: Yeah.
Glen: Ben's band offered a fantastic blend of piano rock. Tan was the energy and rhythm of the band, but let us not forget Liz and Brian. They excelled in their individual instruments.
Ben: Bass and drums, respectively.
Glen: "Swimmer" was the best song of their set.
Chris: Call the band the Faux Pas.
Ben: I'll run it by the others.
Glen: The crowd was kind of into it, and paid special attention when Tan shouted (something, what was it) at the end.
Ben: Ha ha, my own version of Ludacris's rap in "Yeah" by Usher.


Ben: Let's talk about the Elephant Man & da White Boyz rap. Funny, not as good as the filmed version, because it kinda fell apart live, but the crowd seemed to like it.
Chris: Yeah that was hilarious.
Glen: John Holmgren, Sean Nadeau, and Tom Calvert did a rather solid job with their rap. The rap, which has gained a considerable amount of fame on YouTube, is creative; something you wouldn't exactly expect from three white boys. It started off great, but then there were some problems at the end. Agreed, the filmed version was better -- but it was incredible hearing it live.


Ben: I've heard Zephyr many times, and this wasn't their tightest performance, but they still did an excellent job.
Chris: Indeed.
Ben: Blame it on the crappy microphone and lack of planning for this gig. "Celtic Song" was great, and I liked the other two songs, which I heard for the first time.
Glen: Zephyr did well. They had some early technical difficulties, but I think they sounded just as good live as they do recorded. It didn't seem like that many people were into them though. I think the fact that people were playing the foot game was a sign of that.
Ben: I've found that with outdoor gigs, it's much harder to tell if you have the crowd's into you. They're always going to be playing Hacky Sack or running around or something, where in a church basement, there's nothing to do but listen.
Chris: True. Each band sounded different; so that is always a plus. Typically, you will get two or three bands that sound the same or at least similar. Zephyr's "Mr. Jones" was catchy.
Glen: Ha, yeah, I enjoyed that one. Reminded me of "Crackity Jones".
Chris: Sounds like that dude spikes his lemonade with acid, but I highly doubt this.


Ben: I thought Jeff was fantastic. Nice guitar work and he's a great singer.
Glen: He did a nice job, acoustic love songs aren't my favorite though.
Chris: Yeah none of the bands played any of my "favorites" so to speak, but clearly there was [is] talent amongst these buzz cocks. When I say favorites I don't mean songs. I mean styles - i.e. low-fi.


Ben: And finally, Billford channeled Tupac. Sort of.
Chris: Oh right, forgot about that.
Ben: Oh, come on, how could you forget? That was great.
Glen: Exquisite memory on Billford's part.
Chris: Indeed.
Ben: Yeah, I think he knew Tupac's song better than I knew my own. It's just too bad he couldn't sing the hook and finish the verse at the same time.

Concert Review: Billy Joel

Venue: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut
It takes a decent artist to please the crowd in a church basement, a great one to do so in a theater, and a legend to do it in an arena. Ignore the fact that, by that logic, Miley Cyrus is a legend. Focus instead on just how far Billy Joel's come from that cocktail pianist job that inspired "Piano Man".
Now he's playing his originals at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Crowds can't get much bigger than that, and the legend delivered. The packed house spent the show dancing, singing along, and throwing their fists in the air.
That's because Mr. Joel has many, many more talents than Miss Cyrus. He doesn't need a platinum blond wig to bring down the house - his opener, "Prelude/Angry Young Man" did that just fine. He kept the momentum going with hits like "My Life", "Zanzibar", and "Keeping the Faith".
The energy never died down all night, only reaching new heights with the biggest surprise of the night - a cover of "Highway to Hell", with a roadie named Chainsaw on lead vocals and Billy on guitar. After a few more piano-less songs, "We Didn't Start the Fire" and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", Billy and the band teased us with a short break before busting out the two heavy-hitters, "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" and "Piano Man", with "Only the Good Die Young" thrown in the middle to calm things down just a little. Just a little.
This master musician is worth seeing any day. He gives the people what they want - the best of his many compositions, with surprises, comedy, and "Highway to Hell" in between. Billy doesn't play in bars anymore, because that kind of room can't contain the explosion of entertainment he delivers.

Concert Review: Editors/Louis XIV/Hot Hot Heat

Venue: Orpheum Theatre, Boston

Act One: Louis XIV

Glen: Louis XIV (14), a garage band from San Diego, performed first. The band created a bunch of energy and they truly put on a great performance. Innuendo-laden songs such as videogame classic "Finding Out True Love is Blind" and "Me Me Me Me" entranced the already buoyant crowd.

Chris: Louis XIV put on a good show; they rocked out. I was impressed. Their witty, double entendre spiked humor, in a way reminded me of the Arctic Monkeys. Last night was actually the first time I had ever heard of them... so it will be interesting for me to see how they compare on record. Lastly, I'd advise any self-proclaimed music connoisseurs to check out "chocolate girl" ("Finding Out True Love is Blind")

Act Two: Hot Hot Heat

Glen: Like Louis XIV, Hot Hot Heat was very energetic. A bit more popular sounding than Louis XIV, the crowd was singing and dancing along with almost every Heat song. At one point, Steve Bays, the lead singer, got on top of some object on stage, peered out at the audience and instructed somebody with their hands in their pockets to move to the front. It looked as if he was talking to me, but multiple people in my area had hands in their pockets. Some songs that were especially good included "No, Not Now" and "Talk To Me Dance With Me."

Chris: I can't say I'm a huge fan of the band and I think their performance was my least favorite of the evening, but with that said, they still sounded solid. It was an energetic, pop fueled set. And though all 3 bands have danceable qualities in their music, it was HHH that got the most gals movin'.

Act Three: Editors

Glen: I didn't go to the concert to the see Louis XIV or Hot Hot Heat, but I went to go to see Editors. Editors literally gave to the audience everything one looks for in a show. The opening song played "Bones" was the start to a streak of greatness. The light show in the background was top notch and each light went perfectly with the song. I can't say that there were any songs that were less than excellent. Guitar heavy tracks such as "Bullets" and "Blood" paved the way for the ultimate song: "Munich". If everyone in the audience only recognized one song, that song was "Munich." That was the last song of the set, but Editors came back on stage and performed two extraordinary tracks: piano/synth combo "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" and finally "Fingers in the Factories"

Chris: Certainly, the greatest of all three bands ( live and on record). This was the band I went to see, and I truly believe they were one of the best (if not the best) bands I ever seen live. Their music was very evocative and very British. I think the band's crossover success, can be greatly owed to their keen sense of pop songwriting. The band's eclectic sound hawks back to the Post-Punk of Joy Division and The Cure. There's no doubt in my mind that this band will be huge within the next few years. They are a great example of how a band can achieve such tremendous success, yet still be attached to independent label and not have to sacrifice their integrity.

Closing Thoughts

Glen: Best concert that I've been to... ever. Louis XIV and Editors were amazing and Hot Hot Heat put on a good performance as well.

Chris: It should also be noted that the lights were spectacular and would freak out one tripping on acid. All in All: 9 out of 10

Totally Weird...Al

The Wakefield Observer had an article in this week's edition about the Weird Al concert that was held at the North Shore Music Theatre. I was lucky enough to attend and I enjoyed it lots. I can't actually find it online, but the writer said that he went with his 6 year old. To my surprise, there were a bunch of kids. Many of these kids are definitely too young to appreciate Al. The best part of the concert was when Al performed "Wanna B Ur Lovr". He went up to random women, made gestures, and sang lines like:

"Do you believe in love at first sight
Or should I walk by again?
My love for you'd like diarrhea
I just can't hold it in"

"Girl, you smell like Fritos
That's why I'm giving you this hungry stare
You're so hot, you're gonna melt
The elastic in my underwear"

Yeah, you should have gone to this concert.