I was pretty bummed Kings of Leon had to cancel their gig due to illness (singer Caleb lost his voice) at the last second Friday night. It's all good though, they've rescheduled for August 3rd and even added another show on August 4th. Pop Life has more info.
Luckily, opening band Snowden saved the day by playing a stunning free show. You could tell these newly-turned-headliners really gave 100% to impress the fans who had remained at the gig. They rock. And how can you not like Bassist Corinne?! Brody has the full review and more photos.
Here are a couple of videos I filmed from the show.
Snowden - "Cinnamon Girl" (Neil Young Cover) live @ First Ave 5/18/07:
Snowden - "Counterfeit Rules" live @ First Ave 5/18/07:
Third time I've seen the boys. By far their best show. What do you get when you mix a band-member's birthday (Matt - drummer) with a bunch of pissed (drunk) Rugby Fans from England? An awesome gig. Yeah, I loved every second of it...@$%^ brilliant show. But you knew I was going to say that... Actually, I was super anxious/nervous about the gig. Yes, that will happen when you really love a band...
Rather than me babbling about the gig:
Here's the setlist:
And the videos I taped:
Arctic Monkeys - "The View From The Afternoon"
A note on the video above. It features a stage dive by a legendary Rugby Player 45 seconds in. His name is Tom Costello. Yes, I got numerous emails and comments from the team. Go Old Laurentian RFC! Unfortunately, Tom landed pretty hard on the "dancefloor" ;)
Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor"
I'm actually surprised most of my photos and videos turned out pretty decent. I was a complete hooligan at the show... Closing tune "A Certain Romance" gave me goosebumps and I was jumping around like a mad-man. Guess where? Yes, on the dancefloor:
Mando Diao tore the roof off the 400 Bar last week. Seriously. We had a big thunderstorm that night and it started dripping water all over the place... CityPages has more. So does Brody & HWTS.
What can I say about these guys... They were so loud the floor was shaking. Awesome. Read what the NYT thought about them recently. Hanging with the band after was priceless... Such cool guys. Happy Birthday Bjorn!
The setlist:
Instead of my babbling, check out videos from the show (thx halfcockedgirl).
Mando Diao - "God Knows":
Mando Diao - "Ochrasy":
I saw a bit of openers Pop Levi. Didn't like them a whole lot. Unfortunately, I missed other opening band The Films. I really like their stuff, they rock, go here for more. Here's a video from the show:
I talked about this before. Looking at the setlists from other bands I wish I would've seen some of these performances. I'll make up for it with links to the bands and YouTube:
These guys were in the 7th Street Entry the same night Electric Six played the main room. I only saw The Ponys' final encore, but that was enough. Totally blew me away. I bought their latest CD "Turn The Lights Out" right there with my last $9.00. Yes, I even had to bargain... I've been listening to the album non-stop since then. I love it, do check it out.
The good news: I went to "England Swings VI" @ Triple Rock Social Club last Friday 5/11/07, and had a great time . The bad news: except for The Alarmists I pretty much missed all of the bands. I had too much fun at a work happy hour before the event, and later I got side-tracked hanging out with friends at the show. Sorry peeps, that's the way it goes sometimes, me bad. Grrrr, I really wanted to see Colonial Vipers Attack, Landing Gear, and So It Goes. They played some amazing stuff (see linked setlist). Next time my friends!
I did manage to capture this video. Pretty sweet...
The Alarmists covering The Beatles - Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / End live @ Triple Rock 5/11/07:
Even better video of the whole "Abbey Road Suite" here.
So, yeah, I break my blogger promises all the time. I didn't get to most of the live music updates I wanted to. They'll be up soon, though, when I get to them. Having a somewhat normal life for a change is kinda' cool too ;)
Enough babbling. I'll give you another vid from Monday's show. I'm actually surprised I held the camera that steady for the tune. I was going "ape-shit", whoops, I mean "monkey-shit" during this song (and most of the show). Enjoy.
Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" live @ First Avenue 5/7/07:
In other AMs news:
The vids from Jools Holland show are up on YouTube. Pretty great stuff.
Brianstorm:
Teddy Picker:
505:
Arctic Monkeys coverage will come to an end soon, I promise. Then again, that's probably yet another empty "blogger promise" for you ;)
Electric Six seems to play here every 6 months lately. The band is always entertaining live. I'd say the show was good, but not great. Thanks to Mr. CultureBully for hooking me up with tix at the last minute...
Electric Six - Gay Bar (live @ First Avenue 5/4/07):
I've seen them live now 3 times and they've never played this tune. WTF???
Yeah, that's me hangin' with vocalists Shannon Funchess and Nic Offer from !!! (Chk Chk Chk). These guys were amazing last night @ Fine Line Music Cafe. Imagine 8 band-members putting on a non-stop dance party. Insane. Don't believe me? Stereogum would agree...
I'm worn out. Enough live music for a little while... Seriously, it's not easy holding down a day job and doing this full time. However, after work today, I'll try to summarize the following gigs I've seen in the past few days:
OK, I'll give a sneak peek of the wrap-up of the big Arctic Monkeys gig Monday night in Minneapolis. Here's a video I shot of "The View From The Afternoon". It features a classic stage dive by one "portly" British Rugby player at the 00:45 mark. Check it out, it's classic:
Wow, the gig was absolutely fucking brilliant. Until I get my stuff up (trust me, it's worth the wait), check out Brody's pics and Erik's review.
Update: Due to popular demand the video is up on YouTube. Also, you can download the original video here (85MB). Go Old Laurentian RFC!
The Arctic Monkeys' Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not was the fastest-selling debut album in British history, making them a wet dream for fans and haters alike. But despite the fact that they demanded the latter group, in song no less, to "bring on the backlash," the diss crowd has been surprisingly quiet. The Monkeys' follow-up album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, will no doubt prolong the silence: It's a tight, exhilarating powerhouse of fierce guitar riffs and savage, rapid-fire drums that climax into an unrelenting and highly danceable frenzy. Wordsmith Alex Turner's articulate hip-hop/Shakespeare influenced lyrical tumbles ("Now the shaggers perform/And the daggers are drawn") are carefully crafted narratives. Exploding with innocent sexuality (the lads are 21 and under) and darker imagery, the new songs expand beyond "The Weekend" of their debut. This will be the band's first visit to Minneapolis—Chicago is the closest they've been—and in June they will headline the legendary Glastonbury festival in front of more than 100,000 mud-caked fanatics. So come pogo while you can in the comfort of our cozy rock club. With Be Your Own Pet. 18+. $20/$25 at the door. 8:00 p.m.
God, I was pretty mad at myself on Wednesday night... I had brought my camera to the gig, but for some strange reason, without a memory card. So, sorry, no real live shots or videos from the event. Luckily, City Pages has a review and photos. They thought it was a sausage fest... Hmmm, I don't remember that part. I was surrounded but lots of girls on the side of the stage. Then again, I really wasn't people-watching...
As for the show. I got there midway through Kate Havnevik's set. The Norwegian born singer looked cute in the purple dress and her vocals were beautiful. Her music/sound reminded me a bit of Bjork and/or Imogen Heap. Quite enjoyable. I expect to hear a lot more from her in the future.
France's Air put on a solid show (quite mellow by my standards, though). I really liked the tunes from "Talkie Walkie" and "Moon Safari". The new stuff sounded good as well. Encores "Sexy Boy" and a jammed-out version of "La Femme D'Argent" rocked.
I also ran into Chuck from Minnesota Stories and Blogumentary. Very cool and nice guy. I saw him filming during Air with his new phone/camera. Hopefully he'll post a video of the show soon as well.
The first single 'Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors' from Editors' forthcoming 2nd album "An End Has A Start" premiered Monday, 4/30/07, on Zane Lowe's show on BBC Radio 1. You can stream it via the archive here (listen to Monday's show - Editors come on at the ~ 18:17:35 mark). I'm sure you can find a radio-rip pretty soon somewhere as well...
The new album will be released in the UK & mainland Europe on June 25, 2007. (A US release date is yet to be announced)
Tracklisting:
1. Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors 2. An End Has A Start 3. The Weight Of The World 4. Bones 5. When Anger Shows 6. The Racing Rats 7. Push Your Head Towards The Air 8. Escape The Nest 9. Spiders 10. Well Worn hand
Mp3s and multimedia content are for sampling only. If you like it, support the artist. Buy the CD/DVD or download it from legal sources. Go to the show. If you are the owner of a sound file, and would like it removed, let me know. Make love, not war.
