The Alarmists / White Light Riot / Low Lustre live @ Varsity Theater 6/9/06

(The Alarmists live @ Varsity Theater 6/9/06)

All photos from The Alarmists / White Light Riot / Low Lustre gig and more here. Slideshow here. Video of The Alarmists performing "Good Advice" live here.

I didn't know when I left the house @ 9pm last Friday I wouldn't return back home until 15 hours later. Here's a very quick recap of the crazy evening and following morning...

It's rare you get to see 3 great bands in one evening and wind up really liking and rocking out to all of them. That's what happened at The Alarmists' CD release party on 6/9/06 at the Varsity Theater. Great crowd, the show was nearly sold out. Low Lustre opened around 10pm and played an enthusiastic set. I hadn't heard them before and really liked them musically. White Light Riot played their usual rockin' set. The crowd was really into it. The "rock n roll" moment of the evening definitely belonged to WLR, as lead singer Mike accidently cut himself right above the eye with his guitar early in their performance. What a trooper... he played the whole remaining gig with blood streaming down the right side of his face. Yeah, that's adrenaline for you. Luckily he's ok. He needed a few stitches though, so head over to their MySpace and wish him well... I'm not really that good with blood, so for pictures of the incidence (as well as other great photos and recaps), go to Brody's blog or photo-guru Mike's MySpace. The Alarmists came on around midnight and had the crowd in a frenzy. The mixture of brilliant songs from their album and new material really pleased the audience. Check the video for further evidence... All in all, an A+ performance by all the featured bands.

After the gig I hung out in the Varsity Theater for a bit talking with some nice people. Also got to explore the "skeleton hallway" and the roof. Very cool, if not a bit creepy, though. On the way to my car I ran into a friend of a friend, Jaric; a Polish guy studying on his PHD in Economics at the University of Minnesota. He joined me for the Alarmists after-party in St. Paul. We had a lot of fun out there... they even had ping-pong action. Around 5:30AM (!) we decided it would be a good idea to head down to Brits Pub in Minneapolis to watch the England vs. Paraguay World Cup Soccer Match (Jaric was still pretty pissed off about Poland losing that day). After a quick breakfast and numerous coffees we made it to Brits... It got absolutely packed and we had front row seats in front of the big-screen for the game. It was an absolute blast hanging out with the soccer hooligans! Way to go Beckham! I returned home around noon Saturday and was pretty exhausted... great night, though. You never know what's going to happen, I tell you...

Here are a few more of my favorite pictures from the evening and morning (all the rest are on Flickr):


(The Alarmists' setlist @ Varsity Theater 6/9/06)


(Low Lustre live @ Varsity Theater 6/9/06)


(White Light Riot live @ Varsity Theater 6/9/06)


(Brody shows us the skeletons in Varsity Theater's closet)


(Hangin' on the roof of Varsity Theater)


(Myself, Chance & Heather after the gig)


(Jaric and I having coffee before the soccer match)


(Shakespeare speech before the England vs Paraguay World Cup soccer match)


(England scores!)

Related sites:
Low Lustre MySpace
White Light Riot MySpace
The Alarmists MySpace

Have a great Monday! Go USA in the World Cup!

- Steve

The Alarmists / White Light Riot

What cha' doin' Friday night? City Pages (A List Pick) and I highly recommend you go to The Alarmists' CD release party 6/9/06 @ Varsity Theater. Buddies White Light Riot are kind enough to join in on the fun and Low Lustre will be starting off the festivities.

The Alarmists


I've posted on them before. I think they've quickly become my favorite local band. They will be celebrating the release of their first CD A Detail Of Soldiers. The CD/EP is excellent, and Lindsey Thomas from City Pages agrees:

Two thumbs and several enthusiastic toes up for the Alarmists' debut, perhaps the best local release of the year thus far. It's only a six-song EP, but there's not a single filler track or wasted moment to be found. And as if that's not reason enough to fall hard and fast, the young band recorded the pristine disc themselves. Rather than executing a hasty smash-and-grab job on any one influence, the quartet has compiled all the best bits from the last 10 years of thinking-man's pop. The ghostly vocals that creep up on "Soldados" recall Radiohead just minutes before the paranoid android invasion. "Some Things Never Stop" throws choppy guitar strums over a simple piano plunk à la Spoon. And "Coming to Meet Me" is pure Wilco with slide guitar guiding the bittersweet refrain: "And she's coming to meet me/We got nothing to say/I try to keep it familiar/Like a lot's the same." My favorite track (as of this particular moment) is the driving "Good Advice," the chorus of which gets ushered in by a burble of synths that appears out of nowhere, and escorted out with a line of the most infectious oohs I've heard since Snow Patrol's "Spitting Games" took over my head two years ago. The keyboard-reliant "New Romans" and anthemic closer "She Will Love Again (Hey Kid)" round it out. There you go. Six tracks, all brilliant. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to put an end to this review, as I'm starting to feel like a publicist. (full post here)

Now if that's not a stellar review, I don't know what is. But I'll let the music do the talking. Give it a listen, I'm pretty sure you'll really like it:

mp3: The Alarmists - Some Things Never Stop
mp3: The Alarmists - She Will Love Again (Hey Kid)

Currently the CD is available for purchase at all Alarmists shows (hint: buy one tomorrow) and local retailers: Aardvark Records, Electric Fetus, Roadrunner Records, Cheapo, Treehouse Records, and Know Name Records. Online distribution to follow very soon (I'm sure)...

The Alarmists Website
The Alarmists MySpace

White Light Riot


I had a chance to see these guys @ Turf Club a couple of weeks ago. Wow, I was pretty impressed! They rock. They've been getting rave reviews for their live shows and excellent EP The Dark is Light Enough. Even Dodge posted on them in January, here's an excerpt:

WLR's music is full of energy and ambition, with powerful drums and bass that set the foundation, and distinctive vocals and interplaying guitar lines. Most of the guys aren't even 21, but they want to be rock stars and they have the stuff it takes be one. They and their music are mature beyond their years... (full post here)

Again, check the tunes and websites for further evidence:

mp3: White Light Riot - Out of Sight
mp3: White Light Riot - Bitter Beginning

White Light Riot Website
White Light Riot MySpace
Purchase their EP The Dark is Light Enough here or download it on iTunes.

Special thanks to Andrea and HowWasTheShow.com for getting me hooked on both of these outstanding bands...

Low Lustre, who I haven't seen before, also looks promising... check out their MySpace influences: "Wilco, early U2, Interpol, Primal Scream, The Walkmen, My Bloody Valentine, The Verve...". Sweet!

In other news:


World Cup 2006 starts today!!! My favorite sports tournament on the planet... I'm even involved in a blogger pool with the following music lovin' mofos:

[abridged]
analog giant
extrawack!
false 45th
i am fuel, you are friends
let's kiss and make up
letter never sent
palms out sounds
simon metz
spinachdip nyc
spit up and shut down
the parallel campaign
the view from yoorp
total positive
veritas lux mea

And of course the hot Soccer babe C over @ Scatter o' Light is running the friendly competition. Good luck to everybody and yeah, "I will crush you!" (Imagine me saying that with an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice). The trash talking on the fantasy website has already begun as well...

More hot Soccer Babes here.

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,
- Steve

Laugh Now, Cry Later

I actually shouldn't really post on Mr. Ice Cube, since he royaly screwed me over last Saturday in LA. Yes, he destroyed my plans on meeting Kate Beckinsale @ SkyBar (see this post)! Luckily I saw his great performance @ First Avenue a few weeks ago (review here); and I really like his new album Laugh Now, Cry Later (released 6/6/06). Looks like he took a break from acting and concentrated on the music again. A true return to form; and yes, he's still a crazy "muthafucker!"

A few tunes for you to sample:

mp3: Ice Cube - Smoke Some Weed
mp3: Ice Cube - Child Support
mp3: Ice Cube (Ft. Snoop Dogg & Lil Jon) - Go To Church

Oldie, but a goodie:

mp3: Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day

Good shit, check it out!

Ice Cube Website
Ice Cube on MySpace
Buy Laugh Now, Cry Later on Amazon

Fuck Tha Police,
- Steve

P.S. Spank Rock is in the KEXP house later today @ 5pm CST!

P.P.S. Since I mentioned Kate Beckinsale above, might as well post a picture (because she's a cutie-pie):



P.P.S. Head over to the Yeti and download the Lily Allen cover of Kaiser Chiefs' "Oh My God"...

Stream Lady Sovereign live on KEXP today

Blogger's been all messed up today, otherwise I would have had this up earlier... Fresh from the KEXP Blog, Lady Sovereign is performing live on KEXP this afternoon at 5:00pm CST on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole. If you miss it, I'm sure it will be available on demand in the archive soon...

I really like Lady Sov, mainly because we have something in common. We both suffer from Napoleon complex (I think anyway).

Also check out her MySpace. She's got a new "Spank Rock Remix" of "Hoodie" to sample...

- Steve

Arctic Monkeys / WAS live @ Wiltern LG, Los Angeles, 6/3/06

All photos from Arctic Monkeys / We Are Scientists here. Slideshow here. (Shitty) Video of "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" live here.

I think you're aware by now that I'm an Arctic Monkeys fan (my Chicago review from last time I saw them here). You can guess that the LA show was pretty great. Look at the setlist above! Unbelievable... the opened with fucking Riot Van! The band and crowd were insanely into it. One of the best theater gigs I've ever seen...

My last post wore me out so I'll keep this brief. The band has a new website The Riot Van which is their new Tour Diary website. Check it out... you can view lots of reviews, pictures, and videos there.

We Are Scientists were pretty good. Didn't quite have the same energy as the Monkeys though... Looking forward to checking them out @ First Avenue soon to get a better sense.

mp3: Arctic Monkeys - Cigarette Smoke (demo of "Cigarette Smoker Fiona")

- Steve

I love LA

(Conducting business @ Venice Beach 6/1/06)

All photos from my LA Trip here. Slideshow here.

If you watch the slideshow I'd recommend either of the following 2 tunes as a soundtrack:

mp3: Dr. Dre - Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang
mp3: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication

You know, every time I go out to LA to visit my sister Victoria I have such a great time. I love ad-hoc vacations... the kind where nothing is really planned. This was one of those trips. Here's what I wound up doing last Wednesday through Sunday.

Wednesday 5/31/06:


(Victoria in the convertible Ford Mustang)

After a bit of a stressful workday I flew out ~ 10:30pm via SunCountry Airlines. Had a great flight and luckily got a whole row to myself. Nice... watched the season finale of "Lost" on my notebook PC. Actually quite disturbing to watch on a plane when you think about it... Once I arrived @ LAX I picked up my Ford Mustang Convertible rental car. I most HIGHLY recommend getting a convertible in LA! Makes the whole driving experience out there so much better... Plus, along with breathing in smog you get sunburned at the same time. So awesome! Seriously though, the convertible was so amazing... totally makes driving through Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Venice Beach, and of course Compton and South Central a great experience... I arrived at my sister's apartment in Korea Town around 1:30am Thursday morning. We chatted for a while and that was it for Wednesday.

Thursday 6/1/06:


(Victoria and a new friend @ The Brass Monkey)

Slept in a bit (actually I did that every day I was there). Headed out to Malibu. Unfortunately the "marine layer" was moving in, so we went to Venice Beach instead. Had a great lunch and played in the sand and water for a while. In the evening we headed out to Vine Bar were The Rock Insider was DJing. Had a great time there... the music was excellent. However, I didn't see JAX (at least I don't think I did). Not sure if I got there too late or too early. After Vine Bar we headed over to The Brass Monkey which is a Karaoke bar in Korea Town. This place was pretty crazy... lots of hotties singing and dancing. Check the photos for further evidence... Looks like my sister had a pretty good time.

Friday 6/2/06:


(Myself and Victoria @ Six Flags Magic Mountain)

A bit of a "touristy" day to begin with as we headed to Six Flags Magic Mountain. I loved the drive there through the LA hills. Simply beautiful, especially when you can go 90 mph! It was a hot and sunny day... around 90 degrees. First ride we went on was "Roaring Rapids", a water-ride. Victoria and I got totally drenched... actually felt really good, though. Lucky my camera still worked after... Another highlight was the new rollercoaster "Tatsu", a brand-new ride. Absolutely breathtaking. Highly recommended if you go there. The only major roller coaster we missed was "X"; because we couldn't fucking find it! Pathetic I know... trust me though, the ride is really poorly marked... by the time we found it, it was shutting down. Ahhh well, something for next time.
After Six Flags and all that sun and "fresh air" we were pretty beat and headed back to the apartment. Relaxed a bit. Then my sister's friend Hal invited us along to a Beverly Hills MTV Promo Party. Unfortunately my sister's friend had to cancel at the last second so we had to go there by ourselves. Not the easiest place to find I tell you (especially in the dark)... Beverly Hills and some of the smaller streets are tough to navigate. Luckily we found the place around 11:00pm and proceeded to the valet parking area (so LA, I know). This is when things started to go very wrong... since my sister and I were her friend's "plus 2" and her friend wasn't with us, the fucking bastards wouldn't let us in! Yeah, rejection sucks... I almost said "Don't you know who I am!???". Well, it wasn't meant to be...
Instead, we went to the Cat & Fiddle Pub in Hollywood and had a great time. We met the singer/guitarist from We Are Scientists there. Just kidding... just a guy that looked a lot like him. On the way home I noticed that Stella Artois and an empty stomach don't mix well for my sister. Her famous quote on the way home when I missed her drive-way (I don't live there you know): "Where you goin' Asshole!???". Sometimes my sister is just lovely I tell you ;)

Saturday 6/3/06:


(America's Got Talent badges @ Paramount Studios)

My sister's friend Damon hooked us up with passes to the rehearsals for "America's Got Talent" @ Paramount Studios. Wow, this was amazing! Walked through the empty sets, checked out the studios, watched some of the rehearsals, saw Taylor Hicks (seriously), chatted with some of the contestants. Really a great insight into the whole TV/Movie business...
After Paramount we headed to Melrose Avenue for a while and had "linner" at our favorite restaurant, The Vienna Cafe. I love Wiener Schnitzel in LA!
After Melrose we headed back to Victoria's apartment to prepare for the big Arctic Monkeys / We Are Scientists gig at the Wiltern Theater. One of the main reasons I had come out to LA, actually. Luckily the Wiltern is only about 5 blocks from my sister's apartment so we actually walked (I know, crazy for LA) to the show. The show was spectacular... the Arctic Monkeys were so great, and vastly improved over last time I saw them in Chicago. For more on the show see my next post.
After the gig we were on the guest list to the one and only SkyBar in West Hollywood. Yes, the place were YOU can't get in and all the movie stars go. However, this is where things went wrong again... On our way there we got caught up in a major traffic jam and police and (ghetto birds) were all over. And when I say police everywhere, I mean everywhere... at least 10 cop cars and like 50 police officers. Turns out motherfucking Ice Cube (my recent live Ice Cube review here) was playing right across the street @ House of Blues that night and something really bad had gone down outside. I assume it was a gang shooting of some sort. Anyway, long story short... there was no way to get anywhere close to SkyBar. Again, I guess something to check out next time I'm out there... After driving around for quite a long time we decided to just go to Carl's JR and call it a night. Yummie... grease is good!

Sunday 6/4/06:


(Me cracking up after Victoria fails to get a good picture of the fucking SkyBar on the last day... that figures!)

My last day in LA. We headed to Venice Beach to do some boogie boarding. Unfortunately on the way out there the fucking "marine layer" moved in again and it was a bit too chilly. Instead we decided to head to the Westwood / UCLA area for lunch. Very nice area... quite relaxing without all the students actually. After lunch my sister had an appointment to tutor a student in Bel Air. Quite the experience going though the security to get there... Wow, what a house and neighborhood! I had a lot of fun walking around the area while my sister was teaching. What a beautiful view of the hills and downtown LA...
From Bel Air we hit Mulholland drive and drove through Beverly Hills for a while. What a great road to drive! Next, one of the mandatory stops whenever I'm in LA: Amoeba music in Hollywood. Perhaps my favorite record store on the planet... I could spend days in there. Unfortunately I had to head out to get ready to "ship off"... On the way to the airport we had the "last supper" at "In-N-Out Burger". God, I absolutely love this place! Please build some here in the Midwest!? Pretty please?
Around 1:00am Monday morning I headed back to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Mark Rosen (local sports broadcaster) was on my flight and I also saw Jesse Ventura's son at my gate... Crazy! On the way back I had a whole row to myself again and seriously crashed out...

That's it! What a great time... and I miss my sister already! I miss the convertible too...

- Steve

LA, here I come

I'm off to LA to see Tom and Katie's baby! I'll bring my electronic equipment, however, not sure if I'll update until I get back Monday. Who knows though? All depends on how much fun and trouble I get into...

mp3: Art Brut - Moving to L.A.

In case you get really bored, here's what I did last time I was out there in November.

Cheers,
- Steve

HowWasTheShow.com 4th Anniversary Party 5/27/06 @ Turf Club

All photos from the Anniversary party here. Slideshow here.

The event featured: The Debut, Stook, The Alarmists, White Light Riot, and Alva Star.

Oh. My. God. I got home @ 6am Sunday morning from this show and associated after-party. Can't tell you the last time I had so much fun watching bands and hanging out with old and new friends. Nice to see and meet everybody! Can't wait to see the paparazzi photographs... Update: Here they are.

Steve McPherson, music editor of Pulse, wrote the "guest" review on HowWasTheShow.

I'm still in "holiday mode" aka "lazy mode". More to come tomorrow before I leave for LA for a few days. Somehow this tune has something to do with my trip...

mp3: Arctic Monkeys - A Certain Romance

- Steve

P.S. Happy Birthday Dad!

Colonial Vipers Attack live @ Uptown Bar 5/26/06

All photos from Colonial Vipers Attack here. Slideshow here.

These guys were great last night! For more info on the band scroll down to my previous post.

- Steve

Colonial Vipers Attack tonight @ Uptown Bar

Let's explore more local talent today. I'm actually happy to finally post on these guys as I saw them for their CD release party March 11th @ Turf Club. Regular life got in the way and I never got around to cover them... this should make up for it, hopefully.

Colonial Vipers Attack are a 5-piece (including former members of Divorcee, Faux Jean, The Spring Collection, and The Melismatics) from Minneapolis, and yes, they got their name from Battlestar Galactica. That's cool all in itself already. Even cooler, though, they write and perform great music.

You know my blog is named after an Oasis tune, right? Well, these guys remind me a lot of my favorite boys from Manchester. They had (and probably still have) that same really loud (and I mean "really loud") wall-of-sound @ Turf Club a few months ago (I'm a total sucker for that). Great interview with Chris Pavlich, lead singer of the band on Pulse.

I'm not really all that good at describing what bands sound like. To me, they sound destinctively British, especially Oasis and Noel Gallagher, and throw in a bit of the Verve. Highly recommended, here are a couple of mp3s:

mp3: Colonial Vipers Attack - Beatiful Fall
mp3: Colonial Vipers Attack - Unnoticed

They're a blogger/internet friendly band. Therefore more tunes available for download and/or sampling both on their website and MySpace. Most importantly, they're playing this Friday, 5/26/06 @ The Uptown Bar. Here's the poster:



I'll see you @ the gig! Make sure you purchase their excellent self-titled debut at the show.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

To help you celebrate, here's some new hip-hop mixtape action for you. Enjoy:

mp3: DJ Green Lantern feat. Dead Prez, Saigon, Immortal Technique & Just Blaze - Impeach The President

mp3: Papoose - Alphabetical Slaughter

- Steve

P.S. I know by now you've heard plenty about Lily Allen (MySpace)... However, make sure you download her "My First Mixtape" (Warning: 70MB). It's great and really unclassifiable... (via Stereogum)

P.P.S. Vanilla Ice is still around and playing here this Saturday. Seriously.

Cloud Cult live / Pet Shop Boys / SOUND team etc...

(Cloud Cult live @ Varsity Theater 5/20/06)

All photos from Cloud Cult here. Slideshow here.

Well, it was just a question of time, it's bound to happen... Not all my reviews can feature the words "amazing", "brilliant", "blew me away", "spectacular", and so on. Once in a while I catch a show and I really don't feel the vibe. Forgot to tell you until now, that's what happened at Cloud Cult's (MySpace) homecoming show @ Varsity Theater last Saturday. Get this... I left 30 minutes into Cloud Cult's set! I just couldn't take it... While the music, light-show, and on-stage painters were pretty good, the lead singer's voice and stage demeanor just really bugged me. When he dedicated a song to his his young son which led into a cover of "You are my Sunshine", I said "I'm outta' here"... Sorry folks, I just don't get it. Don't get me wrong though, these guys are really talented, just not my cup of tea. My buddy Brody (who I couldn't find in the packed venue) absolutely loved it. You can read his review here. He's also got nice reviews, photos, and videos of Matt Costa and Imogen Heap, which I skipped. Head over and leave him a comment...

mp3: Cloud Cult - Living on the Outside of Your Skin
mp3: Cloud Cult - Car Crash



If you've read my blog for a while (I'm really sorry), you probably know I'm a pretty big Pet Shop Boys fan. Yes, I may be the only heterosexual male. Easy target I know... Anyway, they just released their 9th (!) studio album Fundamental and it's starting to grow on me. A few more listens and I should know where it fits in their discography (Update: it's pretty awesome). Until then, here are a few remixes I really like from the Special Edition of their new CD:

mp3: Pet Shop Boys - Fugitive (Richard X Extended Mix)
mp3: Pet Shop Boys - Flamboyant (Michael Mayer Kompakt Mix)
mp3: Pet Shop Boys feat. Elton John - In Private (Stuart Crichton Club Mix) (highly recommended)



SOUND team (MySpace). Yeah, I realize they've been well covered in the blogosphere. Here's why I'm posting on them:

1) My sister recently temped a day for EMI in LA. She got to take a bunch of free promo CDs and asked me "Is SOUND team any good"? I replied "Hell yeah, that CD is not even out yet!". As I still don't have the CD, I'm pretty jealous...

2) My friend Amy messaged me on MySpace "Steve, you really have to change your profile tune... you've had the same tune for ages now". OK, I did... check the updated profile here.

3) Great new bands need to be posted on! These guys from Austin definitely get my vote of approval. Sounding a bit of an electronica version of Spoon I just can't resist. Plus, they're blogger and internet friendly. A lot of tunes are available for sampling and downloading via their website and MySpace page. Check it out. Looking forward to their gig @ 400 bar 6/26/06...

mp3: SOUND team - Movie Monster (highly recommended)
mp3: SOUND team - Your Eyes Are Liars
mp3: SOUND team - Don't Turn Away
mp3: SOUND team - The Fastest Man Alive

Their new album Movie Monster drops 6/6/06, National Day of Slayer.

Crazy... I just realized I missed Gnarls Barkley on Conan while typing this post. Ahhh, it's ok, should be on YouTube shortly. Update: Here it is.

Are you ready for World Cup Soccer action soon?! C over @ Scatter o' Light has a fantasy league going for any of you bloggers who are interested. See, she does things other than reporting on Bono's latest hair cut(s) once in a while ;) I've said it before, and I'll say it again "she rocks"!

Last but not least... Locals, what are you doing this Saturday? You should be going to this:



More info on the event here. Stop by, you can tell me how "gay" I am for liking the Pet Shop Boys...

Have a nice Thursday everybody!

- Steve

P.S. You may have heard about Arctic Monkeys' bass player Andy Nicholson leaving the band temporarily due to "exhaustion" (at least it didn't have the "nervous" part in it). Well, this is the same bassist who outdrank Noel Gallagher recently... Since I love posting Oasis quotes, here's what Noel had to say about the evening:

“I ended up in their aftershow and the bass player goes to the bar and comes back with this tray of tequilas.

" Normally when somebody asks if you want one you say ‘no’ but this kid just went up and bought them. I thought ‘I can’t be drinking that, it’s nearly two in the morning.’ I couldn’t say no though because I didn’t want to let the side down. He was banging them down. I was about to urinate.

“I was speaking to my missus through semaphore to get her off the dancefloor and rescue me.

“She came over saying ‘we’ve got to go home’ and I was acting all surprised, saying ‘What, already?’

“I can’t remember getting home.”

P.P.S. You can stream The Walkmen live on NPR tonight.

The Alarmists live @ Varsity Theater 5/19/06

(The Alarmists live @ Varsity Theater 5/19/06)

All photos from The Alarmists here. Slideshow here.
All photos from This World Fair here. Slideshow here.
All photos from The TV Sound here. Slideshow here.

Please allow me to officially jump on The Alarmists bandwagon...

Last Friday I decided to check out some local talent at the HowWasTheShow.com sponsored The TV Sound's CD release party @ Varsity Theater. I ran into David, Andrea, and the rest of the really nice and cool HWTS peeps (funny post by Andrea here). Also on the bill for the evening were opening bands The Alarmists and This World Fair. The Alarmists, who I was mainly there for, really blew me away... they sounded really great live,with a distinctive British wall-of-sound. Reminded me of Elbow quite a bit...

HowWasTheShow has a full review and great pictures of the evening and prior Alarmists gigs.

mp3: The Alarmists - She Will Love Again (Hey Kid)



Their excellent new CD/EP A Detail Of Soldiers officially drops June 6th, and their CD Release Party is June 9th @ Varsity Theater. They're also playing HowWasTheShow's 4th Anniversary Party this Saturday 5/27 @ Turf Club. Go catch 'em live, buy a T-shirt, and buy the CD!



The Alarmists Website
The Alarmists MySpace

- Steve

Wrap-up: Islands / Frog Eyes / Sunset Rubdown live @ First Avenue 5/16/06

So last week kind of just flew by... I did a pretty poor job wrapping up the loose ends on this gig.

Last Tuesday (as mentioned in this post) I headed out to watch Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes, and Islands live @ First Avenue. I was actually quite pissed off as it turned out I missed Sunset Rubdown (due to me mowing the lawn earlier). Damn! Well, I'm over it by now. I watched Frog Eyes, who I highly disliked, even though Spencer Krug (from Sunset Rubdown and Wolf Parade) played with them on keyboards for this gig. Montreal's Islands were quite impressive live... They had approx. 7 band members on the stage all dressed in white... kinda cult-Polyphonic Spree like, actually. I had never heard their music before and I wound up really liking it. After the gig Brody and I talked with Spencer Krug for a while... very cool and talented guy to say the least. Photos from the night are on Flickr. I also filmed one of my infamous low-fi videos of Islands performing, which is on YouTube.

mp3: Sunset Rubdown - Stadiums and Shrines II
mp3: Islands - Rough Gem

Raconteurs

I'm kinda' excited... Just picked up Raconteurs tickets for their gig @ First Avenue 8/3/06.

In case you missed Conan last night, here's the video of them performing "Steady, As She Goes" / "Hands":



- Steve

Swimming

"Yesterday when I was mad"... I missed Sunset Rubdown. Then, luckily I got to watch Islands.

Words and mulitmedia content to follow...

Update: Photos are on Flickr and Brody has a recap of the evening.

- Steve

An evening with the Secret Machines @ First Avenue 5/12/06

All photos from the Secret Machines here. Slideshow here.

Video of "Nowhere Again" live here. Video of "First Wave Intact" live here.

The Secret Machines didn't have an opening band last Friday. The didn't need one. They gave an absolutely stunning performance at First Avenue. The sound and light show were incredible. Brody has more on the show.

One funny thing... Secret Machines had a strict "No Photography" rule in place. WTF! Don't you know that's like telling a little kid he/she can't do something? Yeah, I wound up with 262 pictures (30 of which make it onto Flickr) and 2 videos from the gig... Ha ha...

On a completely different topic... Here are some tunes I really enjoyed earlier this week:

mp3: Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – Summertime
mp3: Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Redemption Song (Bob Marley Cover)
mp3: The Damned – Help! (Beatles Cover)
mp3: Fiona Apple - Across the Universe (Beatles Cover)
mp3: Josh Rouse - Straight To Hell (Clash Cover)

And this may be one of the best and funniest music videos ever made:



Happy Mother's Day! Love you Mom!
- Steve

Sigur Ros live @ Orpheum Theater 5/8/06

All photos from Sigur Ros here. Slideshow here.

I'm a bit late with this recap... other local bloggers already covered it pretty well. Highlight for me was the closing tune "Popplagið". One of the greatest multi-media assaults I've ever experienced in a live concert setting... Wow! Jaw-droppingly amazing. If you're prone to seizures I'd recommend leaving a Sigur Ros show early...

Royalty, Etc. Records / Sound Gallery Warehouse Party 5/6/06

All photos from the Warehouse Party here. Slideshow here.

Last Saturday my buddy Vieng and I checked out the Royalty, Etc. Records / Sound Gallery Warehouse Party which featured 9 live bands. We were lucky enough to catch the final four. They were:

Middlepicker (featuring one really cute bassist!)
Space Camp
White Elephant
Harp and Finial

I really enjoyed all four as they peformed pretty rockin' sets. Do check them out at a venue near you soon!

Lesson learned from the night: Open Bar = My buddy Vieng turning into the "ladies man". Check the pictures for further evidence.

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I am suffering from "nervous exhaustion" at the moment. Just kidding... crazy week! An actual update to come later today...

- Steve

24 hour party people

Just got back from Sigur Ros live @ Orpheum. I think I'll attempt to summarize the last couple of gigs later today...

In the meanwhile, this song goes out to my buddy pictured above. I think he had a pretty good time at the Royalty, Etc. Warehouse Party Saturday night...

mp3: Happy Mondays - 24 Hour Party People

Red Sox vs Yankees later today,
Steve

Ice Cube / Diamond Nights / Priestess live @ First Avenue 5/4/06

All photos from Ice Cube here. Slideshow here. Video of "Fuck Tha Police" live here.

I think by now my second-hand weed high has worn off so I can try to summarize the events from Thursday. What a night! Almost as crazy as my Arcade Fire / M.I.A. / Architecture in Helsinki "crawl" last year. Definitely equally as fun.

First, let me start out by sending a huge "Thank you" to the ab-fab Sarah for giving me access to the night's musical entertainment. She rocks.

Kinda' weird how some nights turn out. I was just expecting to watch Diamond Nights (MySpace) and Priestess (MySpace), instead the definite highlight of the whole evening was catching Ice Cube (MySpace) in the main room. I haven't been to that level hip-hop show in a while and totally forgot what it was like...

Ice Cube's set started around 9pm. The place was packed and smelled of marijuana. The crowd was soooo into it, it's hard to describe... There was crazy dancing, waving hands into the air (like they just didn't care). Musically, Ice Cube played mainly his solo numbers. However, one definite highlight of the show was his mini-NWA tribue, which consisted of "Straight Outta Compton" and "Fuck Tha Police" among a couple of others. Another highlight, "It Was A Good Day", gave me goose bumps it was so good... Ice Cube has been around for 20 years now and definitely still is a crazy motherfucker! His new album "Laugh Now Cry Later" drops 6/6/06.

mp3: Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day



All photos from Diamond Nights here. Slideshow here.

After the Ice Cube set it was time to head over to the 7th Street Entry to catch Diamond Nights. Local blog Perfect Porridge wrote a good review here. I'm not a huge fan of their music, however, live these boys rocked out in a Spinal Tap/Darkness kind of way. Very entertaining to say the least! The lead singer Morgan must have spent 1/3 of the show, not on-stage, but in the crowd... And yes, their hair looked great! What a bunch of rock 'n' rollers...



All photos from Priestess here. Slideshow here.

Priestess was the final band of the evening in the Entry. They really sounded great live and delivered a solid set. Had a chance to hang with them before the show for a little while... very nice guys. They played @ SxSW a couple of weeks ago and had a great time. When asked who else they watched and enjoyed during the festival, they replied "Kris Kristofferson was amazing". Funny I thought...

OK, that's it for the recap. A bit brief, I know...

Time to take a couple of days off from the old interweb thing. As you know, we here at TheRocknRollStar love Nelly Furtado and we love bootie shaking dancing action. Here's her new video:



In other news, I finally figured out who's been making some mysterious noises in my attic. Say hello to my new little squirrel roommate (bugger):



Enjoy your weekend,
Steve

A crazy motherfu*ker....

You wanna' know what it's like to see Ice Cube, Diamond Nights, and Priestess all in the same night?! Stay tuned... words and multi-media to come next post...

It was a good day,
- Steve

P.S. Ok, I'll give you one more sneak-peak picture:

False Alarm

Let's take a little break from the internet's most hyped bands for a second. Check out this tune, it's been on constant repeat for me lately:

mp3: KT Tunstall - False Alarm (highly recommended!)

Reminds me (this tune) a bit of Emily Haines from Metric... equally as good/great. Check out the rest of her album as KT is definitely very talented...

KT Tunstall Website
KT Tunstall MySpace
Amazon: KT Tunstall - Eye To The Telescope

Plus, she's cute! What more do you need!?

- Steve

Dirty Pretty Things - Waterloo To Anywhere

You know by now I love(d) The Libertines, right? Kind of shocking I didn't notice this until today...

You can stream Dirty Pretty Things' new album Waterloo To Anywhere in its entirety on NME. Registration is required, but if you'd rather not, can easily be bypassed by BugMeNot:

My NME Username: superextragrav
Password: superextragrav1

The album drops in the UK on May 8th. I've read conflicting reports regarding the US release date. From the couple of times I've listened to it, I "fucking love it". NME does too.

mp3: Dirty Pretty Things - Bang Bang You're Dead
mp3: Dirty Pretty Things - You Fucking Love It

Also, the French Blog Special things // Special Songs has a full Dirty Pretty Things concert bootleg in downloadable mp3s. See, you can even practice your high-school level French reading skills a bit today...

Dirty Pretty Things Website
Dirty Pretty Things MySpace
Amazon: Dirty Pretty Things - Waterloo To Anywhere

Enjoy,
Steve

Ladyflash

Missed the fantastic, booty shaking, Go! Team performance at Coachella Sunday night? I love YouTube:



Make sure you watch the whole video for some serious Ninja dancing action!

More 2006 Coachella performances here.

YouTube Related: Colbert Roast here.

- Steve

Briefly

I had a great weekend. Here are a couple of my favorite photos:


My sister Victoria visited from LA and stayed at my house. Her living quarters for the weekend were clearly marked... Miss ya' already Sis!


My little niece Rayna had her baptism yesterday. Sooo cute... Congratulations! Pictured here with Grandma.

Gotta' go... watching/streaming the end of Coachella at the moment... The Go! Team just kicked some serious booty!

More words and possibly even music content to come later. Have a geat Monday!

- Steve