The Shit Hits the Mic

Enough with the Arcade Fire adoration and concert reviews. It is about time I posted on something local and different.

So, with that in mind, I was present at an open mic night this past weekend that featured poetry, acoustic performances, and other bohemian-like shenanigans.

Last Saturday was the first SPITSHIT night at Canvas Cafe, located on Bermuda and Silverado Ranch in Las Vegas (disclosure: I work there). The turnout was decent for the first live event at the cafe, which opened just a month ago.

I’ve been to a few of these type of things before, and all they usually consist of are angry youngsters railing against the world and ‘the man’. While there was a bit of that here, when it was present, they kept it interesting.

There were a few mic problems during the first performance, and one of the poets opted to do his pieces (which had the rhythm and sound of freestyle rapping morethan, say, Walt Whitman) without the mic, which I think worked better. It made it seem more like he was having a conversation with the audience.

The biggest name performer there was &ampersand, who had performed the previous night on the main stage at downtown Vegas’s First Friday event. You can take a listen of them on their myspace page here.

They had the most ‘together’ performance of the night, with no noticeable technical problems and a set that didn’t sound like the dull repetition that acoustic performances can become in coffee-houses.

One of the later acts was Adam Yarbro. He sounds better live than some of the songs he has on his myspace page.

All in all, the event got me interested in covering a few more local acts. Seeing a no-frills performance was a big change from all the big concerts I’ve gone to this year, and there’s something to be said about watching musicians and artists interact with each other in a climate like an open mic night.

The next SPITSHIT event is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 17. I’m planning on getting more multimedia of the next event.

Springsteen Shares the Stage

Something monumentally awesome happened last night in Ottawa.

Bruce Springsteen, during a performance with his E Street Band, invited a couple guest-stars to perform a couple songs.

The guest-stars?

Husband and wife duo from Arcade Fire, Win Butler and Regine Chassagne.

They played Springsteen’s “State Trooper” and then played Arcade Fire’s “Keep the Car Running.”

Shaky videos of the performances (with lots of cheering from stunned fans) can be found here.

Lots of fan message boards are describing it of a “passing of the torch” since Arcade Fire have been compared to Springsteen several times since their debut a few years ago, especially on songs like “Keep the Car Running” and “(Antichrist Television Blues)”.

Sounds like it was a fantastic performance, worthy of the crowd’s cheers.

Bye, Bye Big Labels?

This last week and a half has seen a flurry of bands touting their intentions to go it alone and release their new music sans record labels.

It all started with Radiohead’s announcement on Oct. 1 that they would release their new album, In Rainbows, on their website, radiohead.com, and the biggest surprise was that they were allowing listeners to set their own price.

While a traditional album release is in the bands plans, they decided to offer up their new album (which has been completed since June) for however much anyone wants to pay.

Radiohead isn’t the first band to release an album online ahead of its traditional release date. Stars, an indie-pop group from Canada (that features members from Broken Social Scene), released their new album In Our Bedroom After the War on July 10, over three months before it’s store release of Sept. 25.

Stars said on their official website that they offered the early iTunes release because a leak of the album before the Sept. 25 date was inevitable.

But, Radiohead made the bigger headlines with their plan to let listeners name their own price.

Following Radiohead’s Oct. 1 announcement, there are rumors of Oasis planning on doing the same.

Nine Inch Nails, now free of their record label, seem on the verge of making a similar move.

Barely any mainstream news sites reported on these bold moves in the past week, with CNN.com running a brief article on it with reader feedback today.

Arcade Fire and the absence of water

I could say Arcade Fire’s performance in Lehi, UT (20′ish miles from downtown Salt Lake City) on Sept. 26 was so amazing that it left me speechless and unable to write, but the truth is I’ve been having laptop difficulties.

So here I am, late for my review of what is my final time seeing Arcade Fire on the final leg of their North American Neon Bible tour with LCD Soundsystem.

The show was set to take place at 7 p.m. at the Waterfall Amphitheater at Thanksgiving Point. Well, despite what the google image search pictures showed and the promising name of the venue, there were no waterfalls to be had.

The venue was just your standard stage on grass sans majestic waterfalls in the background. Think “mini-Coachella” minus the palm trees and you’ve got your venue.

A review of the show in the next day’s Salt Lake Tribune gave only a brief mention of a venue change with no explanation-an explanation that eludes me even after a web search and polite questioning on the Arcade Fire fan message boards .

But, enough with the venue, on to the show!

LCD Soundsystem was as loud and fun as they were the previous week at the Hollywood Bowl, but this week I got an extra treat when some of the members of Arcade Fire came and played with the band on some songs.

Lead singer of LCD James Murphy joked that he was going to get them all tried out so they couldn’t play their own show.

The time between LCD and Arcade Fire went quick, in which time I managed to push my way about ten rows back from the stage.

Setlist for the Lehi show:

• Black Mirror
• Keep the Car Running
  Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
• No Cars Go
• Haiti
• Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
• My Body is a Cage
• Neon Bible
• Distortions
• Intervention
• (Antichrist Television Blues)
• the Well and the Lighthouse
• Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
• Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
• Rebellion (Lies!)
• Old Flame–Encore
• Wake Up–Encore

The surprises on the setlist was the Clinic cover, ‘Distortions’, which they have played live before, and ‘Old Flame’, from their debut self-titled EP.

Lehi, UT may seem an odd destination for a band like Arcade Fire that is so indie, and well, Canadian, but band member brothers Win and Will Butler have family in the area.

Win Butler even dedicated one of the songs, ‘Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)’ to his grandfather, musician Alvino Rey. Butler said that his grandfather used to take him fishing up in the mountains here and that it was “very emotional” to be back.

It could have been the more intimate venue or the fact that last week’s Hollywood Bowl venue was so large, but the band seemed more spot-on, and the more varied setlist helped, too.

Either way, by the end of the performance, on the way back to my friend’s loft in downtown Salt Lake City, I felt sad that it was the last time I would likely see Arcade Fire perform until their next album hits and they tour for it, but I also felt ridiculously lucky and happy that they went out on a high note.

Arcade Fire will be wrapping up their tour with performances in Europe through November and in Australia in January.

the Killers…four months later

The Killers, to me, are that elusive friend that you try to hang out with for months, and when you finally do get some time in, your heart isn’t in it.

Zip back to last March when it’s announced the band will play a date in Lake Tahoe, Nev., at the Montbleu Hotel and Casino on Monday, May 28. I buy tickets and later kick myself when Arcade Fire announce two Los Angeles dates of May 28 and 29 and two dates in Berkeley, Calif., on June 1 and 2.

I opted for one of the Berkeley dates to see Arcade Fire, despite more driving, so I could see both bands.

Then the Killers announce a Las Vegas date on June 1.

Then the Killers cancel their Tahoe show. After the cancellation (made just four days before the concert) I read that this isn’t the first time lead singer Brandon Flowers has called in sick. There was also Dublin.

Turns out I could have gone to nearby Los Angeles and seen the Arcade Fire twice then see the Killers locally.

Irked as I was, at least I had the postponed date of Sept. 21 to look forward to see the Killers on.

And then before that date happens they announce a closer Las Vegas date of Sept. 8, making the drive unnecessary. But, I already have my ticket, so oh well.

Then Arcade Fire announces a date in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 21, which would nicely follow their performance (that I did see) in Hollywood on Sept. 20.

But, once again, I already have my ticket for the Killers.

By the time Sept. 21 has finally rolled around and I’ve driven eight hours to reach Lake Tahoe, I’m a bit over the Killers and not even interested in seeing them in concert.

After opening band Louis XIV gets off, it takes the Killers over an hour to take the stage.

When they finally did grace us with their presence, they played a decent set that went over two hours. This almost made me forget the fickleness of Brandon Flowers and his arrogant pompousness he emits in interviews.

But it didn’t make me forget that I could be in the bay area at a scenic venue watching the best live act today.

Instead, I was stuck at the crummy Montbleu venue which is sort of general admission, but it also has booths here and there. I’ve been there twice before (for the Wallflowers and Jason Mraz) and it didn’t bug me so much then, but those were in my days as a concert neophyte.

This time the venue was a mismatch for the band and their performance that got the crowd moving pretty good for such a lackluster venue.

Watching Brandon Flowers interact with the crowd and play not one, but two encores, I did have to give him kudos for trying his best to make up for their four-month tardiness.

That said, I still don’t think I’ll ever be paying to see the Killers again.

The tickets were outrageous (especially for general admission) at $65 (with the service fees from Ticketmaster tacked on it came to about $75), I missed out on other great shows because of their erratic scheduling (which also cost me more in traveling costs).

In addition, I also ate $75 on a second ticket. Since I bought them way back in March I had forgotten I bought two until I picked them up at will call a half hour before the show and didn’t manage to sell them.

After the fiasco I experienced trying to see them in concert, this previously enthusiastic fan won’t be recommending to anyone that they see them in concert.

the Arcade Fire go bowl’ing

The fire started in Austin, Texas on Sept. 15 and has since touched Colorado before finally striking the Hollywood hills on Sept. 20, running thousands out of their homes.

The fire I speak of is Canadian indie rocksters Arcade Fire, and (if you’ll forgive one more pun) they set the Hollywood Bowl ablaze last Thursday on the third date of their fall North American tour.

I left after class Thursday morning and made it with enough time to eat a quick bite before getting there as the gates opened.

Before the show I saw members of the band walking around.

Watching Will Butler and Sarah Neufeld walking around amongst us mere mortals stupefied me, and I remained that way for most of the night.

My Los Angeles radio friend was unable to attend, but I found someone via the Arcade Fire fan board, Us Kids Know, that was willing to buy my ticket. With a Pool D ticket (seven rows back from the stage) I could have sold the extra for $300 or so, but I hate to rip people off, and I’d rather have someone that I know is a true fan sitting by me.

Opening band Wild Light played a brief 20-minute set and my new friend and I saw another band member, Richard Reed Parry watching in the pool section. The next act, LCD Soundsystem, came on pretty quick and rocked a good set out.

Music video for LCD Soundsystem’s “North American Scum”:

Arcade Fire started their set in the same way all their shows have been this year promoting their new album Neon Bible. First with a grainy quality video of a raving preacher:

After that they launched into the same opening number I saw at the Coachella music festival and their show at UC Berkeley on June 1, “Black Mirror”.

As close as my seat was, I rushed the stage with some others at the opening and ended up being second row back from the stage.

Regine Chassagne singing “Haiti”:

The set list for the show was a tad disappointing. They went mostly through songs from Neon Bible for the first half before dropping more songs from their debut album Funeral.

The only surprise was a pared down, shortened cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Money Changes Everything” that spun out of the end of “Windowsill”. Besides that, the band didn’t pull out any surprise b-sides or rarities from their early recording sessions. The complete set list:

• Black Mirror
• Keep the Car Running
• Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
• No Cars Go
• Haiti
• Intervention
• (Antichrist Television Blues)
• My Body is a Cage
• Windowsill
• Ocean of Noise
• Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
• Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
• Rebellion (Lies!)
• The Well and the Lighthouse-Encore
• Wake Up-Encore

Lead singer (and husband of Regine Chassagne and older brother of Will) Win Butler injected a few quips in between songs, one referring to the unusually chilly weather and that L.A. people were “lucky bastards” because this was probably the coldest night they’d have.

It became obvious Win likes the crowd to get into the music when security guards tried to prevent some fellow fans and me from rushing the stage and he pointed at them and said “Hey, don’t start that shit” to laughter from the audience.

The crowd in the pool area where I was at was pretty into the show, dancing, singing along, screaming along and yelling out requests for favorite songs.

“Headlights!” was screamed several times in between songs, referring to the song “Headlights Look Like Diamonds” along with requests for “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” but the band stuck to their set list (which I saw a copy of after the concert that a fan had acquired from a roadie).

The crowd of about 13,000 shuffled and danced out after the show finished just shy of 11 p.m.

The performance received a couple lukewarm reviews like the one at mtv.com, and the band may have taken notice, because postings on the ‘Us Kids Know’ fan message boards featured the set list for their Friday performance in Mountain View, CA. The Friday set list scaled back on songs from “Neon Bible” and featured a few surprises that the Hollywood Bowl performance was missing.

The band continues their North American tour this week and ends it in New York on Oct. 6 before moving on to the rest of the world.

Here’s a clip of “Haiti” performed on the BBC on June 19:

the Flaming Lips (or, “how I love to be right”)

Everyone loves confetti.

The Flaming Lips know this, and they sure know how to make it rain confetti at their live shows.

The eccentric band from Oklahoma City also know how to use dancing Santas, sexy alien women, gigantic hands, and large transparent bubbles to add some pizazz to their live shows.

This, along with lead singer Wayne Coyne’s excellent rapport with his audience, has lead to consistent positive word-of-mouth about the band’s live shows.

Over the past month Las Vegas radio station 107.9 (known as area108) did a promotion with Miller Lite and the Palms casino. To get two tickets to the show, held Poolside at the Palms Sunday at 8 p.m., all I had to do was buy an 18-pack of Miller Lite at Green Valley Grocery, Speedee Mart, or Short-Line Express, then bring the sticker from the box and the receipt to the Pearl box office to get your tickets.

So, for a $12 pack of beer, I got two tickets to a show. That is one hard deal to beat.

To prepare I watched the recently released concert DVD the Flaming Lips: U.F.O.’s at the Zoo: the legendary concert in Oklahoma City. I could tell I was in for one great show, and oh, how I love to be right.

I pre-gamed at my favorite Sunday bar and entered the poolside area as the band launched into my favorite song, “Do You Realize?”

“Do You Realize?” music video (which I don’t think fits the song very well):

The concert was everything I expected and more. I thought the poolside venue would be small, but there was a decent crowd with some of them even dressed up in elaborate costumes.

I managed to get fairly close to the left side of the stage considering I entered the venue a bit late.

(and yes, those are the alien women on the left).

This concert made me realize I need to buy a better digital camera, as shown by the blurry Wayne Coyne:

The ecstatic crowd helped make the show what it was. There was only one “fun-hater” at the beginning, who, when I started cheering, snapped “save it for the encore.”

Well, I didn’t save it for the encore, but instead pushed my way past the moody girl and enjoyed the rest of the two-hour show.

Near the end Coyne pumped up a large orange balloon we could tell was full of something fun…

A few moments later, the balloon exploded, and confetti flew everywhere, aided by the light winds that kept the crowd cool.

The Flaming Lips played a full and ecstatic show with enough tricks to fill a warped-out circus…for adults. For adults possibly on drugs, but still enjoyable sober.

Everyone loves confetti and pizazz, and when you fuse that with the music of the Flaming Lips, you get probably the best concert I’ve been to this year, if not ever.

Modest Mouse (or “how I hate to be right”)

When I get drunk, my speaking abilities are the first thing to go. That’s why, if I was ever in a band (a pretty big if) I would never get trashed before a performance.

I wish Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse could say the same.

I’ve heard from several concert-goers that a few times he has shown up on stage late, or shows up on stage drunk, or just doesn’t show at all.

Isaac had this to say in an interview with the A.V. Club:

“There was a certain point where I realized that these folks showing up for the shows paid money, and not to see me get fucking drunk. The collective amount of time and energy and money put in to coming out to see us play—no one deserves to have to see a drunk dude.”

He wasn’t a huge slobbering drunken mess Saturday at their show at the Joint at the Hard Rock, but he wasn’t completely sober, either.

My roommate and I arrived after the opening band (Matt Costa, a guitar guy I saw in August of 2005 with Jack Johnson…Costa was better, surprisingly) got off and it still took the band an hour to get on stage.

Modest Mouse performed for only an hour before doing an encore that lasted about 10 minutes.

They have so much good material to work with I was expecting a full two hours.

This was a disappointment, especially since I’ve been trying to see Modest Mouse for years. When I lived in Reno and they toured through twice, something came up both times to prevent me from seeing them.

Maybe if they play in Utah where there’s more hurdles to getting drunk I’ll go see them.

Otherwise, they’re banished to my iPod.

Built to Spill

Hailing from Idaho, Built to Spill is a band that doesn’t tour much but instead plays a few dates in their home state and then here and there at festivals and a few in Portland, Oregon.

That’s why I jumped at the chance to see them perform at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay here in Las Vegas on Monday, Sept. 10. The best part? Tickets were only $17! As I always do, I bought two tickets and worried about finding someone to go with later. Luckily, my new roomies are into the same music as me, so one of my roomies and I went.

I had planned to accompany this blog with a few photos, but the House of Blues doesn’t allow cameras. Most places say that, but they usually mean professional cameras, not dinky digital ones like mine. So, I had to check it for $2 (ridiculous).

We missed most of the first opening band, the Delusions.

Next up was Camper Van Beethoven, a band that was in its hey-day about 15-20 years ago, probably most famous for their song “Take the Skinheads Bowling” that was featured in Michael Moore’s documentary, Bowling for Columbine.

They were better live than what I’d heard of their stuff on the Internet, and I enjoyed watching the violinist. I have a thing for violinists, y’see. It all started innocently enough with watching Owen Pallett and Sarah Neufeld work their magic as part of Arcade Fire, and then it led to me getting into Pallett’s solo act, Final Fantasy.

Here’s a video of Pallet performing “This is the Dream of Win and Regine” (about his married Arcade Fire bandmates):

Camper Van Beethoven finished, and my roommate commented that the House of Blues was the emptiest he’d ever seen it. The crowd was sparse, but it was also a mixed crowd, with a good chunk of middle-agers around, probably to see Camper Van Beethover. But then, Built to Spill has been around for about 15 years as well, so I’m sure some of the older crowd was my age when they first heard them.

Built to Spill was a nice change from the concerts I’ve gone to for most of the year in that they pretty much just played. There weren’t elaborate on-stage antics. They didn’t pull out motorcycle helmets and beat on them like Arcade Fire and they didn’t have a giant floating pig like Roger Waters did at his performance at the MGM in June.

They played a lot of my favorites like “Liar”, “In the Morning”, and “Traces” but skipped over what is my favorite song by them, “Car.”

Here’s a decent fan video of a quieter version of “Car” (youtube mostly brings up fan videos of performances….not very many professional ones):

My roommate had told me he heard from a friend that Built to Spill goes into lots of guitar riffs for extended periods, and he was right. This was a fun part of the show, except when they ended the show on it.

After playing a three-minute song they didn’t end it but went into a 10 to 15 minute guitar riff following the song….and once done said “thanks!” and started unplugging equipment and once the house lights came up a minute later it was obvious an encore wasn’t going to happen. I think the crowd felt the same stupor I did that they ended on a random guitar riff instead of a great song that would get the crowd going.

They played for about an hour and a half…I felt they could have gone a bit longer, but for $17 I don’t feel entitled to complain too much.

I also got the impression the lead singer, Doug Martsch, just didn’t give a shit that he ended the show like he did.

So, we left, and I almost forgot my camera.

The next day I read a brief interview with Martsch in the Las Vegas Weekly. It added some illumination to the performance, especially how he chooses set-lists.

Who knows when I’ll get a chance to see Built to Spill again. It’s always an amazing feeling seeing one of your favorite bands live for the first time, especially in an intimate venue like the House of Blues.

First time at the House of Blues, I have to say I really dig it with the exception of no cameras. Drinks were relatively cheap with a vodka-cranberry only costing $7.50 (this was after buying one for $10 at the sports bar outside the venue).

So, that was my first concert of September and my first since the so-so performance of Snow Patrol and Hot Hot Heat at the Pearl venue at the Palms in July.

The rest of September will be a busy concert month…lots to look forward to.

Keep checking back for more!

Mtv, what have you done to me?

I’ve been Mtv-free for over three years, since around the spring of 2004, and, my friends, it has been one of the best things to happen to me.

You would think, being of the ‘Mtv generation’, that the separation would be painful. Instead, it’s been healthy, like going from meat-eater to vegan.

My taste is music has changed dramatically since my Mtv days.

It started when I was going to school full-time, working full-time, and volunteering and partying away that I didn’t have time to watch tv at all, let alone Mtv. So the only way I heard music was at work (at Guess?), either from the store speakers or a co-workers music from the ratty stereo we listened to while closing. I also got some good recommendations by hearing songs on HBO shows and checking their website.

Through these means I discovered such fresh-sounding bands like Soul Hooligan, Beta Band, the Dandy Warhols, Built to Spill (who I’m seeing in concert next week!), local band Brown Eyed Deception (since disbanded), and many others.

By the time life had slowed down by the fall and I had moved to Reno to go to the University of Nevada, Reno, I didn’t even miss Mtv, which has become a shell of what it used to be with its overabundance of ‘reality’ programs (one of the only times I’ve watched Mtv since 2004 was the summer of 2006 when a friendly ex of mine was on the reality dating show ‘Next’).

What little music Mtv does play is crap and I’m likely to hear it everywhere else anyway….on the radio, in the elevator, in a mall, on someone’s cell phone, on a commercial.

What the lack of Mtv did to me was force me to dig for my music, and I have unearthed some shiny little nuggets. This blog will be all about those glorious little bands that could….okay, it’ll also be about the popular bands a bit, but mostly in a scathing “they suck” sort of way.

I mean, c’mon, I bet even Ghandi would shoot the Spice Girls in the vocal chords if he was alive to hear the news of their impending reunion….it makes me shudder and I even owned their CD’s back in the day.

**Note: title of blog comes from a lyric of the song “Windowsill” by Arcade Fire