BigYawn

When did the Black Cat become the new Iota? Why on Earth does everyone and his brother talk nonstop during shows nowadays? Not just exchanging pleasentries, or “that was awesome!” But full fledged conversations. Seriously people, just shut the fuck up. Go to the bar downstairs, hell go anywhere. Why did you even pay to get in? Do you even like the bands? Or music?

I didn’t like Obits(279). Based on their name, and a couple of songs I heard, I expected something a little more, well, heavy.  Not so much, though they were definitely very guitar driven. The dude from Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes is in it, as is a guy from Edsel, so I expected something a little zestier. Maybe a habanero type of heat. On a side not, Edsel was the very first band I ever saw in DC, and it was at the old 9:30 Club back in 1994. Completely irrelevant to this conversation, simply giving a little context.

To be fair to Obits, I wasn’t there to see them. Pinback(280) were my targets for the evening, and I was very curious to see how their live show translated all of their recorded output. They have a very interesting sound and continue to surprise me. Rob Crow is a true study in psychology. Like Justin Broadrick from Jesu, he seems to continually be involved with bands that sound completely different. In Crow’s case you can lose count, but in addition to his solo material, it seems his music ranges from the almost math-rock pop of Pinback to the much heavier sounds of Goblin Cock, a band I sadly missed on tour earlier this year.

To say Pinback’s music is gourgeous would be true, but doesn’t tell you the whole story. Almost like a Sunny Day Real Estate without Jeremy Enigk’s screaming and the frantic pace. Extremely well crafted, each song seems to have layer after layer of complexity, with instruments almost playing two different songs at once and additional layered vocals often at odds with each other. Their version of pop music is truly unique, and can really throw you for a loop when see them live. Mostly cause Rob Crow looks scary. Great show, happy to finally see the band live.

You ever just have, one of those days? Of course you have, its inevitable. This, was one of those days. Unemployment, family trouble, couldn’t even win at recreational sports. One of those days where if I owned a car or a pet, I would have run one over with the other. Tres shitty.

Now, you’d think this would have been curtains for the bands I was seeing, regardless of how good they were. Surprisingly — even to me — this was not the case. Well, mostly not. In fact, as I watched them last night, I said to myself “State Department(276) may be the best DC band I’ve heard all year. And this shouldn’t have surprised me,  as two of its members were coming from other DC bands I loved, largely because of the said members. Guitarist Patrick Kigongo provides the Factory Records sound behind Ra Ra Rasputin(102), and vocalist Michael Medlock was the Greg Dulli behind the now defunct Black and White Jacksons(62). Not two people you’d expect to be in the same band, but it’s the surprises in life, right? Their 30 minute set was awesome, full of perfect rock flourishes. I’m hoping this doesn’t end up a forgotten side-project or break up Ra Ra Rasputin because they are two very different and very cool sounds I’m looking forward to seeing again.

Patrick Kigongo appears to have been the mastermind behind this show, as his sometime band Last Tide(277) played as well. I was not as in love with these guys however. Their sound wasn’t bad, a new wave/post punk type of indie rock. My problem was more about the individual pieces. The guitars remained flat throughout, and I was largely unimpressed with the vocals in general. The band won’t make you go running for the hills, but they aren’t likely to do much to keep you around either.

Reading a little on Ringo Deathstarr(278)’s live show speaks wonders. Everyone says the same thing: loud, crazy energy, short sets. That more or less sums them up, but also doesn’t properly give credit to their music. Yes, lots of energy, but their shoegaze by way of MBV(159) sound should set you up for that. What sets Ringo apart from lots of others in the shoegaze category is that they attack each song like punks, raging through them not to create a wall of sound, but to paly each chord or drum beat like it is their last. And when you hear them play some of their more “softer” material, there truly is a lot to love.

Where as MBV relies as much on their vocals as humans do on their appendix, Ringo Deathstarr weave their vocals into every song. So, shoegaze yes, but let’s give them some credit for not being another run of the mill fuzzy A Place to Bury Strangers.

I’m a little surprised this band hasn’t caught on like wildfire quite yet, but based on their music, and their “different” name, I’m quite sure it is only a matter of time.

Abe Lincoln was at this show. No, not the cadaver of our tallest president, but a guy whose head looked exactly like Lincoln with his mutton beard thing going. And I mean exactly. Except he was wearing a blazer, and apparently liked to dance. This was the Lincoln from your dreams. You know, the ones where you are at the opera, and you look over in the seat next to you, and there is Lincoln, in a blazer and boxer-shorts. And he asks you if you want some Fanta. Maybe this is only in my dreams, but it was odd to see this Lincoln replica, much less the fact that he was dancing like that old guy from the very creepy Six Flags commercials. Weird.

Additional surprises kept the evening interesting. The first was Black Whales(273), from Seattle. Their music is pretty poppy, though hardly formulaic. They would likely hate me for saying this, but I could almost hear the Monkeys in their music, minus the comedy, bowl cuts and British accents of course. It might have just been in the choruses, but out of the twangy style pop Black Whales plays, I heard “Last Train to Clarksville.” One thing I noticed that made me laugh, was both guitar players using capos on their electric guitars. Not something you see everyday. I don’t pretend to understand why, but I do know capos make the chords higher, which makes sense given the surf-style sounds I heard. Really not bad stuff though, I liked their set.

For some reason Wooden Shjips(274) played second instead of headlining as expected. It could have been for a number of reasons, but it worked out better for me, as I could see all of their set, and leave early for the last band. If you have ever heard the High Dials, you have a sense for what Wooden Shjips and their indescribable music sounds like. Yes, it is very much the type of psychedelic rock you’d expect after seeing this SF quartet walk on stage, but the music, especially the guitars, have a very punk or garage feel to them. Their was some improvisation and a bit of rock guitar noodling, but it was limited. As I’ve said before, I can get a little tired of excessive psych-rock, but whether intentional or not, this was a well timed set, especially for a Sunday night. They cranked through a set highlighted by both their guitar-work and the crazy drumming. The beat was so catchy I found myself pounding along with it a number of times. I was very happy I made the decision to see them.

DC band Buildings(275), or bldgs,  closed out the night, and they too were a surprise. The post-rock outfit are not your average Explosions in the Sky. Combining both noise and a little - dare I say it — Radiohead, there really is a lot here to like. Their shorter compositions can just as easily be filled with hooks as distortion, and crescendos can happen at the beginning of the songs as well as at the end. Weird? Yes, but that is what makes this music interesting. There are a lot of different angles to go in the post-rock genre: Metal like Isis, artsy like Slint, or even structured rock/pop like the aforementioned EITS or Mogwai. This is certainly the road less traveled, but that is what makes these guys something to see.

The bonus was, thanks to former BY writer Megan, I got to talk to Wooden Shjips after the show for a bit. Very cool group of guys, who were rather supportive of my little venture here. I haven’t done a lot of schmoozing with bands this year, for a variety of reasons. So it was great to just talk to some guys who couldn’t have been any less full of themselves or stuck on some sort of hipster image. I was impressed with their set and if they happen to be heading to a city near you, you should absolutely check them out.

It is hard not to feel bad about not attending a Summer show at Wolf Trap. Somewhat of a DC institution, Wolf Trap offers a very different concert experience from any of the other outdoor amphitheater options in the DC metro area. Most of that difference resides in the picnic basket full of goodies they let you bring in, including alcohol. For whatever reason, their schedule was fairly limp this year, save Wilco, but I was out of town for that show. So, in lieu of attending one of the outside shows, I had to get to the Barns of Wolf Trap, the Pavilion’s crunchier and often uninteresting younger sister. Think Wilco vs Bo Bice. Or Blondie vs Melissa Manchester. I mean, you’d do her if you were at a party and were drunk, and her older sister already left, but you’d leave right after she fell asleep and deny the whole thing ever happened.

Don’t look at me that way, you know it’s true.

So, one of the better options at the Barns was Ari Hest(272) along with Elizabeth and the Catapult(273). The latter had just played the Red and the Black in DC, so this was a leap of hundreds for them, and probably a more interested audience too. The Barns tends to draw the “five shows a year” crowd, so they automatically love everything they see. And, to be fair to ‘Liz and the War Tools of the middle ages,’ there was quite a bit to like. Elizabeth Ziman’s voice is the band’s obvious strength. Her range could take her from Go-Go’s retro-pop to sultry Alannah Myles “Black Velvet” and back. Bet you never thought you’d read Alannah Myles name mentioned here. The band’s songs dance all around genres from the very quiet ballad to the more indie-rock numbers that center less around a piano or synth. It was a short set, but I was impressed.

The one thing both bands benefited from was the fantastic sound at the Barns. So yes, continuing my analogy, she is a slightly unattractive younger sister with a great rack. Oh, I could go on all night like this. Needless to say, the sound is amazing. It is a shame they don’t bring in any real rock acts to take advantage of it. Though, not a lot of bands are willing to treck to Vienna, VA to play, either.

So, Ari Hest is the classic “guy with a guitar.” The type of guy I have trashed all over this year’s reviews. I have seen Ari before, and felt the same way, generally. But, there are two things that fall in Ari’s favor. For one, he was playing with a full band. Not to say there was a whole lot of rocking out, but there were at least a couple songs that got my attention. The other is that he is just as crazy as me, and I respect crazy. He went on a quest to write a song a week in 2008. Now, that isn’t 333 bands, but to keep yourself following through with something for a year is impressive. I know, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo apparently writes 5 songs before lunch everyday, but some of them are nothing more than a hook. At least Ari pours his heart out into these songs, however you feel about that sort of thing.

So, he wasn’t bad, and that’s about as excited as I’ll get on the topic. His voice could really work with a louder more out of control band, but I doubt that will ever happen. And he opened for Sheryl Crow. After that, like black, I’m not sure sure you can ever go back.

I’m here all week folks. Two sets a night!!

The one thing that surprised my girlfriend the most about this show — she was gracious enough to agree to be dragged along — was the large numbers of children with their parents. She doesn’t get the dynamics of the Kiss Army. Of course kids come, it’s clowns rocking out, sorta. The youth of the army were very well represented last night, from little four year olds in OshKosh B’Gosh all the way to pre-teens in full face paint. This includes the  adorable little Asian boy in front of us, maybe five years old, who was either rocking out with insane air guitar solos, pounding his heart out on the fake drums, or sleeping.

The inclusion of all these kids make the selection of Buckcherry(269) as opener for this tour an odd one. Say what you will about the quality of their music, and I have very little to say, it speaks volumes that the band closes their sets with the song “Crazy Bitch,” which includes the lyrics “Get the video/Fuck you so good/Get the video/Fuck you so good,” “Hey/You’re a crazy bitch/But you fuck so good I’m on top of it/When I dream/I’m doing you all night” and “You’re crazy but I like the way you fuck me!” Not exactly kid friendly. Thankfully, I saw very few parents singing along to it with their kids. They also insulted Billy Squier, playing a snippet of “The Stroke” with various hand gestures included. This would work opening for Motley Crue, Poison or Velvet Revolver, but not Kiss(270). As an aside, check out Buckcherry’s messed with wikipedia page to see how much they are loved by the dick and fart joke crowd.

Say what you will about the painted faces, the platform shoes, the fake blood and the flying around, at the heart of Kiss is the music. I know that sounds strange, given all of the above, but the band has recorded some of the greatest arena rock songs of all time. “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “Detroit Rock City,” “Shout it Out Loud,” “Lick it Up,” “God Gave Rock and Roll to You,” need I go on? And that excludes a lot of the hits off of Alive!, the live album that more or less put Kiss on the map. The current tour is celebrating the 35th anniversary of that album, and the band is playing most of it during their sets. But they do fill in other hits as well, largely during a long encore. Happily, I heard perhaps my favorite Kiss song, “I Love it Loud,” which was played after Gene Simmons was pulled up to the light rigging above the stage. Can you say, awesome?

While I do love the Simmons fronted songs (including the aforementioned “…Loud” and “Love Gun”) I did miss not hearing the very over the top Paul Stanley classics “Beth” and  “I Was Made for Lovin’ You.” Still, the band put together an impressive set from start to finish. Sadly, Kiss is often improperly labeled as metal or something simliar — yes, not hard to imagine given the way they dress –when in fact they play the same style of blues/soul 70’s rock as Aerosmith or ZZ Top. Just with spikes and platform boots. In fact, if you turned down the volume and switched to a few minor chords here and there, is this all that far from say, Styx(122)? I would never tell that to a six-foot tall woman in a Gene Simmons get-up, but it’s pretty true.

It was my first time seeing Kiss, and I initially thought it might be a novelty, one to just cross off my list. But, if God allows the guys to keep touring (Simmons just turned 60 and Stanley is close) I would absolutely go see them again. The band always talks about giving you the most bang for your buck, and it is true. For what I paid last night I can see a band at the the 9:30 Club play for an hour and be done. They won’t fly around, they won’t spit blood, and they sure as Hell don’t do over 2 hours of rock in six inch platforms. And in many cases, their music couldn’t compare either. Bravo to Kiss for doing their shit for almost 40 years, and not trying to be something they’re not — except for those 12 or so unmasked years.

This show promised a whole bunch of locals, and included two bands I have been interested in seeing for a long time, so it was a no-brainer. And, to no surprise, it had more than a few of DC’s musical celebs as well, including Ian Mackaye and John Davis’s ex-bandmate in Q and Not U, Chris Richard. At least I think it was Chris. I know he lives in NYC now, but I’m pretty sure it was him.

At any rate, the show started with The Andalusians(266), who I’ve heard about, but not actually seen before. Bottom line, I was kinda disappointed. Despite the strong — and thundering — drumming, the songs were pretty bland, had no real hooks, and just kinda fell flat. Sadly the vocals from Basla Andolsun, who basically writes all the material, were a little weak. I’m not saying that to be mean, simply that, the band and the songs weren’t all that compelling to me.

It becomes clear to me now that all three of the bands who played this show are in effect solo entities with friends playing live. Fulton Lights(267) is basically Andrew Spencer Goldman, who, aside form being one of the first people to barrage BigYawn with regular band e-mails, apparently was also pretty involved with the DC music scene at one point. He moved away, but is now back. I was looking forward to finally seeing Fulton Lights, but ended up dissatisfied. The songs were alright, but seemed very over-done, a direct dichotomy to the Andalusians. The wall of sound were almost too much, especially in the small Black Cat backstage. There was already some obvious friction between Andrew and the sound guy based on some of the comments I heard, so sound check must have gone well.

Despite having the band Statehood minus Clark Sabine(RIP) as his backing band, the music just never came together for me. I’m curious how he would sound solo, though.

Lastly, was John Davis’ new project, Title Tracks(268). Closer to Georgie James than Q and not U, Title Tracks‘ songs are basically power-pop all the way, which was a relief after being so extreme with the first two bands. Davis’ songs are incredibly immediate, and move you instantly with their jangles and melodies. The band was very tight and was able to keep pace with John as he plowed through hook after hook. Overall a pretty good set.

What a weird night. DC is a very incestuous town when it comes to musicians jumping bands but wow, talk about your orgies of music. In the room were members of Fugazi, Q and Not U, Georgie James, Beauty Pill, Dismemberment Plan, Statehood, and God knows how many other people I didn’t recognize. Of course, I still didn’t like two of the bands. go figure

I’m happy to say, so far anyway, We Were Promised Jetpacks(263) debut, These Four Walls, is one of my favorite albums of 2009. The Glaswegian four-piece hit it on all cylinders, and turn up the energy when necessary. It is an album of the moment, for me at least, and the perfect dose of rock and roll I needed this Summer. That said, I was obviously rather stoked to see them live. And, it turns out, so were the majority of people at this show. When the opener draws more of a crowd than the headliner, that is reason to take notice.

They ran through almost all of their debut in 4o minutes, and seemed genuinely taken aback by the audiences excitement and applause. One of the few moments I experienced this year where the band literally broke into smiles due to the audiences reaction. Sadly too rare, but they deserved it, great, great set.

BrakesBrakesBrakes(264), or better known as Brakes in countries without lots of lawyers, also put out a fantastic album this year, Touchdown. Continuing their genre hopping, the band played a record amount of music. Since many of their songs are short, and fairly stylistically varied, they were able to really switch it up, song after song. From punk to indie, to country to acoustic ballads, nothing seemed out of the realm of possibilities. After playing 11 or 12 songs in 30 minutes the band settled down and the remainder of their set included the gorgeous “No Return,” one of the few songs all year that struck me this powerfully.

Given their attitudes and the frantic energy they play with, it is really hard not to love Brakes. And given the first two bands, it was hard not to love this bill.

The Twilight Sad(265) initially did not excite me as much as their two openers but that was largely due to me making judgments on their recorded material. It just sounds a little too mopey for me, too lacking in energy. And some of that carried over live. The bands lack of crescendos and powerful choruses bothers me for some reason. But, the good part was that they were much more lively on stage, and the songs ended up significantly more powerful, which surprised me. Granted, not hanging. But a 50% improvement is a long way to go for a band. Sadly, I had to leave early, but I would absolutely check them out again.

This was one of the few bills where I was legitimately interested in all of the bands on the bill, and down right excited for most of them. Happily, the bands delivered completely, and left me generally wanting more from them, in a good way. Scratch that, in a great way.

Let’s get Muse(261) out of the way, shall we? I love Muse, and have for some time. I am not a fan of the Queen-themed theatrical approach they have taken to on parts of the last two albums, I prefer the harder and louder numbers from any of the first three albums. But I also can’t fault them for going in this direction, and frankly, the writing was on the wall, at least to anyone who has seen Bellamy and co. perform live before. Their over the top performances suggest this new style musically was a long way coming.

How they snagged an opening spot for U2(261) I don’t know, but for anyone who hasn’t yet seen them at a more intimate venue than FedEx field, say the 9:30 Club for example, you are likely shit out of luck. Deservedly or not, the band is going to stick to the Patriot Center or some other large venue moving forward. (Just please no DAR guys, ok?) The performance wasn’t bad, but the sound in our seats was. Quite terrible in fact. The way the speakers were angled — see the pic below — meant that unless you were facing a speaker, the echo was going to be a killer, which it was. Quite sad unfortunately. Maybe next time guys.

Thankfully — kudos to my friend Chad — we moved seats for U2 and were greeted by significantly better sound. Hooray for that. The spectacle that is U2, again see the picture (taken from their Milan show), was rather impressive. That stage and all the lights and screens on it were pretty incredible. The performance was awesome, easily one of the best shows of the year. They relied a little too heavily on the most recent album, which I am not in love with, but with so many other classics to pull from, it is hard not to hear a lot you like, even if not everything you like. I was satisfied aurally and visually.

This show got me to thinking though, as it was my first time seeing U2. Is anyone this big an act? I mean, aside from Obama, can anyone fill stadiums like U2? Paul McCartney played FedEx field earlier this Summer, and I hear the crowd was this big, but not in 360. I mean, this band is enormous, like Michael Jackson without all the bad press. Where do they go from here? Anywhere? Unlike the Beatles before them, they are still together and seemingly quite happy with each other. They continue to make popular music that does well — even if it is a bit bland from time to time, “Get on Your Boots?” Really? — and have a back catalog even the most high-brow of indie snobs has to appreciate. They put out a string of five albums in the 80’s and early 90’s I would put up against anyone’s best five: War, Under a Blood Red Sky, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum, Achtung Baby. Who can top that? Granted that was 18-26 years ago, but it’s not like they’ve been putting out complete crap since either. Just unbelievable.

It may have been set-up, but Bono pulled some kid from the crowd and walked around with him on stage, and eventually sent him off with the pair of his trademark shades he was wearing. I wanted to be that kid, everyone there did. Those shades were a bigger blessing than a kiss from the Pope. There, I said it. U2 is now officially bigger than God. Damn, I can’t wait to see what that first church is gonna look like.

No doubt I’ll take some shit for this review, but such is life. As I’ve mentioned before, always good to expand your horizons, hence why I went to the final night of the Sonic Circuits Festival, which is a yearly celebration of  the “opportunity to sample experimental and avant-garde electronic music, with an emphasis on improvisation and artistic use of new technologies.” That definition is from their website, and I agree with it, at least based on the artists I saw. For anyone who knows me, or has followed these reviews, you know I am very reluctant to go to these shows, because I am generally not excited by this type of music. But, I try to keep an open mind. And so it goes.

The bonus was this was a five band bill. The not so bonus? Some of it was bad, real bad. I arrived to a long line, which little did I know, would contain virtually everyone who would attend the show all night. Not a good start. The duo of Alexei Borisov and Anton Nikkilä(256) started the night. It is hard for me to determine if I saw three songs ofrm these guys, as it all blended into one, but I’m pretty sure I did. This allowed me to add an addendum to my rule though, that it takes three songs to count a band. New rule, Three songs or 30 minutes, whichever comes first. Two guys, a laptop and some noise machines. And the occasional mumble into a mic. Yes, it was going to be that sort of night.

Pekka Airaksinen(257) was next. Again, a lot of improvised noise, but not terribly unpleasant. Pekka and the previous duo are known only to the more involved music-heads (i.e. not me) and have been doing their thing for a looong time. pick up a copy of the magazine the Wire if you’re interested in learning more. I have no right to talk trash, so I’ll just say again, not really my thing.

Indie band Health(258) were next. Obviously added to the bill as a “draw,” the crowd was more or less the same size throughout, so if people came to see Health, they stuck around for the night. These folks get a lot of buzz, but I frankly don’t see it. I’m not sure if this was a normal set for them, or if they went left-field for this one, given the audience. But it was a fucking mess, and that is about all I can say about it. Yelling, banging, all sorts of nasty -ings. But, it wasn’t the worst music of the night. That honor goes to the trio of Rat Bastard, Chris Grier and Ulrich Krieger(259). They squeezed out — and let me ask you to think of that word’s most painful meaning to you personally — 30 minutes of pure Hell. Two guitars and saxophone have never made such racket. The fillings in my mouth were hurting during this one. No songs, just the worst music I had heard all year, and I am quite serious about that.

The evening ended with the legendary Faust(260), the krautrock band 3+ decades past their prime. It was worth going, if just to see them. I did not stay for the whole set, but what I saw was easily the best music of the night, and frankly, the closest to “music” you are likely familiar with. This was a psychedelic trip through the 70’s, or at least how I imagine the early 70’s. It included a reading or two from what I assumed was  Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus while a barrage of creepy undertones were played. Cool stuff. Nothing I need to see again, but I’m glad I braved the flotsam and jetsam of the early evening to see these guys.

Dear, dear Iota. I regularly scan the concert calendar’s at all DC venues, hoping to add some new shows to my upcoming schedule. Sadly, I rarely see anything at Iota that even makes me think twice. It is usually the same bands, many of them local, coming back again and again. They do stick to a certain twang/rock genre at Iota, practically refusing to bring in other acts, and perhaps that reputation, and the fact people always talk loudly there, and the fact it is in Arlington, is why better bands don’t play there. I was happy to see a show with not one but two favs of mine, so it was a must see.

Apparently however, it was a must see only for me, the people I dragged along, and maybe 10 other folks. The place was completely empty, which sucks. Early Day Miners(254) opened, and their lush, orchestral sound was great for a a non-crowded room, but I’m sure they weren’t too happy. The 30 minute set was awesome, and the guys seem to carry that mid-western charm on their sleeves. It’s hard not to like these guys. I’m just sorry no one was there to give them a try.

Decibully(255) are DAM! Festival alums, so of course I have a soft spot for them. Part of the missing crowd could be blamed on the fact that not only have they not come back to DC since their festival date in 2006, but they really haven’t done much of anything since then. I’ve no doubt both real life and the reported label issues that plagued them had a hand in their seclusion. But the time away form the public eye has not at all diminished their skills. They too crammed a set into 30 minutes — obviously neither band was excited to play to no one — and rocked as well as any other band I’ve seen this year. In fact, they rocked louder than most other bands iIve seen this year, seemingly ditching the slower/twangier numbers for full on balls-to-the-wall numbers. Very, very good show.

Unfortunately, it being Iota, even with 10 people there, someone talked the entire time. It truly is the culture there, since so many people don’t come for the music. I just don’t get it. I wonder when Iota will just turn itself into a true bar and ditch the good music, allowing any number of cover bands or talentless nobodies to grace the stage time and time again. Sadly, we aren’t far from it