Review & Photos: The Dillinger Escape Plan, Faceless @ DNA Lounge, 5/19/13
May 21, 2013
Early in their set of thrashing, frantic mathcore on Sunday night, The Dillinger Escape Plan‘s lead singer Greg Puciato pulled himself up by the chains of a hanging PA speaker at the DNA Lounge, leaning dangerously forward ten feet above the shoulder-crushing mosh pit on the floor. DEP are well known for their insane live shows — the band members never really stop moving, using cordless guitars and microphones to allow them to go anywhere in the venue — but even still, I was sure Puciato wouldn’t jump into the mosh pit. That’s too dangerous.
Still hanging, Puciato pointed towards the crowd, smiled, and leaped from the hanging PA speaker, landing with knees and elbows bent on the throbbing crowd. Momentarily lost in a pit of bodies, the crowd spit him back up and onto the stage. The rest of the group continued to blaze through “Farewell, Mona Lisa” from their 2010 LP Option Paralysis — a sprawling, whiplashed hardcore piece that ends in a destructive fury as Puciato screams “What did you expect from us?” Nothing less, I had to admit.
That moment set the tone for the rest of the set as DEP pulled hits from their entire catalog. It was the kind of night where the salaciously catchy swagger of “Milk Lizard” would butt up against lurching, double-speed jams pulled from 2004′s Miss Machine and other more obscure releases.
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Review & Photos: Three Days of 1-2-3-4 Go Records’ Go! Go! @ The New Parish, 5/16-5/18/13
May 21, 2013
Emily’s Army began submitting recordings to 1-2-3-4 Go! about four years ago, when most members were 13. I could have fathered them. It helped that the guy to my right could be their grandfather (and he was sporting a dog collar). It’s a little uncomfortable how great they are. It is frightening to think what they could be doing in a few years. My only fatherly advice: notch down the Green Day, study Sandinista, and stay away from my daughters. Check them out June 8th at Oakland’s Uptown with Meat Market! Get their record Lost at Seventeen as soon as it is released on June 11th.
Kepi Ghoulie formed the Groovie Ghoulies in 1983 in Sacramento. Although they disbanded in 2007, Kepi continues to churn out solo records and scary-beautiful artwork. For the Go! Go!, Kepi teamed up with Portland’s Mean Jeans (who played the following night) to play all the Groovie Ghoulies’ hits. Paradise. Kepi kicks off a huge tour in June. Send him off in style at Luigi’s Fungarden in Sac on June 6th.
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Review & Photos: Midi Matilda, OONA, holychild @ Rickshaw Stop, 5/17/13
May 20, 2013
If the only time someone has seen San Francisco’s Midi Matilda was at last year’s Live 105 BFD, when the guitar and drums synth-pop duo struggled with gear malfunctions through the first half of a short set to a dwindling crowd, that person would have a very wrong estimation of what it was capable of.
Friday night at Rickshaw Stop, Skyler Kilborn and Logan Grime fully entertained a sold-out house, introduced several new songs and paid tribute, once again, to former manager Steve Brodsky, who passed away too soon, recently, after a brief fight with cancer.
“This show is because of him,” Kilborn said. Yet the performance didn’t at all feel like a memorial, but a dance party, which got started with opening trio OONA and Los Angeles quartet Holychild.
Midi Matilda’s set began with a Grime tribal-esque drum solo on a stationary tom in the middle of the dance floor and quickly moved back onto the stage for the rest of the 50-minute-long set that included a cover of the Temptations’ “Just My Imagination.” The two played fast and furious.
The duo’s appearance – Kilborn’s early ‘80s new romancer outfit coupled with Grime’s never-ending movement and a mop of hair that had a mind of its own, resembling Animal from The Muppets – presented an interesting dynamic.
Halfway through, the set took on the air of a victory lap, of sorts.
“We’ve travelled a lot recently around the country, but this is home,” Grime declared.
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Photos: The 2013 BottleRock Napa Valley Festival
May 15, 2013
Our photographer Charlie Homo went to the BottleRock Napa Valley Festival this past weekend, and captured this amazing set of photos of The Flaming Lips, Black Keys, The Shins and many more. Enjoy!
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Review & Photos: Man or Astro-man?, Terry Malts, Chuckleberries @ Bimbo’s, 5/11/13
May 14, 2013
Stardate 1993, planet ‘aLaBaMa’, Man or Astro-man? are born. 2013, flying via rental ship (their rocket ship broke down somewhere about 1/2 way to LA), they land 60 Earth minutes late at Bimbos 365. In decent English they report great losses of equipment in the aftermath, yet it didn’t stop them from lighting a theremin on fire.
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Review & Photos: Jim James @ The Fillmore, 5/12/13
May 14, 2013
On Sunday night, May 12, Jim James floated onto the Fillmore stage looking like he had just been electrocuted. His mess of hair and beard frizzed wildly in every direction and his crazy-eyed stare poured into each fan in the front row, one by one, as he reached out to touch their fingertips – and then bowed to the crowd in Namaste. His humble entrance was endearing, and kind of hilarious. His wide-eyed stare got comically creepy after piercing my soul for a few seconds too long and about two feet away from my face, but it was obvious he appreciated the audience contact as he sauntered back and forth across the stage and sang into the crowd.
After penning six respectable studio albums with his claim to fame My Morning Jacket, a one-LP stint with stellar supergroup Monsters of Folk, and two cover albums (of George Harrison and Woody Guthrie, respectively) under the pseudonym Yim Yames, James released a solo album of original tracks, Regions of Light and Sound of God, in February of this year. Incorporating his saxophone skills and a four-piece live band to back him up, the new album is much more jazz-influenced and ostentatious than his folky past, though his Louisville southern twang remains.
James opened Sunday’s set with the first track from said LP, “State of the Art (A. E. I. O. U.)”, and staggered through the majority of the album with a somewhat manic rock star swagger. The bluesy “Actress” and “All is Forgiven” stood out while the artist flailed around stage, and the sentimentally cosmic lyrics of “A New Life” (“there’s more stardust when you’re near”) made the track one of my favorites. Throughout the two-hour set, the artist traded off between his Flying V (which otherwise sat locked onto a stand), an acoustic guitar, a brassy saxophone, and he went hands-free to belt in his notorious falsetto. He’d take breaks between songs to acknowledge the golden bear statue enshrined on the amp behind him and did an spirited praise dance (or something) with it. This, combined with the Namaste greeting, made his set seem like some ritualistic offering to the gods of rock and roll. Strange, but I can dig it.
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Photos & Tweets: The 2013 BottleRock Napa Valley Festival
May 13, 2013
The first annual BottleRock Napa Valley Festival brought over 50 bands to the Napa Valley Expo for four days of music over the weekend, and our Roman Gokhman was on the scene for all four days.
Below, check out his live-tweeting from the festivities, which included standout performances from The Flaming Lips, Sharon Van Etten, and Grouplove.
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Review & Photos: Allah-Las, The Blank Tapes @ The Chapel, 5/9/13
May 10, 2013
Last night, Allah-Las and The Blank Tapes rocked The Chapel. Read our review below!
