We've been posting a lot about the musical exploits of our friend, Vicious G, lately. I'm sorry if this is overkill, but something legendary happened tonight. All who have heard his music have long awaited his live show, which we could all sense would be something of great magnitudes of awesomeness.
Tonight, Vicious G performed live for the first time ever. In a small room, in a small northeastern Ohio town, he played two songs with an accompanying drummer (myself) and everyone who saw it was in awe afterwards. Josh was there singing along the whole time and left amazed. When people look back in the annals of music history, they will view many days as landmark and this my friend, will be one of them.
Showing posts with label concerts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label concerts. Show all posts
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Friday, April 6, 2007
Well, I Made A Decision....
Back in January, I posted about a dilemma I was facing. I couldn't decide whether to see He Is Legend or Anberlin. I weighed the pros and cons of each option and tonight was the night of reckoning. Well, I went to see the Anberlin concert tonight at the House of Blues and it was very, very good. In fact, I may have witnessed the two best performances of my life just one week apart. Maybe, just maybe....
Full review coming soon..
Full review coming soon..
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Concert Review: Mute Math
I posted briefly about the Mute Math concert on Friday morning and how amazing it is and I promised a full review of the show and this is precisely that. It just must be elaborated upon to help explain its genius although I'm not sure mere words can do it justice.
I had been awaiting this show for very long, more than most. I've been following Mute Math for a while and fell in love with their cd from the first listen yet everybody seemed to say their greatest aspect was their live show. No matter what review or article I read on them, their show came up so naturally I was anxious for the day I could see them. They were originally scheduled to play Purple Door, but they couldn't for whatever reason so when I saw Cleveland as a stop on their spring tour, I immediately set that day aside for the show so I could encounter the legendary Mute Math show. Well, it almost didn't turn out that way.
I drive up to Cleveland with my father and he was going to go with me because he actually kind of, sort of even enjoyed their music. We get up to the House of Blues at about 8:30 and the show starts at 9:30. We go up to the door to buy our tickets since we hadn't previously gotten them. We figured that online service charge is ridiculous and that the House of Blues is too big for them to sell out. We were wrong. There was a piece of paper awaiting us stating that there were no more tickets available for the show. Okay, now what do we do? We just stare at each other for about five minutes, then we realized it's desperation time. My father and I spent the next ten minutes asking anyone and everyone if they had any extra tickets for the show or any they'd be willing to sell. After a few minutes and no luck, we find a man with one extra ticket that he gives us. We are still one short. Our efforts continue to no avail. We made an executive decision for me to go to the show and have my dad tear up the Cleveland night life for a few hours.
The show didn't start until 9:45 and then Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin took the stage. They were from Missouri and their sound was that of a poppy rock band, but with nothing to really grab you. They did all switch instruments halfway through the set, but the 'new' guitarist/singer didn't seem to play guitar as well and also appeared to be slightly uncomfortable behind the mic.
The second band was a band from Scotland(!) called the Cinematics. They had the whole new British rock sound going (which made sense I guess even though they're Scottish) and had a sound similar to Franz Ferdinand or the Killers only with more of an accent and a tad more ingenuity. All in all, a good set from them. They just seemed hindered because the lead singer was also a guitarist and he seemed like he wanted to move so much more than he got to. I may have to pick up their album sometime in the future.
After they left the stage, it was almost 11 and then it took the stage crew over a half hour to set up Mute Math's stage plot. Finally, the lights dimmed and four formally dressed men took the stage. A single light came and one of them put on some headphones and duct taped them to his head. From there, the show took off and never let go. They opened up with an extended and sustained version of their opening instrumental 'Collapse', which only raised more anticipation for their first song. From there, they blasted into 'Typical' and 'Chaos'. Played a few more songs, including a new song just referenced as 'Voice' then went into a crazed rendition of 'Plan B'. A definite highlight was the extended jam 'Obsolete' that follows 'Stare at the Sun'. They all got in on the rhythm and a stand up bass was even included! They played a few more songs including a very moving rendition of 'You Are Mine' then went straight into 'Break the Same'. They played 'Break the Same' for about eight minutes then the percussion section started. I had never seen anything ever like it before. While Paul kept playing on the piano, Greg was beating on his guitar with a mallet, Roy was hitting a bass drum and a cymbal, and Darren had left his drum kit was playing on the piano and mic stand with his sticks. It all grew together and they took apart the drum set and just started playing the drums individually and using EVERYTHING on the stage as a percussion instrument as Paul ran across hitting things and playing the Rhodes. This went on for about three minutes and then they play their final song of the night, 'Reset'. As they left the crowd went crazy and it seemed that everyone in the venue realized the greatness they'd just seen even if they couldn't fully comprehend it all.
The stage was a mess. Drums, sticks, guitar picks, effect pedals were strewn everywhere it seemed. It was like a painting by Picasso: beauty in disarray. I look at my awesome Star Wars watch and it reads 12:52 then a thought enters my brain that I should probably call my father. I call and he sounds tired. I tell him the show's ever and he comes to get me. I ask him what he's been doing for the past four hours as I get into the car. He looks at me as visions of him getting in bar fights and street races dance through my head and kills those visions very quickly by saying, "Well, at first I started driving around Cleveland, then I found a parking garage so I fell asleep there." What's sad is that doesn't shock me at all and what's even sadder is that's precisely what I would have done...
I had been awaiting this show for very long, more than most. I've been following Mute Math for a while and fell in love with their cd from the first listen yet everybody seemed to say their greatest aspect was their live show. No matter what review or article I read on them, their show came up so naturally I was anxious for the day I could see them. They were originally scheduled to play Purple Door, but they couldn't for whatever reason so when I saw Cleveland as a stop on their spring tour, I immediately set that day aside for the show so I could encounter the legendary Mute Math show. Well, it almost didn't turn out that way.
I drive up to Cleveland with my father and he was going to go with me because he actually kind of, sort of even enjoyed their music. We get up to the House of Blues at about 8:30 and the show starts at 9:30. We go up to the door to buy our tickets since we hadn't previously gotten them. We figured that online service charge is ridiculous and that the House of Blues is too big for them to sell out. We were wrong. There was a piece of paper awaiting us stating that there were no more tickets available for the show. Okay, now what do we do? We just stare at each other for about five minutes, then we realized it's desperation time. My father and I spent the next ten minutes asking anyone and everyone if they had any extra tickets for the show or any they'd be willing to sell. After a few minutes and no luck, we find a man with one extra ticket that he gives us. We are still one short. Our efforts continue to no avail. We made an executive decision for me to go to the show and have my dad tear up the Cleveland night life for a few hours.
The show didn't start until 9:45 and then Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin took the stage. They were from Missouri and their sound was that of a poppy rock band, but with nothing to really grab you. They did all switch instruments halfway through the set, but the 'new' guitarist/singer didn't seem to play guitar as well and also appeared to be slightly uncomfortable behind the mic.
The second band was a band from Scotland(!) called the Cinematics. They had the whole new British rock sound going (which made sense I guess even though they're Scottish) and had a sound similar to Franz Ferdinand or the Killers only with more of an accent and a tad more ingenuity. All in all, a good set from them. They just seemed hindered because the lead singer was also a guitarist and he seemed like he wanted to move so much more than he got to. I may have to pick up their album sometime in the future.
After they left the stage, it was almost 11 and then it took the stage crew over a half hour to set up Mute Math's stage plot. Finally, the lights dimmed and four formally dressed men took the stage. A single light came and one of them put on some headphones and duct taped them to his head. From there, the show took off and never let go. They opened up with an extended and sustained version of their opening instrumental 'Collapse', which only raised more anticipation for their first song. From there, they blasted into 'Typical' and 'Chaos'. Played a few more songs, including a new song just referenced as 'Voice' then went into a crazed rendition of 'Plan B'. A definite highlight was the extended jam 'Obsolete' that follows 'Stare at the Sun'. They all got in on the rhythm and a stand up bass was even included! They played a few more songs including a very moving rendition of 'You Are Mine' then went straight into 'Break the Same'. They played 'Break the Same' for about eight minutes then the percussion section started. I had never seen anything ever like it before. While Paul kept playing on the piano, Greg was beating on his guitar with a mallet, Roy was hitting a bass drum and a cymbal, and Darren had left his drum kit was playing on the piano and mic stand with his sticks. It all grew together and they took apart the drum set and just started playing the drums individually and using EVERYTHING on the stage as a percussion instrument as Paul ran across hitting things and playing the Rhodes. This went on for about three minutes and then they play their final song of the night, 'Reset'. As they left the crowd went crazy and it seemed that everyone in the venue realized the greatness they'd just seen even if they couldn't fully comprehend it all.
The stage was a mess. Drums, sticks, guitar picks, effect pedals were strewn everywhere it seemed. It was like a painting by Picasso: beauty in disarray. I look at my awesome Star Wars watch and it reads 12:52 then a thought enters my brain that I should probably call my father. I call and he sounds tired. I tell him the show's ever and he comes to get me. I ask him what he's been doing for the past four hours as I get into the car. He looks at me as visions of him getting in bar fights and street races dance through my head and kills those visions very quickly by saying, "Well, at first I started driving around Cleveland, then I found a parking garage so I fell asleep there." What's sad is that doesn't shock me at all and what's even sadder is that's precisely what I would have done...
Friday, March 30, 2007
My Mind Is Blown
I went up to Cleveland tonight to see Mute Math at the House of Blues.
I wanted to wait at least an hour to post this so I could get some perspective in case I was just a slave to euphoria.
That was the best show I've ever seen in my life. No other band has ever topped what I saw tonight. He Is Legend, Showbread, Anberlin, Lovedrug, Copeland, Project 86 or any other band I've seen has anything on what I just witnessed.
I still can't fully wrap my mind around what I just saw.
Full concert review should be up sometime this weekend but for now, here's a drum solo Mute Math style.
I wanted to wait at least an hour to post this so I could get some perspective in case I was just a slave to euphoria.
That was the best show I've ever seen in my life. No other band has ever topped what I saw tonight. He Is Legend, Showbread, Anberlin, Lovedrug, Copeland, Project 86 or any other band I've seen has anything on what I just witnessed.
I still can't fully wrap my mind around what I just saw.
Full concert review should be up sometime this weekend but for now, here's a drum solo Mute Math style.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Concert Review: Lovedrug Storytellers Tour
Last night, Josh and I once again ventured to The Lime Spider for another musical adventure. This time, instead of Josh's father going with us, this time it was my own father. My dad is much less crazy than Tim. He is very laid back, but every now and then he gets very excited over seemingly mundane things (vitamins, Family Ties, bowling, etc.). I especially find this funny, but anyways he's taking us. Once again the doorman is there marking the X's on our hands
what the heck! Josh and I get charged three dollars more because we are under the age of 21. This is bullcrap. Just because we can't get absolutely wasted on booze we get charged more money. It's just freaking ridiculous! Anyways the opening act is the lead singer of a band called Good Morning Valentine. He puts on a pretty good show with some nice acoustic songs, but he's no J.Tillman, that's for sure. After he comes off the stage, Josh and I overhear him with what was definitely the quote of the day. He said, "Yeah, it's pretty hard to drink and sing at the same time." Wow. Josh, my dad, and I were the only three people in the place not drinking or so it seemed. We go to our spot by the stage and right in front of me is two beer bottles and a half drunk glass of scotch.
what the heck! Josh and I get charged three dollars more because we are under the age of 21. This is bullcrap. Just because we can't get absolutely wasted on booze we get charged more money. It's just freaking ridiculous! Anyways the opening act is the lead singer of a band called Good Morning Valentine. He puts on a pretty good show with some nice acoustic songs, but he's no J.Tillman, that's for sure. After he comes off the stage, Josh and I overhear him with what was definitely the quote of the day. He said, "Yeah, it's pretty hard to drink and sing at the same time." Wow. Josh, my dad, and I were the only three people in the place not drinking or so it seemed. We go to our spot by the stage and right in front of me is two beer bottles and a half drunk glass of scotch.
Josh and I eagerly awaited the set as Lovedrug came on. They opened up with a nice renditon of Happy Apple Poison from their new cd. I had known it because of the powers of MySpace and high speed internet. They then went on to play two more new songs before doing anything that most people knew. Oddly, the guitarist went off stage after Thieving and let Michael play Paper Scars by himself on the piano. The guitarist had a major craving for more Coors Light it seemed so he played Goodbye Blue Fly on his acoustic guitar solo. He came back after that so they played more familar songs like Rock N Roll, Angels With Enemies, a Smashing Pumpkins cover and the new single Ghost By Your Side. Once again, the guitarist left so Michael played Down Towards the Healing solo. He returned for their final song and the show was over.
The show was outstanding. The acoustic set gave a whole new feel to old songs and did a great job of introducing new songs. It seemed that the lead singer, Michael Shepard, has been listening to a lot of Nirvana lately since they covered Heart Shaped Box on their latest EP and he was dressed a lot like Kurt Cobain circa In Utero/Unplugged. It's just a theory though.
This show also made me realize how good of a songwriter he is and how much they've progressed since Pretend You're Alive came out or even since Purple Door Festival.
Finally, although it seemed odd that the guitarist, Dave Owen, left the stage more than once, he definitely made up for it because he had a beard!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Concert Review: Showbread
Alright, as I posted previously Josh and I went to a concert on Thursday night.
Our friend Wyatt and Josh's dad also came along with us.
Josh's dad is an interesting character. I simply don't even know how to begin to describe Tim Jamison. The first thing you must know about him is that he has very bad adult ADD. He is also a very, very large fan of music like you wouldn't believe. I can't stress those two things enough. I remember Josh coming up to me at a concert almost a year ago and in a time of anguish told me, "Micah, I'm so sick of having to explain my dad to everyone that I meet." And that really sums up Tim for you.
The concert was at a venue in downtown Akron called "The Lime Spider". It was odd, all of us had been there before, but never together. I've frequented the bar over the past few years and have seen bands such as Lovedrug, Dead Poetic, the Pits, Family Force 5, and Relient K there. It's really not the greatest place, but I still like it anyways.
We park just a 2-3 minute walk away from the venue and we leave our heavy coats in the car because who wants to be rocking out with a winter coat on? This was not our smartest decision of the evening. We spent the entire walk screaming out random variations of "Holy Crap! Good Lord! It is so freaking cold!" and just stuff like that. We sprinted down the paved hill into the venue and paid our money to get into the Spider. It's odd that our tickets, being under 21, cost us more than Josh's dad by three dollars. I guess they figured that he'll get wasted on drinks and that we won't.
The entry to this place just makes me laugh on the inside every time. You pay your money and the security is amazing! The bouncer makes a giant X on the back of both your hands so they can tell if you've paid or not. I guess there must be something distinctive about this X that makes you unable to draw them yourselves or if he just has an amazing memory to remember if you've paid that night, but either way it makes me laugh. Also, I think he kind of looks like Kim Jong Il.
Josh and Wyatt both brought dinosaur hand puppets to have signed by the members of Showbread to honor the fact that their newest cd is entitled "Age of Reptiles". I didn't bring anything to get signed because that is so immature and plus, all my Showbread paraphenelia had been signed at Purple Door.
The local band that opened up the show was Hey Sandy . They were from Canton and I had never heard of them before and they did very good. They were a lot better than my expectations would have been for them. It also didn't hurt that their lead singer danced like Aaron Weiss and their guitarist reminded me of Jonny Greenwood.
Next up was Tyler Read, a new band signed to Immortal Records. I had at least heard these guys before from MySpace and they had impressed me, but they too surpassed my expectations. The lead singer had great presence and energy and the whole group played with lots of energy and cohesion. I am very excited for their debut cd to come out on April 3rd now.
And then came what we had all come to see, Showbread, and we were excited. (well obviously, we all absolutely love this band, think Josh Dies should run for President, and they have one of our favorite shows too!) They came out in their matching black pants and green shirts to kill us all with their Raw Rock. They opened up immediately straight into Centipede Sisters and continued the killer set for the next 50 minutes. Throughout the set, frontmen Josh Dies and Ivory Mobley gave us little bits of history for Black History Month. How else would I have known that Night Of The Living Dead was the first horror film to have a black leading actor? They merged songs together throughout the night mashing up Oh! Emetophobia! with Stabbing Art To Death if I remember correctly where they went through the first song and then straight into the second half of the second song with no break. It was a great way to keep the show moving, but it confused the heck out of me when I initially tried to figure out what song they were playing. The only real complaints I can muster up about the show is that both Josh's and Ivory's mics were turned down far too low and that they didn't play 'Welcome to Plainfield Tobe Hooper' but that second complaint is just a personal preference. They ended their show with Mouth Like a Magazine, but came out and did Dead By Dawn for a (tremondous) finale. One thing that made that even more amazing was since I was in the front row, Ivory let me use the mic for a sec and since I did the ending for Dead By Dawn, I guess I technically closed out the show which made me feel pretty cool.
This was really a fantastic show and as I await the release of the Tyler Read album, I have some Showbread that I will be listening to for a little bit until then.
Go see these guys if you get the chance, you will not regret it.
Our friend Wyatt and Josh's dad also came along with us.
Josh's dad is an interesting character. I simply don't even know how to begin to describe Tim Jamison. The first thing you must know about him is that he has very bad adult ADD. He is also a very, very large fan of music like you wouldn't believe. I can't stress those two things enough. I remember Josh coming up to me at a concert almost a year ago and in a time of anguish told me, "Micah, I'm so sick of having to explain my dad to everyone that I meet." And that really sums up Tim for you.
The concert was at a venue in downtown Akron called "The Lime Spider". It was odd, all of us had been there before, but never together. I've frequented the bar over the past few years and have seen bands such as Lovedrug, Dead Poetic, the Pits, Family Force 5, and Relient K there. It's really not the greatest place, but I still like it anyways.
We park just a 2-3 minute walk away from the venue and we leave our heavy coats in the car because who wants to be rocking out with a winter coat on? This was not our smartest decision of the evening. We spent the entire walk screaming out random variations of "Holy Crap! Good Lord! It is so freaking cold!" and just stuff like that. We sprinted down the paved hill into the venue and paid our money to get into the Spider. It's odd that our tickets, being under 21, cost us more than Josh's dad by three dollars. I guess they figured that he'll get wasted on drinks and that we won't.
The entry to this place just makes me laugh on the inside every time. You pay your money and the security is amazing! The bouncer makes a giant X on the back of both your hands so they can tell if you've paid or not. I guess there must be something distinctive about this X that makes you unable to draw them yourselves or if he just has an amazing memory to remember if you've paid that night, but either way it makes me laugh. Also, I think he kind of looks like Kim Jong Il.
Josh and Wyatt both brought dinosaur hand puppets to have signed by the members of Showbread to honor the fact that their newest cd is entitled "Age of Reptiles". I didn't bring anything to get signed because that is so immature and plus, all my Showbread paraphenelia had been signed at Purple Door.
The local band that opened up the show was Hey Sandy . They were from Canton and I had never heard of them before and they did very good. They were a lot better than my expectations would have been for them. It also didn't hurt that their lead singer danced like Aaron Weiss and their guitarist reminded me of Jonny Greenwood.
Next up was Tyler Read, a new band signed to Immortal Records. I had at least heard these guys before from MySpace and they had impressed me, but they too surpassed my expectations. The lead singer had great presence and energy and the whole group played with lots of energy and cohesion. I am very excited for their debut cd to come out on April 3rd now.
And then came what we had all come to see, Showbread, and we were excited. (well obviously, we all absolutely love this band, think Josh Dies should run for President, and they have one of our favorite shows too!) They came out in their matching black pants and green shirts to kill us all with their Raw Rock. They opened up immediately straight into Centipede Sisters and continued the killer set for the next 50 minutes. Throughout the set, frontmen Josh Dies and Ivory Mobley gave us little bits of history for Black History Month. How else would I have known that Night Of The Living Dead was the first horror film to have a black leading actor? They merged songs together throughout the night mashing up Oh! Emetophobia! with Stabbing Art To Death if I remember correctly where they went through the first song and then straight into the second half of the second song with no break. It was a great way to keep the show moving, but it confused the heck out of me when I initially tried to figure out what song they were playing. The only real complaints I can muster up about the show is that both Josh's and Ivory's mics were turned down far too low and that they didn't play 'Welcome to Plainfield Tobe Hooper' but that second complaint is just a personal preference. They ended their show with Mouth Like a Magazine, but came out and did Dead By Dawn for a (tremondous) finale. One thing that made that even more amazing was since I was in the front row, Ivory let me use the mic for a sec and since I did the ending for Dead By Dawn, I guess I technically closed out the show which made me feel pretty cool.
This was really a fantastic show and as I await the release of the Tyler Read album, I have some Showbread that I will be listening to for a little bit until then.
Go see these guys if you get the chance, you will not regret it.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
I Have To Admit, We Are Very Excited
Josh and I are once again going on a little trip together tonight to the Lime Spider in Akron to see Showbread. We are both very, very excited about this and I think that's actually a rather large understatement. We saw Showbread together once before at Purple Door Festival in August. They put on a fantastic show, one of the best there bands there. They also had a fantastic selection of shirts (although they ran out of smalls far too quickly) and the band was generous enough to even talk to us after the show (Josh Dies is probably the nicest, down to earth band member I've ever met actually)So yeah, we're pretty pumped about this. I just called Josh and he said that this is the most excited he's ever been for a show. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm still pretty pumped.
Review and stories may should be up tomorrow if enough interesting things happen...
Monday, January 22, 2007
Too Much of a Great Thing...
Anberlin and He Is Legend are two of my favorite bands. I have man-crushes on both Stephen Christian and Schuylar Croom respsectively. They are both amazing lyricists, vocalists, frontmen, and just interesting people. According to last.fm, He Is Legend is my most listened to band and Anberlin is third. Well they are both playing upcoming concerts in Cleveland in April.... on the same freaking day! How do I make this decision? Let me analyze....
Anberlin
April 5th at the House of Blues. They are headlining a tour with Meg&Dia, Bayside, and Jonezetta.
He Is Legend
April 5th at the Agora Theatre. They are opening up for Dragonforce and Killswitch Engage.
Let's analyze this further...
He Is Legend is opening while Anberlin is headlining so Anberlin's set will obviously be longer. How much longer, I'm not sure though
The Agora is a horrible venue, or at least it seemed to be when I went there for the Tooth and Nail tour last year (to see Anberlin ironcally enough) and the House of Blues is amazing. I've seen Project 86, Demon Hunter, August Burns Red, and others there and it is just a great venue.
Opening bands or headlining bands. I really like that new song by Meg&Dia, Monster a lot. Jonezetta's new cd is pretty fun and good. Dragonforce is amazing musically, but for whatever reason I just can't enjoy them as much as I'd like and Killswitch Engage is pretty good from what I've heard, but not fantastic.
hmm, another option would be buying tickets to both shows then venue hop after He Is Legend's set.
This is going to be a hard decision that plays out over the next 2 months....
He Is Legend vs. Anberlin
Anberlin
April 5th at the House of Blues. They are headlining a tour with Meg&Dia, Bayside, and Jonezetta.
He Is Legend
April 5th at the Agora Theatre. They are opening up for Dragonforce and Killswitch Engage.
Let's analyze this further...
He Is Legend is opening while Anberlin is headlining so Anberlin's set will obviously be longer. How much longer, I'm not sure though
The Agora is a horrible venue, or at least it seemed to be when I went there for the Tooth and Nail tour last year (to see Anberlin ironcally enough) and the House of Blues is amazing. I've seen Project 86, Demon Hunter, August Burns Red, and others there and it is just a great venue.
Opening bands or headlining bands. I really like that new song by Meg&Dia, Monster a lot. Jonezetta's new cd is pretty fun and good. Dragonforce is amazing musically, but for whatever reason I just can't enjoy them as much as I'd like and Killswitch Engage is pretty good from what I've heard, but not fantastic.
hmm, another option would be buying tickets to both shows then venue hop after He Is Legend's set.
This is going to be a hard decision that plays out over the next 2 months....
He Is Legend vs. Anberlin
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