Domingo 16 Jul 2006, 5h:18
Everyone else has one of these, so I'll follow suit. Long live peer pressure.
The Bren Center, UC Irvine. Nintendo Fusion Tour
Panic! At The Disco were decent. They were fairly new at the time (October 2005) and their style was/is unique, exciting, and catchy. Unfortunately, the horrible sound system at UCI's Bren Center tainted an otherwise solid performance. 3/10
Boys Night Out ARRRRHRHRHRGHHH! I'm sorry but they were awful, everything was a complete mess. They have little talent and are the worst live act I've ever seen. Try to imagine 10 of the most annoying noises you've heard during your lifetime coming out of a stereo simultaneously. Turn up the volume all the way and add a shitload of preamp and distortion. Now, make yourself really sad by reminiscing over a tragic event, like the death of a beloved pet. Got it? Good, that's Boys Night Out and I just saved you $14. 0/10
Motion City Soundtrack was very good. They were by far the best act of the show. 7/10
The Starting Line are cursed with a nuthead frontman/lead singer. This guy busted out sex jokes and f-bombs every chance he got. What happened to the old Starting Line? How did "we never grew out of this feeling that we won't give up" turn into "i'm gonna tear your ass up like we just got married"? 2/10
Fall Out Boy were mediocre on all accounts. The same goes for the whole concert; just wasn't very good. There were some good moshes during FOB, if you're into that. 3/10
House Of Blues, Anaheim. Jack's Mannequin
The Outline. I honestly wasn't paying much attention to this group, so I can't really give a good review. Basically, they're into being loud and rockin-out. Good luck catching any lyrics. 4/10
Street To Nowhere actually disappointed me to some degree. I explored this band the week before the show, and found that they sounded a lot like Bright Eyes, one of my favorite groups. Unfortunately, STN's performance was rocky, and somewhat marred by a drum malfunction. They have potential, however. 5/10
Also, I'm still wondering why this band opened for JM. Same goes for The Outline. All three bands are polar (tripolar?) opposites.
Jack's Mannequin. Andrew McMahon is an inspiration to say the least. He's back and better than ever. This was the best live performance I've seen. There was so much energy; it's impossible to describe. Amazingly, most of the songs sounded even better than the studio-recorded ones on the album. The live rendition of MFEO is incredible, especially the ending- with the bassline topped off with the haunting "aand maaaayybeeeee…." vocals. Scary good. 10/10
The Greek Theatre, Hollywood. Radiohead
Deerhoof. How did this group score an opener with Radiohead?? They're just a step above Boys Night Out, imho of course. Granted their albums are decent, this group just seems so shallow compared to Radiohead. Deerhoof seem to produce music that's essentially anti-Thom Yorke material. They aren't very good live, either. Their ryhthm was off during their entire performance, which was capped off with the strange lead singer doing a strange dance while screaming "BUNNY BUNNY BUNNY BUNNY!" Some think it's unique and interesting, but it's really just noise. Hell, I could pull it off. 1/10
Radiohead 10/10
enough said
The Greek Theatre, Hollywood. Death Cab for Cutie
Mates of State. I was actually a little disappointed with their performance. I wasn't really expecting much, either, as their songs don't sound like they'd translate particularly well to the stage. Everything was a little choppy, and not very impressive. Occassionaly the vocals bordered on yelling/screaming instead of melody. aaaand they didn't play Parachutes :( :( :(
But at least I know they tried :)
If you understood that ^ then i love you. 6/10
Spoon. Everything was pretty good with Spoon. The performance was basically flawless and sharp. But somehow, something seemed to be missing. The energy level was sub-par, and none of the songs were particularly catchy or exciting. Essentially, there was a lack of emotion. Spoon is great and I enjoy listening to them, but their live act needs some work. I was able to carry a conversation through their entire performance. 7/10
Death Cab for Cutie. Anyone who says they're boring live should have their pulse checked. I will admit that it probably is indeed hit-or-miss with Death Cab, but when they hit… it is truly majestic. There's something eerily moving about this band. My only complaint was that the performance seemed awfully rushed sometimes. The tempo was more than reasonably up sometimes. They also started off a little rusty, but they quickly improved as the show went on. They're playing again tonight and it will probably be epic. 9/10
Whiskey A Go-Go, Hollywood. A bunch of local bands
Sheila Marx.. I know them. They are my friends. That is all I will say.
There were 5 other bands playing, too… Including two "indie rappers", for all you denotation-only purists out there who continue to insist that "indie" doesn't only apply to music of the rock variety. There was also a really shitty death metal band whose singer had a full-body zebra design tatoo. And as usual with the LA indie scene, the headliner act was another monotonous group of somewhat talented musicians who played a bunch of cover songs. Write your own stuff and I'll respect you, even if it isn't very good (see: Sheila Marx.)
University of California, Santa Barbara- Storke Plaza. Keak Da Sneak and E-40
I honestly don't know if i should even be putting this junk in here. NOT a fan of any type of gansta rap or hip-hop, which the Northern California Breed refer to as hyphy. Whoa… suddenly the Bay Area has their own style of shouting words over 10 repetitious basslines. Keak Da Sneak and E-40 both suck and aren't unique enough to earn their own tag. 0/10 and DELETE HYPHY FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH! Remember when rap and hip-hop used to be about more than just cash, guns, pimps n hoes, etc? "Hella" isn't a word, either.
Matt Costa, The Hub at UCSB
The Watson Twins- They are kind souls – mainly since they stick around, talking with fans and distributing their LP after their set is finished. Southern Manners indeed :p
I have no complaints about their performance at all, everything was solid and clean. I'm not the biggest fan of their tunes, but their live act is good enough to spark most peoples' interests. The opener at small shows is usually supposed to be an up-and-coming artists who just plain sucks. This clearly was not the case with the Watson Twins. They know what they're doing, and are able to produce a wonderful act.
They're pretty intriguing as well…. since there's two of them, etc. It's a little strange to see identical twins on stage (though their hair is usually different). Their facial expression(s) never change(s) from a blank stare, capped off with two of the most awkward smiles imaginable. LOVES IT. The easiest comparison I can think of would be mysterious hippies… it really seems like they are hiding "something". One of their songs is pretty psychedelic as well… "if you couldn't tell… that was our psychedelic jam". LOVES IT. 7/10
Matt Costa. No surprises here (no alarms either). Try to envision a Matt Costa performance right now…. use your imagination :)
Got it? Good. That's exactly what it's like to see Matt Costa live. You'll be more than satisfied, for the most part. He played pretty much everything from Songs We Sing, except Wash Away :((
I didn't really need to hear Whiskey and Wine, either. Keep in mind that this is UCSB…. so I guess the people here need to either be drinking, talking, or singing about alcohol 24/7. Not a fan of drunks shoving their way to the front, or people continually toking right next to me. Maybe they'll grow up one day… hah nahhh.
One final note, Matt Costa's "inferior" album songs are 1,000 times better live (oh dear, i tried, sunshine, etc). His awesome album songs (sweet thursday, cold december, etc) are a little disappointing live. Sweet Thurs and December were at a painfully slow tempo, this is all imho of course. 8/10