popwreckoning updates |  |
- Our Lady Peace @ the Troubadour, Los Angeles
- Win Travis Barker’s 1966 Cadillac Coupe DeVille!
- 8th Annual Lebowski Fest – “Mark It 8″ part 2
- Jay Reatard – Watch Me Fall
- All Points West: Take 2
- 8th Annual Lebowski Fest – “Mark it 8.”
- Elbow with Jesca Hoop @ 9:30 Club, Washington DC
| Our Lady Peace @ the Troubadour, Los Angeles Posted: 06 Aug 2009 02:20 PM PDT I got lucky. My first show that I get to go to in Los Angeles is at the legendary Troubadour, which is tiny if you didn't know. And not only that, it's a band that made the '90s matter—Our Lady Peace. Needless, to say, I was totally and completely stoked.
Preceding OLP was Raine Maida's newest production project, Billy the Kid. This girl is cute as a button. Her performance reminds you of an innocent little girl playing rockstar in her bedroom…and doing it well. There are things about her vocals and her songs that remind me of Meredith [Godreau] from Gregory and the Hawk and her songs are catchy as can be. I get excited thinking about how epic it would be to hear this girl let go vocally, and really rock out. Because while she's already great she could be extraordinary. Finally, Our Lady Peace takes the stage. Opening with "Monkey Brains", the band starts strong and aggressive. These guys totally and completely rock the fuck out. Singer Raine Maida is right at the edge of the stage, getting in everyone's faces, letting us know he means business. Strapping on his acoustic for "Superman's Dead", he asks the crowd if we came here to sing tonight. So he turns the mic on us and after the weak attempt we offer, he asks again, "Wanna sing?" Of course we respond with enthusiastic shouts. "Then sing, motherfuckers!" And we gladly comply.
The band must be loving this wonderfully enthusiastic crowd tonight. Raine performs almost like he's leading a religious service, with the passion, commanding presence, and energy of a Southern televangelist, almost spastic as though he might begin speaking in tongues at times. Suddenly he gets quiet and contemplative and, amidst the chaos of the crowd and music, remains still, leaning against the microphone stand for entire instrumental breaks. So much of his mannerisms are ridiculously mellow, lo-key, and aloof—he looks so comfortable and at home with what he's doing that you believe every word that comes out of his mouth. Our Lady Peace is a band who knows what their fans want. I have yet to attend another show with such a great mix of old and new songs; a mix between popular and the gems that never get radio airplay. Most of their arrangements are the same as the records, with the exception of Raine shoving the mic in the crowd and commanding that we sing with all the well-known numbers.
The high-point in the show, however, was during the pre-encore closer, "All You Did Was Save My Life". Raine notices that the people in the balcony are sitting and desires to get them on their feet. He runs backstage and climbs out a window over the soundboard, careful not to mess up any of the settings. He scales a pole, nearly touching the rafters, before landing in the balcony, getting the people on their feet. When he finishes there, he dangles from the balcony before dropping down into the crowd and racing his way back to the stage and the band says goodnight. Now, you know there's nothing like a good audience chant to get a band back onstage, and its mere seconds before the crowd is repeating a chorus of "O-L-P! O-L-P!" The band returns, with Maida declaring, "L.A. must be heaven!" With a trio of classic numbers for the encore, the band picks the perfect closer, "Starseed". Like I said, I got lucky. Who knew that the first show I attended in Los Angeles would be one that would grace my list of top ten greatest shows of all time? Our Lady Peace: website | myspace  Photos: Pete Nema via Our Lady Peace’s flikr account Related Posts |
| Win Travis Barker’s 1966 Cadillac Coupe DeVille! Posted: 06 Aug 2009 01:15 PM PDT Blink-182 tour sponsor State Farm has somehow ($$$$?) talked drummer Travis Barker into giving away his custom vintage 1966 Cadillac Coupe DeVille to a lucky fan! Oh, but that’s not all. If a “new” car weren’t enough, the winner will also receive tickets to Blink’s October 1st show in Charlotte, including round-trip (coach) airfare for two!
Now through September 21, fans can participate by visiting http://www.theretown.com/Blink182 to register for the sweepstakes or visit the on-site State Farm booth at any of the Blink-182 concerts and complete an Official Entry Form. The winner will be announced on September 22, 2009, and will receive an all expenses paid trip for two to see Blink-182 perform in Charlotte, NC on October 1, 2009, along with a cherry red 1966 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, valued at over $80,000 US dollars. The band has begun talking about the sweepstakes as well as sending photos to fans to generate interest on Twitter. Throughout the tour, the band plans on continuing to connect with fans online to give a behind-the-scenes look at all things Blink-182. The prize package for "The Travis Barker Car Sweepstakes" includes:  Related Posts |
| 8th Annual Lebowski Fest – “Mark It 8″ part 2 Posted: 06 Aug 2009 12:15 PM PDT read about the first night of the 8th Annual Lebowski Fest Saturday afternoon Garden Party
The DVD will be released on August 18th. You can find more information about The Achievers: The Story of The Big Lebowski Fans at http://www.theachieversmovie.com. A short while after the documentary's viewing saw the commencement of the Garden Party in the Executive Strike & Spare's parking lot. The party featured DJ Matt Anthony dressed up as Jesus (from the film, not the religious fellow) mixing as Achievers, many elaborately dressed as the movie's characters and concepts (the more obscure the costume, the more revered), mingled, played games and drank. The games, played for $1 each – with all proceeds going to benefit Kentuckiana Big Brothers Big Sisters – were all Lebowski themed, naturally, and included a marmot fling, ringer toss, and cornhole.
The greatest part of the Garden Party was checking out all the clever costumes that die-hard Achievers were able to come up with. Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I'll let them do the talking.
Saturday night Bowling Party The line for the bowling party formed early – Achievers were concerned about getting lanes. The White Russians were abundant as Achievers bowled and formed friendships over their love of Lebowski. The end of the night saw the judging for the Costume competition and a bowl off between the best Dude, the best Walter, the best Jesus and the best Maude.
Having grown tired of bowling, my boyfriend and I joined friends we'd made from St. Louis, Washington DC, and Pittsburgh in the bowling alley's bar/lounge which was hosting karaoke. I had a blast at the 8th Annual Lebowski Fest and want to thank Scott and Will for throwing such an awesome party! I'm definitely stoked for the party to come to Philadelphia at the end of September as part of the Speed of Sound Tour. Check out the dates below of a Lebowski Fest coming to a city near you! Speed of Sound Tour Dates: Lebowski Fest: website | tickets Related Posts |
| Posted: 06 Aug 2009 11:15 AM PDT Tennessee-born Jay Reatard's sophomore solo album and Matador debut, Watch Me Fall, is a decidedly more melodic and pop-leaning album than Blood Visions without sacrificing the manic adrenaline-rush expected from Reatard's work. True to form, Reatard churns out song after song of perfectly constructed hook-filled, lo-fi poppy punk and makes it seem like it really could not be easier. Twelve short sharp songs, thirty-two minutes, not one second less than brilliantly captivating: the title of the album should be more along the lines of Watch Me Fall…No, Just Kidding, Watch Me Continue To Kick Ass Instead. Never one to shy away from experimenting with tried and true methods, Reatard continues to stretch outwards in new directions without ever pulling anything too radical. Or radical for him at least. Between jerky verses Reatard clangs big beautiful chords Pete Townshend-style on "Before I Was Caught" while the middle-eight of "Man Of Steel" features reverb-drenched guitar interplay more along the lines of something you'd expect to hear on an Explosions In The Sky album. "I'm Watching You", meanwhile, is so ridiculously cute and catchy with its little organ in the background that the song's stalker sentiment doesn't quite register even after you've listened to the lyrics. And "Hang Them All" is practically a Reatard epic that starts off as another ridiculously catchy punk song before morphing midway into a big, triumphant Of Montreal-esque coda with a marching-band beat. Jay Reatard – “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” Only on "Nothing Now" does Reatard stray from Watch Me Fall's dominating brand of garage punk and indulges in a bit of pseudo-goth. The track is notable not only for being darker than the rest of the at-times surprisingly light and cheerful tracks, but also (and mainly) for featuring Reatard doing a hilarious high-pitched British accent during the chorus. Watch Me Fall is only further evidence (not that any more was needed) that Jay Reatard should be regarded as the artist who single-handedly redeems "Punk" music. Though it's not as if there haven't been great punk bands in the last two decades (The Exploding Hearts, anyone?) the genre, or more accurately, the word and conception of what "Punk" music is, has been overtaken by wimpy dudes with spiky hair who play fast and hard and look really, really serious in pictures in which they're wearing an impressive amount of makeup. Ironically, in 2009 Jay Reatard plays hard, fast, noisy pop music, records awesome-sounding lo-fi records, and runs his own little online record company and it seems almost ridiculous to slap the same label on his music that modern day listeners would use for so-called "punk" bands like Green Day or Sum 41. The reality of the situation is that Reatard's not only been making the best and most punk "punk" music in modern rock, but Reatard's managed to maintain his edge while still never allowing himself to be bound by the conventions of the genre – which, in itself, is definitively punk. Watch Me Fall is available now on vinyl and will be available on CD and digitally on August 18th. You can preorder now through Matador. Tracklisting: Don’t miss the many West Coast in-store appearances by Jay this month! Jay Reatard: website | myspace | Matador Singles ‘08 review  Related Posts |
| Posted: 06 Aug 2009 10:15 AM PDT While Friday's staggering lineup kept spirits pumped despite the slosh, Saturday's sun was a fresh start with bikini tops and fedoras aplenty. We started the day off proper by discovering the backstage VIP Media area, as well as the VIP bathrooms and VIP booze. Kicking ourselves for not discovering this music Mecca when the monsoon hit the day before, we didn't hesitate to take shade when invited to enjoy a refreshing Grey Goose with Mr. Kool Keith himself. Wrapped in a silvery-sequined-babushka and sporting a deer-in-headlights vibe, Kool Keith, Dr. Octagon, and all of his multiple personalities of dysfunction and smut, mingled backstage with Ice-T who made a special appearance during Keith's set. Adrian Grenier chilled out back there before his set with The Honey Brothers, as well as members of My Bloody Valentine…and all their kids.
Lured by the sounds of sweet St. Vincent, we ditched backstage and caught Annie Clark making beautiful noise. It seems as if only she can make distortion seem elegant. Then we moved on to Chairlift, a band which has unfortunately ended up being a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. While I really like their debut, I couldn't help but feel kind of silly as tweens, in their braided headbands and high-waisted stonewashed short shorts, bum rushed the stage. Maybe it was the iPod commercial (look what happened to Santigold after her Coors commercial) or maybe it's the fact that there are lots of bands, past and present, making dream pop with a synthesizer and a Brooklyn-based siren doing it a lot better, but I lost interest after the third song and headed over to the Main Stage for My Bloody Valentine, with a brief stop off to check out Neko Case.
I can only describe My Bloody Valentine's set as a music geek's wet dream. If you didn't do your homework, you just won't get it and I think it's safe to say many Tool fans played hooky that day. There's a certain danger to the music. It's challenging, both physically and mentally. It's deafening, ear bleeding, soundscape is an almost violent experience, yet there's something thrilling in the sheer destruction of the sound, something refreshing in the utter obliteration that the music promises.
Crystal Castles hands down stole the night for me. Everyone showed up to see Alice Glass and Ethan Kath blow the big top off All Points West including John Norris and the MTV crew who were broadcasting from the side of the stage. Dear Alice & Ethan: please don't do a beer commercial no matter what Norris and his ridiculous turquoise skinny jeans tease you with. Wielding a strobe as her weapon of choice, Alice fired and screeched from the top of gigantic booming speakers and revelers gave over to the piercing thrash of electronica's reigning king and queen. Worship I did.
Educated by Tool as a teen and never having seen them live, I was hungry for a peek at Maynard James Keenan's mug and wanted to feel the Undertow. Unfortunately, the notoriously private troupe denied photo privileges and Maynard remained cloaked in shadow throughout the entire set. While I understand that graphics and visual art play a large part in the band's schema, there was definitely an element of disappointment. We came to Jersey to see you, not a video of a stone baby melt into some sort of unidentified arthropod. We rode the subway for an hour and a half, took the stank PATH train, a shuttle, and then walked 1.5 miles in the sulfur-simmering mud to see you. You. There's nothing wrong with giving fans what they want. You wanna rock about transcendence? Show Your Bones, like Karen O. Photos: Dese’Rae Stage Related Posts |
| 8th Annual Lebowski Fest – “Mark it 8.” Posted: 06 Aug 2009 08:15 AM PDT Friday Night // Concert and Movie Viewing The Achievers (fans of The Big Lebowski) trickled into the 8th Annual Lebowski Fest's movie night on a humid Friday night in Louisville. Many were dressed in simple Achiever shirts while other, more fervent fans were dressed as characters (or even concepts) from the film. White Russian, beer and food stands lined the outside of the lawn as festival goers set up chairs to enjoy the evenings events including performances by local acts Whistle Peak and Black Diamond Heavies, the comedy of Rob Riggle, an appearance by Philip Moon (who plays Woo the Carpet Pisser in the movie) and, finally, a large outdoor showing of the reason for the festival, The Big Lebowski. The long and narrow lawn gave off the feeling of a company picnic or rather than a festival, but it was the perfect for groups of friends and Lebowski fans due to its more intimate nature. The crowd mingled and drank as they waited for Whistle Peak to take the stage at 8:30. The five piece included keys, a harmonica and a ukulele in additional to the usual guitar, bass and drums. Keeping true to their Louisville roots, a subtle twang was noticeable in their rock sound that also featured poppy overtones. On the whole, I found Whistle Peak's sound mellow, inoffensive and fairly easy to ignore – perfect background music for catching with old and making new Achiever friends.
The festival's creators, Scott Shuffitt and Will Russell, walked around dressed as bowling pins, posing for pictures with other Achievers before introducing Black Diamond Heavies. Black Diamond Heavies, whose drummer Van Campbell hails from Louisville, have a dirty garage rock sound that still manages great melodies in all its grungy greatness. Singer James Leg's got distinct smoky and gritty vocals similar to Tom Waits', no doubt due to years of a nicotine habit (he lit up on stage). I'd heard of the duo before, but never realized how awesome they are until they tore up the stage at Lebowski Fest. Several audience members jumped up to dance around to the fast-paced, lively sounds. They really got the crowd amped for their beloved Big Lebowksi when they ended their set with covers of Kenny Rogers' "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" and "Man In Me" by Bob Dylan.
Following Black Diamond Heavies, and crashing hard, was comedian and Louisville native Rob Riggle. He made jokes about the TARP and the Detroit auto industry bail out, mens bathrooms at sports stadiums, sell out jokes about a watered down horse piss beer and he trashed Spencer Pratt, recounting fantasies of wanting to murder the realitard celeb. Rob Riggle is not funny. At all. Neither I nor none of the people around me laughed at all. This was the only lowlight of the evening.
Before The Big Lebowski viewing, Philip Moon came out on stage to "piss" on a carpet (he turned his back to the crowd and opened a can of soda, letting the contents spill from near his crotchal region) like his character, Woo, in the film. The crowd got a huge kick out of this and cheered loudly. He then told an anecdote about his scene, in which Jeff Bridges (Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski) asked whether or not the toilet he was about to get his head dunked in had been washed. Directors the Cohen Brothers, totally deadpan, informed Bridges that the crew had all shit in it. This also drew roars from the crowd, but only received about half the applause that a "satellite link" (it was totally pre-recorded) message from Jeff Bridges himself received. Then it was time for The Big Lebowski. Achievers quoted the film, hooting and hollering at key scenes, reveling in all they've come to love about the Cohen Brothers' cult hit.
My only grievance with the Fest is that I wish they'd had compostable cups and plates, or at the very least recycling. Other than that, I had a blast and couldn't wait for the next day's documentary, lawn party and bowling party. Check back for coverage of the Saturday afternoon Garden Party and Saturday night Bowling Party Speed of Sound Tour Dates (A Lebowski Fest near you!: Lebowski Fest: website | tickets Related Posts |
| Elbow with Jesca Hoop @ 9:30 Club, Washington DC Posted: 06 Aug 2009 07:15 AM PDT Manchester, England band Elbow has been together for 18 years, existing and playing mostly under the radar. Yet it wasn’t until their 2008 album the Seldom Seen Kid won the coveted Mercury Prize last year that they started to realize the kind of commercial success that should follow the critical acclaim they’ve received all these years from those in the business, and from their cult status among their diehard fans around the globe. Despite all the accolades, the band still appear to be the same five down-to-earth guys that first played together in Bury back in 1990. I had been counting down to the day when front man and lyricist Guy Garvey and his Elbow band mates would grace the stage at the 9:30 Club, the second of only three headlining shows the band scheduled for their only North American outing this year. (The band played the Wiltern in Los Angeles on July 22 and is scheduled to play Atlanta’s Center Stage Theatre on August 8.) To me and my girlfriends, Guy Garvey is the ideal man – a wise songwriting poet, slightly avuncular and therefore nonthreatening, but always incredibly spot on with his evocative observations about life as filtered through Mancunian eyes.
“Murder of Birds”, her opening song, won points with me for putting the lyrics “the shape of home baked bread” and “we’ll make a home with a brown recluse” (as in the spider) together in the same tune. Hoop’s frank, self-deprecating descriptions of the songs helped her establish a good rapport with us, and I found her sincere. You must have been a stone if you didn’t laugh at her humorous story of how she taught her strict Mormon, cancer-stricken mother over the phone how to smoke pot to relieve the pain of her illness. Another highlight of her set for me was the ballad “Tulip”. Like us, she is obviously smitten with the guys of Elbow – she mentioned casually in between songs that she had been “happily kidnapped” by the band to Manchester and now lives there (lucky duck!). She closed out her brief set with the pleasing and most definitely more accessible “Hunting My Dress”. Her next album, of the same title, will be released in November in the UK.
“Mirrorball” was dedicated to the band’s friend Jeff, with Garvey quipping, “it’s about love. If you haven't found it yet, we highly recommend it.” As a romantic number it didn't disappoint, especially as tiny white lights swirled on the walls around the band like thousands of stars and couples swayed cheek to cheek to the music. “Leaders of the Free World” was cheekily prefaced with “this song is appropriate to be sung in the [Nation's] capital. We dusted off this song in honor of your President's predecessor.” As predicted, this comment was met with spirited catcalls of agreement. Basically, any band who references politics at a D.C. gig, most especially if the references are about disliked politicians, will always gets a rousing response. The band is currently touring with two violinists named Jen and Lyanne, and they provided the richness to many songs that fans of Elbow have come to expect from their studio recordings. Garvey sat on a chair with an acoustic guitar for “Mexican Standoff”, admitting to us, “I haven't played this in a while, so I will fuck it up!” Richard Jupp's drumming propelled the song towards rock ‘n’ roll oblivion, the whole place shaking in reply to the heavy beats. The last song of the night, the tender “Scattered Black and Whites”, capped off an exceptional evening. Tuesday night at the 9:30 Club was one of those nights where I was extremely proud to be a music fan. I was surrounded by people from all over: people up and down the East Coast who had driven to D.C. to be there; a couple that had flown in from Toronto because they had been disappointed with a short set list at one of Coldplay's recent headlining gigs where Elbow was only the support act; and some people I learned were from Montana because they shouted this when Garvey thanked the audience for traveling however far to come to see them that night. To be honest, I felt a bit guilty as it appeared I was one of the few locals in the front! The crowd’s reaction to each and every song – cheering for and singing along to their favorites – made it obvious that the people in attendance were Elbow devotees. And Garvey would smile, nod his head, flash a thumbs-up or grin, wink at us, or use his most expressive arms and hands to impressively beckon to audience members near or far. Here was a man who was clearly enjoying the fuss being made over him and his band and taking great pride in the audience’s noisy response. Before leaving the stage, Garvey said to us while raising his glass, “you're absolutely wonderful, thank you!” Guy, we’d like to say the same thing to all of you. Atlanta, hope you have been taking notes. Your world will be rocked by Elbow’s headlining gig Saturday night at Center Stage. Without a doubt. Set List: Tour Dates: * w/ Coldplay             Elbow: website | myspace  Related Posts |
A couple weeks ago, the band had been raving on their MySpace about their support act for the night, California-born songstress 
As the club’s name indicated, headliners | You are subscribed to email updates from popwreckoning To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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