Awesome !!! show - 7/27/08

!!! has never been my first choice when I turn on my ipod, but I certainly enjoyed the show more than those of the bands that most often would be... if that sentence makes any sense. The show was very high energy (duh) and the band, as big as it is, was very tight. It is obvious that these guys really love performing.
I wish my shitty camera-phone could have captured this great ice cream T-shirt or, even better, the awesome dance moves going on, most of which really reminded me of a bird.
Of course, one of the best things about this show was the crowd. Pretty much everybody was dancing, getting nice and sweaty, and loving it. We got our fare share of attention too: lights, water throwing and spitting, genuine thanks for being so awesome, you know... etc. The only thing I will comment on was that, to my shock, after the most sincere encore request I have ever seen (over 5 minutes of full fledged yelling and chanting) we were completely denied.

I dont think this show will have much impact on the frequency of which I listen to !!!, but I will def be on the lookout for their next NYC show.


PS. Caught the last few songs of Modey Lemon. Its not really my thing, but they sure knew how to rock out. Of note, they would make a great shampoo commercial.
There hair has gotten even longer since this picture, but remains very well taken care of. I rarely saw faces and had never witnessed head banging like that before (wasn't going to shows in the 90's)

Siren's Standout Sunglasses

Sure, I notice cool sunglasses when I am walking around the city. But it was only after observing thousands of young indie music fans all in one place, on a sunny day that I realized just how popular some of these styles are. Move over Aviators, because I swear over 50% of the festival crowd was wearing sunglasses in one (or both) of these two categories.

Siren Music Festival Pictures

When I arrived at the Siren Music Festival it was ~96 degrees. But if you could get past the heat, it was a beautiful day at Coney Island.
Beach balls at the Stillwell stage.
Annuals. They sounded good but didn't rock quite as much as when I saw them (a couple years ago?) at North Six. BUT, I have to admit I only stayed for three songs, so they may have really picked it up. Regardless, I would have excused them for much worse considering they had the worst time slot in terms of the heat.
I loved having the Cyclone in the background of the main stage, hearing the squeals of the people on it throughout the festival.
Times New Viking. I was really wondering how their sound was going to translate to a live show and it translated pretty well. They sounded great and it was really fun. It helped that I had a spot in the shade. Sweet!
Hot people. Shaded people. Overall, Coney Island was a really fun place to see a festival. The short walk between stages was either through the rides of Astroland, or along the boardwalk in view of the beach. Your pick!
The sand was burning me.Nobody can be bored at the boardwalk.
This is the only grass found near the festival. I think that dude is in Jaguar Love, but I didn't watch that show.
It would have been cool to see a show from the wheel. This is me watching Beach House. They sounded GREAT. The duo was accompanied by a drummer. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this show, even in a festival setting. I was also surprised that this is the first time I noticed that they remind me of Cat Power.
Islands. I went in pretty excited about this one because I really like Return to the Sea, and I have to admit I was a little disappointed in the show. However, the song Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone was pretty exciting. The rapper was amazing. Ted Leo was spinning all day at the main stage, but stayed pretty hidden.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks were amazing. As was well put by my brunch-mates, when they got on stage it was like "ooh, adults". These guys are professionals.

Overall, it was a great day. Thanks to the Village Voice for providing such great music for the price of $0.

Telephono

I just joined Telephono. Its a social networking site and soon, I hope, going to open up a whole new way of collaborating with people currently unknown. It was set up by musician David Matysiak, coinciding with the release of the Telephono music project, in which over 50 artists participated.

"Telephono is an audio experiment that allows musicians to communicate with one another by manipulating audio files. Inspired by the classic children’s game 'Telephone,' my interpretation involves sending a unique audio file to a musician via the internet. That musician then chooses whether to edit the piece or simply pass it on to the next person in the chain."

I just bought the box set and cant wait to sit down and really listen to it. For more info on the music project check out telephono.org or read this AJC article (Matysiak, like me, is from the ATL).

Anyways, back to the point, the social networking site! This is perfect for me. I have been trying to find people to make music with for quite a while now. All of my potential collaborators either intimidate me or are just too flaky to follow through. My plan was, and still is, to find some people via craigslist, but this new site really opens up alot of possibilities.

Stoked for Santogold Sunday

I only first heard Santogold pretty recently. The first song I heard was LES Artistes. I was a little resistant at first thinking it sounded a little too much like Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Tegan and Sara. Then I was like, "wait a sec, those are two of my favorite bands." So... basically, I love it.



Santogold's other stuff is more hip-hop and equally great. Anyone in NYC should take advantage of the free show in Central Park this Sunday.

New Keyboard!

I have really had the urge to write songs lately. The main problem is that, in addition to singing, the only instrument I play is the viola. First of all, its incredibly hard to sing and play the viola at the same time. But the bigger problem is that I have felt very confined whenever I have tried to write using my viola. The 13 years of playing classical music really makes it hard for me to experiment. So when a friend was giving away a free keyboard, I jumped on it.

Its kind of old school. Dont be jealous.

Girl Talk tour - no NYC

I was complaining about Girl Talk snubbing New York when a co-worker starting asking questions I didn't know the answer to. As usual I turned to Wikidedia and was very amused by this photo.

I think I like him better with more beard and less clothes.

I may go see the Baltimore show and combine the trip with a visit with my grandma.

I'll dance with you Jamie Jordan

Why New Yorkers don’t dance … its not just New Yorkers its indie music fans across the country and I was one of them. At a recent Fiery Furnaces show I was infuriated at the kid standing in front of me who would just not hold still. I was trying to SEE the show and his moving indie-fro was killing my view. What was he thinking, dancing at a show? Please just stand there like the rest of us, trying to get the best view possible, and watch the band, intently waiting for one of those magical on-stage moments (and they do appear).

I stood in line for over 2 hours to see the free Crystal Castles show at Studio B. I had really only been listening to them for a few days, but something in my gut told me, "don't give up, your gonna get it and this is gonna be worth it." It was the most fun I have had in years.


Sure, the music was great, but it was what was going on off stage that was novel to me. Just being in the middle of a crowd that was having a blast moving to the music. It made me realize what I’d been missing. When you are dancing, you pick up more of the musical aspects of the performance because you feel it. You become a part of the show, instead of just a spectator. Best of all, I completely let go and was hardly conscious of myself at all.

Then I remembered back to why I stopped dancing in the first place: Fall 2001, freshman year, my first indie rock show. I was so stoked. As soon as the band started I was dancing, really enjoying myself. It took me until about the end of the first song to realize that I was the only one moving and… I was embarrassed. Realizing it wasn't cool to dance at shows, I restrained myself to a slight swaying and bobbing. Well f that. Never again.