this past friday marked the long awaited camera obscura show at the crofoot out in pontiac. it seemed like we bought our tickets years ago but the time had arrived at last. i started out the night at redcoat tavern for a delicious burger and somehow was able to get a table and eat in a matter of an hour and a half while some people had been waiting two hours just to be seated, and thanks to beth and jenny learned the importance of adding guacamole to that burger.
i finally arrived a little before 9pm and after a blustery wait in line i was in the door, camera in tow. it was nice to not have to worry about the overbearing camera police that were present the last time i was at a show here. i met up with the crew and we found our spot on the main floor. opening act was papercuts out of san francisco and they were very low key but enjoyable. i guess when my last exposure to live music was deadmau5 less than a week before, my energy expectations were through the roof, so it wasnt really fair, but i did like them. i ventured up to the front for a second to snap a few shots which were way too dark and unsalvagable and i met camera girl who was there with presumably her boyfriend also snapping some shots.
next up was the main event and almost as soon as they began playing, i felt a tap on my shoulder. it was camera girl again and she dragged me with her right up to the front where she and her boyfriend had carved out a spot. after taking whatever i can in the less than ideal lighting (i guess everything will always be less than ideal after the lighting juggernaut that was phish), i went up to the balcony to get what i could get.
camera obscuras performance was great in my opinion. they were a bit more upbeat than the papercuts (thats not a knock on the papercuts, for the record) and had some nice local onstage banter, talking about how they arrived in pontiac earlier and didnt see anyone around, and how they heard that tiki bobs cantina is the place to go if youre looking to get laid. apparently it doesnt take too long for the sometimes seedy bars in pontiac to make their impression on out of towners. tracyanne (who seemed to resemble zooey deschanel more than i remembered) had a few self proclaimed wardrobe malfunctions which she handled with poise and a sense of humor (one captured below — dont get too excited, there were no janet jackson impressions) and they bustled through their set to a gracious crowd. the set ended with perhaps their most energetic songs, “lloyd im ready to be heartbroken” and “french navy” and the crowd responded appropriately. the group thanked us with a three song encore, including their newly released track “the blizzard”.
some salvageable pics are below, and as usual you can check them out in a bit better quality on the dailybeatz flickr page but to be quite honest they look a lot nicer at this smaller size. it does give the pics a more intimate feel though.
and of course, a camera obscura track to whet your appetite. and its none other than one of everyones favorite camera obscura tracks, the aforementioned “lloyd im ready to be heartbroken”. its the first camera obscura track i ever heard and i think it pretty well sums up their sound.
what is there to say about this song? its pretty much a classic, and the music video is even more of a classic. i mean, only if you enjoy watching helena christensen running around the beach naked, covered only by sand and water, neither of which are very concealing. all in front of clouds that are moving way faster than they actually move in real life. but if you dont like any of those things, you probably wouldnt really like the music video at all. what i didnt know about chris isaak is that hes released 13 albums over his career, including one released just this year. and i also didnt know that he has been in a bunch of movies, including “silence of the lambs”. what?! did i know that? it now sounds vaguely familiar, but i dont think i knew that. hes had a few other major hits, but i think this one is by far the biggest. it makes a great addition to any lazy summer afternoon soundtrack as well, which is especially appropriate on this cold november saturday.
and in the spirit of the holidays, here’s a bonus track — a pretty good cover of this song by the wonderful sia and peter joback thats got a great mariachi feel to it. thanks to ulia for this one.
happy black friday everyone. im very tempted to wake up at 3 am to get in line for a $250 32 inch flat screen tv for my upcoming new place of residence, but then i remembered that im sane, so im not going to do that (edit: i ended up going the day before thanksgiving and buying a 42″. thank you best buy no interest financing!). it seems like black friday begins earlier and earlier every year, which begs the question, at which point do you black friday will actually take place on thanksgiving itself? i think its only a matter of time. the good news is a few of us are going to redcoat tavern for a delicious burger today and then tosee camera obscura at the crofoot, one of my favorite local venues, so my friday wont be so black. pics to come next week.
todays track is contextually relevant to black friday. its “life magazine” by cold cave, and it happens to be featured in the latest radio shack commercial. and commercialism is what black friday is all about! just to be clear, i do recognize that the root of the word commercialism does not refer to a tv commercial. anyway, this track has been pretty big around the blogosphere for quite some time and the album was recently re-released on matador, but it is only now that i am mentioning it. the cold cave project is essentially a solo project from philadelphian wesley eisold but has become somewhat of a band now. this song imparticular has a mad hook that you cant help but notice. and the vocals and vocal effect totally remind me of “good time” by crystal castles (which is a good thing). hopefully it will brighten your day, on this blackest friday of the year.
haps t gives everyone (thanks to chinner for the abbrevs). as i learned a few days back, canadian thanksgiving is actually in early october. so to all of you canadians out there, happy normal thursday. a quick entry today with a song that is not only catchy but also kind of hilarious and extremely over the top lyrically. its “homecoming” by the teenagers, the french band that, according to wikipedia, was formed as a joke. the song chronicles the meeting of an SUV driving american girl meeting, and consequently banging, her presumably british “step cousin, or what-ever”. its sort of a modern day version of grease’s “summer lovin” except the guy and girl clearly had a different experience in this one. please listen and enjoy.
WARNING: this track contains explicit lyrics, so do not play for your family around the thanksgiving dinner table, unless your family is into explicit lyrics.
first things first. i was honored to take part recently in a little interview as part of an article that groovemine was writing about some of their favorite music blogs, which turned into a 3 part series. part 1 is up here if you so choose. its interesting to see the different backgrounds of all these people who are working towards a common goal of spreading the music love. thanks again to groovemine for including us!
i get sent tons and tons of tracks to listen to via email. by tons and tons, i mean maybe a few per day, but it seems like a lot more. i do listen to all of them but simply because of sheer volume, and the fact that i usually wait until there are a disgusting number that have built up in my inbox that i need to clear out, something really has to hit me on the first listen to give it a second. today is one of those days that i am trying to clear out the inbox, and 4 or 5 emails in, i found this track by blah blah blah out of chicago. while i wish their name was yadda yadda yadda, i still really like this track, entitled “why am i the only one laughing?”
the group took inspiration from the british synth/new wave groups of yesteryear and i think theyve definitely got a bit of that sound going on. not so much synth, but still the same mood. you know what i mean. nevermind. i dont know exactly what it is that i like about, but it just really caught my attention. to me, theres something really raw, but really polished about it. i think i am enjoying the gritty guitars combined with the slight reverb in the vocals. either way, i think its pretty catchy, obviously since it caught my attention. these kids are playing the amp rock lounge in chicago on december 12 for any of you chicago natives that may want to check them out.
first off, i know its the state theater. i figured i need to be somewhat official for all of the web searchers out there in cyberspace tryna get all up on this post. now, two show reviews two days in a row? well, last week was just that kind of week, which is never a bad thing. for all of you who hate these recaps of detroit music events, sorry bout your luck. but for the rest of you, there will be another one next week too, and then probably another the week after, so get excited for that.
ive been pretty excited to see deadmau5 ever since lollapalooza and i arrived at the venue at about 830 or so because diana and julie didnt have tickets and the show was sold out. after some sneaky detective work and a bit of negotiation, we found ourselves all with general admission tickets, which was pretty huge because it sounds like there were not too many tickets to go around after they snagged theirs. we waited outside for a half hour or so but finally made our way in. i took a lovely picture of the marquee outside, but i must have accidentally deleted it during my 3am deletion of all completely ridiculous pictures that could never be salvaged. so that was kind of sad. but i did see my next door neighbor zack just before going inside.
we made it inside after some thorough camera bag searching and got a couple of $9 drinks (i always forget how expensive the drinks are there) and i ran into niki who i hadnt seen since college many moons ago. in fact, i believe her quote was, “really? i havent seen you since college and i see you at deadmau5?” then we ran into jonny who we ended up hanging with for the better part of the evening. we wandered around for a bit noticing the large and elaborate deadmau5 masks that littered the crowd (i think i counted 7 or 8 throughout the night but its hard to tell) and finally burns began. he started out a bit slow but really pumped it up near the end of his set (i wonder if the opening djs are contractually obligated to do that because it seems like they usually do) and then it was on to the main event. (again, all pics plus many more can be viewed in higher quality on the dailybeatz flickr page.)
then it was time for the main event. we saw the black objects all over the stage and figured that they were probably some sort of lighting mechanism but when the show began, they all turned into mini video screens that worked together. it was sort of like a much smaller scale version of the radiohead set from last summers tour except coming up from the ground rather than hanging from the ceiling. which inevitably led to a conversation over stalagmites vs stalagtites. we decided that none of us knew which was which.
the crowd was just as wild as lollapalooza if not more (since they had not just endured an entire day of 90+ degree heat) and it turned into an all out party. we each acquired a glowstick bracelet so that we would have something around our wrists for the inevitable fist pumping that was going to take place and tried our best not to get trampled and/or contract shingles from the sometimes questionable crowd. i made my way to the front where i breathed a breath of fresh air and tried to snap some pics, which was made more difficult because of my short stature and the tall video screen in front of deadmau5. i was pleasantly surprised that i had some decent shots of the mask when i got home cuz i thought i had nothin.
as the night continued i made my way up to the balcony for some shots from the left and right and of course it never occurred to me to, you know, maybe take some shots from dead center. that would be way too logical for me. diana and julie headed out a bit early just in time to miss the crowd going nuts when daft punks “harder, better, faster, stronger” was mixed with muse’s “knights of cydonia”. i luckily had just returned to the pit up front a last ditch attempt to take some more pics before this. i think my favorite part of my recent stint shooting shows is just how much people love getting their pictures taken. the couple below asked me to take their picture, at which point the proceeded to try to eat eachothers throats, but hey, at a show like this, anything is fair game. to the two lebanese guys, i know i said your picture would be up here but i got home and the picture was complete shite. sorry about that. the energy was thick on this night, and deadmau5 delivered. please enjoy the photographs below and check out mah flickr page for more shots.
its pretty tough to review a dj set, because while you dont really remember more than one or two specific moments or songs that were played, you always remember how much fun you had. man, im exhausted just thinking about how exhausted i was when i got home saturday night. it was a total blast as expected. enjoy this song while you think about how much you wish you were there and how you will make sure never to miss a local event like this again. this song should strike your fancy as it features one of the most recognizable video game theme songs of our generation, but have no fear,in true deadmau5, the rest of the track does not fake the funk on a nasty dunk.
before i begin, i could be wrong, but i think i completely forgot to mention that last week marked the 6 month anniversary of this little project i began. things have already been pretty awesome and ive been busier and busier, and there have been some haters as of late. which i guess is a sign of success, if anyone wants to take the time to do so. heres to many more months!
last wednesday was a pretty exciting day for me for a multitude of reasons. first, it marked the opening of the fall phish tour. as many of you may know, i have a nice little history with this band and was really looking forward to seeing them at the legendary cobo arena in my hometown of (metro) detroit. every time ive seen them, it has involved a 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 24 hour road trip, so the fact that i was able to go to work and drive 20 minutes was pretty effing sweet. my friend doug and i checked into the greektown casino hotel (along with the multitude of phish fans that did the same) and headed out to the old shillelagh for a drink. since there was a red wings game that night as well, downtown was abuzz with excitement.
what was even more exciting for me is that i was able to obtain a press pass for the show. while i had done so already for a number of smaller acts, it seemed completely implausible that little old me would be able to take on such a feat for a band as huge and legendary as phish at somewhere as huge and legendary as cobo arena. but alas, i did. we arrived at the arena a bit after 7 where i met up with the contacts that would walk us into the pit. i finally met abby in person — she was the one that helped me in getting the pass and it was great to meet face to face rather than over email and/or twitter. we waited anxiously as it seemed the two of us were the only ones who happened to be there for both business and pleasure. and finally, they walked us into the arena past the crowd and into the pit.
when i saw how close i would be to the group, i tried my best to maintain composure and a professional demeanor, but you better believe i was grinning from ear to ear. i took a few test shots and tweaked my settings a bit, and just like that the lights went down and the fearsome foursome took the stage. after the sunday night show at bonnaroo, i was sort of hoping for another ac/dc bag opener because it set the tone so well, and sure enough i got it! although i was so frantically trying to get as many pictures as possible that i dont even remember hearing the song. the same goes for the second track, foam. i think they sounded good but i really have no idea.
for better quality versions of these pictures as well as LOTS more that i didnt even post here, check out the dailybeatz flickr page. it was tough to get page/fishman shots on account of the pianos and drums.
and then, just like that, we were told we had to leave the pit as our 15 minutes was up. it seriously felt like about 2 minutes, but we were almost into the third song so i knew our time was up. i wasnt sure what the protocol was on whether or not we could continue shooting from our seats so i quickly headed up there, security checked my bags and said “oh, you just have that camera equipment? youre all set” and then i was on my way. heres the whole setlist to be used for reference before i give my 2 cents on what i remember. even though im finally listening to the recording now, im going to try to do this from what i remember and not what im hearing right now.
Set 1: AC/DC Bag, Foam, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, Bouncing Around The Room, Sample In A Jar, Kill Devil Falls, It’s Ice, Horn. Mountains In The Mist, Poor Heart, 46 Days, David Bowie
Set 2: Runaway Jim, Down With Disease -> Free, Waste, Taste, Bug, Wading In The Velvet Sea, Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove, Cavern
ac/dc bag and foam – like i said, dont really remember this as i was in a photo-induced mental haze. when we walked away i felt a little like will ferrell in old school. “what just happened? i blacked out.” i think i missed all of stealing time and bouncing while i was heading to my seats and finally met up with doug during sample in a jar. all pretty standard.
kill devil falls was pretty driving and the jam seemed to get everyone going a little. i actually didnt even know what that song was (im a little out of the loop these days) but i really liked it and the jam that went with it. its ice and horn were also pretty standard but enjoyable. i dont think id ever heard its ice live before so that was nice. mountains in the mist was not the break i was looking for, but it was fine. poor heart is always pretty fun, and i dont know if id heard that one live either. maybe once.
then 46 days. this isnt really my favorite song, but i do like how they tend to jam it out and its usually pretty funky. a little through the jam was my favorite part of the show, at least visually. for those who havent been to cobo, the stage is surrounded by these huge white walls on either side. since chris kuroda is a lighting genius, he realized that he could essentially project onto these walls on either side to create a really neat effect. combine it with a dark 46 days jam and you get the awesomeness seen in the video/pictures below.
they closed out the first set (which clocked in at about 90 minutes) with david bowie. ive seen this song quite a few times live, but this one was my favorite. im not quite sure what it was, but somewhere in the middle of the jam, there was about a minute that was just so over the top beautiful, and simultaneously extremely subtle. it reminded me of how i feel during the pretty part of the 7.10.99 chalkdust torture, just that same sense of “wow, how did they get to this place?” i havent really heard anyone mention the bowie, but it definitely stuck with me for some reason or another.
setbreak was pretty short at only a half hour but we were able to meet up with some other friends just in time for it to start in the C level so that i could take some shots with a straight on view of the stage (which came out lovely i might add). we almost didnt make it thanks to the super old school ramps of cobo arena. we began on the right side of the stage and thought we were zig-zagging our way up, but ended up on the complete opposite end of the stage when we finally made it to the top.
the second set opened with runaway jim which was fun. i always love hearing down with disease, and i seem to hear it quite a bit, which i am more than ok with. but this one was just totally different. super experimental and way way out there, in a GREAT way. segue it into free, and even better. free has i think one of my favorite phish guitar riffs ever, just pure joy. the only one i think of off the top of my head that brings an even bigger smile to my face is the big in the first half of divided sky, the riff with the huge bend to start out, i think you know which one i mean.
then began the “all the songs my friends loved in college”. first up was waste which, despite being a slower song, didnt bring me down too much, especially at the end when i swear i heard tela teases, but i was probably just tricking myself into thinking that. next up was taste. ive always loved this song with its complicated rhythms and quick playing and chromatic rises, and it was great to see it live. i think id only seen it once before. bug and wading in the velvet sea would have normally made me do a big “bleh” if i saw the setlist, but in person i did not really have many complaints because they were both pretty rockin versions. mikes groove was pretty killer in my opinion too. i love the contrast between all three songs right in a row. closed out with a standard cavern, and the crowd went nuts forever before the band came out for a character zero encore.
then the show was over, the crowd dispersed, and we walked back to the hotel, taking a few pictures on the way. i was hoping to get a picture of the hundreds of empty balloons strewn about the sidewalk from the far end of cobo arena all the way to the end of cobo hall, but my camera decided to malfunction at that point and i wasnt able to do so.
all in all, i had a complete blast. i was a little in shock to read the reviews of all the haters the following day because im not sure if those people were in the same arena feeling all of the same energy that i was. im not one of those people that listens to shows over and over again, but i do know that in the moment everything was pretty spectacular, and that even a bad phish show is better than most other live shows, but i think this was still a great one. im not as lucky as some people who can go to every single show, so every chance i get to see them is a great one.
again, a reminder that high quality verisons of all of these pics, plus many many more, are available on the dailybeatz flickr page. for todays track, im giving up the studio version of “taste”, cuz i like it so very much. enjoy.
the guess who is the winnipeg band that everyone knows for singing “american woman” (not to be confused with the popular boardgame, as seen here being played by samuel l jackson). but that song kind of annoys me a lot of the time, maybe because i heard the lenny kravitz version a few million times when it came out. but luckily todays song is way more awesomer in my opinion. i always thought the song was called “shes come undone” for obvious reasons, but it just sounded like the name of a song i remembered. but its actually called “undun”, which is interesting because it seems to me like it was much later than 1969 when people started spelling songs phonetically instead of the way they were actually spelled. im pretty sure that actually began in the 90s with the advent of email/aim/loling/roftling. either way its a subtle and quasi-jazzy little number that i enjoy. i also really enjoy “these eyes”, also by the guess who.
on a COMPLETELY unrelated note, going to see deadmau5 tonight. should be very fun and very nuts. now enjoy the show.
buy this track on itunes
