DIOYY: Best 30 minute set I have ever seen. Also, possibly the only 30 minute set I have ever seen. DIOYY stuck with the harder songs from You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into, including Weird Science, Battle Royale, With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You), and hits Let’s Make Out and We Are Rockstars. I did not see them at Coachella so I don’t know how this set compared, but it was loud, fun, and I would definitely see them again. Just as Wolfmother was the closest I will ever come to seeing Led Zeppelin, I think DIOYY is the closest I will come to seeing DFA 1979.
»continue reading Does it Offend You, Yeah? + Yo Majesty @ El Rey Thursday May 2 2008

Synopsis: Those old guys in vests can still put on a good show. Tom, Tom, Randall, Mike, and Benmont took the stage shortly after 9, performing a set of old and new Mudcrutch tunes, a few bluegrass and rock classics, and two Bob Dylan covers. I am very anti-bloated-old-guy-reunion tour, and this show avoided those traps and remained true to the spirit of the Mudcrutch story: a few (albeit very talented and accomplished) buddies decided to hang out again and have some fun.

General vibe: Your dad got drunk at the best Fourth of July barbeque he has ever attended. I would estimate that 10% of the audience was under 30; most of the rest were in solid dad territory. Some were drunk dads, some were sober dads (lots of bottled water). Some were reminiscing hippie dads, who loved the inclusion of “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” in the encore. Whoever was in the control booth was a responsible dad, as the volume was not painfully loud. This was the first show I have been to in over a year where I have not been compelled to put in earplugs.
»continue reading Mudcrutch at Troubadour, Tuesday April 29 2008

Synopsis: Digitalism turned out a great set, with a brief encore, showcasing hits from Idealism and new material as well. Having attended a lot of electronic/dj shows, I am used to watching a couple guys stand on stage, play around with their MacBookPro, take swigs of Hennessy, and occasionally adjust their hats. Jens Moelle and İsmail Tüfekçi put them to shame. They took over the whole stage, with real turntables and mics (did you know that the vocals on their tracks are not computer-generated but are their own voices? I did not). Foregoing the aloofness that is typical of their peers, they jumped around, danced, sang, and engaged the crowd through a heavy German accent.

Audience looked like: Mid-late twenties white dudes who want to dance. I expected some Cobrasnake fashions, but there was not a lot of outlandish attire or superfluous posing (judging from Sung’s photos, all those people were too hungover from the Justice show to make it out). There was a small but noticeable gay contingent, and a few girls who looked like they got lost on the way to a Playboy audition. Overall, similar to the El Rey MSTRKRFT audience, but more polite and with less drug paraphernalia.
»continue reading Digitalism @ El Rey Theatre, Tuesday April 1 2008

While we were admittedly disappointed with the rampant, liberal use of vowels below, we are nonetheless pleased to bring you Erin’s recap of two recent MSTRKRFT gigs in Los Angeles.

Friday night at the Fonda [Feb 29] looked like some kind of cotillion after party gone terribly awry. Packs of pre-pubescent boys roamed the roof deck looking for floaters, girls in Cobrasnake-approved leggings and Wayfarers staged their own photoshoots, public makeout sessions abounded, and everywhere you turned, some poor overdosed soul was slumped on the floor, hanging over a railing, or just sitting in a chair, vomiting.

However, no number of underage hooligans could dim the flame of my excitement. Since the day Josh Homme led me to DFA 1979, which in turn led me to MSTRKRFT, I have been smitten. Their set at Coachella last year was my personal Sahara tent highlight. I like to dance, I like to sweat, I like to be surrounded by other people who are dancing and sweating. I do not like to be surrounded by people clearly having a bad Ecstacy experience, but some things can’t be helped.
»continue reading Two nights of MSTRKRFT: And the band raves on

Admittedly, my familiarity with the Editors prior to this show consisted entirely of the two songs I heard in the car en route to the Wiltern. I am slightly more knowledgeable about Hot Hot Heat, having purchased and enjoyed their 2002 release Make Up the Breakdown. However, I haven’t listened to that in a couple years. So, I went in without any agenda or expectations.

I arrived around 9:30. Louis XIV had already finished their set (which I wanted to see), and people were milling about to buy $14 large draft beers. The crowd was full of white guys in their 30s with hair product. Other prominent demographics included Latino and Asian guys in their 30s, with hair product. The women present were pretty unremarkable. As far as crowds go, this was one of the most conservative that I have seen in recent memory.
»continue reading Editors, Hot Hot Heat @ The Wiltern, Feb 9, 2008

Synopsis: Wednesday night at Royce Hall, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals turned in a great show, disappointing only in its lack of antics, breakdowns, and audience harassment. The show was comprised of two parts, the first being a mostly upbeat collection of Cardinals tunes (heavy on Easy Tiger), with a few old Ryan Adams songs (heavy on Heartbreaker), one Oasis cover and an impromptu faux-metal riff called “Sarcophagus.” After a brief intermission, the band returned for a second set of longer songs that included jam interludes, and one song featuring Neil Casal of the Cardinals on lead vocals. No encore, but the set was long enough not to warrant one.

Audience looked like: KCRW fundraiser date night. Not quite Silverlake, not quite Venice, the crowd was late-20s to mid/late-30s, co-ed, white, happy to be there. Notable exceptions included dad with approximately 8 year old daughter in front of me, and old dude in Canadian tuxedo with long white hair and matching beard.
»continue reading Ryan Adams and The Cardinals, Royce Hall, Wed. Jan 30 2008