The White Stripes @ The Glass House
July 28, 2005

Anybody regret driving to the Glass House in the middle of the day to stand in line for tickets? Or paying scalpers a king’s ransom? How about waiting since the night before for a prime spot upfront? Nope. It was worth it.

By 8:15 the venue was filled to capacity with everyone holding their positions. At 9 Jack and Meg strutted onto the stage and it was all business. Jack did his usual intro, “I’m Jack and this is my big sister Meg.” The crowd roared after recognizing the first notes of “Wild Orchid,” the first song of the set.

The White Stripes played over 20 songs with one break in just under 2 hours. There was no chit chat, just the cranking out of song after song. Jack and Meg also interchanged songs and played their popular cover song “Jolene” in two parts - a flawless transition into “My Doorbell” then back into “Jolene.” Perfect.

The Glass House turned into a sauna somewhere in the middle of the set. Towards the end of the show Jack commented, “we have one more song left and I’m sure you’re all happy about that after standing for hours sweating in this heat.”

The Glass House was hot. But The White Stripes performance was hotter.

The Cribs @ Spaceland
July 27, 2005

It was a strange lineup at Spaceland. Nine Black Alps opened, playing stripped down rock-n-roll, like the Cribs. This pairing made sense. However, the two bands sandwiched between them (Pit Er Pat and Need New Body) could be described as experimental at best. It was an odd lineup choice to say the least, which left some of the crowd confused and the rest apathetic.

The Brothers Crib, made up of Ryan Jarman (guitar/vocal), Gary Jarman (bass/vocal), and Ross Jarman(drums) barely interacted with the Spaceland audience but delivered their simple tunes with passion and confidence. Ryan (aka Ryan Crib) threw himself into the performance…as well as his mic. By the end of the set his lips bled. He also managed to play guitar one-handed using the other hand to drink beer.

The audience was small but consisted almost entirely of fans. During “Another Number” the crowd hummed the guitar hook, and Ryan and Gary Crib performed a dance, kicking and spitting at each other throughout “It Was Only Love” – a bouncy love tune.

Here’s the setlist for The Cribs Spaceland debut.

Hey, Scenesters
Direction
Lights Went Out
Mirror Kisses
It Was Only Love
You Were Always…
Martell
We Can No Longer…
What About Me
Another Number
Wrong Way to Be

Hated by few, loved by many, “Kiss or Kill”, a genre-specific, tight-knit community of punk and hybrid-punk bands, hosted out-of-towners (International) Noise Conspiracy last Tuesday at the Echo.

From the top of the short set to the very end the venue was filled with aggressive arms, fists and heads pumping to the music and mouths belting out every lyric to every song (including INC’s unreleased material), while band members thrashed around on stage like manics on medication.

Lead singer Dennis Lyxzèn busted out James Brown moves and no-holds-barred political rants. He took an unsurprising stab at W but also at the music industry’s attempt to curb downloading. “The industry and capitalists are afraid of what they can’t control,” stated Dennis, “and that’s downloading free music.” He then encouraged the audience to download INC’s new songs.

The highlight of the show occured when Dennis propped his leg up on the shoulder of a male fan and climbed over him as he was singing to the pit. Dennis, suspended in air above the crowd, continued his wild gesticulation and passionate vocal delivery.

In 7 words - it was an incredible, incredible, incredible show.

Kasabian, Henry Fonda Theater: 06/07/05

What is Tom wearing?

Pulsating rhythms, matched with blinding flashes of white light so bright you can’t see when Tom Meighan (lead vocals, co-frontman) steps onto the stage. The music continues pumping as the lights die down to find Kasabian’s co-frontman standing with a drink in his hand. Tom, dressed in a snug, black, long-sleeved woman’s top and tight black pants with a belt high above his waist, raises his glass with a “cheers” to begin the night.

And so it starts in Hollywood at The Henry Fonda. Behind Tom’s dress and erratic dancing are infectious swirling guitar and electric bass harmonies. Church chords rise from the stack of synthesizers. Tom joins the soaring melodies. The music feels like the Pied Piper summoning you for more. And this is just the beginning.

“Reason is Treason,” the fourth song of the night, picks up the pace. “K I LL” scream the fans as they sway together while lighting adds to the urgency of the song (all of which would make for terrific concert video footage). Theatrics continue during “Transmission” and the raver kids pogo for the rest of Kasabian’s set.

As a live band Kasabian have much more to offer than first impressions of the band heard on a car stereo. There are many layers to their songs complemented by two frontmen, Serge Pizzorno (guitar, vocals, keyboard) and Tom, both of whom know how to put on a show. But don’t overlook Chris Karloff (guitar, keyboard) who stands with a quiet elegance behind the wall of sythns adding ambience to the music. And on the other end of the stage bassist Chris Edwards adds great definition and hypnotic movement to Kasabian’s sound. Their session drummer, Ian Matthews, also made his presence known with a short but sweet solo.

Following their main set, rhythmic floor stomping ensues, as the audience demands Kasabian return to the stage. The band delivers a show-stopping rendition of “Club Foot,” earning a standing ovation from the balcony. After a group bow, Kasabian leaves the stage and the crowd immediately rushes outside. A second encore is not needed for an already dynamic end. Thank you and goodnight.

But, wait, it doesn’t end there. While some fans lingered outside, local LA band Automatic Head Detonator (AHD) gave a free outdoor performance from the back of a farmer’s truck. Passersby stopped to stare. It was a brave attempt to get attention and it worked in AHD’s favor.

Bloc Party @ El Rey, June 3rd & 4th

Before Bloc Party’s 2nd night at the El Rey, fans were exchanging war stories. The audience came out battered and bruised by the overly enthusiastic crowd from the night before and no one expected anything less from the Saturday crowd. But this time they were prepared for the madness - hopefully.

Crowned as the future of music, Bloc Party started the set off on a bad foot. On the first song, the drum kit fell apart, no doubt from the abuse being taking on the band’s current tour. Frontman, Kele Okereke told everyone just to pretend that didn’t happen and the band
picked up right from where they left off. In a second they were back on track.

In a bold move, the 3rd song Bloc Party played was their American, radio friendly hit “Banquet” which initiated a mosh pit, and ended with exuberant clapping and thunderous cheers from theaudience. It’s sometimes problematic for a band to top their radio hit, but Bloc Party did it again and at least twice. During “She’s Hearing Voices” and “Helicopter” the room was ablaze with energy.

Kele also took a stab at the scalpers on Ebay, where a third of each night’s tickets appeared. With a passionate”…fuck EBAY,” he denounced the use of the popular bidding site which had marked up prices twofold.

As musicians Bloc Party are no slackers - Matt Tong is a skilled and dynamic drummer that will hold the title, at least at this show, as most excitable to watch. If Bloc Party’s plan is to take over America they are well on their way. Loaded with jerky beats, infectious grooves, cool robotic instrumentation and uncomplicated lyrics nothing should hold them back from setting us on fire.

Check out the full set of photos on audballtunes.

Stealing hooks from Snoop Dogg and Beastie Boys, satirical Welsh rappers Goldie Lookin Chain’s mad performance brought satisfaction for the small crowd that gathered on May 25 at the Troubadour.

No matter how hard this 8-man crew “practices” their dance routines, rapping in unison and in harmony, inharmoniously, their show is not the usual one-dimensional gangsta rap or hip-hop concert. There is no DJ and hardly any crotch-grabbing (though they love to draw attention to their penises and tattooed bullocks). GLC also provide ample accidents and incidences for those with attention deficit and enough obvious gags for the thick to know when to laugh. It’s a circus for the dim mixed with genius moments such as when GLC gave a nod to Vanilla Ice, bawling out “Ice Ice, dildo” during their set.

GLC seem to be making a little money on this tour. They’re wearing more expensive track suits and new Ts bearing messages like “Ron Jeremy ‘04″, an embarrassing advertisement of California’s pop culture and political disasters.

Not only did the GLC teach the audience how not to dress, they also instructed how to sex up an uncooked ham. Money was well spent for that lesson and to see members of cooler-than-thou LA scene-sters raising the roof on “Shit To Me” and “Guns Don’t Kill People, Rappers Do,” the crowd pleasers of the night.

“I thought the show was great,” said Joyce, an attendee and member of GLC’s fanclub. “The best part was when they were all doing the robot during Half Man Half Machine. Gut bustlingly funny. And there was a collision between two of the GLC dudes. Funny show, great songs. Hilarity ensues!”

Further hamming it up, GLC tricked the audience by walking off just seconds before ending with the popular “Your Mother’s Got a Penis” which created waves of sighs and hysterics.

To really appreciate GLC is too see them live after having a reefer or two, but judging by the smiles it’s safe as fuck to assume everyone went home, or to an afterparty, happy.

Photos by Audree. More pics at audballtunes.