Audiophilia Has A New Home

The Shins - Atlanta Civic Center - 10/17/07

God bless The Shins. They're such a cute band. They're a bunch of thirty somethings that look like guys you might know from around the way that happen to be in a really cool pop band. I mean, James Mercer, their frontman, had his shirt tucked in during the show. I think that says it all.
The actual show was interesting. It started slow but steadily gained momentum until it settled into the comfortable groove we've come to expect from these guys. We showed up right as they were starting and although we had great seats I was a little worried that I wasn't going to have that great of a time. The sound was a little lacking and I was kinda rushed into the whole thing. They started with Sleeping Lessons which was certainly fitting but it's a rocker and they aren't really the type of band that "fucking brings it". It might have been as simple as me not being warmed up (I've grown to respect the importance of an opening band regardless of whether they are good or not, half the fun is the anticipation). I finally got into about four songs in and they slowed it down with A Comet Appears. That was actually the best song of the set. It got quiet enough to highlight the strengths of the band, James Mercer's fragile sensibilty and his deft intimate lyrics.
They kept that momentum and played their staples Kissing the Liplessand New Slang. Everyone was swept away into the land of la-la's and oo-oo's. Just a PG bubblegum good time.
You do have to think that The Shins are the type of band that will be well known to those of us from this generation but maybe lost in the shuffle in the years to come. You know how when someone who is like 8 years older than you tells you about a band from the 80's that was really influential on REM and you have no idea what they're talking about...that's us in 7 years. But not to worry, it's now and The Shins are at the height of their run.

So Hot Right Now Vol.1

At the moment these are the tunes Hansel and I are listening to in heavy rotation. Go here http://www.sendspace.com/file/tweucd to download them. More volumes to come...

Kings of Leon -Fox Theater-10/9/07

So yeah, I was in the front row, hands on the stage, front row. It's hard for me to out into words what it was like there. Those of you who were there know what the fuck I'm talking about. And yes, that fuck was completely neccesary because those guys will rock your fucking balls off. Now I'm sure there are bands that rock as much as they do, The Strokes come to mind, but I don't think you could say anyone outdoes them. Now don't get worked up, I'm not saying they're better than Led Zeppelin or AC/DC, thats not what I'm talking about. I'm just saying of all the shows I go to now, these guys do it better than anyone else. They just work you into a frenzy and make everyone in the place rowdy as hell. Their show at the Tabernacle a few months ago was more condusive to their style because it was general admission and everyone in there was all sweaty and fired up, but this one was pretty amazing too. Aside from the 41 year old douche behind me asking me where my seats were and telling me he didn't pay "alot" of money to have some coon (he didnt really get racial, I just wanted to villianize him more) dancing in front of him blocking the stage, the show was perfect.
The bassist and I even had a special moment. During McFearless we made eye contact and he smiled at me like, "yeah yeah I'm killing this shit". Now I'm aware that mentioning this is uncool and slightly homo-erotic, but hey, man crushes and broners happen, deal with it.
There were almost too high many high points to mention any, but I remember Trani being kick ass and the entire encore was pretty hot. They started with Knocked Up and went straight into Charmer and had everyone screaming "Ahhhh, she's such a charmer, ohhh noo-oo" at the top of their lungs. They closed with So Night, So Long and when they were done yours truly got a drumstick from Nathan Followill himself.
After the show we were all too jacked up to go home and we went next door to Bazaar to get a drink and who walks in but the Kings. Obviously I didn't talk to them, I mean what would I say? I think I learned my lesson about talking to rock stars from Carina Round. But I could have, could have, if I had wanted to. I didn't talk to them, but I did the next best thing: I got stinking drunk rock star style. I would tell you more but thats about when
showed up. Now I know that looks like the grim reaper but its actually his nephew Ralph. He's waiting for his uncle to retire to take his job but for now instead of killing you he just makes you blackout, have a $100 bar tab and wake up in your bed the next day feeling like dogshit. Atleast I'm still alive, and from what I remember, I had a blast.

Rilo Kiley - Variety Playhouse - 9/29/07

Was Jenny Lewis as sexy as I had hoped, definitely. Was the show what I expected, not quite. It wasn't high energy, she wasn't jumping all around the stage. She danced to herself and looked cute. It was controlled and right on. The band is older now...Jenny is 30 so I guess I should have seen it coming. Especially after the release of their most recent cd Under The Blacklight. It is noticeably different from their previous two The Execution of All Things and More Adventurous; softer, more feminine. Maybe even closer to light rock. Still catchy as hell but the tone is different. Gone is the insecurity and guilt that was all over Execution in songs like "The Good That Won't Come Out" and "A Better Son/Daughter"; gone is the anger from More Adventurous on "Does He Love You" and "Portions For Foxes". Those emotions have been replaced by the self assuredness on "Silver Lining" where Jenny sings,

and I was your silver lining
as the story goes
I was your silver lining
but now I'm gold

hooray hooray
I'm your silver lining
hooray hooray
but now I'm gold

She sounds like she has finally found herself and is, pardon the term, "comfortable in her own skin". You can especially hear this on "Breaking Up", the groups' disco track. Jenny sings about a break-up with an ex and instead of brooding she's gay and breezy about it. When they played that song at the show it got the same response a "Like A Prayer" gets...when girls hear that song they all look at each other and make big eyes that say "oh my god, oh my god" and dance in a circle pretending that for those 4 minutes, guys don't exist. It's not that I can't reach down and find my inner gay man, I can get down with the best of them, I just felt like this time around the party wasn't catered to me. I was happy to be there nonetheless. I do miss the old Jenny, the one who would drop F-bombs all over the place, but I dig this one too. She's a little mellower and perhaps the most attractive thing about her is that she doesn't seem to give a shit about me, she's who she is. And when I say she doesn't give a shit, that isn't laced with any defensiveness, she's just unconcerned with external judgement. Perhaps that's what growing up is, hopefully when I grow up I can do it gracefully as she has.

Andrew Bird - Variety Playhouse - 9/13/07

So I've noticed how the types of concerts I go to have evolved. My first rock concert ever was Dave Matthews at Lakewood in 1997. I spent about $250 to get 5th row seats and despite the hundreds of concerts I've been to since then that one still remains one of my favorites. It was an awesome experience that I tried to replicate by going to about 15 more Dave shows over the next three years. Some of them were pretty great but none rivalled that first show. Through that I learned it's pointless to try to relive the past because it's never going to be the same again, you can only go forward in life. So that's what I tried to do...I saw Pearl Jam and U2 at massive amphitheaters. No Doubt and Oasis at Music Midtown (I also admit to loving Collective Soul at the time and seeing them there which is undeniably questionable [Dosage had just come out and you liked it too] but I could just chalk it up with the other things I thought were good ideas in high school like wearing jean shorts).
All of these shows were at big venues at a time in whichever groups career when they were as much an act as a band. This is quite distinct from the types of shows I see now. There is the occasional mid range band at a venue like the Tabernacle or the Fox but more and more it's smaller bands at smaller clubs that cost like 10 bucks to see where the music is the focus. Don't get me wrong, style and charisma (theatricality) are extremely important when you go to see a show but these smaller shows seem more authentic, more pure.

Andrew Bird definitely gave off that feel. The show was very intimate and it made me think of they way music was like before it was so infinitely accessible through modern technology. Before television and cds and ipods. When the only way for you to hear music was to play it or have someone you knew share what they could do with you.
That's what I felt he was doing, sharing with me. He played the glockenspiel, the violin, the guitar (which he actually kind of sucked at) and had a bad ass whistle. He had differing degrees of technical proficiency at each instrument and it was obvious but it was also earnest and therefore satisfying in it's own way.
When he finally decided to play Scythian Empire, which is one of the best songs of 2007, he failed miserably. If you're not familiar with his style he plays pretty much all the instruments/parts during his songs. He'll play one melody and loop it and frantically pick up another instrument and play something else and loop it over top of the previous one and so on and so on. He just couldn't get the song right and kept messing up the loops and what I thought was going to be the most memorable part of the show was, but not for the reasons I thought. Strangely, his inability to play the song correctly didn't ruin the experience. It simply reminded me that I was watching another human being trying to make something beautiful. It added a childish simplicity to it. Now I'm not saying I want every show I go to to be somewhat amateurish because I love seeing the tightness of The Strokes or the theatricality of U2 but everyone once in awhile it's good to remember that these people, these rock stars, are just like us.

Check out his latest cd Armchair Apocrypha:

Bjork - Fox Theater - 9/17/07

The weird thing is that I've seen quite a few shows in between Carina and Bjork, I just haven't felt particularly compelled to write about them. I saw Midlake, who had some awesome moments (Roscoe), and The National, who I love, but for some reason wasn't particularly moved. I was semi-bored. I guess it has something to do with the people you go to shows with because if they aren't into it it can take away from the experience. Bjork fans definitely left nothing to be desired...they were dressed up in drag (who knew Bjork had such a big gay following) and generally amped up about the show. I'm not sure if she's ever come to Atlanta before so I guess the rarity of the occasion had everyone hyped. The costume design and light show/theatrics were top notch and I would expect as much from Bjork because she's so weird. I mean, she's from Iceland. And anyone who knows anything about Bjork knows to expect the unexpected.

What made the concert so great wasn't just the show she put on, but rather the way she got my wheels turning. Isn't that what great art is about? Producing a canvas for the viewer to project onto? My seminal moment came when Bjork was singing 5 Years to a guy in the front row. She kept screaming, "You can't handle Love, boy. I'm so sick of cowards. They say they want and can't handle Love." It was like she was singing the song to whoever she wrote it about and it was so intense it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

That got me thinking about love. The western world's favorite topic. Ever since we were born we've been bombarded with thoughts about love. John Lennon told us "All you need is love". If thats true, how do you get it? It seems like it should be intuitive and without need of any explanation, but if thats the case, why are so many of us without the amount/type we want? I think its like the magic eye, some people see the picture right away, their eyes naturally relax and the 3D image appears before their eyes. While some of us don't really understand the concept and any explanation of what we are supposed to see only adds to the frustration and confusion.
And is that true anyways? Is love all you need? After years of listening to love songs and watching romantic comdies we develop a thirst for love that similar to greed(or any addiction) is not satiated by getting it. You want and want and want but you have no idea exactly what is it you want. You think you know because of the way love is represented in popular culture but what does that have to with reality? Don't get me wrong, every once in awhile someone gets it right. Knocked Up, Annie Hall, Brokeback Mountain, and The New World are all realistic portrayals of people trying to make sense of the feelings we call love.
I mean, don't you think it's hard to recognize the real deal when it happens? Its like how they say when you smoke weed you don't get high the first few times. That just isn't true. You get high, it just takes you about five times to realize what getting high is and enjoy it. But since you don't know what the fuck you're doing you smoke the entire blunt by yourself when all you needed was three hits and you've spoiled something that should have been easy and you're so high you can't talk.

So now after the high school awkwardness and college drama you have love. All your problems are solved right? If it were only that simple. No one told you it was a living thing you had to nurture. All you know is the chase. You're clueless about how to keep it afloat. So you get lazy, and you take what you have for granted, you're distracted by tight packages and you think, "I wonder what that would be like?" Now all of a sudden you have Bjork yelling, "You can't handle love you coward!" in your face and you're thinking how the fuck did I get here?
You finally realize how profound the not so well known Dave Matthews song "Pig" is. He sings the lines, "Love, Love, Love what more is there?" with such fierce desperation; pleading for someone to end the drama. It's enough to make you want to put your head in the sand. It seems like this is a cycle we're forced to play out over and over again because unfortunately, Robert Palmer was right.