Radiohead…whoa

I’ll let the video speak for itself – its from Radiohead’s first US show this tour Monday night.

Just don’t charge me with your rescue blues

-mikefro

    

 

 Fresh off of my first Ryan Adams & the Cardinals concert, I feel unable to do any justice to the musical prowess, emotional depth, and cohesiveness that they so deftly displayed tonight.  However, I feel it is necessary to spread the word:  Ryan Adams & the Cardinals are one of the best bands touring.  period.    To first establish that I can speak as an authority, let me say that after attending 50+ concerts from a wide range of styles (electronic, alternative, indie, rock, jam-band, etc. ) I feel that I have had proper exposure to bands with a wide range of talent.   Moreso, I attended Bonnaroo last summer, which I think clearly gives me some credit for at least surviving the heat (and the hippies).      

 

I think Ryan Adams & the Cardinals are able to bring three main aspects to the stage:  

1)  Improvisation:  Ever since last summer I have been on a Ryan Adams binge, to put it bluntly.  I got ahold of Easy Tiger, followed by this rocking show at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, and I was hooked.  I proceeded to get my hands on Love is Hell (Discs 1 & 2), Rock N Roll, and three more live shows.  This gave me the impression that I’d come into the show pretty much knowing how every song would sound live – I was wrong.  I felt completely engaged throughout the whole show b/c every song was given a twist of free styling that made you feel as though you were a part of a moment that has never happened before. Whether is was the wailing electric guitars, the smooth bass lines, or Ryan’s sailing voice, I was continually impressed and amazed song after song after song.  Perhaps the most striking example of this was the rendition of “Off Broadway,” a laid back song on Easy Tiger which was given a shot of steroids and some amazing guitar lines to bring it up to head-banging rock.  Alternatively, he took “Halloweenhead,” arguably the most “rock” song on Easy Tiger and, sitting at the piano, turned it into a ballad that hit deep down in your gut.  It seems that Ryan could play two sets with an identical listing of songs in drastically different ways, something that excites me to no end.    

2) Communication:  Obviously, a band cannot improvise very well without proper communication, but I wanted to emphasize that The Cardinals are one of the most talented and tight bands out there right now.  An innumerable number of times during the show it was clear that Ryan was going off his own either to hold out guitar solos, add additional lyrics, or just explore a “jam” section of a song, and The Cardinals never missed a beat.  In all cases it seemed they knew exactly where to fill in the gaps which helped to highlight Ryan’s improvisations.  Ever since I started going to concerts I always enjoyed watching a band respond to each other during the course of “jams” and the like, and I have to say that this show provided me with more to watch than any other show than I can remember (and even I’ve been to “hippie” shows).   

3) Emotion:  Beyond their ability to jam & improvise creatively, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals were also able to bring you on a journey of emotions - be-it head-banging-I-hate-you-rock, melancholy solitude, or ethereal sounding jams, they kept you interested.  At the top of the show, opening with back-to-back  jams of “Peaceful Valley” and “Magnolia Mountain” you were brought along with guitar lines that has led to some comparisons to the wandering guitar lines of “hippie-jam-bands” like The Grateful Dead or Phish.  Later in the first set, during the normally upbeat “Rescue Blues,” Ryan, on the piano, added a solo section in the middle that addressed the feelings associated with a relationship breakup bringing an introspection not normally found in the song to the forefront.  Finally, to close the set, they ended with the classic jam “Easy Plateau.”  After soloing all over the place, the end of the song entailed the band pounding their instruments in a way that brought the audience into a trance, unsure as to the direction.  It went so far as to Ryan purposefully taking his guitar out of tune so that the dissonance couldn’t be ignored.  

 

I know this sounds like a Ryan Adams lovefest, but I hope that the points that I highlighted will be evident in the recording that (I hope) was made of tonight’s show.  For me, I hold every live show to the above criteria and Ryan Adams & the Cardinals have placed themselves into my short list of greatest concerts ever seen.  Obviously this means you should go see him! 

Ryan Adams – Hotel Chelsea Nights 

Have you ever been a part of a scene?

Good evening ladies and gentleman, I’ll first ask that you observe the overhead seat-belt sign until we’ve reached an altitude of 10,000 feet, at which point you’ll be free to move around the ever reaching and changing internet. I come to you from the People’s Republic of Berkeley, as a graduate student at University of California Berkeley looking to take his mind off of science in a manner that will stimulate both my mind and yours. This past weekend I was asked an interesting question – have you ever been a part of a scene? It was a question that took me by surprise at the time and I think it will serve as an excellent introduction of myself. As far as I can tell, I would claim that the first scene where I felt that I was an active participant came through radio DJ-ing at a college radio station (coincidentally enough, I was co-DJ with the other blogger on this site). The world of college radio is a fantastic situation for all parties involved: bands have their music played for free, the DJs help listeners discover new music, and there are no advertisements (in other words, your soul isn’t being drained from you by the man). Time spent “on air” was filled with tunes that all could enjoy, helping bring the cure of rock to all those ailing from force-fed-mediocre-shallow pop culture music. It is this subculture of music that I have come to embrace and that you will see posted all over this blog in the form of recommended music, concert reviews, tour info, etc. Recently, I have journeyed into the scene of environmentalism as I have found it increasingly clear that the current status of waste generation by the western world is going to have dire consequences. As I learn more about living a more eco-friendly lifestyle I hope to pass the information along in such a way that raise awareness of pressing issues that are ignored in main stream news media. I realize that this hasn’t been the most interesting post, but I think it sets up the modem that our electronic love affair can plug into… …for having just withstood such a post, enjoy this treat of quality music.

Decemberists tour; no East Coast yet

Sticking close to home, The Decemberists have announced a small tour (4 shows, 2 nights each at the Crystal in Portland and The Moore in Seattle).

We were bummed when they cancelled “The Long and the Short of It” tour due to a band member’s illness. East coast, soon. Please?

For now, watch the Directors’ Cut of O Valencia.