A week of good music
I need to get caught up! Cool stuff happening on the back end of FWBA, I’m getting glimpses of what this space will soon look like and it looks rad so far. I’ve been a bit occupied with other exciting life stuff, but music is getting me really amped. There is so much good new stuff out there. This past week I checked out David Bazan at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach AND my friends in Manchester Orchestra- below is an account of: the week of good music.
David Bazan- Alex’s Bar: Long Beach
Let it be known that this is the same venue where they film True Blood. I’ve actually never seen that show, but it was a really cool place. The lineup kicked off with my friend Amanda’s band- called ‘‘. They’re an awesome all-girl band, and they rule. Next up was , I’d heard them first sometime last year, they kind of remind me a little of . The couple beside me were being obnoxious, mostly because they were drunk and obscenely touchy. They also smelled like Abercrombie and were generally really lame people. What? They were.
Let me explain- I have a profound respect for the nature of shows, especially shows like David Bazan. Not only have I been anticipating this one for sometime, but his music requires a necessary ambience, that means no heckling, no stupid questions, and general enjoyment from the crowd. By the time David got up there, it was rowdy as expected, it was late enough for everyone to be sufficiently drunk. Regardless, his performance was stunning, I always like watching him with a full band- probably more than his acoustic stuff. He played songs like ‘The Man in Me’ and ‘I Never Wanted You’. And to the utter disappointment of the drunken platinum blonde girl in the back with tribal tattoos- he did not play ‘Hallelujah’ a request she repeated several dozen times, to which she emphasized by yelling, ‘play fucken hallelujah’. Not the best approach. Otherwise, David can do no wrong, therefore it was perfect. Weird, creepy post-script, he definitely did touch my arm. Okay, I’ll stop.
David Bazan- When We Fell
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Manchester Orchestra- The Troubadour
I hope my friend Christopher [Lightning] Freeman reads this. I haven’t seen this band play in nearly a year, I’ve always really loved them. I think they are becoming exceedingly good at what they do, and it’s starting to pay off. They played , and they’re getting the next cover of AP. The show was one of two consecutive shows that were sold out- O’Brother, The Features and Biffy Clyro opened up. It’s crazy to think that Biffy Clyro can generate stadium-filled crowds in the UK and they’re nowhere near as popular in the US. Maybe that’ll soon change, they had one of the most energetic and intense performances I’d seen in a while.
Manchester’s set was gorgeous, they played a new song that sounded a bit more Southern, and a bit more aggressive- along with a song about being friends with 50 cent. I see a lot of Bazan in Andy Hull, I’m excited to see what they put out next. They’re all-around sweet dudes, and Chris is an incredible artist- some of his stuff [drawings] are for sale at the shows, you should buy it to help feed him. He’s getting too skinny. While you’re there, say hello to my dear friend Alex, who is on the road with them representing Invisible Children. You really can’t miss their bus- it has giant picture of child soldiers on the back of it. I hope the best for these dudes!
Manchester Orchestra- My Friend Marcus
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Should’ve gone to..
Dawes- The Troubadour
I missed the show the other night. Do you know what kind of week that would’ve made it? They are seriously one of my favorite bands. Check out this video of them playing for My super babe-ly friend Luke showed me this, and I hit up Kenny (IC) and asked him if he knew about this project- they do work in northern Uganda, and it looks something like Takeaway shows. Kenny told me that this was started by Peter Gabriel’s daughter. Rad!
from on .
A week of good music: I need to get caught up! Cool stuff happening on the back end of FWBA, I’m getting glimpses …
no danny shout out / hang details?