For the first time, Behind the Hype is welcoming its first guest writer. Sarah has the fire in her heart to write, and wanted to share her show experience of Matt Pond PA with us from a couple weeks back. Thank you Sarah!

Orange County may have a reputation for trophy wives and Lamborghinis but the area is fast becoming known for its surfacing music, art, and fashion obsession.  Enter Detroit Bar of Costa Mesa, a hip hangout somewhere between a bar, lounge, and intimate music venue.  The scene is famous for featuring rising indie talent.  Detroit Bar certainly scored with Matt Pond PA on June 16^th.

The concert was one of eighteen shows of Matt Pond PA’s tour for The Dark Leaves, released in April.  I have been a fan of Matt Pond PA’s work for some years now as were my accompanying besties, Negien and Cheryl, and my man, Long.

Kicking off the night was Lanterns of San Diego, California.  Their sweet punk tunes and all-star performance had a seductive garage-band flare. Tour-mates Wintersleep, of Canada came on next.  Vocal front man Paul Murphy wooed the audience with his Paul Banks of Interpol-esk voice.  The group’s excellent harmonizing and haunting melody energized the crowd.

The atmosphere in the bar flipped and electrified as Matt Pond PA stepped onto the stage.   Matt’s greeting was informal and to the point – he was going to play some songs, by him.  The first song, “Everything Until the East Coast Ends” from the 2007 EP If You Want Blood softly introduced the bands trademark steady, sorrowful allure.

Matt Pond PA’s songs stood in stark contrast to the opening two bands’ comparatively harsher sounds.  Each song was like a melodic oasis, trickling over the listeners’ ears.

The band’s tunes are infused with wisdoms and humility.  Matt’s humble nature was evident in his nonchalant investigation of an audio issue at the start of the show.  He got down on his hands and knees in search of the problem, despite having the tech crew already on the case.  The songs’ sincere and deep lyrics drive home Matt Pond’s own humbleness.

Chris Hansen’s perfect picking-style was seriously impressive.  Matt would occasionally glance over at Chris, apparently in awe of his fiery guitar skills.  Bassist George Souleidis and drummer Aram Deradoorian anchored every song.   The two were also occasionally the subjects of Matt’s playfulness when he decided to shake and rattle their instruments gleefully.

In the middle of the concert Matt had to defend his green shirt (the Lakers were set to play the Celtics the next night for the 2010 playoff championship).  The singer surprised the audience with his witty reply discussing the unanimous support Lakers fans lend to a certain star player of the team despite his infidel behavior, dubbed by Matt as “the big rapist.”  He then insisted on not bothering much about sports typically, glugged some beer, and explained that he was going to “play some more songs we play”.
The harmonizing between Matt Pond and Leslie Sisson was completely captivating.  Leslie Sisson’s super-rich guitar notes struck deep in each song, particularly in the song “New Hampshire”.  The band performed a treat of songs across a wide array of their albums.

The set list for the gig:

Everything Until the East Coast Ends

The Dark Leaves Theme

From Debris

So Much Trouble (probably their most famous /popular)

KC

Grave’s Disease

Closer

People Have a Way

New Hampshire

Giving it All Away

Brooklyn Stars

Sparrows

Ruins

Wild Girl

Halloween (my personal favorite)
By the end of the performance the fans grew brave and began to fervently shout requests to the surprise of the band members.  Matt even asked how the audience knew of some of the songs. For the encore the band played two of these requests including the upbeat single, Lily Two. It was bliss.

It was such a trip witnessing the members of Matt Pond PA play out their art in person.  Please don’t hesitate to catch this chill band and their fresh, exhilarating sound in concert.

See you there.

-Broke in the OC

Last night, I ventured out to Redondo Beach to see a show. While it’s hardly surprising that I went to a concert, the ridiculous awesomeness of the show I witnessed was on a level all its own. Take the excitement and unbridled bliss that goes along with an Andrew W.K. show, add in some funny moose hats and giant Flintstone costumes, and it makes for quite an evening.

The show was Green Jelly and Psychostick, with support from a horrendous 2-piece death metal outfit that will remain nameless and a local rock band led by a dude who looked like Kid Rock. I went to the show specifically to see Psychostick, a hard rock/metal (or “humor-core”) band from Arizona whose songs are punch-you-in-the-face funny. Have you ever wanted to hear the alphabet done metal style? With a br00t4l breakdown in the middle? Yep, they got it. A slow-motion mosh pit? Si, senor. A band that starts a song and then stops playing but still mimes the motions of playing? Yeah, that too. In all, Psychostick wrapped more amazingness into about 35 minutes than I have ever really seen in concert.

I only heard of them a few months ago on a visit home to the Bay Area, as local high school radio station KVHS was playing this, a tune that basically reached out through the stereo and kicked me in the balls. The band is able to skewer all types of genres and styles, but not at the expense of quality, and definitely not with the same amount of cheese that someone like Weird Al Yankovic pours all over his songs. Psychostick’s two full-length albums, 2006’s We Couldn’t Think of a Title and 2009’s Sandwich, are both chock-full of skits, songs, and parodies of all sorts of angsty whiny mainstream rock clichés, and the results are, well, life-changing.

The song I heard on the radio, #1 Radio $ingle, in which lead singer/Guitar Hero axeman Rob “Rawrb” Kersey sings the clichés of modern rock hits is absolutely perfect. Just listen to it, don’t rely on my lamely-written accolades. They didn’t play it last night, but they made up for it with a hilarious cover of Drowning Pool’s Bodies in which Rawrb says I can only count to four. I can only count to four over and over. Check out my video of said song at the end of this review. I couldn’t stop laughing (and moshing). The rest of the band, Josh “Special J” Key (guitar), Alex Preiss (drums), and touring bassist Matty “Poolmoose” J, have their own roles to play in the on-stage shenanigans, and they do so with great skill.

Obey the Moose

Psychostick’s live show is exceptionally entertaining, as they have a great onstage routine down pat. The jokes between songs lead into the next song and there is no awkward silences; Rawrb is engaging and funny as hell. At one point the band fell asleep (during the end of the song Caffeine), and woke each other up slowly before launching into the end of the frantic song. Besides the songs I’ve mentioned, Psychostick played Scrotal Torment (about, well, itchy balls), BEER (one of their best songs), P is the Best Letter, and This is not a Song, it’s a Sandwich. There were probably others but it was too much fun to take notes. Oh, they also donned sunglasses and went into Danger Zone, the Top Gun theme….and oh yeah it was just as fun as you’d hope.

I bet Psychostick would make a great “serious” band, since their songs have great music and instrumentals, but they’re so good at what they do now, that any stylistic change would be a bad idea. There don’t seem to be very many other bands with similar styles anywhere near as talented or great as Psychostick, so they’re just fine as they are.

If you haven’t heard of Psychostick before, GET ON IT. Their two albums are some of the funniest stuff I’ve ever heard in my life. One of the last tracks on We Couldn’t Think of a Title is 373 Thank Yous, which is a normal band “thank you” list set to 15 minutes of skull-shattering riffs and drum fills, with Rawrb shouting people’s names instead of lyrics. It’s amazing (yeah, I know, I’ve used that word a lot thus far).

Joshy from Psychostick

The other bands were pretty entertaining as well, albeit for different reasons. The unnamed two-piece death metal group, in particular, was probably one of the worst things I’ve ever seen, UNLESS it was performance art, in which case it was great. I took notes on my phone of some of the stuff the dudes were saying, presented in list form right here:

“We’re not really sure what we’re doing, but we’re really drunk, so let’s go!”

“Who’s ready for some BLACK METALLL?”

“Alright we’re done. Thanks for stickin’ by our shitty set. Time for better bands to play.”

“I don’t really know how to play drums, you just smack ‘em around and get really drunk.”

“We hate the fuckin’ Bible…and we hate its fuckin’ words!!”

Oh, and did I mention that the drum kit had all broken cymbals that sounded like hitting cardboard boxes (similar to the Lars Ulrich effect from St. Anger, but worse)? Or that they placed three bibles or holy books of some kind on the stage, nailed together in some sort of protest of religion (I think)? I’d say this performance was high school talent show-bad. It was really….something.

Green Jelly's Cow God

Green Jelly, though, was pretty much as awesome as I had expected. I’ve only ever really heard the 3 Little Pigs song, but the show was flat-out insane. The singer guy came out dressed in a big cow costume, and he made us all get on our knees and repent for our sins (and pray to the Cow God). He repeatedly invited people onstage and gave them silly masks to wear, and changed wardrobes a few times, at one point wearing an elaborate ensemble that looked like George Clinton mixed with glow sticks and cereal boxes. It was strange.

everyone onstage

The songs were zany ridiculous numbers about a cereal killer (get it? ha) named Toucan the Son of Sam, the 3 little pigs, and a Flintstones-themed cover of the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the UK. It was all over in about 40 minutes, and by the end my face hurt from laughing and smiling.

um...yeah

In all, this show was one of the most fun shows I’ve ever been to. Green Jelly dude said they’re touring with GWAR in the fall (of course they are) and that they’re also on Warped Tour this summer. I can’t wait to see the lame emo kids at Warped getting all confused as a giant cow makes them get on their knees in worship.

I had gone to the show only expecting to enjoy Psychostick, and while they were even more entertaining than I had expected, the entire evening was a blast.

Again, if you haven’t heard of Psychostick, go to their website and buy stuff. Oh, and watch my videos from the show.

I leave you with some pictures from the night, as well.

PLUH!

Videos:

Psychostick  – ABCDeath

Psychostick – BEER

Psychostick – I Can Only Count to Four (Drowning Pool)

Psychostick – Danger Zone (Top Gun)

Green Jelly – Anarchy in the UK

Green Jelly – Three Little Pigs

In spite of my scathing opinion of Kate Nash’s sophomore album, I was pulled like fish to a chip to the El Rey Theatre where the 22 year old Brit delivered a redeeming performance that made me remember why I liked her in the first place. Hold your horses for a second though because it’s important for you to know about the opening act before I can recap the highlights of Kate Nash’s portion of the show. She would want it that way, based on her overt attachments to the trio of 15/13 year old girls, called SUPERCUTE!, who emerged dressed in the height of kitsch. For a moment, it was difficult to remind myself that I was not, in fact, at a junior high talent show. But the girls that Kate Nash declared as “the next Supremes” will win you over with their banter and general sweetness. You’d have to be a monster to deride them. And I’m not quite at monster status just yet.

The angelic aura that surrounds SUPERCUTE! members. From left to right: Julia Cumming, Rachel Trachtenburg, and June Lei

The girls from SUPERCUTE! were introduced by Kate Nash herself (still in the process of getting ready as illustrated by her très casual, oversized Nirvana t-shirt). After singing tracks that included “Candy City,” “Pigeons,” “Not to Write About Boys,” and a Pink Floyd cover, SUPERCUTE! exited, but not before a little earnest self-promotion (five-dollar CDs and accessories designed by the band members).

Nash photographs more demurely than she performs

After about thirty more minutes, Nash finally made her entrance, opening the show with the same song that opens the My Best Friend Is You album, “Paris.” During the autobiographical song, Nash, with her precision bangs and heavily applied dark blue eye shadow, sat before a piano that read: “A Cunt is a Useful Thing.” Eh, I guess. If you’re using it to get money. Or piss. Fine, it is useful. Then, instead of saving her current hit single for later, Nash jumped into “Do-Wah-Doo” to keep the audience’s energy at its pinnacle.

Kate Nash gone doo wop for the "Do-Wah-Doo" video

Just when you thought Kate wasn’t going to acknowledge the existence of her previous album, Made of Bricks, she happily sang “Mouthwash,” one of the strongest singles Nash has released during her brief career. But the deference to her debut was short-lived as she sauntered to the left side of the stage, picked up a guitar, and sang another new track from My Best Friend Is You, “Kiss That Grrrl.” After, she explained that, while in Toronto she sprained her ankle and, while in Chicago, a person crowd-surfed onstage, but that she didn’t want to remember either of those places as being the wildest city on tour. And so, she encouraged the audience to give in to being as demented as L.A. residents are perceived and to “act on your impulses. Except violent impulses…because violence is bad.” Nash has always valued succintness over profundity.

The new style of Kate Nash was in full effect at the El Rey as she came onstage in a neo-beatnik ensemble that included a black leather jacket, form-gripping black pants, and white ankle boots

The audience took her comments to heart as they jumped onstage and danced about while she screamed the lyrics to “Take Me To A Higher Plane.” This would continue throughout the night, and, even when the threat of security loomed, Nash would dismiss the fun-killing twats to the corner. The only exception was at the end, when a woman wearing a trash hair accessory, no doubt furnished from the SUPERCUTE! merchandise offerings, was taken off the stage.

Single cover for "Do-Wah-Doo"

The set list was somewhat dissatisfying as the show continued and especially when Nash opted to include “Mansion Song,” one of the least enjoyable songs on My Best Friend Is You, and “I Just Love You More” in the repertoire when far better selections, like “Pickpocket” and “Early Christmas Present,” could have replaced the riffraff. Nash, however, was able to make the most out of each song during her limited time onstage. “Foundations” was another excuse to bring out SUPERCUTE! and “I’ve Got A Secret” provided the platform for Nash’s strong feelings against homophobia. She stated that being surrounded constantly by other musicians (a direct reference to Ryan Jarman) and living in London sometimes allows her to forget how many dickheads there are in the world.

During the recording of My Best Friend Is You

The show’s pace slowed down after Nash’s second to last song, “Model Behaviour.” To conclude the set before one final encore, Nash sang the semi-hidden track on “I Hate Seagulls,” “My Best Friend Is You.” The lights stayed dim until she returned to the stage in an outfit that matched those of SUPERCUTE!, joining her yet again to perform “Brand New Key.” Nash said the usual pleasantries that all musicians say at the end of a show and then proclaimed, “And if you don’t know this song, go home.” Agreed. Everyone should respect the ephemeral pop brilliance of Melanie. Or at least know the song from Boogie Nights.

Alison Sudol and her maestros that make up A Fine Frenzy, didn't miss a note, the sound of their performance was not a tweet different than the recorded sound. - Scratched Diamond

A Fine Frenzy, Alison Sudol, took an April residency at the Coronet Theater at the Largo in Los Angeles, CA, and it’s safe to say if you missed this unique opportunity to spend an intimate night with Ms.Sudol wrapped in her love songs, you may never truly understand the spice a hopeless romantic craves.  It is quite unbelievable that a woman as dainty, adorable and sweet could find herself writing the woes of romance.

As Sudol sweetly sipped hot tea while sharing the innocent tales of her life between songs her manly maestros would quietly play musical chairs just behind her, switching not only chairs but instruments – the crews simplicity and impeccable musicianship along with the intimate setting provided by the Largo made it seem as though they were all just invited over for an afternoon brunch; providing the comfort needed for Alison need to pour out personal secrets during the evening.  My favorite peer into her life was the depiction of how her home looked like the seven dwarfs, when she explained this was not her intention but this is “what happens when you leave her alone with a piece of property.” The innocence and honesty emanating from songs was rang true of her tales as well, forcing your mind to race on wondering how Ms. Sudol was still a misses as the crowd would drown in soft, friendly laughter. From the moment each song started, the laughter of the crowd would come to a complete hush allowing the music to call on the hearts of passionate kissers, especially those hopeful of long awaited kiss described in Electric Twist.

A Fine Frenzy started off her set with the upbeat and first track off her latest release Bomb in a Birdcage, “Wouldn’t Do,” and then it was though her set list had a mind of it’s own, traveling through her passionate songs from both A Fine Frenzy albums.  Sudol was so cute she caught herself excited and played a few additional songs even after her encore and she ended up perfectly closing with a solo performance of “The Minnow & The Trout“ off of her first album, One Cell in the Sea, reminding us that what we are not that different after all.

During her finale, she shyly asked the audience if she could just play one more as she was already softly skipping over to the piano and waving her band off the stage, a man called out to her from the silent audience, “You are adorable,” she misunderstood him and asked for him to repeat, “You are adorable,” he proudly shouted for a second time.  She maintained her admirality when she released a small giggle and retorted, “Oh, I thought you said I was purple!  And purple is actually my least favorite color, I like violet and lavender just not purple.”

Once you’ve spent an affectionate night with A Fine Frenzy, you wonder how hopeless romantics survived this planet without her beautiful face and well-fit music.

It's so much better than a love tantrum, it's real, faithful, honest and beautiful. - Scratched Diamond

I am telling ya, this girl exudes endearment. - Scratched Diamond

And that's a wrap for this perfectly timed explosion of colorful sounds and intimate tales called A Fine Frenzy. - Scratched Diamond

Even though BehindtheHype does not pride itself on redundancy, I feel compelled to add to Flak’s summation of Metric’s March 26^th show at the Palladium, especially since I went with him, but, evidently, a bitch has to be named Jessica T. to get a mention. Why would I bother creating an addendum when Flak probably has more devotees in the readership department? For one, it’s like Jack Nicholson says in As Good As It Gets: A woman is no different than a man, she just has no reason or accountability. And second, there’s this intense connection I feel to the lyrics on the Fantasies album, which Metric focused on heavily in their setlist, making the music in live form all the more earnest and exquisite. It’s like each line from the tracks on Fantasies could’ve been extracted from my autobiography, primarily: Satellite Mind’s “I’m not suicidal, I just can’t get out of bed,” Twilight Galaxy’s “Did they tell you you should grow up when you wanted to dream?,” Front Row’s (if the pronouns were changed) “She’s not perfect, she’s a victim of her occupation/social insulation,” and Blindness’ “ I wanna leave but the world won’t let me go.”

The knowing glance of Emily Haines

I imagine that’s Emily Haines’ greatest attribute as a lyricist: The ability to universalize her sentiments. This knack she has for relating to her listeners becomes transcendent in live performance. As the opening song, Twilight Galaxy, shows, there is something naturally frenetic about Haines. Still, though she is the band’s eye candy and backbone with her vocals and synth sounds, guitarist James Shaw, bassist Josh Winstead, and drummer Joules Scott-Key deserve much recognition. Metric cannot be Metric without them. Otherwise it would be Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton or Bang Lime or Broken Social Scene or any other as of yet unestablished Metric side project.

Yes, there are others in the band, like James Shaw, who I think is playing the theremin.

But back to the show. After the amazing, practically eight-minute long version of Twilight Galaxy, the angry riffs of Satellite Mind pervaded the Palladium. Continuing the promotion of Fantasies, Metric followed with Front Row, where Haines sang the usual lyric of “Burnout stars they shine so bright,” quickly adding, “right Los Angeles?” and then the crowd pleasing “Help I’m Alive.” There was a brief segue into Empty from 2005′s Live It Out, but then straight back to Fantasies purism with Collect Call, Gold Guns Girls, Gimme Sympathy, Sick Muse, a one-song nod to Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? with Dead Disco, and Stadium Love transformed into Palladium Love as the crowd’s enthusiasm reverberated back onstage.

Palladium Love

It was unexpected to see so many leaving before or during the encores of Monster Hospital and Combat Baby. What a senseless move considering Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard are always bottlenecked for some reason or other, regardless of absconding from a Metric show early or not. Before the end of Combat Baby, Haines kindly iterated that she missed Los Angeles. I believe her since so few performers ever feel obligated to say that. And I appreciated it since so many seize the opportunity to shit on L.A. So thank you Metric, and do come again.

Metric in magical black and white

P.S. All of these photos have been shamelessly hijacked from Flak’s post. He has a camera and I don’t. That’s all there is to it. Oh and photography skills.

This time last year, if you asked me about Metric, I’d be pissed because you brought up my worst subject back in grade school. Now though, I’d tell you how much ass they kick (or how well Emily Haines can wear a dress). My Journey started with listening to their most recent album, Fantasies, and moving backwards to Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?

If you read my last review of Metric live, you know that I have Jessica T. to thank, and I thank her again for getting me into Metric. Adorned just as stellar an outfit as the last, frontwoman Emily Haines was ready to go from start to finish, with a tangible energy of the crowd billowing behind me as I stood in the photo pit with eager eyes. I admit, it was good to be there again, with Jessica T. feeling ten times more giddy than I did for sure.

Honestly theres not too much I can say, because Metric is something to be experienced. I’m just happy I got to dance to Dead Disco, my favorite Metric song. And while I didn’t have the awesome set up that Brantley (kick ass photographer for Metric), I made due with a little video action for you all. And yes, before you comment down below, I’m aware I’m an idiot for putting the wrong song name in the credits. But you die hard fans know its Twilight Galaxy and not Help I’m Alive .

Here’s the night’s setlist, and Twilight Galaxy live. Enjoy!

Metric, March 26th at the Hollywood Palladium from John Duah on Vimeo.

Twilight Galaxy

Satellite Mind

Front Row

Help I’m Alive

Empty

Collect Call

Gold Guns Girls

Gimme Sympathy

Sick Muse

Dead Disco

Stadium Love

Encore: Monster Hospital and Combat Baby (an awesome acoustic version though..)

Thank you Metric for another beautiful evening.

Also, take a look at the photos I shot from the night while you’re at it!

Until next time my friends,

~Flak

Back when I was a compulsive Sevendust listener nine or ten years ago, seeing this show would’ve had me shitting not only my pants, but those of everybody around me as well. While this did not happen (and I’m sure my BTH colleague Ge Oh was quite thankful for this), I was still very excited to see them. While I didn’t really care for the little bit of Drowning Pool I knew, seeing a couple new bands (The Flood and Digital Summer) sounded like fun, and for the most part, everybody delivered handsomely.

First up was The Flood, an early Tool-inspired group in the vein of Chevelle or Earshot, but with a great deal more intensity and an impressive psychedelic edge. Between vocalist Chris Johnson’s startling stage presence and the powerful rhythm section of bassist Jeff Eason and drummer Nate Minick, this opening act drew a crowd rather quickly, and kept their attention effortlessly. The five song set flew by in under thirty minutes, and by the time they were done, the audience was more than sufficiently warmed up. Hot off the heels of recording their full-length debut, as well as an extensive nationwide tour, The Flood are definitely a hard rock act to watch.

Unfortunately, the more bands present on a bill, the more likely it’s going to be that weak links will be present – Digital Summer was that weak link. While they started with a clever feedback-ridden intro, the set was plagued by a poor overall sound, namely because Kyle Winterstein’s vocals were drowned out to the point that he was nearly inaudible. The alt. metal quintet has quite a buzz following them, but while they gave a fairly energetic performance (and Ben Anderson’s drumming was spectacular), they just sounded like another generic band from the current metal scene. Like The Flood, theirs was a brief, five song set, and they were done within a half hour.

It was Drowning Pool who really got the audience stirred up; the whole band displayed great musicianship and energy, and singer Ryan McCombs’ (the band’s third) charisma grabbed everybody right away. The fact that they put on such a good show blew me away, because like I said, I’d never really been a fan. McCombs had a great, sarcastic banter with the audience, and while their set was about as long as the two previous bands combined, it felt just as quick. They closed out with what is easily their best known song, an absolutely rousing reworking of the overture from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera… okay I’m lying, it was Bodies.

By the time Sevendust finally took the stage, the crowd had been whipped into quite a frenzy of anticipation, and the Atlanta boys did not disappoint. The set started with a blast of feedback, kicking off with Black, the opening track from their 1997 self titled debut. It was a pleasant surprise how well represented each of their albums was, with an emphasis on Animosity, their 2001 album which many refer to as their best. Ironically, the only neglected album in their catalogue was their most recent, Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow. Clint Lowery, John Connolly, and Vince Hornsby (guitarists and bassist, respectively) running back and forth across the stage, leaping into the air, and generally rocking out like maniacs was absolutely awesome, but vocalist Lajon Witherspoon’s towering stage presence was still the central feature. He is one of those frontmen who can boom out “ALL Y’AWLL HAVIN’ A GOOD TIME TONIGHT??” as many times as he wants, and it will never get old.

In the middle of the set they slowed things down with a great acoustic pairing of Xmas Day and Angel’s Son, but they jumped right back into the more aggressive mood they’d established with Unraveling, the single off of their upcoming album Cold Day Memory. After finishing up their set with Bitch, they came back for their encore (encores never have a sense of mystery anymore… but if the band’s good enough you really don’t give a shit) with a very cool medley of Black Sabbath, Master of Puppets, and Walk that crashed into Born to Die, and they wrapped it up with Face to Face.

Overall, the show was bursting with energy, and it was far more fun than I had expected, with Drowning Pool being a particularly pleasant surprise. One thing each of the four bands had in common was great drumming; Sevendust’s Morgan Rose, for example, must’ve thrown out at least ten or twelve sticks while in the middle of playing, presumably because he gets bored too easily with playing lightning fast drum fills (this is where I add a lame bad ass joke, like “he’s so bad ass his mother has a tattoo that says “SON,” so feel free to groan). Even with the least impressive group, there was never any sense of simply waiting for the next band to come on, which is quite a feat for a show with more than just two or three bands.

Everyone was hustling backstage to catch a word from some of the artists to get a feel for what they had to bring to their fans for the Spring Break Concert 2010. Before anyone could get a word in, the sound of drums filled the arena while people were still filtering in from outside. The lucky few early birds were not only able to catch a glimpse of the Tahitian dancers opening for Samoan iRok who was performing for the preshow, but also, by the end of his energetic performance, might have been able to catch one of his shirts, shoes, hats, or basically anything he could spare to his fans before being considered not PG-13. Even though he went a bit over time, in my opinion, Samoan iRok was a perfect opening to get the crowd charged up for the kind of energy that this concert would bring.

Following Samoan iRok, was the beautiful and talented, Teairra Mari. She was able to prove her amazing artistic talent and vocal skill by singing the first verse of each song A cappella. However, explaining each song before she sang, she may have lost a few members of her audience who were only there for the party and not the art. Regardless if a small section of her lost some of their enthusiasm, she definitely caught the attention of Behind the Hype as she retains her title as a true musical artist.

To reclaim the attention of the crowd, specifically those of the female persuasion, Bobby Valentino flattered his onlookers with roses, an much more. Serenading his future Bobby-V obsessors, with songs like “Slow Down”, and his chorus for Ludacris’ “All over the World”,  he certainly won the hearts of the women in the stadium. By the end of his performance Mr. Valentino was stripped of his shirt having the females going crazy.

Before the girls were able to organize an I love Bobby Valentino cult, Soulja Boy broke out hard with his very entertaining S8aholic crew. Throwing out shirts and valuable mementos, he also left the crowd with more than just his captivating performance to remember him by. Although I would have to give Fabalous the best-performer-of-the-night award, Soulja Boy was definitely the man who got the crowd dancing, bumping, and wanting more.

Next, the aforementioned performer of the night, Fabalous, chose an unexpected ensemble of older works. Something everyone could relate to. Being the singular performer that night to successfully have full audience participation he brought the crowd to the breaking point of crazy-into-it. So much so that when he asked everyone in the room to tell off their “haters”, a girl came rushing to the front row to throw down with another girl who was front and center into his performance.

By the time the cat fight broke, Fabalous stopped his performance and security was clearing the groups out of the hot seats, literally. Still, our boy Fabalous didn’t have any trouble regaining the audience’s focus.

Flo Rida closing the event for the night, really got the already super charged audience in a fury over who would be the “playa in the house” to take home his chain! By this time the crowd was fully ready to turn the Sports Area into an all night party, but before anyone knew it, the concert was over, The Dream remaining a no show.

All in all, it was an event-filled night to remember. A huge thanks and shoutout goes out to PRX360 for not only having us there, but for professionally handling all the Public Related Media for the night. Also, a special thanks to Urban
Network, Ozone,Girls of Low Rider,Silk, Thisis50.com, TheHipHopdaily.com , and LA XLarge for coming out to San Diego’s Spring Break Concert and Covering our performing artists.

Since 1984, Bon Jovi has graced the music world with songs that make women tear off their clothes, jump like fools and pump their fists.   Since 1984…

With 26 years and an extensive discography under their southerly clad belts, one would hope a Bon Jovi set list would be filled with these exciting, fist pumping songs. Oh, on contrary my friends.

Dashboard Confessional opened and the people behind me demanded that I sit down before I actually arrived to my seat.  I didn’t want to break it to them, but once Bon Jovi got on stage, I had no intentions to sit down. NONE!  I used to listen to Dashboard during my lonely and depressed high school years; so taking my seat for them would be fine.  Sadly though, this incident AND the band foreshadowed the actions AND feelings the rest of the night would bring.  But at the time, I had high expectations for Bon Jovi and knew/thought they would lift my spirits.

However, opening with “Blood on Blood” and “We Weren’t Born to Follow” brought only a scattered bunch to their feet.  Until “Bad Name” started, finally the soccer moms stood up and screamed desperately for Richie Sambora‘s flat-ironed hair and plastic face to play to them.  I felt elated and just knew that things would continue with the upbeat pace.

But then they quickly reverted with six new songs in a row (sit down) then “It’s My Life” (stand up) and a cover of “Hallelujah” (sit down) originally sung by Leonard Cohen.  If you don’t know that song, pour yourself a bottle of wine, download the Jeff Buckley version and brace yourself for tears.  Why Bon Jovi decided to sing that at a 20k person venue that wasn’t there to raise money for Haiti is beyond me.

It felt like Catholic Church. And after a fistful of acoustic hymn-type tunes and Jon Bon jumping up and down with a tambourine, my friends and I chose to flee.

Forty five minutes after our departure while discussing not the concert but our daily sins at a nearby Denny’s, a friend posted on Twitter that they finally sang “Wanted Dead or Alive” and “Livin’ on a Prayer” for the encore.  The charm of an encore has clearly been forgotten, Mr. Jovi.  You don’t make people stay for the encore.  You make them stay because they WANT TO STAY through the blessed joys of unison praise to hits, one after another. The encore is for shock value, leaving a surprise for the end.  NOT YOUR TWO BIGGEST HITS, YOU PRICKS.

As we walked out, I took note of a snippet of lyrics that  summarized my emotional and physical feelings: Give something for the pain, something for the blues, something to get me through the night.

A turkey melt, seasoned fries and a prayer before bedtime did that for me.  Not Bon Jovi, and not the nostalgia that utterly lacked at HP Pavilion.

My thoughts exactly!

Last night I finally attended my first KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show. I’m not sure why they call it that, because no one plays acoustic. I guess it’s a clever joke in the minds of the KROQ people, but whatever. Despite the fact that the station didn’t give me any tickets for free, even though I called in a few times, I secured tickets in the Loge section and had a pretty decent view for the show. The pictures below were taken from my seat, so excuse the lack of up-close-ness.

Overall opinion: the show was a lot of fun, with some great performances. I really liked the Gibson Ampitheater, as the sound was incredible (with one exception I’ll cover later). The crowd, though, was super lame. They seemed like they were only there to see Muse, yet when Muse played, the people in the pit just stood around or danced lightly, without any sense of excitement other than cheering after the songs. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but I generally go nuts when a band I am really excited for is playing. I don’t just stand there and Tweet or sip my 13 dollar beer. Meh.

White Rabbits – They opened the show and were really impressive. The band has a cool, percussion-heavy sound, with frequently more than one band member playing some form of drums. The main singer guy plays piano and sings, but he trades off that duty with one of the guitarists as well. They played songs from both of their records Fort Nightly and It’s Frightening, and sounded great. It’s a shame the place was pretty empty when they played, because they were a highlight. Such is the fate of opening bands, I guess.

White Rabbits

Metric – Lead singer/guitarist Emily Haines boppedaround the stage with undying energy in her shiny black pants.  From their newest album Fantasies, Metric played Stadium Love, Gimme Sympathy (one of my favorites) and the single Help, I’m Alive. I’m not really familiar with their other three records as much, so I didn’t know the rest of the tunes that they played, but they were also impressive. They should receive more credit than they do, as Haines is a much more engaging and enjoyable female vocalist/focal point of her band than Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (ugh) is with her cat screeches and annoyingness. Unlike the No No No’s, Metric actually has some great songs.

Metric

Next up was Cage the Elephant. I saw them at Coachella last year and was blown away. Their set last night, while not received very excitedly from the lame crowd, was just as great. Besides playing Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked and Back Against the Wall, they played what I assume were new songs. The last song sounded like In Utero- era Nirvana, with fuzzy guitars and singer Mathew Shultz doing Kurt-esque screams and spazzing around onstage with relentless fury. If it is a sign of where their next album will go, I’m already looking forward to it. The crowd, though, mostly stood around. At the end of the set Shultz stage dove and crowd surfed around for a bit, which got the pit people a bit excited.

Cage the Elephant

Phoenix – These French dudes really impressed me too. I still can’t get into their album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, the one that everyone rants and raves about, but their live show made up for it. They were also the first band that the crowd seemed really enthused about, standing up and cheering the whole time. Phoenix came off like a more full-sounding the Strokes, with a lead singer in Thomas Mars who actually moves around and is engaging. By the time they played the big radio hit 1901, the crowd was very lively. Mars ended the song by going into the crowd and singing the refrain from the pit, which always gets people excited. Mars knew what he was doing. Now if only their album kept my attention as much…

Phoenix

Vampire Weekend – Meh. Their songs are quirky, yes, but to me they are basically the indie version of Panic! At the Disco (If this statement offends your indie hipster point of view, readjust your scarf and calm down). They sounded fine, but I just can’t get all excited and worked up about them. Judging by the crowd their set was a big bathroom/snack/smoke break, too. I just don’t subscribe to the hipster hype machine that lauds them with so much acclaim.

Vampire Weekend

Slightly Stoopid –I knew back when the lineup was first announced that Stoopid wouldn’t really fit the bill very well. I’ve seen them quite a few times, and they have a ton of albums, but all KROQ plays of theirs is 2AM from Chronchitis. Because of that, the crowd seemed bored and stood around listlessly until that song.

Stoopid did play a good selection of tunes for the radio show, such as Officer and Running with a Gun from the album Everything You Need, but for the most part they seemed just as out of place as I had expected them to. Sandwiching them around a bunch of hip indie bands probably didn’t help.

Slightly Stoopid

The Bravery – Breaking up the reggae/rock mix of 311 and Slightly Stoopid were the Bravery, NYC’s synth/new-wave pop band led by Sam Endicott and his silly hat and Robert Smith-ian croon. They’re not a bad band by any stretch, but some of their songs are a bit draggy and anti-climactic. They did play a new song called Hatefuck that wasn’t as Trent Reznor-ian as its name would imply; it was instead rather dance-y, as expected, but it did come with this weird video on the jumbo screen that looked like some old version of 1950s soft-core porn that was a bit distracting and funny. Ending with An Honest Mistake, the Bravery’s performance was basically just as I had expected it would be. It was just odd how highly they were listed in the bill, and playing between Slightly Stoopid and 311 added to the confusion.

The Bravery and Sam Endicott's hat

311 – I’ve seen 311 more than 20 times, as they are my favorite band. They NEVER have any technical issues at their shows. Despite that, they were the ONLY band at this show that had problems, which was a weird buzzing feedback-y sound that marred some of the songs. They opened with Beautiful Disaster and played a set that I almost predicted with total accuracy (superfan? 311 nerd? Yup), throwing in the hits All Mixed Up, Down, Flowing, and recent single Hey You, a song I wish they never wrote with some other tunes from their new record Uplifter; they also played concert staple Applied Science, complete with its full-band drum solo. All told, it was another great show by the band, but the mysterious technical issues were a bit frustrating and out of character.

in 311, everybody's a drummer!

Muse – OMG YES THE BAND WE WERE ALL HERE TO SEE! Or at least it sounded like that when they emerged amid thunderous applause and screaming to slam into Uprising, the single from their new album The Resistance. They played for roughly an hour, touching on the big hits Supermassive Black Hole, Hysteria, Time is Running Out, and Knights of Cydonia, which ended the set, but they skipped over New Born (one of my favs) and Feeling Good in favor of a handful of Resistance tracks like United States of Eurasia, Guiding Light, Resistance, and Unnatural Selection.

Muse and Matt Bellamy's ever-present passion face

I wasn’t surprised by this, as it was a radio show and they have a new album to push, but it was still a bit of a let down. Matt Bellamy’s guitar was all glittery and red, though, and he wore shiny pink pants, so that made up for it. They also sounded incredible, as Bellamy is able to replicate the soaring operatic vocals from the studio recordings to the live setting impeccably. Their performance was masterful, if a bit heavy on Resistance songs. I hope their Coachella set has more old stuff thrown in too.

Muse

In all, KROQ Acoustic Christmas Day 2 was great. The band selection was a bit strange in there was absolutely no cohesion to the lineup; it started out all indie pop then threw in some surf reggae, and the result was a bit scattered and all over the place. Still, I enjoyed most of the performances, and it was evident that the crowd did as well (or at least they did once Muse hit the stage). KROQ knows how to put on good shows, and pick a great venue for their annual holiday fest. I just wish they would have fixed the technical issues that messed up 311’s set, but that’s just me talking as a fanboy.

And to all, a good night.