Sadly, given how crowded festivals are, it is difficult to see a band up close unless you watch the previous show. To be honest, I arrived two shows early to see The Shins/Bon Iver/Radiohead (Radiohead up close is a life changing experience), and even then I was still 10 people back. With that in mind, some of my favorite shows from this year were the ones I actually went to for the next show. Although I did not know the songs, I did dance (hopefully that helps).
They do, and people did some awful things like leave bands the instant they played their hit song (90% of the Gotye crowd left after they played "Somebody That I Used to Know"), however I have to say people were just so happy to be there, and with the slight exception of crowd surfers (I am 6'4" and get kicked in the head every time....every time) I thought the crowd was great for almost all the shows. To be honest, the Real Estate crowd was 10x better at Coachella than any other time I have seen them in SF. Now that I think of it, maybe SF just has a really shitty concert scene....
M83 was outstanding live, and although I agree with Michael_'s assessment that it was very crowded and kinda terrible to put them in the smaller venue, it was completely worth it. Everyone was dancing and it was a great time all around.
Although the complaint that it was tightly packed and hard to move is legitimate, I hate to break it to everyone, but all big shows are like that. I was lucky enough to get very close for The Shins - Bon Iver - Radiohead trifecta, and I was unable to move for all three of those concerts. Although not enjoyable, it is something festival goers will need to get used to: The closer you are, the most squished you will be.
TL;DR See M83, they were amazing, simply amazing.
Is anyone else as creeped out by Greg Smeltzer as I am. Seriously who is this guy, and who responds to those accusations by saying "Do you think Dave is attractive?"
On the other hand, Courtney Love will be Courtney Love, strung out mumbling about nothing in particular.
So I know the crowd at last year's Coachella hated Animal Collective. My friend was up front and was seriously disappointed by all the people close up booing them (which is a dick thing to do). The problem with festivals is that if you are a smaller band coming before a popular band of another genre, the people up close may not be into you, which sucks hard if you are experimental like Animal Collective
How are they making me choose between Explosions in the Sky and M83. Both of which means I am missing The Black Angels.
On the other hand Michael, your schedule is pretty good. I will probably catch Yuck>Neon Indian>Girls>WU Lyf>Explosions>Refused.
Saturday, I still have no idea what I am doing.
Sunday: Gardens and Villas > Oberhofer > First Aid Kit > (what's left) Greg Ginn > Real Estate >Hives > Justice> At the Drive In
Obviously they are in New York, they are celebrating Passover, or better known to us as Jewish Thanksgiving. This explains why the posts this week were feeling pretty flat, or dare I say, unleavened
Olivia Tremor Control? Olivia Tremor Control!
The line up is pretty great this year, and I love the fact that Atlas Sound and Lotus Plaza are playing in the same day. Maybe with their powers combined they can form Deerhunter
The bass is definitely in the back there, and the line is amazing. I wish they emphasized it a bit more, since it was hard to notice without someone mentioning it.
The Nardwuar interview with Grimes and Odd Future were both extraordinarily good. In case anyone is interested, the person who drew the intro (where it say Nardwuar over and over again) is Mitch Clem. For anyone who is into music, especially punk, I highly recommend you check out his webcomics and art.
This has been an epic week for music to say the least. The Shins new album is fantastic (It was worth the 5 year wait), and Daniel Rossen's EP is hands down my favorite of the Grizzly Bear solo work.
Although I can partly agree with you, The Shins started as James Mercer's side project, had a rotating line up throughout its existence, and Wincing The Night Away was recorded mostly by a solo Mercer. Although it is sad that the band from Chutes Too Narrow and Wincing the Night Away are gone, it appears to be Mercer's band, not a collective. The situation reminds me of The Smashing Pumpkins, where Billy Corgan wrote and recorded the entire albums by himself, but when he replaced Jimmy, D'Arcy, and James, things did not feel right. So I can at least understand where you are coming from.
Although you got downvoted, I completely agree, they were boring when I saw them at Treasure Island. I love their music, but they did not put on the best show (far from the worst). Hopefully they will be more exciting next time.
This sounds amazing. I just need to convince myself that it is a great idea to fly across the country to see some of these bands for the 3rd time this year.
Also, City and Coloure, fuck yes.
Douchebag Santigold: Complains about lack of true art in music, comes out with single that sounds exactly like XTC's Making Plans for Nigel.
http://stereogum.com/961972/santigold-lmfao-makes-me-cry/franchises/wheres-the-beef/
With all that in mind, I still enjoy the song.
I would be awesome to see The Field, Grimes, and Cloud Nothings, but I really need to see the rest of the line up before I would consider it. GY!BE is the only other group I would excited to see, and I will be seeing them at Coachella. On the positive side, limiting GY!BE to a 45 - 50 minute set is pretty ideal. I saw them a year ago and the show went on for 2.5 hours, which sounds amazing until you realize that you just listened to GY!BE for 2.5 hours and that is just a lot of fucking static to handle.
Not gonna lie, I laughed a bit at the jalapeno cheese part. Except for that, the show looks pretty awful and will fit right in with all the other shit on adult swim
This is a fantastic remix. I really love how he does not obscure or takes over the song, but instead adds to it with the IDM clicks. Awesome, just awesome.
They guy obviously has the money to get this fixed (money from the Gorillaz alone should do it), so I have to wonder why he is still missing that tooth for over 7 years.
I don't think the issue is that their new music isn't catchy, I think it just isn't as well written or as original. Their two singles from their new album sound very similar to each other and a lot of the latter day music.
@jvoci
I can agree with that part. Typically you have to be pretty belligerent to have security (or have a restaurant call the cops) to have you removed. I wonder what the whole story is, given the fact that no matter how much pull Chris Cornell has, they most likely (hopefully?) asked the guy to leave first.
I just wanted to add to my above comment (in case anyone was interested in the legality of denying service):
The Federal Civil Rights Act guarantees all people the right to "full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin."
In cases in which the patron is not a member of a federally protected class, the question generally turns on whether the business's refusal of service was arbitrary, or whether the business had a specific interest in refusing service. For example, in a recent case, a California court decided that a motorcycle club had no discrimination claim against a sports bar that had denied members admission to the bar because they refused to remove their "colors," or patches, which signified club membership. The court held that the refusal of service was not based on the club members' unconventional dress, but was to protect a legitimate business interest in preventing fights between rival club members.
The above two paragraphs came from here
http://www.legalzoom.com/us-law/equal-rights/right-refuse-service
So the argument is this: The lounge is run by a private company who has the right to deny service to anyone. They felt that the person's use of the word queer was not only inappropriate, but also could have instigated a fight. This has nothing to deal with freedom of speech since the person (according to the above blurb) was not arrested, he was just asked to leave a bar.
I love that he still thinks of himself as a drummer even though he has been a songwriter and front man for the Foo Fighters for over 15 years. I am not the biggest fan of their music, but it is hard to hate Dave Grohl, he is just so passionate about the music he makes.
+1 for Coachella post-hardcore. I am ridiculously excited to see Refused, especially because they say they are going to play A New Shape of Punk in its entirety. Regardless, this has some pretty great bands that Coachella does not have, such as White Denim, The Antlers, and War on Drugs (who was just meh when I saw them live sadly, hopefully they are better).
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