8th Show of 2009: Iron & Wine

Iron & Wine, originally uploaded by maceelaine.

On May 7th, Jenn and I headed over to the Swedish American Hall to see Iron & Wine.

This was more or less the perfect week day show. I love the SAH, full of space and light and seats. The show started at 7:30 with the Magic Leaves, who sound like a hippy jam band but were amazing. Mellow and harmonic, I’d definitely like to see them again. By the time they finished their set, we could still see the fading sun out the skylights.

Iron & Wine was engaging, hilarious, and an amazing musician. It takes a special person to be able to fill an entire stage solo. I didn’t even take my eyes off him the whole night. I was only partially familiar with his work, and now I am a certified fan.

Because I am old, I was truly excited that the show was done by ten. It gave me plenty of time to go home and relax and ruminate on the awesomeness.

If you’re interested in hearing the concert, you can purchase it for cheap HERE.  Brilliant idea, by the way.

Quick Recap of Shows 4 – 7

I’ve been distracted and not posting. No one wants to hear about my colds nor my weird injuries, I’m sure, so I’ve just kept it to myself, using other, more appropriate venues for that kind of thing.

Sadly, in the meantime, I’ve gone to four shows and haven’t written a thing about them, so here’s a quick recap.

4th Show: Leslie and the Badgers, Band of Annuals, Or, the Whale at the Hotel Utah Saloon February 11th: I wanted to write a whole page about how much I liked Leslie and the Badgers. They are awesome and you should see them. Band of Annuals were good, but not what I was in the mood for. I couldn’t make it through Or, the Whale’s set, because I was dead on my feet, not because they weren’t good. In fact, I’d like to see them again (maybe earlier? or not on a school night? please?)
5th Show: Zappa Plays Zappa at El Rio Theater in Santa Cruz on March 4th: It was like seeing my childhood played live. It was wonderful going to a show with my sister and my father, who almost never goes out. I felt a little young and a lot female. The band was tight and amazing, and there’s not a bad seat in El Rio, seriously.
6th Show: Elvis Perkins in Deerland at Cafe du Nord on April 11th: Another late show that I couldn’t get through. I really enjoyed the music, though I probably would have liked even more had I been sitting down. Jenn and I wondered when we got so old.
7th Show: Spanish Harlem Orchestra at Roccopulco Supper Club on March 24th: This was the first time I had gone salsa dancing in public, and while terrified, I also had a really good time. There are some terrific dancers in SF; I am not (yet) one of them, though after this I feel compelled to become a better one. Salsa music is amazing live, and these are the guys to hear do it.

So what’s coming up? Nothing, so far! That’ll have to change soon. Who should we see next?

3rd Show of 2009: Tapes ‘n Tapes!

Oy, I am seriously behind. I mean, I went to this show on January 23rd. And I’m just getting around to writing about it NOW? Oops.

First off, I was saddened by memories of my two block walk from my car to The Great American Music Hall. I was shouted at by no less than six different guys, with a range from “Whoo-OOO” to “Shake it, don’t break it,” and my personal favorite, “The sistas in this hood gonna be jealous of YOU.” One offhand comment I can stand. Over half a dozen and I start to feel gross. It was bad enough that I was trying to scope out people at the concert who I could get to walk me back to my car. As it happened, I just pretended I was on the phone and walked very fast.

This was another adventure in solo concert-going, which I am still not used to. I just don’t know what to do between bands, especially when I’m not interested in drinking. I spent most of my time wandering around the small space and people watching.

I missed the first band, and the second band was… I usually try to be kind, but these guys were just bad. There wasn’t anything notable about their music, and they just couldnt’ hold my interest. I went to the bathroom just to stand in line where it was a little quieter, and to kill time. When I came out, they were singing “F*** San Francisco,  f*** California.” Now the song was about being sick of everything, but I can’t imagine this was very popular with the audience. It wasn’t with this member.

Tapes ‘n tapes pleasantly wiped away all that, though. They rocked hard, and the audience rocked right along with them. I’m not as familiar with their second album as much as their first, and so I felt like I was hearing half the songs for the first time, and they were good.  The stoned kid next to me kept high fiving me, which could be have been obnoxious, but instead came across cute.

******

Totally unrelated: someone brought puppies to work yesterday, and they were so, so cute, and I FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES. Shame on me.

2nd Show of 2009: the Peninsula Symphony!

I’ve been batting this post around for a couple of weeks now, trying to decide what to say. In the interest of moving on, I’ll keep it brief.

On January 16th, I went with my grandmother to see the Peninsula Symphony at the Fox Theater in Redwood City. We’ve gone to many of their performances, as good friends of the family (my former piano teacher!) were on the board for many years. This particular concert was a focus on Spain.

Carolina Lugo’s Brisas de Espana dance troupe danced along with the first half. People went gaga for them. I found it distracting from the music itself, which was lovely and excellently played. The second half was the entirety of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, played wonderfully by Angel Romero. This was my grandfather’s favorite piece of music, played by his favorite guitarist, and so it was extra special for me. The playing was superb and passionate, and I could see from my fifth row seat that he felt the music, without looking TOO into it, which can look a bit silly (see here).

The entire program:
Program:
Manuel De Falla: Interlude and Dance from La Vida Brevé
Georges Bizet: Carmen Suite
Manuel De Falla: Three Cornered Hat Suite
Emmanuel Chabrier: España
Carolina Lugo’s Brisas de España Flamenco Dance Company
Joaquin Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Angel Romero, guitar

1st Show of 2009: Geographer!

I can always count on Jenn to clue me into cool things.

She got me into her friend’s band, Geographer, last year, and I think this is the third time I’ve seen them. Each time, I am completely impressed. This time was at Cafe du Nord. Their songs are interesting both in music and in lyrics, and all three men are great musicians. You should go see them; they’re playing with the Heavenly States at the Rickshaw Stop on Feb 5th, and at Cafe du Nord again in April.

At this particular show, they were opening for the Botticellis, but the show started at nine pm, and there were three bands, and it was a school night, and I am evidently getting old, because three songs into the Botticellis, I really wanted to get in my pajamas and lay down. But I liked what I heard, and I’d like to see them again! Just earlier. Please?

Want to invite me to a show? Are you on SonicLiving? Come be my friend.

8th Concert of 2008: Santogold!

I received an email a while back from my boyfriend. The text was as follows:

Babe I know you’re sensitive and you don’t like the 80’s so I’m taking a big gamble here; I’m just saying if Santogold knocks on my door and asks if I want to go on a date with her, I’m considering it.

Two months later and we’re rocking together at her show. She did NOT, in fact, steal my boyfriend (whew).

I was taken aback a little when I saw that there were four bands in the lineup.  It was a school night, after all. But get this: I enjoyed all four acts. What?

First up was Low vs. Diamond. A good, tight pop rock act. Halfway through their set, I found myself mindlessly singing along to a song, and realized that they’ve had pretty heavy rotation on Live 105.  With a swift change of tone, Alice Smith came on next. It was just her and a guitarist. She came out, shyly grinning and pulling off her glasses right before approaching the mike. So when her heavy, beautiful voice came belting out, I was actually taken aback. I’m definitely interested in hearing what she can do with an entire band. I had, for some reason, gotten this idea in my head that I didn’t like the Mates of State, even though I had never heard them. Trevor thought I was insane, and that they were right up my alley. He was right. I liked them enough that I am actually considering buying their album (which is something, in these tight times).

And Santogold. She was everything I was hoping and more. Now, being a pop rocker, it was very strange to see roadies take EVERYTHING off the stage at the Fillmore. While we waited, the air grew thick with smoke, with only about 30% of it coming from the smoke machine on stage. Once the music started, you couldn’t help but move. I love being in audiences that dance, it keeps me full of energy and improves my experience. And her backup dancers are so impressive live. They have almost not interaction with anything else happening on stage, and they’re tight and well rehearsed. All in all, a fantastic show.

7th Concert of 2008: Flogging Molly!

I almost forgot to write this one up!

On July 17th, Flogging Molly and Ludo played for FREE in San Jose’s Plaza de Cesar Chavez. San Jose has a great program where every Thursday afternoon after work, there is free music. Usually different radio stations get one day, and play music representative of their genre (this one was hosted by south bay alternative station Channel104.9). I have very fond memories of hearing music in the park, as we used to go fairly regularly when I was younger. It was a nice way to while away an afternoon with my mother and younger sister. The music was usually good, the weather was always great, and it was free and safe, so my sister could go run around in the fountain without much worry. I’m glad it’s a tradition they’ve kept over the years, even though I haven’t been able to make it for ages.

So Jeremy and I tootled on down to my old stomping ground. When we arrived, Ludo had already started, and though I did want to see them (as I am currently listening to this song at least once a day), my desire to not pass out from hunger won out and we grabbed some pizza (forgetting that there is actually food at the park, though more pricey). When we got the park, it was easily the most crowded I had ever seen it. There was a great mix of people: bored college students who wandered over from state, fan boys dressed like hot Irishmen (yum), and families with all ages of children. My kind of crowd.

Flogging Molly were, as expected, excellent. I first saw them by accident about ten years ago (!), when I was still dating the sax player from the sadly disbanded Ibopa. I was helping Ibopa gather a crowd for their show during the SOFA festival (which used to be great), and headed into the club early just to check it out. Flogging Molly were playing, and even though I was supposed to be outside handing out flyers and flirting with boys, I stayed through the whole set.

Even ten years later, they’re still brimming with energy. And they’ve always sounded amazingly tight musically. I can’t help but move when I’m listening to them (even in my car). It was great to be around thousands of people who felt the same way. I left before the encores, as I had to catch the train back to my car, which I missed, which allowed me to hang out in the Dirdion Station in San Jose for an hour. If you’re going to be stuck in a bus/train station for an hour, that’s a good one, as there are benches and it has that kind of nostalgic charm, like train stations in movies. It’s also near nothing except HP Pavillion and is boring as hell.

If you’re in San Jose on Thursdays, check it out: http://www.sjdowntown.com/Music_in_the_Park.html
(I just looked again and OH CRAP THEY ADDED THE ENGLISH BEAT THE SEPT 4TH SHOW. )

6th Concert of 2008: Tidal Wave, Day 2

So I probably don’t strike you as someone who would sit in the sun all day and have her ears assaulted by heavy guitars and blast beat drums. And you’re right. Not exactly my usual haunt. But I’m always open to new adventures, especially when they’re free.

The boy, on the other hand, is very into metal. So I decided, after hearing about it for two years, to get down to McLaren on July 6th and hear the following bands (for free!):

Embryonic Devourment
Agenda of Swine
Fog of War
Saros
Ludicra

Man, metal band names make me giggle.

It was a nice day. The weather was perfect, there was food and beer and good company (my favorite boy, Brandi and her wonderful kidlet, Brandi’s gruff-looking but totally nice friends, and Nomi and Joseph swung by as well).  I won’t write too much about the bands themselves, but I am a self-professed idiot when it comes to this musical genre. Let’s just say that, to my ears, the bands improved as the day wore on, though I think I liked Fog of War the best. Which I think means I’m into thrash? I have no idea.

All I’m saying is I’m not opposed to showing up again next year. Did I mention it was free?

5th Concert of 2008 – Stevie Wonder!

Mace and Trevor at Stevie, originally uploaded by mizsarah.

As my (early) birthday gift, Trevor took me to see Stevie Wonder at Shoreline on Saturday, July 5th. Sarah and Gabe joined us as well.

I keep saying I’m never returning to Shoreline, but I keep getting pulled back. After the Bjork disappointment*, I swore my rear would never touch the grass. But the four pack of tickets was such a good deal, and it was STEVIE WONDER. How could we not go?

The set was fantastic. Sure, there were a lot of unfamiliar songs, but there were also plenty of sing-a-longs. He ripped through a bunch of hits right near the end, including my favorite of his songs, “For Once In My Life.”** The band was tight, and Stevie just radiates joy when he sings.

And oh, the food. Both couples brought a ton of food for a picnic on the grass before the show. There was cheese, pate, bread, olives, shrimp, broccoli salad, pickles, and more and more. And cookies and cherries and truffles for dessert. I rolled out of that place. I adore eating with Sarah. She knows food and loves to share. Fantastique!

It was an excellent night. I was the people I was always jealous of, for once in my life.

* Which was disappointing because I could not at all see the stage, not because it wasn’t a good show.
** I’ll admit it; I cried a little. I was there with my boyfriend, listening to a song that always makes me think of him, and OH GOD WHEN DID I BECOME THIS CREAMPUFF? I am infected; please shoot me in the head.

July is hard

So I never realized how much caffeine I consume. When I really sat and thought about it (and I did), I had a cup of coffee in the morning, and a soda some time in the afternoon, either with lunch or in that lull around three in the afternoon. It really doesn’t seem like that much, but yet once I stopped I HAD A HEADACHE FOR THREE DAYS STRAIGHT. Ouch. Nothing major, but just enough to be a near constant annoyance. Luckily it’s now gone, as is the complete zombie feeling that went with the first two days. I’m almost glad the Styx concert was rescheduled, because it was on day 2 and I don’t know if I would have made it through.

We got all the way to Saratoga before finding it out that Styx had been rescheduled, as the renovations to the Mountain Winery were behind schedule. I had just been on the winery’s site that day, making sure my directions were correct, and I must have completely missed the notification about the delay. You’d think they’d have it in big yellow and red letters on every page. Now I have to wait until September to get my Styx fix. Ha.