Yes! I actually went out to a show last night. This doesn't seem that amazing because I used to go to concerts on a weekly basis when I was an undergrad at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY and back then I didn't even have any money. I would ask my parents for 80 dollars and I would live off of that for upwards of six months. I mean we had a cafeteria, I rarely needed to drive my car, and I was going to concerts for free doing interviews for my radio show. But now I have a job, I have artwork to make, and I live in Los Angeles where concerts are expensive (though hopefully I will now be returning to my free show ways between this blog and writing for a Magazine! Keeping my fingers crossed for Gary Numan in the Fall). But regardless of all that, last night's show was really spectacular as both bands had a great energy but the style of music was something that you could just relax and absorb. Up first was an act I had not heard of up until this point by the name of Larkin Grimm. We all know opening acts can be a crap-shoot but I thought Larkin Grimm was great. She was funny, talented, interacted well with the crowd. She came out with her three-piece band (Larkin on guitar and a harp that she was able to strap on like a guitar, a girl on bass, and guy that was an entire percussion section unto himself) all adorned in feathers which I'm not sure if that was their particular style or more in-line with Rasputina but I thought they were a nice compliment to everything. Larkin Grimm combines a nice mix of folk, indie and soul that results in sometimes beautiful, sometimes maddening music. I think she played to the maddening just a bit because of the Rasputina crowd (which she pointed out how different a reaction she got from Rasputina fans when mentioning that one song was a little gorier of a tale than others). I loved the job the drummer did as he not only played the drums with various different kinds of sticks to create different sounds but also, like a good percussionist should, had an array of other tools of sound. It was also really interesting to notice Larkin Grimm's affinity for the West as permeates in the style but comes to the forefront in the song "Ride That Cyclone" from her 2008 album Parplar (an album I certainly hope to be reviewing in the near future). The Yale graduate actually grew up in the south born in Memphis, TN and eventually relocating as a youth with her hippie parents to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia (not quite the west but you get the idea). I thought Larkin Grimm's music and personality were both incredibly charming and I became a fan.
Rasputina was equally amazing. I've been a fan of Rasputina for a long-time now but this was my first time actually seeing them in concert. The first thing I wrote down while taking notes about this show was "real musicians have afghans" referring to 2nd chair and first male cellist the band has had, Daniel DeJesus' afghan he sat on during the show. Of course all three band members (1st chair cellist, founder, and banjoist Melora Creager, the aforementioned Daniel DeJesus, and percussionist/punk-rocker Catie D'Amica) were sitting during the performance which I thought couple with The Troubador set-up added for a really intimate show. Even though I have lived in Los Angeles for three years this was actually my first time to The Troubador. My compatriot, Brian, and I came early, found free street parking, and enjoyed a nice West Hollywood dinner at a Brazilian Restaurant by the name of Bossa Nova. I thought the food was excellent with generous portions for decent prices. The Troubador (or Doug Weston's Troubador if you're a dick) is a great little venue with hardly a bad spot in the house (though I wish the stage was just a big higher so I didn't have annoying obsessive fans starting to sit on the stage in front of me towards the end of the show. Seriously, this one girl was on her knees, on the edge of the stage right by DeJesus taking pictures to her phone. DeJesus looked over at her at one point to make sure he didn't accidentally hit her with his bow. But on a side note she fell down off a curb after the show so all is right with the world). The Troubador has a nice upstairs section you can also watch the show at (I think its for advance ticket buyers but I could be wrong about that) which I did not venture to but seemed cool if you like sitting. Back to the show itself, Rasputina played a variety of songs from a variety of albums which my friend Brian (a slightly more dedicated Rasputina fan than me) pointed out seemed largely in couples. I loved all of Melora Creager's banter between songs including that in the band's free time they are statisticians for fun, they have found ways to combine their work and pleasure, and that 92% of Rasputina songs are true. Melora also had a great line about how she lives in a very homeopathic community and when she was pregnant everyone pressured her to have a home birth. Well she had compromised by having a home Caesarean section. I also enjoy how smart her quips were including a line about the next song being accepted recently as the theme song for a new sitcom about Emily Dickinson. The crowd was a very dedicated fan-base, yelling out request after request in spite of Creager stating that this was not the time for requests but that it would come later until she finally submitted and played "Watch T.V." from How We Quit The Forest. The musical highlights for me were "Rats" from Cabin Fever!, "Watch T.V.", the covers (which of course Rasputina is famous for) of The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks", Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", and CCR's "Bad Moon Rising". In addition I also loved all of the encore songs which featured "Bad Moon Rising" from The Lost and Found (2nd Edition), "Hunter's Kiss" from Cabin Fever!, "Wicked Dickie" and "Possum of The Grotto" from Frustration Plantation, "Diamond Mind" from How We Quit The Forest, and finally finished off so well with "The New Zero" also off of How We Quit The Forest. Overall a great show and I was home by 1:30 (if you like sleeping, which I do).
Yes! I actually went out to a show last night. This doesn't seem that amazing because I used to go to concerts on a weekly basis when I was an undergrad at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY and back then I didn't even have any money. I would ask my parents for 80 dollars and I would live off of that for upwards of six months. I mean we had a cafeteria, I rarely needed to drive my car, and I was going to concerts for free doing interviews for my radio show. But now I have a job, I have artwork to make, and I live in Los Angeles where concerts are expensive (though hopefully I will now be returning to my free show ways between this blog and writing for a Magazine! Keeping my fingers crossed for Gary Numan in the Fall). But regardless of all that, last night's show was really spectacular as both bands had a great energy but the style of music was something that you could just relax and absorb. Up first was an act I had not heard of up until this point by the name of Larkin Grimm. We all know opening acts can be a crap-shoot but I thought Larkin Grimm was great. She was funny, talented, interacted well with the crowd. She came out with her three-piece band (Larkin on guitar and a harp that she was able to strap on like a guitar, a girl on bass, and guy that was an entire percussion section unto himself) all adorned in feathers which I'm not sure if that was their particular style or more in-line with Rasputina but I thought they were a nice compliment to everything. Larkin Grimm combines a nice mix of folk, indie and soul that results in sometimes beautiful, sometimes maddening music. I think she played to the maddening just a bit because of the Rasputina crowd (which she pointed out how different a reaction she got from Rasputina fans when mentioning that one song was a little gorier of a tale than others). I loved the job the drummer did as he not only played the drums with various different kinds of sticks to create different sounds but also, like a good percussionist should, had an array of other tools of sound. It was also really interesting to notice Larkin Grimm's affinity for the West as permeates in the style but comes to the forefront in the song "Ride That Cyclone" from her 2008 album Parplar (an album I certainly hope to be reviewing in the near future). The Yale graduate actually grew up in the south born in Memphis, TN and eventually relocating as a youth with her hippie parents to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia (not quite the west but you get the idea). I thought Larkin Grimm's music and personality were both incredibly charming and I became a fan. Rasputina was equally amazing. I've been a fan of Rasputina for a long-time now but this was my first time actually seeing them in concert. The first thing I wrote down while taking notes about this show was "real musicians have afghans" referring to 2nd chair and first male cellist the band has had, Daniel DeJesus' afghan he sat on during the show. Of course all three band members (1st chair cellist, founder, and banjoist Melora Creager, the aforementioned Daniel DeJesus, and percussionist/punk-rocker Catie D'Amica) were sitting during the performance which I thought couple with The Troubador set-up added for a really intimate show. Even though I have lived in Los Angeles for three years this was actually my first time to The Troubador. My compatriot, Brian, and I came early, found free street parking, and enjoyed a nice West Hollywood dinner at a Brazilian Restaurant by the name of Bossa Nova. I thought the food was excellent with generous portions for decent prices. The Troubador (or Doug Weston's Troubador if you're a dick) is a great little venue with hardly a bad spot in the house (though I wish the stage was just a big higher so I didn't have annoying obsessive fans starting to sit on the stage in front of me towards the end of the show. Seriously, this one girl was on her knees, on the edge of the stage right by DeJesus taking pictures to her phone. DeJesus looked over at her at one point to make sure he didn't accidentally hit her with his bow. But on a side note she fell down off a curb after the show so all is right with the world). The Troubador has a nice upstairs section you can also watch the show at (I think its for advance ticket buyers but I could be wrong about that) which I did not venture to but seemed cool if you like sitting. Back to the show itself, Rasputina played a variety of songs from a variety of albums which my friend Brian (a slightly more dedicated Rasputina fan than me) pointed out seemed largely in couples. I loved all of Melora Creager's banter between songs including that in the band's free time they are statisticians for fun, they have found ways to combine their work and pleasure, and that 92% of Rasputina songs are true. Melora also had a great line about how she lives in a very homeopathic community and when she was pregnant everyone pressured her to have a home birth. Well she had compromised by having a home Caesarean section. I also enjoy how smart her quips were including a line about the next song being accepted recently as the theme song for a new sitcom about Emily Dickinson. The crowd was a very dedicated fan-base, yelling out request after request in spite of Creager stating that this was not the time for requests but that it would come later until she finally submitted and played "Watch T.V." from How We Quit The Forest. The musical highlights for me were "Rats" from Cabin Fever!, "Watch T.V.", the covers (which of course Rasputina is famous for) of The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks", Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", and CCR's "Bad Moon Rising". In addition I also loved all of the encore songs which featured "Bad Moon Rising" from The Lost and Found (2nd Edition), "Hunter's Kiss" from Cabin Fever!, "Wicked Dickie" and "Possum of The Grotto" from Frustration Plantation, "Diamond Mind" from How We Quit The Forest, and finally finished off so well with "The New Zero" also off of How We Quit The Forest. Overall a great show and I was home by 1:30 (if you like sleeping, which I do).
No comments:
Post a Comment