Ky-Fi

No Ranking Roger, although they did have a new young guy doing the toasting.


Speaking of Ranking Roger though, I picked up his recent charity release for the Joe Strummer foundation, where he covered "Rock the Casbah"--I love it:


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PerryD

Went to Riot Fest last weekend. I decided again that I just don't like the festival setting. Mud everywhere, paths weren't lit at night, enormous crowds.

Earlier in the day it wasn't bad. I got to walk around and sample different bands. Living Colour put on an entertaining show, really the only lowlight for them was Cult of Personality since it was performed as a sing along audience participation number throughout the song.

I did get to the front of the stage for Anthrax and Atreyu. Vocals were a little hard to hear up front though, subwoofers were placed on the ground in front of the stage, but the main speakers must have been up higher, so it wasn't balanced where I was standing.

PerryD

Last night, while everyone I knew went to the AC/DC concert at Wrigley Field, I went to see Agonist and folk metal band Eluveitie at the House of Blues. Epica was the headliner, but due to some family emergency for the singer, they dropped out of their tour.

jacob_b

I heard CM Punk was at this. Did he come out for Cult of Personality?

cdollaz

Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Awesome. I don't think I have ever experienced a band who could fill the room with sound quite like they did.

dsa_shea

I should have shared this earlier but I didn't. My daughter is on the left doing her rap battle.

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jacob_b

Hollywood Vampires at The Roxy tonight. WOW. Those guys killed it. And to have Tom Morello show up AND Manson. That was a night to never forget.

Decker

Going to the epicenter of the Pop world tonight -- We are taking my daughter to the I Heart Radio festival. I don't even know half the acts, but there's Duran Duran, The Killers, Coldplay, Kanye and Sam Smith, so there should be some music I like scattered throughout. Planning on long bathroom/concession stand breaks during the Lil Wayne and Kenny Chesney sets.
Even though I'm an avid concert-goer and this show is here every year, this will be my first time at this particular event. Hope it doesn't go too late -- I'm guessing 7:30-11:30 is likely.

inri222

Decker

No such luck. Sam Smith took the stage at 7:40, Kanye left at 1:20 - almost six hours later. Didn't get in until 2. I'm so tired today.

I'm bummed The Who had to cancel from last night's show, but understandable since they cancelled the whole tour. At least I got a good deal on our tickets : $200 each + Stub Hub service charge for seats with a $342 face value. I even got my daughter a Yeezus t-shirt. Pretty sure I'm the best dad ever.

Quick chronological rundown :

Sam Smith - Not the most dynamic performer, but man he can sing. His voice is so pure and strong. He asked us to sing along and I was thinking "No thanks, you take it". Short 5 song set with all his hits. Joined briefly by Disclosure (a DJ team) for their singe Omen.

Coldplay - I love Coldplay, always have (well, not their last album, but until then). They were fine. Chris said it was their first show in ages and they did seen a bit stiff. Still they sounded great and had a nice tight short set. Paradise, Viva La Vita, Clocks, A Sky Full of Stars (yuck), Fix You. Outside of the terrible new song, and playing Vita over a recorded music track, I was fine with their set. No filler and I always enjoy them.

Kenny Chesney - Don't listen to Country. Don't know his music. Almost nobody else did either. I felt bad for him - he performed his heart out and his band sounded great (if too loudly amplified), but very few people were into it and little cheering going on. Got the feeling he didn't want to be there and the audience largely didn't want him there; the things we endure for corporate radio. First song "Another Beer in Mexico" was catchy though.

Jason Derulo - I don't really know this guy though I did recognize a couple of the songs from the radio. The crowd went nuts for this guy. I can see why, he's got star presence. Great dancer, energetic performer. Strong voice too. Think we'll be seeing more of him

Lil Wayne - Not my taste at all. He's good at what he does I guess and has sold a ton of albums, but to me he just seemed crass and not even a very good rapper. Whatever, at least he had some stage presence and the fans seemed to eat it up

Demi Lovado -Absolutely the worst. The only woman performer of the night and I thought she was terrible. Her songs are exactly the reason most folks say they hate pop. Redundant simplistic songs and her vocals were weak. She was joined on stage by the lead singer of Third Eye Blind to perform a duet of "How's It Going To Be" for some odd reason. C'mon Demi, at least you could have done Semi-Charmed Life.

The Killers - Back in business at last. Vegas' hometown band really put on a great show, opening with a rousing version of Viva Las Vegas (second song of the evening with "Viva" in the title, but first with Showgirls). They did a five song set including Mr Brightside and closing with "When We Were Young". They were in top form and the local crowd loved it. Third time I've seen them and they never disappoint.

Duran Duran - I was a little disappointed. They weren't very energetic and just seemed old. Simon sounded okay. Their choice of songs were maybe a little weak -- odd to open with Wild Boys which isn't really a great song. Didn't play The Reflex or View To a Kill, and they were pretty subdued for Hungry Like The Wolf as well. Nobody knew their new song, but I thought it was alright. At least James Corden lead a conga line through the arena floor during Notorious - that was interesting.

David Guetta - I've never gotten into EDM and while Guetta is a huge attraction locally where he DJs for MGM and Wynn and makes a reported $30M a year, I still don't really get the appeal. At least he seemed happy and enthusiastic and if I'm going to see him work I didn't have to dress up and wait in a club line for seven hours to do it here.

Kanye West - Wow. The headliner really brought it. Played 18 songs in his 30 minute set and was just awesome. I was a little worried he might throw a tirade or do something weird like perform the entire set on his back as he did on SNL's 40th. It looked like he might initially as he was totally enveloped in fog and hard to even see. Nothing to worry about though - he stopped performing and let the fog clear before resuming when we could actually see him. He just went right from one hit to another from the earliest stuff to the most recent and really put on a great performance.
Here's a bit from Yahoo's feed last night.

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jacob_b

Wow 18 songs in 30 minutes??? Is that possible? And only 5 from The Killers? Is it even worth it lol.

But damn The Who postponed their entire tour Just read it won't be until Spring. Was really hoping Roger would get better quickly and I'd see them at the end of the year when they probably would have rescheduled Anaheim

Decker

Mostly it was just 1 or 2 minute snippets. Maybe the set was 40 minutes actually.

Set list:
"Stronger"
"Power"
"Black Skinhead"
"All Day"
"Don't Like"
"Mercy"
"Clique"
"Heartless"
"Runaway"
"FourFiveSeconds"
"Jesus Walks"
"All Falls Down"
"Can't Tell Me Nothing"
"Gold Digger"
"Touch the Sky"
"All of the Lights"
"Good Life"
"Only One"

And he was introduced by a purple-haired Jared Leto, which was pretty cool in itself.

I think they were all essentially five song sets except for Kanye who was given a little more time, and whatever David Guetta was doing (25 minutes of electronic house music basically). When you have ten acts, you've got to be pretty strict with your time allotments. Just ask Billie Joe, circa 2012 :

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dsa_shea

Too much autotune or voice alteration in that Kanye piece. I respect his work but don't hang from his sack.

jacob_b

Say what you want about Green Day, but man Billie has a great point. He could have been cool as he was going to get his money (if they get paid for this) either way, but he wanted to put on a show for everyone. I've been to many a music shows and I don't remember big bands (and the Killers are a decent name) just getting 5 songs at a festival. And the closer or 2 closers get an hour, hour and a half.

BearFan

Van Halen last night, first time seeing them with Dave since the 1984 tour. Damn, that was fun. Great setlist, the band was awesome, and Dave was ... Dave.

A-aron

Vintage Trouble tonight at Amoeba Records in San Fran. Can't wait!

PerryD

Went to see Symphony X and Overkill at the House of Blues in Chicago. Crowd numbers leaned heavily towards Symphony X, I can see now why Overkill had to co-headline with them. Symphony X guitarist can shred with the best of them.

auto

Saw Wilco in Ann Arbor, MI Thursday night. Great show, as expected.

Decker

Nice. I didn't know Wilco was touring.

PerryD

Went to see the Scorpions and opening act Queensr˙che last night at what looks like a sold out show at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont. Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker are both 67, but are pretty impressive in their energy levels, performing at such a high level after so many years (This is billed as the Scorpions 50th year tour!).

auto

Yep, small venues. They're playing the new album in full, the hits and closing with a 5-6 song acoustic set. Played about 2.5 hours. Outstanding show.

dvduser6

Took my daughter to see Catfish & the Bottlemen at House of Blues, Anaheim, last night. Newer English band that she heard about last Spring. I found myself liking them a lot as they remind of the indie rock bands of the 80's. You can hear elements of Echo & the Bunnymen, Joy Division, and others, but they definitely take things in a new direction. Fun band live. They played their asses off and actually wanted to be there. Very refreshing to see .

jacob_b

AC/DC tore down Dodger Stadium. Man can Angus put all the young guys to shame. No one can touch that man. Dude looks like the Crept Keeper, but can rock all night long.

Saw Tove Lo last night and WOW. She has an amazing sound and a great body (who doesn't want to get flashed during Talking Body). I would love to meet her and see her again.

PerryD

My daughter took me to see Japanese Rock band "One OK Rock" at the House of Blues. The show looked sold out.

I usually record a couple songs at the shows I attend and upload them to YouTube before I go to bed, and the next day, I'll have few dozen views, maybe 100 for someone more popular. This one is closing in on 5000 views in the first 18 hours.

Why So Blu?

We're seeing Tove Lo tonight at the Wiltern.