Tagged: showreviews

Who: Dropkick Murphys at the main stage In 3 or Fewer Words: Erin go braugh! Memorable Because: The Dropkick Murphys dodged any criticism of being a Pogues facsimile when they invited the original Celtic punk band's accordion player James Fearnley on stage for the final third of their excellent set. It's tough to pick a favorite anthem from a performance that had everyone as far back as the sound booth jumping and jigging, but "Rose Tattoo" is as good as any. (And yes, they played "I'm Shipped Up to Boston," aka "the song [...]

All that was missing from Saturday's Day 2 of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts festival were Cameo themselves. It was a day of guests turns, with the hottest rumor du jour turning to vapor in the night air when R. Kelly, not Daft Punk (this year's gossip leader), showed up to guest with Phoenix . The French headliners expunged the sour taste of Friday night's headlining set by the Stone Roses by rallying a massive crowd with their pop anthems, the strange-but-true collaboration coming near the end when R. Kelly materialized and segued from [...]

Who: The Stone Roses on the main stage In 3 or Fewer Words : Color me blue. Memorable because: Who are the Stone Roses? They are not the four gentlemen who appeared on the main stage at a quarter till midnight on Friday, properly posed for little more than cashing Coachella's paycheck. To a certain generation of music fan of a certain stripe, the Manchester quartet was the encapsulation of most rock ’n’ roll that preceded them — and an influencer of much that succeeded — all in one album, "The Stone [...]

April 13th was such a busy day for myself. At least I made it for this show that I had been dying to go to. Playing at the show: •  Suuns •  Valleys • Roberta Bondar I wanted to show up my support for the bands playing. Two I have seen a few weeks ago at [...]

Who: Blur on the main stage In 3 or Fewer Words : Brilliant (add accent). Memorable because: Midway through Blur's crisp co-headlining set, front man Damon Albarn sprinted to the far end of the stage to dole out a hug to the sign-language interpreter. No translation needed — it was but one giddy moment in an hour made in heaven for Britpop fans, as the reunited Londoners brought some of the same from-across-the-pond swagger Pulp did in 2012. And unlike the nightcap of Friday's Britpop doubleheader, Albarn and crew backed it up [...]

Who: Yeah Yeah Yeahs on the main stage In 3 or Fewer Words: Yeah, well, maybe? Memorable Because: Watching Karen O croon "Maps" never gets old. For the rest of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs set… well, some of their songs are starting to get liver spots. Previous festival appearances by New York rockers played for fun in the sun with dance-friendly numbers, but last night they went for a more protracted, psychedelic sound. It was a nice complement to Coachella's neon-freakshow night scene, but ultimately unmemorable when compared to the Yeah [...]

Who: Modest Mouse on the main stage In 3 or Fewer Words: Lonesome Crowded Mess Memorable Because: Modest Mouse broke my heart. We can only speculate on the state of Isaac Brock's mind Friday night, but if one of the true poets of your generation publicly sang from "The Lion King" and asked everyone else to hum for his dumb-giggling amusement, you might draw some conclusions that logically end in 12 steps. Modest Mouse played a truly awful set, both career-spanning and career-razing. Sloppy. Awkward. Embarrassing. This wasn't the amusing kind [...]

Who:   Local Natives at the Outdoor Theatre In 3 or Fewer Words : Natives at Sunset. Memorable Because:  Things got personal when Local Natives opened their set at the Outdoor Theatre with "You and I." The L.A. quintet could have easily played this stage the last time they were on the Coachella bill, but the crowd spilling out of the Gobi Tent in 2010 certainly foreshadowed this moment for the 2013 crowd. "We grew up coming to this festival," shared Taylor Rice. "It's been such a pleasure playing while the sun's going [...]

Who: Palma Violets in the Mojave Tent 
In 3 or Fewer Words: In your faces. 
Memorable Because: Alt-J are a nice indie band, the bespectacled boys down the block who own all the right albums, hang all the right posters and read lots of books, many of which seem to inform their songs. Palma Violets are from the other side of town; hide your daughters. In my perfect world, the first sonic blast from Palma Violets would have happened just as Alt-J's jangle receded, while the Mojave Tent was [...]

Who: Japandroids in the Gobi Tent In 3 or Fewer Words: "Celebration Rock" rocks Memorable Because: Japandroids may have had the largest devoted following of pre-sunset bands on day one of the fest. One trick ponies they may be, but the hard-rocking punkish Canadian duo of Brian King and David Prowse seem to have tapped-into a generational angst of some kind; fans shouted along to "Younger Us" and "The House That Heaven Built" as though they've known those songs their whole lives. The shtick got redundant over the 40 minutes of [...]

Who: Divine Fits at the Outdoor Theatre 
In 3 or Fewer Words: Spoon, fork and knife. 
Memorable Because: "We're called Divine Fits. This is not a beautiful day," Britt Daniel said, wilting in the oppressive late-afternoon sun in Indio. Well, now, that depends. Because the songs from "A Thing Called Divine Fits," lock-jawed, feral and tighter than your Coachella wristband, seemed a perfect palate-pleaser considering the mashed-potatoes folk that would follow on this stage from Of Monsters and Men. Daniel's project with Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade/Handsome Furs) and Sam Brown (New [...]

Who: Johnny Marr in the Mojave Tent In 3 or Fewer Words: Johnny F*cking Marr. Memorable Because: Johnny Marr does a damn good Morrissey impression. About a quarter of Marr's set consisted of Smiths hits and those played best to an enthusiastic Mojave Tent. Otherwise playing off his new solo release "The Messenger," Marr sometimes sounded more like the seconding coming of indie-pop bands he helped birth than the original revelation that he is. Cool, relaxed and still devilishly talented, he didn't play as though he had something to prove. And [...]

Who: Jake Bugg in the Mojave Tent In Three or Fewer Words: Not Bob Dylan. Memorable Because: In the long history of "New Dylans," Brit newcomer falls somewhere in the category of, well, Jakob Dylan, writing punchy, likable songs that in retrospect seem a bit empty. This was one of those Coachella sets where you go to see the buzzy dude, and once you hear the inevitable Song You Know (in this case, the rompy "Two Fingers"), you wander off in search of your next fix. What you'd tell [...]

Who: Stars at the main stage. In 3 or Fewer Words:  Soundless Stars. Memorable Because:  Stars' enthusiasm was there, but the sound guy for the main stage seemed to have his head somewhere else. The contrast between the stage and the sound board was so remarkable it was heartbreaking — but it wasn't much of a surprise when it seemed hard for the stage manager to even get the sound guys' attention during sound check. What was a surprise, however, was how low Torq Campbell's mic was and how Amy Milan's mic was [...]

Who:   Dam-Funk on the main stage In 3 or Fewer Words:  Funky happy people. Memorable Because:  It takes some gnarly keyboard manipulation into fooling you there is a guitar on stage when there's not, but funk maestro Dam-Funk had a groove that was twice as heavy as his light crowd. Although, paired with positive messages in songs like "OBE (Out of Body Experience)" and "Mirrors," it didn't take long for his "funkster" count to double among the faithful, who shook their rumps in the blazing heat. Because when Dam-Funk asks you to bounce, you [...]

Who: The Shouting Matches in the Gobi Tent 
In 3 or Fewer Words: Waiting, waiting waiting ... Memorable Because: Things to do during the glacial delay before the set from the new trio featuring Bon Iver's Justin Vernon — check Facebook, check Twitter, call home, drink water and see if you can capture a photograph that centers the reflection of Coachella's Ferris Wheel in the face of the bass drum. Ta-da. Finally, 25 minutes late, the Shouting Matches began, and Vernon and longtime pals Phil Cook and Brian Moen revealed a [...]

Who: The Neighbourhood at the Outdoor Theatre In 3 or Fewer Words: Ain't sweater weather. Memorable Because: The young Newbury Park quintet took the stage to a Drake song: "Started from the bottom / and now I'm here ..." Yes, the Neighbourhood is here, with plenty of swagger for a young quintet from Newbury Park. The band, for instance, requested that all published images of their Coachella performance be in black and white to fit with their chosen aesthetic . Maybe after that second album, lads. Thing is, Friday's set [...]

Who: IO Echo  in the Gobi tent. In 3 or Fewer Words: Gobi of love. Memorable Because:  After rushing through security checkpoints to make the early sets, the BBLA staff hit the Gobi Tent just as one of our favorite local bands took the stage. And Ioanna Gika's sparkling, white kimono-inspired wardrobe alone was worth all the heavy breathing and sweating it took to get there. "You guys are the real music fans," the IO Echo front woman exclaimed at a quarter after noon in those signature glasses she's been sporting since [...]

Who: Lord Huron in the Mojave Tent In 3 or Fewer Words: Most cinematic matinee. Memorable Because: Ben Schneider is a good guy, and he has the white hat to prove it. Fronting his not-very-outlaw seven-piece band, though, he a storyteller possessed keen knack for conjuring up the wide-open spaces of the Old West. The L.A.-based band's album "Lonesome Dreams" evokes the romance of dusty, windblown landscapes, so there was a slight disconnect at the beginning when Lord Huron's backing tracks were finicky — electronics from a guy who looks like a homesteader? [...]

Mother nature decided to pull a fast one and the snow returned in Ottawa. But it didn't stop some people to come out to this show at Pressed on April 12th. Playing at the show: •  Dusted •  Scattered Clouds I was looking forward to this show because it was Dusted first time in Ottawa. If you aren't familiar, Dusted is Brian Borcherdt (Holy Fuck) new music project [...]