Naught To Be Outdone: LiveJournal, part 1

As a relatively young music fan, I naturally did not start actively listening to/consuming/obsessing over music until this decade had already been quite underway. The naughts, consequently, entirely shaped my taste in music. My experiences as a concertgoer perhaps contributed to that shaping of taste more than anything else. Since the first show I went to in 2003, a handful of concerts stand out as especially important to my life as a music fan; performances that caused something to click inside me; shows that screamed, "This is what music is. Find more of this."

December 2nd, 2004. The Hives.
2004 was an important year for this founder of Pretension and Perk: I took my first steps away from 70s punk and into modern music. It took a few heavy hitters to make this happen, though. First off, Modest Mouse's "Float On" broke into the mainstream. Then Interpol's Antics showed me a more fun and accessible kind of post-punk. And finally, Franz Ferdinand set a new standard for the pop-rock album with their self-titled debut.

That last one is what led me to Camden, NJ's Tweeter Center on December 2nd. The Y100 "Feastival" boasted a mediocre lineup headlined by Good Charlotte and Jimmy Eat World, but the promise of my newest Austrian archduke-named obsession was too good to pass up. Franz, as it turned out, had not quite mastered their stage presence yet. But I didn't leave the Tweeter disappointed.

For a group of Swedish rascals in black and white suits made it their duty to completely annihilate the ears of the Good Charlotte-adoring teeny boppers that had made their way to Camden that night. But the Hives managed to maintain proficiency in musicianship despite their raw, ferocious energy. Today I know this is not exactly a rare feat, but when this group was surrounded by the lackluster performances by Jimmy Eat World, Silvertide (one of the worst shows I've ever seen), and Franz Ferdinand, I couldn't help but be amazed.

While the band churned out balls-out garage punk song after balls-out garage punk song, frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist combined Jagger-esque stage moves with obnoxious, self-deprecating egotism into something all his own. The unbridled conceit and undeniable swagger of Almqvist left a young me completely enthralled. He simply refused to accept that anyone could think that The Hives were not the greatest band in the world. I certainly wasn't going argue. I hardly can today.

And I promise, I left 3 songs into Good Charlotte's set.

Pictures from the Dan Deacon, No Age, and Deerhunter Pool Party Extravaganza

On Saturday, August 1st, a private airport/pool/resort in Medford, NJ hosted the second stop one of the most unique tours of the year. For Dan Deacon, No Age, and Deerhunter's Round Robin shows, all three bands set up simultaneously, creating a constant, "seamless piece of music." Indeed, the Flying W Airport was the place to be; the night saw Dan Deacon playing on a swing set, No Age's Randy Randall thrown into the pool, and Deerhunter's Bradford Cox using detective skills to find the sneak who stole his bag of picks. Pictures by me follow. The camera that took the pixx is owned by fellow blog-runner John Teoli (of Quality New Music).

Opener Ed Schrader delights with all too appropriate songs about gas stations attendants (appropriate because we were in New Jersey) and airplanes (appropriate because we were at an airport)





















Dan Deacon, as expected, embraces his inner child.
































Could that be BEEEEEEEANNNSS??
















Deerhunter was good, but not too photogenic. Also they were slightly obscured by the deck. #excusesforbadphotography


















Bad photo of No Age and airplanes, but actually the better of the two No Age photos I took. SORRY FOLKS WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH READERS TO HIRE A PHOTOGRAPHER.

The Roots Picnic was good times

HERE IS A ROUND UP OF WHAT HAPPENED, OK? And also detailed accounts of Black Thought's wardrobe every time he appeared onstage.
also I forgot to take pictures. *sad face*

The Roots opened the festival!
They jammed with the Jabberwockees and two of the New Kids on the Block. Jordan Knight didn't do anything but Donnie Wahlberg spat a line or two. Then they covered "Jungle Boogie". I would have preferred a Black Thought-Jordan Knight duet of "Jungle Fever". Tuba Gooding Jr. huffed and puffed and ?uestlove was predictably badass.
Black Thought wore shorts, a white polo, and a baseball cap!

Elevator Fight?
I did not know this crazy group of kids was playing the festival. They let us know that they are not called the Pipes and they were pretty ok at music! Also the lead singer is Lenny Kravitz's daughter.

Busdriver figuratively drove that bus!
A quirky fellow with a rapid staccato-like flow. He only played four songs, but he made his mark even among the aging hip hop fans who just came for Public Enemy and the Roots (I overheard an older gentleman behind me, who before the set did not know Busdriver's name, say, "Well he drove that bus, didn't he?" He sure as hell did.)

Antibalas was exactly what I expected!
Multiculturalism! Antibalas is an Afrobeat group and everyone in the band is very good at what they do. It was a pretty fun show. Just not really my "thing", as the kids say.

Then Santigold came on!
She had a full band and two way cool dancers. The dancers wore big ol' sunglasses and kept completely emotionless, stoic visages while their bodies suggested just the opposite. Santigold likes to smile and dance (which are good things indeed!)!

The Black Keys had sound problems!
Dan Auerbach blew out his amp so hard and after a long intermission they had a bit of trouble recovering the pace of the set. They both are still very good at playing instruments, though.

Public Enemy fought the power!
They were recreating their classic It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back. But they didn't play it in order. They're not even going to conform to the expectations they themselves set, boi.
This was the first time the album had been recreated with a full band. But this was not just any full band. It was the Roots themselves! (And also Antibalas, but that is not as exciting (sorry Antibalas).) Flavor Flav was just as excited as I was about this, frequently saying that performing with the Roots was his "most legendary moment". This set was pretty much perfect, from the giant collective of enthusiastic musicians onstage to the lyrical intensity of Chuck D.
Black Thought wore a blue polo shirt and a different hat! He was also still wearing shorts.

TV on the Radio made the best album of this decade so far!
They played more songs from the new one, though. Which is OK, I guess. But the peaks of the set were clearly the older songs, such as "Young Liars", which they opened with. "Staring at the Sun" and "Wolf Like Me" were expected highlights, while "A Method" was an unexpected highlight. For "Method" they had a handful of chil'en come out and play percussion instruments. I do not know who each child belong too.

Then the Roots finished us off!
And they like covers, including covers of "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Bad to the Bone." Amanda Diva came out to duet with Black Thought. She was pretty good on Q-Tip's last album and she was pretty good at the Roots Picnic. Unfortunately, I had to leave a bit into this set, but according to Rolling Stone, they ended up only playing 3 actual Roots songs. But then again, they also say that DJ Jazzy Jeff was actually there, so what do they know?

Oh, and Black Thought wore a long sleeve thermal, jeans, and another different hat!

Overall: F- because Jazzy Jeff did not show up :[

Setlist from Animal Collective last night

Just in case anyone was wondering, here are the songs they played. Hope everyone (or anyone) enjoyed (or actually read) my Twittering last night.

Setlist from memory, with highlights in italics:
In the Flowers
Who Could Win a Rabbit
My Girls
Summertime Clothes
Leaf House
What Would I Want Sky (new)
Lablakely Dress-> Fireworks
Lion in a Coma
Daily Routine
Brothersport
------
Bleed (new)
Also Frightened
Slippi

TECHNOLOGY

Here at Pretension and Perk, we are big fans of the future. It sounds like a pretty cool time. Because of this, we embrace any possible hints at what it may be like, such as "The Twitter". Maybe you have heard of it. We're going to operate under the assumption that you have indeed heard of it and are far more familiar with it than we are.

As you may have noticed in our "Pretension and Perk will totally be at" section, a staff writer (who, as it turns out, is also the editor, founder, and writer of this and all posts at Pretension and Perk) will be attending Animal Collective's show tonight at the Electric Factory. In order to provide our readers with the most up-to-the-minute coverage of this show, our reporter will be utilizing Pretension and Perk's Twitter account. The fact that approximately 90% of our readers will actually be at this show does not discourage us one bit. Check it out from 8:30-11:30, because that is probably when things will be happening.

Family Fun Night!, or: the Spinto Band w/ the Sin City Band, or: My most legitimate blog post yet

I enjoy going to shows more than anything else, and that's saying something in a world that offers pornography and foie gras. My community, however, has for years had rather limited options for live music.

So obviously I was thrilled when I was discovered in January that a new concert venue would be opening up not only in Kennett Square, but 2 blocks from my house. The Kennett Flash promised "the best national, regional, and local recording artists live in Historic Kennett Square". Sounds good to me.

Four months later, my attendance record at the flash included nought but two open mic nights. Turns out $15 is a lot to drop on an artist that I've never heard of. And, unfortunately, with all the great music constantly coming out these days, local bluegrass bands haven't exactly been on my radar. And thus on Friday, the locally-born and locally-loved Spinto Band, being the first artist on the Flash's schedule who I was at all familiar with (and who recently celebrated Record Store Day with an instore performance at the fantastic Rainbow Records in Newark, DE), put on my first actual concert at the Flash.


















The show was billed as "A Family Affair": the fathers of a few Spinto Band-members opened with their group The Sin City Band. The Sin City Band enjoys tonk of the honky persuasion. A fun, sing-a-long set, the band covered old country standbys while mixing in some crowd-pleasing, local-referencing originals. The pinnacle of the set, though, was the family get-together. The Spinto Band came out to help finish off their papas' show with a rousing medley of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "Shortnin' Bread".

The Spinto Band took the stage for their set less than fifteen minutes later. Instantly noticeable onstage was a small, guitar-shaped piñata with a "Happy Birthday" balloon attached. I assumed, obviously, that it was a band member's birthday. It turns out it was the band's birthday--they have just completed 10 years as a group. I was quite surprised, as these fellows are certainly no older than their mid 20s. It turns out the whole "fathers in a band together" thing got them playing music with each other at an early age. I had no clue they had been around so long; I guess my previous assertion that they were "the first artist on the Flash's schedule who I was at all familiar with" was a bit of a stretch.

To celebrate the occasion, the band decided to pepper throughout their set rarely played tunes from earlier in their twee-tastic discography, which I was unable to wholly appreciate due to my lack of intimate familiarity with the band and which I only was aware of due to the fact that the band said so. But I felt like I was witnessing something rare despite those drawbacks, especially when they played "I Saw the Spider", a 50 second, 5 word (they replace "saw" with "killed" in the second verse) drone that has never been performed live before.

A high-energy show throughout, the meager corner in the Flash set aside as a "dance floor" was surprisingly well utilized. The band kept a good pace, alternating vocals between guitarist/lutist Nick Krill and bassist/kazooist Thomas Hughes. With his ridiculous smile and spazzy dancing, Hughes is certainly the more enthusiastic and energetic of the two, while Krill is a more natural and engaging performer. Hughes' entertainment is obvious and more instantly amusing, but Krill keeps the show grounded. And hell, Krill's songs are just better. Admittedly, I make that statement based only on hearing the songs performed live that night: the only tune I knew going in was "Oh, Mandy" (which was ace).

But, as with the opening, the definite highlights of the night arose when the two generations shared the stage. The Sin City Band's Scott Birney and Steve Hobson each made brief, much appreciated appearances during the set, and the show climaxed when both took the stage for a rendition of Van Morrison's "Gloria".

So the show was surprisingly high energy and engaging for a venue filled with seated tables. But the atmosphere alone at the Flash would be enough to pull me back more than a few times this summer. Just don't expect me to pay $8.50 for that cheese plate again.

photo credits: my pa (which I suppose adds to the whole family theme)