For weeks I’ve been waiting for this show: Meth Teeth are one of my favorite Portland bands, Best Coast is one of my new favorite groups, and Vivian Girls are definitely in my top five all-time faves. Words can not express how excited I was for this show. Anyways, I wasn’t about to let the typical arms crossed Portland concert goer get me down, so I went into the show ready to go crazy — regardless if I was the only one.

The downside of getting all liquored up heading out to a concert is that you don’t really make for a good journalist. I can’t really tell you much about Meth Teeth as I only own one album of theirs, but they put on a pretty damn good show. As for Best Coast, Bethany Cosentino steamrolled through most of the material on her plethora of 7”s, even playing two new tracks and a cover song in the process (sorry, didn’t have my video camera). Teaming up with longtime guitarist Bobb Bruno and Vivian Girls drummer Katy Goodman, Best Coast’s live incarnation is a sight to behold — not to mention “When I’m With You” and “In My Room” have never sounded better. As for Vivian Girls, they played most of the material from Everything Goes Wrong as well as a few sprinklings of past hits. Also, they played that bad ass Chantel’s cover and Bethany joined them onstage for two tracks.

Although I don’t remember much, I did snag the Vivian Girls setlist and took some photos of the show which you can check out below (or see the full set here):

There was a sweet show yesterday featuring recently crowned Best New Music inductee Real Estate alongside future Underwater Peoples labelmates Pill Wonder with Northwest homegrowns Rainbow Bridge sandwiched between. Holocene, the very slick venue where the bands were playing, also had a DJ spinning some 80s-tastic tracks in between sets with acid washed stock video footage playing on a huge projector screen — mixing nicely with the “chillwave” vibe of the acts.

I was excited to check out openers Pill Wonder just because I noticed they had a 12” in the queue and was hoping that they played some of their new material (a man can only gauge so much from four tracks on their myspace). I wasn’t disappointed as the seven piece (!) band exceeded their 30 minute time slot churning out their patented psychedelic tinged garage rock for a crowd of about forty. They ended strong with a solid funkadelic/r&b number with bassist Hans doing his best James Brown impression. All-in-all, it was a lively set.

Next in line was the male/female guitar/drums duo Rainbow Bridge. With a set of trolls on stage and the drummer donning a fake beard, I was halfway expecting a quirky kitsch act. Much to my surprise, they played some kick ass garage rock tunes which made me think about how Jack & Meg White probably started out playing to similar crowds in Detroit in the late 90s. Undeniably the crowd pleasure for the group (and arguably the whole night) was their hit track “Big Wave Rider“. With simply sung lyrics “big wave rider / try and ride a little higher / you’re a glider / smile wider” over sparse instrumentation, it didn’t take long for the audience to join in and sing out the chorus.

By the time Real Estate took the stage at 11pm, the crowd had swelled to around eighty or so folks, mostly clad in skinny jeans and eighties regalia of some sorts. In response to the size, the band said this was one of the best crowds on the tour — something that I am sure Porlanders hear quite frequently. Any questions about whether this band was overhyped or undeserving of a constant stream of buzz since their SXSW showing were put to rest when they opened up with the infectious guitar line on “Beach Comber”. Now most reviews I’ve seen of Real Estate tend to follow a madlib like recipe: “Their [adj. / wobbly] guitars invokes a sense of [childhood story of the beach] — with the repetitious [instrument] enforcing that feeling”, however, when you see them live you get a sense on how much more this group is than some band riding the “chillwave” fad of ’09.

Through the glimmering tautophony lies these bluesy syncopated guitar solos that Matthew Mondanile (aka Ducktails) and Martin Courtney shine on — not to mention the commanding power bassist Alex Bleeker has on his instrument (something that will surely translate over to his “solo” work with The Freaks). As time elapsed, you couldn’t help but be swept away by their performance and get lost in their sound. This partly affected my determining of the setlist, as I tended to loose interest in knowing the exact song they were playing and got caught up more with the feeling they were invoking through their tunes:

1 // Beach Comber
2 // Pool Swimmers
3 // (?)
4 // Fake Blues
5 // Suburban Beverage
6 // Black Lake
7 // (?)
8 // (?)
9 // Atlantic City
10 // Fake Blues

I think it goes without saying that if you get a chance to see this band play in an intimate venue, do it because these guys are just going to get more of a following as time goes by. Here is a video of them playing “Fake Blues” at SXSW this past year along with some songs of theirs:

Real Estate // Beach Comber

Real Estate // Fake Blues

Before taking the stage later in the evening at Doug Fir Lounge (one of the hippest venues I’ve been to), San Francisco based ungoogle-able lo-fi group Girls graced the citizens of Portland with a free show at Jackpot Records. Although the quarters were small and the stage was even smaller, Christopher Owens and company put on a very pleasant sounding show for the cramped crowd.

The group performed six songs from their critically acclaimed debut, including favorites “Laura” and “Lust for Life”. Owens, dressed in an 80s looking magenta and teal track jacket (one can assume to match his painted fingernails) was hindered throughout the set due to space constraints, allowing for more shoegaze than I can imagine is in a typical Girls set. Energetic numbers, like “Morning Light”, fell a little flat performance-wise, however, they nailed it sonically as each song was almost an exact replica of the album. Here is one more shot from the show of bassist Chet “JR” White who has some of the most bad ass chest hair I have ever seen.

Girls // Lust for Life

Girls // Hellhole Ratrace

Opening for the night was Munich’s own Mondo Ray which, if you recall from previous shows, proved to be a nice set-up to the Wavves show a while back. Although 59:1 is small, it definitely isn’t as small as the coffee shop sized Kafe Kult where they performed last. This provided a not-so welcoming atmosphere for them as the dreaded European force-field extended about ten-feet from the stage providing an awkward buffer from the crowd to the band. Regardless of the weird dynamic, Mondo Ray put on a hell of a show with their high energy garage rock/punk that would have fit in nicely with anyone’s SXSW line-up had they been there. Oh yeah, and the drummer is ridiculous, beating out hard-driving tempos and slamming downbeats like there was no tomorrow.

After they left, it was only a couple of minutes before Jay and the crew (bassist Stephen Pope and drummer Billy Hayes) took the stage for a non-stop fifty minute set where even switches between instrumentations were filled with heavy noise guitar providing absolutely no relief. The antithesis of banter-filled bands, Jay Reatard only spoke (or more like shouted) the names of each track prior to playing them. And play them did he ever…

Chaotically rushing through hits from 2006’s Blood Visions and 2008’s Matador Singles, Jay was in his element gracefully sliding up and down his guitar neck without missing a beat even during the head-banging choruses. It was like witnessing a real-life guitar hero game. Without a doubt, the highlight was his rendition of “My Shadow” on speed, taking the 3+ minute track and shrinking it into a mindboggling 145 seconds. Absolutely unreal. Needless to say the one-minute “It’s Not a Substitute” was more of a blur than a song. Although exuding energy from every pore of their body, it somehow didn’t stick with the audience. Contrary to the more boisterous Black Lips turnout, Reatard was able to draw the elitist garage punk enthusiasts who were incredibly bashful even for European standards.

Regardless, Reatard completely owned the night. When the last inkling of reverb faded out after they left the stage, I was left to compile my thoughts and try to sort out the auditory haze I just experience. The question of “what just happened” never got fully answered and only until my neck became less stiff and my hearing less buzzy did I feel recovered – and that was a good three days later. So yeah, it was a great night.

Setlist:
An Ugly Death
It’s So Easy
Not A Substitute
My Shadow
Oh It’s Such A Shame
See/Saw
All Over Again
I’m Watching You
Blood Visions
Nightmares
Fading All Away
Trapped Here
Greed Money Useless Children
Hammer I Miss You
Waiting for Something
Let It All Go

Jay Reatard // See/Saw

Jay Reatard // Always Wanting More

Still reeling from the effects of jet lag, Case & Co. was more laid-back and subdued than taking charge as their new awesome album cover would suggest. Although an inordinate amount of time was spent having to tune after every song (one of my personal pet peeves) which gave way to some of the most bizarre banter I have ever heard, when the band got their act together and actually started to play some music, it was heavenly.

The band opened with one of the Fox Confessor favorites “Maybe Sparrow”. If there was any doubt in my mind that Case couldn’t replicate her singing in a live setting, it was squelched within the first opening bars. I was surprised that after such little warm-up during sound check Case was able to belt out album-quality vocals throughout her complete range with not so much as a hint of uneasiness. It was absolutely stunning.


No doubt the primary focus of the show was performing her new songs — out of the twenty songs played, twelve were tracks off of Middle Cyclone (everything except “Polar Nettles”, “Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth”, and “Marais La Nuit”). As a result this left little room for classics to be inserted into the mix. Sure she was able to play crowd favorites “Hold On, Hold On”, “The Tigers Have Spoken”, and “That Teenage Feeling” (which she said, possibly jokingly, was about the guitarist Paul Rigby) but a lot was left on the cutting room floor, especially anything prior to Fox Confessor.

Surely this was a bit disappointing, but an ideal Neko Case concert would probably last three hours long. Fortunately, the quality of her new material absolutely blew me away. Of the tracks she played, maybe two feel a little flat. The title track, which was described by Case herself as” being too pussy”, was indeed underwhelming in both instrumentation and Case’s patented vocal range. “Prison Girls” also sounded a bit unoriginal and redundant by essentially rehashing the mysterious and slinking guitar line of “Deep Red Bells” off of Blacklisted. Other than that, the quality was extraordinary.

A whirlwind of guitar aptly introed the stellar “This Tornado Loves You”, putting together a feeling of chaos surrounding Case’s always anchoring vocals. “Don’t Forget Me” (a Harry Nilsson cover) which has been floating around the internet for a little while was simple and sweet with only an acoustic guitar accompanying her. Similarly “Vengeance” was stripped down providing an avenue to take in Case’s passionate but non-autobiographical lyrics like “I’m not the man I thought I was”.

As a whole, the show left me in eager anticipation for Middle Cyclone. Although the performance of the new tracks were not as solid as her past material (as expected), she was still able to fascinate me with every new song she premiered – a testament on how strong the new material is. So mark your calendars for March 3, and don’t miss out on getting possibly one of the greater albums of 2009.

The Setlist:
Maybe Sparrow
People Got A Lot of Nerve
Fever
Hold On, Hold On
I’m an Animal
Middle Cyclone
Prison Girls
Don’t Forget Me
Tigers
Margaret vs. Pauline
Pharaohs
Teenage Feeling
Magpie to the Morning
Deep Red Bells
Wish I Was the Moon
This Tornado Loves You
Vengeance
Knock Loud
Next Time You Say Forever

Neko Case // I’m An Animal (Live in Munich)

Neko Case // Hold On, Hold On (Live in Munich)

Instead of trying to recreate the cacophony of sounds associated with every Wavves song, Williams opted instead to sift his live music through a coarse audio strainer, leaving out the harshest of elements to better highlight the more melodic parts. Although noise punk purists would probably scoff at such a move, the clarity in sound made the vocals more distinguishable, allowing fans next to me to utter to each other “so THAT’S what he’s saying!”

There was no dull moment the entire show with Williams filling his 40 minute set with future hit after future hit. With Ulsh’s powerful drumming (especially on the catchy-as-hell opening), “So Bored” was the opposite of malaise – jolting the crowd out of their nonchalant funk. Williams went especially berserk on “No Hope Kids”, excitedly jumping around on stage and shouting used-to-be-truthful lines like “Got no job / Got no money” between pauses from headbanging. Although most of his songs center on high intensity and speedy tempos, Wavves isn’t a one-trick pony. Exhibiting his ability to slow it down, Williams shined vocally on “Weed Demon” – making his “oohs” and “ahhs” sound about ten times creepier live.

You can check out my photos and videos from the Wavves concert and also jam out to some tunes below.

Wavves // So Bored

Wavves // Wavves

All concerns and emergency exits plans were forgotten once Islands took the stage. Playing their patented crisp indie-pop grooves, the band was able to work around their claustrophobic inducing small stage quarters to give the audience a great show. Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t return the favor posing instead to be more nonchalant than excited, something I definitely didn’t expect from such an overflowing group of college kids. Regardless, Islands were able to churn out hit after hit (I’m looking at you “Creeper” and “The Arm”) while keeping the crowd between “arms crossed” and “nodding level” of entertained.

Only until after the concert did I really fully understood how many Islands songs I had in my iTunes 5-star category. Although I would classify them as a more conservative of Montreal — you know, if Kevin Barnes was way less weird and wore pants — they still makes some great indie-pop songs that you don’t feel ashamed singing along to whether it’s in the shower or at a show. Although most known for the dance-worthy type beats, part of their draw for me is their superb integration of violin by multi-instrumentalist Alex Chow — most noticeably on “To a Bond” and “Pieces of You” off of their most recent LP Arm’s Way. I was more intrigued watching Chow perform more so than any other band member primarily because of his seamless shift from strings to keys. He is what keeps the band on topic for their slower ballad-like songs and also connects different movements in epic 7+ minute tracks like “In the Rushes”.

Islands certainly wasn’t the most exciting live act I’ve seen over in Europe but they rekindled my love of the band. With only two LPs to boot — one of which came out within the past year — the band has no where to go but up when they keep adding onto their already impressive repertoire. To quench your Islands thirst, here is a video of “The Arm” I took at the show:

As always you can check out my concert photos here, but I would suggest looking at this guy’s shots from the show since he was more in tune with the crowd situation and scored a spot on the front row.

Pretty much every noise band that I’ve witnessed always seems to put on an energetic show representative of their music taste. Crystal Antlers were no exception to this – demolishing even my substantial expectations with every track. Although the crowd was of a meager size (saying there was 20 people there was probably generous), they were still able to put on a great set that gave me more enjoyment than the riot-like atmosphere of the Black Lips just a couple of nights before. Graced with an allotment of new music from a recording session prior to their European tour, there was no doubt that the band has been enjoying playing something other than the six tracks off their EP. One of the highlights in fact was a “never performed live” song off of their about-to-be-released LP Tentacles which had a four minute guitar interlude reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine’s patented thrashing. If the rest of the album is like that, it will be one of the most talked about albums of the year.

SXSW stalwarts from last year, playing four times as many shows as days in the festival, Crystal Antlers aim to return to Austin this year, but, according to drummer Kevin Stuart, their schedule will be far less demanding. Between the massive North American and European tours, a new LP, and a secretive Live DVD in the works (Stuart was hush-hush about it, only revealing that it is “kind of like a documentary, but more like art”), 2009 seems to be a breakthrough year for Crystal Antlers. And if this is a just world, it will be.

I’ll post some videos from the show once I get them uploaded on youtube. For now, you can check out my photos from the concert!

After the dust settled, the Black Lips caught a plane to Germany to record an EP with fellow, and equally volatile, King Khan before heading out on a European tour, sans Khan. Needless to say after hearing the news from Asia, I was amped to be able to see their act in person at a small venue in Munich. After an energetic but overall flat opener HARA-KEE-REES, the crowd braced for the main event by compacting themselves close to the stage. This was probably the most excited I’ve seen a European audience since my arrival a year ago.

With the lights fire red, the Lips took the stage jamming out to hits from the popular 2007 LP Good Bad Not Evil. It was only a matter of time before the first German took to the stage, shirtless of course, and started singing into the mic and force feeding beer to the band members. I quickly followed suit by being the first to stage-dive at the end of “Lock and Key” which in turn excited the crowd and opened the floodgates for the pushing and shoving to get to the front of the stage.

The Lips, on the other hand, seemed to be removed from the chaos happening around them, opting for a more mellow demeanor. While bottles and cups started to be thrown, they pleaded with the crowd for restraint because they were “from America and had no health insurance” – a very un-Black Lips move. Other than constant movement and a quick “hit the floor while playing guitar” routine by guitarist Cole Alexander (reminiscent of Marty McFly in Back to the Future), the Lips were mostly subdued the whole night.

Not to say they didn’t put on a good performance musically because they did – even playing a handful of new tunes from their future March 16th release 200 Million Thousand — but the whole set was a bit of letdown. I guess it shows how hard it is to play with that sort of intensity day in day out and please crowds with unrealistic expectations. It could be a “maturity issue” but most likely it’s because of burnout due to over touring the world over. Regardless, the crowd made it a fun time and the Black Lips are a type of band that can put together a memorable show even on an off day.

Black Lips performing “Drugs” from 200 Million Thousand in Munich:

You can also check out photos from the show in Munich here.