Kill Hannah’s New Heart for Xmas 8: I'm Alive for Ten More Minutes.

New Heart for Xmas is an eight year running (with one break last year) multi-day event Kill Hannah throws every year.
Day 1: JBTV Studio filming/“Storytellers” event(VIP only)-- The Songs That Saved My Life
5/6
This was my first experience in a recording studio and I spent a lot of time staring at the walls, which were covered in rows of signed, platinum and rare albums. It was an audiophile’s dream. We filed into the small soundstage that was built for Kill Hannah a few years ago. JBTV and Kill Hannah have had a mutually helpful relationship for nearly a decade giving each other their well-deserved places in Chicago history.

Being this close to one of my favorite artists was a once in lifetime moment. It was breathtaking. Hearing their stories was wonderful, I’ve always loved listening to artists talk about their work. I learned a lot about Kill Hannah’s roots and how lyricists/vocalist Mat Devine was inspired to write some of my favorite Kill Hannah songs. There were also a few lovely moments between the members of the band, which is always a pleasure to see.
I am very proud of them and am thrilled to have been a part of the event.

The performance itself was really wonderful and it was interesting watching the band interact with the studio crew. It really felt like we were a part of something bigger.

Day 2:The Show--Welcome To Chicago.
Venue: Bottom Lounge (4/6)
I’ve been to the bottom lounge twice now and I got lost both times because there are two Ashland L stops on the green line. One is on the south side. One is a hop skip and a jump from downtown. Guess where I wound up?
I almost died before I even got to the show.
That being said it is just across the street from the L, very convenient if you don’t get lost. It’s a cozy, not cramped venue with a bar attached and surprisingly decent sound equipment. I found there was minimal distortion and the balance was nice.
And the view was great.

The Bottom Lounge is unique in that it still felt like a concert despite having an under 500 person capacity. Very cozy, yet still a good party.

The Crowd: (3/6) I am continually disappointed in the Kill Hannah crowds. Kill Hannah has an intensely loyal, hardworking street team and fan base, why they can’t give their all at a show is beyond me.

The Show:(4/6)

(Regrettably due to aforementioned getting lost I didn’t make the openers. I will review their albums at a later date)
The most striking thing about last evening was the amount of gratitude the band expressed. Due to singer Mat Devine being on Broadway New Heart for Xmas didn’t happen last year, and there was a lot of talk about how little the band was doing because of the show. There were even questions as to weather or not New Heart would happen this year. The relief in the air was palpable. Especially from bassist, Greg Corner and have course Divine. I don’t know how many times I heard “thank you” from their lips. It felt like magic.

Having met Divine multiple times now and kept up with his blog/advice column it’s hard for me not to adore his work. He wears his heart on his sleeve and even after over ten years in the industry, he has yet to lose his fearless edge. I’ve seen many artists start out fierce and defiant only to wear out after a few albums. While Kill Hannah has gotten a little less raw, Devine has yet to lose his rebellious sense of self.

Devine has an introversion about him. It is as though after all these years he’s still a bit confused by this whole stardom thing. At the end of the day he’s just Mat. This introversion can be a little detrimental on stage, as he doesn’t have the powerhouse energy some do. However, what he lacks in energy he makes up for in emotional output.

While Devine is certainly Kill Hannah's heart, the band is a family. Bassist Greg Corner has an incredible energy about him and a wonderful charm with the fans. He is the most social of the band (also being a DJ for Dark Wave Disco).

Just seeing drummer Elias Millan on stage with them again was wonderful. He was absent from two of the last shows.

I could honestly gush about each member for pages each. They are a very genuine, wonderful band that I will keep coming back to as long as they come to Chicago.

PSA/ Quick Survey:

First: Sorry I've been absent Nanowrimo ate my soul. Two more days and I'll be normal again
A few things:
1. How many, if any, of you would want a mobile version of the blog?
2. There's gonna be a bit of a facelift. More content, some rants et. Any thing you'd like to see as my readers? Comments/ criticism. If you don't want to  figure out how to comment on the blog,  email me at my business  email over on the sidebar.
3.  I may be jumping ship to a real website in the next year. Any recommendations?

Patrick stump with Rockie Fresh and Mark Rose ( not reviewed) at The Metro (chicago)

Venue, The Metro(4/6):
The Metro is one of the faded glories of the Chicago music scene. In its day it was a wonderful venue. You’d made it in Chicago if you played the Metro even two years ago. It is a great venue; don’t get me wrong. It is very intimate-- maximum of 1000 people, two tiers, and a cheap bar. The bathrooms are even decent for a bar/concert venue. However, you can see it fading. It is sad in a way, as that place has a lot of sentimental value for the music scene in Chicago. I still love it there; one of my first big shows in Chicago was there. However, the sound system is probably older than the venue itself and dying. The building itself is falling apart in minor ways-- it could stand to have fresh coat of paint and have the floors redone as they are mostly that odd cardboard like stuff that many dance floors are covered in and lots of gaff tape.

However, it is one of the few places that you can still get a 20oz water for 3$ and it still draws good music. The small size also makes the crowds more manageable.

The Crowd (3/6): The one thing I dislike about the music crowds I tend to run in is a certain flavor of audience member. Stop me if you’ve seen this person. Loud voice, that just gets louder when the music starts, often stands facing his friend rather than the stage, thus running into the person in back of him constantly. He is completely unaware of his body, usually bitching about something regarding the act on stage. If you think the artist sucks either leave or don’t come in the first place.

If you’re not there to watch/listen to your artist, then get the fuck out of my way. Especially if your over six feet tall and standing in front of a five foot tall fan of the artist on stage.

We had at least three of those in our row alone. I was ready to pull out my metal elbows and start a throw down.

Luckily, I’m a shrimp.

The show:

Rockie Fresh (2/6) I will add a caveat here, I’m not as familiar with hip-hop/rap as a genre, so its sometimes tricky for me to judge quality versus something I’m not used to. I should also add that this particular artist caters to a flavor of hip-hop that I don’t care for. I try to put my personal genre biases aside when reviewing, however, and focus on the technical talent and overall quality. I also acknowledge that one of the things that makes hip-hop so innovative is the use of sampling to change the way a song sounds. I like that.

It is however, a genre that relies on a persons sense of beat being razor sharp and vocal talent to being articulate and precise.

I found that Rockie Fresh lacked the edge needed to make his vocals stand out. I also found his music too busy. There is a line between well-layered music-- a common thing in hip-hop-- and cacophony. I find his work comparable to the young musicians that, rather than specializing, learn to play multiple instruments, but not very well. While innovation is one of the keys to success in the music industry, without that foundation, any diversification becomes noise, rather than style. If he simplified his work and really honed his vocals, I think he could have a shot at success in the club scene.

Patrick Stump(4/6):
Patrick Stump has a distinctive, clear voice that is a pleasure to listen to. He is a fun, talented artist with a striking look and energy in spades.
Stump is also playful on stage and constantly bouncing, flailing and bolting from one side to the other of the stage. He has a wonderful smile both in his face and in his sound. He is very much riding the high of being able to finally do what he wants instead of having to fight with band mates.
What Stump lacks, however, is structure and a foundation. I find him very chaotic and uncoordinated in both his sound and his presence. I feel like he is used to having something to rein in his raw energy and direct it and now that he is no longer in Fall out boy, he doesn’t have any direction and structure. It is as though he’s gone back to the beginning, but maintained some of his popularity from Fall Out Boy. He’s still struggling to find exactly what he wasn’t to sound like and how he wants to present himself as an artist. I’m willing to give him a couple years, however,I do not know if the fan-base is. During the show I saw more than a few people leave. On the other hand the fans that stayed were intensely loyal and very vocal. If stump is going to succeed I feel like he needs to recognize that he is not as big as he used to be and really work on honing himself as an artist.

He also needs a better backup band, I didn’t find any of them particularly talented.

In short, Stump is a nice Midwestern boy who needs to gain a little of the big city edge to succeed on his own.

Album Reivew: LaZae "Self help--EP"

3/6
I picked this up from my girlfriend who lives in LA. Not bad. Not bad at all.

LaZae has ariculate and  throaty  vocals with  a pop-rock sound. Combining lyered gutarwork with  minimal drumwork and the occasional keyboard, LaZe  keeps things interesting, but consistent.
Brave lyrics jam along side rugged, not always polished  guitar work. LaZae is leagues ahead of her instrumentalists. The guitar work has a lot of heart, but sometimes doesn' always match up with the vocals and sometimes collides head on with the other guitars, or with the keyboard work.
Her voice is solid, but she needs to simplify the music itself.   While I am a sucker for well done layering its something that requires a delicacy that isn't here.

Album Review: The Browncoat Mixtape (Adam WarRock & Milka kHill)

Have a soft spot for nerdcore, and a soft spot for Joss Wedon’s Firefly. When I got wind of an album that combined the two I was quite piqued.

Considering how very amateur the creators of these albums are I was relatively impressed. Adam WarRock brings a slower variation of nerdcore combined with samples form Firefly’s unique soundtrack. (Firefly’s sound combines an Asian fusion influence with an old west sound) While I tend to prefer harder, faster nerdcore I can appreciate a good fan tribute and I can appreciate the technical talent that WarRock has. I also enjoy the use of samples from the firefly soundtrack.

That being said, something about it didn’t really grab. It is almost too articulate in places and too polished. I would suggest that WarRock sharpen the edges and really reach for that passionate primal element that peeks through in “Independents.” As a Nerd I understand the amount of passion that goes into loving a show, and no show has a fanbase like Firefly. I find WarRock tends toward being a little more laid back, while I don’t mind that, I find it does not do firefly justice.

I look forward to listening to more of his music. I love nerdy music.

Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Music Festival:

Event: Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Music Festival(3/6) I’ve been to several music festivals ranging in size to small local events to one of the world’s largest. Uproar was mediocre. My thoughts on the show may have been colored by my active dislike for the venue. The line up was phenomenal, however, I found the whole thing disorganized and the staff unhelpful.

For example, they alleged that there was a signing. I personally saw no indicators as to the location or any potential time changes. I didn’t even see my usual indicator (a line). I checked both sides of the stage just to be sure. I’m not sure if this is the fault of the horrid venue or the festival organization.

Venue: (2/6)—Honestly, the only reason I end up going to the First Midwest Amphitheater is the talent it brings. I find it a dirty, unorganized, venue with staff that isn’t knowledgeable and often is more likely to stand around looking bored than actually help. They will, however, be very insistent about looking in your purse and patting you down in the poring rain. More than once I walked straight past the people who were supposed to check my ticket. I had mine in my hand, mind you, but once I was past the gates I could have gone anywhere but the pit (which requires a wristband, so I’m not sure how good security was down there) Now, I had the best tickets next to the pit so it didn’t matter. (I may be a seasoned concert go-er, but I’m not about to put myself in the pit for “Riot” or anything Avenged Sevenfold plays. I doubt I’d survive.)

Every time I’ve been to this venue the staff has been unfriendly and useless. They seem to have very little knowledge of the venue and the events therein. Moreover, they don’t seem to care to find out. The concessions are overpriced even by festival standards and the verity of concessions is piss-poor at best.

The sound system is also awful, bass heavy to a fault and constantly distorted.
The there are a few things that keep the venue from completely losing me.
First, it is a permanent venue. There are real bathrooms (not portable ones) and there is a decent covered section and the tickets are often not very expensive. Also this place tends to draw a phenomenal line up, and artists who come to Tinley Park often don’t come to Chicago itself. It also seats more people than the Charter One Pavilion, making it a prime target for rising artists and larger artists who don’t want to play arenas or aren’t quite big enough to fill an arena.

Escape The Fate (3/6): Escape The Fate is a traditional screamo/ heavy metal band with a young sound and some obvious roots in the 80s hair metal sound. Heavy metal is very easy to do badly. While far from terrible this band lacked a certain spark. Even recorded they are just slightly uncoordinated. Not enough to truly bother the listener but enough that it puts them behind the pack from a sound stand point. Lyrically, they are traditional dark metal. When opening for bands like “Bullet for My Valentine” and “Avenged Sevenfold” you need a little more kick than they had. Put forth the effort to produce energy however, they fell short. Overall they were nothing to write home about good or bad. As the first of four acts they were certainly in the right spot. They felt very green and forgettable.

Bullet for My Valentine (4/6): I’d heard their first two albums a few years back and while I enjoyed a few of the songs I largely forgot about them. I liked them enough that I was interested in the show, however, I had low expectations, I admit.

While I would hardly call Bullet For My Valentine brilliant, I’ve always been enamored with their ability to change from melody to screams and back. Musically they too have their roots in 80s metal, but there is clarity to their work that makes them stand out as well as a degree of coordination that is often lacking in scremo especially. In a genre that can easily devolve into noise, Bullet took the effort to make their sound unique and sharp.
Live they also had a primal metal energy that is rare outside of harder metal.

Bullet for My Valentine had that live. The adrenaline was fantastic. On a technical level, they were also very solid, a surprise in their genera. The guitarist was especially on top of his game.

Another thing that made Bullet for My Valentine interesting is that the vocals were split. The lead handled the melodies and the guitarist picked up the grunts and screams. This illustrated their lovely coordination further and let the guitarist and front man play off each other very nicely.

Bullet for My Valentine also showed passion, which was a nice way to start an evening full of it.

Bullet for My Valentine also made the abundance start moving and after Escape the Fate, this was no easy thing. However, from opening cord to ending progression the crowd was on its feet. I think they even got a mosh pit started, which doesn’t happen often with openers.


Three Days Grace (5/6): I didn’t think I could be any more impressed with Three Days Grace than I already was. However, they did something that I haven’t seen in any other band. Most bands that I’ve seen several times lose some of their sparkle, not often enough of it to mater, but the shows get familiar and predictable. Not so with Three Days Grace. Even the parts I’ve seen several times had little pieces of variation that make a show just that much more engaging. I did not think they could top their last show, with its unbridled energy and raw emotion.

I underestimated Adam Gointer. Heavily.

There is a raw honesty that comes forward in their music that is only a glimmer in most other bands’ music. Every band I’ve seen live has songs they’ve written just to put something out there. It is the unfortunate nature of the industry. Most also have at least one song that is straight from the raw nerve. Any fan who’s seen a good live show knows that song, it’s the one that taps into your own heart because it is palpable that every word rings true.

That is everything Three Days Grace has ever created. Their live performances have a powerful charge that rivals no other show I’ve seen in its emotional intensity. I confes that I lose a degree of professionalism when I’m at their shows, something in what he writes taps my own nerves.

And that usual redundancy I talked about? Even the songs that they’ve been performing for their entire career are different each time they perform them.

In addition to having energy and emotion Three Days Grace also have an incredible amount of talent. Their coordination is flawless and seasoned. Are they the most technical band on the planate? No. I think that is one of the things that make them so powerful. They are raw, torn, emotional and utterly wonderful live.

Avenged Sevenfold (4/6): Avenged Sevenfold is another band that I had kicking around my computer for a while. I liked what I’d heard but not enough to actively seek it out. I expected to have my earplugs in and head bob, but not really engage in the show. Then it happened, somewhere during “Beast and the Harlot” the raw, primal energy that metal is known for kicked in. The crowd was alive, and I was on. While they certainly don’t have the emotional content of Three Days Grace, they certainly put on a great show. I don’t think emotional content is the point of their particular flavor of metal; its music to cut loose to, rather than music for catharsis. The general tone of an Avenged Sevenfold show is one of defiant, almost flippant dismissal. Despite this tone, front man M. Shadows engaged the fans often enough to keep them interested but not so often that it became tedious or interrupted the flow of the concert. He was sincere when he needed to be, encouraged the fans when they needed to be encouraged and generally put on a good rock show. However, something happened about half way through the show and I’m still thinking over exactly what caused it. There was a distinct energy lull. Part of it, I’m sure, was the solemnity of “so far away” dedicated to their former drummer who passed on around this time of year two years back.

I’ve never seen a band lose a member and fully recover, while the new drummer is very good, I’d imagine there would always be a hole in the band. However, while I can’t see a talent difference (I’m not very familiar with their older works) I noticed that the songs from the newest album displayed a degree of emotion that others did not. I’m wondering if this is a new turn for the band or if they are simply coming to terms with a friend’s death. Time will tell. I certainly appreciated the emotional elements however; it is not what most people come to an Avenged Sevenfold show for. I can see that affecting their fan base heavily.

I’ve talked a lot about Shadows’ performance but he is far from the most talented of the band. In fact, I’d say he’s the least talented of them. Not that he isn’t talented, he is. However, their guitarist and drummer are both phenomenal. I was particularly impressed with the drummer, given that he is a very recent addition to the band. While I’m confidant that no one will ever replace “The Rev,” I have faith in this his or her new drummer.

On the whole, I was impressed with these people and while their performance will never make my top ten lists, it was certainly good.

Kings and Queens of Redundancy-- MTV Unplugged: Thirty Seconds to Mars

A few days ago Thirty Seconds to Mars released an “MTV Unplugged” ep. I’ve given it a few listens now. It is comprised of songs from their newest album This is War. Initially, I was excited, as my favorite Thirty Seconds to Mars song “Night of The Hunter” is on this piece and I always love listening to how a song sounds pared down to acoustic.
Jared Leto has a wonderful voice and articulates incredibly well courtesy of his acting background. However, one thing he does not do well is improvise. He is a very stick to the script type. On one hand, this leads to a degree of practiced percussion that doesn’t happen often. On the other hand, there is a level of redundancy to his work that is really noticeable in the acoustic sessions. The challenge of acoustic work is that it is so much subtler than electric can be. If the artist sticks to closely to the original piece, it can often fall apart. And that is exactly what happened with Night of the Hunter, unfortunately. Rather than becoming a chilling, heart-stopping piece it goes from layered to cacophonous. While still a gorgeous song, it lacks the knife twist that it has electric.

Every album by an artist that gets radio play has one “radio song” a song that is often not their most powerful, but has something that will catch the ear and compel the listen to look for more. That was “Kings and Queens.” Most of the time this song becomes the boring song on the album. While I adore Kings and Queens on the original album, it is the shallow, radio song. Not so on the Acoustic. The pain so easily overlooked in the album version is palpable in the acoustic. It haunts, chills, and brings out the mournful, yet hopeful tone of the lyrics. I got goose bumps when first heard this version.

I find “Hurricane” a throw away song. While the lyrics posit an interesting question “Would you kill to save a life?” It has never been a song that terribly kept my attention. It is the same way on the acoustic album—an obvious choice as it’s a radio song as well, but ultimately not one I’d pay attention to.

The few covers Thirty Seconds to Mars made have been interesting and always have a twist to them. “Where the Streets Have No Name” is surreal to hear in Jared Leto’s voice, instead of Bono’s . The addition of the background chorus was started by U2 however, Leto's orchestration is still fairly strong. However, this still has the same issues that “Night of The Hunter” had—Too many layers for an acoustic show. Unlike “Night of the Hunter” however, this song’s layering is essential to the sound of the song.

Overall, I would say this is not Thirty Seconds To Mars’ best work, however, it is still a solid album well worth picking up.

This City is my City (Lollapalooza day 2)

Venue: Same as yesterday, though this particular stage (The BMI stage) had the worst sound system I’ve encountered in a long time. And there was no adjustment made to compensate for the overactive bass.

Acts:

I briefly walked in on Death From Above 1979, while they were very good; I only saw pieces of their set as I was coordinating with people. I also spent an ungodly amount of time running to and from the FYE booth. Someone would make a large profit if they offered some kind of ride back and forth across the park. My spine is still throbbing. I’m still reveling in how gorgeous Lola is.


Patrick Stump: (3/6) I have to say found Stump because of Fall Out Boy. I do love his vocal range and his odd nasally voice. I will also admit that part of the reason I paid attention to Patrick was that everyone else was busy paying attention to Peat Wentz. Stump is far and away the more talented of the two. However, he is going to be haunted for the rest of his life as being “that other guy from fall out boy” so I’m going to shut up about peat and go right to Patrick.

Patrick Stump has a great vocal range, and a distinct voice, however, he falls into the same trap many artist fall into when they go solo. He tries to hard to be “not Fall Out Boy” and I find that that means he doesn’t actually have his own sound. What he plays is an amalgamation of hip hop, pop and funk and has an uncoordinated tone live. Recorder it is much better but still lacks focus. It is almost as though Stump has started over from ground zero musically but with his fame intact.

I’m willing to stick by him musically, as his lyrics are sharp and there is talent there as well as a lot of potential, however, he needs to get past his “I’m NOT FALL OUT BOY” phase and get focused. The R&B sound is interesting for him but it still feels like he’s trying to hard.

The emotion in his voice is undeniable, however. He has a lot of passion. Good luck to him.

The Pretty Reckless (4/6): I'd heard this band recorded and only truly knew one song of theirs. The impression I had from the album was good, but I had low expectations of their live show. While I did miss about half of it getting Patrick Stump's autograph, I am glad I made it back in time to hear some of their set. They were much better live than on the album. Very coordinated, a good balance of crowd interaction and performing. Taylor Momsen's vocal's were solid and matched up with the sound she produced on album. However, she didn't very at all. I would like to see her step out of her comfort box and experiment with what she's capable of vocally. I thought the band was solid and I adore Ben Phillips’ throaty scream voice as well and his guitar work is solid.

Where they really lost points, and some of my respect was their attitude. While I don't know the story behind it, apparently, they are notorious for being late. I wasn't at the beginning of their set, but according to one of the other people in line with me for the singing, they were late. They were also an hour late at least to the signing, I don't know if it got longer of if they ever showed up I had to cut out after standing in line for an hour. While a little slack can be cut when it's your show. In a venue wherein you have 45-minute sets, and 30 minutes for singings, that kind of lateness is unacceptable. I know it was they, too, not the FYE people as a) they'd been timely at the last singing and b) they said as much. If they ever want to be the headliner, they need to step it up.

Lollapalooza2011: Day 1

Venue: Grant Park (4/6)
I only hit one band this particular day, they were the reason I bought the ticket to Lollapalooza. Normally 200$ for three days is a bit rich for me and I was not aware of the secret pre-sale that makes it a lot cheeper. (downside being that it’s before you know who you’re seeing.) My bar for festival grounds is very high as I’ve been going to Summerfest since i was a teenager. The grounds were gorgeous.” The view of the skyline from grant park is utterly spectacular and the festival surrounds chicago’s Buckingham Fountain. There are no permeant faculties for this show so the bathrooms are exclusively port-a-potties, par for the course at festivals, but still not the best. There are eight stages spread out over a large enough space that there isn’t a lot of sound overlap. They also stagger the sets on stages that are close to each other. They do let you bring some food and empty bottles in and even have a refilling station. This festival seems more focused on taking care of its patrons than most. The drinks are cheeper for concert fair and they have a few vendors with local food and local merchandise. The food/ drink locations are spread out over the entire festival grounds so that its easy to access them.
I have to say its lovely. I adore chicago.

Crowd: (1/6) Wow. Yes, I know I was not there for the headliner, so the majority of the crowd was there for Muse. Yes, A Perfect Circle has odd energy and is generally very subdued. But come on people. This band has not toured since 2005. Show some love, or get the hell off the floor so that those of us who are there for APC can see.


The Show: A Perfect Circle (4/6): An odd band with an equally odd sound. The majority of the band members come from other bands including Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Puicfier and others. They have a heavy, dark sound that is not like many others. The lyrics are articulate and introspective, with an often vicious streak. I am personally quite fond of “Passive” and “Outsider” along with the creepy, if romantic “Pet.”
With this collaborative effort you get a lot of influences, but all of them are in the same vein. The closest I can label them is industrial, but with a more aggressive edge.

This band is also known for their covers. They have a positively haunting cover of imagine. Yes, the John Lennon son.

Live they were a little slow to get moving but when they did there was an energy to that was feral, dark and dug into something deep under the skin. There was some distance between front man Maynard James Keenan and the audience and not a lot of interaction between the artists. Each seemed to be doing their own thing emotionally, while somehow collaborating on a musical level. I think that is what contributed to the crowd’s subdued nature. When they finally hit their stride, even the distance couldn’t keep the crowd down. However, it took the majority of their set to get there.

Overall, I wish they would release more music, I doubt they will however.

Get Famous: A PSA to Young Musicians

I’ve seen far, far to many bands who make these mistakes, so Its time for a PSA:

If you want to get famous, there are some rules that you should follow:
1) Google “Name You Want for Your Band (band)”, odds are unless its a really odd name,you’ll have at least one other. If it's far away from you and they only have a myspace, you’re golden. If you have four hits in the same country you’re from: Reconsider that name.
2) Shock Value/ Funny names are not shocking/funny after the 5th time you hear them. “Clown Death Cocks” might not have many hits on google, but very few managers will take you seriously.
3) Know your genera: Live it, breathe it, own it. It may be a new sound completely, but the odds of that are very, very low. More likely you have a wealth of knowledge and support that you are ignoring out of sheer laziness and pretension. Besides it's always nice to know who you could be opening for
4) Know other genres: You might not be what you think you are, and once again you’d be ignoring a huge community.
5)If you are the first opener, you will have the worst crowd. While you’re enthusiasm is appreciated, it might not work. This isn’t a comment on you. Keep at it.

Album Reivew: Parachute" The Way It Was"

I found Parachute( not to be confused with the New Zeland band “Parachute Band”) when I missed them at the Goo Goo Dolls show a few weeks back. I picked up their newest album and finally found the time to give it a listen.

Overall I enjoy it, but its not keeping my attention. Parachute strikes me as average alternative rock. Worth the money for the CD, but not worth really keeping tabs on.

This isn’t a bad album, however I think this band really needs to find their own sound. THey are still green and as with many young bands, they have not yet grown a sound that stands out from the countless other alternative rock bands. The lyrics are just as redundant and generic as the rest of their sound-- filled with run fo the mill teenage love songs and breakups, meant for driving in the summer.

Even their ‘deeper’ song “Forever and Always” didn’t really catch me untill the last verse, by then i’ve typically hit skip.

I’d see them again live, but i wouldn’t actively seek them. I would love to see them touring with other bands that I enjoy, however.ow this CD.

Likely influences: Mayday Parade and Owl City.

Solid band, but they need to push the envelope more. If they exploded their own sound, I think they have a lot of potential to be a very good band.

News Update/ Small Rant

Not what I normally post here, But this heavily impacts my industry. And I’m pissed about it.

I’d like to have a moment of silence for Q101 being taken off the air at 1:07am CDT last Friday. RIP Q101, thanks for all of your support and the countless festivals and rock shows. I will be very interested to see what happens in the Chicago music scene without you. Good luck to the lovely gentleman who turned it into a news station. Cause Chicago needed more news stations.

I’m sorry, dear readers, but Q101 was a part of the chicago music soul. It may not have been the biggest music station out there, but it was home. They will be missed and I can’t help but be a little bitter.

Good news is the “internet radio” will still be there-- no DJs though.

I usually don’t get political on this blog, but please don’t support the man who is trying to destroy the chicago music scene. I know he hasn’t out and said it but thats basically what it seems to be trying to do. Taking two of chicago’s major rock stations out, one of which was a key element in the festival and concert arena right as the music industry is finally turning around its slump is nothing short of a slap in the face.

People lost jobs from this. One of the guys had been working at this station for 13 years. and thats gone now.

Boycott 101.1, 97.1. Let them know exactly what we think of this change. It won’t bring back our DJs or put our station back the way it was, but maybe, just maybe it will have an impact. And maybe, just maybe, people will think twice before tangling with chicago radio.

I’m usually a supporter of the radio, call me old fassioned here, but I like the excitement of unexpectedly hearing something good, or better still something good and new. The fun of looking up this new band and figuring out if they are, in fact, good. The local, sometimes really interesting, music.

I sincerely hope that radio doesn’t go the way of the music video. I seriously miss that.

Tonight's the Night The World Begins Again: Goo Goo Dolls w/ Parachute (unreivewed) and Michelle Branch.

Venue: Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island: (4/6) I think I must be getting fussier as I get older I found that while I still love the Charter One Pavilion, the audio set up is very off balance and like so many venues and it makes for some pretty nasty distortion, especially with the vocals. Now this may not be true for every one but personally I find the vocals one of the most important parts of rock music. I’m a huge sucker for lyrics. So when the awful clipping noise your bass makes drowns out my artists I get a little miffed. Even John Rzeznik commented on it. I’ve seen this way too often especially at outdoor venues. I appreciate good bass, but people please, it’s not all of the music. If you overdo the bass you drown out many of the details that make or break a good artist.

I’ve been to the Charter One five times that I remember. As a result, I’m used to ignoring the unhelpful staff and overpriced (even for concerts) drinks. I did notice the security was more vigilant than in the past, which was nice, if annoying because I had to pull out my ticket more often. Granted that’s preferable to lax security.

Small tangent: I have a great respect for the people who do security at concerts. In my option they are one part ninja, one part gladiator with the patience of a saint. These are not petite people- they have to be burly enough to be able to physically escort out drunk, rowdy people. They put up with being shit talked, cussed at and probably hit. They get puke cleaned up. And they do all of that nearly invisibly. I’ve more than once seen security appear when they were otherwise nowhere to be seen, deal with an issue and vanish again.


Crowd: (2/6) I don’t’ know if it was Michele branch’s horrible performance, the heat or what, but the crowd was dead. Even when the Goo Goo Dolls played ”Name“ (their biggest song) the crowd was fairly dreary. They perked up once ”Better days“ played, nearly half way through the show. I noticed an interesting dynamic. At other Goo Goo Dolls shows I’ve been to, the songs they played from Dizzy Up the Girl (1998) and of course ”Name“ (1996). However, this time their stuff from Let Love In (2007) was what sparked the crowd. An interesting phenomenon considering how much bigger Dizzy up The Girl was.


Opener: Michelle Branch (1/6). I vaguely enjoyed hearing "Everywhere" on the radio, and the handful of singles I knew of hers. She was always decent, not good, not bad just decent. Live it was a different matter. She gets a point for effort for certain; she was enthusiastic and interacted with the crowd as much as she could. (See previous comments on the crowd) However, she had only rudimentary talent on the guitar, clumsy even with the simpler cords and her guitar sounded slightly off. Not quite out of tune, just off.

Vocally she has no training and unlike many artists, it shows. While I appreciate a raw, otherwise good voice, this was not one of those. Her voice was tinny and flat most of the time, especially on the ‘showy’ notes. To be quite honest, it was bad enough that I had trouble paying attention and walked off to get a soda about half way into her set.
Her recorded stuff is not much better, to be quite honest. Wrenched vocalist.


Main Act: The Goo Goo Dolls (4/6) this is my third show with the Goo Goo dolls. I adore them. There is something very honest about their lyrics and the fact that the two front men have been a part of the band for 25 years makes for a very strong dynamic between the two of them. Bassist and occasional front man Robby Takac keeps them honest to their punk roots, while John Rzeznik gives them their more famous glossy alternative rock sound. The addition of other members has filled out their overall sound and given them more verity than their past roots.

While I will admit this was not their best performance, Rzeznik’s voice is getting a little tired and the energy wasn’t stellar (though I blame that on the crowd), I thought it was still a through good show. John Rzeznik is always a pleasure to listen to both as a musician and a speaker and his dynamic with Takac is wonderful to watch. Despite Rzeznik being the more popular of the two front men, he often defers to Takac letting him have the spot light as often as Rzeznik himself does. Both men bring their own distinctive sound to the table. Rzeznik has a gravely, melodic voice that embodies their genre so well. Takac has a voice like a goblin and a grin to match, which adds a lovely mischievous tone to some of their work.

The addition of a mandolin on “Iris” and saxophone on ”Broadway” adds welcome spice to an already very good show. Especially given that the saxophone is not on the album, adding just that much more to the live show.

Overall I acknowledge the band is aging, but they are still and I think forever will be one of my favorites.

And, incidentally, I was right about their new album. Wonderful stuff.

Summerfest 7/6/11

Venue: Summerfest, as previously reviewed. I like this stage a little better. (The rock stage)

Crowd: (3/6)Not bad. A little dead for the 8:00 show but overall a decent festival crowd. The crowd energy was fantastic during Sick Puppies; however, I attribute that to Sick Puppies and not to the Crowd. Surprisingly, lively for the 6:30 show, though and that was definitely the crowd, not the artist. For the 8:00 show the crowd was horrible.

The line up:

5:00pm: Litmus Vinyl (3.5/6)-- I came in during this set and spent most of the time running around and getting settled in to my camping spot. As a result I didn’t give them enough attention to give a detailed review. On top of this the band had some nasty technical issues regarding sound balance.
The front man had excessive amounts of energy and was a lot of fun on stage, very dynamic. The band’s overall sound was not one that I usually listen to so it took me a little work to really hone in on what worked and didn’t work about this band. They had a retro-folk sound that, while catchy didn’t quite grab my attention.

The vocals were sub-par, but palatable and had the instrumentation to match. I particularly noticed that the keyboards sounded off. If it weren’t electronic, I’d say it sounded out of tune, however given how hard it is for an electric keyboard to be out of tune, I’m going to assume that was intentional. It sounded like an attempt to mimic steel drums. I didn’t feel like the keyboardist had a firm enough mastery of her instrument to branch out into a different sound and it took her an undue amount of effort to stay on task.

The saxophonist was very good, and brought a nice addition to the sound. I didn’t think he pushed his talent too hard. I find one of the pitfalls of horn instruments is the tendency to try to hard for the showy sounds that their instruments make. The results are often closer to the previously reviewed Kids These Day, than to anything significantly impressive. This saxophonist knew how to balance the impressive with the more basic elements.

The guitar work was solid but made no impressions either way.

Overall, I would say a good listen, however they did not translate well to the album.

6:30 Soil (3/6)-- I wish I could give this band a lower rating, as I really don’t care for a lot of band in the Macho Rock subgenera as they have an arrogant, disrespectful attitude toward their fans, and frankly put I’ve seen bands produce this sound better with more class. However for that subgenre they were decently talented, though the front man was fairly inarticulate and more arrogant than his popularity granted him. The guitar work was passable, but most of their sound blended together in a discordant way. To their credit the front mans lack of articulation could be partly attributed to the sound balance issues that Summerfest was having. His attempts at the classic rock/ metal grunts and gravely tone came off as an attempt to copy the artists who originally made that sound, not as an attempt to make his own sound.

The bass work was pleasant, however and gave the band a little more depth than they would have otherwise had.

I also found their lyrics inane with an attempt to be profound without actually succeeding.

I’m going to go on to the next band now, as otherwise I’m just going to devolve into ranting about this genre.


8:00 Me talk Pretty (4/6)--

I have to say one thing that isn’t related to the act itself, but I find reflects well on the character of the leading woman.

After we saw Sick Puppies (reviewed below) my girlfriend twisted her knee getting off the bleacher and we had to get the first aid people. While I was out getting help, Uliana asked if my girlfriend was all right, and if she needed help. In a world were musicians are often treated as royalty, she didn’t have to do that. She could have just walked by. She chose to help. That says a lot about how classy this woman is.

Me Talk Pretty was the find of the festival for me this Summerfest. Front woman Uliana’s voice is fantastic-- reminiscent of the woman of symphonic metal and rock. She was also a lot of fun on stage, very energetic and tried to keep the crowd engaged. She was also very good at brushing off the rude comments a few drunk members of the crowd offered (Protip guys: Yelling ”take it off“ just because the singer is female does not earn you any points with nearby women, in fact it could get you mauled) Uliana had a euro-pop star feel to her and was a lot of fun to listen to. However, it is clear she is still a young artist and lacks a lot of the stage presence that her more experienced counterparts have. Specifically her moves on stage look very rehearsed and stilted. I also felt her band was not quite on par with her voice live.

Having listened to them now a little on Youtube, I’ve determined that it’s the drummer that is off. I couldn’t quite place it since overall the band was solid, not fantastic, but solid. They also should improve on their give and take and the technical elements of the guitar work. I can certainly see the talent there but in order to really succeed I think that the band needs to step up their game to match their singer.


10:00: Sick Puppies (5/6). After seeing Sick Puppies it always feels like something has been set right in my heart. They are an absolute pleasure to see every single time. As they are only a three person band, each member gets their moment to shine and even when they’re playing together each piece is clear.

I rave about basis Emma Anzai every time hear her play. She is a force all unto herself. From her fierce slap bass to her soft sultry voice and her powerful dynamic movement Emma is the only bassist I’ve seen live with that kind of hold on the audience. I’ve also seen her come out of her shell quite a bit since the first time I met her last year. Moving from shy to a much more confidant, professional woman, Emma has found her place in the band nicely.

Singer Shimon Moore is a character on stage. Between his amazing voice, his sense of humor and his knack for getting even the more passive members of the audience moving there are very few artists on his caliber. He also has a genuine desire to make his fans happy. He’s also very articulate on stage and has a natural knack for knowing when to talk and when to play. He’s also adapted his tone to really drive the show forward.


I often forget to be appreciative of Mark Goodwin as the drum work blends so smoothly into the rest of the music that I often forget how much talent it takes to be as good a drummer as mark. Like the others in the band, he has a sense of humor and can often be seen tossing a drumstick in the air and trying to catch it again. A master of both the traditional drum kit and the bongos, Mark is a welcome addition the Sick Puppies family.

That, by the way, is exactly what I would call this lovely little band. A family. They work so flawlessly together that it seems like they were born to play together. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us next. (If monster is any indicator we are in for a really interesting album next)

Summefest 7/2/11 Show and album review of Maroon 5

Venue: Given that during Summefest I’m at the same venue (granted not usually the same stage) I don’t usually comment on the venue more than once. However, I have to make a comment here
Summerfest made a pretty expensive mistake: They underestimated a band. Granted, so did most of the fans. I didn’t even think they were as popular as they are or I would have arrived earlier myself. The stage could have comfortably held about three quarters what it held.

Due to the above mentioned issue I was not able to properly review Maroon 5 short of saying that I’ve seen Maroon 5 before and I really enjoyed it and from what I could make out on the screens it seemed like the same caliber show. I would say probably a 5/6 show. Adam Levine is articulate and has a surprisingly good voice and is in constant motion on stage. He’s also very much a ham on stage, playing to the audience. It is always a pleasure to see him on stage. I just wish I’d been able to go to the Chicago show.

Album Review (4/6): Maroon 5 Hands All Over--
I really enjoyed Maroon 5’s second album It Won’t Be Soon Before Long it had sharp teeth and many very strong lyrics that worked well with the instrumentation. It was edgy though it was missing many of the ballads that were on the first album. Hands All Over found a happy medium between the ballads and the flirty, bouncy songs. I also felt the album was more innovative than their other albums have been with stylistic forays into country, something more akin to jazz and back to their own style of pop-rock. Singer Adam Levine’s voice has grown sultrier over the years and he’s learned to control it more effectively.


The issue I found with the album is that it didn’t keep my attention all of the time. I found my attention wandering during some of the more saccharine ballads. They didn’t have the draw of Maroon 5’s older, more heartfelt ballads. Those songs feel a little out of character for such a cheeky band.
The band as a whole has matured and really learned to handle their instruments well. I think between the bands more cohesive sound and their maturation together Maroon 5 has become quite a strong band with a constantly innovating style that makes them well worth the attention their getting.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing them again and I truly enjoyed most of this album.

Summefest 7/1/11(roadtrip show!)

Venue: I always enjoy Summerfest. It happens to be one of the world’s largest music festivals and it’s in of all places Milwaukee, WI. It’s “11 days, 11 stages and over 700 artists” and around floury three years running. You can find almost any verity of music you please their, and even a few that you don’t please. You can also find a very wide verity of talent, ages, and kinds of artists. In addition there are booths full of food from local restaurants, including an Ethnic Garden of foods from around the world. There is also a plethora of vendors who sell everything from clothing, to knick-knacks, to incense. It is very easy to spend all eleven days there. (The most I’ve ever done was nine).

The crowd: (4/6) The overall Summerfest crowd is very laid back and usually not as furious as a normal concert crowd. Many of them have been camping their stage for hours, and even more have been walking around the seventy-five acres of the festival grounds. Sometimes they’re not even there for a specific band. For this particular show, crowd took a little time to get moving but they were very vocal. Above all they were a happy crowd.


Notes on the times: At a music festival, generally the first acts are the local, greener bands and the last acts are usually more well known experienced bands. Often this also indicates quality.

8:00 show: Kids These Days (3/6): I was shocked that this band had the 8:00 slot. Shocked. Last year I saw Sick Puppies at this slot. I usually give band with such young members a lot of slack as they are still growing into their voices as well as their style. Initially, I thought that perhaps Summerfest had been gracious enough to give a local high school band a slot.
I was wrong. They’re from Chicago, how embarrassing.

If each member performed on his or her own, they might have been decent. If it weren’t for the following issues.

The front man that did the singing, not the rapping was pushing his voice to make a very distinctive, specific sound usually found in blues and jazz. His voice however is too young to truly make that sound and you can hear the straining. He does have a good voice, however he will hurt himself if he continues pushing it.

While I am all for mixing genres and throwing pieces of outside genres into the mix, you should have a solid grounding in both genres if you attempt this. This band was still very green (understandable given their ages) and I felt that until they had a more solid foundation in their genre (be it hip-hop or blues) they should perhaps sick to one genre per song.

The coordination: They were trying to emulate the bands that would dance with their horns from the jazz era. A valiant effort however, none of them managed to bow, let alone move in anything resembling synchronicity and coordination. That alone would have improved the band visually quite a lot

Things I did like, however:

The female lead had a very strong sense of her range and could actually make the vocalizations that she was attempting without straining her voice.

The instrumentation: All of the individual players had at least a moderate degree of talent, however they did need some work on a technical level. Which, I think will come in time. They do have some underlying talent.

Overall a very green band with some talent that needs to mature several years and hone their sound before really hitting the music scene. If they do hone it, I do think there is a lot of potential.

The 10:00 show: Third Eye Blind (4/6): It was an odd show, but it was very enjoyable. I did not have very high expectations given that as far as I knew they had peaked in the late 90s. The first about 20 minutes matched that expectation rather well. Fun, but nothing special. They lacked energy and the instrumentation wasn’t spot on. Then they played “slow motion” One of their very controversial songs, which I believe was only officially released as an instrumental due to the drug and violence content of the lyrics. However, the fans know the song inside out and it is one of their most beautiful songs. While they are known for their catchy song, I find Third Eye Blind’s real talent is in what I call stoner ballads. This song was followed up by their second largest hit “Jumper” and it was as though both the band and audience suddenly remembered they were there for a rock show. By the encore, they were rocking and the audience was electric.

Backstret Boys and New Kids on the Block with Jordin Sparks and Ashylne Huff.

Venue (United Center): 4/6

I actually like this arena better than the Allstate it has a stronger sound system and is better coordinated. The set changes/set breaks were fast and nearly invisible. Though they need to adjust the base just a little, it overpowered vocals in a few places, especially on Jordin Sparks’ set. While I appreciate the full range of sound on the system, I didn’t need to hear the bass make sounds that more closely resemble a car hitting speed ribbing on the road. While it’s better than clipping out, it’s not a good sound.

The double-edged sword is that the United Center is almost twice as big as the Allstate. This makes some of the seating a little nerve-wracking. I did enjoy the fact that they had screens in addition to the stage work.

The Crowd (5/6): A very active, very expressive crowd, even during the second opener. (The first one was bad enough that it wasn’t going to get any crowd noise). It was also one of the loudest crowds I’ve ever been in. Seriously. Even taking into account the size, whenever the crowd was cued to sing or scream it was a wall of pure sound. It was crazy.

First Opener (Ashlyne Huff) (1/6): Wow. Just wow. Going to a pop show I expected a certain degree of prefabrication; it is the nature of pop to an extent.

There was no talent there whatsoever. None. The DJ was the only talent on the stage. To his credit he was trying very hard.

Just listening to the vocals was tolerable, bad, prefabricated pop, but ok to remix in a club.

Then there was the dancing. It was completely and utterly amateur and uncoordinated. They didn’t even coordinate the bow right. It looked like the dancers had been brought in unrehearsed for this tour, maybe even just for Chicago.

To her credit, she did seem earnestly into it and was trying hard, but honestly, I spent more time looking at my cell phone than at the stage. It was terrible.

Simply terrible.


Jordin Sparks (4/6): I was surprised how good she was live. She was engaging and very gracious. It was still a band to go to the bathroom during. She sounded like she’d had training, which was refreshing after our first opener. Very sweet, and talented. However, nothing really stuck out about her, good or bad. Just solid. Good voice, good legs, but she still needs to find her draw in a sea of similar woman-empowered female artists. Once she finds her ‘thing“ she’ll be fine, but I don’t think she’ll really take off.


Main act: Backstreet Boys/New Kids On the Block (5/6): A surprisingly fantastic show. I confess I was there mostly for nostalgia value. Most shows that combine two main acts are really more one band’s show than the other. They go on in a specific order, and that’s how it is. Not so with these bands. They alternated songs, and combined songs throughout the show constantly engaging the audience and each other.

There were many things than impressed me about both bands. First, was their ability to share the spotlight. This was especially true for the Backstreet Boys. Despite having two who are usually the most dominant voices, every member got their moment in the limelight, and it was smoothly done with the rest of the band still engaged.

New Kids on the Block had more of a set of people who were each separately in the limelight. Joey was particularly fun to see have his moment in the light, because when he was younger he was the top high end of the group, hitting notes that I assumed he could no longer hit as he’s no longer an adolescent. I was wrong. It had been about 21 years since I’d paid attention to The New Kids on the Block, so I didn’t recognize him until he did hit those notes. My jaw hit the floor.

Between the graciousness, toward each other both within the bands and between the two bands and the crowd interaction the show was already great. Add to that the fact that they enjoyed the music, and preformed beyond the choreography and orchestration. There was some improvising and a lot of fan engagement.

They did the mash up at the end. Both bands had their moments to shine (With ”Everybody (Backstreet’s back)“ for Backstreet Boys and "Hangin’ Tough” for New Kids on the Block.) Then they took two songs that already had so much energy and crowd engagement and they made a playfully competitive mash up out of them. It was amazing and so much fun. .

I would see either band again on their own, though Backstreet Boys more than New Kids on the Block.

Sick Puppies w/ Seven Day Sonnet at the Cubby Bear

The Venue: The Cubby Bear (3/6) I’d heard bad things about this venue so I came in expecting a disaster. It honestly wasn’t as bad as I anticipated though they defiantly could stand better mics. It was specifically the mics, not the amps as there was a lot of crackle and muffling to the speech. It was not much more than a bar with a stage. Nothing wrong with that, but It often leads to the venue doing neither well. It was also an odd size. It was smaller than even the 1000 person venues I’ve been to but not tiny enough to be a truly small venue. I didn’t really get to the bar or bathroom so no comments on those. The merch booth was set up in a very easy to get to place and there was surprisingly decent ventilation. It was disorganized from a time perspective, however. If the door is at seven I expect the show at eight at the latest, and the main act to go on at nine. The main act didn’t start until ten and there was a LOT of lag between sets.


The crowd (3/6): The crowd was too passive for what they were there for. This is your band’s first headlining tour. A band that was the first opener of four a year ago. I’ve seen what this band is capable of and, yes; Shimion Moor did manage to work his magic on them, but really? You do remember whom you’re here to see, don’t you? Show it.


First Opener: Seven Day Sonnet (3/6): It would be a lower score had it not been for the fact that I heard some of their recorded stuff. I feel like this band has many of the issues I see in many younger bands. They’re uncoordinated on stage and seem to be out there to have fun, which is fine, but they didn’t have the technical aspects down. Especially not the bassist. I was very close to the stage so I could see very clearly what was going on. At one point I looked up at the bassist was strumming, not picking, not slapping or popping, strumming. He was especially all over the place on stage. No precision to speak of and no real sense of give and take. The two guitarists were passable on a technical level, but at least didn’t draw attention to them over the lead consistently.

The lead was solid for his genre (Screamo is not known for its quality vocals) but if he’s going to make it his band needs to step up their game


Main Act: Sick Puppies (5/6) Always, a pleasure seeing this band. They are phenomenal with the crowd and very engaging. Shimon Moore is articulate, and knows how to balance talking with the music so that it feels personal, but doesn’t drag. They also have a stunning dynamic of give and take on stage that is magnificent. Emma Anzai (bass) and Shimon Moore (lead) have extent musical conversations on stage. Between his clear, velvety voice and her whisper soft lilt the vocals alone would be enough to make for an amazing show. Add to that Moor’s wonderfully precise guitar work and Emma’s masterful bass and you have one of the best shows ever.

I cannot say enough about Emma Anzai’s bass work, Every time I see her live I rave more. She is unlike any other bassist I’ve seen on stage. I would even go so far as to say, she is the best bassist I’ve ever seen. Full stop.

The other thing that continues to fascinate me is that this band is just three people, no synth, no sampling. Just instruments and vocals. And every one of them has near- unrivaled talent.

Rammstein and Combichirst at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont

Venue: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL (4/6) I prefer the Allstate to the United Center. That being said, I’m not a fan of arenas, they’re too big and it puts a lot of distance between you and the artist. The energy is never very strong once it reaches the third tier.


The crowd (3/6): Something just wasn’t working in my section of the arena. The difficulty with such a big place is that it could have been a completely different experience elsewhere. But where I was there seemed to be this disconnect. I think part of it is a function of the language barrier. I sincerely doubt that many of the audience spoke any German (I don’t) and I think that makes connecting to the abundance a lot more difficult. It warmed back up significantly once Rammstin Played “Du Hast,” their biggest hit in the US. But the audience didn’t have the kind of energy I’d expect from such a vibrant show. I also think this was partly because they seemed to be paying more attention to recording the show than to enjoying it.


Opening act: Combichirst (4/6) I’m not really a big fan of Agrotech-- I find it tends to be shallow and repetitive as a genera. The sound is very cool, but I find the lyrics dull after a while. That being said, I found Combichirst to be an interesting act, very showy-- one of the drummers was playing with a pair of mourning stars. There weren’t very many instruments involved, but that’s partly the genera. The way the set was set up was also interesting as they had two percussionists and a synth. player set up to stay in sync roughly.

While I though the energy was very strong I don’t think the band itself has as much talent, it strikes me as the sort of music that teenagers listen to before they understand what industrial can really sound like. The front man was surprisingly articulate for a genre that favors grunts and screams over audible lyrics.

Having listened to them recorded and live now I find they are good lives but reordered they are quite off putting, they sound like Marylyn Manson’s kid brothers.


Main Act, Rammstein (3.5/6): Interesting show. Until last night I’d only heard about the kinds of things that go on at Rammstein show, including onstage simulated sodomy. I truthful was expecting ”worse“ than what I saw, but given that it was an all ages’ show I think they must have toned things down. The pyrotencics were unlike anything I’d ever seen. Most pyro heavy shows to see some explosions from the ceiling and floor, maybe the odd rocket, but nothing like this. People were set on fire both literally and figuratively by the theatrical, over the top style of the band. According to Wikipedia it’s partly to keep the fans engaged despite the language barrier.


While I felt there were some problems earlier in the show with the energy and connection to the audience I felt this tactic effective, because Rammstin is also a talented band within their genera. Industrial is not a genre known for its talent, so it is a very pleasant surprise to see a band that is articulate. Their precision wasn’t perfect on the guitar work, however I think that is partly the effect they were going for. The synthesizer work was very nice and the vocals were crystalline in their clarity.

The thing I missed was that the band was so caught up in the theatrical element, which is reason enough to see them perform, that there wasn’t a lot of effort put into working the crowd or connecting, there was too much reliance on the pyro. That being said an interesting thing happened.

The crowd was off, involved but something wasn’t quite catching until they played “Du Hast.” Suddenly there was a connection and the crowd woke like a sleeping giant. Most people knew something of the lyrics. I’m sure none of us knew exactly what we were saying but we knew the words. That seemed to be what both the band and the crowd needed to get themselves really moving.


That dissonance aside, the encore alone was worth the ticket price. I don’t think I’ll ever forget seeing “Engle” live. “Engle” is (if the translated lyrics are right) a song about not wanting to be an angel. Front man Till Lindemann appears in easily 10 foot long steel angle wings which shoot flames from their ends. It is phenomenal to see live. And that was just “Engle”. The show overall was gorgeous but could have used a little better energy.

Coheed and Cambria at House of Blues

Venue: House of Blues, Chicago (5/6): I’d been at The Aragon too much and forgotten that HOB had started me on concerts in Chicago back when I first moved here in ‘06. It was the first venue I went to by myself too. I have a deep affection for the place and after the Aragon I’d forgotten how nice it was to be able to see without going on tiptoe or jumping. It is a cozy little venue that I will always come back to and if you ask for a glass of water its free, h is rare.


The Crowd (5/6): The crowd was frenzy like I have rarely seen, even during the first half of the show, which was acoustic. I’ve been around Crowds don’t frenzy during acoustic numbers like this at any other show.

The Show Itself (6/6): The bar has risen for best concert I’ve ever been to. Period. This one blew all the others away. Initially, I was surprised there was no opener. Then the band came out with acoustic instruments, given that I knew the show was themed around their first album Second Stage Turbine Blade, I thought it might just be an acoustic show, which would have been a little disappointing but still breathtaking. They played for about forty five minutes and had a set break, then the electronics came out and they proceeded to rock out.

They were their own opener. Pure guts and brilliance.

I was very skeptical of Coheed and Cambria pulling off acoustic, I felt like something was going to be lost. I was thoroughly and utterly impressed with how precise and articulate Coheed and Cambria were with their instrumentation, especially, Claudio Sanchez’s guitar work. In most cases, if the front man plays the guitar they do rhythm guitar and have someone else handle the more complex lead. Not only did Sanchez manage to put on an amazing, clear voiced vocal performance, but also his guitar work was phenomenal and technically perfect. He was one of the few artists who I could clearly understand even during loud, rock numbers.

I’ve never seen a performance like it before.

And that was just Sanchez.

The rest of the band was incredible. Particularly, Travis Stever, the guitarist* had not only the talent to keep up with Sanchez’s guitar work but also match is insane range.

The acoustic set was haunting, reverent, and utterly beautiful.

By the set break I’d already figured out this was going to be unlike any other concert I’d ever seen. The second half was everything the first half was with an incredible burst of energy and power. Sanchez’s brilliant voice and off the hook dancing further augmented the explosive nature of the show. It had the energy, volume, and dynamic of a real rock show. No holds barred. This band is a force on stage like nothing else I’ve ever seen.

*Among other parts. It impressed me farther that every member of the band (except the drummer) plays no less than four instruments.

My Chemical Romance with Neon Trees and the Architects.

Venue: See previous night’s review of the Aragon. It’s a good venue but desperately needs a few well-placed fans. The sound was better last night.

First Opener: The Architects (NR): Previously I’d seen both Neon Trees and The Architects and they weren’t that good. So I was at the merch booth for most of the set. However, when I went back inside I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of what I heard. They’re still basically 80’s revival (and say as much on their site) but the quality of sound improved dramatically

Second Opener: Neon Trees (4/6): Wow. I was blown away by how much this band has improved. I had to go back in the blog to make sure it was the same band. They went from being one of the worst live shows I’ve seen to being a solid show. Frontman Tyler Glenn both engaged the crowd and fellow band mate while singing surprisingly clearly. Neon Trees had solid sound and recognizable lyrics (I knew Animal from the radio). They are catchy enough to be contagious, but not a manufactured sound. Very good radio potential. Their sound was pop punk and fit the show very well. Too often I see bands that are decent but just don’t fit the sound of the evening. These people had the right feel and sound and were decently talented.


Main Act: My Chemical Romance (5/6): I’d heard that My Chemical Romance didn’t put on the best show live, so, I had my hopes set very low. I loved it. I think the people who didn’t like them live were expecting the wrong thing. My Chemical Romance is punk pop, not rock or mainstream pop. They are not a technical band, however, technical finesse is not something that pop punk is really known for. Punk, and particularly pop punk are meant to have scratchy vocals, rough guitar work and a lot of energy with good lyrics.
Is front man Gerard Way’s voice good? Not especially. But energy and lyrics Way has in spades. His dynamic with is his fans are wonderful and he is incredibly gracious. He is also very humble for someone who’s been performing to large audiences for the better part of 10 years.

My Chemical Romance has surprising depth and breadth of song style. Most pop-punk bands are one trick pony, with only the odd slower number. My Chemical Romance has a balance of slower numbers and traditional thrashy punk songs. They have an underlying energy that makes their sound sing and touch people. Particularly live I noticed “Cancer” was heart wrenching and hearing 
“I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” (the song that put My Chemical Romance on the map) live was a real treat.

I would go back to see them in a heartbeat. And I encourage others to do so as well, but don’t go expecting clear articulation or precision. Go expecting raw energy and you won’t be disappointed.

Three Days Grace with My Darkest Days.

Venue (Riviera Theater--3/6):
Many venues in Chicago are converted theaters or former ballrooms like the Aragon. The Riviera is a smaller such building; while the capacity isn’t listed on their site I’d estimate it’s close to 2000 people at most. The floor itself looked like it had three tiers, which is rare and very useful for people who are shorter. A faded glory, the ceiling was once ornate and now the paint is pealing and chipping. The fake marble is perhaps the most well maintained part of the paint job. It’s clear that the building was not meant to house a concert as the merch. booth and ticking were burred in a corner. I encountered a curious anomaly when I went for water; the price of water is different once you’re on the floor than when you’re at the outside bar. (1$ inside versus 4$ outside) I didn’t see the bathrooms, but I’d expect nothing pleasant.

The sound system was out of balance, like with many smaller venues, the system was bass heavy, and the vocals were not very clear. Unlike many other smaller venues, there wasn’t much compensation for it. One thing I did enjoy about this venue was the fact that they had a spot explicitly railed off for people in wheel chairs. Not every venue does this and I find it very nice.

The Opener (My Darkest Days--3/6):
I had low expectations for these guys and they were met. This band sounded like someone who would open for the opener for Nickelback. They were fun to listen to but, crude and redundant, overall not worth buying an album from. I could predict most of their lyrics (usually something about “light it up” or something about girls). My Darkest days also weren’t the most precise when it comes to the technical work on the instruments. However, there was potential for them to become a radio band, perhaps something on par with Filter. It was easy to sing along and dance to but I found they were trying a bit to hard. The guitarist had decent amounts of talent and could work the crowd better than the frontman. Overall they were decent, but not great.


The Main Act (Three Days Grace--5/6):
This is the second time I’ve seen Three Days Grace live and they have yet to disappoint. Front-man Adam Gontier may not have a perfect voice, but he brings a level of energy few bands these days put forth. A second performance gave me the opportunity to appreciate the rest of the band, especially after My Darkest Days. Hearing that level of clarity and precision was a treat. Gontier loves his fans and they love him back. He is also fearless, in both his original work and his covers. I hadn’t heard three days grace cover anything before so when Gontier came out with Eminem’s “Lose yourself”-- a song of a clearly different genre from his own-- it was gutsy and he managed to pull it off brilliantly. Especially paired with “Home” the song’s ferocity was amplified wonderfully. He then went on to cover Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” which was pleasantly strange. I’ve commented on Goiter’s incredible stage presence before but even when he wasn’t the focus, I felt my eyes drawn to him. The best part of this energy is that he hasn’t grown arrogant about it. He’s still just Adam, there to do a rock show.

Some of the rest of the band could show off last night too. Drummer, Keyboardist, and backup vocalist Neil Sanderson, put on a several minute long drum machine solo, followed by a several minute long standard drum solo. Both solos were absolutely through the roof. Given how powerful Gontier is I hadn’t truly appreciated their drummer until this show. It was amazing. I’m truly impressed.

I am also impressed with the fact that Gontier still does a lot of the guitar work. Most bands where the lead man is also a guitarist you only really hear the lead man doing guitar work on the albums because of how hard it is to do both at once and still really perform. Gontier did, and did so very well. I appreciate his dedication to both aspects of his craft.

Overall, I continue to find three days grace a dynamic force on stage and in their album work. Gontier hinted that they are working on yet another album and I cannot wait to see what these people do next.

Album Review: Within Temptation, The Unforgiving

Within Temptation has set the bar very high with their previous albums (notably The Heart of Everything (2007)). This Dutch band considers themselves symphonic rock with various other influences. To most fans they are closer to the edge of symphonic metal with heavy fantasy metal influences, though they are a lot smoother than most metal. Front woman Shannon Del Adel has an operatic voice with a powerful range hitting notes that would make sopranos jealous and extends deep into the alto range.. Her voice is a force. I had the privilege of being introduced to the band via a live performance and I’ve not heard voices like that in American rock.

The Unforgiving took a little warming up as it has a more modern edge and sounds like the score to an action packed film. No surprise when you consider that it was inspired by a comic book. The band also incorporates a strong bass line that wasn’t present in pervious albums.
It starts off more like a traditional metal album and I confess I was a little disappointed, missing the symphonic sound and they’re above average emotional content.

A few tracks in came the song “Iron” which sounded like it should have had some rugged death grunts and scream work layered in with Del Adel’s voice. It didn’t but the guitar work was absolutely wonderful. A traditional metal song from a symphonic band that proved interesting and quite catching.

I noticed the male vocals were more prevalent on “Murder” which added a nice bottom to Del Adel’s voice resulting in a deeper, richer sound.

The layering that was common practice in their previous albums was subtler on The Unforgiving but still very much present and still brought the symphonic sound Within Temptation fans have come to expect and love. The addition of spoken word to these layers created an eerie magical feel.

Solid album over all. 4/5

Album Review: Self titled by The Allegiance

This was another album that I got off the street at a comic book convention this time. I wasn’t even wearing my Sehnnhisers this time.

The Allegiance has a standard rock sound with some metal influence. The instrumentation is solid, but has a prefabricated, simplistic sound. The overall sound improves on a second listen, but it does not catch and would not stand out among the rest of my collection as anything more than good background music.

Similarly, the vocals are only average, neither attracting nor deterring the ear. Front man, Ben “shanks”(sic. They gave themselves nicknames) has a tendency to be inarticulate and cannot seem to make up his mind if he wants to be a metal front man or a rock front man. Either way the he would do well to articulate more and hone his vocal skills.

The lyrics are on the generic side, however they are pretty consistent with a band this green.

The bass work is solid, noting special, but nothing horrid either.

I could hear this band at a festival as somewhere around the 4pm slot, or perhaps as an early opener for a large rock show.

(2.5/5)

30 Seconds To Mars with Anberlin and CB7(unreivewed)

Venue: The Aragon Ballroom (4/6): The Aragon is one of my usual haunts. It’s a gorgeous venue with an ornately painted ceiling and ornately decorated balconies reminiscent of Spanish architecture, every time I visit the Aragon I notice another little detail in the painting or in the way the balconies are decorated. It is also one of the largest small venues in the area. Most hold about one thousand people, but the Aragon’s capacity is four thousand. It feels crowed even when it’s not that crowed thanks to how disorganized the place is. It is obvious the Aragon was not meant to be a concert venue. First, there is absolutely no ventilation on the floor. I’m not exaggerating. It feels like being outside on a humid day surrounded by people who are packed close together. It is hard to breathe on the floor itself, more so than even being on the floor in an arena. The “bars,” if they can be called that, more closely resemble kiosks at outdoor venues than true bars.
The sound system was particularly out of balance this time, but frankly it’s never been stellar. Everything comes out at the same volume, which often results in the vocals being drowned out.
The Crowd (3.5/6): I should throw in a caveat here; I’m comparing this crowd not to a normal crowd but to a normal Escalon (30 Seconds to Mars’ fan base) Crowd. They are normally quite a wild crowd. Not the case last night. However, part of that I don’t blame the crowd itself for (see below)

The first opener: CB7: I only truly heard one song of so I’m not really going to give a full review. What I did hear was decent but a little discordant. They also lacked energy. If I had to review off of what I saw I’d give them a 2.5/6


Second opener: Anberlin (3/6 live, 4/6 recorded): Oh dear. I was pleased when I heard that Anberlin were touring with 30 Seconds To Mars, as I quite like what I’ve heard of theirs on album. I have a feeling some of the issues I had with them stemmed from the sound system being off balance (example the fact that the instrumentation was not well balanced). Their front man was inarticulate and the band sounded completely uncoordinated and a little cacophonous. Except for the drummers. Plural. That earned them a point all by itself, because they were fantastic and had better timing than the entire rest of the band combined.
They did put forth considerable effort I will give them that. They tried; unfortunately their own issues combined with the sound system’s problems made them fall flat.


The Main Act: 30 Seconds To Mars:(4/6): What Happened? This is the band that made me extend my rating scale to six. They set the bar very high with their last two performances, so I was expecting a lot more than they put out. Don’t get me wrong the show was still amazing. 30 Seconds To Mars is always amazing, but front man Jared Leto relied entirely too much on the crowd for support. I love crowd sings they can be very cathartic and give a wonderful intimacy when done right. I’ve never before seen a band where I found there was too much crowd interaction. However, when the crowd is singing more of the songs consistently than the singer is there is a problem. Granted if any group of fans can carry that, it’s the Echelon, but we paid to hear the band, not our drunk fellow fans. It seems to me that Leto needs a break from touring to get his energy and his voice back in shape. He has a lovely, clear voice. The strain was audible. Leto still gave everything he had, but he didn’t have the usual explosive energy he brings to a show.

On the other hand, there was a lot of fan interaction and it was clear that Leto was putting fort the effort at least. What impressed me most was an odd bit of circumstance. This was drummer Shannon Leto’s first show back after being hospitalized for an extended period of time. I couldn’t tell. Normally when one of the members is ill or injured things are a little off. The drumming was flawless as usual. Bravo.

I should also add that it was still a good solid rock show, Jared Leto was a diva as always. I will come back if they do.

Album Review: Punk Wrapper: Outta sync

UPDATE: Apparently this guy has a website, for your entreatment, ladies and gents: http://punkwrapper.net/

I will present to you: Stuff that finds me on myspace and youtube and one even on the street.

A while back a random guy approached me on the street because i had on Sennheiser headphones because I don’t do crappy headphones. Recognizing he at least somewhat knew his audio equipment we chatted a little.
He approached me again at the post office not to long ago and finally had a presence on the web. Considering it was free, and all I was waisting was my time, I checked it out.

Formally: this is Punk Wrapper, with Outta Sync.

This was the worst music(using the term lightly) I’ve ever heard in my entire life. As luck would have it I have the CD baby link stored I my computer’s history.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Dear gods, that was bad, and rest assured when I say the stuff that was on his now dead site was worse. THe lack of rhythm in Outta Sync and the utterly cacophonous, seemingly random sounds, scratches and so fourth make for one truly atrocious album. I couldn’t even listen to a full song without getting a headache.

This would almost be tolerable if it weren’t for his utterly horrid voice.

(0/5 seriously that bad)


That was hard on my ears, But it got me thinking. I get dozens of links from artists trying to break into the music industry (when you say you have a review blog, you attract them) some are alright, some good, but the vast, vast majority are outright terrible.

So I decided to hone my critical streak and show them here.

Unrelated, I also promised a friend I’d review his stuff. Soon to come:
Aaron Ruiz

And more of the terrible stuff with
Blare LeVoir