Summerfest, Day 4: Immagine Dragons and Mother, Mother at the Miller Light Oasis

Day 4 of Summerfest: Mother, Mother and Imagine Dragons 

Stage: Miller Light Oasis (2/6): I have a love hate relationship with this stage. On the one hand it is the largest of the free stages. On the other, it is often the most crowed and the hardest to hear. Let me explain what I mean by crowed, because it’s not the kind have crowed that most people visualize. About twenty rows of bleachers are followed by two full rows of picnic tables in front of the stage. One would think this meant that the tables were a safe place to sit and watch from a distance.
One would be sorely mistaken.
Because of the popularity of the artists at that stage three is no casual watching vantage point. By the time the 8:00 set is starting the bleachers are packed with people standing on bleachers. The tables are double packed with people standing on the tables and benches By the time the 10pm set tolls around it is pure mayhem- in addtion to standing on tables and bleachers, there are people standing between the rows and packed around the tables. It is luck if you can see one of the three screens from the tables.
If you’re far enough back, you legitimately cannot hear the vocals at all.

But, if you’re up for the crush, it is beyond worth it.

The speaker system is in desperate need of a make over. The sound balance is non-existent relying on the bass predominantly and drowning out the vocals every time.

The shows:
Mother, Mother (4/6): I really got a kick out of the female lead vocalist’s playful sprit and the antidotes peppered throughout their show, however, the want to be punk style of dress and blasé nebulously defiant attitude didn’t have the effect they were going for. For punk attitude to work, you really have to have a balls-to-the-walls devil may care drive, they were too nice for punk and too blasé to be feel good. They talked bout being rebels and throwing a party in the same breath that they threw out hippy rhetoric, which did work. Where they fell flat was the total lack of energy, I could tell their thing was the disinterested but still rebellious attitude of punk, however they were just too placid for punk.

The guitar work was solid and they had an overall good sound reminiscent of the neo-punk movement.

Imagine Dragons (5/6): My vantage point was less than perfect for this show so It was a bit hard to really review their stage show. However, when a band has enough sheer energy to push past even the drunkest, least courteous crowd, that's when you know you have something magical.
And magic it was.
I knew I was in for a rock show unlike any other when I saw the two drum sets and one massive bass drum at the front of the stage. I’d heard enough of their stuff to know it was already drum intensive, but this took the cake.
The music had a pulse; the drums were palpable and gave the music an energetic drive that propelled Imagine Dragon’s already motivational message.
Vocalist, Dan Reynolds is also one of the drummers, which is a rarity. Not only is he a drummer, but also he’s a good drummer. And he doesn't sit behind the drum kit. Over the coerces of the show he ran from drum set to drum set by way of the massive bass drum in the center of the stage. In addition to high-energy drum work there were two other drummers who were equally talented and equally vigorous. Reynolds’ command of the audience was brilliant.
The band overall had a sense of coordination that was quite pleasant.
I had noticed all of this before the encore

And thin they played radioactive, their big radio single. And the energy was physically tangible. The entire au dance in one, eerily articulate voice sang every note down to the breath. It became a force—one mass of power.

That is how a rock show sounds.

I cannot wait to see them again.

Summefest Day 3: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers(Unrated):

I love seeing the really big time bands that have been around longer than I’ve been alive, its always a pleasure, especially when they still have enthusiasm.

I don’t judge these bands by the same standards. I doubt most people would be able to perform for half as many years as Petty has.  Hell, I haven’t been alive for his entire career.  The fact that he’s even on stage at this point is pretty amazing.

In a lot of ways, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers were the opposite of fun.(As in the band, they were enjoyable)

However,  there is one thing that I felt was very present in Tom Petty’s performance that  I’ve seen more than once that really bothers me as a  fan. Not as a critic. They get…lazy for lack of other word. If you’ve been performing for 50+ years, you don’t have to try anymore. On the one hand, this can often produce jam sessions and  some really fantastic solos. After all, they’ve been at this for that long, they’ve got to be a t least good musically. On the other hand, they don’t have to impress anyone. There isn’t that fire that a lot of grener bands have. Even in slower genes with mellower songs you get there’s a palpable need to  push, to create to give your fans your everything. That often isn’t there in older bands.  It’s sad. I’m sure it iss in part because they re tired. However, I do wonder if there is a degree of arrogance there. After all, they are one of the biggest stars our there, they don’t have to impresss.

This tiredness was very obvious in Petty’s performance.

I did enjoy the show, It was nice to hear some of the stuff I I’d know the lyrics to for years. I’m glad I did it, but I doubt I’ll do it again.

Road Trip Show: Summerfest2013(Day 1-2)

It’s that time of year again folks, Summefest is upon us!

Apologies for the long review, I meant to post this in two parts, but there were some snags with posting yesterday.

For those who are just tuning in, Summerfest is the world's largest music festival. (Literally, it’s in The Guiness Book of World Records!) It takes place in  the heart of Milwaukee, WI and brings in acts ranging from small, local talent to internationally renowned superstars. It’s an eleven day long, twelve stage spectacle with scores of local artists both of the musical variety and the craft variety. Jewelry makers, fortunetellers, incense, and cheep t-shirts can be found all over the grounds in addition to foods from the local restaurants. There’s even a kids zone (though if you want to see any of the bands in the eight or ten pm slots, you might want to leave the kids at home). It has to be seen to for the scale to be truly appreciated.

People come from all over the country, sometimes all over the world for Summefest. IF you’re a music fan and can get out to Milwaukee, WI, go. Period.

The Marcus Amphitheater : 4/6 I have a soft spot for the Marcus Amphitheater as I grew up with Summefest and the main stage was always a special treat because of aforementioned extra cost.  While the sound system is of course not the best the view is nearly always good and the two significantly large screens are visible enough and large enough that even on the lawn they are visible.

It’s an expansive venue that stretches that dominates one entire corner of the grounds and attracts the really big names that headline the festival. 

I love the Marcus personally

The show:

I did not manage to watch a full set weds day night, so this is the speed review section

 Edward Sharpe And TheMagnetic Zeros: (3/6) Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros had a psychedelic, lo- fi feel to it with a lot of country influence. Their sound was very innocent and a yearning for the past that seemed out of place in a modern environment.  While I understand that they are meant to be a mellow band, their lack of energy was palpable. I’m mot sure if i was simply the fact that they were that stoned, or if they simply did not know how to put out energy well.

They get points for getting the crowd to participate, but overall not stellar.

Avette Brothers (3/6): The Avette Brothers band took a few songs to get for me my mind around. It didn’t help that they took a long time to get their energy up and warm up. They had a surprising number of instruments that probably haven’t been on the Marcus’ stage often. They scored some pretty major points from me for the use of a double bass that the bassist actually carried around, not as in a double necked bass guitar mind you a classical double bass. And the bass got a solo. So did the cello and the banjo. The banjo player was particular good.

On the whole, they were good, but not great.

Violent Femmes (2/6) I wasn’t expecting much from a 90s one hit wonder, and they still managed to fall short of those expectations. While I have no problems with a band being stoned/high/drunk on stage, they have to be able to preform well enough to give a good show. The band has to really be terrible to make me leave 20 minutes in. I did. They get a point for the fact that it was somewhat coherent. Even the solos were just terrible. It was bad enough that I was seriously wondering if there was something in their style that I was missing and they were somehow making that sound on purpose. Given that the album I recall from when I was younger did have a “stoner rock’ feel I’m still not sure.

Day 2:

Fun with Walk the Moon and Family of the Year at the Marcus Amphitheater, Milwaukee WI

Family of the Year: (2/6) I had some issues with reviewing them as the first band in a set is often the sound check band and the bass was *atrociously* off. I find it's a common thing to overdo the bass in order to compensate for weak middle end.

It never works.

The lead vocalists had absolutely no energy to speak of.  If a band is first line opener energy is often you’re only tool. You need to give it everything or you will fall flat on your face. They were aiming for that same lazy sound that the above bands had. They sounded lo-fi, nebulously out of place in time and Sleepy. They were also far too wholesome for my taste and no energy to speak of. They would have fit right in a few decades ago as a first tear at a big festival, they seem out of place in time and not in the nostalgic way.

The lyrics were repetitive and felt like they would have been more appropriate for a child’s venue.

Walk the Moon (3/6): In keeping with the semi-retro feeling of the past couple days, they have a lot of 80s influent and a solid, bouncy feeling. It was something easy to dance to. However, Walk the Moon took a significant effort to warm up. Innately they were clumsy and musically disorganized. They had one thing that a lot of younger bands  don’t-- they had the ability to  re-collect themselves. I could see the bassist gesturing to the sound guy and had a very good sense that they were putting the effort and taking the opportunity to tour with a bigger band seriously

Still not the greatest band I’ve heard, but far from the worst.

Credit where its due for the amount of crowd interaction they got, and actually getting the audience going. Even second tier openers often have issues getting a dedicated crowd motivated. I was impressed to see the number of fans there to see them explicitly.

Not bad

Fun. : Give me a second; I need to get my story straight.

(5/6)-- I feel like I’m eating my words in a lot of ways. I’ve been a bit non-pulsed  by fun, but the songs of theirs I do like  I love.  I saw them last year at one of the free stages and they were only fair and nearly inaudible due to some technical issues.  However, even then I could sense lead vocalist Nate Ruess’ endearing, shyness.

Last night, however, Ruess was charmingly awkward and insanely energetic. He was the capstone to an excellent night

This year, I think fun really found their stride. The energy was amazing and they very much lived up to their name. The show was, well, fun. It also captured that phase a lot of bands have when they rise to fame quickly.  There’s a particular, mind blown smile that i just love. It happens when the sheer wonderment that the massive audience in front of them is actually here for their band hits for the first time.

I don’t know what exactly what it was about their general feel but I have an instinct that we will remember Fun. for decades to come if they put the amount of energy into their next album as they did their live show.  I was also very impressed at the dynamics of the group. In many bands there is a lead vocalist and everyone else is treated as secondary. I feel like Ruess was genuinely affectionate toward his band mates and fans.

In fact, the overall genuineness of front dude was wonderful.  He also expended a ridiculous amount of energy, sprinting from one side of the stage to the other so hard that toward the finally he fell over briefly. It was unreal.

I was also impressed at the sheer number of instruments that came out per member. One of the members is listed on the studio work as playing nine different instruments, touring I think he reduced the number to four. Moreover, it wasn’t just for one or two songs, he was constantly switching off

Album Review: Scream Shout -Threads-

(3/6)

I have a soft spot for the younger bands, so when I Scream Shout's Threads came across my desk, I was very interested. They defiantly sound like a greener band, but that is not a bad thing in my book.

Vocally, Threads  is one part passionate confidence, one part uneven and unfocused. The ardent tone compensates for the imprecision nicely.

However, it feels like the album is unsure wheatear it wants to be harder edged post-punk, or stick with a more melodic, alt-rock tone. Either would work, but the vocals come off muddied and dissonant at this point. That being said, one thing that really caught my ear is that the vocalist swears very well. I have no doubt he means every word he sings.

The lyrics are simple, bitter in places, and honest I can get behind a lot of what they’re saying and there is no questioning the sincerity, with goes a long way with audiences.

Musically, while simplistic, the instrumentation is solid and comfortable. I’m not sure if the distortion in the bass is intentional or not, however it works along side the sometimes ragged vocals. The lead guitar has a clean, alt rock sound in places while demonstrating a harder edge in places. The bass is also just a little off the beat, which threw me off.

Overall, Threads is very unsure of itself, despite the confidant vocals. The sound would be a lot stronger if it was more focused. However, this album would be great live as it has a lot of energy and passion.

For the curious, you can check out the album on preorder at www.scyllarecords.bigcartel.com the album comes out July 22nd.

Album Review: Thirty Seconds to Mars - LOVE LUST FAITH+DREAMS

LOVE LUST FAITH+DREAMS is Thirty Seconds To Mars' fifth studio album. No two Thirty Seconds to Mars albums are the same and they are constantly pushing the edge of what they are capable as a band. LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS is no exception. True, they have front man Jared Leto’s powerful vocals and the themes of striking out in the name of the self as their backbone, but there is a hitherto unseen vulnerability in both the music and lyrics. Leto is notorious, fierce, and defiant, spitting in the face of expectation. Don’t misunderstand me, tenacity and boldness are still an integral part of the album, but we get a peak at the beast’s underbelly. This exposure is unsurprisingly most audible in the “dreams” section of the album, though we get some teasers earlier in “Up in the air.”

Instrumentally, LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS is complete chaos, hurdling from retro to electronic and back with no more than the most cursory transitions. This album is divided into four sections: Love, Lust, Faith, and Dreams. Each of these sections is very different, but still not fully coherent within each section.  I’m still not quite sure how I feel about this format. On the one hand it definitively showcases the band’s varied talents and their ability to incorporate a diversity of both sound and style. On the other hand, the album really lacks an overall cohesion musically and melodically.

Lyrically, LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS is seamless, slipping between its four themes with a mixture of hope, wistfulness and ardent drive without so much as a hiccough. The hope and faith are the elements that really gave me pause. Time and again Thirty Seconds to Mars’ albums have contained themes of disillusionment and faith in the self over religious faith. While it’s still very much critiqued, we see talk of faith in something beyond the self in this album, which piqued my interest quite a bit.

Overall, I like the songs but I feel like the album itself is rough. It seems like Thirty Seconds To Mars is going through a style change and hasn’t quite settled yet. I look forward to more.

4/6

So, remember that one time I had a blog?

I'm back.

Things on the site are going to be a little spotty as I'm trying to figure out what i'm doing with the site visually( web design is not my forté) and organizationally.  However, I couldn't stay away for long.

Missed this place too much.

So it's summer, you know what that means: Its music season.  Hang on to your hats, dear readers, we're off again.

Hiatus? Sort of.

I don't normally get personal on here, it's about the music not my life.
But lately I've been having  a lot of struggles with my careers and I just need to get my head on straight and get back to why I started this thing.
The music.

I'll be back, make no mistakes about it, but I think I need to figure out how to reformat a few things and iron out what I'm doing with this blog (and my novels for that matter).

I will still take requests and gladly welcome them, but I won't be posting much of my own accord for the time being
(not long, ducklings, I promise).

Single review: Thirty Seconds to Mars "Up in the Air"

4/6
I confess, Thirty Seconds to Mars fell off my radar for a while, but I was curious about the new single, so I gave it a listen.

Overall, I like it, but it has more of a dance feel, which I’m not sure works with Vocalist Jared Leto's vocals––it sounds like a remix of an unreleased single from their last album, This Is War. I'm still getting used to the new sound and the jury's still out on how it holds up.
The lyrics are the same thing we've been hearing from Thirty Seconds to Mars for years--Jaded, but passionate.  Leto has a ferocity about him that grabs your attention. The tone of the song calls for taking chances, and boldness.

I am very interested in what Love Lust Faith and Dreams (the new album due out on my 21) has in store.

Streaming live from the Elbo Room(Chicago, IL): Silent Nightmare. "I Will Not Be Denied"

(4/6)
Venue: I can’t rate the venue as I wasn’t per se there, but it felt like the sound quality was a lot clearer.

Watching this show streaming was an interesting first for me. I was able to critique a live performance the way I do an album, but still get a sense of how the band plaid live. I really enjoyed it.

One of the joys of working with such a green band is that you really get to see them evolve.  I've been tracking Silent Nightmare seriously for about a ear and change (look this number up) and watching them go from where they were)(ago to now has been amazing. They have improved every time I’ve been exposed to their work. Even from last show they've improved

One part metal, one part opera, Silent Nightmare is a stripped down version of Northern European symphonic metal. It is a decidedly uncommon  sound that, especially in the US. It’s risky business pioneering a genre as a younger band and these guys seem to be braving the trials with minimal bruising.

Every time I write about Silent Nightmare, I rave about the lovely Tara Duhan. She is the opera train leading lady of the group with an absolutely killer voice. She actually has too much voice for the tiny little venues they’ve been playing (I’ve heard her clip out the speakers more than once, and that is not a bad thing). I cannot wait to hear her strut her stuff in a bigger venue where she has room to belt. Her range is substantial, peaking into the high end of the soprano range and dipping well into the alto range. Where Duhan trips up is projection, specifically projecting on the lower notes. She is strong on the higher notes, but needs more breath support on the lower and mid range notes. What she doesn’t always have in projection she makes up for in passion. It is very clear she’s invested in these songs and believes what she’s singing.  She’s still finding her sound in a lot of ways, experimenting with where to place the growls and where to croon. When she does hit her stride, I have confidence she will explode.
But, if you’ve been reading this blog, you have heard me go on about how talented she is.

The band really improved from last show, especially in the second half of the set. The beginning of the set was on par with the last show and started out a little uncoordinated, I felt like the overall precision really took itself up a notch in the last half (especially in their cover of the cranberries’ Zombie) letting drummer Tim Araujo and guitarist Aleks Jevtic really shine through. Bassist Sonja Petrovic’s talent was a welcome surprise, lending some bounce to the songs.  If they can make the beginning of their sets sound like the second half they will be playing far bigger venues.

I am very interested in seeing what this little band is capable of. Looking forward to more.

Good work guys.

Album Review: How To Destroy Angels--Welcome to Oblivion--

 (4/6)

This highly anticipated little gem is the first full album from Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails’ side project How To Destroy Angels. Welcome To Oblivion will never make it into the top 40, because it is a completely different animal from what’s popular these days. Hell, I’d be shocked to hear any of the tracks on the radio. To be honest, I don’t think Reznor cares (nor has he ever). Reminiscent of 90s industrial with a flair of musical sophistication, Welcome to Oblivion is a subtle, edgy, and entrancing piece. Where it really diverges from Trent’s usual work is the addition of his wife Mariqueen Maandig whose voice contrasts Reznor’s in its softness but matches him, blending beautifully in its throaty whisper. Reznor has a distinctive, voice that anyone who listened to industrial in the 90s will recognize immediately from its hissing viciousness. He is truly an icon of the industrial music scene. Maandig’s feminine vocals round out their sound creating a complexity that I don’t think Reznor would be capable of on his own.

The overall sound showcases Reznor’s trademark complexity and intense layering combining the high pitched electronics of industrial and EDM with a heavy bass sound more reminiscent of traditional rock and muted vocals that lend an otherworldly, psychedelic feel to the album.

I give Reznor a lot of credit he’s a man of many talents and is responsible for at least the majority of the instrumentation on the album (along with his second time collaborator Atticus Ross and art director Rob Sheridan). He’s the kind of man that can do anything musically he sets his mind to. Reznor is constantly innovating while still keeping a firm grip on his hard-edged, iconic sound. There is no mistaking his music for anything else. He has a sophisticated, yet raw edge that is palpable in even his smoothest work. In Welcome To Oblivion he manages to create controlled chaos in the music itself. The chaos is audible, but each piece is still clear and distinctive.

The issue I had with the album stemmed more from the nature of the piece rather than any fault with the music itself. By the end of the album, things started to feel long and it dragged. It is a heavy album, but. The weight sneaks up on the listener and it isn’t palpable right off the bat. By the end of the album I was tired. Not bored, exhausted.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this album it brought back a lot of pleasant feelings and reminded me that industrial is perhaps not as dead as we think

Well done.