Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Joywave at the A+R Music Bar, Columbus, Ohio. September 29, 2014.

     Joywave is a band from New York that plays electronic based alternative music with an upbeat tempo. I have really enjoyed them since I heard "Tongues" earlier this year on CD102.5 in Columbus, Ohio. I think their combination of interesting vocals, excellent musicianship, and lyrics make them very appealing. I was looking to see them on this tour and glad they made it to Columbus, opening for St. Lucia at the A+R Music Bar. The show was sold out.
     From my understanding, the band has some digital downloads available on Soundcloud, an EP on iTunes, and a full CD coming out soon. The had a t-shirt, a free promo poster, a 45, a "Tongues" (with 3 other songs) 12" vinyl disc, and a vinyl 12" EP.
     The band played songs from the EP, some new yet-to-be-released songs, and closed with "Tongues". The vast majority of the songs were fun to listen to, dance-able, and very well played. The vocals, synth work, and drums sounded really good live -- better even. It reminded me of conversations I have had with my teenage sons about how good Foster the People and Passion Pit sound live -- better than the recordings. Really good stuff.
     I do not say this very often: this band is gonna play headlining shows before thousands in the next few years. They have got "it". Just keep performing the songs this well, keep writing new material as good as you have done so far, and keep up the touring. I will say "I saw them a few hundred people back in 2014". I even think the band name is cool.
     One note: I wish the band had come over to the merch table after they played and St. Lucia went on. There was over a half an hour. I stood there waiting. I wanted to get a t-shirt and have you guys sign a promo poster for me. But no one ever manned the merch table. I was standing there for so long with my New Order concert shirt on, I was presumed to be the "merch guy" and was repeatedly asked questions about things. I will catch you next time you come to town. And you, the readers of this blog, should catch them soon too. Great stuff. These guys are really worth the listen! [Note: I left before St. Lucia completed their set, so I presume someone manned the merch table after the show, but I cannot vouch for that -- there table had not been manned before the show either.]

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Paul Weller at the House of Blues, Cleveland, Ohio September 7, 2014

     I have listened to Paul Weller's music over the years and looked forward to a chance to see him live. I discovered he was playing in Cleveland while reading a free local publication while in Cleveland in July. I was very happy to be able to attend. I bought a front-row center seat on StubHub.
VENUE: I have been to this venue before for one of the Gospel Brunch session on a Sunday. It is a nice venue, close to much of what is going on in downtown Cleveland with easy access to parking, other attractions, and the highway. The set up for the show was seating down front and in the balcony with standing on the sides and back.
MERCH: Had some nice items -- t-shirts, CDs. I bought a tour t-shirt.
OPENER: The band Chamber Strings opened up. I love these guys and girls! Nice cross between alternative rock and barroom blues. Apparently, they are from Akron, Ohio. Nice set! I hope to see these guys again! Note: the bassist commented on my Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds shirt and we discussed me seeing their show this summer. This shirt has attracted more attention from bands!!
HEADLINER: Paul Weller came out and he and the band flew right into their set. He also nodded at my t-shirt when he came out! Goodness! He was right in front of me on stage. Full band with a great sound -- you can tell they had played these songs together on tour and were in fine form. Solo material, "My Ever Changing Moods" (Style Council), and "Start!" and "Town Called Malice" (the Jam) made up the setlist -- and it was a very nice career retrospective. Mr. Weller was in good voice all night. Excellent energy from the band.
     Paul was dropping guitar picks, not throwing them in the crowd. The first one that dropped near me, I grabbed. Then he kept dropping more. A woman next to me got one, I got one for Ken, and one for the nice guy next to me. Wow!
     The band closed with "Town Called Malice". Excellent show! Of note, the setlist lists "Wild Blue Yonder" and "Whirlpool", but Paul and the band did not play these. At the end of the show, quite a few set lists got handed or snatched by folks. I missed one. I hung around as the crowd thinned. When a noisy woman was rudely asking for one and getting gently prodded to leave by security, I asked Paul's guitar tech "Any more set lists?" and he handed me one that had been beside Paul's keyboard!
     I attended the show with my friend and huge Weller fan, Ken Zakel. We had a wonderful time!
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars!
 Chamber Strings

 Paul Weller's guitar picks

 Paul Weller

 Paul Weller

Setlist (sorry it is blurry) and the guitar pick I kept.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Twenty One Pilots at the LC Pavilion, Columbus, Ohio on September 4, 2014

     I was introduced to Twenty One Pilots by my oldest son, Sam. I have grown to really like their music, appreciate that they are from Central Ohio, and have enjoyed meeting them in the past. I have seen them four times previously: Musica in Akron in 2013, Sweetlife Festival (Maryland) in 2013, Lollapalooza in 2013, and Forecastle Festival (Louisville, KY) in 2014. I have enjoyed all of these shows, whether it was with 300 people in Akron or thousands at the festivals.
     I attended this show at the LC Pavilion with my son Sam and his girlfriend, Ally. We were up in the lawn for the show. It was a very pleasant summer night at the outdoor setup for the LC.
     The band had a voice over called "Nigel" who interacted with the audience and with Tyler Joseph, the lead singer. Although I just saw the band earlier this summer, I had never heard this "Nigel" gimmick. I found it off-putting and distracting from the show. The band normally brings such a caffeinated energy. And the between-song periods were distracting early in the show (and right before the encore) when "Nigel" spoke up. Ugh.
     Early in the show, the band did most of the big hit (by hits I mean with their fans) from their album 'Vessel'. And these were all well done. Tyler was in good voice, the synths and keyboards all sounded good, and Josh rocked out on the drums. The band was engaging and interactive with the audience. They did their normal "dualing drums out in the pit", "Tyler stands on the hands of those in the pit", and "Josh drums out in the pit" -- all really well done and up to their normal standards. In the second half of the show, they did more songs from 'Regional At Best', their earlier material.
     Oddly, late in the show they did a series of brief covers: "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khalid, "Summertime Sadness" by Lana del Rey, and others. I found it distracting. Sam and much of the audience enjoyed it and sang along. I do not believe I have ever heard them do any sort of cover before. And I LOVE covers -- I make long playlists in iTunes of cover songs.
     One other item: I was surprised that they did no new material. Since that initial show more than 18 months ago, they have been performing material from 'Vessel' and 'Regional At Best'. I had understood they are working on new material. Since this is a "new tour", I hoped for a couple new songs (I had really hoped for that at Forecastle 2014 too). But no new material.
     A note about merch: as usual, Twenty One Pilots have some fun merch -- hats, cool t shirts, hoodies, and other items. A nice item tonight was a cool just-for-this-show poster with their logo over a State of Ohio flag -- cool.
     Sam and Ally really liked the show. It would have been really cool if it was the first time I saw them. But those outstanding Sweetlife 2013 and Forecastle 2014 shows were so good and the band was so "on" at those shows, that I left feeling let-down. If you edited out "Nigel", the covers, and some other fluff, the performances were really good. These guys put on a really great show. This was not one of them. My rating: three out of five stars.

 Twenty One Pilots

 Twenty One Pilots

 Twenty One Pilots

 Twenty One Pilots

Twenty One Pilots