Magic Trick.

Another free concert review? Another free concert review!

*insert enthusiasm here*

        This time my tickets were generously won from Amoeba San Francisco through a twitter contest, and despite my lack of knowledge of Magic Trick, I was quite excited from what I heard from their latest album. This was also the album that actually got me to use Spotify so I could actually listen to it. Yes, I finally gave in.

Opener #1: Joseph Childress

       The best way I can possibly describe this band is just straight up rock and roll.

       A little on the harder side, which is weird because if you listen to his album it's all very subdued and quiet. Still, they all seemed like they had a great time playing and it kept my attention. For the most part.

Opener #2: Kevin Morby

       Another very solid opener, a bit more subdued than the first one and the second guitarist was replaced with a keyboardist

         Pleasant stuff. I remember some of the songs having a slight Vampire Weekend and I appreciated that. The keys melded well with the rest of the band, almost to the point where I almost couldn't hear them. They had less stage presence than the first opener, but the tunes were nice enough to keep my interest the entire time.

Headliner: Magic Trick

       Hooray! They only played songs off their new album. Normally I'd complain about this, but that's all I had listened to of theirs.

There is another keyboardist slightly off to the left.

        Since they only played their latest album from beginning to end, it was a bit short, but I like concise concerts. They played what was fresh and new and they played it well, even though the ending of Crazy Teeth goes on a little longer than I hoped. I enjoyed the vocal harmonies, don't get me wrong, but hearing the two female singers sing "We like pretty girls" over and over again kind of gave me the heebie-jeebies for some reason.

Also horns. Yay horns!

       Also I'm pretty sure the guy playing the Trumpet was riding the white pony while playing, but that's just me.

 Crowd:

       Middle aged white dudes filling about 3/4ths of the place. Not much to say. 

Overall:

       Again, free concert, can't complain. Each band brought their own brand of pleasant folk n' roll and I was never bored. Also it never felt like each band went on too long so I never felt like they were stretching their time. Good times had by all.

Score: 7/10

Magic Trick Concert Playlist

Thundercat!

       So yes. After my 3 paragraph blog post on how DJ sets bore me to tears and sometime stress me out, my next review is about a DJ set. One which I actually paid money for. Because I'm super smart.

SUPR SMRT.

       In my defense, my primary motivation wasn't Erkyah Badu's set at all, I even left before she went on. I was there to see Thundercat blow my mind once again, but this time in a (very very slightly) bigger location. The last time I saw him was last year at the Independent and that was one of my favorite concerts of the year, so does this stack up?

Opening Act: Starship Connection

Funky!

Super funky!

        As you can see, it was a 3 piece band consisting of a guy on turntables, a keyboardist and a guy on what I can only assume is a drum machine. They were great. They lay down some sick grooves and generally kept the place going for the hour they were up there. I will always respect a band that mixes it up and has fun doing it, and seeing them all work so well together made it all so much more watchable.

       Only problem I had was the hour run time. Maybe it's just me, but an hour seems like a long time for an opener.


"Headlining Act": Thundercat

       Short version: Not as good as his Independent performance, but still amazing.

You cannot deny how happy this man looks.

 
        It's really not his fault. The Independent is just a better venue in general and the place was less packed in over there. Also it was more "His concert" that time than this one.

        But I swear it was still really, really good! As you see in the picture above he really puts his all into his playing along with his keyboardist and drummer who all get their turns doing their solos. It's a technical feat to see them and it's something you can groove to. He played a good mixture of both his albums and moved in and out of songs so smoothly they melded into each other. Was it a bit jammy? Yeah, but in a good way, he kept things interesting.

Crowd:

       Mostly polite, not too many pushers or shovers, and people actually asked if I could move instead of just shoving in front of me, which I enjoy greatly. Too bad part of the reason I left was because it was crowded as balls and the only way I can accurately describe the smell was an Osh Hardware Store. Kind of musky and dirty.

Overall:

What can I say. Thundercat always puts on a great show no matter where you see him and just because the venue was crowded didn't ruin anything. Fun times.

Score: 7/10 

Looking back on 2013 in scores

Quicky post because I feel like it, but here are the 2013 albums I would give a 9 or higher.

Mutual Benefit: Love's Crushing Diamond (My only 10/10 of the year)
Janelle Monae: The Electric Lady
My Bloody Valentine: M B V
The Haxan Cloak: Excavation
Bill Calahan: Dream River
Tim Hecker: Virgins
Oneohtrix Point Never: R Plus Seven
Run the Jewels: s/t 
Arcade Fire: Reflektor
Darkside: Psychic

Pat Mahoney.

        Okay quick blog post about last night's show. 

        I got some tickets from DFA Records on Twitter last night after correctly guessing the band that Pat drummer for on their first album (Les Savy Fav for those who don't know) around 2 yesterday. It was for a new project for both the Mezzanine (a weekly show) and Pat Mahoney (Museum of Love). I believed that it was going to be a live show with some DJ's opening up for them but I was quite mistaken.

        I was going to go and explain the entire situation but let me just boil it down to this: DJs bore me. So very, very much.

       I tried to reason all night why I wasn't having a good time. There was a beat in the air, the dance floor was pretty open (not many people showed up) and I was energized. I worried about what was wrong even when Pat himself started DJing and got a good groove going with his partner DJ "I-Didn't-bother-looking-up-his-name". I mostly spent the time looking at the turntables and analyzing what they were doing with the various vinyl and electronics that they were fiddling with.

      Around 11:45 I realized what the problem was. To me, a DJ set is like free form Jazz. It's experimenting, trying out new things and building up a show, but there aren't any real songs. To me it doesn't feel like a real concert as it is just a dance hall where the DJ is not to be payed attention to. But I can't do that. When I go to a concert I enjoy songs and sets and knowing the music before hand. I can't take pleasure in a constant beat over R&B samples, it brings me no joy.

      I can see why people might like it, but it's just not for me. If you can find a reason why I'm wrong/dont get it, message me.

Random scores #1

Random scores of albums I've listen to this year:

ceo: Wonderland - 7/10

Sun Kil Moon: Benji - 8/10 

Behemoth: The Satanist - 8/10

Angel Olsen: Burn Your Fire for No Witness - 6/10**

Warpaint: S/T - 4/10

Dum Dum Girls: Too True - 7/10**

A Silver Mt. Zion: Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything - 7/10**

Against Me!: Transgender Dysphoria Blues - 6/10**

Temples: Sun Structures - 9/10

Alcest: Shelter - 8/10**

Have a Nice Life: The Unnatural World - 7/10**

James Vincent McMorrow: Post-Tropical - 6/10

** means I've only listened to the album once all the way through and/or I can't remember most of the songs. If I listen to them again I might change my score.

Karmin. Because why not.

  Let me start off this review by showing you a picture of me at home before I left.

And here's me right outside the building.

And here's me right before the concert.

                                                     Feeling the magic all up in thurrrrrrrrr



                                           
       Okay, that last picture might not have been me, but it perfectly shows my exact feeling going into this concert and knowing I'm really only in there because "Hey, why the fuck not". Also because I love using that picture and have never had the chance to use it.

       So yes, this concert was free. I got it from the wonderful people at http://do415.com/. My random flooding of every magazine in the Bay Area that had a contest for free tickets led me to this. Going to see Karmin, an act that only interested me because I actually enjoy Broken Hearted and can tolerate her other songs. Also free apples at the Fillmore.

       If you don't know, Karmin is known for this:

 
       You may have heard it once or twice. To me at least, it was one of those songs that I listened to on the radio and just attributed to as a throwaway single from P!NK or Katy Perry that gets played on loop for a bit until their next song. It's cute, it's poppy, and it translated well live. 

BUT WHAT THE FUCK EVER GET ON WITH IT. HOW WAS THE CONCERT?

The Opener: Bryce Vine.

He sucked. A lot.

 
                                           Behold Youtube celebrities. This is your creation.

      Okay I know that isn't exactly "professional" but I'm not a professional dammit. This guy was unbelievably pathetic. He's the hate-child of Niga Higa and a kids bop CD from the early naughts. All of his songs were him poorly rapping over the worst sampling I've heard. His name is perfect, he's just like a really bad Vine account: short, annoying and loud. It consisted of him and a DJ on a table with his name on it in bright rainbow colours. Ick.

      To be honest, the only thing that kept me in that building was the fact that I already wasted 3 bucks driving here and I wanted to see something decent at the end of this. Fillmore shows end up being shorter than most so along with Bryce only getting a 30 minute set, there wasn't a second opener. This concert started at 8 going to end around 10 so fuck it, I've stayed longer and later for worse shows. 

Also Flappy Bird.

                                            30 minutes in the poster room led to this. Thanks Bryce.

The Headliner: Karmin

       Not too bad actually.

       As performers they worked well in getting the crowd going. It's all cheeseball pop, but it's not painful pop. Amy Heidemann has a half-decent flow and never seemed too nervous or out of place, and she worked well with her partner Nick Noonan.

                                                                     No, not him.

       You see, there are two ways I will hate a concert: either it will bore me or annoy me. I knew going in that it probably wasn't going to be boring, but I was afraid that either them or the audience would be too annoying. I was relieved to find out that they were able to perform their songs with a certain level of professionalism and grace and they kept it interesting the whole time. The backing band all knew their shit and Noonan rocked it on the trombone. And as I said before, Heidemann has a decent flow and is actually a really great singer.

                                              Also red and white. GOD I LOVE RED AND WHITE.

The Crowd:

       More often than not, shows that send tickets out for free usually do so to fill space or to put butts into seats. This was very much the case in this concert, but the half full floor was able to get a good vibe going. The general age range was from around 16-30, along with some kids I saw with their parents straggling along. They were never too rowdy or annoying, and seemed to have a decent time. I'd add a picture of them, but my crappy camera phone just picked up darkness.

                                   It's good to know Karmin's biggest influence played here once.

Overall:

      I can't complain. Pop music has never really been my jam but in a place like the Fillmore a lot of things kind of click. It was entertaining, the color scheme was a personal like, and I had a good time. That's all I could have asked for.

Score: 6/10

 

First post here we go

Apparently I chose the "Cancer patient in remission" art style, because it just screams for my first post to be filled with inspirational quotes and hopeful wishes. It looked good in it's tiny example picture in the options menu okay?

I'll talk about music and concerts and things here when I get the chance/inspiration/NEEEEEEEEED.