Posts Tagged ‘bimbo’s 365’

Kata Rokkar’s Pictures of 2009

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

The Flaming Lips at Treasure Island Music Festival 2009

J. Tillman at Cafe Du Nord

The Raveonettes at Bimbo's 365

The Mae Shi at House of Nostromos

theSTART at The Bottom of the Hill

Triclops! at The Bottom of the Hill

Dan Deacon at The Great American Music Hall

Cymbals Eat Guitars at The Great American Music Hall

Q-Tip at Outside Lands Music Festival 2009

Fanfarlo at Popscene

The Walkmen at Treasure Island Music Festival 2009

Thao with The Get Down Stay Down at Treasure Island Music Festval 2009

Lenka at Outside Lands Music Festival 2009

Passion Pit at Treasure Island Music Festival 2009

Sleepy Sun at The Independent

Tenacious D at Outside Lands Music Festival 2009

The Limousines at Treasure Island Music Festival 2009

Band of Skulls at Bimbo's 365

Tags: Band of Skulls, bimbo's 365, bottom of the hill, Cafe Du Nord, Cymbals Eat Guitars, dan deacon, Fanfarlo, House of Nostromos, J. Tillman, LENKA, Outside Lands Music Festival 2009, Passion Pit, Popscene, Q-Tip, sleepy sun, Tenacious D, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down, the Flaming Lips, The Great American Music Hall, The Independent, The Limousines, The Mae Shi, The Raveonettes, The Walkmen, theSTART, Treasure Island Music Festival 2009, Triclops!
Posted in Art and Photography | No Comments »

show review: White Rabbits, Band of Skulls, and The Lovemakers at Bimbo’s 365

Monday, December 14th, 2009

The Lovemakers

I didn’t know much about The Lovemakers before that night. The play like a mild version of Peaches, sexual but not raunchy and obnoxious. They busted out a few good dance tunes as the lead vocalist slowly striped down to a leotard. Very entertaining.

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The Lovemakers – Naturally Lonely from Misery Loves Company (2007)

Band of Skulls

Bands of Skulls are a bit underrated. I think I know why, but it’s no good reason to ignore a perfectly good band that knows the ins-and-outs of blues/rock &roll. Their debut record, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, melts your face for the first half but dwindles into boredom for the next half. Their live show is not as energetic as that first half of Baby Darling, despite playing mostly that part of the record. However, they do rock pretty hard. Their chill-out version of Patterns was a nice surprise and the blues-rock solo before Light Of The Morning could match The Black Keys. All in all, not bad, I’d see them again.

Setlist:

Light Of The Morning
I Know What I Am
Death By Diamonds And Pearls
Patterns
Hollywood Bowl
Bomb
Impossible

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Band of Skulls – Blood from Baby Darling Doll Face Honey (2009)

White Rabbits

White Rabbits famously balanced out their recent record, It’s Frightening out pretty well and didn’t let the vocals or piano drown out the true talent of the full ensemble. The new songs translated pretty well live and didn’t end up as lazy as I though it would be. I’ll be honest, I’m not a big White Rabbits fan. But from what I’ve heard that night and from their debut and recent release, I was rather impressed. They are undeniably a very talented band. This show has officially caught my attention of what White Rabbits are all about. I guess that was the point, right?

White Rabbits

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White Rabbits – Percussion Gun from It’s Frightening (2009)

Setlist:

Company I Keep
Chevy
While We Go Dancing
Ethio
Rudie Fails
Kid On My Shoulders
Sleep
Dinner Party
The Plot
Punk
Fox Hunting
The Lady Vanishes
The Salesman (Tramp Life)

More photos here.

Tags: Band of Skulls, bimbo's 365, the lovemakers, White Rabbits
Posted in Concerts, Music, Show Review | No Comments »

show review: The Raveonettes at Bimbo’s 365, 11/9/2009

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

The Raveonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo played a true-to-record, low-gloss, blur-rock that sometimes sounded like the Sundays and sometimes like Loaded-era Velvet Underground the other night at San Francisco’s Bimbo’s 365. Strapped with jazzmasters and vintage pedals, they opened with Gone Forever from this year’s In And Out Of Control.

During the show, Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo would alternate between guitars, bass, and drums. The Beat Dies featured a scorching fuzz tremolo picked ending while Dead Sound made a fun addition to the already flowing setlist.

Mostly new tracks from the band’s latest album were played such as great versions of Last Dance, Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed), Break Up Girls, and towards the end of their set; Suicide, Aly as well as old faves from all three previous albums (Lust Lust Lust, Whip It On, Chain Gang of Love and Pretty In Black).

The band performed their infectious art-wave songs to a packed and appreciative crowd. A very solid show from the group that has delivered an equally solid album.

More photos here.

The Raveonettes – Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed) from In And Out Of Control (2009)

Setlist

Gone Forever
Do You Believe Her
Veronica Fever
Lust
Black Satin
Dead Sound
Break Up Girls
Last Dance
Red Tan
The Beat Dies
Heart of Stone
D.R.U.G.S.
Breaking Into Cars
Little Animal
Oh I Buried You Today
Trash Can
Boy’s Who Rape
Suicide
Aly

Tags: bimbo's 365, In And Out Of Control, Show Review, The Raveonettes
Posted in Concerts, Music, Show Review | 1 Comment »

show review: dredg / Torche / Judgement Day in San Francisco

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

dredg

After much thought, I have decided to drop the Weekend Showcase post and start review shows on Saturday. I was running out of shit to talk about and was completely disinterested in what I was writing about. So here we go, hope this works out better.

So for those who frequently visit this website, you probably know I am a huge fan of the band dredg. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out they were not only play one San Francisco show, but two shows in the city. I was also overhearing rumors of special guests and new songs to be played these nights as well.

Now this is a double review, so I am going to attempt to give you rundown on both the Great American Music Hall show and Bimbo’s 365 Club show.

Judgement Day

So lets start with Judgement Day, the string metal band. They have toured with dredg several times already and I was able to catch them on their last tour in New York and Connecticut. It’s always a joy to see them live because the audience always loves them. I like to look around once in while in the middle of one of their songs and watch people’s jaw’s drop and mouth, “This is fucking amazing!” Yes it is. This time around their performance was way more intense and sounded spectacular. It’s a band that sounds like non-other and have a unique stage presence that makes them one of my favorite acts to see live. I’m serious about that last statement. Between the heavy metal slaughter that is Out of the Abyss to the acoustic version of Air Raid, Judgement Day made both nights very special.

Torche

Oh Torche, where to begin? If you’re unfamilar with Torche, they’re a more watered down version of The Melvins. A more accessible sludge metal band for those of you that have short attention spans. The band didn’t bring anything new to the table and were unlucky to follow the amazing Judgement Day. However, the band was pretty entertaining to watch. The drummer was wailing away and showed extreme intensity for nearly every song, the bassist was jumping and running around on stage, and the guitarist/singer was…well, making funny faces at the crowd. Which may have prompted an audience member to chuck a cup of beer at him, causing the singer to toss his guitar at the assailant and stomp off stage. That was at the Great American Music Hall, the Bimbo show was a whole-lot calmer than the previous night. I wonder why…

dredg

I have seen dredg at least 10 times in my lifetime and I must say that these shows were probably the best I’ve ever seen them. They sounded fantastic and the new songs didn’t sound plastic or poorly rehearsed. Opening with Stamp Of Origin: Pessimistic, a short track off their upcoming album, The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion, the song blended nicely into crowd favorites, Ode to the Sun and Same Ol’ Road. The band then went into the instrumental Brushstroke – New Heart Shadow followed by Of The Room, a song that never gets old no matter how many times I hear it live.

dredg with Ben Flanagan of The Trophy Fire

So with the crowd sufficiently hyped up on familiar songs, the band went into the newer songs. For both shows, Ben Flanagan of The Trophy Fire and Benjamin Henderson from Good Hustle came up to help the band play opening track to the new album, Pariah. There’s a specific part of the song that involves several singers all at once and that’s where the guests joined in to make the song sound enormous.

dredg with Judgement Day

Another highlight was Judgement Day adding strings to this the songs Jamais Vu (which instantly became a stronger song), Long Days And Vague Clues (a brutal instrumental that sounds like a synth metal solo), Lightswitch (a weird combo of Murder by Death whisky-rock and dredg-like atmospherics), and Triangle (a fan favorite). The addition of Judgement Day made dredg’s performance seem more genuine and emotional. I for one would prefer the guys of JD to become permanent members of the band and contribute to every tour, I know I’m not the only one. After playing three more new tunes (Ireland, RUOK, and Information) and a few more off Catch Without Arms (Bug Eyes, Sang Real), the band wrapped it up with the epic and cinematic Down To The Cellar with Stamp Of Origin: Horizon. For those who have not heard the new record, this is not only a great song to end the album but also their live shows. At the end of a dredg show you don’t feel cheated or unsatisfied in the slightest bit. You don’t even feel you need an encore (which they never do).

dredg

This show proved to me that dredg are still in their prime and have really found their niche in the music world. To miss one of their shows, especially one with Judgement Day, would be a mistake that you wouldn’t want to make.

dredg -The Canyon Behind Her (Live)

dredg – What Have I Done?

Judgement Day – Flight

Tags: bimbo's 365, dredg, great american music hall, Judgement Day, torche
Posted in Concerts, Music, Show Review | No Comments »

So Who’s Opening?

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

It’s that age old question that you hear when you tell your friends you’re going to a show. “Who else is going that I may be interested in?” Well ladies and gentlemen, today’s Minus the Bear show at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco is an all-star line-up. Tagging along with the Bear will be Annuals and Helms Alee. Annuals have already established themselves as a frontrunner on most people’s top 20 indie pop records of the year, but who the hell are Helms Alee? Helms is the kind of band you’d expect to open for Minus the Bear; a band that sounds nothing like Minus the Bear. Featuring members of These Arms Are Snakes and Lozen, Helms Alee is intense and gritty; like a rusty steam locomotive headed for a cliff. The band successfully mixes the desert loneliness of Black Mountain with the whiskey breathed ruthlessness of Mastodon. It won’t be long before you see them live and you’re friend will ask, “So who’s opening for Helms?”