Posts Tagged ‘INCUBUS’

Outside Lands Festival 2009: Day One

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

First off, parking for Outside Lands Festival is way easier than the website tries to make you believe. All last year and tonight I have had no trouble finding a perfect spot to park. Just in case you cared. Anyway, I arrived a bit late and missed Akron/Family and Autolux, two bands I was looking forward to seeing since they had extended the Friday timeslots from last year’s. So I waltzed in without a problem and made my way to the Sutro stage to see The Dodos.

Now The Dodos had this extra accessible Animal Collective sound until songs from their next album Time to Die started to leak and fans of the band started to find out what he band sounded like when they were more focused and sharper (much like what happened with The Shins). The band brought that very sharpness and focus to the stage today. Playing many off Visiter and a handful off their next album including Fables, the band was playful yet very concentrated. Most of the crowd didn’t seem familiar with the band’s material but were extremely impressed. Good job boys!

The Dodos – Fools from Visiter (2008)

After that I walked over to the Lands End Stage for Silversun Pickups. Not a huge fan but i was willing to give them some ear space and see what they had to bring. However the Lands End Stage is the ‘Main Stage’ and people had already layed out their blankets and gotten comfortable, making me do somersaults over their shit in order to get a good spot to watch Silversun Pickups. Well about three songs into the set I was bored and ready to move to the Twin Peaks stage to catch Q-Tip. I will admit that I was happy to hear There’s No Secrets This Year from the band. One of my favorites off the new record.

Silversun Pickups – There’s No Secrets This Year from Swoon (2009)

Off to the Sutro stage I bought a nice cup of $7 New Castle and watched the remaining songs from Midnite. The best part about this set; the dancing reggae hippies! Oh my God! I am so surprised (I shouldn’t have been) to see how many stinky, dreadlocked, bad dancing hippies with bare feet there were at the festival. I had a good laugh.

So after 45 minutes of waiting Q-Tip took the stage with a full band. Opening with about 4 songs off last year’s album The Renaissance (One of my favorites). All songs performed flawlessly and with full throttle energy. It only got better from there, he then began to churn out Tribe Called Quest classics like Check The Rhime, Award Tour, Bonita Applebum, and many more.

I was going ballistic! I was dancing and singing along and freaking the fuck out. This was all probably due to the titan of a stage presence he had during the entire performance. He seemed to be channeling James Brown and Otis Redding which kept the entire crowd on their feet and dancing uncontrollably. It was a blast and made it hard for me to believe that anyone could top a performance on that magnitude this week. Yes, it was that good.

Q-Tip – Dance On Glass from Lynwood Rose (Bootleg) (2009)

So after he wrapped it up, I grabbed a messy burrito, ate it like a caveman would eat a freshly caught kill, ran into some friends that said watching Incubus was like watching an animatronic display acting out Incubus songs, and then tried to get a good spot for Pearl Jam. Now I have nothing against Pearl Jam, the band has always had a special place in my heart but my local alternative rock radio station (WRRV 96.9) where I grew up ruined the band for me due to them playing their radio friendly songs over and over again. I own Ten, Vitalogy, and Yield. So I know a fresh amount of PJ songs. I was ready for some nostalgia to be pumped into my ears.

They were…good! Really good. They didn’t seem bored or tied to a timeslot. The band had their fair amount of rockin’ solos, sing-a-longs, and lighter waving slow tunes. Nothing new or super special, but it was a nice thing to witness and brought me back to the time I realized Pearl Jam wasn’t just another Alt-rock single-machine. They are songwriters and very good ones at that.

They shoved a few new ones in there and seemed to really have a lot of fun play those. The crowd was more into it than I thought but over all people really wanted to hear their favorite radio hits.

Setlist: Why Go, Animal, Severed Hand, Corduroy, Low Light, The Fixer, In My Tree, Small Town, Even Flow, Got Some, I am Mine, Down, Given to Fly, Black, Do the Evolution, Go, Save You, MFC

Encore 1: Wasted Reprise, Betterman, Daughter, The Real Me, Crazy Mary, Alive

Encore 2: Throw Your Hatred Down, Rockin in the Free World (Neil Young Cover)

Pearl Jam – Do the Evolution from Yield (1998)

I left surprised how everything was working out real well so far. No hiccups. No major mishaps. Yeah I missed The National but I can live another day. Off to Day Two with my favorite line-up, Mastodon, TV on the Radio, and The Mars Volta.

Tags: INCUBUS, outside lands, outside lands festival, Outside Lands Music Festival, outside lands review, PEARL JAM, Q-Tip, SILVERSUN PICKUPS, The Dodos
Posted in Concerts, Music | 5 Comments »

This Week In Bay Area Live Shows: August 23rd – 29th (Outside Lands Week!)

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

BIG week in the Bay. With several Outside Lands After-parties and the festival itself, there is no shortage of things to do here. Also a visit from Ted Leo, a record release party, and a country music legend stops by an unlikely venue.

Tonight we have The Matches playing the final date off their tour with Judgement Day and Dizzy Balloon at the Fillmore, Six Organs of Admittance and Master Musicians of Bukkake rock The Independent, Fleet Foxes drummer and creator of one of the best albums of 2009, J. Tillman stops by Café du Nord, Jay Reatard does a set at Berkeley’s Amoeba Records at 6pm.

Monday, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists hit up the Bottom of the Hill instead of Treasure Island which they originally intended.

Tuesday features Fruit Bats riding on their new record with Death Vessel at The Independent. The Ruminant Band is a beautiful record full of sweet harmonies and lovely song-writing. Pick it up when you get a chance. Also the amazing Ramona Falls play Café du Nord.

Wednesday will find me at The Fillmore watching dredg, Rx Bandits and As Tall as Lions. All of which have released some pretty impressive albums this year. Also going on is The Dodos and Spencey Dude & the Doodles playing the Rickshaw Stop to kick off Outside Lands fever. Oh yeah and it’s sold out. Bummer.

More Outside Landish shows on Thursday; Akron/Family and Howlin’ Rain crash the Rickshaw Stop and Holy Fuck plays The Independent. In addition, we have The Famous‘ Record Release Party at Café du Nord with 20 Minute Loop and Billy & Dolly.

If you’re not going to Outside Lands this weekend, we have the Outside Lands Afterparty with San Francisco local acts Goodbye Nautilus, The Working Title and Wave Array at Café du Nord.

On Saturday we have hip-hoppers Blue Sky Black Death, Boy in Static and Boy Eats Drum Machine at the Bottom of the Hill, Calexico at The Independent, The Pretenders and Cat Power at Mountain Winery in Saratoga, and country legend David Allan Coe at Petaluma’s Phoenix Theater.

Being joked as this year’s ‘Bro-chella’, Outside Lands Festival has many unimpressive acts but a lot of overlooked impressive acts. This year’s line-up includes; Incubus, Modest Mouse, Pearl Jam, Black Eyed Peas, Thievery Corporation, Tenacious D, Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews Band, TV on the Radio, The Mars Volta, M.I.A., Band of Horses, The National, Built to Spill, Bat for Lashes, Calexico, Tom Jones, Mastodon, Silversun Pickups, Los Campesinos!, Ween, Atmosphere, Brett Dennen, Deerhunter, Lucinda Williams, Os Mutantes, Q-Tip, John Vanderslice, Conor Oberst, Akron/Family, Portugal. The Man, Cage the Elephant, Alpha Blondy, Raphael Saadiq, Groundation, Kinky, Lenka, The Duke Spirit, Matt & Kim, Lila Downs, Autolux, The Avett Brothers, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Dengue Fever, The Dirtbombs, The Dead Weather, Heartless Bastards, Midnite, Blind Pilot, Bettye LaVette, Tea Leaf Green, The Morning Benders, West Indian Girl, Darondo, Ryan Bingham, Zee Avi, Street Sweeper Social Club, Rosin Coven, Extra Golden, JJ Grey & Mofro, Nino Moschella, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Sambada, Reggie Watts, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Big Light, Eric McFadden Trio, Loop!Station, Yard Dogs Road Show, Infantree, Vau De Vire and madd vibe orchestra. A lot to digest. Well I’ll be doing my best to report on everything I see every night when I return from the festival. Photos, mp3s, and everything else I did last year (if you caught that, if not, whatever).

This week is Outside Lands Week here at Kata Rokkar. So we’ll have Kuestionnaires with OLF bands and reports on local acts making their festival debuts. Hope to see you out there!

The Working Title – The Crash from About-Face (2006)

Boy in Static – Young San Francisco from Young San Francisco (2009)

Fruit Bats – The Ruminant Band from The Ruminant Band (2009)

As Tall As Lions – Sleepyhead (Acoustic Version) from You Can’t Take It With You (Bonus Track) (2009)

J. Tillman – Steel on Steel from Vacilando Territory Blues (2009)

Ramona Falls – I Say Fever from Intuit (2009)

Tags: Akron/Family, Alpha Blondy, As Tall As Lions, ATMOSPHERE, Autolux, BAND OF HORSES, Bat For Lashes, BETTYE LAVETTE, Big Light, BLACK EYED PEAS, BLIND PILOT, Boy in Static, BRETT DENNEN, BUILT TO SPILL, Cage The Elephant, CALEXICO, Conor Oberst, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Darondo, DAVE MATTHEWS BAND, Deerhunter, DENGUE FEVER, Eric McFadden Trio, EXTRA GOLDEN, Fruit Bats, Groundation, HEARTLESS BASTARDS, INCUBUS, Infantree, J. Tillman, JASON MRAZ, JJ GREY & MOFRO, john vanderslice, KINKY, LENKA, LILA DOWNS, Loop!Station, Los Campesinos!, Lucinda Williams, M.I.A., Mastodon, Matt & Kim, MIDNITE, Modest Mouse, Nino Moschella, OS MUTANTES, PEARL JAM, Portugal. The Man, Q-Tip, Raphael Saadiq, Reggie Watts, ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND, Rosin Coven, Ryan Bingham, Sambada, SILVERSUN PICKUPS, Street Sweeper Social Club, Tea Leaf Green, Tenacious D, The Avett Brothers, The Dead Weather, THE DIRTBOMBS, THE DUKE SPIRIT, The Mars Volta, The Matches, The Morning Benders, The National, The Working Title, THIEVERY CORPORATION, TOM JONES, TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE, tv on the radio, Vau De Vire and madd vibe orchestra., WEEN, WEST INDIAN GIRL, Yard Dogs Road Show, ZEE AVI
Posted in Music, This Week In Bay Area Live Shows | No Comments »

Outside Lands Festival 2009 Line-up Announced

Monday, April 13th, 2009

PEARL JAM • DAVE MATTHEWS BAND • BEASTIE BOYS
INCUBUS • BLACK EYED PEAS • M.I.A. • JASON MRAZ • WEEN
THE MARS VOLTA • THIEVERY CORPORATION • MODEST MOUSE
BAND OF HORSES • TV ON THE RADIO • THE DEAD WEATHER • ATMOSPHERE
TOM JONES • SILVERSUN PICKUPS • ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND
THE NATIONAL • Q-TIP • BRETT DENNEN • BUILT TO SPILL • MASTODON
RAPHAEL SAADIQ • CALEXICO • OS MUTANTES • MIDNITE • JJ GREY & MOFRO
KINKY • DEERHUNTER • LILA DOWNS • TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE
THE DODOS • BETTYE LAVETTE • DENGUE FEVER • HEARTLESS BASTARDS
THE DIRTBOMBS • LENKA • AKRON/FAMILY • JOHN VANDERSLICE
MATT & KIM • PORTUGAL. THE MAN • THE MORNING BENDERS
THE DUKE SPIRIT • ZEE AVI • BLIND PILOT • SAMBADA
RYAN BINGHAM • WEST INDIAN GIRL • EXTRA GOLDEN

There you have it folks; one of the (many) reasons I love living near San Francisco. This is a quite an amazing line-up if you ask me. I’m actually very glad I decided not to go to Coachella this year.

I have never seen any of the headliners live, so I am most definitely excited about Pearl Jam and The Beastie Boys. Dave Matthews Band seems to be the “Jack Johnson” of the line-up to cater to the backwards ballcap bro-crowd.

I was always a fan of Incubus (a shock, I know) until they abandoned their trademark sound with A Crow Left of the Murder. Since then it’s been downhill for the band. So am I excited to see them?…kind of. But I doubt I’ll hear anything from S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

As for Black Eyed Peas and Jason Mraz, that will most likely land on “Dave Matthews Day” which will be my cue to wander around Golden Gate Park and Twitter the weird shit I see.

This will be my 2nd time seeing M.I.A. and TV on the Radio, both of which put on amazing live shows.

Indie-rock heroes Modest Mouse and Ween should be entertaining I guess. I got into both of them kind of late so I’ll be happy with whatever they decide to play.

I’ll finally get to see The National and Mastodon perform live. Both bands always seem to come to town on days I already have plans or have to work. Hopefully we won’t have any scheduling conflicts.

The hip-hop side of the festival is kind of weak. I’m no fan of Atmosphere but I am really looking forward to Q-Tip’s set. He’s only made my favorite hip-hop record of last year.

There’s some odd choices…like…uhh…Tom Jones? Jack White’s Dead Weather seems to be a band that will be forgotten about this time next year. The random toss of Thievery Corporation in the line-up seems kind of bizarre. I don’t see any other trip-hop acts in the line-up so I don’t know why they agreed to perform this year (why not Treasure Island Festival?).

The bottom of the list looks very promising with Portugal The Man, Akron/Family, The Dodos, John Vanderslice, and Heartless Bastards. Plus I’m sure I’ll discover some new acts that I’ve never heard of along the way.

All in all, it seems promising for a festival that is a 20 minute drive from my place. It gets kind of “Bro-chella” around the top, but I like what I see so far.

Anyone have any thoughts?

John Vanderslice – Trance Manual