Neon Indian chills Emo’s ATX crowd

This past Monday night, Neon Indian performed at Emo’s in Austin, Texas. Mind you, this was my first time seeing Neon Indian live. During SXSW, I always managed to miss their set. The one time I was set to see them, they were performing inside Emo’s while I was watching the outside performances. Thus, I was readily excited to finally see them.

So much energy was shared with every person in the venue from these guys. Every member as beautiful and talented as one another, had so much passion in the music they were playing. It was beautiful.

I wish I could name drop the songs he played, but I will openly admit that before Monday night, I wasn’t really into the whole Neon Indian scene. I had never owned an album of his, I can’t even say I recognized a single song that was played. Yet, I mean this when I say that this was definitely a favorite show I’ve been to.

Grinding upon strangers hasn’t always been my idea of a favorite show. Being high with strangers has never been on the list either. But, when you put Alan Palomo behind a mic, everything just turns magical. Ronald Gierhart, guitarist and vocalist, literally blew my mind from the second I saw his long hair and big tee. As he was tuning up his guitars, he said a small greeting to me and flashed a smile so precious that my breathe was nearly taken away. Jason Faries, drummer, had the most beautiful blonde hair that would tousle everywhere as the fan hit his body. He was an amazing drummer. And, of course, Leanne Macomber, keyboardist, was the most beautiful woman I’ve seen in awhile.

Putting these 4 members together to play music has to be one of the greatest decisions ever made in the music business. These guys, they are passionate. They know what to do and how to do it. They have the ability to control an entire crowds emotions with their music. It’s beautiful.

A couple of kids next to me popped out these glow sticks and started throwing them out to everyone within the first song. It was amazing. Everyone was dancing; everyone was either high or second hand high; everyone was one with the music. There’s just something so special and chill about shows like this that makes me want to spend the rest of my life attending and photographing these shows.

Music, no matter what the genre may be, is just beautiful.

Check out more photos from Neon Indian here.

Dickies Showcase for SXSW 2010 || RSVP

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JBM & Sondre Lerche at The Parish

Yesterday, February 3rd, I saw JBM and Sondre Lerche.  Yesterday, February 3rd, I died as many times as one could while being serenaded by two of the most handsome men to walk the face of this earth.  Yesterday, February 3rd, I experienced my favorite show I have been to within the past 12 years of going to shows.  Meaning, out of the hundreds and hundreds of shows and concerts I’ve been to, this has definitely been my favorite.  Yes, this even beats when I got to see Arcade Fire and Arctic Monkeys in England, London a few years back.

I’ll start with JBM.  Now, I hate to say this, but until I purchased my ticket, I had never heard of JBM.  It sounds so familiar in my folk world, but I was never graced upon hearing his music and knowing it was him.  Weeks before last night, I tried collecting as much information on JBM that I could get.  Instantly, I fell in love.  But, you know, there’s always such a huge difference hearing them through my amp I blare music with- than hearing them live and in the flesh.  As soon as my eyes found JBM, I instantly fell in love.

Let’s rewind a little bit: this show was taking place at The Parish in Austin, Tx.  I live about an hour and  half from Austin.  The doors were to open by 8 pm.  My best friend and I left our city at around 5:30 pm.  Poor choice, of course, because we are in the middle of traffic.  That’s what music is for, though.  As we made our way to Austin, we then picked probably the worst parking garage to park.  Minus the creepy man who we paid 6 dollars to, we realized that we were about 2 miles away from The Parish.  Mind you, it is lightly drizzling and pretty fucking cold.  MIND YOU, I GOT SICK the day before the show.  So, being out in the rain and cold just isn’t the greatest way to cure ones sickness.  Okay.  We get to The Parish a little past 7 pm.  There is a short line already.  We wait in the line, outside in the rainy cold, and we wait for the doors to open.  The doors open, we get out tickets ready.  We go up the stairs and enter the main stage of the venue.  I hurry and get  a spot near the right amp in the front.  Okay, let’s fast forward now.

JBM takes the stage.  His brown, messy hair that is almost as beautiful as his face- is the first thing I see.  As if his flannel shirt didn’t add any more charm to him, he picked up his guitar and started playing it peacefully.  The first song he played was “Years” off his Not Even In July record.  This song is purely acoustic.  This song is purely beautiful.  This song made me fucking weak in the knees.  But then, ohhh but then, he started playing another song.  A song with words.  As soon as I heard his voice, my stomach dropped.  I mean, holy God, it was so beautiful.  It fit him so perfectly.  His voice fit his face.  Does that even make sense?  If you ever see him live, it will.  As if the audience wasn’t swooned already, he walked over to a half drum set and started playing, while strumming his guitar, and singing.  My God. MY GOD.  JBM is GOD.  Later throughout his set, he got out his harmonica.  Oh, yes, the harmonica neck holder.  As he played his guitar, sang, and then blew in his harmonica, my life exploded.  I died.  I literally died.  Well, not so literally, but you know.  Throughout his entire set, I would lose my breathe with his beauty and talent.  JBM introduces folk onto a whole other level of awesomeness.  Did I mention he is charming?

Sondre Lerche.  Sondre fucking Lerche.  I never thought I would see this gentleman live.  NEVER.  He is from Norway.  HE ISBEAUTIFUL.  I thought I would only write about him and listen to his music, but never did I ever think I’d see him live.  This man has the best personality I have ever encountered.  It shines so bright.  His accent just adds on to it.  He cracks jokes.  He laughs.  He smiles.  He makes the strangest facial expressions.  Most of all, he is so passionate about music.  Within his first song, he broke his guitar string by “jamming” too hard.  I mean, COME ON, does it get any better than that?  Lerche performed a lengthy set filled with laughter and sing alongs with the audience.  Austin crowd adored him.  Lerche adored us.  You could see from his eyes and expressions how delighted he got when we, as an entire crowd, started singing along with him.  There was a point where he asked the crowd, “Do you guys want to dance or mope?”  The entire room yelled, “MOPE! MOPE!”  That just blew my mind.  Moping with Sondre Lerche is a happening that only so many people get to experience. I will never be able to put into words how happy I was that night.

After his encore ended, my best friend and I waited for the crown to die down.  About half an hour to an hour later, most of the crowd had left.  We then make our way to Sondre Lerche.  A few minutes later, there he is.  Right in front of me.  IN THE FLESH.  Sitting down on some table, he looks at us with those blue eyes that literally make you weak  in every part of your body.  He smiled.  He talked.  We took a picture.  We talked some more.  There was not that many people behind us, so we took our time.  We shook hands.  We laughed.  We touched.  WE TOUCHED.

As my best friend and I left the venue, we didn’t know how else to react.  We were speechless.  We were….dead.  It had started raining a little heavier and neither of us had an umbrella or a hood.  It was freezing and the streets were wet and we were parked 2 miles away from this venue.  As we held each other and walked in the cold rain, we could not get over the fact that everything that had happened….had really, really happened.  Listening to JBM and Sondre Lerche up close and personal and getting to meet them afterwards (I bought JBM album and have listened to nothing else since!) just about summed up our entire lives.

It is safe to say the the JBM & Sondre Lerche show made my entire life.

Check out photos of JBM set here.

Check out photos of Sondre Lerche set here.

Girls at Waterloo Records

24 hours ago, I was standing inside Waterloo Records with a crowd that exceeded to around 75+ people.  We were all there for the same reason: We were waiting to see GIRLS.  Their set was supposed to start at 5 pm, but they got stuck in the lovely Austin traffic that we all dread.  They were driving from New Mexico, so I could not even begin to whine about their late performance.  If I were them, I would have probably fallen asleep during the set.

Now, I am still not sure to why Girls are called Girls.  For the longest time, I would look for them online and just get pictures of females in exotic poses and so on.  How did Girls fix this?  They released an album called Album.  Only the bright mind of Christopher Owens would come up with something as simple as this.

As simple as their album may be titled, their music brings much comfort to all listeners.  While they were performing their set, about half the crowd started swaying to and fro.  The guys in front of me were doing some strange hand gestures that went along perfectly with the beat of the sound.  It was just one big happy crowd that made this set even better.

Waterloo Records has become a second home to me.  I cannot begin to express my love for this record store.  Now in days, it is getting harder for record stores to earn as much as they used to before the torrents/internet starting becoming more popular.  Record stores, though, are some of the most amazing places planted in this earth.  Please continue supporting your local record stores.  Keep music alive, folks.

On Thursdays, My Thalamus Says HAI

I honestly have no idea. JUST ROLL WITH IT.

So in case you’re not a bio major, a high school kid with a good biology teacher, a biology teacher, or just a knowledge freak, your thalamus, by simplest terms, is the part of your brain that all senses (but olfactory) check in at before heading onto the cortex. So I like to think when I hear a song that just makes me feel SO MUCH, that’s my thalamus speaking. Or maybe I personify too much. I did name my stomach Glenn, after all.

I don’t know if y’all have heard of this band called Barcelona. JUST Barcelona. Not ‘I am From Barcelona’ (though I hear they’re quite good, as well.) But this band right here is…I don’t know how to describe it, really? They remind me a LOT of The Fray, but there’s something special about Barcelona. Maybe I’m biased because I’ve seen them live, and I was so amazed by them. Rhett’s (right in photo) intensity and fun while playing the drums had the entire crowd chuckling. Brian (middle) has an AMAZING voice. And he is able to play the piano with an almost rival intensity to Rhett’s & yet maintain his impressive vocals. Chris (left) switched from guitar to glockenspiel (I squeed a little. I cannot deny. I have a weakness for xylos/glocks.) and he just looked so HAPPY to be on stage, and to me, that is such a big deal. And I think that’s part of the reason my love for this band grew so much the night I saw them last October in Charlotte, NC. It’s so nice to see a band enjoying themselves on stage. It makes it more enjoyable for all involved.

Also, later on when I met them, they were signing the album I’d just bought, and Brian DROPPED the cd, and it popped apart & the cd kerplunked onto the floor, and I actually laughed. His face was priceless. He felt so bad, but there weren’t any scratches, so I could care less. Plus, it’s a great little tidbit to tell…LIKE NOW.

But the one song they didn’t play that night was my favorite. I don’t think it’s been released officially, but when they were over at daytrotter, they recorded a song entitled “Time to Mend.” Folks, few songs have made me feel so many things at once. I’m not even sure if it’s really the lyrics. It’s the MUSIC. Before I became anything else, I was a dancer. I entertained my family until my mom put me in classes at age 2. I can envision myself, or actually someone far more talented than I, performing a BEAUTIFUL, beautiful piece to this song. It’s the simplicity of the guitar and Brian’s voice that really sells this song for me, I think. It sounds so raw, so peaceful and yet haunted.

I actually told Brian I was a little upset that they didn’t play “Time to Mend” as it was my favorite. He told me that it was his favorite, too, but due to time, they weren’t able to play it. Hopefully, next time I see them, I’ll get to hear this live. And I just may burst into some lyrical choreography right in the crowd.

Go download this amazing song for free over at the wonderful Daytrotter.

P.S. Also, I realize I left out Absolutes from my Best of 2009 list, but that’s only due to ignorance of dates. Otherwise, their re-release this past April would definitely have made no less than an honorable mention.

Spoon at Waterloo Records

I am almost a decade old and I have been to over a hundred shows in my life.  Each show makes such an impact in my life.  It’s hard to believe, but even if I see the same band for the tenth time, I gain a different experience that is just so powerful.  This past Monday, January 25, I made a point to skip all my classes and head over to Austin, Texas.  Why?  Waterloo Records was hosting Spoon first-ever in-store performance.  The show was going to be held in the parking lot area.  It was noted that this lot held a capacity to 1400 people.  As you should already know, Spoon released their latest album Transference January 19th.

As I gathered my three best friends and drove off to Austin, we listened to Spoon albums the entire ride.  Words cannot express how excited I was to see them live.  I have seen them live a few times, but I also have been in love with Spoon for the past 12 years of my life.  ALSO, ever since Rob Pope (bassist) joined the band, it made me all the more so excited to see them live.

My friends and I settled into Austin at around 1:30 in the afternoon.  Spoon set was to start at 4 pm.  Fortunately, I found this perfect parking spot behind Waterloo Records.  We made our way to the entrance and already noticed that there were about a dozen people waiting.  Of course, they had all taken the spots in the front row.  We got ourselves comfortable right in the middle, behind a boy (who was in the front row) reading a book.  As we waited for the clock to turn 4, more and more people started coming in.  Before I even realized the time, the entire lot was full of people.

I saw Rob Pope tune up his bass.  My heart melted.  About half an hour later, Spoon finally entered the stage.  Lord, I was so excited.  I had a perfect view.  Despite the sun being a little too bright, the weather was perfect.  As Britt Daniel touched grabbed his mic, I knew I was ready to dance.  They played 2 songs off Transference and then would switch with two songs from their older albums.  It was perfect.  Everybody would sing along.  The crowd loved every minute of it.  As soon as they started playing, “Don’t You Evah,”  and “Black Like Me” I am pretty sure I died.  I don’t know why, but whenever I hear those two songs live, my entire life flashes before me and I just die.  Does that make much sense?  Probably not.  That’s just to show you how amazing Spoon is.  They pretty much bring me back to life.

Their hour set + encore was delightful.  Of course, we all wished for them to perform more songs, but we, as a crowd, can only persuade so much.  I wasn’t too bummed that their set ended, though.  ONLY because I had a special wristband that allowed me to meet them afterwards and get their record signed.  Nonetheless, I was beyond pumped.  My best friend and I waited in this forever long line to head back into the store and meet them.  As soon as I set foot in Waterloo, I started shaking.  I have never met Spoon before.  I mean, I’m not that cool.  So, meeting them and getting their album signed was a pretty big deal for me.  Half an hour past by and my best friend and I are feet away from them.  They were sitting down in chairs, signing album after album.  I don’t know how they do it, I get tired after writing my name once.  I was shaking to the point where I couldn’t even grab my camera to take a picture of them.  Britt Daniel was the first person to sign.  I tell him the story about how the last show of theirs I went to (this past summer), a little kid threw up on my shoe during their encore.  We talked about the kid and he laughed.  He signed my album, “Thanks, no vomit – Britt Daniel”.  Then it landed to Rob Pope.  (I really don’t know how many times I have to type this, but I am seriously in love with Rob Pope).  Veronica and I tell Pope how we saw him a few months ago when he was on tour with Get Up Kids.  Then I admitted how I loved him and stared at him throughout the entire set.  Yes, I really did this.  We talked about that for awhile and how he was flattered.  We then talked about Jon Harter (that’s a whole other story).  Somewhere within conversation, Rob Pope, Jim Eno (drummer), and Eric Harvey talked about being in a polygamist relationship.  It was beyond awesome.  My words and statements cannot even begin to serve justice for what went on.

Nonetheless, Spoon remains a favorite band of mine.  If you haven’t already purchased their album, be sure to do so here.

Check out the pictures I took during the Spoon set here.