All Entries in the "Live Reviews" Category
Dr. Dog @ The Electric Factory, 5/13/10
Sarah Glorioso writes of her sixth live experience with Philly’s own Dr. Dog and her third of her freshmen year at Drexel!
Yeasayer, w/ Sleigh Bells, @ The Troc, 5/5/10
Now that you have some background, let me try to explain Sleigh Bells sound to you. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to do. Okay… so start with all of your conceptions of pop music. Alright. Now throw them out the window. Shatter the window. Now you’re one step closer to understanding Sleigh Bells. Go over to their Myspace and listen to “Infinity Guitars” or “Crown on the Ground” to see what I mean because I couldn’t find an mp3 to stream.
What you’re hearing is a production style in the same ballpark as the lo-fi movement that has been going on for a couple years now in indie music. M.I.A. exhibits this tendency but essentially what it comprises of is pushing down the overall mix of the vocals to the point where they seem to be drowning in the rest of the song. Instead of emphasizing the vocals the production works to emphasize the guitar, synths, and drums – something that is usually the first no-no you learn as a producer. Yet, despite sounding wrong and unorthodox, there is some undeniable beauty to this sound. And, no one does it better than Sleigh Bells.
Spring Jam from the VIP
Watching the concert festivities from the balcony, we couldn’t help but notice the lack of attendance for the first act, Kevin Rudolph. This wasn’t a huge surprise, seeing as how the musician only has two popular songs, both of which feature other artists. The only marvel to been seen was the great care many Drexel students took in creating lavish ensembles out of the Red Cross’ free glow-stick necklaces…
Spring Jam 2010 Recap!
Finally was what all this anticipation was building up for – Kevin Rudolf. And boy were we disappointed Drexel. I guess we should have expected it but Kevin Rudolf was hardly a performer; he just stood there in his sunglasses playing guitar. There was no interaction with the audience or even acknowledgment that we were watching him. With people continuously screaming “Where’s Lil’ Wayne?” and “Get off the stage!” I found myself yelling for him just to play “Let it Rock” again even though I am not a fan of this song or Kevin Rudolf as an artist.
What was amazing though is that although Kevin has had 3 Billboard Top 40 hits in the last year and a half, the crowd at the Armory didn’t reach its maximum for the night until it was time for N.E.R.D. The rap group has never really had all that much success in their career, but Pharrell Williams is essentially a household name to Drexel students for his work with pretty much every relevant artist under the sun, his producer group the Neptunes, singing “Snooooo-oop” on “Drop It Like It’s Hot”, and because of that one summer where pretty much every song on the radio featured Pharrell. Pharrell was the first T-Pain, if you will, yet he never had to resort to any auto-tune but just gained our respect from his chill attitude and general badass persona.
Danger Danger! Dinosaur Feathers Go on Display This Friday!
After expressing my fan-boy appreciation for the band, I asked something that I couldn’t really get an answer for by the band’s Myspace or Facebook. In case you don’t follow indie rock as religiously as I do, in the last couple of years or so, there has been an amazing scene growing in Brooklyn. There’s really no better place to be right now if you’re a musician. Also, there are a lot of incredibly interesting musical trends going on in Brooklyn-based music right now – which include tendencies for African rhythms, noodly guitars, and Beach Boy-like harmonies. However, Dinosaur Feathers seems to put all of these elements together into a summery rock context that hasn’t really been done before.
Dr. Dog w/ Kurt Vile at the Rotunda – March 2nd, 2010
The first single of Dr. Dog’s sixth studio album to be released April 6th, “Shadow People”, was also played, setting the crowd absolutely on fire. “Shadow People” is somewhat like “The Breeze” from the album Fate in that it begins quietly and solely by Scott McMicken, and then grows increasingly louder and more complex with accompaniment of instruments with Toby Leaman and Frank McElroy doing secondary vocals. These ballads sound like the Beatle’s in their psychedelic stage and were absolutely adored by the fans present.
Man Man w/ Javelin at the Trocadero March 5th, 2010
Honus pounded on his keyboard and the band ripped into the beginning of their crazed series of songs. At one point, Honus came out with a megaphone and a trenchcoat like he had just escaped from a mental institution while at another point he changed into a sequenced green shirt to express his feminine side. Meanwhile, the crowd danced and moshed like they were at some sort of psychotic religious service and there is no doubt in my mind that a majority of the crowd were under the influence of at least one variety of pharmaceuticals.
Live Music – the Future of the Industry
Because of this change in music and the way listeners consume music, the music industry is now at a crossroads. They are now forced into deciding whether it should give up on trying to make any money off of recorded music, or crusade against illegal downloads and fight a war that is seemingly as endless and useless as the war on drugs or the War on Terror. I believe that if illegal downloading isn’t stopped soon, music will become entirely free, and bands will become a thing of the past, replaced by machines reproducing sampled sounds.
