My first real concert was the Offspring in Buffalo during the eighth grade. Sitting there in the bleachers of some university's multi-purpose gymnasium, they kicked off the set with their title song, Americana, and taught me about the thrill of live shows. Tuesday the 30th they return to Upstate NY at CMAC with opener Dropkick Murphys.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
No Doubt Shreds Darien
As the sun set over Darien Lake and No Doubt took the stage, it was easy to remember how we all fell in love with them years ago. Last night, with opener Paramore, the always evolving foursome from Orange County rocked the house and amped the crowd up for their return to the music scene.
Truthfully, we arrived late to Paramore's set, as we had seen them open for Jimmy Eat World last summer. But, though we only caught about 4 of their songs, they followed the same great live music formula as last summer: lots of rocking out and crowd participation. Lead singer Hayley was just as we'd remembered her: bounding around stage, head banging her red locks, and belting out their pop-py love songs.
No Doubt took the stage, and other than the band's stage attire we had spied online, we had no idea what we were getting into. Over the last 15 years of mainstream success, the band has transcended the rock genre from ska and reggae to pop and synth-rock. Comparing their albums Tragic Kingdom and Return of Saturn is nearly impossible.
Much to our happiness, the set list varied across many albums, but stuck with quite a few from Kingdom. Opening with their quintessential hit, Spiderwebs, the band immediately captured the crowd for the next couple hours. They walked the line of their own musical exploration as a band by bringing in horns for the older tunes and synth/keyboard for the more recent. Our favorite, of course, was their deconstructed update to Excuse me, Mister, which they slowed down to half time and added reggae drums and guitar. But, when we heard them weave in the sample of Sting's "E-o-oh" from Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, we knew it was love.
With the unexpected addition of fireworks from Darien's laser light show, the stage effects were bold and sensational. Futuristic costuming accented the pop-art-meets-James-Bond visuals during Ex-girlfriend. It's my life's rampaging female novella was illustrated with video of the band cruising down a late-night California strand. Old footage of the band accented Running. But, I can't recall what visuals played during Just a Girl, because we got pulled into the crowd swell of raging female fans. If ever wondering their cultural effect on the scene, the band can measure based entirely on the fact that every single female in the audience last night raised their hand Gwen-style to the lyrics "I've had it up to here."
After many tunes and a few costume changes, the band closed their amazing set out by bringing out Paramore to jam for one song, then ended with our personal favorite song of theirs, Sunday Morning. It seems that though this show was flashy and had highly produced stage visuals, the music behind it was just as genuine as it was in 1995.
Truthfully, we arrived late to Paramore's set, as we had seen them open for Jimmy Eat World last summer. But, though we only caught about 4 of their songs, they followed the same great live music formula as last summer: lots of rocking out and crowd participation. Lead singer Hayley was just as we'd remembered her: bounding around stage, head banging her red locks, and belting out their pop-py love songs.
No Doubt took the stage, and other than the band's stage attire we had spied online, we had no idea what we were getting into. Over the last 15 years of mainstream success, the band has transcended the rock genre from ska and reggae to pop and synth-rock. Comparing their albums Tragic Kingdom and Return of Saturn is nearly impossible.
Much to our happiness, the set list varied across many albums, but stuck with quite a few from Kingdom. Opening with their quintessential hit, Spiderwebs, the band immediately captured the crowd for the next couple hours. They walked the line of their own musical exploration as a band by bringing in horns for the older tunes and synth/keyboard for the more recent. Our favorite, of course, was their deconstructed update to Excuse me, Mister, which they slowed down to half time and added reggae drums and guitar. But, when we heard them weave in the sample of Sting's "E-o-oh" from Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, we knew it was love.
With the unexpected addition of fireworks from Darien's laser light show, the stage effects were bold and sensational. Futuristic costuming accented the pop-art-meets-James-Bond visuals during Ex-girlfriend. It's my life's rampaging female novella was illustrated with video of the band cruising down a late-night California strand. Old footage of the band accented Running. But, I can't recall what visuals played during Just a Girl, because we got pulled into the crowd swell of raging female fans. If ever wondering their cultural effect on the scene, the band can measure based entirely on the fact that every single female in the audience last night raised their hand Gwen-style to the lyrics "I've had it up to here."
After many tunes and a few costume changes, the band closed their amazing set out by bringing out Paramore to jam for one song, then ended with our personal favorite song of theirs, Sunday Morning. It seems that though this show was flashy and had highly produced stage visuals, the music behind it was just as genuine as it was in 1995.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Back with a vengeance? No doubt!
With the epic announcement of No Doubt's reunion, this ska and theatrics lover was immediately pounding the keyboard in anticipation of tour date and location announcements. The declaration that the band would be taking a pause from solo projects and baby-making to rock out across the US set the bar high for the ROC summer concert series.
My love affair with No Doubt began well over a decade ago when I was coming of age as a young punk and Gwen Stefani showed me that it was ok to be a skankin' little ska-stress; it wasn't just for the boys. Enjoy this old school favorite in anticipation of their set list this Friday:
My love affair with No Doubt began well over a decade ago when I was coming of age as a young punk and Gwen Stefani showed me that it was ok to be a skankin' little ska-stress; it wasn't just for the boys. Enjoy this old school favorite in anticipation of their set list this Friday:Friday, June 5, 2009
East End Music Fest Tonight
The premier Rochester summer music event is upon us (besides the PXY Summer Jam....we kid, we kid).
Get downtown tonight and plant yourself in front of the Metromix/Insider stage on Broadway. Our favorites, The Isotopes, will be rocking out in full force at 9:45. If you are down with some psycho-surf rock, get there.
Get downtown tonight and plant yourself in front of the Metromix/Insider stage on Broadway. Our favorites, The Isotopes, will be rocking out in full force at 9:45. If you are down with some psycho-surf rock, get there.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Let the Dominoes Fall Released
For a person who has some pretty intense symptoms of musical ADD and regularly wears down their iPod battery charge by switching songs every 35 seconds, Rancid's new album, Let the Dominoes Fall, with it's 20+ bite-sized tracks, is our perfect match. That being said, read on for some equally concise notes about this long-awaited album. Three things you will notice with Dominoes:
- Politically charged lyrics
- Slicker production
- Broader exploration of punk's musical cousins, reggae and ska
Liberty and Freedom follows the same patriotic-themed lyrics, but came off like Bob Marley's punk cousin with their reggae-esque beat.
The Highway also a softer tone.
Guitar part in LA River takes a cue from Rockabilly structure and execution, as if The Stray Cats were playing on speed.
Title song Dominoes exemplifies the more produced, slicker sound.
Our favorite track is Lulu, which sounds like the next chapter of Ruby Soho.
Check it out on iTunes.
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