All Points West Lineup Announced

Just a heads up to all you festival go-ers out there -


The 2009 All Points West lineup has been posted! You can find it here: http://apwfestival.com/lineup


Looks like a real doozy. With a clever mix of headliners like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, MGMT, Beastie Boys, Tool and even Coldplay, it seems it shouldn't be one to miss!

Friendly Fires @ Bowery Ballroom. NYC.

Imagine the feeling you get while watching the grand finale of a fireworks display. You're excited. You get chills by how beautiful it all is. You can't take your eyes off of it. It's loud, but in a way that rings your ears with pure joy. This is Friendly Fires.

The boys from Britain played the second of a two-night gig last night at Bowery Ballroom last night. They opened with "Lovesick", and instantly had the crowd dancing wildly, as if at an entrancing rave. Their next song, "Jump in the Pool", only had us more hooked. They went on to play nearly every song from their self-titled album and the more they strummed guitar strings, beat on drums and rang cowbells, the more we fell under their musical spell. By the end of the night, we were probably drenched in more sweat than they were.

At my last Friendly Fires show [the review can be found further back in the blog], I was far from the stage. This time, we were front and center. I feel this needs to be said: Whether you're in the front row or up in the balcony, there is no difference. The electricity will shoot throughout your body and you will wish to be nowhere else but dancing and singing along to one of the greatest new bands of this generation.

Edd Gibson

Edd Gibson & Ed Macfarlane

Gibson

PLEASE, if you haven't already, give this band a chance and check them out. Their music will shake up your playlists and their live shows will give you a sense of jubilation that you will find nowhere else.

Sorry I have no video for you guys. Bowery frowns upon it. Instead, listen to Friendly Fires @ http://myspace.com/friendlyfires and if you like what you hear, buy the self-titled album. They are on tour throughout Canada and the U.S. until mid April. If they make an appearance near you, drop everything and go. You know you want to :)

SXSW Day One. Austin, TX.

Instead of flashing my goods in Daytona Beach for Spring Break like most college girls, I roadtripped it for the second year in a row to Austin, TX for SXSW. After having my mind fogged by math problems and war stories, I felt I needed to be cleansed. Rejuvenated. And let's face it. Music heals.

Day one has come to a close and I must admit, we were too tired from driving yesterday to see as much as we intended to. Here are bands I saw and enjoyed:

Castledoor. I heard them once before on their myspace site back in January and fell instantly in love with their song "Dumpster Diving". They are a band of six from Silverlake, CA and produce light-hearted, fun music that has the ability to make you feel as if you're on cloud nine. Their more upbeat tunes sound like what you'd want to hear after finding out you just won the lottery and their slower stuff, even if loaded with melancholy lyrics, are enough to make you feel as if you're floating in thin air. There were about 20 people total in the small room where they played, yet watching them do what they were obviously born to do kept my attention focused only on the music and the crowd was so thrilled, you would have thought you were in the middle of Madison Square Garden. I was mostly impressed by Nate Cole [lead singer]'s voice. http://myspace.com/castledoormusic

Hymns. The first time I saw this gritty, indie rock band [who have toured with the likes of Butch Walker and Ben Kweller] was a few years ago when they opened for The Redwalls in some small city in the North East. Honestly, they were not memorable. However, this is probably because I was young, there only to see my favorite band and unfortunately disinterested in the Hymns' set. I gave them a chance this time around and went to two of their sets, one at Red Fez in the afternoon and another at Maggie Mae's at 1am. Both blew me away. http://myspace.com/hymnsband

Winter Gloves. I came across this Canadian band only days before the festival, on their myspace page http://myspace.com/wintergloves and refreshed the page for days on end, unable to refrain from listening to the energetic tunes. The songs are more stimulating than anything I've heard in a while, almost to a point where I don't know exactly on what areas to focus my attention. There is no way you could listen to songs like "Party People" and "Factories" without at least tapping a foot. Winter Gloves are too much fun.

Photos of Castledoor

Promotion for the band Bad Brilliance. Not sure who they are, but if you dare to do so, check them out. This guy seemed pretty enthused.

Day two... coming soon...

Dan Auerbach @ Williamsburg Music Hall. Brooklyn.

As you may know [unless you aren't a fan of The Black Keys or have been living under a rock], Dan Auerbach has taken his tremendous voice elsewhere and begun a solo project. He's already generated an album titled "Keep it Hid", which hit stores earlier this year on February 10th.

I am lucky enough to live in one of the few cities where Auerbach gave the gift of a live show and last night I got to open mine wide open, like an overexcited child on Christmas morning. Opening for him were Hacienda, coincidentally the same band who backs Auerbach on stage. Despite the show starting almost an hour late and therefore, a crowd full of tired and impatient fans, they were great and able to pull us out of our monotony. I must admit, I know very little about their background/music, so I won't write up a whole spiel and pretend as though I do, but I will say they had me dancing and thanking God that they weren't just another lame opening band pretending to be something they're not.

Dan Auerbach graced us with his presence shortly after and brought Hacienda back to the stage where they backed him as he belted out songs from "Keep it Hid" like "Street Walking" [an electrified bluesy track], "When the Night Comes" [one of the slower tracks on the album] and my personal favorite, "I Want Some More" [the gritty lead track]. The crowd was pumped from the second he took the stage and the energy only escalated as the night when on. After Auerbach left the stage, fans screamed, clapped and even stomped their feet on the ground to coax him back out. It worked and Auerbach gave us an encore, which barely pacified our need for more. I must admit, I've always known this man was a musical genius but was nervous to see him on his own. My nerves were eased after the first few pulsating beats of the opening song and I'd be lying if I said I had more fun at The Black Keys shows. Needless to say, when/if he tours again, my ass will be there.

Auerbach backed by Hacienda

Here is a video of "I Want Some More". I apologize for the poor visual quality.

PLEASE check out Dan's solo stuff at http://myspace.com/danauerbachmusic. I feel very strongly about this man.

The Black Keys @ Terminal 5. NYC.

I waited far too long to see these guys play a live show. A few chances were previously presented, but my schedule never allowed it. Luckily, the two-some returned to New York tonight and I had a ticket to the sold out show.

Opening first for the Black Keys was a band called Heartless Bastards. Upon hearing the name, I hoped they'd be decent, just so I could say it more often when telling my friends (It's fun. Don't kid yourselves). They are a four-piece band of guys with a female lead vocalist, who resembles Kathy Griffin... but only in appearance. Oddly enough, the guitarist looked a lot like Billy Bob Thornton. Despite the image, their sound was unlike anything I've ever heard. Erika Wennerstrom (the lead singer) has a scratchy, Janis Joplin-esque voice and the band complimented her well and were percise and lively enough to get the crowd going.

Next was Lucero. The lead singer had on a white wife beater and tattoos all over his body. He talked like a biker dude version of kermit the frog. I prayed he wouldn't sing similarly. Whoops. He did. The band was laughable. Guitars broke, chords were stepped on and unplugged, they forgot lyrics, stopped in the middle of a song and decided to forgo playing it altogether. The worst part? They decided to grace us with their presence for nearly an hour. Why, God, why?

By the time The Black Keys came out, we were all fired up and ready for some real music... and that's just what they gave us. They came onto the stage and though it's only the two of them, it felt like we were hearing a band of 20. Frontman, Dan Auerbach and drummer, Patrick Carney put every last effort into making the music they make, while disguising it as effortless. Carney is like a wild animal on drums and the way Auerbach projects his voice would make you think he was trying to let the entire tri-state area in on it. I've never felt so overcome with passion at a live show in all my 22 years. The Black Keys have a hypnotic way of pulling you in and making you fall so deep, you'll no longer be aware of anything else going on around you. Just a few strums of Auerbach's guitar and it's like you've suddenly been transported to the late 1960's and are dancing barefoot in mud at some free-spirited rock festival.

The band played a good mix of songs. Oldies like "Have Love Will Travel" and "Set You Free" pleased the die-hards, while stuff off of their latest album Attack and Release, like "Psychotic Girl" got a good roar out of the crowd. My personal favorite of the night? "Your Touch", which can be found on their 2006 album Magic Potion.

Check out The Black Keys at http://theblackkeys.com/

I will be so bold to say that this band is one of the greatest of this generation. The Black Keys will make you feel alive.

Auerbach


Carney

The Virgins @ Bowery Ballroom. NYC.

My roommate and I headed up to Bowery Ballroom last night, hoping to see a damned good show. I was stoked to be returning to Bowery after not having been to a show there in over a year. It's definitely one of the better New York City venues. I was also quite giddy because my ticket read: "The Virgins", a band my roommate got me into months ago and whose playful songs never fail to lift my spirits and put me in the mood to have fun. The venue did not disappoint. The band, in a certain sense, did.

The four boys took the stage looking like youngsters starting out at a local pub or playing for fun in their garage. Donald Cumming,the lead singer, was a bit boring. In fact, they all were, not making much of an effort to acknowledge that the fans were even in the same room. The only one entertaining enough to keep my attention was Nick Ackerman (bass), who continuously made silly faces and stepped to the edge of the stage in order to get closer to us.

The songs sounded very different from what you hear on the album. I understand this could be a good thing for some people who like surprises and new sounds, but for someone who just wants to sing along like a big dork to the words she knows at the times when they're supposed to be sung, I was disappointed. In all honesty, I think the Virgins were just having an off night. They have potential, spunk and fresh, vivacious tunes. Then again, maybe they're just better when blaring from my iPod.

Donald Cumming

Nick Ackerman

Check out the Virgins at http://www.myspace.com/thevirginsnyc

Friendly Fires @ the Annex. NYC.

So after getting my mind blown and feeling so incredibly high at the Friendly Fires show at Virgin Megastore, I caught the F train to the Annex, a fairly small venue on Orchard St., so that I could get another fix.

This was a sold out show and I'm pretty sure they were over capacity on this night. My friends and I lucked out by sitting on a bench before it started and then listened to the opening band, Lemonade, from there [I don't feel the need to discuss this band, as I'd have no idea what to say. If you're into electronic songs that sound like they're being sung in a crazy foreign language, look them up]. Once Friendly Fires took the stage, we simply stood on the bench and were conveniently lifted above the crowd and had room to dance if we wanted to... and you can bet your ass we did.

I think they covered just about every song on their self-titled album, each one sounding completely unique and possessing the ability to reach under your skin and seep into your bloodstream, urging you into this trance that makes you want to move until sweat drips down your cheeks and your clothes stick to your body. By the end of their set, the entire crowd looked as if hundreds of buckets of water had been dumped upon us. The band were drenched as well, as they should have been after dancing around [yes, Ed MacFarlane even danced off the stage and into the crowd at one point], and playing about ten different instruments in all.

If you ever get the chance to see this band live, jump on the opportunity. If you have other plans, cancel them. If you don't have the money, borrow some. Even if you aren't familiar with their music, just go and take in the magic that is created at a Friendly Fires show.

Here is a video clip I took of On Board:

http://www.wearefriendlyfires.com/

Go here. Now. It will change your life in the best of ways.