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Tortoise – 6.13.2010

Monday, July 5th, 2010

Tortoise
6.13.2010
Casbah

Its been a while since these guys came around. Unlike most bands/artists they make it a point to always make it through when they tour. Their latest album, Beacons of Ancestorship, has not made its oblique meaning clear to me yet but it makes good noise. Known for their hard-to-categorize blend of progressive rock, jazz and electronic influences the new record offers more of the conceptual richness fans stick around for.

Arriving during Das Boton’s opening set, the scene at the casbah was not the hot, crowded affair which is inevitable at a sold-out show.
Tortoise showed up with their usual stage set up; guitar, two drum kits, bass, synths, midi marimba and vibraphone. They all switch instruments as they ran through their catalog in the usual impressive, precise fashion. This is about the fourth time I have seen them and they are always so fun to watch!

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Sonic Youth – 01.07.10

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Sonic Youth
01.07.10
HOB SD

Yes, They are still together. Yes, They still play live. Yes, they look/are old. Yes, they still fucking rock. A wise man once told me something to the effect that age  has no bearing on the ability to rock the fuck out (i.e. Nick Cave, Neil Young). We were shown exactly what he meant by that on this night by the All Powerful Sonic Youth.

Selections were mostly from their brilliant, most recent record The Eternal (Check the setlist below). They also played several selections from Daydream Nation which just happens to be my hands down favorite album of theirs. The Sprawl, Cross the Breeze, Hey Joni. They did not play Teenage Riot so I was not able to die happily on this night.

A wonderful show accompanied by a special old friend and we even ran into another special old friend. Great show, good night.

Setlist:
No Way
Sacred Trickster
Calming the Snake
Hey Joni
Anti-Orgasm
Poison Arrow
Walkin Blue
Stereo Sanctity
Malibu Gas Station
Antenna
Leaky Lifeboat
What We Know
Massage the History
-Encore -
The Sprawl
‘Cross the Breeze

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Ozomatli – 12.19.09

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

Ozomatli
Nokia Theater
12.19.09

Admittedly, I do not own any of these guys’ music. However, that’s not of much consequence since this band is all about their energetic live show anyway. And what a show this was. Besides the fact that I was lucky enough to roll with a fun (and attractive) group of friends this annual holiday show had all the stops pulled. Stage guests included Charlie Tuna, Cut Chemist, Martha Gonzalez (Quetzal), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, et al. Major energy. Expensive-ass drinks.

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Tristeza – 12.12.09

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

Tristeza
12.12.09
Casbah

Welcome back, indeed. Psychedelic hometown heroes, Tristeza made a triumphant return on this Saturday night. Drew Andrews and Kill me Tomorrow opened the gig on this wonderful rainy evening in San Diego. My crew was out in fullest force. What!?!?

The current lineup ran through what seemed like a quick set culled almost exclusively from their new record, Fate Unfolds. To me this record sounded considerably more upbeat than previous works. Heavier latin rhythms combined with the deep, deep bass grooves and the intertwining guitar lines we have come to know so well. If there were any questions whether these guys could get down, rest assured folks these cats stay on it.

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Cafe Tacuba – 11.25.09

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

Cafe Tacvba
11.25.09
HOB San Diego

This was the best Cafe Tacuba show I have ever seen. And I’ve seen these guys play a lot. This was also the second show I’ve been to this year where the crowd was as loud or louder than the lead singer. Veinte Años. Twenty years. That’s what these guys were celebrating this time through. They did so by playing deep album cuts from all of their records.

They opened up with their hardest shit. The industrial-ish El Borrego, punk shit, ska shit. Before I knew it I was on the edge of a huge moshpit trying to remember the last time I was on the edge of  a huge moshpit. This show was off the fucking hook. So much energy, such a cool vibe. Great band, old songs. New songs too. fast ones, slow ones, hard ones, ambient interludes; It was going down. Gracias y suerte para otros veinte!

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Kool Herc – 11.12.09

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

Kool Herc
U-31
San Diego
11.12.09

The DJ known as Artistic is putting in the work. We should all be enjoying his labors. Dude already brought out Cappadonna and Abstract Rude this year. This time, Art took it to the stratosphere by bringing in the inventor of Hip Hop, Kool Herc!

Kool came on just after midnight to rock an all vinyl set. His ‘Tools’ he called them. “No monitor”, He instructed. “It gives me a false impression of whats going on on the dancefloor.” Though, the guy wasn’t mixing records per se what else can you say? This guy fucking invented Hip Hop.

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Swim Party, Lights On – 11.09.09

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

SD Dialed In 3-year anniversary
Lights On
Swim Party
The Moviegoers
Casbah
11.09.09

We’re letting the cat out of the bag with this one. but with good reason. This show was actually a three year anniversary for the renowned local blog, San Diego dialed in. If you don’t know its because we didn’t tell you. It was our little secret. Our backdoor to getting hip to what’s on the scene. In addition to listing most all of the shows worth their cover in SD, they also throw some good ones as well.

We showed up in time to catch most of Swim Party’s set. Nice tone, well rehearsed. Lights On were next. The first thing that came to mind was Echo and the bunnymen meets Interpol and they wasted no time toughing it up. Anyways, these are real bands that play songs that sound good and make you want to move a little bit. I know San Diego, I know what a fucking crazy idea that is; moving at a music show. Somebody get me out of this cultural shit-hole. And if you can’t, well we have SD dialed in to let us know where a little respite should be. Nice work and good luck.

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Sunny Day Real Estate – 10.10.09

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Sunny Day Real Estate
10.10.09
HOB Anaheim

On our way to this show I realized I had not been in the Disneyland vicinity since 1996. For those keeping score that was when I went to grad night with my high school class. My how the neighborhood has changed. And what a clusterfuck to get around in on a saturday night. Holy shit.

But it was a special night and nothing was going to put a damper on this one. I saw Sunny Day once in 1997 while a sophomore in college. Due to (the bands’) subsequent break ups, I never thought I would ever see them play live together again. Certainly not the original line-up! Also reunited, The Jealous Sound opened up which was a nice touch since I remember running into one of those guys at that ‘97 show.

Precision was the word of the night. The SDRE boys hit the stage promptly at 10pm and proceeded to run through a set that included selections almost exclusively from their first two albums; “Diary” and that pink one (”LP2″). And they sounded just as good, possibly better than, those two records. They played one tune from “How it feels to be something on” (guitar and video games) and one new song. Jeremy Enigk’s voice is still there. The power and the passion were in full effect as well thanks to guitarist Dan Hoerner, bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith.

I am smiling a bit reluctantly as I write this. With the lyrics to In Circles echoing in my head, I realize this was one show I did not want to end.

SDRE setlist HoB Anaheim (10/10/09)
Friday
Seven
Shadows
Song About An Angel
Grendel
Guitar & Video Games
Iscarabaid
Theo B
5/4
New Song*
48
Sometimes
-Encore-
In Circles
J’nuh

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The Zeros – 09.26.09

Monday, September 28th, 2009

The Zeros
09.26.09
Adams ave Street Fair

The Mexican Ramones. That’s what they called them back in the day. Now that most bands are getting back together, we’re glad these guys joined the scrum. With all original members, including one Robert Lopez AKA El Vez, The Zeros took it to the Adams ave street fair. We had missed their last 3 shows in the neighborhood so we couldn’t miss this one. One funny highlight was when they dedicated a tune to everyone who went to Chula Vista high. They played for about 45 minutes which in punk rock time equals about 20-22 songs! Good shit. If they’re playing, catch them if you can before they retreat back to South Bay obscurity.

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Tony Bennett – 09.25.09

Monday, September 28th, 2009

Tony Bennett
Segerstrom Hall
Orange County Performing Arts Center
09.25.09

Anthony Dominick Benedetto. Tony Bennett. He is THE Man. Wow. I stepped out to Orange County with my Mother to catch this piece of American music history. After his daughter Antonia opened, the 83-year-young Mr. Bennett flexed his incomparable vocal performance skills. The man sang his ass off for 1 hour and 45 minutes. He didn’t even unbutton his jacket. Not a sip of water, he didn’t so much as wipe his brow. The only rest his voice got was during instrumental solos. And those weren’t too bad either. Lee Musiker, Harold Jones, Marshall Wood, Gary Sargent; piano, drums, bass and guitar respectively, were rock solid backing up Mr. Bennett. What a great venue Segerstrom hall is; a serious, acoustically tuned room. So serious in fact that Mr. Bennett flaunted those acoustics by signaled to the sound man to turn the mics off and singing Fly Me to the Moon with no mic and just the guitar backing him! He joked how everyone thinks he lives in San Francisco and played all the songs I was hoping to hear except for Rags to Riches, which I’m sure he’s sick of hearing let alone singing. I think Mr. Bennett summed it up best when he said “What a night!”

Shout out to Z’ Tejas for a surprisingly delicious pre-game meal. I usually don’t dig on mall restaurants, but the south coast plaza appears to be no ordinary mall. baked seafood enchiladas (baked salmon, tuna and shrimp with grilled mushrooms and avocado). Fresh corn bread. even a decent tortilla soup.

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