kansas city: funeral party, fun., and panic! at the disco

panic at the disco. the band that started it all for me at the tender age of fifteen. i'll be honest here. i grew up listening to top 40 radio. neither of my parents were big on listening to 'oldies' or any of the stuff they enjoyed in their youth. it was pretty much the current mainstream stuff that was on the radio... that's what we listened to. so besides my good charlotte/simple plan/evanescence phase, i had no idea that the 'alternative' world of music even existed. panic at the disco was one of the first bands that scratched the surface though. i listened to a fever you can't sweat out so many times that i'm surprised the cd doesn't have holes in it. i. was. obsessed. and i'd only seen them one other time at the 2008 honda civic tour. so when i heard that panic AND fun were playing in kansas city, my fellow fangirls and i immediately snatched up tickets.

my friend cortney is from kansas city, so she offered to drive the caravan, take us to eat some awesome barbecue, and show us around westport for the day. so we had great food and great shopping fun before the show, and got to the venue around show time. the line was a mile long, but since we're all over 21 we got in early, ahead of the millions of pre-teen fans.

we planted ourselves in the middle of the pit which very quickly grew into one of the most intense crowds i've ever been in. funeral party played a fun set, and while they were a solid act, they weren't so awesome that i went home and immediately felt the urge to download all of their albums. fun was next and the crowd was only getting tighter and the girls surrounding us were only getting cattier. pretty sure lizette started a legitimate throw down which was pretty interesting. we survived fun and finally was panic. i made it about three songs before i had to leave. we were so tightly packed in and it was so hot that i was having trouble breathing and desperately needed water. i staggered out and somewhat blacked out and kind of fell onto the stairs leading out of the venue, where i proceeded to get yelled at by security for sitting. my bad. so i regained my composure and went to the bar to ask for a cup of water. THREE DOLLARS. WHAT. pretty sure i dropped some four letter bombs at the bartender, then went to the bathroom and stuck my mouth on the faucet. no drinking fountain. how is that even legal? but whatever. i found abby and we watched the rest of the show from the back of the venue.

what. a. show. i hadn't experienced a pit like that in ages and i think i'm getting too old... it was fun while it lasted though!

st. louis: little scream and the antlers

originally posted on popwreckoning.com. read the original article here. 

A road trip with all the girls to see a show; what better way to spend a Friday night? That's precisely what I did last week and every painful cent of gas money was worth it.

We arrived at the Firebird with what couldn't have been more perfect timing. We walked in, paid our dues, settled into the crowd, and the show began. There was a large crowd which both bands deserved: The Antlers hadn't been through St. Louis in quite some time, and the opening band Little Scream was an enjoyable forty minutes of music, not just a time waster that a lot of openers can be. Hailing from Montreal, Canada, the trio was reminiscent of female-fronted Company of Thieves mixed with the distorted vocals of Karen O. from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. I was digging it. They kept the crowd entertained, and with more than just music alone. The drummer recited celebrity birthdays and deaths in between songs. Definitely a first. Maybe a little strange, but hey, it made the band memorable.

The crowd packed in tighter and I somehow found myself right up front by the time The Antlers started their set. Sweet! The heavenly choir of angels - I mean The Antlers - opened with "Parentheses" from their new album Burst Apart and it was absolutely gorgeous. There was no introduction, no "how ya doin' St. Louis," just music. And I couldn't have asked for anything better. They transitioned right into Kettering from 2009 release Hospice before taking a little break for banter about mustaches. Next was a string of five new songs which all ran together into one long symphony. The entire crowd seemed to be in a trance. I had seen The Antlers once before (the previous summer at Lollapalooza) but nothing even comes close to the experience of a small, intimate setting like the one I was experiencing. It was all I could do to not close my eyes and get lost in the depths of my thoughts for the rest of the set. And they played a lengthy one too; ten songs, with an encore of three for a total of an hour and twenty minutes of ethereal melodies.

With Hospice being such a heavy and dense album, one would think that The Antlers' live shows would be a drag. It's really quite the opposite though, and Burst Apart, while still somewhat mellow and somber, is on the lighter side and has its jammable moments. In the words of a Metro Chicago tweet, "FYI, I'm probably gonna cry-dance at The Antlers' show."

Set list:

Parentheses
Kettering
No Widows
I Don't Want Love
French Exit
Rolled Together
Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out
Bear
Hounds
Putting The Dog To Sleep

Two
Corsicana
Wake

www.littlescream.com
www.antlersmusic.com

album review: matt pond PA - spring fools

This five song EP by matt pond PA is, to put it simply, really catchy. I can’t stop tapping my foot and bobbing my head, and after just one spin the songs are becoming familiar, a sure sign of their ability to stick with you. It’s the perfect summer soundtrack with poppy, infectious hooks and light, upbeat melodies. Spring Fools is somewhat of a break between the band’s last album, 2010’s The Dark Leaves, and what will most likely become Pond’s ninth record sometime in the future whether it be this year or next. By whittling things down to just five songs, singer-songwriter and namesake Matt Pond has created a really strong EP with what are some of his best songs. Read more...

columbia: smith westerns and yeasayer

this was a last minute decision and i'm very glad i made it. it was my first weekend back in columbia and a bunch of friends were planning on going to show, getting into some shenanigans, and have a good time. so i succumbed to peer pressure, bought a ticket, and had the time of my life. we'd spent the whole day out at the pool and i'm pretty sure abby was drunk by three, and stayed that way for a good twelve hours. we stuffed five girls into a car, blasted some gangster, and got pumped for the show. none of us were familiar with the first opener, but i wanted to get there in time to see smith westerns so that's what we did. and it turned out to be a really good decision because they were fantastic. and come to find out they're from chicago, one of my favorite places. love.

so by the time yeasayer was ready to play the majority of us were three or four drinks in and having a fucking BLAST. and once they started playing the entire venue turned into a giant dance party. it was a fun crowd of people in the first place and i'm pretty sure most of the crowd was under the influence of at least something or other. so the five of us girls danced our asses off and enjoyed a really great set that lasted for about an hour. i've seen yeasayer once before at lollapalooza and while they sounded great there, it was a totally different experience seeing them in a smaller, more intimate setting. they are a really talented group of musicians and kept the crowd entertained with a really cool LED light show. i had intentions of keeping track of the setlist but obviously that didn't happen. we had a great time though and i highly suggest you check out smith westerns and see yeasayer at least once in your life. whether you know their music or not, it's great entertainment and they're a super talented band.

www.smithwesternsmusic.com
www.yeasayer.net

album review: balance and composure - separation

Anthemic. Epic. So incredibly reminiscent of the pop-punk days of the 90′s. I almost called this a guilty pleasure album, but there’s no reason to feel guilty. Balance and Composure’s Separation is just really good and should have come out twelve years ago. It has Kurt Cobain’s dark feelings to it, but pops and rocks like early Jimmy Eat World. Its twelve tracks clock in at around 48 minutes which means it’s initially a big undertaking. But once you give this album the time of day it deserves it becomes very cohesive and works well as a whole. Read more...

songs for joplin

This was a news post I wrote for PopWreckoning, but felt it was important enough to post here as well.

Songs For Jopin started as an idea to help a tragedy-stricken town. By pursuing his interest in both music and social media, Zach Becker began to accumulate interest in a music sampler to benefit relief efforts. The idea gained momentum with the help of Twitter as a friend of his, singer-songwriter Derek Webb retweeted Becker’s original request asking musicians to donate songs. The response was overwhelming and in a matter of days, Becker and friends had a name for their project as well as an album of songs to back it. The album includes many local St. Louis artists (Union Tree Review, Sleepy Kitty, Beth Bombara) as well as others from Nashville and Los Angeles. It was released on Noisetrade on June 3 and has already achieved over 400 downloads and $1300 in donations, placing it in the top ten most popular downloads.

The day before the album released, Zach was interviewed by local news blog the Riverfront Times, garnering even more interest in an already rapidly growing idea. Album artwork was made, as were promotional designs and a website thanks to St. Louis design studio Rampant Creative Group. Fliers were printed and would be passed out at the coming Riverfront Times Music Showcase.

“Social media has played a huge role in the success of this little idea, and we ask that you help us maintain that momentum by tweeting and sharing this with your friends. With the album now available for download, we are all excited to see how successful it is as a means of getting money into the hands of those who can help the people of Joplin. All profits from the album downloads will be given to the Heart of Missouri United Way, in order to help relief efforts through their “United for Joplin” campaign. With your help, Songs for #Joplin can be a success. Please donate and download the album, and help to rebuild a community.”

Visit www.songsforjoplin.com for more information.

Download the album directly from Noisetrade here: www.noisetrade.com/songsforjoplin

st. louis: civil twilight and jimmy eat world

civil twilight, one of my favorite bands, and jimmy eat world, one of the bands that shaped my early teen years. of course i'm there! it worked out well, too, because abby decided to come with me and it ended up being our friend cortney's 21st birthday weekend! so she made the trip from kansas city to st. louis and we had ourselves a fantastic birthday/concert fest.

gingers!

we got a late start to the day, but headed down to the loop, grabbed dinner at cheesology, and made our way to the pageant. we timed it perfectly and walked in the venue just as civil twilight started playing. they were the only opener and played for a good forty minutes, but it felt disappointingly short. i'm so used to seeing them in smaller venues headlining, but that's the price you pay for bigger shows. oh well. we left the pit after their set and bought cortney some birthday shots, got a couple drinks, and headed upstairs to the balcony to watch jimmy eat world. the balcony is 21+ and it was the first time for all of us up there, so that was fun. we danced, drank too many vodka cranberries and had a lovely time. jimmy eat world played for a gloriously long time, i believe it was ninety minutes. normally i'm a little more invested in setlists and musicianship, blah blah blah. i mean i write for a music blog... but this show was about cortney's birthday and having a good time so that's precisely what we did.

shitty cell picture from far, far away

morton: state & madison

my summer vacation started a few weeks ago and i spent the first two of them at home in st. louis. it was a lazy and relaxing two weeks and since i had nothing better to do with myself, why not take a mini roadtrip with my friend claire?! so that's exactly what we did.

state and madison has played middle-of-nowhere morton, illinois a couple of times before because of our mutual friend matt so i jumped on the chance to visit everyone with a fairly short two and a half hour drive. (morton is about about halfway between st. louis and chicago if that gives you any kind of mental picture)

claire and i received numerous different start times for the show: doors at five! show at seven! state and madison at seven! state and madison at nine! the band told me nine so i went trusted that answer. and while they were indeed correct, shit happens. an opening band dropped off the bill last minute so state and madison were bumped up to eight. well claire and i thought we'd left in plenty of time, but with the last minute change, we baaaarely made it with the band stalling as much as possible. we walked in during the first song. not too shabby!

they played a decently long set, and it was really great to see tony filling in on bass for them. he recently left the band to pursue other interests, but they have yet to find a replacement. plain and simple, it just felt good to catch up with friends whom i hadn't seen in quite a few months. they loaded out fairly early and i think we were all on our way to a cracker barrel around ten. not after nick let claire and i preview a few new demos though. (they're fucking rad. there are STRINGS. and HORNS.) seriously. every single time nick shows me new songs i'm completely blown away. they just get better and better.

it was a five hour trip for maybe three hours of time with them, but it was worth it.

www.stateandmadison.net