columbia: moonrunner and ha ha tonka

i had the privilege to see ha ha tonka friday with a bunch of friends and it was absolutely incredible. i missed them last time they were in town which means it had been quite some time since i'd seen them. but before i get too far ahead of myself, i'll start at the beginning.

it was a late show, not starting until nine-thirty so i took my time and arrived around ten. i had never heard of the first opener so i wasn't too disappointed in missing them, and the second opener, moonrunner, is a local columbia band in which i know a handful of the seven members. they've improved by leaps and bounds since i'd seen them last and i really enjoyed their set. i found some friends that i worked with two summers ago midway through the set and we chatted while we waited for tonka to set up. there was a great crowd there; every time i see them they have a bigger fan base which is really neat. the blue note is the biggest venue in columbia and they had it pretty filled. the crowd was absolutely wild by the time they started playing and i can't remember the last time i danced so much at a show. they played a good mix of new and old songs, and seemed so humble and appreciative. every person in the crowd was clapping, stomping their feet and singing along and it's no surprise they got called back for an encore. what was surprising though, was the second encore that the crowd absolutely insisted on. i've been to my fair share of shows and that was definitely a first. very cool.

it was really late by the time the show was over so i didn't stick around; i probably should at some point. i've seen them a dozen times and i have yet to really introduce myself. oh well.

www.hahatonkamusic.com

taste of st. louis: civil twilight and fitz & the tantrums

taste of st. louis! the real reason i went home to st. louis for the weekend, with paper route being the added surprise bonus. abby, katie and i made a weekend of it and had carpooled home together, and our friend lizette drove up a bit later to hang out. it was a great time with great friends, and did i mention the heavenly food? 'taste' certainly lived up to its name. we arrived in perfect time to wander a little bit, and make our way to the main stage. and there was nobody there! we literally walked right up to the barricade! civil twilight is so damn underrated and it makes me so sad. they're so talented. so. talented. i've seen them quite a few times now and every show gives me goosebumps. they played for close to an hour and there were quite a few new songs in the mix, with a couple covers. they slowly gained a crowd by the end of their set, and though no one else was really singing along, it looked like they had the attention of some new fans. we had a really great spot, but decided to leave and get some dinner before fitz and the tantrums played.

after stuffing oursleves with various foods from multiple different st. louis restaurants (i had a pulled pork sandwich, a philly cheesesteak with cheese fries, and white chocolate raspberry gooey butter cake. yumba.) we headed back to take our places for fitz and the tantrums. the crowd wasn't too bad and we managed to weasel our way to the front without too much of a fuss. and it was so worth it. fitz and the tantrums seemed to come out of nowhere and shoot straight to fame. and it seems that way besides it's precisely what happened! they played for a solid hour and had the hour crowd singing and dancing. and it was a good thing, because without that crowd to keep us warm it would have been really cold and uncomfortable. such a great night!

st. louis: paper route

i almost forgot about this show. i almost. fucking. forgot. i'll blame it on the copious amount of cold medicine i was taking the entire week beforehand. but holy shit. you know something's up when i almost forget about a show. also interesting to note is how terrible my luck is in regards to seeing paper route perform. i've been trying to see them for TWO YEARS. the first time they played the same night as incubus. as hard as i tried to sell my ticket, nobody would buy it and i didn't want to waste thirty bucks on top of paying to go to another show. so i missed it. the second time i tried to see paper route was at middle west fest in kansas city. i was driving over from columbia and according to the website paper route played second. well the website was wrong, because they played first. i walked in as they were loading out. i literally cried i was so upset. so when i heard they were playing at teeny tiny cicero's in st. louis, i snatched up a ticket as quick as i could. and that was precisely the problem. i bought the ticket online and so far in advance, that i totally forgot about it. i almost always pay at the door for shows at cicero's because there's no way in the hell shows i see there would sell out. but i wasn't so sure with paper route, so i made sure to buy in advance. the fact that the tickets were will call gave me no reminder whatsoever of when the show was since no tickets came in the mail. so it was the day of, when paper route tweeted about driving into st. louis, that i remembered the show. (thank god for twitter.)

i dragged abby and katie to the show with me and it was one of the best decisions. they were amazing. so, so amazing. all of my pain and frustration was now being released; my plans had come to fruition and so many emotions came spilling out that night. paper route holds a lot of memories and deeply rooted emotions and the show was a giant celebration of all those things. so awesome. i highly recommend you pick up a copy of their new album when it drops.

www.paperrouteonline.com

album review: jack's mannequin - people and things

I’ve always been a huge Jack’s Mannequin fan and if I had to pick one word to describe Andrew McMahon’s music throughout the years it would have to be this: consistent. McMahon is no stranger to the world of music, first making it big with Something Corporate, then Jack’s Mannequin. And every single record he’s released has been one hundred percent solid. Of course I’m probably biased because Jack’s is one of my favorite bands and I’ve seen them countless times, but People and Things is great. It’s poppy, catchy and each song is one earworm after another. I recognized a fair amount of them upon first listen; the band  has played a few songs live in recent months, including the previously released single “My Racing Thoughts,” “Amy, I,” “Hey Hey Hey (We’re All Gonna Die),” and “Hostage.” Read more...

st. louis: lucky boys confusion and state & madison

as if two shows in one night were enough to supress my musical appetite. psh. my chicago boys were in town and i was way more excited than i care to admit to see them. molly came to the show with me and we had a wonderful time. this was state and madison show number twenty-something and it was just as good as all the others. they're damn consistent, if not better each time i see them. i also got to meet their new bassist travis so that was fun.

there was quite a large crowd forming by the time lucky boys confusion played, and with good reason. lucky boys has been around for a good decade and all the members have multiple notable projects under their belts: am taxi, super happy fun club, the insecurities, and shock stars to name a few. while i didn't grow up listening to their music and probably can't appreciate it like some of the longtime fans in attendance, i really enjoyed myself. they put on a great show and stubhy really knows how to capture an audience.

album review: mutemath - odd soul

Mutemath has always struck me as overwhelmingly talented for how underwhelmingly popular they are.  They had that awesome backwards music video for “Typical” on MTV quite a few years ago; what happened after that? They seemed to fall off the map completely. Of course that’s according to the average music listener, and I would not consider myself to be the latter. The minute I saw that video I was hooked, and the minute I saw them perform at St. Louis’ Pointfest in September 2007 I was floored. I’ve kept tabs on them ever since and am always speechless after their shows. Read more...

st. louis: without a face || margot & the nuclear so and so's

it was a wild friday night of venue hopping a couple weeks back! my friend henry of without a face was playing an early show at cicero's so of course i had to pop in and say hey. there was a really great crowd there to see him, especially seeing as how early the show was. he's definitely made some fans from opening for ludo so much. he debuted his new twisted sexual assault which he'd sung for me over the summer and it was a huge hit. his new ep dropped about a week ago and while i haven't had the chance to get myself a copy yet, i definitely plan to come next paycheck and you should too.

it was only eight or so when the show ended which gave me plenty of time to drive the couple blocks to the firebird to see margot and the nuclear so and so's. i've been a fan for quite a few years and have only managed to catch them once at a street festival. i was pretty stoked to finally see them in a venue with good sound. and they certainly didn't disappoint. maybe it was the rum and coke, but i was dancing and singing along and having an awesome time. definitely glad to see them and definitely worth the multiple trips on a friday night.