Sigur Rós Play Packed Uptown NYC Venue, 9.18.08

Sigur Rós isn't the type of band that fits any particular labels. The music features elements of post-rock, shoegaze, and even classical sounds. Frontman Jónsi Birgisson — known for his powerful falsetto — tends to sing a number of the songs in a made-up language of sorts, "Hopelandic," in addition to singing in the band's native Icelandic. And yet, while one wouldn't expect the band to have much widespread success due to its not-so-mainstream sound, the members of Sigur Rós have a remarkable ability to draw diverse crowds to their shows. Thursday night was a perfect example, as fans flocked far uptown to New York's United Palace Theatre, for a mesmerizing performance.

Sigur Rós performed for approximately two hours, choosing to play songs featured on a variety of their albums, ranging from their 1999 album Ágætis byrjun to their latest release. Even though the majority of people in attendance — myself included — couldn't really understand the lyrics, many cheered excitedly at the beginning of each song in a show of recognition. Lights and video projections flooded the stage, contributing to the otherworldly atmosphere evoked by the band's moody music. Even though Sigur Rós performed as a four-piece that night, unaccompanied by the string and horn players that have often toured with them in the past, their songs were as richly textured as their studio recordings and seemed to mesmerize the audience. Birgisson's vocals were equally powerful, bursting through the venue as he played his bowed guitar vigorously.

While the band members gave their all throughout the concert, some of the show's greatest moments took place at the end of the night. The band concluded the main part of its set with the upbeat "Gobbledigook," the first track on their latest album, with Birgisson asking the audience to stand up, sing and clap along to the music. Members of opening act, Parachutes, also took the stage with additional drums to keep the beat, as rainbow colored lights flashed through the venue. The packed venue was filled with clapping audience members and confetti flew through the air as the song built up to its triumphant climax. By the time the song was over, both Sigur Rós and the audience seemed exhilarated, with smiles all around.

Sigur Rós ended the night on an even more incredible note, with a two-song encore. Birgisson dedicated the first song, "Illgresi," one of the band's more minimalist tunes, to one of their crew members who couldn't be at the show because he had pneumonia. And then the band chose to kick things up a notch with "Track 8," also known as "Popplagid" or "The Pop Song," which started out gently and ended with a shattering climax that had people screaming for more by the time the band left the stage.

Sigur Rós only took the stage one more time to thank the audience and bow graciously — but judging by the applause and the subsequent excited chatter as the crowd made its way to the subway after the show, the band had clearly made quite an impression, showing that even the "strangest" of music can have a strong effect on listeners.

Radiohead Light up Camden Concert, 8.12.08

Just days after headlining two dates at the All Points West festival in Jersey City, Radiohead continued their tour by playing one last New Jersey date Tuesday night at Camden's Susquehanna Bank Center. The venue was packed with fans who had started lining up hours before the show. By the time the band took the stage, the excitement could be felt everywhere, from the pit to the lawn.

Cheers resonated throughout the center as Radiohead took the stage and started the night with "15 Step," the opening track from their latest album, In Rainbows. Fans danced and sang as frontman Thom Yorke bopped around the stage — and the energy only escalated as the band pulled out a "triple-drum attack" for their next song, "There There." In fact, every song the band played was greeted by enthusiasm and even though the crowd got a little quieter during slower numbers like "All I Need" and "Videotape," many concertgoers either sang or mouthed along to nearly every lyric. An intensely colorful light show, accompanied by beautifully-shot live video footage on big screens, only enhanced the experience further.

The band performed In Rainbows in its entirety and even threw in "Go Slowly," a track from the album's bonus disc. But the band also went back to previous material from four of their previous albums, only excluding songs from their debut album and 2001's Amnesiac. Each song featured the textured layers that Radiohead are well known for and certain songs such as "The Gloaming," which features a punchy bassline when it's played live, took on a whole new sound. Meanwhile, Yorke's voice was in top form, conveying an assorted array of emotions. He hit the majority of his notes to the point of near perfection and it felt as though the entire crowd was holding its breath right before he hit one of his trademark falsettos during a performance of "Nude."


Even though they weren't particularly chatty, the band members were in high spirits throughout the night. When he wasn't at an instrument, Yorke did his trademark spasmodic dance moves for many of the songs, including the classic "Idioteque." In addition to referring to the piano as a "pianoforte" and introducing "Go Slowly" as a "slow song for a good reason," Yorke was smiling during most of the set and made it a point to thank the audience periodically. And despite the fact that they've been touring for nearly two decades, Yorke's fellow band members seemed thrilled by the size of the audience, grinning at each other and at concertgoers as the night wore on. At one point, guitarist Jonny Greenwood — who also played around with radios, keyboards and more during the show — just stood still, brushing his hair out of his eyes to stare at the crowd in front of him.


The band closed the night with two encores, which featured a total of eight songs. Guitarist Ed O'Brien and bassist Colin Greenwood seemed excited as they came back onstage, laughing and clapping along with the audience. Though the band decided to skip two of their biggest hits — "Karma Police" and "Paranoid Android" — they did play three songs from their second album The Bends during the encores, including the opening track, "Planet Telex," which hasn't been played much during this tour. Emotions seemed to run wild during songs like OK Computer's "Lucky," especially when Yorke sang the line, "It's going to be a glorious day."


Radiohead ended the night with Everything in Its Right Place from 2000's Kid A, with Yorke singing a couple of lines from R.E.M.'s "The One I Love" before launching into the song. As the song came to a close, each band member took turns going off stage. Yorke went first, grinning and waving at the crowd, and his bandmates slowly followed as they completed their portions of the song. By the end, a sample of Yorke's looped vocals resonated through the venue before the band's crew finally pulled the plug.

Even though the concert ultimately featured a total of 25 songs, the two hour set seemed to go by a lot faster than it really did. Personally, I feel this is the second best show I've ever attended — the only other concert to beat this one is the first Radiohead show I ever went to back in 2001. And judging by other fans' awed reactions by the time the night was over, it looks like Radiohead's longstanding reputation as one of the best live acts in the world is still very much well deserved.

Complete Setlist:
15 Step, There There, Morning Bell, All I Need, The National Anthem, Videotape, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, The Gloaming, Where I End and You Begin, Faust Arp, No Surprises, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, The Bends, Idioteque, Climbing Up the Walls, Nude, Bodysnatchers
Encore 1: House of Cards, Lucky, Go Slowly, Just, Street Spirit
Encore 2: Reckoner, Planet Telex, Everything in its Right Place

(You may also view this review here).

Supergrass Shake Up NYC Crowd, 7.30.08

England's Supergrass spent most of July touring with the Foo Fighters in different venues throughout the United States. But on Wednesday night, the band ended their series of US tour dates by headlining a packed show at New York City's Webster Hall.

The crowd went wild as the band took the stage and kicked things off with "Diamond Hoo Ha Man," the opening track from their latest album, Diamond Hoo Ha. Crunchy guitars and pounding rhythms permeated the venue as the audience sang and bopped to the beat. And though Supergrass spent the first chunk of the show playing some other tracks from the newest album, including "Bad Blood" and "Rebel in You," they also mixed things up by throwing in a few older tunes like "Moving" from the band's self-titled third album. While some songs had a more abrupt sound, others like "Sun Hits the Sky" from In it for the Money, filled the room with their explosive, swirling guitar noises.

The band members stayed energetic throughout the show and gave their all as the night went on. Lead singer Gaz Coombes was drenched in sweat as he darted around the stage cheerfully, rocking out and encouraging the audience to dance, clap or sing along. And while the band members were charmingly gracious at times, complimenting the crowd and city for being "lovely," they weren't above cursing or acting silly either. Fans were treated to a bit of mock fighting and a goofy false start before drummer Danny Goffey took over the vocals for "Ghost of a Friend." At another point, Coombes decided to ask attendees how they liked his striped shirt.

After performing "Butterfly," the closer from Diamond Hoo Ha, Coombes announced that the band would be devoting some time to their older material. The crowd got even more enthusiastic — you could feel the floor shaking during some of the more popular songs and a lot of people sang their hearts out during the likes of "Pumping On Your Stereo."

It seems that the audience didn't want the band to leave at all during the night and so, Supergrass took the stage one last time for a three-song encore as the crowd chanted their name repeatedly. The band concluded the show with a punchy performance of their first single, 1994's "Caught By the Fuzz," with Coombes throwing himself onto Goffey's drum kit when they were done — a perfect ending for such a lively summer show.

(You may also view this review here).

The X-Files: I Want to Believe at the Apple Store, 7.17.08

It's been six years since The X-Files series finale aired on television, but Mulder and Scully still prevail. This Friday, The X-Files: I Want to Believe — the second feature film affiliated with the TV series — will be hitting theaters. And last Thursday, creator Chris Carter and longtime producer Frank Spotnitz made an appearance at the Apple Store in SoHo, New York, to discuss the making of the film and the time they spent working on the series.

While the event was technically inspired by the fact that the new film was made using Apple's Final Cut Pro, the discussion didn't really adhere to the subject of technology. This wasn't much of a surprise — the audience, which consisted of longtime fans and newbies alike, had started lining up for the event approximately two and a half hours in advance. Judging by the intense discussions taking place on line, it was clear that most wanted to learn more about the characters and the actual motivation behind the film. And both Carter and Spotnitz seemed happy to oblige, though they remained tight-lipped about spoilers.

While the new film takes place in "real time," allowing fans to get a glimpse into what Mulder and Scully's lives have been like since they were last on the air, Carter said it actually follows the storytelling technique featured in the show's first three seasons. Filmed in 60 days and approximately 105 minutes long, the movie is also a standalone story designed to draw in new audiences. "We actually saw eye to eye [with the studio] about it being a standalone," Spotnitz said.

Even though it didn't take very long or much of a budget (by today's standards) to make the film, Spotnitz said they thought the movie was never going to happen. Even though they had started work on the film in 2003, a legal dispute stalled progress, resulting in the film's later-than-anticipated release. But it seems as though the delay might have made the project an even greater labor of love for the cast and crew. Both Carter and Spotnitz said that as the years went by, they began to miss Mulder and Scully.

Though the filmmakers discussed some of the more difficult aspects of filming and producing a show as ambitious as The X-Files, they were also willing to answer some of the quirkier fan queries. When asked who Mulder and Scully would vote for in the upcoming presidential election, Carter paused thoughtfully before saying that Mulder would probably write in Dennis Kucinich, while Scully was still disappointed about Hillary Clinton. Later, when Carter confirmed that Scully would finally have her own desk in this movie, fans — including yours truly — laughed and cheered, indicating that even though many years have passed, there are plenty of people who still care about Mulder and Scully.

It's also clear that Carter and Spotnitz still care about the fans as well. When the event began, Carter actually came out with a camera to take photos of the crowd. And when I — and a few other lucky fans — literally ran into him by the building's side entrance after the panel was over, he was perfectly willing to pause and sign autographs, smiling calmly and posing for photographs as people gushed over his work on the series.

There's no telling how the new X-Files movie, coming out so soon after a major box office event like The Dark Knight, will fare when the show can now only be viewed on DVD or in reruns. But one thing's for certain — the X-Phile community is still active and will probably have a lot to say when Mulder and Scully hit the big screen again.

Meeting Damon Albarn, A Detailed Account (7.12.08)

Earlier this week, I reviewed Damon Albarn & the Honest Jon's Revue, but I didn't really have a chance to talk about meeting Damon after the show. The meeting was pretty brief in the grand scheme of things and I didn't get do anything spectacular like snagging an interview. But the whole process of waiting around for Damon to exit the building ended up being kind of fun and since this was really my first time making such an effort to meet a musician I admire, I thought I'd write up an account of that night.

I'm a pop culture fanatic and a music devotee — I go to plenty of concerts, I've gone to book readings and other events where I've been able to get an autograph and a photo with the occasional celebrity. That being said, I've never tried to follow a strategy for meeting a famous person I admire. But last Saturday, I — especially thanks my friend Shubha who said it was definitely worth a shot — decided that it might not hurt to try meeting Damon Albarn.

I've been a fan of Albarn's, dating back to his days with Blur, for a few years. Since I was still pretty young when the band was releasing the likes of Parklife and even their self-titled fifth album (famous for that "Woohoo" song, "Song 2"), I didn't really start listening to them until I was in high school. Unfortunately, this was towards the end of the band's heyday — they did an unofficial final tour as a three-piece group during my senior year of high school, but I never had a chance to see them. So I've tried to make up for that by attending other concerts featuring Damon Albarn. I saw him perform as part of The Good, The Bad, and The Queen last year and this year, I decided to attend the Revue even though I knew he wouldn't be the center of attention. It's rare to see Damon in concert and being that I was lucky enough to see him two years in a row, I decided that it was time to push my luck further and try meeting him just this once.

After the show was over last Saturday, Shubha and I left the building as soon as we could and found ourselves near a stage exit at the side of the building. There were very few people milling around and I got a little nervous that security would get rid of us, but that never happened. As we stood there, a tiny crowd began to form. A man was standing by himself, clutching a copy of Blur's 13 and there were a few small groups of friends around. My friend and I decided that we would stick around for another hour or so since the show had let out fairly early.


Some of the other musicians who had performed that night began coming out the doors. At one point, one of them gave Shubha and me the thumbs up sign. Shortly after that, another came over to us and shook our hands. "Ça va bien?" he asked a couple of times, motioning to the building. We responded in the slightly broken French of our high school years: "Oui, bien! Très bien!" He was a really sweet guy, enthusiastic and genuinely happy to see we had enjoyed ourselves. As more musicians came out, our little gathering became more lively. Some of the musicians put on an impromptu concert, right there on the sidewalk, and a few passers-by stopped to watch. There was a festive feeling in the air and at this point, we all started getting a little chattier with each other.

Shubha and I befriended a woman named Liz, who was there with her husband — he spent the whole time making fun of her, but he was also the one who had bought the tickets to the show and was the very person who took photos for her when Damon finally came outside. They were a fun pair and we had lots of fun talking to them. At one point, we philosophized about why Damon sings the iconic "Woohoo!" in "Song 2" as "Wahoo!" in his live performances, and we also talked a little bit about his assorted side projects.

There was another fun character, a British man not much older than Shubha and me, named James. He had met Liz through the Blur forums, so he was hanging around quite a bit. James turned out to be quite shameless in his determination to meet Damon — he actually went inside the building a number of times, asking people if they knew whether or not Damon was still around. At one point he left the area, but the rest of us stuck around and when we finally ascertained that Damon was definitely in the building, James returned. It was a bit after 11 p.m. now, an hour since the show had been over. But armed with the knowledge that our idol was in the building, we were newly energized, joking around about guitarist Simon Tong who always seems to be asleep while playing his instrument. And this is where our luck finally changed.

Just moments after we were discussing him, Simon Tong himself came out of the building and though a bunch of us called out his name, he just slunk away after raising his head and smiling briefly in response. Seconds after that, a few more musicians — including Damon Albarn — came out. And we were ready.

I remember crying out his name as he came out and then as I found him standing right in front of me, I asked him if he could please sign my playbill. He was happy to oblige, signing it "With Love, Damon, XXX," and because I'm not so experienced at hunting down my favorite musicians, I didn't really know what to say. So I finally just told him that it had been a great show and he was very gracious about it, saying, "I'm glad you enjoyed it!" At this time, more people were trying to get things signed and after Shubha got her playbill signed, she dragged me over so we could get our photo with him. Posing for a photo with Damon ended up being a slight challenge as someone else had started telling him a joke of sorts and he was too busy laughing his head off. But he managed to stay conscious of the fact that a camera was nearby and he looked up just in time to laugh at the camera for our picture.


Our crowd was relatively mild and nothing like the sort of chaos that Damon might recall from his Blur days. But it was still a lot of fun meeting him and watching him interact with other fans as well. The previously-mentioned James approached Damon and asked him if he could pretend playing his melodica/melody horn — James intended to stand in the background, rolling his eyes, in order to get some fun photos out of it. And Damon was more than happy to oblige — in fact, he began playing the horn, experimenting with a couple of melodies, while we all stood around gawking.

After a few minutes had passed, Damon finally began saying that he really needed to go, so once he finished up with the autographs and a few more photos, we all backed off so that he could leave. But there was still a sense of excitement in the air and as some of us exchanged email addresses, we were all talking about how charming Damon had been. Even James, who had seemed a bit "cool for school," admitted that he was shaking a little and that he could never play his melody horn again.

Though I don't know how often I'll be doing things like this in order to meet other artists I admire, I know one thing's for certain — Operation: Meet Damon Albarn was definitely a complete success.

"Playing the Building" with David Byrne

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to visit David Byrne's "Playing the Building" sound installation in New York City. The cool part was that I got to be part of a private tour, hosted by Byrne himself — all thanks to a friend working at Visionaire. And because it was a private tour, we didn't have to battle gigantic crowds, which might have made it difficult for us to enjoy the installation's full effect.

As its title suggests, "Playing the Building" is all about turning a building — the Battery Maritime Building at 10 South Street — into a giant musical instrument. The center of the room features a battered old organ, which happens to have an intricate labyrinth of wires protuding from its backside. Each of these wires is connected to various aspects of the building's structure, causing these elements to vibrate and produce one of three different types of sounds.

If you strike one portion of the organ's keyboard, you might hear a motorlike sound. If you strike the other two portions, you might hear a metallic striking sound or something more akin to wind blowing. While it's not possible to create anything melodic while playing this particular organ, the cacophonous result sounds really neat, especially thanks to the acoustics offered by the bare, old-time building. When you play this particular "instrument," the sound is everywhere, and thus the installation's purpose is fully realized.


As we were told on the tour, the nice thing about this installation is the fact that a person doesn't need to be musically inclined in order to create sound. But I will confess that as fun as it is to have permission — as indicated by the "Please Play" request painted in front of the organ — to make an endless amount of noise, it would be a lot more interesting if we could create something melodic. You could say that such a thought is a bit too influenced by the rules of western tonality, but frankly, it would have been really interesting to have more musical options. I imagine it would be very difficult to enhance the installation in such a way, but the thought of hearing fully-realized melodies and harmonies echoing through the Battery Maritime Building is very appealing and might have made things more compelling since Byrne isn't the first person to create a sound installation.

Despite this, it is a commendable project that is worth visiting, partially due to the appeal of the Battery Maritime Building itself. Dating back to the early 20th century, the building has an abandoned, but beautiful appearance that provides an awe-inspiring environment for Byrne's ambitious venture.

(The installation is open from noon to 6 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays until August 24, 2008. Admission is free).

Damon Albarn 'Presents' the Honest Jon's Revue in New York, 7.12.08

Damon Albarn has built a reputation for being one of the more eclectic musicians out there. From fronting Britpop legends Blur to voicing 2D, of the virtual band Gorillaz, he's managed to defy genres by associating himself with a variety of musical acts.

On Saturday night, Albarn took the stage at New York City's Avery Fisher Hall with an international group of musicians. The show titled, "Damon Albarn & The Honest Jon's Revue," was part of this year's Lincoln Center Festival and featured numerous acts affiliated with Honest Jon's, a London-based record label.

The stage — clogged with instruments, and draped with flags representing the United States, Canada, France, Mali, and more — was a perfect setting for the mishmosh of music we were treated to that night. The musicians included The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Afel Bocoum Band, and folk singer Victoria Williams. Renowned Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen and guitarist Simon Tong — who both collaborated with Albarn on last year's The Good The Bad and The Queen record — were also part of the lineup.

Albarn didn't actually take the spotlight until the show's conclusion. Instead, he played keyboards and the melodica as accompaniment to his fellow artists' music, occasionally laughing, dancing, and clapping in response to the talents that were on display. And Albarn wasn't alone in performing such antics — the members of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble whipped out their lighters and cell phones during vocalist/guitarist Simone White's quiet, yet quirky performance. Later on, after an enthusiastic performer impressed the crowd by playing the bass while holding it behind his head, an audience member actually got up to give him a high five.

The two-hour show consisted of a medley of soul, folk, jazz, and traditional African music (namely from Mali), providing the audience with an opportunity to hear some instruments that are rarely heard in this part of the world. I was personally really impressed to see Kokanko Sata — a female musician from Mali — play the kamelen n'goni, a three-stringed harp of sorts, which is typically an instrument only played by men.

The night came to an end with Albarn taking center stage for a ten-minute performance of "Sunset Coming On," a song featured on his 2002 collaborative project, Mali Music. This was the perfect closer for the night — starting out peacefully with Albarn's distinct, soothing vocals at the forefront and ending with a high-energy, percussion-driven climax that featured all the performers either dancing, singing or playing along with each other. Even audience members stood up to clap and dance to the music.

As soul singer Candi Stanton told the audience earlier in the night, "Music is the international language." And the Honest Jon's Revue, with its fusion of cultures and musical genres, really drove this point home by the time the show was over.

(You may also view this review here).