Coldplay Concert

Two huge shows at the Garden in one week?! Damn. So I saw Coldplay last night at the TD Banknorth Garden, where I was just 5 nights earlier for The Who. It was amazing, needless to say.
While I had heard about their great live shows, it still surpassed my expectations. They were so so good. It was basically the definition of "stadium status", and Kanye puts it. Every song they have seemed to fill the Garden and really show why they are arguably the biggest band in the world right now. Chris Martin puts so much into every show and you can tell. He dances and goes nuts when he's not playing piano, had great crowd interaction, and was a really funny, down to earth guy. Right before they go offstage for the first time, the band runs into the back of a loge section to do 2 acoustic songs out in the crowd. Somehow, it was our lucky night, because it was our section. We were in the second row of the loge, but right on the aisle, so the band literally walked right past us. Kayla reached out and actually touched Chris Martin's hand, sending her into a frenzy, haha. It was awesome. The lighting rig was one of the best I've seen, and the glowing balls that hung from the ceiling and the screen in the background were so cool. The endless butterfly-shaped confetti that fell from the ceiling during Lovers in Japan was beautiful. Also, I don't know why it seems like Chris Martin's voice sounds a little off on TV, because he was perfect lastnight. Every step of the show was so well put together and well planned, and it went off without a hitch. They played for 2 hours in total, and it was 2 hours I'll always remember as being one of the best shows I've ever seen.

The Who Concert

So I saw The Who at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston last night. Damn, where they good. We had crappy seats because the prices were ridiculous ($250 each for floor seats... screw that). Regardless of how old these guys are, they still rock harder than most bands I've seen. It was so loud, and every song punched you in the face. They were really powerful, and played an amazing setlist of classic songs. Everyone in the crowd felt the energy and added to it by going nuts at every opportunity. It was so awesome. Pete Townshend really is one of the greatest guitarists ever. Just amazing. What a great show.

Setlist:
I Can't Explain
The Seeker
Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
Fragments
Who Are You
Behind Blue Eyes
Real Good Looking Boy
Baba O'Riley
Gettin in Tune
Eminence Front
Sister Disco
Sea And Sand
5.15
Love Reign O'er Me
My Generation
Won't Get Fooled Again
Encore:
Pinball Wizard
Amazing Journey
Sparks
See Me/Feel Me
Tea & Theatre

Also, this is a pretty good article from the Boston Herald about the show (except the part about “Real Good Looking Boy” which is total bull): http://news.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1127729

Ben Folds Concert

So I went and saw Ben Folds last night for the third time. His third solo album, Way To Normal, comes out on Tuesday so he has been touring in support of it. It was the last show of this year's WBRU's Dunkin Donuts Concert Series, at the Bank of America City Center (the ice rink).

Ben Folds is always really fun to see live. He talks and jokes a lot between songs and has great crowd interaction, even giving the audience parts to sing in a few songs. I knew he would play a ton of new songs, since the album comes out so soon, but what I was not expecting was the entire set to be new songs. Him and his band spent a day in the studio a month or two ago and created an entire fake album, with different takes on the same track names, and leaked it online to screw with people. So during their hour-long set, they played almost the entire new album, as well as several tracks off of the fake album. The songs were good, some funny, and I was familiar with 2 of them from his MySpace page, but I really wish he would've mixed it up. I mean, when you have a cult following like he does, it takes balls to go out and play a whole set of only new material, so I commend him for it, but I also wanted to hear old favorites.

About 5 or 6 songs in, he explained that they would play the older stuff in the encore, which gave me hope of a really long encore full of classics. But the encore came, he played 4 old songs, only 3 of which I knew, and then finished the night with another new one. It was a great show and a lot of fun, because he always is, but I was kind of disappointed.

What it did do was make me really excited to get the new album on Tuesday, which was probably his goal... so it worked.

The Roots

One of my favorite groups has always been The Roots, simply because they transcend genres. They are such a great hip-hop group, with Black Thought being, in my opinion, one of the best rappers out there, and at the same time they are a fun band to listen to, with a great horn section. The first time I saw them live ranks in my top 5 concerts that I've been to. So over the last two days, I listened through their entire discography, a lot of which I had never heard before, and wrote more mini-reviews on each album.

The Roots - Organix (1993) 7.5/10
The little-known, often forgotten, indie label debut from The Roots. I really didnt know what to expect going in, since I know the Roots have changed as a group so much since the beginning. It was a good album, though; especially for a debut. Its soulful and jazzy, not to mention I'm a sucker for "real" instrumentation on hip hop tracks (as opposed to computer-produced beats). Lyrically, Black Thought isn't quite as good as he is now, but still sounds great and is still better than most people out there. Even ?uestlove raps on a couple of tracks, which I wasn't expecting at all. My only problem was the it seems to drag a little and becomes kind of repetitive. Nothing really pops out at you and it just kind of keeps the same tone throughout instead of mixing it up.

The Roots - Do You Want More?!!!??! (1995) 8/10
This was a little better than "Organix". They obviously had better production because they were signed to a major label and it shows. Everything sounds cleaner and more fine-tuned. Black Thought is evolving as an artist and songwriter. It just sounds like a more complete album. Also, Rahzel was a member of The Roots at the time, and he adds that extra pop that I mentioned "Organix" not having. Overall, a solid album, some good tracks, but nothing really memorable.

The Roots - Illadelph Halflife (1996) 8.5/10
This is the first album I recognized a song or two on. While many people regard it as one of the best, if not the best, albums from The Roots, I didn't really see it being too special. It's really just the first album by The Roots that we know today. Almost like the first two albums were warm-ups. It's got a much more commercial sound with R&B hooks and whatnot. Some tracks, this works really well on, but on a lot of them it just makes them seem fake. It doesnt have the chill jam-band feeling of the previous 2 albums. So while its overall a much better album with some great tracks and a great new direction, the fact that they lost the sound of being an "indie band", for the lack of a better term.

The Roots - Things Fall Apart (1999) 9.5/10
One of the best. Its like they took "Illadelph Halflife" and perfected it. They somehow find a happy medium between sounding commercial and sounding like a band. It goes back to being funky and cool and jazzy, but keeps the upbeat mainstream sound that makes it fun. There are several memorable tracks, obviously including "You Got Me" ft. Erykah Badu, which won a Grammy. Other great guest spots by Common and Mos Def help round out the album. Its just so good. My only complaint is that it runs long, at just over 70min, and I can see where cutting out a couple of tracks would've made the album perfect.

The Roots - Phrenology (2002) 9/10
My favorite Roots album. Its the perfect length, and is basically more of the all-around complete greatness that was captured on "Things Fall Apart". 2 Kweli features are both awesome. The flow and feeling of the album is a little more well-rounded and complete than "Things Fall Apart". I think the only thing I didn't like was that it wasnt really anything new. They didnt really grow between albums at all, and as much as they didn't have to because both of these albums are amazing, I like to see artists try new things. Great album though... I really love it.

The Roots - The Tipping Point (2004) 8/10
Underrated. I feel like nobody ever talks about this album, and its pretty good. With that said, its not nearly as good as "Things Fall Apart" or "Phrenology". It sounds a lot more mainstream, which in this case isn't really a good thing. It sounds like they tried to preserve that groovy Roots feel and it just didn't work out that well. It's also too short for me. The production sounds good for a mainstream rap album, but bad for a Roots album. The rapping is on point stylistically, but content-wise I wish it were stronger. Its a good album, and actually the first Roots album I ever heard in full, back when it came out 4 years ago.

The Roots - Game Theory (2006) 8/10
I forgot about this album. I really like it, even though its not "classic" material or anything. It's really serious and to the point, covering some deep/heavy topics. Its more tied together as an album, with a lot of seamless transitions between tracks, which I like. There's a handful of good songs, but also a bunch of songs I already forget about. As it is the Roots 7th album, I'm not really impressed. But if I heard this having never listened to them before, I'd probably be blown away. So I'll settle somewhere in the middle, like I did with "The Tipping Point."

The Roots - Rising Down (2008) 8/10
Another solid album. I hadn't listened to this is several months, but I really liked it. It's in my Top 10 of the year, though dangling on at number 10. In the same way that I saw "Phrenology" being basically "Things Fall Apart" Volume 2, I think Rising Down feels a lot like "Game Theory" Volume 2. It has the same serious tone and heavy subject matter, with the rhymes and production both tight and really enjoyable. My problem with the album is that there are too many features. Although almost everyone featured does really well on the album, I just hate it when people have features in almost every track. I need more Black Thought verses. I don't listen to the Roots because I wanna hear Dice Raw or P.o.r.n. So its a good album, but clearly not the Roots' best.

Kings of Leon

On a recommendation from a friend, a downloaded and listened to the new Kings of Leon album, Only by the Night. While I had heard of them, I had never listened to anything by the band before, but fell in love after one listen to this amazing album. I instantly had to listen to the first 3 albums from the band, and here are my mini-reviews of them all:

Kings of Leon - Youth and Young Manhood (2003) 7.5/10
Blah. I was hoping for this to be as epic as the new album. I guess I should've went in blindly. While there are several tracks where the arrangements and instrumentation is great and very enjoyable, the album as a whole felt really dull and boring to me. The vocals weren't anything special and I couldn't really understand him some of the time. But with that said, its a decent album with some good songs on it.

Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak (2005) 8.5/10
Way better than "Y&YM", in my opinion. The tracks are more diverse. Vocals are more aggressive and more clear. Same great instrumentation as before. It just sounds more creative and more of a well-rounded, full album. Its still missing something... it needs something extra to set it apart from the other albums of the genre, because it would be way to easy to lump this in with everything else and forget about it. But I really liked it, regardless.

Kings of Leon - Because of the Times (2007) 9/10
I got distracted while listening to this so I really need to go back and give it more proper attention. As of right now, I really really liked it. I would say it shows definite growth from "Aha Shake..." while maintaining the same basic things that makes the band who it is. It's not boring at all, tracks are diverse with great guitar riffs. The drummer sounds really great in this one, too. I really enjoy it, but need to listen again.

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night (2008) 10/10
Wow... Now I know I might seem like an easy grader, because I give a lot of 8s and 9s, but I swear its just because I like a lot of music. While I give a lot of 8-9 range scores, its really tough for me to give a 10. An album has to be perfect, and I generally go hunting for errors. The only other album, this year, I would give a 10 to is Coldplay. This album, though, totally took me by surprise. I had never listened to any Kings of Leon, and this is their fourth album. I don't really know how to describe it, but I love it. They mix in a southern feel to their hard indie-rock sound, and I love it. The guy's voice sounds great, the lyrics are great, and the instrumentation is awesome. I'm amazed that the 4 members are related (3 brothers and a cousin)... how could there be so much talent in one family?! They have some experimental-sounding tracks, but don't push it too far and confuse people. Its great. I cant wait to hear their older material.