MGMT

Nobody should really expect MGMT to be profound or complex. I’ve heard a lot of people say that they aren’t good live, but I decided to decide for myself and scored seventh row center tickets to the show.

The band came out and opened with Flash Delirium, which in my opinion was easily one of the best tracks on this year’s album. As it was also the first single, it was relatively well received. The audience had been pretty quiet throughout the set of openers Violens, and leading off the set with a popular song, rather than one of the more abstract ones, really set the pace and got everyone on their feet. Staying true to character, they strayed from convention by playing “Destrokk” next, which I had never actually heard before. As it turns out, it’s a song from the Time to Pretend EP that came out way back in 2005, before I had ever heard of the band. While they played it well and I enjoyed it, I got the feeling that a lot of people were in my situation and didn’t recognize it. It may have killed the vibe a little. But they picked it right back up and started blazing through older hits like “Electric Feel,” “The Youth,” and “Time To Pretend,” as well as newer highlights “Brian Eno” and “Song For Dan Treacy.” The lights stayed pretty dim most of the show, with dark blue lights prevailing over most other colors. The cool, dark vibe was helped by the strange tie-dye and kaleidoscope-like designs flashing on the screens behind the band. After throwing in a seemingly-random cover of The Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner,” (Yeah, I haven’t heard of them either,) they finished strongly, although predictably, with “Kids.” As you may imagine, “Kids” got the best reaction, with the entire crowd dancing and jumping and singing along as loudly as possible. While the band had tried to stay straight-faced and serious for the majority of the show, they came out of their collective shell for this one. Laughing and jumping around and just having as much fun with it as possible, which I actually thought was a little strange. I would’ve thought that they would be sick of playing it, since it is their most popular song, and they seemed to stray away from making pop songs on the second album, like they didn’t want to be famous. Either way, it was definitely the highlight of the night. It almost felt unnecessary for them to come out for a subdued 3-song encore, ending the concert the same way they ended their new album, with “Congratulations.”

I wasn’t blown away, to be honest. But I didn’t want to be. I understand why people say that they are bad live, but I disagree. I think it’s all about perspective. But even though they take their music in new and very different directions than most popular bands, I still don’t think they are really all that complex. You go to let loose, get lost in the layers of their music, and just have fun. Dance your ass off. While the show wasn’t anything groundbreaking, it was still a great time, which is what you should expect from these guys.

Arcade Fire

So I went to see Arcade Fire lastnight. My first time seeing them.I don't know where to start. I'll lead off with my only complaint. They didn't play my favorite song on the new album, "Suburban War". (Full Setlist below.) But it really didn't matter, in the end.

The openers, Young Galaxy, were alright. Some songs were good, and I might check out their albums since it seemed like they'd be the kind of stuff that would sound better all mastered and whatnot.

Arcade Fire came out and played for a little over an hour and a half. The set was awesome (see videos below). I love their music, but didn't know too much about them, so it was surprising to see 8 people on stage, all switching instruments every song. Some members switched between violin-piano, or drums-guitar-keyboards. It was kind of awesome seeing how talented they all are, even though they seem like a pretty odd bunch of people. Especially Regine, who does this weird ballerina-robot dance the whole time, and although she sings great, when she tried to speak in between songs (introducing Sprawl II) she sounded like she was either coked out or half retarded.

Regardless, the most impressive thing, to me, was how much energy and passion they put into playing these songs. It's amazing how mellow you would think some of the songs are, particularly off of Funeral, but somehow they just go nuts and jump around and rock out playing them, without taking anything away from the song. With no audio, you'd think they were playing something more upbeat and hardcore-sounding the whole time. It was great to watch.

They opened with Ready To Start, which works really well as an opener, and warmed up the crowd well. What surprised me is how they stepped into high-gear right away with "Month of May" second, which is probably the fastest, most upbeat song that they have. They just absolutely destroyed it (in a good way). It was great live, and basically let everyone know that they weren't messing around, they were gonna give us a hell of a show. About two-thirds of the way through, after playing "Deep Blue", I thought it was funny that Win said "sorry for confusing you with all of these new songs", as if almost everyone there hadn't been listening to the album for the last week straight. We were all singing along to almost every song. Of the last 6 songs after that point, including the 2 in the encore, the only new one was "Half Light II" (which sounded great live). The other five were perfect, fan-favorite placements that had everyone going nuts the whole time. "Keep the Car Running" sounded particularly spectacular live, from a vocal standpoint, while the seamless transition from "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" into "Rebellion (Lies)" was really spine-tingling. And, while predictable, finishing with "Wake Up" just works perfectly, with everyone shouting the chorus at the top of their lungs. I think the only song that gave me chills to sing along with live more than "Wake Up" was "Hey Jude" when I saw Paul McCartney about a year ago at Fenway Park.

It was a great night. I go to a LOT of concerts, so it's rare that I see someone that I haven't seen before and they really blow me away, but last night was one of those nights. I will go see them live every single chance I get from here on out. I can't wait to watch the MSG show in a couple of days and relive the whole experience. Amazing.

Check out the stage set-up in this video. A "billboard" screen, streetlight post, and the back screen looked like they were under a highway overpass. Really went all out with the suburbs theme, but it was awesome. The video sums it up pretty well, even if the audio is a little off (i didnt take it).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfXtf9-WlRs

Here are a couple of really good HD videos people took (you should click through and watch them big):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycSaZQZ0gHs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU4-sOWqmQc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-jPwAJ34_k

Setlist:

Ready to Start

Month of May

Neighborhood #2 (Laika)

No Cars Go

Haiti

Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

We Used to Wait

Intervention

Modern Man

The Suburbs

Deep Blue

Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)

Rebellion (Lies)

Half Light II (No Celebration)

Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

Encore:

Keep the Car Running

Wake Up

Vampire Weekend

My sister and I went and saw one of my new favorite bands last night (in Boston) at the Orpheum. SO good live. The music is just so fun and lively and it totally translates to the crowd. Everyone's just dancing and having a great time. They play really well live, and you can tell they have a lot of fun playing. Ezra talked quite a bit and was actually a really funny guy. They talked about how much they like Boston, partly why they have 3 Massachusetts-based songs on their debut album, all 3 of which were played. Apparently they don't usually play all 3. At least not "Ladies of Cambridge", which is technically a bonus track. Conveniently enough it's one of my favorite VW songs (at least top 3) so I was really really happy that they played it.

Also, to make the show even better, I upgraded my tickets at no extra cost last minute. The show had sold out in like an hour or something when it went on sale several months ago, and I managed to barely get tickets, last row on the lower level. I was a little disappointed, but figured it was better than the balcony. So last night, about an hour before we left, this family friend who owns a ticket agency calls me and offered me 7th row seats at face value, so I took them and put my crappy seats on craigslist at face value, got a call within 5 minutes, and met a kid at the venue. So it was amazing! I brought my camera, which I rarely do at concerts, and got a few good ones... check them out (click to view full size):

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.

Radiohead Concert

Wow... there really are no words to describe what happened at the Comcast Center in Mansfield last night. I'm still going crazy just thinking about it and replaying it in my head.


I've decided that it was the second best concert I have ever been to, and if you know me at all, you'll know that that's a huge deal, haha. It really helped that we got into the Pit right in front, so we were dead center about 12 people back from the stage. The openers, Grizzly Bear, sounded like they were probably pretty good, but we were walking around for most of their set and the part I was in the pit for I was busy staring at the light rigs that they were about to bring out for Radiohead.

So about 10 minutes before 9pm, it happened. Radiohead came onstage. It was amazing being literally 25 feet away from Thom Yorke on stage. We were close enough that it felt like an intimate club show which was amazing, but far away enough that we got the full experience with the amazing light show that they put on. (The front row is WAY overrated.) The light show was unmatched by anything I have ever seen, as you can see.

I've never really been able to consider myself a huge Radiohead fan. I've only listened to 3 albums (In Rainbows, OK Computer, Kid A) and I don't really know the words to most of the songs. But I enjoy the music and saw pictures of the light show and wanted to go. I had no idea it was going to melt my face off the way it did. Thom Yorke is insane. Seriously, he might be one of the weirdest people I've ever seen. But he LOVES what he does every night on stage and it shows. He gets so into the music and really feels every song, rather than just reciting the lyrics. That was one huge part of the show that made it so much better to me, was that every single member of the band was visibly enjoying his time on stage. They love playing music and making people happy and it really translates to the crowd and makes the show more enjoyable. The show was amazing. Every song sounded perfect, it was the perfect balance/mix of old and new... I have NO complaints whatsoever. Oh, and then there were 2 encores... yes, TWO. The one thing I kinda wished would happen was more crowd interaction. I like it when bands talk to the audience a little in between songs here or there. Thom Yorke said one thing to us outside of a few "thank you"s, and I dont even know what it was because you can never freaking understand him anyways. But it didnt matter, theyre Radiohead. No words needed, just music. It was like an out of body experience. I got lost in it.

They NEED to release a DVD from this tour in Blu-Ray. The NEED to.

Flobots Concert

So I just got home from seeing the Flobots and People Under the Stairs at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA...

I purposely went late because i didnt care about the first opener (Busdriver) and didnt really know enough about PUTS to really care about them. So I showed up about halfway into PUTS and they made me wish I had been there the whole time. They were AWESOME... and i feel like its really difficult for a rap act to be good live when you dont know their material. But the energy that they had really made the show. Theyve been around forever and didnt mind at all that they were opening for a relatively new group. They were just there to kick it and have a blast. I am gonna get all their stuff now and would totally go see them again. Their new album, Fun DMC, is out Sept 30th.

Flobots were also wayyy better than I expected. I really really liked their whole cd, I'm not some stupid "Handlebars" fan. (To be honest, it's one of the worst songs on the album.) They have so much energy, and it really gives you a big advantage to be playing with a live band, which is what they are. Everyone of them (there are 6 people) contributes equally, they had awesome solos... not to mention the violinist was cute (yes, shes a girl) and played amazingly. They through in a cool remix/cover of "So Happy Together" with rap verses, and the encore song was a remix/cover of "Heartbreaker" by Pat Benatar that the violinist girl sung, and they added rap verses. It was a great time.