Concerts

Throwback Thursday SXSW Song of the day: Coldplay – The Scientist

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Ricky in Song of the Day, South By Southwest | Leave a comment

coldplay

It’s hard to believe that it’s been well over a decade since a rainswept Chris Martin strolled off a shitty beach and into our consciousness with that inescapable song Yellow.

Since then he has married Gwyneth Paltrow, wrote political things on his hand, named his children Moses, Table, Apple, Gravy and Northeast and generally tried to become U2. Coldplay’s popularity has not suffered- in fact, it has exploded and they are probably one of the biggest bands in the world today.

it was announced on Wednesday that Coldplay was playing Sxsw as part of the ITunes festival and so it brings this band back into my view years after I had abandoned them. Which brings me back to reminisce about their classic song “The Scientist”.

Featuring Chris Martin’s trademark sad singing accompanied by a touching piano arrangement, The Scientist was a track off their second album that help propelled the band into super stardom. You know, for what it’s worth, this was a reasonable song. On top of that, it had a really good video and gave us the classic line “Nobody said it was easy/nobody said it was so hard” which I’ve used in at least several witty Facebook comment threads. I think most people know the lyrics to this song anyway. Anyways, Coldplay are playing SXSW, maybe they are trying to gain back some indie cred. Maybe Apple paid them a million dollars. Regardless, they will be in Austin, playing the gorgeous Moody Theatre, and probably inspiring a million tweets from former hipsters losing their shit over songs like this.

Concert Review: The Crane Wives, February 15, Schubas

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Celeste in Concerts | Leave a comment

the_crane_wives

What’s better than a great band?

A great band that loves books.

But let’s start at the beginning. I did not want to go out Saturday night. I’d spent the entire day at the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) conference, which had finished with a lecture by my childhood hero, Alan Alda, portrayer of Hawkeye Pierce on MASH and host of Scientific American Frontiers. A perfect end to a perfect day. Emphasis on the end part. To say that I was not looking forward to starting round two of my day at 10pm, putting on pants and hauling butt to Schubas would be an understatement.

But I did it. Hey – I’m a Panic Manual correspondent, okay? Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays this courier from the swift completion of her appointed rounds.

And I was most certainly rewarded for my efforts. The Crane Wives are a delightful Americana/folk fivesome out of Grand Rapids Michigan, and they are a raging good time. Lead singers Emilee Petersmark and Kate Pillsbury lead the band with their strong vocals, while the banjo player, drummer and bassist, all lanky and adorable, bring the heat and a twang of honky-tonk in the background.

The band is not only a toe tapping, head nodding, finger snapping good time – they’re also book lovers. Petersmark at one point announced that a song was dedicated to Adam Trask, the “evil brother” in John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden.” A great sounding, fantastic looking, literate band? The complete package – sign me up. I’ll take two.

The one and only pitfall of the night was the bassist – Ben Zito. Now I like to think that I’m fairly happy with my chosen line of work – I don’t detest getting up in the morning and going to my job. I mean that’s all you can ask for, right? Wrong. I have never, ever, in my entire life, seen a human being so happy to be where he was right at that moment. I thought the guy was going to strain a muscle he was singing along to the songs so hard. ‘Okay’, you might say, ‘but I’ve seen a lot of artists who are really enthusiastic performers – what makes this guy different?’ Glad you posed the question, here’s why – dude didn’t have a microphone. He was just singing along the same way you would if you heard your favorite song on the radio. Hey, Zito, tone it down would you? There are some of us who don’t feel complete and utter euphoria in our chosen line of work, and you’re making us feel bad.

Concert Review: Tristen, Drake Hotel, February 11

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Ricky in Concerts | Leave a comment

tristen

The picture you see before you is rare because rarely have I seen so little people attend a show at the Drake. Tuesday night saw Nashville singer Tristen open up for Jeremy Messersmith in a show that I think very very people knew about. This is a shame because Tristen’s new record Caves is a fantastic slice of pop that prominently features Tristen’s great vocal work and her playful, sassy personality. Have a listen to her track “No One’s Gonna Know“. If you aren’t air drumming by the end, well, life isn’t just as fun for you.

Despite the small crowd, Tristen didn’t let it dampen her spirits. “We’re all in this together for the next 30 minutes…well, you could leave, but don’t” was her rallying cry. Her witty self deprecating banter reminded me of Sharon Van Etten, who could basically just talk through a show and not play music and people wouldn’t care. Accompanied by one other band member, Tristen played tracks off her album while switching between guitar and synthesizer. The show only confirmed what I knew already, this girl’s got a knack for hooks and a voice that could easily win her fans. Now if we can only solve that problem of getting people to the shows..

On a side note, at the Drake, a pint of beer is 7.50, which is pretty high. I guess this is to be expected for a hotel that looks at itself as a destination for yuppies with disposable incomes and perhaps an expense account, but it is still high for me regardless. I did buy drinks here on Tuesday night and the bartender gave me back a toonie and two quarters for change (from my ten). Now I sure as hell was not going to tip 2 dollars and make my pint of beer 9.50$ total, so I tipped 50 cents instead. That felt cheap. But I felt like I had no choice. This happened twice with me and once with Paul, which led me to think about the bartenders strategy. Do people normally tip 2 dollars a beer at the Drake? That seems absurd. Maybe she only had a certain amount of loonies at the cash register and wanted to save those for people she knew would tip a dollar? or was she dishing out toonies for change with the hope that someone will give her a 2 dollar tip?

Doing some simple math, she just needs 40% of the people to give her a 2 dollar tip instead of a 50 cent tip to make a 10% increase in tip over everyone tipping a dollar. I guess that could actually happen, which makes her a bit of a genius. Either way, yea.

Concert Review: Maria Taylor, February 9, Drake Hotel

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Wini Lo in Concerts | Leave a comment

Maria Taylor

On a wintry Sunday night, it was a low-key affair at the Drake Hotel Underground with Maria Taylor and her three-piece band, which included her brother Macey Taylor on bass. Also included was copious and endearing usage of the word “penultimate.”

The show opened with two songs where the ethereal-voiced singer played drums: “Matador” and the title track from her latest album, Something About Knowing.  It was a somewhat unusual choice for a singer to open a show behind a drumset, but it only showed her versatility as a musician. Taylor moved over to guitar afterwards for the bulk of her set, and the keyboard for several songs toward the end.

Also known as one-half of the duo Azure Ray and for her collaborations with Saddle Creek labelmates Bright Eyes and Now It’s Overhead, Taylor definitely holds her own as a solo artist. While on record, her music comes across as quiet, folk-influenced and dreamy, a live setting backed with an energetic band brings out a rockier and sometimes country sound to the same songs.

Mostly notably, songs from 11:11, her 2005 debut, had an entirely new feel with different arrangements than their studio counterparts. (This could also be due to a natural evolution of breathing new life into songs played over and over again!) “Song Beneath a Song” showed up early in the setlist, while “Birmingham, 1982” was about halfway through – introduced as a song about memories of growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, around the time when Macey was a child.

The word “penultimate” came up when Taylor said it was a word she liked but didn’t get to use often – and in this case, it was appropriate as she recalls that Toronto is almost always a stop near the end. “It’s almost always the ‘penultimate’ show,” she laughed. Later on, she got to use it again when introducing the penultimate song on the setlist.

Taylor joked that this tour had been especially tiring traveling with her 21-month year old son and warned photographers that she would look especially haggard in photographs.

The overall atmosphere of the show felt casual and comfortable, with Taylor occasionally calling over to her brother to ask what song was next. The set ended with a rocking version of “Xanax” (from 11:11), which began with Taylor on guitar. In an extended outro, opener PJ Bond took over guitar duties while Taylor moved back to the drums. It seemed somehow fitting that she started and ended the show on the same instrument.

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