Grizzly Bear- 4/2/13 Pabst Theater

Grizzly Bear co-lead vocalist, Ed Droste addressed the crowd at the nearly sold-out Pabst Theater recalling the band's history playing the historic venue, "Finally, we have some people on the third level," he exclaimed to the cheering crowd from the balcony, revisiting the band's earlier gigs at the beautiful Pabst (a lower-level only show with Beach House in the fall of 2007 (which I passed on to see Wilco at the Eagles Ballroom), and a $15 concert in the spring of 2010 that filled the venue through the mezzanine level- which I attended).  Droste, fellow vocalist, Daniel Rossen, and bass player Christopher Taylor, must have thanked the Pabst staff at least a dozen times during their set, recalling the kindness of people at the venue during their earlier performances.  As other reviews (JSOnline an ExpressMilwaukee) have mentioned, you couldn't ask for a nicer group of gentlemen to perform a concert for you, based on their stage presence, humility, and earnest and sincere nature.

Grizzly Bear is a band who has arrived as a major force in the modern indie rock scene.  Both their music and their stage show has progressed considerably in recent years.  2012's Shields was a frequent forerunner on critics' best of lists, and rightfully so... the album is incredibly diverse, musically challenging, and tremendously innovative.  Playing off of incredibly precise musicianship and vocal harmonies that will give you goosebumps when you hear them live, the boys in Grizzly Bear delivered a beautifully powerful record.  How can one top that?  Well, by putting on a stellar stage show, of course.

Shields tunes like "Sleeping Ute," "Yet Again," and "Gun Shy" came across as classic numbers, fitting alongside older Grizzly Bear staples like "Cheerleader" and "Two Weeks."  After seeing Grizzly Bear previously, I can say that this band has clearly taken the leap into the upper-tier of modern rock outfits.  Beautifully arranged lights and rotating visuals enhanced the visual experience of the music.  Unlike younger acts that I've seen recently (Local Natives and Alt-J), Grizzly Bear's experience and more mature stage presence, and more developed musical style helped propel their show.

This one was a classic-- a visual and sonic tale of a band ready to take the next step up the ladder in the indie rock scene.


Grade: A

Thao & the Get Down Stay Down- 3/30/13- Turner Hall

Thao Nguyen and her San Francisco band "Thao and the Get Down Stay Down" has been on my radar of acts to see for some time now.  After getting the "ok" from the Mrs. I headed down to Turner Hall for a fun evening of music.

I would sum up the set with one word, "charming."  Thao is a true charmer on stage, and her friendly banter reminded me of an early Ani DiFranco (who I had the pleasure of seeing several times as a relatively young artist during my time at UW-Madison in the mid-late 1990's).  Similar to DiFranco, Thao is an incredibly talented and versatile musician, who, aside from tackling the lead vocal duties, proved that she was more than proficient jamming on guitars, banjos and even a lap guitar.  Much of Thao's set came from her latest release, "We The Common," which has become a go-to album this year for me.  Tracks like "We Don't Call," and "Holy Roller," had a tight instrumentation that allowed their quirky nuances to be appreciated in the intimate setting of Turner Hall.  Moreover, the raw energy of tracks like "City" was also palpable.

The highlight of the show was the 3/4 full hall singing along and swaying with the title track, "We The Common," a song written about an inmate (Valerie Bolden) who Thao happened to meet at a correctional facility in California while performing service-work.

There was noting inherantly flashy about Thao and the Get Down Stay Down's stage show, but the raw emotion and fresh energy from the band endeared the audience to leave Turner Hall smiling.


Grade: B+

Alt-J 3/29/13- Riverside Theatre

I'm not sure if there is a band that has gotten more attention and buzz in the indie scene right now than Alt-J.  Their debut record, "An Awesome Wave" came out last year to much critical acclaim and ended up on many music blogger's "Best of 2012 Lists" (including mine).  On Friday the band took the stage at the Riverside Theater after selling out Turner Hall, and the Pabst Theater previously.  I don't believe there has been another act to come to town and upgrade to not one, but two venues.  The place was as jam packed as I've ever seen the Riverside Theater.  So, what makes this band so buzz worthy?

Alt-J blends a lot of different sounds to create a unique blend of music.  The band's influences range from electronic beats, atmospheric loops, folk sensibilities, pounding beats, and harmonizing vocals.  Comprised of  Gwil Sainsbury (guitarist/bassist), Joe Newman (guitar/vocals), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards) and Thom Green (drums), all of whom met at Leeds College in England in 2007, Alt-J is a relatively new band, but you couldn't tell that by their stage performance Friday night.

Their live show is best described as polished.  The quartet relied heavily on material from "An Awesome Wave," as was expected, and played to their audience well (although with little stage banter).  One could argue that the lighting engineer for the band served as the fifth member, as the visual accompaniments went along perfectly with the music, making for a wonderful visual and aural experience for the jam packed crowd. Their sound and overall performance can be best seen in their song, "Dissolve Me" which includes the best of the band's harmonizing vocals, paired with a fantastic light arrangement.


Other tunes from "An Awesome Wave" like "Tesselate," "Breezeblocks," and "Fitzpleasure" were delivered with great energy.  Alt-J proved to be a band that clearly deserves the buzz they are receiving these days.

Grade: B

Favorite Baseball Themed Songs

Opening Day is almost here, and dare I say that 2013 will be the year that I finally see my beloved Milwaukee Brewers go to the World Series?  One can certainly wish and hope (as I do each and every year that I can remember).  In honor of the 2013 Major League Baseball season kicking off in less than a week, I thought I'd do a post on some of my favorite baseball-related songs.  After all, baseball is the Great American Past Time, and music and baseball just seem to pair so well together (like hot dogs and Secret Stadium Sauce, hot pretzels and nacho cheese, plastic helmets and waffle fries... you get the picture).

For the purpose of this post, I omitted some obvious tunes like, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," "Come See Let's Brewing" (the 1980's Brewers theme song), and "The Beer Barrel Polka," as for me, these seem like obvious Miller Park staples.  Instead, I looked for songs recorded by artists I enjoy that either deal directly with baseball or baseball-related themes. 

Please feel free to share with me your favorites in the comments section of this blog:

Honorable Mention:  Eddie Vedder "All the Way" 2007.
A great homage to the Chicago Cubs, and a great song overall. However, as a die-hard Brewers fan, I just can't put a Cubs' tune in my top 5.  However, if there is ever one that is worthy of being mentioned it's this one.  

5.  Bruce Springsteen "Glory Days" 1985.

What kid who ever donned a glove or picked up a bat didn't dream of being a big league player?  Leave it to "The Boss" to capture the essence of summer-- reminiscing of days gone by, fun stories with friends, and good times.  While one of the characters in the song is a high school baseball player, I think the main draw for me is how baseball, like this tune, allows us to reconnect with fond memories in the past.




4.  Widespread Panic "Rebirtha"1996.
Widespread Panic, hailing from Athens, Georiga, are notorious for being die-hard Braves fans (although I have seen lead singer/guitarist wear a Brewers hat or jersey on occasion at shows in Milwaukee during Summerfest throughout the years).  Widespread Panic's soulful southern rock, especially Bell's howling vocals, invoke a baseball "feel."  The line in this tune that resonates for me is:

"I know a town where real life's a game
Baseball's all that's real
At night all the faces light up
As the players take the field"

Tell me if that doesn't remind you of Milwaukee during the recent 2008 or 2011 Brewers playoff runs?

3. Wilco & Billy Bragg, "Joe Dimaggio's Done It Again." 2000.
What would a baseball song list be without an homage to a great player from yesteryear?  This was a song originally penned by Woody Gutherie that appeared on Wilco & Bully Bragg's Mermaid Avenue Vol 2 record.  It's a great narrative about Joltin' Joe, and even better testament to how engrained baseball is in our popular culture.




2.   John Forgerty, "Centerfield" 1985.
"Put me in cold, I'm ready to play," howls former CCR front man on his classic track about baseball.  This track ranks #2 on my list as it really is a well-written and musically moving tribute to the game itself, and the passion an emotion that it can instill in its fans.  Not much more needs to be said about this tune, as it's become a time honored classic, and perhaps the rock tune that is most often  associated with the game itself.

1.  The Hold Steady "Constructive Summer" 2008.
This song is perhaps the "Glory Days" of its era.  The Hold Steady, are often compared to Springsteen's earlier work, as being a "ultimate bar band," with catchy rock riffs, shouting vocals, and raw emotion and energy that is palpable live or coming through your speakers.  This tune deals with the eternal hope that summer brings, old friends and the importance of taking it upon yourself to build your own lasting memories (baseball related or not).  While never mentioning the words "baseball," "player," "bat," "ball," "stadium," or anything of the like, Craig Finn and the boys from The Hold Steady capture the essence of hopefulness that springs forth each year at the start of the baseball season for fans in Milwaukee and everywhere. 

Here is a video I shot of "Constructive Summer" live in Madison, WI at the "Majestic Theater" during the summer of 2008.

Local Natives- Riverside Theater 3/22/13

A lot can be said (or not said) about a band's name.  In the case of Local Natives, the name makes great sense with the sound.  Local implying current and natives implying what's been there before. Hailing from the Los Angeles area, Local Natives put a modern twist on what one could describe as the "greatest hits" of the California rock sound.   Local Natives are a unique act, as their biggest asset is the harmonizing vocals from guitarist Taylor Rice, keyboardist Kelcey Ayer, and guitarist Ryan Hahm.  The vocals sounded good on the album, but blew me away live.  This, coupled with the driving drums of Matt Frazier, make Local Natives sound like Pet Sounds era Beach Boys if they were to cover the Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense.  All the musicians in Local Natives share collaboratively in the songwriting practice and this is quite evident in the live performance, as there is not really a clear "front man" in the band. 

Speaking of Talking Heads, the 80's band's influence on Local Natives was quite apparent, as they delivered a rousing cover of "Warning Sign" which also appeared on the band's debut record, Gorilla Manor.

The set consisted of much of Gorilla Manor and the band's latest, Hummingbird.  This was Local Natives first trip ever to Milwaukee, and the band declared this the best show of the tour so far.  The band, for the most part, nailed their tunes with great percission.  My favorite was the tribal anthem"Wide Eyes" which kicks off Gorilla Manor.
 

The crowd, consisting of high school and college students to folks like me in their 30's and 40's were very receptive of the act, and nearly filled the Riverside Theater, a venue known for hosting larger and often times more established indie acts that come to town.  This show was actually moved from Turner Hall to the Riverside due to overwhelming crowd demand. 

Local Natives are a young band, and will need to gain experience and a deeper and more diverse collection of tunes before elevating to the next level of indie rock acts.  However, the future is very bright for these California rockers, and I feel this band's best is yet to come.

Grade: B

The 1975- Turner Hall Ballroom 3/19/13

About half-way through their set, The 1975's front man, Matthew Healy, announced that he hopes the band's forthcoming LP sounds like the soundtrack to a John Hughes film.  Listening to their set, I think you could have easily looped a montage of clips from Molly Ringwald films from the '80s in the background and the music would fit perfectly, particularly on more uptempo tracks like "Chocolate" and "The City."



Part Joy Division, part James, and part Jesus Jones, the 1975's retrofitted Brit Pop won over a crowd of roughly 400 people who braved a winter wind advisory to come check out this upcoming band.  The reviews from their shows at the recent SXSW festival in Austin portrayed the band accurately-- the band was energetic and musically very tight.  While the Manchester quartet consisted of a standard rock outfit with a singer, drummer, guitarist and bass player, the musicians also often alternated between their core instruments and samplers, to help layer electronic loops and effects into their songs.

One of the things I was most impressed by was the band's sincere humility.  Healy emerged for the first two songs wearing a Green Bay Packers sweatshirt, trying to engage a crowd that was already engaged for the music.  He was struck by both the size of the crowd and general appreciation of the fans, literally thanking the crowd at the end of every track.  A fun, thoroughly entertaining band, I expect good things to come from The 1975 in the future. 

Grade: B+

What's on Will's iPod March 2013 Edition

Looking for something new to listen to?  The following four artists have been getting a lot of spins recently on my iPod, and I thought I'd share them with you.

1.  Phosphorescent:  
Their latest record "Muchacho" is the potential break out effort from singer-songwriter Matthew Houk and company.  Great vocals and layered instrumentals that catch the listeners' attention make this a fantastic record, and an early forerunner for one of my favorite records of the year.  Sonically somewhere between Counting Crows and Bon Iver, Phosphorescent's latest puts a unique and creative spin on the singer-songwriter style.  An evocative listen from start to finish with excellent musical diversity and instrumentation.  Below is a recording of Phosphorescent's "Song for Zula" from SXSW



 2.  Fort Frances:
Speaking of Counting Crows, this trio from Chicago is on the up and up.  First, their cover of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's "Summertime" came out last summer and created some Internet buzz.  Later, this past fall, they were featured on comedian Daniel Tosh's Comedy Central show,  Tosh.0 with the comedian highlighting the cover and even sporting a Fort Frances shirt.  However, don't let a catchy cover fool you.  This band is hot off of playing the "Outlaw Road Show" at SXSW, and have an upcoming sophomore release due out next month.


 
3. Toro y Moi:
A post by 88.9 RadioMilwaukee DJ Tarik Moody, regarding their exceptional performance at SXSW made me YouTube this band, and ultimately pick up their latest album.  This is a real hard act to describe in words.  A mash up of electronic music, acid jazz, rock,  r&b, and mellow trance, Toro y Moi is an enjoyable and infectious listen from start to finish.  It's vesitile enough to provide a terrific workout soundtrack and dinner music soundtrack all at the same time.  This live track from one of their recent Austin shows definately puts this act on my list of "need to see" artists.



4.  Thao and the Get Down Stay Down:
Perhaps no single has gotten more iPod spins thus far in 2013 than Thao and the Get Down Stay Down's "We The Common (For Valerie Bolden)."  I embedded a video below where Thao goes into the origins of this great tune.  In my opinion it is next to impossible not to like this tune.  Best thing is that the rest of Thao's latest, "We The Common" is solid, musically diverse with unique instrumentation. and charming with Thao's unique vocal delivery.