Strung Out Live at the HOB Anaheim

So in case you were wondering, this is what a punk show looks like. This music is not for the faint of heart. Also, it has some language.

It's totally ridiculous that I still love going to these shows, but I just do. And it's equally silly that I actually have a group of friends that all like doing this too. At one point, before the show started, we actually counted how many kids we had between all of us and had a laugh about how much has changed over the years since we started going to these shows. (The answer is 13...with two on the way. Crazy, right?)

Love Me Some Mason Jennings

Mike and I had a date night last Saturday to go see Mason Jennings play at The State Room. I had never even noticed the place before even though I had been to Decades right across the street from it several times. Heck, I had never even heard of the place, but it was great.

The venue was different than what I'm used to. Church pews lined the back half of the event room, and metal chairs lined the front. His concerts are already pretty chill, but having everyone seated and just watching made it feel even more relaxed.

The thing I'm always impressed with is how all these people can show up and pay to watch one person perform for an entire evening. Sometimes I feel like I have a hard time just keeping one person engaged, let alone a big room full of complete strangers, but that's what Mason did on Saturday night. He played an all-acoustic set with just his guitar, harmonic, and occasional song on the keyboard.

I just love the guy. I love his song writing. They're thoughtful and artistic. Somehow they strike me as being more sophisticated than someone repeating "we found love in a hopeless place" over and over. Some of my favorite lines is from Sorry Signs On Cash Machines when he sings:

Oh, my heart is a thoroughbred
I can't sleep in my bed
Everything is burning up inside me
I need something I can feel
Cigarettes and a driving wheel and
Oh, my god, when you cross your legs beside me
I know true love don't love like anybody else
I know your heart don't beat like anybody else

I was afraid he would play a lot of stuff from his newer albums, but he played a great mix of old and new, and I just loved one song that he debuted that night.

Man, I just love live music. It took me a long time to come around, but I really do love me some Mason Jennings too.

Face to Face, Strung Out at The Complex

I really hate the venue. It's really one of the crappiest that I've ever been to. The building itself has no appeal. The acoustics are terrible. The speakers hang from well out in front of the stage so if you're close to the front, you can't really hear the music very well. It's just what you'd expect to have if you set up a stage inside of a warehouse that had no embellishments inside of it. The parking is nice though. Anyway...

Face to Face was headlining this tour, so Strung Out got a pretty short set which was a little heartbreaking for me. Strung Out leaned most heavily on Twisted By Design and An American Paradox, but playing most of the songs that you'd expect at their shows. Jason Cruz is still the coolest lead man ever. He came out with his American Choppers cut-off tee, black hair hanging just over his bandana, complete with a handlebar mustache. It was a sweet look. The highlight of their set for me was when they were playing one of their old songs off Support Your Troops and they broke into Pantera's song Walk. I just kept laughing, and they only got through "Re! Spect! Walk!" before Jason yelled "psych!" and broke back into their own song. They closed with Matchbook like they do every show that I've ever been to which is now either approaching or has surpassed 20 shows. One of their guitars didn't play for about half their set which is especially sad considering how big a component of their music that is.

The last, and only, time I saw Face to Face was at a New Year's Eve show back in 1998 (1999) where Strung Out also opened for them. I loved them before then, but that's where a band really makes its mark on you - just how good they are when they're actually performing live.

They are every bit as good as I remember them from when I was 18. They played a few new songs, which were actually still good, but they relied heavily on their old stuff which was really what everyone wanted. Some of the high lights included just about EVERYTHING that is featured on their live album. I especially loved Don't Turn Away, A-Ok, and I Won't Lie Down. Trever Keith is a really fun front man. I also forgot just how complicated their bass lines are. Just really good stuff all around. I thought that I had heard just about every song that I wanted when they finished, but they came out for an encore and finished up with Not For Free (?).

I thought it was weird when there wasn't a pit for Strung Out, but it got pretty good for Face to Face so I jumped in for a few songs. Utah will never match the energy of a Southern California show, but the crowd was still pretty amped for this one by the time Face to Face came out. (At home, when you go to a show, it's a whole-body experience. Getting to the front means constantly pushing on the guy in front of you so you don't get crushed by the crowd trying to fight their way through you to the stage. This results in pretty tired arms by the end of the night.

Anyway, it really was such a good time. Going to a live show is really one of the things that I just live for. Strung Out opened up with Too Close to See and I just couldn't stop grinning as they were playing. Not only because the live version of the song is much better than the original, but just because it's so fun to hear your favorite bands play your favorite songs live.

U2 at Rice-Eccles

It was my first time entering into enemy territory, and happily, it was a very good visit. Forever ago I did a post about must see concerts. At the time, I was only partly sold on going to a U2 concert as being one of the must-see concert experiences, but when I heard that they were doing the 360 tour, I thought it would be worth checking out.

Amy and I started dating, she was down with the idea, and we just planned on showing up to the concert and trying to buy the tickets off of a scalper. Then Bono hurt his back, they postponed the tour, and we had to wait a year.

Then last night finally came. We had the same plan as last year: just show up to the concert and see if we can find tickets cheaply off someone outside the venue. I had been looking at ticket prices on KSL and Craig's List and was pleased to see that so many had been put up for sale. I felt like we could get something for pretty cheap.

We put $100 limit on what we would spend for the both of our tickets. We found a free parking spot a couple of blocks away, and we made our way towards the stadium. I was actually a little surprised that we couldn't find more available. The Fray was playing and the music was pouring out of the stadium, and we were anxious to get inside. At first I thought we'd have to pay at least $50 for decent seats, but then I revised downward based on how many ads I saw online, but with the paucity of scalpers, I revised back upward.

The first pair were going for $100 each for general admission tickets that had $58 printed on them. The next guy was asking $90 for the same ones, and I told him we had $100 total, at which point he screamed at some other guy, and he sold us seats that were straight out from the main stage, just about halfway up - $95 for the pair. At first I was a little disappointed that we couldn't get cheaper, that is, until we ran into a friend of mine (Anna, yup, that one) who paid $100 each for her tickets. Phew! And we were lower and had a better angle on the stage than they did.

They opened with Even Better Than the Real Thing. The stage really was a 360 stage, and they had huge screens above them that went all the way. We later learned those screens expanded downward to fill the huge gap of space from the structure above the stage almost to the stage itself. They had some really impressive visuals, and lights and smoke really made it something spectacular to see.


I was impressed with the range of audience from young to old. I guess I shouldn't have been, but there were lots of kids and lots of adults, and everyone seemed to enjoy it equally. I guess that's the thing about U2 - they have managed to stay relevant for decades, and not just in the picture, but on top of the world for all of that time. They literally have dozens of songs that anyone would recognize, and as you'd expect, they just put on a really good show. They gained popularity in the 80s as a live act, and it shows. They're great.

Another thing that surprised me: I was a lot more emotionally affected than I thought I would be. They played Beautiful Day, a song which I don't even really love, but it really got to me. I was just so excited to hear them live, and they really are just so good musically, and great performers.

My favorites:

• Sunday Bloody Sunday - there was a guy next to us that was obviously a HUGE U2 fan. He went crazy when this song came. I think the song kind of surprised everyone once it started playing. It's just a really cool song.
• All I Want Is You - I've always just really, really loved this song. Great ballad.
• Elevation - really got everyone going.
• Pride (In the Name of Love) - classic!
  
• Where the Streets Have No Name - this was the second to last song. I thought they would end with it, but some other random song followed.
• One - it followed a really moving tribute to the Burmese leader who was released in this last year.
  

It's just crazy to think how much time that band has spanned, and how many memories everyone has associated with their songs. My earliest U2 memory is of my brother coming home with the CD single for Desire and him playing that over and over again. I grew up listening to Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum.

You know what else is impressive about them? Not only are they not pretentious as could very easily be the case with them, but you really, really, really, really get the sense that they really do try and use their celebrity to further good causes. They are very socially aware, and not about things that are really touchy issues. They support freedom and democracy, and they are wonderful strong advocates for those causes. Going to their concert and hearing them perform and hearing Bono advocate their causes, it's just really inspiring. It was all done in a really tasteful way, and it really felt like a lesson on some important world causes.

It was just a really cool experience. One of the best concerts I've ever been to, and one of those bands that I think everybody should see in their lifetimes. I know not everyone feels this way, but there are artists that you just really need to see do their thing live. It would have been cool to see Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. Everyone should have seen Michael Jordan play basketball. I got see U2 sing With or Without you, and it's an experience I won't soon forget.

Muse at The E Center

Yup, I'm coming out of blog-hiding to blog about them.

Last night Amy and I caught Muse at the E Center in West Valley. First of all, I can't believe how crazy the weather was yesterday. At times it was blizzard conditions, and that only added to the chaos that was trying to get into and out of the parking lot last night, but pay no mind to that, because as can be expected, they were amazing.

Before you heard anything at the show, you saw these three giant square pillars that had a corner pointing out towards the center of the audience. The angles allowed everyone to get a unique, but I think consistent view of similar graphic images that were visible whenever the pillars were set up. One of the best parts of a Muse concert is just how much they invest in creating a musical as well as a visual experience. The graphics on display were amazing because they featured things like scrolling words and pictures of people or random things, but in the images displayed they also had live footage of the band as they played the songs. My favorite was the green laser show that they had going during Unnatural Selection (I think it was that song).

Words just can't express just how good they are live. I haven't seen a lot of big, big concerts like this one, but I really can't imagine many bands/singers being able to put together a better show than these guys do. They pay attention to every part of the show. Musically they're awesome, but they also create such an amazing experience overall. As good as they were the first time I saw them, it really seems like they took what they've learned over the years and keep on adding to their product, and what they turn out is pure gold. It's unreal.

They played nearly everything off of the The Resistance, but my favorite part of the show had to be when Matt Bellamy played The Star Spangled Banner, and then the whole band broke into Hysteria, and then they finished it off with the guitar riff from Back in Black. You can't get a sense for how awesome it was unless you saw/heard it for yourself.

There are a couple of tours that I'd like to catch this summer - U2, DMB - but I just wonder if anyone else can hold a candle to what these guys are able to do year after year. And, like 3 years ago when they last toured, I still want to have Matt Bellamy's babies. The guy is just so cool.

Mason Jennings - In The Venue

It was my privilege on Saturday to go see Mason Jennings perform at In The Venue. With my recent concert experiences I've been thinking a lot lately about how music is really meant to be heard live, in person. Obviously you can still really enjoy listening to recordings, but the experience of hearing music being played live is just different, much more tangible.

I went and saw him last year soon after he released his album, In The Ever, and so based on my two experiences with him, it seems to be customary for him to draw heavily from his most recent album in his performances. I guess this is his first tour even bringing an electric guitar. Last year he played about half of his set on just his acoustic guitar, without the rest of his band even on stage, so it was fun to see him rock out a little more this year. He alternated between electric and acoustic songs, and threw in a good mix of some of his other popular songs including Be Here Now, Crown, Jackson Square, Ballad For My One True Love, New Man, Bullet, and Butterfly.

The whole set lasted for about 90 minutes, and he came out for two encores. One of my favorite parts of the show was when he came out for his first encore and covered The Band's song The Weight, and having all four band members sing a verse from the song. That seemed to be a crowd-pleaser as everyone in the audience cheered heartily each time a different band member sang, seemingly surprised every time - or maybe that was just me. I loved it though.

The feel for this kind of concert is very different from what I'm used to with my usual punk show selection. With those ones the music is loud and fast, and it's easy to get swept up with the whole crowd. This one is a lot more relaxing, a good concert for a date.

This is Mason performing Jackson Square:

SYTYCD Tour

This event in itself was pretty amazing. The show was more entertaining as a whole than I would have otherwise anticipated, and it was nice to see all of the favorites from the summer being performed live again. Every major dance piece that I wanted to see was done that night.

The best solos came from the two dancers not in the top 10, Phillip and Caitlyn. I think Brandon, Ade and Jeanette were the best performers by far. Every movement by Brandon and Ade had so much pop and so much extension. Even though they had already been to so many other cities, everything they did looked like it was for the first time on stage. Randi, of course, got a huge ovation from the crowd being that she's from Orem. Phillip had the loudest applause of the night after his solo, which also was probably a full minute longer than all of the other dancers. Below is a somewhat decent video from the same night:


The most entertaining part of the evening was supplied by the two teenage girls sitting to my left during the show. Not only did they scream so loudly and constantly that their voices were hoarse before the intermission, but they knew most of the dances being performed and did their own renditions of them from their seats. Their favorite, by far, was Jason. I swear, if there were some way to tap into hyper-teenage-girl-energy, we would have an endless supply of renewable energy that could provide for the needs of our country. I just loved how rigid with excitement they became at just about everything that happened that night. That alone made up for the price of admission.

Now onto my favorites...I had kind of forgotten about this number by Ade and Janette:


I've posted these last two before, but they're both my favorites so you get another taste:




Some other favorites included the addiction dance with Kapono and Kayla, disco with Brandon and Janette, and the contemporary number with Jason and Jeanine where they make-out at the end. It was a lot of fun, and I have no problem admitting that I loved every minute of it.

Strung Out In Layton

I caught Strung Out up in Layton on Friday and they were awesome. What's cool about coming out of their shows is always hearing these types of comments - are they not the best band you've ever seen live? Jason Cruz is a god, etc. Their fans just love them. They have a new album, and admittedly, I didn't think it was their best effort at first, but it's such a different thing hearing songs played live. Certain songs were just never meant to be played only on a CD, they just have to be heard in person with the bass thumping and smoke in the air, and people moving to the music. They have been doing more harmonies lately and they actually sound really good doing it live as well, which is kind of cool. Jason's voice is strained in that video, but it's still pretty decent. I've never seen him play the guitar before. They also played that one at the show, and of course, it was awesome.

I ended up going by myself, which for a lot of people is crazy, but I was thinking about it earlier in the week when I was deciding if I would actually go or not. There are certain things that I won't be able to do forever, and there are certain things that I would drop anything for just to experience for myself. I would always try to make it to any major life events for any of my friends or family if I can help it. I would never turn down an opportunity to see an Angels playoff game. And I would always take any and every opportunity to hear and see Strung Out play Matchbook at the end of a show.

The bulk of their songs came off the Twisted By Design album, with several songs off the newest one, and select songs from all of the other ones.

If I were to ever get a tatoo, it would be the astrolux symbol that is their insignia. I know it's juvenile, but I just love them.

U2 Live

I meant to post this before the concert, but better late than never. This past Sunday, U2 finished up their most recent tour in Pasadena, CA at the Rose Bowl. To include more people, they decided to stream live the entire concert on YouTube. You can catch it on their YouTube channel, that you can access by clicking here. It's extremely high quality.

Odyssey Presents Thriller

Last week I was lucky enough to catch the performance of Thriller by the Odyssey Dance Company. I heard about this last year but never got to go, and another friend of mine insisted that I would love it because I am such a big fan of dance in general and of Halloween, so match made in heaven, right?

Right.

I loved it. As you arrive at the theater, there are probably about two dozen dancers decked out in their zombie attire wandering around the premises, outside the venue, in the lobby, and all around the inside. I went with a friend of mine, and after getting up to go to the bathroom and leaving me to fend for myself, one of the zombie girls actually crawled over the rows through the empty seats to get right in my face and stare at me. The girl was incredibly flexible so it kind of added to her creepy movement, but more than that, I didn't know what to do as she stared at me from about an inch away, so I just laughed. I loved it though.

My favorite pieces from the evening were Dem Bones, Mr. Roboto, and Frankenstein and his bride. A few of the numbers dragged on a little bit longer than I would have liked, but overall, it was incredibly entertaining. The dancers are very talented, there is a lot of humor injected into the sequences, and some of them really are downright creepy.

That dance company apparently boasts several contestants from previous seasons of So You Think You Can Dance including Brandon from last season, Matt Dorame, and Thane. If you saw the last two, you'd probably recognize them.

I think my favorite part of the evening came even before we got to the show. My friend and I had left in a rush to get up to Salt Lake in time, but we also wanted to get something to eat. Nearby we spotted a Red Robin, so we stopped and got some food. Neither of us knew exactly where the theater was, so we asked the couple sitting next to us in case they might have known. They also happened to be going to the same performance. After giving us directions, the girl leans over to me and alerts me that it's a really fun show, and while it is all dancing, it's fun enough that even I would enjoy it. I mumbled something affirming my masculinity and the fact that I clearly had to be dragged to this thing, and thanked her for the directions.

Or maybe going to this was my idea in the first place, but whatever.

For more information, visit this site here.

Must See Concerts

A little while back, Kent posted some of his thoughts about concerts that he'd like to go to, which post was prompted by Michael Jackson going back on tour to get some extra spending cash. Incidentally, I actually have a friend who is going to London just for the purpose of going to see him perform.

I have been to a number of shows including:

• Just about every punk band you can imagine - NOFX, Bad Religion, Lagwagon, Strung Out, Unwritten Law, MxPx, AFI, Social Distortion, No Use For A Name, Rufio, Yellowcard, Angels and Airwaves, etc. Most of those multiple times, and a couple of them more than a dozen times.
  
• Jack Johnson - I thought he was kind of boring actually. His stuff sounded exactly like his studio recordings, which I thought was more boring than cool. I kind of feel like all his stuff sounds exactly the same. Thanks to Brushfire Fairytales, I have every album of his I'll ever need.
  
• Mason Jennings - so chill, but way entertaining. Zach Gill opened for him and he was awesome.
  
• Norah Jones - sweetest person ever. Like I want to marry her kind of sweet.
  
• Incubus - just a cool feel to their show. Played most everything I wanted to hear, which actually covers a lot of their albums.
  
• Muse - maybe the best show I've ever seen.
  
• Kelly Clarkson - see last week.
  
• Martina McBride at a country music festival last summer. So fun because of how unique the atmosphere is. There could not be a group of people more pro-America than country music lovers.
  
• Huey Lewis - only me and a bunch of old people knew all the words.
  
• MC Hammer, En Vogue, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Naughty By Nature - yay Run Hit Remix! I guess I have been to a rap show before.
  
• And many more! What's crazy is that all these really come in only the last few years.
  

In his post, Kent posed two questions:

1. What concert would you want to go to more than anything? and

2. How much would you spend on that concert before you even questioned the purchase?

His list goes like this: Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, Paul Mccartney, and U2. In that order. Mine would begin in the same place, but end up a little bit different. There are a couple of different lists about best live bands. This one is from Spin, and this one from AskMen, and they both seem pretty fair. The first is a little more rock oriented and modern. The other seems to be a kind of all time list.

I'd have to agree with AskMen for #1 - nobody could beat Freddie Mercury and Queen live. The guy has the best voice ever and understands theatrics. Watch any of their live performances. They would have been awesome. However, given that Freddie has long since passed away, I can't even consider them. Initially, I wanted to argue against U2, but after thinking about what it would be like to hear Where The Streets Have No Name live, that would be pretty mind-blowing. Until I saw these lists, I didn't even consider Kiss, but come to think of it, that would be really fun too. Kent, you'll be happy to know that the Spin top 25 had Arcade Fire at #3. I'm not a huge fan, but that kind of praise makes me want to see what I'm missing.

If you don't really know me, then some of this might surprise you, but my list would go something like this:

• Michael Jackson
• Justin Timberlake
• Prince
• U2
• Muse (yes, again...and again...)
• Bon Jovi
• Jay Z
• Radiohead
  

I think Michael is an obvious choice. You can really see MJ's influence on Justin when it comes to his dancing. My boss went to JT's show last year and said what was really amazing was that the guy was downing hard liquor for 2 hours solid hours and it never showed in his performance. His music is cool, but this guy gets the performance side of it. I saw his FutureSex/LoveSounds tour on HBO and it was pretty amazing.

Prince. Let me tell you a little bit about Prince. The guy is one of the world's most amazing guitar players. He's the first guy to ever do the whole, "Produced, Arranged, Written, and Performed by Prince." I read somewhere that on one of his albums that there were more than 25 instruments and he played every single one of them. He mixes all of his own music and writes everything himself. I also heard that the guy just loves to perform. It's not uncommon for him to finish playing one show, and then stop at a nearby club and play the rest of the night. The guy just loves to play, and he's amazing at it. If you don't believe me, watch him step on and perform with these other all-stars of music and whip their a**es at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in this video. He comes on at about 3:30:

Everything about him just screams cool. You might think when he falls backwards into the crowd while still on his solo is contrived, but it is SO different when you see something like that live and how awesome it is. For instance, I saw Muse almost two years ago and Matt Bellamy is jamming to Hysteria and kicked over his guitar amp, and knelt on top of it while still continuing to play. I actually thought to myself, "I thought that sort of thing would feel so fake, but that might have been the coolest effing thing I've ever seen in my life." He was even wearing this same red suit.

Anyway...back to Prince. I guess the kid playing next to Tom Petty is George Harrison's son. At the 4:51 mark when Prince falls back you can even see the kid start smiling at how utterly cool that move was. And for good measure, when he finishes he just throws his guitar up in the air and walks off stage. You have no idea where it even goes. So awesome.

The top 5 I'd pay hundreds of dollars for. Maybe up to $300-400 before I really started to flinch (and these are for good seats, mind you). The next three I think would be cool. You can't underestimate how much more fun a show is when you know every song that the band is playing, and there are few songs more fun to sing to than Bon Jovi songs. I think Jay Z would be cool just because he's probably the best rapper of all time. I'm not a huge Radiohead fan, but I've heard they are pretty amazing live. I've been aching to see 311 live, and I blew three opportunities to see them in the last month because I didn't know anyone else who felt like forking out $50 for them. Lame.

Well there you have it. Who are you dying to see?

So I Love Seeing Just About Anything Live, Right?

While avoiding this final paper of mine, I've been scouring the interwebs for any interesting upcoming live performances. This is where more money would be nice. But there are a bunch of things coming up that I'd like to see including:

• The Wailers - Bob Marley's old band. They're going to be performing the entire album Exodus on July 30th in Anaheim. Reggae is always fun to listen to live. Good music to move to.
  
• Asher Roth in LA on July 26th...which is a Sunday. Boo. But in Utah on the 22nd, and Vegas the 23rd. Does anyone else know who he is? I need to go to a rap concert to round out my concert going experience. I like this song of his:
  
  
• There is a number of 80s greats playing at the OC Fair. Does anyone else get excited about these bands like I do? Heart?? Rick Springfield! Duran Duran??? The problem is that I'd only really want to hear a couple of songs from each of these bands. But maybe it's worth $30 or whatever it is just to hear Whitesnake sing Hear I Go Again On My Own live. Maybe?
  
• Def Lepard, Poison, and Cheap Trick in August. Come on! How awesome would it be to see the one-armed drummer??? You'd be surprised how many songs you'd be familiar with from all those guys.
  
• And I have a confession. I kind of like Papa Roach. It might be one of those bands that I really like singing out loud to in my car. Simple lyrics and power chords resonate with me, what can I say? They're coming in August too. Quick story - in my last area in the mission when we'd come at home, the kid who lived in the apartment across from us would BLAST that song Last Resort. You know the one. It starts out, "cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort." The great thing is that music in English in Chile doesn't get edited at all, so we got the full brunt of f-words and the like. I didn't love that, but I secretly loved hearing worldly music. One of my first comps kept a list of songs in his journal that he wanted to listen to as soon as he got home. Maybe I did the same thing. Maybe music was one of the easiest things for me to adjust to when I got home because I missed it so much. And maybe I'd like to get some tats, dye my hair black, and go scream at a Papa Roach show. Maybe.

You know what I did this morning? I bought tickets to Brian Regan for when he comes out to Utah. In March! But they're pretty damn good tickets, and they didn't cost too much.

That's it for now, but I have another concert post brewing in me. This one is inspired by Kent. Stay tuned.

Strung Out @ The Hard Rock In Vegas

If you've followed this blog for more than the past six months, then you know that Strung Out is kind of my band. I was home teaching some guys on Sunday and telling them about the show, and they remarked that there really are no casual Strung Out fans. If you're in, you're in 100%. It's true, and you really feel it when you go to one of their shows. Everyone in the audience either has Strung Out attire, tatoos, or knows every word to every song. And it's not just the people in the pit, it's even those in the back of the audience.

I went down with Mike Reid last Friday for an overnighter in Las Vegas last Friday June 12th to catch them playing at the Hard Rock Hotel because I won't be able to catch them in California and they're not traveling up here any time soon. The venue was small. I actually kind of hated it. There was hardly any room, they didn't allow for any moshing (when did I become a mosher, by the way? It started out for me only during Matchbook at the end of the show, and now it's any song that I like), and the sound quality was terrible. The doors opened at 8:30pm, but the first band didn't even get on until about 10pm, which meant that the second one got on at about 11pm, and Strung Out graced the stage after midnight. The show lasted until two in the morning. It would have been fine had I been prepared for that.

I didn't care for either of the first two bands. They were way too heavy on the distortion, and their songs all sounded the same. You also can't say enough about stage presence and for the artist's ability to engage the audience. Neither of those bands had it to any degree. Jason Cruz, however, has it. The actual stage was small, but with the bar immediately adjacent, close enough that he decided he could walk over on the bar and reach some of the fans not directly in front. Usually they play a good smattering of songs from all of their albums, but they didn't play anything from Element of Sonic Defiance, and not as much as I would have liked from Twisted By Design or even their most recent album, Blackhawks Over Los Angeles. To be honest, the set felt a little short and maybe that was because they had gotten on so late to begin with.

You know what's so great about punk shows? They rarely cost more than $20, and you can get close enough that Jason's sweat can actually drip on you. I was close enough to sing into his microphone on a couple songs, and this band is great because they'll always stick around after their set to glad hand and take photos. They always always always stick around. You know what else is awesome? I'm never going to run into a person at a punk show who gets upset because I'm standing. If I fall in the pit, there will be 3 or 4 people right there to pick me up. I've high-fived strangers at these shows and had a dude I didn't know put his arm around me and sing a song together. It's a weird kind of aggressive camaraderie that exists at these things.

Part of what makes me love these guys so much is not just how great they are live, but how consistent they are in producing albums and going on tour. I have seen them at least five times in the past two years, and more than 15 times in my life.

It wasn't the best I've seen them, but it was still definitely worth the trip. This song has become one of my favorites to hear live. I love the "huahs" and the way those guitars sing at the end. Awesome.

My Life Would Suck Without...Kelly

Last Thursday I was fortunate enough to see Kelly Clarkson perform at the UVU baseball stadium in Orem. I have been to a good amount of different kinds of concerts, but I don't think I've ever been to a pop concert before so this experience was a little new for me. Expecting to see a slew of teenage girls, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was among a good number of grown men in the audience. I thought I'd see maybe 10 guys, so you can imagine my surprise when there were about 100...out of several thousand. Although some rain fell during the show, Kelly made sure that nothing would dampen our spirits.

She was really entertaining, and really she is super sweet and feels really down to earth. A friend of mine who actually works events at the stadium was telling me today that she was supposed to perform for 90 minutes instead of the one hour show she ended up doing, but I think it felt like just the right amount of time. She played all of her big hits and several songs off of her new album. I was surprised at how much extra weight she had put on. I saw a live clip of her doing the song above which was only three months ago, but it seemed like she had put on at least extra 15-20 lbs since that time. I'm not saying it's good or bad, so don't jump all over me. I'm just saying. Still adorable though.

The stage was set in the outfield and it was general admission seating throughout the field. You know who really bug me? Mormons. It seemed like people thought that patches of grass could be reserved like church pews for stake conference just by setting down their blankets and then walking away. I went with a group and we had approached as near the stage as we could, found a little patch of grass, and stood there until she came on. After about twenty minutes of being there, a woman appearing to be in her late 30s approached our grouping of people. We were standing near the fence that was as close as we could get to the stage, and there were several groups of people standing there. She started talking, but didn't seem to have an intended target, so I engaged her in conversation which went something like this:

Lady: Are you guys planning on standing the whole time? Because we got here early to put down our blankets and with you guys standing there we can't see anything.
Me: Well these are general admission tickets so anyone can have a seat anywhere they like.
Lady: Yeah, but we got here first blah blah blah I'm going to start being a moron to a complete stranger...
Me: Okay, well if you want to go ahead and ask everyone else that's standing around here, and also the people that are standing in front of us to sit down, then maybe we'll go ahead and sit down too.
Lady: Blah blah blah you better sit your asses down blah blah blah (leave in a huff).

I just couldn't believe that she really thought that she was going to be able to sit down for the entire concert. It's festival seating, which really means no seating unless you're going to go to the back. It's a pop concert! Come on, lady! And although people are more likely to be rude to a stranger than to someone that they know, it still surprises me when it happens.

I kind of live for concerts and live events, so that's probably why I enjoyed it so much. Plus, I dare you not to like this song:

Sinner

I'm in a concert going mood these days. I guess I haven't seen anything since Christmas time, so I'm starting to ache a little bit for some live music. I was going through my normal list of bands that I like to see and saw that Unwritten Law and Strung Out are doing shows in Vegas in June and July. Those were some of the best weekends ever when we'd do those back in the day. Anyone interested in a 24 hour trip to Sin City for one of them?

I got an email for some reason for presale tickets for the Warped Tour. I think my days of large militant punk rock gatherings are behind me now. I was tempted for a second, and then I remembered that I tend to feel like a dope when the average age of the person standing next to me is 17, and I'm creeping up on 30.

I ordered the Incubus album that's coming out in June just so I could be eligible for the presale concert tickets which starts on Monday. Anybody interested in catching them at the Hollywood Bowl on Monday, July 13th? I'm getting at least two, and I can get some more if anyone is interested.

Anyway, the title of this post comes from this song that is on the Unwritten Law MySpace page playlist. It's kind of catchy, but I like the last part of the video because...who can name that beach where Scott is singing from? And...go!

Mason Jennings and Zach Gill

Last night I had the pleasure of catching Zach Gill and Mason Jennings playing live at the Murray Theater. Visiting this venue was a first for me. I love these club-like places that hold less than a thousand people. The lighting left something to be desired, just too dark the entire time. Before the show started, between sets, and even during performances there was either too little lighting or poor lighting effects during the sets. That's not something I normally notice, but that was the case last night. It could have had something also to do with the overwhelming temperature of the place too. The acoustics, however, were great. In a show as mellow as this one, there wasn't going to be much opportunity for our ears to be blown out anyway but everything sounded perfect.

Zach Gill opened for Mason and I had actually never heard of him. Maybe if I hadn't been cured a few years ago by my Jack Johnson fever then I would have recognized him because he used to be a featured member in his band. His was alone for his entire performance which probably showcased his talent even moreso. He started off playing the piano and then moved on to the ukulele, piano and bongo (same time), accordion, and back to the piano. He was amazing. His music is characteristic of that Mason/Jack Johnson/Ben Harper ilk - laid back and at ease. What sets him apart from those guys is his humor. Most of his songs feel like stories, and one especially entertaining one was about the devil betting his accordion against a kid's soul that he was a better player. I can't quite place who he sounds like, but his voice and style reminds me of Jackson Browne. Here's another sample that was featured in Baby Mama. I'm pretty sure he will get pretty popular.

There was little delay between Zach and Mason's sets which is always nice. Come to think of it, I might have liked Zach's music more than Mason's actually. Mason played for almost two hours. He opened on stage by himself, and about three songs in his band joined him. Zach joined him on stage for the second half to accompany on piano. Mason is funny to me - his lyrics are full of humor but he doesn't laugh and rarely smiles the entire time he's playing. He played a new song about all the ways we can die and it was really funny, but his face didn't betray any of that humor. The best part about this kind of music is that there's so little doctoring of the album music, so hearing everything live is about the same quality as what you hear in your car. Except for a pair of chumps to my right that wanted to hear East of Eden, Mason played every song that anyone wanted to hear. The whole show was just awesome. There is nothing better than live music. This is the perfect kind of date concert. My favorite of the night was probably Soldier Boy, but you have to love these lyrics: