Asher Roth, Flogging Molly, and Passion Pit

Last night was UT's annual kickoff to commencement, Volapalooza 2010. Asher Roth opened (somewhat) Flogging Molly was a special guest, and the all mighty Passion Pit headlined the night. The show really stepped up from the last few years, with much bigger bands that elevated from a few cult followers, to mass college appeal. The last two years hosted Gym Class Heroes and Cake, which would be fun, but they are no Passion Pit, or Flogging Molly for that matter. But hey, don't worry guy's. You blow Asher Roth out of the water.

Dang Asher, you look pretty gangster.

Oh Roth, you crazy little preppy pot-head you. Why? Why play "music"? Why breathe? This guy was simply not good. I'll leave it at that. He had a pretty good band behind him, but a band can only do so much behind a terrible main aspect. I understand him being there; you have to appeal to all audiences, but man, I could have done without this guy. And it's not like I don't enjoy a good rap concert. T.I. was awesome last year. It's just when you use the term "motherf*@$%&" more than you use, oh I don't know, nouns, it get's old quick. He did have one smart move. He let his DJ wrap the show up, instead of himself. That was pretty good, I mean the guy could scratch with the best of em. The drummer was pretty legit too. All in all, that show was a solid 3/10. maybe a 2, I've just had time to sleep on it; get it out of my head. eh.

These guys will cut your throat and date your mother. I mean just look at em......

Where Asher Roth failed, Flogging Molly picked it all up off of the ground. I went to the show last night with my youth leader, Matt, and he had seen Flogging Molly on the Warped Tour. I honestly didn't know what to expect. I mean, I knew what kind of music they played, but I had never physically heard it before, and you don't know Irish cut-throat punk pub rock until you've heard it. Trust me. So, the only precursors I had were stories of mosh pits and mayhem at Matt's show, and the fans that showed up for this one. There were kilts, there were obscure piercings and tattoo's, there were mohawks of every color(but mostly, green) and I knew this band would be crazy.

Sure enough, I was right. These guys were really out there, but in a great way. The seven piece band consists of a bass player, and accordion player, a fiddle and tin pipe player, the lead singer and rhythm guitarist, an electric banjo and mandolin player, a lead guitarist, and a huge drummer, all but one of whom were over forty. The lead singer and his fiddling wife had to be at least 50. I had never in my life seen an electric mandolin, and now I'm looking into buying one. This thing was the most bad-a folk instrument ever. Like an axe Metallica would play, if Metallica were all midgets.

I usually have a problem with band's who have one sound, but Flogging Molly is so unashamed of having one main sound, that it works perfectly. Every song is at a flaring pace, and the band gets pissed if you don't clap on every one, leaving my hands raw by the nights end. I'm not talking your basic white kid clap either, were clapping like the Irish; in other words, balls to the wall. And if the crowd wasn't clapping, they were jumping like the ground was covered in napalm. I've never seen a punk rock show, so Im 100% positive this crowd was mild compared to them, but it was pretty rowdy none the less. The lead singer dedicated every song to something or someone; his wife's mother, his father, the 1,000 Irish mean and women who were enslaved in the Barbados Islands, Peace and Freedom in Ireland, pirates, and drinking, lots and lots of drinking, a theme especially appreciated on UT's "dry" campus. It was like a really coked out history lesson. My favorite song, "What's Left Of The Flag", was one part ode to his patriotic dad' lessons on his death bead, one part praise of Irish history, and denunciation of it's bloody war.

Concert etiquette was pretty funny last night. UT made the fatal mistake of passing out frisbees, and the front of the crowd were tossing those suckers like grenades. I almost got hit about five times, and I saw a good ten people or so take shots right to the head. You formed a little fellowship with everyone around you; everyone would look for frisbees and try to save neighbors from face shots, and if you did get hit, someone next to you would definitely throw the disc back, as if retaliation. It felt like Irish brother hood. Of course, there were plenty of douche-bags who didn't follow this code. A guy behind matt punched some dude in front of Matt in the arm, and the tiny guy turned around and cranked a punch right in Matt's chest before he could explain who threw the first blow. It was pretty funny, I gotta say.

aghughughaghaghagh...... ppaassiioonn ppiittt

When Flogging Molly left the stage, along with all the Irish punks in the audience, me and Matt managed to worm our way up to about twenty feet from the stage. The only problem with this, was that we literally had no room to move. It was like sardines. Matt could have done without it, but I didn't care; I was about to be face to face with one of my absolute favorite bands, and a super stoned flock of college kids weren't going to stop me. We waited forever, helping kids crowd surf, fanning off with spare frisbees, and building up anticipation by going over how many people were there. It was a HUGE crowd. The big World's Fair Ground was packed from front to back. I honestly think there were anywhere between 10,000 to 15,000 people there, and we were in the front 500 or so. It was amazing. Plus, we would scoot forward every few minutes because people couldn't take the crow, pushing every one forward a few feet. I'd whip out my phone and take a picture of the stage or crowd and braggingly send it to all my poor friends who couldn't make it to the show. Finally the lights came down, a single synth tone rang out, and Passion Pit took the stage.

I can't begin to tell you how amazing these guys were. They opened with "Eyes As Candles" and never looked back. The crowd was immediately in a giant dancing frenzy. After the first song, they jumped into "Make Light" and the crowd went ape. Everyone was singing it, and when the full band blows up on the chorus, the whole place was euphorically jumping like maniacs. It was one of the coolest crowds to be in ever. Between songs, the band's front man, Michael Angelakos, would throw in little questions and comments about college; i.e. who's ready to party, who's sick of school, and f%$# finals, much to the crowds appreciation. He didn't waste too much time talking though. He knew what the crowd wanted. After a few songs, Passion Pit started one of my favorites, "Let You Love Grow Tall". The band's main keyboardist, proudly wearing a black Justin Bieber t-shirt with the little girl smiling next to a piano, danced his way through the tune, and occasionally broke out a beat on his latin percussion kit at his side.

OH MY GAWD I LOVE BIEBER!!!!!111!!!1!!

The group ended the main part of their show with their Prince, Van Halen hybrid "Little Secrets", with the massive crowd dancing with the band the whole time. We were bumping people, getting hit with frisbees, glow sticks, and shoes, and slowly starting to lose hearing, but we didn't care; this was Passion Pit, put up with it or get out. I bet you could hear the crowd singing the descant of the chorus from a mile away. The band walked off stage, and the whole crowd was either yelling "encore" or "Sleepy Head" which the band had not yet pulled out of their bag. The band returned to the stage, the crowd exploded like an A-bomb, and immediately went into a song I haven't heard, with a much heavier techno aspect than most of the rest of their songs; like 4-Tet techno-y. Didn't know it, but I didn't care, it sounded great. After "Moth's Wings" (I think), The band stopped and didn't say a word, collecting their thought and looking out over the audience. Suddenly, I heard the "Sleepyhead" start up, and the rest was the crowd screaming the whole thing. The song ended, Michael thanked the crowd, and fireworks erupted from the top of the garage next to World's Fair. I went to Disney a few months ago, and I enjoyed these fireworks a heck of a lot more than Illuminations, or whatever their shows are called. As people left, every Go Vol's chant in the book was blaring from groups around the park. It felt good to be a Volunteer. OH YEA, I almost forgot. Passion Pit was supposed to play Vanderbilt two weeks ago, but had to cancel. HAHAHA. That was a nice touch. It was the most fun I've had at a concert since Springsteen back in November, and while it closed off a year for the UT kids, I'm declaring it my welcome party. Here's to you UT. I know you probably can't, but please get close to booking as great of a show next year.

Dave Barnes

Lock up you women. Dave Barnes is coming to town. Actually, he came last friday, but when else will I be able to say that. That's right, Knoxville's teenage heart-throb stopped by The Bijou Friday night, and surprised me with a very good two and a half hours of songs. Well, actually, he played about an hour and a half of music, and filled the rest of the time in with his remarkably sidetracking storytelling, but it was cool; he was pretty funny. I can out up with banter, if it's funny banter.

Ben Rector opened the show with nothing more than a piano and a guitar to alternate playing. This guy was good, I mean really good, and his lyrics weren't too sappy to stand. He played a few slow typical singer-songwriter songs on the piano, but he was best on the guitar. Rector stood out to me, because he was really trying to earn his chops. He was doing everything he could to win over the audience in the thirty minutes he had, and he managed to do it. The guy is from Oklahoma and had never stepped foot in The Bijou, or Knoxville for that matter, so you can imagine the crowd, oh so hungry for their pop savior, were at first just ready to get this guy over with.

Somewhere in the middle of his set he announced that he would sing a verse in his next song completely based on a random topic the audience gave to him. At first he got stuck with education, but aiming to please instead of anger, he asked for another. So what is the best topic to sing about? Spaghetti, that's what. I mean, it wasn't "Like A Rolling Stone" but he made spaghetti rhyme with something, so I was pretty impressed. That was definitely the highlight of his act. He played a cover of Tom Petty's, not John Mayer's, "Free Fallin", but it was pretty mediocre. It was my least favorite part of Rector. The guy played about three more songs before scooting off-stage to welcome on good ole' Dave Barnes.

Dave came on to thunderous applause and immediately jumped into one of his more jammin' songs, "Chameleon". The song transferred on stage even better than it did on the album. It set the show off pretty well. I'm all for a great opening and closer. They are integral to a successful act. If I go to a Phoenix concert, I'm going to be kinda turned off if they open with "Love Like A Sunset" (Hope you know Phoenix). Anyways, he played a few more, but I can't remember exactly what they were. Most of em were form the new album, see last review, and there wasn't one that wasn't pretty good. The band left, and Dave played some of his slower cuts, specifically, "Friends" and "I Have And I Always Will", both of which started with never-ending stories, but like I said, it was cool. I just can't emphasize enough about how this guy is more ADHD than the Indigo Girls are gay.

When the band came back out, they played some of the bigger hits. They slowed "Someday Sarah" down a few notches and the whole crowd was singing to it. "Little Lies" was one of the best songs of night. He changed it around from the album's version, and you could tell that the whole group was having a lot of fun playing it. Last but not least(or last counting the encore) came the big one, the one that started it all, "Until You". Dave was really funny about the song, because unlike some artist who try to run from their mega-hit, he was completely aware of the power the song had over the audience, and gave a five minute speech about how he didn't want applause until the whole band had kicked in. So, the song started really strangely. You could hear those first guitar strums and the first few lines of the song out in the street it was so quiet. And then, like some kind of charm-induced battle cry, the audience blew up right on cue. It got really dang loud. They got done with that, and walked off stage for all of about thirty second before returning for round two.

I wish I remembered more than the last song of the show, but I don't, so assume the first two or three songs of the encore were good. So, lastly, Barnes and company unplugged and unmic'd for a strictly acoustic version of Greyhound. It wasn't as easy to hear as Brandi Carlile was, but I was in the second level of the balcony, so I guess it was me, not him. It was a bit strange of a song to end on, as it didn't really pack a punch, or impress everyone. I dono, like I said. Close strong. Dave didn't, but apart from that, he put on a really fun show. I went with my best-friends girl-friend, and we acted like a really awkward couple to mess with the really annoying couple behind us, so that was fun. It was a good night, and I won tickets to Bonnaroo's College Comedy Tour tonight for free! Yay! So yea, that will be fun. If Dave's in town, he's worth dishing out a couple of bucks and taking a girl to go see. Here's a little bit of both Ben and Dave

The King Singers in Concert

DISCLAIMER:This is not for anyone who can't stand classical music. I hate to say it, because it would probably be a great thing for you, but I'm throwing it out there. If you can't handle more than one dimension of music, don't read.

For those of you who don't know, I really appreciate some well executed classical music. I have sung in a choral ensemble the last three years which has given me some excellent chances to indulge in the fine arts. Most recently, our class had a workshop, and heard a concert from the prestigious King's Singers. Chances are that name means nothing to you, so allow me to fill you in.

The vocal group was formed in 1965 at King's College, In Cambridge, England. That's about as interesting as the story gets. Over the over the 45 years of existence, the group has recorded over 60 tracks, including a Grammy winning album and a Beatles cover album.

Two members in the group worked with our group Monday afternoon, and gave us some dece advice on making our current songs better. For a while I sat there imagining how much the two British men sounded like Stewie from Family Guy, until one of the guys started quoting Stewie, to my immense enjoyment.

Before we all left the workshop , they answered some questions and they performed their version of "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" which involved them sticking their fingers in their mouth and swirling them around to get this weird vibrato thing going on. I know how it sounds, but it was cool, trust me.

Later that night, I headed out to the concert, ready for a good two hours of madrigal singing with the company of 70 year old couples and music majors. While I can listen to this music substantially longer than most kids my age, two hours can push my luck, unless there is something to keep the energy up. But hey, don't worry, fate didn't like my original plan.

Pulling off of Alcoa Highway, I noticed something wasn't running right with my car. Believe me, this is nothing new. My car shakes harder than Beyonce when it hits 60 mph. To my great inconvenience, both my left AND right front axles have snapped a few months within each other. It kinda reminds me of June and Johnny Cash. Possibly worst of all, I hit a dump truck last November. That's right, nearly a year ago, and I still haven't gotten around to getting that fixed up. Therefore I wasn't expecting anything too crazy. wrong. My front right tire apparently hit a dragon. By the time I was able to pull up to flat ground, car flopping in a Clampet fashion, My tires was missing a side. I was too amazed to be mad. An entire side of the tire was ripped completely off. So, my man Johnny came by with my tickets to the show and, being the fountain of unknown use-fullness he is, threw my spare on my car in no time flat and we were off to the show, an hour late. (On a side note, my little peg-leg tire is killing me. It's like if Kurt Cobain replaced George Harrison in The Beatles. I gotta get a new tire.) We got to the concert literally in the middle of the last song before intermission.

The rest of the concert. despite the first set-back, was a really good time. I saw numerous friends I hadn't seen in a while during the break, and got caught up on the first bit. My seats were kinda meh, but I took what I was given. The church holding the concert is very unique architecturally, as it is formed in the shape of a cross. I was in the right side, but most of the audience sat in the middle. The huge chamber had beautiful acoustics which made up for our seats.

I only heard about four songs, but they were all absolutely amazing. The King Singers do one of the best jobs in the world with blending their voices together. Nothing sticks out, unless it is supposed to. Blend is huge in all music, but in the a cappela singing at hand, it is the most important aspect. The group is bare to it's listeners, throwing their entire sound out to the world with nothing to hide. One song the group did was a piece written specifically for the group called "Horizons" about an African country's origins. The song utilized mesmerizing sounds, i.e. hissing, snapping, and gutteral sounds out the wazoo.

My favorite song the group performed was the famous Simple Gifts. With an underlying syncopation, unheard of in previous versions I had heard, the song had a relaxing laid-back aura about it, with a lead hovering over the simple (hehe) backing vocals. It is a powerful song that has proved itself time and time again, with a fresh spin. I really loved it.

The night ended up great. I would have loved for the Michelin man to have spared me, but maybe it was for the best. I'll be getting much needed tires now, so theres that. Dem King Singerz was a great show that re-fortified my love for great music, from all types of backgrounds.

Brandi Carlile in Concert

Wednesday night I had the extreme pleasure of seeing the beautiful Brandi Carlile twice in one night. It opened up at the Disc Exchange, one of the coolest places on earth. Brandi played a four song set, mostly consisting of the hits from her newest record, as well as "The Story" from the last one. The set, played with her the twin backups Tim and Phil Hanseroth, brought a very eclectic crowd of ragged farmers in their fifties, twenty-something hipsters, some rather butch forty-somethings, a few emo teenagers, and even some little kids, standing waiting with posters and cd's to be signed. I didn't expect half of the people to be there, but it's refreshing to see an artist who can draw a crowd of that size. The set was shor but it it suited the occasion well. After she left I got a pretty cool signed poster and Janelle Monae's crazy EP that I hope to have a review of up this week.

Later that night, I met up with my friend John who had a free ticket, which was one of the coolest things anyone has ever done for me, and we headed in. We got to the show a little bit late because Amy Ray of the Indigio Girls was opening and we expected to see her do a mediocre set chock full of lesbian feminism and the folk rock The Indigo Girls are famous for. Man, were we mistaken. Her band was rocking all out when we walked to our seats. The band was full of girls who didn't exactly look like girls, and one guy bassist, who honestly looked really out of place. However, the band played together great and Brandi came out and sang harmony on the last two songs. Amy popped back up on a few songs throughout the night, lending her guitar and vocals to the more rocking songs.

The lights dimmed and the crowd started to get restless when the show started, without Brandi. A man slowly walked over to a cello and just began playing. He had this great matter of factness about him, while the whole crowd is visually thinking, "Where's Brandi?" This dude started looping everything he played, and he had a great song going completely on his own doing. The song ended with about five layers, each adding tremendously to the jam before it. Right at the point where it seemed another layer would tarnish the concerto before it, everything dropped to a single note that faded into the darkness of the stage. It was like the musical equivalant of an pre battle speech in movies. The mood was set, and it was time for some great folk rock.

By the time Brandi came on stage, the lesbian legions were pretty excited for the show. She kicked the night off with her album opener, and the show just went from there. Brandi really had the ability to put on a great show, involving much more than the standard play for the audience and go home technique. Only about three songs in, she stepped to the very front of the stage and showed off the rooms acoustics, by having the whole band unplug their instruments and play the boot stamping "Dying Day" too a hushed audience. The sound was powerful and showed the intense team work the band held to balance the sound naturally. John told me that he had seen bands do that before, which intrigues my interest as to who would take up the challenge.

In the middle of her set, Brandi listing her rules for a standard song to be just that, a standard. She then proceeded to strum her way into a rolling cover of Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changin" which really got the crowd into the performance. From that point she had won over the audience and started to really play comfortably. Brandi closed the regular part of her show with her amazing hit "The Story", which was fantastic live. You can really see the emotion she poured into that song when Brandi plays it herself. She knows its a great song and loves sharing it with others. It's Brandi's standard.

The encore, much like Bruce Springsteen's show, was just as great as the original set. The second half of her show also started out without her. The Hanseroth brothers came out and played a chilling "The Sound Of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel. Brandi walked out after the song and yelled, "Isn't that the most creepy beautiful thing you've ever heard?" to much crowd agreement. The encore included some hits Brandi had, and they were all great, I just can't think of exactly which ones there were, because there was one song that stuck out above all others that night. towards the end of the show, Brandi busted out Jackson which played as an intro the Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues". The song sounded like it was written for the girl. she wailed it with the same lower class vigor Johnny showed at that faithful show so many years ago. I loved every second of it. It was what really convinced me that Brandi had a great thing going for her. She is such and incredible artist with an equally unbelievable voice, and I am so lucky I got to see her, for free thanks to John, the man.

Go check out the Disc Exchange for some more amazing music. The place is wall to wall with everything from American Idol Winner Bo Bice, to underground Brooklyn rappers, to Radiohead, and beyond. If you haven't ever been, you are really missing out on something special in Knoxville. This Saturday (13th) Ray Wylie Hubbard will be playing a live in store. I can't make it, but it will certainly be worth your while.

So far I'm one for one on my concert wish list for this year. If everything falls in place (which I'm positive will not happen), I will get the chance to see Vampire Weekend, Passion Pit(with Asher Roth and Flogging Molly), The Dirty Projectors, and the holiest of all concerts, Bonnaroo. I doubt i'll see them all, but Bonnaroo is kinda likely right now, so i'm stoked for that.

I'll leave you with Brandi's "Turpentine". Night world.