(Also tons of birthdays, including my own; what was happening 9 months ago?)
We've already seen Yeasayer (which is really to me already the peak of the month). That was excellent. I saw them at funfunfunfest too, but seeing them inside at a venue was a much better experience just as far as sound quality and intimacy. Also Granada is really stepping up in general. They are bringing it hard with the shows. They saw an opportunity when Deep Ellum went to shit (I really miss Gypsy but what can ya do). They saw their chance and took it, and they are not disappointing. (They even have Talib Kweli and Hi Tek coming in May. Awesome.)
But let's stick to April.
The Yeasayer show was great. And congrats to them for having so many sold out shows on this tour (unfortunately that means that my friend in Chicago didn't get to enjoy a show, poor Adam). They've come a long way since I was obsessing over All Hour Cymbals and I am both proud of them and excited that I've now seen them twice. That number should hopefully increase greatly when I'm in NY. I finally got to see 2080 live as well, very exciting (I just looked at my last.fm account and saw that I've listened to that song 100 times. Ridiculous).
Javelin opened. Quite a unique band indeed. Check out Yeasayer's own blog for a little Javelin ditty. Also here's one that I'm very partial to, Oh! Centra: (Download) Check em out on myspace.
Yeasayer seems to like to take a while to set up. I don't know what that's about fellas. So, they got started a little late. The show was worth the wait, of course. They had these wild light panels set up:
They opened unsurprisingly with The Children. It worked so well on the album, I knew they'd start the show with it. Then they hit all the crucials from both albums: Rome, Wait for the Summer, Madder Red, O.N.E., 2080 (and plenty of others; they played for a while). Ambling Alp was a good choice for the closer. But, the audience wasn't happy with that length of show. The room screamed for an encore and they came back and played Grizelda and (thank god) Sunrise. Both times I've seen them now they've teased me by saving Sunrise for last. I can't really say what was the most enjoyable song to watch. Finally seeing 2080 was of course excellent, but I also really enjoyed O.N.E. They really got down with that one (get it?). I wish I could eventually see Wait for the Wintertime, but apparently they don't care to play that one much.
Last night we saw Camera Obscura at Hailey's in Denton. That is truly one of my favorite places to see a band. I've seen Mono, Do Make Say Think, Deer Tick, Vega, and several other shows there and they've always been spectacular. The stage is set really low with just a couple steps difference between it and the floor. It's possible to actually sit on the stage while you watch a band, which is a pleasant experience. They're a pretty easygoing establishment as well. During Mono's show, for example, I sat up on one of the speakers while they played. So, while Granada may be bringing some big names and holding their own as a venue, I can still say that I love Hailey's.
Camera Obscura was really good. However, I don't know much about them. The show was more Jenna's than mine. The singer has a lovely voice and a fantastic scottish accent to boot. Her lyrics are simple and haunting. I was a little upset at how they stuck their bassist in the corner literally in the shadows. I thought that was weird. Their opener, Princeton (which is such a god awful band name I didn't even want to like them) actually held their own pretty well. I'd be surprised if the two front men weren't brothers. They looked very much alike, and I love family bands. (But that might be because I'd like to start a band with my own brother one day if we ever live in the same place again.)
All in all, shows this week were a success, even with them both being either sold out or just packed (the line to Camera Obscura was pretty impressive). And I have high hopes for the rest of my shows this month:
Local Natives at The Cavern on lower Greenville on April 22nd
Pretty Lights and Gift of Gab at Granada April 28th
Dr. Dog and Deer Tick at The Loft April 30th.
Good month right?
And let's not forget....RECORD STORE DAY! Whoo, pumped. I'll be at Good Records to celebrate.
Also I would see Beach House at Granada on the 21st if it weren't hella sold out. Seriously, they sold out and then Granada made more tickets available and it sold out again in like 5 minutes after they announced in on facebook.
On a non-musical note, we went to the Oak Cliff Art Crawl yesterday. I wish I had, ya know, money to spend on really neat handcrafted things because that's what they were bringing. But alas, I did not. All we got were some obscure bottles of soda at The Soda Gallery and I got myself a classy cork screw at one of the shops down there. I'd recommend people go check it out if you have a little cash to drop.
I hear Fort Worth is having an art festival as well. Good time to live here. But I still look forward to New York everday. Especially as it starts getting hotter. Oh Texas Summer, I will not miss you.
While writing this, I've been listening to Prefuse 73's One Word Extinguisher. This album is just stupid good to be honest. Here's a few samples:
Track 3 - Plastic:
(Download)
Track 5 - The Color of Tempo:
(Download)
Track 10 - One Word Extinguisher:
(Download)
Until next time Internet....
