Okay. Never thought I'd say this, but the Vatican's Myspace playlist is really good. They also get extra awesome points for putting Muse and the Fleet Foxes on there.

I'm getting my blog in before Property class happens. It might run over for the slow periods of this class too.

I never got to post about Fleet Foxes. Mostly because I spent Wednesday trying to get work done before Chris came on Thursday and then was busy for the rest of the weekends. Thus, I will give a brief recap of the show.

Was at the Fillmore. Went with Dinah. We got there around 8:20 and were very surprised to find that when they posted that the show was going to start at 8, it started at 8 and not in the 9-9:30 time range. That was a pleasant surprise actually.

The first band was Blitzen Trapper. I had heard of them before and heard some of their music on myspace, but that was about. They were REALLY good live. I was pleasantly surprised and probably would have bought their last album at the store had it not been for the horde at the exit (which I will talk about shortly)



The wait between sets wasn't that long and Fleet Foxes came out before we knew it. In that time, we actually managed to squeeze our way to maybe the 15th/20th row of people in front of the stage. Normally I'm morally opposed to such behavior, but it was not that crowded so it was more walking and less squeezing. And despite the fact that the Fleet Foxes crowd was relatively short, we managed to stand behind the three tallest people in the Fillmore that night. Go figure.

I was also kind of nervous about seeing them live. Their self-titled album was absolutely flawless. I figured there had to be something wrong with the live show. Their voices were too good to be true in the studio recording. Fortuantely, they actually sound exactly like they do on the album. It was amazing to see some of those harmonies they did on songs like White Winter Hymnal. There was also a lot of pot smoking, which at least makes more sense than the pot smoking at the St. Vincent show.

Also, I have some love for my camera. When it was stable enough to take pictures, I got some really good close ones despite the fact that I was relatively far back.



The coolest part of their set, however, was when the lead singer came out and did a completely unplugged version of Oliver James (or I remember it being Oliver James).

And for the final song, Blue Ridge Mountain, the whole band + Blitzen Trapper came out and played the song. It was fun to watch.



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The show ended relatively early. Maybe around 10:30? It took us forever to get out because everyone leaves from one small exit. That kind of made me a little nervous about the venue and I was glad there was no fire or anything. We did get free posters though curtosy of the Fillmore. That was cool.

We were back to my place around 11:15 between the long exit and the fact that it took forever to get a taxi. Dinah went back and I got in quite a bit of outlining.

That was my quick overview of the Fleet Foxes. I will write about the weekend and getting a summer job (w00t w00t) and all that in the next post.

I got back from Department of Eagles show at the Cafe Du Nord about thirty minutes ago. It's very rare that I get back from shows this early. Part of the reason is that I don't have to make that drive back from LA to Irvine, which at 12-3 am feels like it takes forever. The other reason was that it was an early show. Yeah, the band is playing two shows tonight, one that was scheduled to start at 7 and another that was scheduled to start at 10. That must be tiring. I'm not going to lie, though. It is nice to be done early and to (in theory) be able to actually get work done after. That's the theory. It also meant that I didn't have to brave the Tenderloin that late. Surprisingly, though, the UN Plaza is empty at night. Who knew?

Dinah got into the city around 6:30-ish. I met her at the Civic Center Station and we took Muni over to the Cafe du Nord. I'm so happy that I've finally managed to make it to that venue, by the way. Not only is it absolutely adorable (it kind of reminded me of the Hotel Cafe), but I have missed so many Miggs shows that happened to have been at this venue. Granted, I was in Southern California for many of those shows, but still. A lot of their big shows happened there. It's also incredibly easy to get there by MUNI. The Church station drops you off about a half of a block away. Good to know for future reference.

There was a line in front of the venue. Since it was almost seven by the time that we got there and the show started at seven, we assumed that the line was for the late show. Turns out it wasn't. In good concert fashion, the show had not started yet. We got in. The guy at the front fumbled through the chart for a while when Dinah showed him the slip that she was on the guest list. Almost thought it was a hoax for a second and we'd be left out in the cold without Department of Eagles tickets. We got it, though. No ticket stubs, unfort., but whatever. It wasn't that crowded when we got in. We were actually able to get semi-decent spots (maybe 5-6 people back). We waited around for about 30 minutes and the first band went up.

You're going to have to excuse the few photos I took. The venue doesn't seem to take well to flash photography, so when one person takes a picture with flash, it blinds everyone. Combine that with the fact that I'm already semi-self conscious when it comes to using flash at shows, and you get uber blurry pictures. Some of them are actually quite a trip, but everyone still turns out to be giant red blobs.




The first band was called The Cave Singers. I don't know what I was expecting from them, but they turned out to be amazing. I think I was almost more impressed by their performance than by Department of Eagles (not that I didn't like their performance). I really liked the lead singer's voice. They even used a keytar-like instrument, a tamborine (I LOVE it when bands bring out tamborines), and a washboard. Yeah, a washboard. I really liked these guys. They didn't sell any albums at the table, but I liked them so much that instead of buying the Coconut Records album that I had just decided I was going to buy tonight, I bought their album. It does not disappoint.

They finished their set a little after 8 and the Department of Eagles started setting up. That process took a lot less time than I had expected. I think it just felt long because I was dying of thirst and stuffiness by that time.



They eventually got up and started performing. The lead singer, whose name I do not know, started alone and played a song on the banjo. Now I've got this sudden urge to learn how to play the banjo. The first song that the band played together was "In Ear Park." I actually don't know many of the titles of their songs. I don't know many of the titles of a lot of songs now because I have the music playing in the background and don't pay attention to the track names. Where was I even going with that? Oh, I think it was that I only knew the name of this song and "No One Does It Like You." Beyond that, it was "hey it's that song I like from the album!"

Their set was pretty good. Very mellow. The audience was also mellow. Apart from some random pushy people, there weren't any especially obnoxious people in the crowd. I like it that way. There were a lot of awkward moments between songs. They reminded us of this comic, actually.



I also really liked the lead singer's voice live. It was so good.

All in all, it was a great show. Hopefully this is going to be a good kick start to my efforts to get out more this semester. Not that I'm going to stop studying, but I think I spent an excessive amount of time locked up in my room last semester. I need to get out of the Tenderloin every once in a while, that's for sure.

I am hoping to see the Lovemakers in San Jose in a couple of weeks, but that's not confirmed yet. If I don't go home that week and see them, I kind of want to see The Bird and the Bee at the Independent. There are a handful of other bands that I'm hoping to see this semester. One is confirmed. I'm going to see the Fleet Foxes in April! Dinah got the tickets. Going to the Filmore show because the Palace of the Fine Arts one apparently sold out. I don't care. I'm going to see the Fleet Foxes!! I'm beyond excited.

That's it. Back to homework.

From the moment I heard the song, I knew this was coming. People had already been complaining about it when Circus came out, but it looks like it's becoming a bigger issue now that it's her next single. The Parents' Television Council is apparently complaining about the release of this song on the radio. If you say listen to the song or say "If you seek Amy" at the right speed and with the right inflection, you can see why.

I think it's brilliant, actually, and I've never used the word "brilliant" in reference to something that has to do with Britney Spears. Britney's generated a lot of controversy and provides constant fodder for not only tabloids, but legitimate news sources around the world. Over the last few years, these stories very rarely have actually had to do with her music. I have no idea what goes on in Britney's head. I don't think I want to know. If I were a famous artist, though, I imagine I'd be relieved that people for once were talking about my music and not the amount of Starbucks I consume.

Now that people are complaining about this "scandalous" song, people are obviously going to want to hear it. In either case, the additional attention this press coverage is going to bring the song makes me happy, actually. In my opinion, it's the best song off of Circus.

The fourteen-year-old in me hates me for liking any song off of a Britney Spears album. I have never thought she had a great voice. I still don't. Nevertheless, I've warmed up to her over the past few years. I kind of liked Toxic and a handful of other songs, but the turning point was the night that Britney shaved her hair. As I spent hours reading ONTD's coverage, I realized that I actually missed the old Britney. It doesn't help that Blackout was really good (and under appreciated). I think the moment I listened to that album was the point of no return, unfortunately.

In all honesty, though, "If You Seek Amy" is pretty tame when you compare it to a lot of the music out there. Yeah, there's a bad word hidden in the lyrics of the song, but she only spells it out. She never actually says it. The rest of the song is no racier than songs like "Slave 4 U."

In other music news, Animal Collective's new album is even better on the second run. I'm loving this album so far. Also, might be seeing Fleet Foxes in April. It depends on if we can get tickets. I'm crossing my fingers.