Trey Told 'Em Remixes Simian Mobile Disco, Tokyo Police Club

Trey Told 'Em, aka Girl Talk's "other band" with Frank Musarra, has remixes of Simian Mobile disco's new single "I Believe" and Tokyo Police Club's "Cheer It On" up on their Myspace site. Enjoy!

I kind of like the TPC remix better, but that's just me.

Catch Simian Mobile Disco at Street Scene September 23rd, Girl Talk at the Epicenter on September 27th (love that his myspace headline is "top 8 drama") w/Dan Deacon and White Williams, and Tokyo Police Club by traveling back in time to last Thursday night at the Beauty Bar.


Tokyo Police Club @ Beauty Bar, shot by Natalie Kardos

Grand Ole Party Album Due Out in September

Guess it's no longer the end of August? Ah well.

In the meantime, be satisfied with two songs from the new record, now up on their Myspace site. It's been awhile since I listened to them/saw them live, but man, Kristin's voice is sooo good. Sort of similar to Shingai Shoniwa of The Noisettes on "Nasty Habits," but on "Look Out Young Son" it's like she's channeling a female Jack White. Mmmm. Can't wait for that album to drop.

Catch them opening up on tour with Rilo Kiley this fall. They play Soma on October 12th.


Kristin of Grand Ole Party, shot by Natalie Kardos

Photoblog: Maximo Park @ Casbah, 7/28/2007

Photoset here.

I've got 80 bazillion other things I should be doing right now other than this blog post (readin', writin', but fortunately very little 'rithmatic), so I'll keep the review end short. Rosey outsourced a proper review of the show written by her friend Greg Padgett, so I'll just direct the more literary-inclined folks there.


Paul Smith of Maximo Park, shot by Natalie Kardos

As for my two cents, I thought the show was spectacular - Paul Smith is an excellent frontman, commanding so much of your attention that you almost forget the other band members are there (for the record, my photos are mostly of him because the lighting on the other guys was pretty much nonexistent, despite Jake's efforts to sneak around their soundguy to turn them up). At least once during most songs, Paul would leap into the air, sometimes doing a little kick as he went. Sadly, despite all my efforts, I could not capture this on film.


Paul Smith of Maximo Park, shot by Natalie Kardos

In fact, I apologize for not having more/more varied photos of the show. The Casbah was completely packed, with hardly anyone on the smoking patio or in the backroom during their set. Normally I would have been there early to secure a decent spot to take photos from, but some friends had an engagement party that same night, so I had to make the rounds. As it was, I relied on the kindness of people to let me sneak in front of them for a song or two.


Maximo Park, shot by Natalie Kardos

At one point I even knelt on a stool, to the ire of a tallish guy behind me, who tapped me on the shoulder and gestured to his point-and-shoot camera, because I guess I was blocking his shots. I pointed at my "real" camera and mentioned that I was doing press for the band (their management got me the tix to the show), and he was all, "Okay, but you can't be up there the whole show." My response was something along the lines of, "I'm pretty sure my knees can't take kneeling on a stool for the whole show." Sigh. I should just hand people my card in situations like this, but I hate being that person. I kind of like being "the discreet photographer," as someone once called me. But I'm not going to walk away from a gig without taking photos, just because it was too crowded.


Maximo Park, shot by Natalie Kardos

Anyway, none of that is either here nor there. I had a great time at the show, and I was glad that it sold out - just a testament to the fact that San Diegans are up on the happenings outside the U.S., I guess.


Maximo Park, shot by Natalie Kardos

Shoutout from Citybeat Blog

Shoutout from Citybeat blog

Thanks, Kelly! Short, but very, very sweet.

Bloggin’ SD: Pretty pictures

July 30th, 2007 — Kelly Davis

If you’re a fan of live-music photos, check out this blog.

Several at the top (Prayers, Noisettes), more about half-way down (Polyphonic Spree) and a few more at the bottom (Swim Party). Very nice. And, yes, it is too sunny out here.

For those visiting my site, if you don't want to scroll through texts and blog posts just to see the photos, check out my Flickr site.

And for a portfolio of sorts, go here.

Pros and Cons of Being a Graduate Student

Pro: You know several labs that need to use white blood cells for experiments, and thus, will pay you money (usually in the amount of $60) for a blood donation.

Con: You are so poor that you have to resort to selling your blood for money. Oh, and sometimes they fuck it up (this is an old photo):

New Daytrotter Sessions - Low

Low recorded four songs off of their album Drums and Guns for a recent Daytrotter session. Listen and/or download here, then try to convince me that the delicacy of "Your Violent Past" doesn't just about break your heart. Sigh.

Show Review: Tokyo Police Club w/Dappled Cities @ Beauty Bar, 7/26/2007

Photoset here.

Last Thursday night at the Beauty Bar was an interesting one. Tokyo Police Club generated a lot of blogger buzz with their EP A Lesson in Crime last year, but have yet to release a followup to that disc. I was wondering whether or not the show would sell out - if a lot of people would be curious to see this band of young'uns and their ADD-pop songs, or if maybe all the buzz had passed them by. As for Dappled Cities, I had become a quick fan of their album Granddance since picking it up at M-Theory a few weeks ago, but I wasn't sure how many other people had the Aussie indie-rockers on their radar.

But judging by the line that was forming outside the Beauty Bar by 9:00, plenty of people were curious about one or the other of these bands. Rosey and I had planned on getting there early to talk to Dappled Cities (thanks to their tour manager, Al, for the tickets and for getting us sorted out), but due to a late arrival from LA (Comic Con traffic?), the bands were soundchecking until about 9:15. At which point, the bouncer came out and told everyone to form a separate line - right behind where Pete, Rosey, Andrea et al, and myself were standing.

So we were the first people in the bar and took that opportunity to get drinks and then headed back to talk to Dappled Cities. All the guys were extremely nice (they all signed a poster for me), and extremely supportive of the "blog movement." Apparently there aren't too many music blogs in Australia, and most Aussies end up reading overseas blogs to get their information. It was at that point where I quipped, "Well then, we know where to move when the US gets overrun with bloggers."


Dappled Cities poster, shot by Natalie Kardos

As soon as the guys started playing, they had my rapt attention. I have really been digging Granddance lately, and seeing the songs performed live gave me a whole new respect for the guys as musicians. The songs were culled mostly from that album (technically their sophomore release, but their debut release outside Australia), with "The Birds" off of the Dead Bodies Where Their Mouths Were EP and "Peach" off of their first album A Smile. Can we get that previous album released in the states sometime? I would quite like to hear it...


Tim Derricourt of Dappled Cities, shot by Natalie Kardos


Hugh Boyce of Dappled Cities, shot by Natalie Kardos

As I said, the guys put on a great show, and the intimacy of the venue was revealed in a humorous way. At the end of "Holy Chord," Tim (vocals/guitar/keys, kickass falsetto) started to sing the line, "What does it mean to take off all our clothes and look into your eyes and say I mean it?" However, he looked over at our group standing there, all eyes on him, and couldn't get past "take off all our clothes" before starting to laugh. He tried a "do-over" at the audience's request, but still couldn't nail it, so to speak. Afterwards, he grinned and said, "Well, that was really sincere, wasn't it?" No matter, the song was still poignant and meaningful to me.


Ned Cooke of Dappled Cities, shot by Natalie Kardos


Dave Rennick of Dappled Cities, shot by Natalie Kardos *

The only problem I had with their set was that it was too short, but it's not the Beauty Bar's fault that their shows have to end by 11PM on weeknights. For the short time that Dappled Cities was playing, they managed to attract pretty much everyone in the bar over to the stage area, and even get some folks dancing.


Dave Rennick and Hugh Boyce of Dappled Cities, shot by Natalie Kardos


Dappled Cities setlist, shot by Natalie Kardos

In between the two sets, the crowd actually grew, as opposed to the usual thinning-out as people go to get drinks, etc. A lot of people really wanted to see Tokyo Police Club, and I don't blame them. I managed to maintain my front-line position, even though it took a bit of firm standing. At this point, it was steaming hot inside the bar, even though we were actually standing on the open-air patio. It didn't help that it was humid and warm outside as well. My camera strap, which was actually around my neck for once (that's how packed it was) was sticking to me the sweat around my collarbone (attractive, I know). But once Tokyo Police Club came onstage, none of that mattered.

I already mentioned that these kids (and yes, they are quite young) play music for the ADD-generation. Their songs are all between 1.5 and 3 minutes long, with their 7-song EP adding up to a mere 16.3 minutes. They've been faulted for this by others, but I for one won't say anything bad about it. When your songs contain that much energy, it's dangerous to let them carry on any longer. Especially when they're being played live.


Josh Hook and Dave Monks of Tokyo Police Club, shot by Natalie Kardos


Josh Hook of Tokyo Police Club, shot by Natalie Kardos *

All the band members threw so much energy into their set - it was amazing to behold. They all jittered around the stage (especially the guy on keys/tambourine), occasionally screaming the lyrics in unison in a way that reminded me somewhat of the Arcade Fire. Bits of songs off of their EP remind me of Spoon ("Nature of the Experiment") or Death Cab for Cutie (the intro and verses of "Citizens of Tomorrow").


Graham Wright of Tokyo Police Club, shot by Natalie Kardos


Dave Monks of Tokyo Police Club, shot by Natalie Kardos


Greg Alsop of Tokyo Police Club, shot by Natalie Kardos

They recently signed to Saddle Creek, and an LP is in the works, or so it would appear from their setlist, which contained about 3 times the number of tracks that they've ever released. Upon seeing the setlist at the beginning of their show, I was a little worried that they would be playing way past 11 - but despite the plethora of songs on their list, they wrapped it up by 11:15. Quite impressive. By that time, though, I was hot, sweaty, tired, and completely danced out, so Pete and I headed home, dreading having to wake up the next morning.


Tokyo Police Club setlist, shot by Natalie Kardos

*Notice the indie rock love going on - Dave Rennick of Dappled Cities was wearing a Tokyo Police Club shirt, while Josh Hook of Tokyo Police Club was wearing a Dappled Cities shirt.

Blame Harry Potter for the Lack of Posting

That's right, blame Harry Potter for my lack of blogging this weekend. Well, there are also two shows, a House Party, an engagement party, and helping out with a video shoot to blame.

I'm not going to go into an in-depth review of the book - suffice it to say that I was pleased/satisfied with the ending, and the story as a whole was quite compelling. I was happy that some gaps in the backstory got filled in as well.

But now it's time to devote myself fully to working on my advancement to candidacy. I've got a little more than 3 weeks before I defend my major proposal, and in that time, I've got a shitload of papers to read and an 8-page proposal to write and then subsequently defend. All while keeping up with the regular day-to-day experiments and whatnot. Yikes.

Show Review: The Noisettes w/The Prayers @ Belly Up, 7/24/2007

Photoset here.

I took the day off on Tuesday to get some work done on my car and to try to get some reading/writing done for my major proposal. First goal was accomplished by 2PM, the second one, ummm, didn't really happen. Oh well.

Even so, by 8:30PM, it was a struggle to get motivated to drive up to the Belly Up from my place in North Park. But I managed to get on the road by 9, which put me up in Solana Beach around 9:30 and maybe halfway through The Prayers' set.

It was good to see that the show was sold out, and that a lot of people were already in the venue and paying attention to The Prayers catchy, harmony-infused pop music. Even though the dance floor appeared crowded, I was able to work my way up to the front, where there was a little more breathing room. I worked my way around to take some photos of the band, since they were actually playing a venue with real lighting for once.





The songs were good as usual - they sounded great through the Belly Up's sound setup. Afterwards, Brandon confided that he was worried that "every mistake we made would be obvious," because everything could be clearly heard, but he needn't have worried. Considering I've seen them play more in the past couple of weeks than most of the people in the Belly Up, and I couldn't pick up any mistakes, I'm sure no one else did either (if there were any mistakes, that is).

The crowd was very enthusiastic towards them, and like I said, I'm glad they got the chance to play at that size of a venue, to a completely different audience than they're used to. I've had nothing but praise for this band in the past, and this show only reinforced my opinion of them.





After The Prayers' set, The Noisettes were up. I knew pretty much nothing about this band, other than hearing that they opened a show in San Diego a few months ago. But wow, were they impressive. For a three-piece band, they sounded much, much bigger than they should have. Shingai Shoniwa, the singer, has a voice that is an amazing mix of Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's and an old school blues sister like Billie Holiday. The contrast between the high-pitched squeals and the lower, bluesy balladry worked really well - too much of the former and I would have been annoyed, but too much of the latter and it might have strayed into derivative territory.







All three musicians in the band were incredible. The singer switched off between guitar and bass, all the while romping around the stage in her bare feet, jumping off the drum platform and interacting directly with the crowd. The male guitarist occasionally played bass, and no matter which one he was holding, he wailed on it. And the drummer - the drummer was a beast. There was a sound guy stationed on stage next to him, because as he played he shook the drum platform so much that every 2 minutes the sound guy had to reach over to reposition a microphone. The energy emanating from everyone in the band was incredible. Yet another one of those shows that converted me from a know-nothing audience member/observer to an actual fan.







Oh, and did I mention that the singer was barefoot for most of the show?



After the show, they promised that everyone who bought their album there (for $10) would get a chance to meet the band. True to their word, they had everyone line up around the stage and filter backstage to say hello to the guys in the band. Very friendly, and a good way to warm up your fans, but I still prefer when the band just hangs out with the crowd, all natural-like. Sadly, I had no cash on me at that point and didn't want to deal with the exorbitant fees from the in-house ATM, so I missed out on buying the album and meeting them and just hung out with The Prayers before heading home for the evening. But now I'm thinking I'm going to have to pick up their album next time I'm in M-Theory...

Swedish Models Party Bus to The Roxy in LA - Sat, Aug 18th

The Swedish Models are putting together a party bus to go up to LA for their gig at The Roxy on Saturday, August 18th. The show is in celebration of Ryan's birthday. Here's the info, straight from the Model's mouths (well, evite):

August 18th is Ryan Wallers Big Birthday Party Show at the Roxy on Sunset. We are going to meet at The Swedish Models house at 6:45-7:15, and the bus will be leaving promptly at 7:20.

The bus is fully equipped with an on board lavatory and alcohol consumption is strongly encouraged.

We will arrive at the venue at 9:45-10:15, just in time for the first group to play. We will try and leave the bus easily accessible so you may stay and drink or utilize your in/out privilege from the club. From 11:32 - 12:12 The Swedish Models will be occupying the stage. The bus will depart from The Roxy at 12:50 and we will arrive back to The Swedish Models house at 3:00 or so. If you bring a sleeping bag, you are welcome to crash on our spacious and comfortable living room carpet/couches.

The cost of the bus is 30 dollars per person and includes a exclusive 3D glasses edition of our compact diskette that we are only offering to attendees of this expedition.

You may bring your own Alcohol, but glass beer bottles are prohibited.

Tickets to the show are 11.50, but if we fill up the bus, we'll be able to put anything extra toward lowering this ticket price and providing free alcohol for the busride. Don't worry about paying for the ticket until the night of the show, when we can hopefully cut down the price to 5 dollars or included.

Please RSVP via this evite soon and secure a spot, as space is limited and we are going to announce this event at tomorrow nights' show at the Kensington Club.

After RSVPing we can set up a time/place to meet up and confirm your reservation.

So basically, $30 for the bus ride + alcohol, and no more than $11.50 for the ticket to the show. If you want to go, get in touch with the band via their Myspace site.

And don't forget about their gig at the Ken Club tomorrow night for $3.

The National on Letterman

It's already been posted by Stereogum, but seeing as how I love the National and all, I figured I'd throw it up here as well. Enjoy.

Mmm, horn section.

Dappled Cities (Fly) Show Preview

Tonight, Aussie band Dappled Cities (Fly?) are opening for the Tokyo Police Club at the Beauty Bar.

The "(Fly?)" part of their name comes from the fact that they previously released EP and album A Smile were released under the name "Dappled Cities Fly." According to their wikipedia entry (which is filed under "Dappled Cities Fly" as well), "The album's cover artwork is noteworthy in having the band's name as just "Dappled Cities", minus the word "Fly"; however as Tim Derricourt explained to The Drum Media magazine, this was done mainly for artistic reasons, and does not amount to a formal name change for the band." Interesting.

But no matter what their formal name is or isn't, their second album Granddance is filled with the kind of music you'd imagine The Twilight Sad playing, if they all discovered falsettos and antidepressants. At least that's how it sounds to me.

Here's the official vid for "Vision Bell," off of Granddance:



"Fire Fire Fire":



And finally, an interview from intheraw with Dave Rennick (guitar/vocals/keyboard/Aussie indie rock pin-up boy) - it's over a year old, but still funny:

The Prayers (Still) In Need of a Drummer

I posted this a few days ago, but here's the official word from the boys:

Brian, our drummer, is leaving the band to attend to other important matters. We're heartbroken to see him go, and are now beginning the process of finding someone who can fill his itty-bitty little shoes. He was an integral member of our band, and we need someone who can dedicate themselves and contribute as much as BH did. We're not looking for any "shredders" or any of that crap. We're most interested in someone who plays simply and cleverly, not John Bonhams or Dave Grohls. If you think you'd be right for the job, please contact us....
xo

So all you drummers out there, get on that!

Because Some Things Just Need to Be Experienced By Everyone

The Polyphonic Spree covering "Lithium" @ El Rey Theater, LA, 7/18/2007, courtesy of okeastron:


Good God, this just reminds me of seeing everyone start jumping in unison, hands thrown up in the air, during the chorus.

Notice the asshole with the really nice camera doing exactly what I hate - snapping a picture without looking through the lens. I bet it turned out really awesome, dude.

Show Review: The Polyphonic Spree @ Canes, 7/20/2007

Photoset here.

Walking into Canes last Friday night, I had a strange feeling which Pete actually voiced. "It's weird being in here, after all that Band of Horses shit went down." Keep in mind, this was a mere two days after Rosey's story broke on Pitchfork. The proverbial shit kept hitting the fan, in the form of comments on her blog, as well as various other places like Stereogum and Brooklyn Vegan.

Granted, I wasn't in attendance at the BoH show that caused all of this drama to be focused on San Diego. And maybe we're all over-reacting a bit. All I know is, I saw Rosey at the Ken Club immediately after the incident, and she was fuming. I still think she had every right to be, yadda yadda yadda, but that's all been said before.

In one of my comments defending Rosey on her blog, I mentioned that Ben Bridwell had no right to be pissed off at the audience for not being involved in the show. The only people he can be pissed at for that are himself and the members of his band. It's the job of a performer to capture the audience's attention. I understand that these days there are more distractions to compete with, with cell phones in every pocket and cameras in most everyone's hand. But even before the plethora of pocket-sized playthings, there were things to compete with - conversations amongst audience members, drinks, televisions. I'm not saying it's easy to be a performer - on the contrary, it's quite hard. And maybe the ADD-encouraging devices just help to weed out the mediocre performers from the truly great ones.

At any rate, Friday's show by The Polyphonic Spree served as a stark contrast to the BoH show. I was able to snag a photo pass/wristband, but had to drop my own $20 on a ticket - which I did on the strength of a friend's recommendation and some photos I saw on the Spree's website earlier in the day. I don't know any of their osngs, and frankly, all I remembered about them was that a few years ago there was some buzz about this band with skads of members who all took to dressing the same way - usually in long, flowing choir robes. Definitely remember hearing something about a cultish vibe surrounding them as well.

So it was mostly curiosity that brought me to Canes that evening. And I'm glad it did. Because it didn't matter that I was clueless. When we walked in at 9:30, the floor was already packed with people (incluidng quite a few "jock-y" types). The show started fairly soon after we got there - no opening acts. I'm glad because a) any opening act would have been shown up to the nth degree; and b) with that many people in The Polyphonic Spree (15? 20?), the payment for the show is already split enough. Do they all make like 20 cents a show? Even if they did, I'm sure they'd all still be there - every member looked truly happy to be up there on stage.


The Polyphonic Spree @ Canes, shot by Natalie Kardos

In addition to the usual instruments (guitar, bass, etc.) there was a flautist, two drummers (sweet!), a harpist, a brass section, a crazy cello player, and about eight background vocalists, in addition to the vocal duties performed by the other instrumentalists. Craziness. The show started with the lead singer cutting a heart in the banner covering the stage. He then cut from the top of the heart upwards, eventually shearing the banner in two to reveal the entire band standing behind it.


The Polyphonic Spree @ Canes, shot by Natalie Kardos


The Polyphonic Spree @ Canes, shot by Natalie Kardos


The Polyphonic Spree @ Canes, shot by Natalie Kardos

And starting with that moment, the drama, anticipation, and energy never flagged. I don't know any of the songs, so I can't tell you which ones they played, but they were all uplifting. The entire crowd was into their set, including the jocks and jockettes, and probably quite a few people like myself who had no idea what to expect walking in that night. For the first part of the evening, the band eschewed their usual robes in favor of jumpsuit-esque uniforms. During the encore break, however, they changed into traditional white robes and returned to the stage by walking through the crowd.


The Polyphonic Spree @ Canes, shot by Natalie Kardos

The encore set was almost the same length as their regular set, with the band begging Canes' security staff to let them keep playing for "just three more minutes." That three minutes turned into at least fifteen. At one point during the encore, the singer was playing Rock/Paper/Scissors wtih the flautist to determine which of three songs they were going to play: "Soldier Girl," "Hold Me Now," or "Light and Day." The flautist won out with "Soldier Girl" - and then they played all three anyway. They also performed a stellar cover of "Lithium" by Nirvana (it pained me that the security guard next to me had to tell a patron what band had originally recorded the song, but hey, not everyone's a music nerd like me). At other various points during the set, the singer leapt down into the crowd, handed the microphone to his fans in front of the stage (who had traveled from their LA show a few days earlier), and even crowd-surfed.


The Polyphonic Spree @ Canes, shot by Natalie Kardos


The Polyphonic Spree @ Canes, shot by Natalie Kardos


The Polyphonic Spree @ Canes, shot by Natalie Kardos

Here was a man with heaps of charisma, using every ounce of it to make sure the crowd at his show had a good time. Bridwell could well stand to learn a few lessons from him. This man is charismatic to the point where I'm extremely glad he started a band, and not a religion - the whole cult-ish aura definitely exists around the band, but he's using his charisma for good. The only part of the whole night I could have gone without was his "sermon" at the end of the night, which focused around noticing a blade of grass growing out of a sidewalk, and using that as a metaphor for how we can deal with anything life throws at us. A good message, but I think the music spoke for itself in that respect.


The Polyphonic Spree @ Canes, shot by Natalie Kardos

The show was definitely an exorcism of sorts for any bad feelings I may have had tangled up in Canes as a venue. The sound and lighting were superb throughout the show. The only thing that tainted this cleansing was the singer's appeal to the staff at Canes to just let him have a few more minutes on stage - a stark reminder that, while Canes may be a decent venue in theory, it's run by someone who feels it necessary to have 15 security guards lurking around the place and to close the show at midnight. On a Friday. Something that I never understood, seeing as how the venue could make a lot more money selling drinks for the next hour and a half after a show, while allowing the audience to mingle with the band.

But regardless, I had a great time, and to all those people who have insisted that one can't enjoy a show through the lens of a camera, well, it's been a trend with me that the more I enjoy a show, the more photos I take, and the better the photos tend to be. My eyes and ears function independently, although they obviously have some influence on each other. Needless to say, both were immensely satisfied with this show.


The Polyphonic Spree @ Canes, shot by Natalie Kardos

63 People Arrested After John Mayer Concert? WTF?

Via Stereogum. Apparently 63 people were arrested after the Ben Folds/John Mayer concert in Hershey Park Stadium, due to various drug and alcohol offenses. Safe to say most of those arrests were probably for underage drinking, as Stereogum pointed out.

But seriously, drinking before a John Mayer concert? WTF?

Both my parents and my little sister were actually at that show (I grew up about 20 minutes outside of Hershey, and yes, you can smell chocolate in the air while driving down Chocolate Avenue). Weird.

Pennsylvania laws and those that enforce them are notoriously strict - i.e. you can't buy any alcohol in a grocery store, you have to go to a state-owned store for wine and liquor, state-owned stores aren't open on Sundays - but sheesh. That's a lot of people.

The Prayers @ Casbah, 7/19/2007

Photoset here.

I've already blogged about a few shows by The Prayers, so I'm not going to say too much about their show last Thursday night. We arrived at the Casbah from the Beauty Bar during the second to last song of The Roman Spring. They sounded even more solid then the last time I had seen them, even though no one was mixing sound while they were playing (Jake, the sound guy, is in the band). However, I was a bit too concerned with getting myself a drink and saying hi to people to snap any photos of them. These Skull Kontrol nights at the Casbah are turning out really well.

In between the two sets, the Skullz DJ'ed, and then The Prayers were up. Dusty was there, and was sweet enough to man the lights while I was taking photos. They drew a decent sized crowd, though mostly of people they knew anyway. But the harmonies and catchy pop music were enough to get people (including me) shakin' it.


Andrew Miller of The Prayers, shot by Natalie Kardos


Chuck Rowland of The Prayers, shot by Natalie Kardos


Brandon Welchez of The Prayers, shot by Natalie Kardos


Brian Hill of The Prayers, shot by Natalie Kardos

Afterwards, the Booty Bassment DJs were spinning, and it was a lot of fun but sort of strange to hear rap music (!) at the Casbah (!!). Needless to say, Pete enjoyed it, but I preferred to mingle a bit and then head home.

Things That Conspired Against Me This Weekend

1. An incredible show by the Polyphonic Spree at Cane's on Friday night, where I took a ton of photos that I am still processing. Review to come soon (probably tomorrow).

2. My parents calling me before and during the Ben Folds/John Mayer concert at Hershey Park Stadium on Saturday. Yeah, it's not quite like when my mom came with me to the Snowden concert at the Casbah (she still doesn't consider it a "venue" as opposed to a "bar"), but still. My parents are cooler than most. And, they even figured out how to send me a photo! There's also a cameraphone photo from the actual show that my dad sent to me, but I'm not going to put up a crappy cameraphone picture here.



3. My parents calling me the day after the Ben Folds/John Mayer concert to tell me about a proposed trip to Seattle and cruise to Alaska next summer, and to ask if I wanted to join them. Hells yes.


Denali National Park, shot by bargarrison

4. Goddamn Harry Potter taunting me until I finally picked it up. It was supposed to remain my "bathroom book" until I got more work done, but I broke that rule today and read about 75 pages. Damn damn damn you, Harry Potter!



5. Whistlestop at 4PM on Saturday, leading to splitting a bottle of wine with dinner, leading to a drink at the Livewire. Maintaining a pleasant state of drunkeness for about 7 hours is definitely a feat to be proud of, but is definitely not a good work ethic. Somehow managed to stave off the hangover that I fully deserved the next morning...

Did anyone catch the ridiculously awesome sunset last night? My photos can't even begin to do it justice, but here they are anyway...

Whatcha Doin' on Friday?

I'll be here:





You should be too...

Swim Party @ Beauty Bar, 7/19/2007

Photoset here.

Last Thursday, I was still feeling a bit bummed about some things not working out in lab, so I was glad to get out of the house and go see Swim Party at the Beauty Bar. I had seen them once before at the Che Cafe, and I quite liked what I heard then. I dragged Pete along as well, even though he was somewhat skeptical of my two-venues-in-one-night plan. What can I say - I've learned from the best.

We showed up at the Beauty Bar around 9:30, just in time to catch up with Petro, the drummer of Swim Party, before they went on. Unfortunately, there weren't that many people in the bar, perhaps due to the early show time, but apparently both bands that night had to be done playing by 11. Swim Party got going around 9:45, and played a short set of 6 or 7 songs, including a Yo La Tengo cover.


Bassist Alex of Swim Party, shot by Natalie Kardos

Pete and I both agreed that we were getting a Modest Mouse vibe from the band, which was sort of strange. Looking back on it, I think it had to do mostly with the vocal phrasing, rather than the music or Eric's voice. I also obtained a copy of their EP that night, and after listening to it a few times, I've gotten bits of influences from The Shins and The National as well, the latter mostly coming from the understated but insistent drumming. After seeing them a second time and hearing their record, which includes violin parts in the songs, I really think these guys have a solid sound that's all their own. Yes, I can quote influences that I've picked up, but it's the combination of those (hopefully, but definitely in this particular case) varied influences that determine whether you're a derivative band or something, well, something more.


Drummer Petro of Swim Party, shot by Natalie Kardos

And since I've mentioned the EP, I also want to say that the packaging of it is remarkably beautiful. It comes in a recycled cardboard (I think?) sleeve, with a flap that folds over to keep the CD in, as opposed to a normal plastic case. I think the artwork on the outside is amazing - it includes a stitched-on heart in white thread. Inside, the track names are listed in silvery lettering. It's the small touches like these that ensure that people like me will continue to buy actual albums, even as the digital age soldiers on. Also, the production on the actual album is perfect - way to go, guys.


Singer/guitarist Eric of Swim Party, shot by Natalie Kardos

The last thing I want to say is thank you to the band, for bringing their own lights (in the form of light trees and light boxes) to the Beauty Bar. Normally there are all of four lights there, the strongest one being behind the drummer, which usually makes all of the band members backlit and almost impossible to take photos of without resorting to using flash (ewww). But with this lighting setup, I was able to shoot at 800 ISO - aka better quality, less grainy photos - and still capture the cool blue/pink colors that pretty much represent the Beauty Bar.


Normal Beauty Bar lighting setup, shot by Natalie Kardos

Rumors Confirmed - Grand Ole Party Touring w/Rilo Kiley

Via Myspace bulletin, SD local band Grand Ole Party confirms the rumor that they will be supporting Rilo Kiley on their fall tour. Dates below.

Thu-Sep-06 San Francisco, CA Warfield
Fri-Sep-07 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
Sat-Sep-08 Seattle, WA Showbox
Tue-Sep-11 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
Wed-Sep-12 Columbia, MO University of Missouri
Thu-Sep-13 Omaha, NE Sokol Auditorium
Fri-Sep-14 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
Sat-Sep-15 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre
Mon-Sep-17 Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre
Tue-Sep-18 Toronto, ONT Pheonix Theatre
Wed-Sep-19 Montreal, QUE La Tulipe
Fri-Sep-21 Boston, MA Avalon
Sat-Sep-22 New York, NY Webster Hall
Sun-Sep-23 New York, NY Webster Hall
Tue-Sep-25 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero
Wed-Sep-26 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Thu-Sep-27 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Fri-Sep-28 Asheville, NC Orange Peel
Sat-Sep-29 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
Tue-Oct-02 Lake Buena Vista, FL House of Blues
Wed-Oct-03 TBA, FL
Thu-Oct-04 New Orleans, LA Republic
Fri-Oct-05 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
Sat-Oct-06 Dallas, TX Palladium
Sun-Oct-07 Austin, TX Stubb's BBQ
Tue-Oct-09 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
Wed-Oct-10 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
Fri-Oct-12 San Diego, CA SOMA
Sat-Oct-13 Las Vegas, NV The Joint
Mon-Oct-15 Los Angeles, CA Santa Monica Civic