Phoenix at the Hollywood Bowl

Check out my photos of Phoenix, Grizzly Bear and Girls at the Hollywood Bowl over at OC Weekly.

Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl (8/24/08)

I missed Radiohead in the really early days but did manage to score a ticket to the Kid A tour at the Greek Theater in October 2000. The show at the Greek was mindblowing as I will never forget hearing "Optimistic" and "Just". I also remembered that people were in the trees in the very back of the venue. It was one of the few shows that the security guards flashed a black light on the back of the ticket to check for a specific hologram. I have caught Radiohead every time they have played Los Angeles since 2000 and managed to work in both San Diego stops on the last tour.

The Radiohead show had sold out in minutes and I was really surprised they didn't add a third show. A voluminous amount of people nervously waited outside the venue holding up a finger or two in hopes that someone had an extra ticket. The amount of people outside the venue could have easily been a thousand or more either trying to get an extra ticket or to listen to the show. I unfortunately missed Liars due to the traffic but I am sure Angus put on a stellar show judging by how intense their show was at the El Rey earlier this year.

A dimming of the house lights caused an uproar from the max capacity crowd. My section did not stand up like I expected and I got a text from one of my friends saying they were surprised that everyone wasn't standing. "15 Step" was all I needed to hear to get me out of my chair as I kept a close eye on Jonny Greenwood (Guitars/Keyboards). Jonny tossed in a short but sweet abstract delay soaked noise burst near the end of the song. When the roadies came out with some extra drums, I immediately knew it was time for "There,There" as Thom Yorke (Vocals/Keyboards/Guitars) had a vintage Gibson Hollowbody dialed in with a gritty tone. A Rhodes Keyboard Piano was rolled out for Thom as he delicately tapped the out the haunting notes to "Morning Bell". Jonny would later position himself behind the Rhodes for "All I Need" as Thom was seated in front of a piano.

Jonny would later grab a violin bow to apply to his guitar for some alien textures before switching over to his custom Analogue Systems rack of modular synthesizers and his French Connection. Radiohead went introspective with a trio of slower songs before cranking up the intensity with a schizophrenic version of "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi". Phil Selway (Drums) was a time keeping machine in the background never missing a beat while Colin Greenwood couldn't stop smiling the whole time on stage as he would enthusiastically wave hello to the crowd.

"The Nation Anthem" was prefaced with its usual random radio dialogue interspersed with the gigantic roaring Colin bass line. I got a rare spine tingle during the ending of the song due to its chaotic noisy ending. Jonny and Thom tackled "Faust Arp" acoustically which sounded spot on. Jonny would later really cut loose for "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" as the song builds and later implodes. "Idioteque" got a large number of people out of their seats with its heavy atmospheric synthesizers and feverish drums. "Bodysnatchers" separated the mind from the body in that your mind was blown and you were probably dancing.

"Videotape" still sounds similar to the opening piano riff from "The Young and the Restless" from the 1980s. I give you proof here. "Paranoid Android" was another crowd favorite with Ed and Jonny methodically deploying the loud guitar noise bursts of the song. Radiohead did not miss a note until Thom flubbed his part in "Street Spirit(Fade Out)" which he commented with "Bollocks". It was nice to see that Radiohead was actually human. I still remember hearing the intro of "House of Cards" a billion times during the NBA playoffs as it was included in the commercials. The second encore consisted of "Lucky" and "Everything In Its Right Place". Ed and Jonny were kneeling in front of their pedal boards chopping up samples of Thom's voice and inserting Thom's voice back into the song as Thom rose from his Rhodes keyboard and waved goodbye to the crowd. It was a picturesque night for a Radiohead show and made me thankful to be able to catch the show again on Monday.

Radiohead setlist at the Hollywood Bowl (8/24/08)
"15 Step"
"There There"
"Morning Bell"
"All I Need"
"Pyramid Song"
"Nude"
"Weird Fishes/Arpeggi"
"The Gloaming"
"The National Anthem"
"A Wolf At The Door"
"Faust Arp"
"Exit Music (For A Film)"
"Jigsaw Falling Into Place"
"Idioteque"
"Climbing Up The Walls"
"Bodysnatchers"
"How To Disappear Completely"

Encore:
"Videotape"
"Paranoid Android"
"Dollars And Cents"
"Street Spirit(Fade Out)"
"Reckoner"

Encore 2:
"House of Cards"
"Lucky"
"Everything In Its Right Place"

The Decemberists at the Hollywood Bowl

I got lucky before 7/7/07. I magically got fourth row pool tickets for The Decemberists at the Hollywood Bowl backed by the L.A. Philharmonic. I was excited to see the L.A. Philharmonic from the fourth row let alone see The Decemberists. The package deal was sweetened with Band of Horses and Andrew Bird.




Ben Bridewell (Vocals,Guitars) and his Band of Horses started at 7:30pm sharp. I was slightly tardy due to the high volume of traffic surrounding the Hollywood Bowl. I did manage to catch the last three songs of the set. Ben was playing a wine red custom Gibson Les Paul with a capo on the third fret as he plucked out the ringing chords of "The Funeral". It did seem like the band was performing to the pool arena as Ben made a comment about the nice seats that the people had in front of me. Their performance reminded me of The Shins in that they let their songs do the talking. The pool area gave them a standing ovation. I don't know if it translated to the back of the Bowl but they are a band that you need to see in an intimate venue. Ben mentioned that their new album is due out in October which garnered some cheers from the audience.





Andrew Bird (Guitar,Violin,Vocals,Glockenspiel) made up for the fact that he was not backed by the L.A. Philharmonic by the skillful use of his loop station. Andrew would sample his violin playing and start stacking his violin loops to create an orchestral effect. I was also impressed with his spinning Janus Horn Specimen speaker that he would activate to provide a swirling and swooshing effect to his songs. Andrew was rocking out on his Gibson ES-175 hollowbody guitar. The audience received his songs quite well. Peter, Bjorn, & John were put to shame as Andrew whistled throughout the set very proficiently to add to the cacophony of sounds from his mini orchestra three piece band. His new album "Armchair Apocrypha" was released on Fat Possum records earlier this year and I will be checking it out.










The Decemberists came out to a rapturous applause and quickly started in on "The Crane Wife 1 & 2" with a nice ascending background flourishes from the L.A. Philharmonic. Colin Meloy (Vocals,Guitar) seemed comfortable onstage as he worked hard as he engaged the massive Hollywood Bowl audience. The Decemberists perform engaging storytelling songs that blend elements of indie rock, folk, progressive rock and tinges of country. Their songs sounded excellent with the backing of the L.A. Philharmonic. The arrangements were done very tastefully to add different colors to the songs but not overtake the songs or distract from them. Colin could have performed the songs by himself on an acoustic guitar and the crowd would have generated the same response. Colin did have some problems with his Z amplifier before "Perfect Crime #2" and made up for his lack of guitar duties by dancing around on the crescent of the pool circle. I have to admit I chuckled a bit when I saw his guitar tech was wearing a Mastodon shirt. "Los Angeles, I'm Yours" was ironic and reminiscent of when Death Cab for Cutie plays "Why You'd Want To Live Here". Colin tapped into his inner boy when he asked the crowd to pull out their cell phones and illuminate the bowl. I took a picture of it, but I must say it was even more magical for those who were in attendance. The Decemberists wrapped up the show with a glorious version of "Chimbley Sweep" that had the audience clamoring for more.


The Decemberists Setlist for the Hollywood Bowl (7/7/07)
"The Crane Wife 1 & 2"
The Infanta"
"We Both Go Down Together"
"Bagman's Gambit"
"Odalisque"
"The Perfect Crime #2"
"Los Angeles, I'm Yours"
"Tain (Parts i, ii, iii, iv, v)"
"O Valencia!"
"I Was Meant For The Stage"
"Chimbley Sweep"