Rogue Wave at the Belly Up

Rogue Wave were one of my favorite acts from the FM 94.9 Holiday Hootenanny show. I purchased "Asleep at Heaven's Gate" immediately when the album came out but it was buried in the avalanche of new releases at that time. After seeing their performance at the Holiday Hootenanny, I listened to the Rogue Wave catalog non stop. I was really looking forward to catching a full set from Oakland's finest. I have to tip my hat to FM 94.9 for sponsoring another "About the Music" concert series profiling up and coming bands while keeping the ticket price at a criminally low $6.

Manuok


Manuok from San Diego started the evening with their folk tinged laid back indie rock. I remember seeing them open for the Album Leaf a few times in the past. Manuok is the project of Scott Mercado (Guitars/Vocals) who has various members assist him in the live format. "Flowers For Algernon" was their rocking number that falls somewhere between an Iron and Wine and Band Of Horses. Manuok will be playing with the Album Leaf on the 22nd of this month at the Casbah. Their latest release is "Loud and Clear" which is available on itunes.

Midnight Movies




Midnight Movies continue to make the rounds on the tour circuit in support of their psychedelic opus "Lion The Girl". I have reviewed Midnight Movies multiple times before at the House of Blues San Diego and Wiltern . "Parallel Paramore" was their opening track and sounded edgier then ever. Larry Schemel (Guitars) was on fire dialing up some scorching tones on his Fender Telecaster deluxe. Larry had his Boss Fuzz pedal on stand by as he opted for the Big Muff distortion for his leads. Larry also effectively used his Z.Vex Super Duper for prolonged sustain while working on his Dunlop Wah pedal. "Souvenirs" sounded even fuzzier compared to the recorded version and was one of the best versions I have heard from the Midnight Movies. "Nights in White Satin" had Sandra Vu (Drums/Flute) come out from behind her drum kit for a flute display. I have recommended "Lion The Girl" in prior reviews and will continue to do so as it has all the essential elements of trippy synths, fuzzed guitars, and soaring vocals.

Rogue Wave







Rogue Wave were all smiles as they appeared on stage. It was a sold out Belly Up Tavern and the crowd was ready. The percussive bleeps of "Like I Needed" filled the air as Zach started to strum the jangly chords. I managed to spot Zach Rogue"s pedalboard which had a Holy Grail reverb, Ibanez Analog Delay, Digitech Whammy pedal and a Fulltone Fulldrive Mosfet 2. "Every Moment" was transformed into a surefire rocking anthem as Zach would jump up and down during the guitar stabs of the song. "Sewn Up" was prefaced with a feedback wash intro before diving into its reverb and delay soaked chorus. Rogue Wave's songs take on a whole new persona when performed live and will transform you into an immediate fan. It was clear to see the band was having a good time as Zach thanked the audience for showing up. "Publish My Love" was as wistful as ever with Pat Spurgeon (Drums) carefully cymbal smashing in the right places as the song would drop out at the right times with just Zach and his guitar before the rest of the band would come storming back into the song. "Endless Shovel" was an old song off their first album "Out of The Shadow" that Zach mentioned they resurrected for this tour. Zach would explain that "Medicine Ball" was a song that they wrote at the last minute to include on "Descended Like Vultures". Zach pulled out a shiny Fender Jaguar Baritone before playing an astounding version of "Chicago X 12". "Bird On A Wire" turned into a tribal drum jam with Midnight Movies coming on stage with some drums as Zach bounded across the stage attacking whatever he could with drum sticks before making his way behind the drum kit before morphing into the Zune ad featured "Lake Michigan". "Harmonium" kept the high spirits of the crowd alive and was a perfect way to cap their set. Rogue Wave happily obliged with an encore with some fans in the crowd calling for "Eyes". Zach sang a few lines of "Eyes" acapella but they hadn't played the song in awhile. "Ghost" was a worthy encore as Zach tackled it by himself with an acoustic guitar. Zach responded to the requests of "California" by mentioning that the crowd just wanted to hear him sing the lyrics "Screw California". Rogue Wave will be playing Coachella and I highly recommend you catch their set.

Silversun Pickups at the Wiltern Theatre

The Silversun Pickups have had a spectacular year. They opened for the Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails in Ireland and made high profile appearances on late night television. It is fitting that they played to a packed house at the Wiltern on Saturday night. I remember when they played a sold out show at the Echo and Brian Aubert (Vocals/Guitars) had a certain look of disbelief when he appeared on stage. I saw this look of awe again when the Silversun Pickups came out to a large ovation.


The Silversun Pickups have been supporters of the local music scene and had the Happy Hollows from Los Angeles open the show with their spastic uptempo pop rocks influenced indie rock. Sarah Negadari (Vocals/Guitar) was ferocious onstage. When she wasn't two handed tapping on her guitar like Eddie Van Halen, she was running into the drum set and commanding your attention. Charlie M. (Bass/Vocals) was handling the bass lines but also managed to work out some synthesizer action on his Alesis Ion. Some audible influences include the unhinged moments of Sonic Youth, Pixies songwriting dynamics and a smidge of Pavement angular guitars. I am regretting missing their recent residency at the Echo.


I think I have seen Midnight Movies about five times this year. The Midnight Movies opened for The Silversun Pickups before last year at the Troubadour and it was nice to see that the Silversun Pickups offer them the opening slot again. The Midnight Movies are still touring behind their album "Lion The Girl" and seemed very comfortable on the Wiltern stage as it gave them the space to recreate their psychedelic headphone mandatory tapestries. Gena Olivier (Vocals/Keyboards/Drums/Guitars) hit up almost every instrument on the stage and pulled it off without a hitch. Larry Schemel (Guitars) must have had smoke coming from his Fender Telecaster Deluxe when he did the guitar solo. Ryan Wood (Guitars/Keyboards) had his mysteriously blue box theremin working overtime during the beginning of "Patient Eye". I need to find a picture of his mini noise making box. The crowd received them well and they will be playing a free show at Hollywood and Highland on November 3rd.









The Silversun Pickups were beaming when they hit the stage. I have been to the Wiltern many times and would say that this was the most intimate show of the year. Brian Aubert (Guitars/Vocals) had his Epiphone Hollowbody guitar ready to go as he strummed the opening chords of "Melatonin". I have mentioned it in prior write ups but will reiterate that his guitar tone is in the upper tier of guitar players. Brian's guitar tones are widened with the atmospheric overtones of Joe Lester's keyboard work and Nikki Monniger's bitting Gibson Thunderbird bass lines. Christopher Guanlao (Drums) was hitting his drums so hard that his super hi-hat cymbal fell over during the show. Paul Wilson (Snow Patrol) came out to add some extra fuzz on "Lazy Eye" and "Common Reactor". Brian was pacing the stage and seemed right at home as he would occasionally recognize people in the pit below. The Silversun Pickups played all of their phenomenal debut album "Carnavas" and reached back to their "Pikul" ep for an extended rousing encore. They ended their set a cover of The Movies "Creation Lake" that features Nikki's sweet vocals. They left the stage giving high fives to the audience members in the pit making it a night to remember for all those in attendance.

Silversun Pickups setlist at the Wiltern theatre (10/20/07)
"Melatonin"
"Well Thought Out Twinkles"
"Dream At Tempo 119"
"Rusted Wheel"
"Waste It On"
"Little Lover's So Polite"
"Future Foe Scenarios"
"Kissing Families"
"Three Seed"
"Lazy Eye"
"Common Reactor"
"All The Go Inbetweens"
"Checkered Floors"
"Comeback Kid"
"Creation Lake"

Blonde Redhead at the Glass House

In order to break up the drive out to the Glass House in Pomona, I stopped by Disneyland to find out it was Bats Day. Bats Day is when a bunch of goths, industrial kids and parents walk around the park dressed in black. It must have been really hot to walk around in black clothes all day in the sun. It was not nearly as hot as Blonde Redhead's performance though.




Midnight Movies opened again for Blonde Redhead and was well received by the audience. I don't think I have ever seen a band headline a show on one night and then see them the next day as an opener for another band. Congratulations to Midnight Movies for earning that rare distinction. Midnight Movies played a similar set as they did the previous night. I forgot to mention they closed their set with "Parallel Paramour" that quickly morphs into "Wild Thing". I did spot Kazu Makino from Blonde Redhead off to the side of the stage observing the Midnight Movies set.








I think the last time I saw the Glass House as packed as it was on this particular night is when Ladytron played. I had secured a good spot up front and was ready to take in Blonde Redhead's best performance of the weekend. Kazu Makino(Vocals/Guitars) was downright intoxicating as she strummed the opening chords of "Dr. Strangeluv". She was whipping her hair around even more compared to the Sunset Junction performance and was frequently smiling. Kazu even made the comment about how they loved to play in Pomona. Amedeo Pace (Guitars/Vocals) was equally arresting toying with his assortment of boutique pedals. Amedeo's pedal board had some interesting stuff on it which included an Electro Harmonix Holier Grail Reverb and an Eventide Time Factor. These pedals are the building blocks of Blonde Redhead's outer worldly sounds. Kazu did a splendid job behind her Nord Electro keyboard as she pounded out the piano riff for "SW". When she wasn't behind the keyboard she was playing her white Gibson SG. Simone Pace did his usual stellar drumming job functioning as the glue that holds the delicate songs together. Some of the highlight songs included "Top Ranking", "Melody" and "Failing Man". The set was the quickest ninety minutes of my life. I only ask you do two things. Buy "23" from Blonde Redhead and buy yourself a ticket to see them at the Wiltern on Oct 25th with Autolux.

Blonde Redhead Pedalboard


Blonde Redhead Setlist for the Glass House (8/19/07)
"Dr. Strangeluv"
"Spring and By Summer Fall"
"23"
"Falling Man"
"The Dress"
"Publisher"
"In Particular"
"Equus"
"We are a Real Team(Harry and I)"
"Melody of Certain Three"
"Top Ranking"
"Silently"
"Melody"

Midnight Movies and Gliss at the Detroit Bar

I was worried about missing Gliss and Midnight Movies as I waded amongst the masses after Blonde Redhead's electrifying set at Sunset Junction. I double timed it from Silverlake down to Costa Mesa just in time to catch a few songs of The Minor Canon.

Minor Canon


The Minor Canon had the stage packed with various instruments and members. I have been meaning to check them out for some time. Paul Larson (Vocals/Guitars) was in Strictly Ballroom and contributed guitars to the Dntel album "Dumb Luck". The Minor Canon is not an electronic outfit though and has an indie orchestral rock vibe. I didn't catch the whole set but was super impressed with their closing Pavement cover of "In The Mouth of a Desert" with bonus points for the call and response vocals. Their album "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" is available on itunes or you can order directly from the band via Paypal.

Gliss



Gliss was up next and played their back alley garage rock tunes with fiery abandon. They opened with "Kissing The Blvd" with Martin Klingman drumming away adding his raspy whisper vocals. David Reiss was all over the stage thrashing his Les Paul in an effort to break a string so he could play his shiny new Gibson 330. Gliss then launched into the catchy "Make Believe" with a searing guitar line grinding against a wobbly keyboard groove. Victoria Cecilia was holding down the low end with her Fender Precision bass when she wasn't drumming away. Their album "Love The Virgins" will be released fairly soon and I recommend you pick it up. They will be touring with the like minded and sounding Raveonettes for an East coast swing.

Midnight Movies



Midnight Movies continue to tighten their live set. It was nice to see them headline their own show at the Detroit Bar. They showcased their psychedelic swirling indie rock. Gena Olivier (Keyboards/Drums/Vocals) triggered some spooky organ tones from her Korg MS2000 for the opening of "Patient Eye". Larry Schemel was doing an outstanding job on his Fender Telecaster using his Electro Harmonix Line Booster to get some smooth overdriven fuzzy tones. Ryan Wood mans the keyboards and will bust out his Fender Jaguar on a couple of tunes. He also as a small blue home made synth generator that he uses to add some textures to the songs. Gena displayed some of her drumming skils during "Should've Known" to give the song a tribal feel. "Strange Design" is one of my favorite Midnight Movies songs as it starts with a catchy bassline augmented with percolating synths that is featured on their self titled debut album. As the night ended, I was glad I would get another dose of Midnight Movies and Blonde Redhead on Sunday in Pomona.

Midnight Movies setlist for the Detroit Bar (8/18/2007)
"Patient Eye"
"Two Years"
"Should've Known"
"1910"
"Strange Design"
"Nights"
"Souvenirs"
"Lion Song"
"Parallel Paramour"

Blonde Redhead at the House of Blues San Diego

One of my top concerts of all time was the ticket stub from above. It featured a new band from Brooklyn called Blonde Redhead who were extremely loud and noisy. I was there to see Hum but the fact that I can remember their set from that long ago signifies that it left a lasting impression.  Blonde Redhead's latest offering "23" is simply stunning. This will be in my top albums of 2007 guaranteed. I was hoping they would play a smaller venue but was eager to catch them at the cozy House of Blues San Diego to start off my mini Blonde Redhead tour.



Traffic was horrendous on Friday night and I missed most of Midnight Movies but I managed to snag a few shots as they were wrapping up their set. I was disappointed because the soundsystem at the House of Blues is excellent and did well to differentiate all the sonic layers of Midnight Movies. My only recourse is I was lucky enough to see them at the Detroit Bar the next night and at the Glass House.









The curtains were drawn and the House of Blues was filled to capacity when Amedeo Pace (Guitars/Vocals) started to pluck the opening notes of "Dr. Strangeluv". Simone Pace (Drums) quickly followed in with his jazz influenced drumming as Kazu Makino's (Guitars/Vocals) voice emanated over the speakers quickly intoxicating the audience. "23" is a stellar album that gives praise to both Kazu and Amedeo but I think Simone is the unsung hero on this album as the drums stick out. I usually listen to albums and latch onto the guitars then the vocals. In this case, the subtle flourishes and different kinds of percussion on the album made my ears perk up. Throughout this concert I payed special attention to Simone and his drumming. He had a Roland electronic drum pad that he used for his multitude of drum samples. Amedeo stepped up to the microphone and sang "Spring and by Summer Fall" which has a beautiful counter melody played by Kazu in contrast to the louder, urgent guitar stabs played by Amedeo. The chemistry between all three members was very palpable and one could see them lock eyes throughout the set. Kazu did have some trouble remembering "Misery Is a Butterfly" but so sweetly apologized for it that you almost mistook it for part of the show. She was hugged by Amedeo to which the crowd greeted with a resounding sigh of compassion. They closed the show with "Equus" which helped me commandeer enough strength to brave the masses for Saturday.

Raveonettes and Midnight Movies at the Detroit Bar

Have I mentioned how cool the Detroit Bar is lately? In between my mini tour of Morrissey shows, The Raveonettes happened to play a show at the Detroit Bar. The last time I caught the Raveonettes was with a few thousand people when they opened for Depeche Mode at Staples Center. I love the fuzzed out reverb drenched guitar sounds that the Raveonettes magically create.


I have covered the Midnight Movies a couple of times when they opened for Ladytron on Halloween last year as well as opening for Silversun Pickups at the Troubadour. They have recently released a new album on New Line records titled "Lion The Girl". I was in front of Larry Schemel (Guitars) and was impressed by his guitar playing and setup. He was using a Line 6 Delay Modulation pedal, Z.Vex Super Duper, Dunlop Wah, Electro Harmonix LPB-1 (Power Booster), and a Boss Fuzz pedal. They opened with "Lion The Girl" which ends in a fuzz flurry that had one audience member trying to form a pit in front of the stage. Gena Olivier was multi tasking switching between her tambourine, Korg MS 2000, and drums. I recommend you pick up "Lion The Girl" if you like textured dreamy psychedelic indie pop coated with keyboard lines.




Raveonettes setlist and Midnight Movies setlist

Sharin Foo Pedalboard

Sune Rose Wagner Pedalboard


One of my favorite Raveonettes songs is "Twilight". The hypnotic quality of the guitar riff coupled with some coats of fuzz make playing guitar along to the song extremely fun. The Raveonettes had some problems last year when all their gear was stolen which included Fender Jaguars. Jazzmasters, and vintage pedals. They had some impressive replacement gear on stage when they performed at the Detroit Bar. They opened with a feedback cover version of Buddy Holly's "Everyday". During the show, Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo would alternate between guitars, bass, and drums. Sandra Vu from Midnight Movies also came out to help on drums. "Twilight" featured a scorching fuzz tremolo picked ending. They also covered Sonic Youth by playing "100%" which sounded spot on. I included pictures of Sharin Foo's Pedalboard and Sune Rose Wagner's Pedalboard which both featured Pro Co Rat Distortion pedals. I have to give extra points to Sharin Foo for her inclusion of a Z. Vex Fuzz Factory pedal. The Raveonettes are in the process of recording a new album which is shaping up to be just as fuzzed out as their previous efforts. It was a splendid guitar driven intermission in between my Morrissey marathon.