The Get Up Kids at the Troubadour

The Get Up Kids were one of the few bands I had any interest in seeing at the Bamboozle Left show in Irvine along with Deftones and Thrice. My weekend was already set in motion as I had scheduled Ratatat at the Hollywood Palladium on Saturday and Puscifer at Club Nokia on Sunday.

Luckily, I managed to get a ticket to see The Get Up Kids at the Troubadour prior to their show at Bamboozle on Friday night. Unfortunately, no professional SLR cameras were allowed inside the venue and my point and shoot digital camera had a dead battery since it has been months since I last used it.

I will freely admit to liking the Get Up Kids. Even though most bands and fans like their album Something To Write Home About, I actually preferred their later albums On A Wire and Guilt Show. I also really enjoy The New Amsterdams which is Matt Pryor (Vocals/Guitars) doing more acoustic based songs.

The other caveat of The Get Up Kids is that Rob Pope(Bass) has done pretty well for himself by playing bass in Spoon (redemption of my indie cred). It would be interesting to see if The Get Up Kids are going to make a full fledged reunion happen or if these were a few one-off dates.

I was pretty tired from my late night with Autolux the night before so it was actually nice to take in a full concert and not worry about photos. It was hard not to crack a smile when the Get Up Kids came out with the slashing chords of "Holiday". Ten years ago, I am sure a pogo pit would have ensued but most of their fans seemed happy to take it all in.

The evening had The Get Up Kids visiting a broad range of their catalog but I particularly enjoyed hearing James Dewees add keyboards to all their older songs which really strengthened their live show. I also should note that James was one of the first musicians I saw to use an Apple laptop and keyboard controller in a live setting right when programs like Reason hit the market.

Matt Pryor was playing his Gretsch guitar while Jim Suptic (Guitars) had a Fender Telecaster and a Vox AC-30 amp. The Get Up Kids were very well rehearsed and they seemed to be enjoying themselves on stage with occasional high-fives and smiles throughout the night. Of course, songs like "Valentine" and "Red Letter Day" had the crowd singing along word for word which reminded me of Dashboard Confessional.

Things really started to pick up when they played a slew of my favorite songs in a row starting with Jim singing lead vocals on "Campfire Kansas" and "Ten Minutes". "On A Wire" was reworked from the recorded version and had a slower tempo.

A rousing ovation brought the Get Up Kids for an extended encore featuring some of their more popular songs. It was surprising to hear their cover of The Cure's "Close To Me". "Man Of Conviction" had a false start but was later pulled off without missing a beat. They capped their set with "I'll Catch You" to finish their close to two hour set. I was most impressed how well their later material held up and didn't sound dated. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for The Get Up Kids.

The Get Up Kids setlist at the Troubadour (4/3/09)
"Holiday"
"The One You Want"
"No Love"
"Valentine"
"Up On The Roof"
"Never Be Alone"
"Woodson"
"Red Letter Day"
"Out of Reach"
"Martyr Me"
"Close to Home"
"Coming Clean"
"Campfire Kansas"
"Holy Roman"
"I'm A Loner Dottie, A Rebel"
"Ten Minutes"
"Walking On A Wire"

Encore:
"Close To Me"
"Man Of Conviction"
"Mass Pike"
"My Apology"
"Don't Hate Me"
"I'll Catch You"

The Rakes at the Troubadour

While a majority of the Pitchfork devotees were at Spaceland for White Denim and The Pains of Being Pure At Heart show, I opted for UK upstarts The Rakes who are gearing up to support the release of their third album Klang. The Rakes are only playing a select number of dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York to draw attention to their new record.

I was at the Troubadour when The Rakes toured behind their first album Capture/Release and was impressed with their high energy post-punk tinged tunes. I have yet to listen to their new album but was interested to see if The Rakes were still as energetic as I remembered.

Lower Heaven



The dimly lit Troubadour and waves of droning guitars set the mood for Lower Heaven. The band lifted their name from an Echo and The Bunnymen tune and definitely pay homage to the band with their darkly shaded timbres.

Markos Chloka (Vocals/Guitars/Autoharp) had the reverb cranked on his autoharp to echo the chiming guitars of Tommy Danbury's Fender Jazzmaster. Christina Park (Bass) let the songs breathe but walked in and out of the songs with her Rickenbacker bass.

I remembered catching the tail end of their set when they played with the fitting bill of Darker My Love and Black Angels. While their placement on this bill didn't quite match, they intrigued the audience enough to elicit a decent round of applause to close their set.

Fol Chen




Fol Chen would stick out on any bill due to their prism bent melodramatic pop songs. Any band that can cover Mariah Carey's "Emotions" with a straight face and get a skeptical Los Angeles audience to cheer along deserves a closer look.

Seemingly coming out of the corners of small venues like Pehrspace and the Echo Curio, Fol Chen magically were signed to Asthmatic Kitty records and look to break out of the Los Angeles scene. A minimal setup of two keyboards, drums, an occasional bass line, and Samuel Bing's (Vocals/Guitars) electrified acoustic guitar laid the groundwork for their tangled song structures.

Part 1: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made is their debut album and was well represented as they unfurled such tunes as "No Wedding Cake" and "Cable TV". Fol Chen will be playing with another buzz band Wavves at the Echo on April 15th.

The Rakes



I don't understand why The Rakes didn't ensnare a larger audience with their first album Capture/Release. It was a fiery batch of twelve songs that were reconstructed to heightened energy levels when played live.

Klang is their third album awaiting US distribution as they are signed to V2 records in the UK. Judging their performance and the response from the enthusiastic packed fans at the Troubadour, I don't think they will have any problems.



"You're In It" had the band running on all cylinders with its toe tapping beat and spider crawling guitars. Alan Donohoe (Vocals) can easily be identified as the focal point of the group with his Energizer bunny stage performance. It also helps that Alan is propelled by some fantastic intoxicating Rickenbacker bass lines courtesy of Jamie Hornsmith.

Matthew Swinnerton (Guitars) used the exact same pedal board to power his cutting Fender Telecaster guitar flurries. Flashbacks for the audience seemed to kick in during "Retreat" as the number of people jumping around seemed to triple. "The Light From Your Mac" was surgically placed after "Terror!" to keep the momentum of the show in perpetual motion.


"22 Grand Job" was played with punk ferocity with Jamie carrying the tune on his bass while Matthew provided the aural decor of the song while Alan frantically flailed around the stage. The Rakes did turn it down for a bit with a slow simmering version of "Binary Love".

Alan had jokingly asked if anybody had downloaded via torrents their latest song "1989" and then proceeded to slag them off for stealing the song. The Rakes would dip back into their second album Ten New Messages to play "The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect". Their encore was absolutely ace with a compelling time bomb ticking version of "Strasbourg". I just hope I don't have to wait three years to see them again.

Autolux at the Detroit Bar

Check out my photos of Autolux and The Pity Party at the Detroit Bar over at OC Weekly. This was easily one of the top 5 shows ever at the Detroit Bar.

Lunch with Josh Freese at the Cheesecake Factory In Huntington Beach

(When is the last time you had lunch like this?)

An unknown number rang my cell phone on Sunday. I skeptically answered the phone and found myself speaking to Nicole who was coordinating lunches for Josh Freese. In case you haven't been following the saga, I previously posted Josh Freese's outlandish ideas to promote his new solo album.


Having been a fan of Josh Freese's drumming since his early days in the Vandals, I felt fortunate to be one of the lucky ones to buy lunch with Josh since all 25 packages sold out. Josh has worked with a slew of some of my favorite bands including Devo, A Perfect Circle and Nine Inch Nails. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to chat it up with Josh Freese over lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in Huntington Beach.


Meeting at 10:45 in front of Cheesecake Factory in Huntington Beach, I was greeted by the man himself, Josh and his cameraman. Josh handed me a goodie bag filled with signed drumsticks, a signed Remo Drumhead, his new cd/DVD, and a t-shirt. I had a feeling it would be filmed for his Youtube channel so I wore my Hum t-shirt and tried to not act like a complete dork.


Josh was very down to earth and just as zany and energetic as his drum style. It seemed to hit Josh that he was really going through with his masterplan when we sat down to eat. He relayed the craziness of trying to coordinate with people flying across the country to play miniature golf with Maynard from Tool, and Mark from Devo.


We were quickly questioned by the staff at the Cheesecake Factory as to why we were filming. Josh politely explained what he was doing and the waitress didn't seem to grasp the fact that Josh will be back potentially twenty times. It is a good thing that the Cheesecake Factory menu is quite extensive.

I did get a chance to relay my extensive live show history with Josh. I even mentioned the time I saw Josh drum for Maynard at the Whiskey for a Circle Jerks benefit. I didn't get tickets for the Viper Room show that happened later that day which was the live debut of A Perfect Circle. Josh quickly added he remembered playing to a few hundred people with A Perfect Circle as the first band on the main stage for Coachella in 1999.


I ordered a chicken and shrimp jambalaya pasta while Josh ordered a turkey sandwich and soup. What has gotten lost in the midst of all the craziness, is that Josh is promoting his new solo album which serves as a homage to the Replacements, Fear, and the quirk pop of Devo.

One of the funnier moments of the lunch was when Danny Lohner of Nine Inch Nails called Josh. I sarcastically asked Josh to quiz Danny on the status of the Renholder album which is Danny's side project. I did get some funny tour stories that I probably shouldn't recant here but overall the lunch went by in seconds.

I did get a chance to ask Josh about his contribution to Juliana Hatfield's album Only Everything to which Josh commented it stood out in his memory of being a fun album to work on. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to quiz him about Buckethead and the Guns N'Roses days.

We ended the lunch by taking a few photos in front of the Cheesecake Factory parking signs which may end up on his site. While you can put a price tag ($250) on the package, the whole experience was pretty classic and worth every penny. This very well will be the most expensive post here on Amateur Chemist but one that definitely will not be forgotten.

Cold War Kids at the Orpheum Theatre

I last caught up with the Cold War Kids at Fingerprints records for the release of their latest album Loyalty to Loyalty. It was a compelling performance that will be released as a limited edition cd of 5,000 on record store day April 18th.

Cold War Kids will be venturing across the states opening for Death Cab for Cutie but put together a few dates to get them back in touring shape. Cold War Kids showed some loyalty by securing Long Beach locals Crystal Antlers to open for them at the sold out Orpheum Theatre.

Crystal Antlers






I honestly don't know why I keep missing Crystal Antlers. The Long Beach based locals seem to be playing every week at various venues across the southland. I did manage to catch Damian Edwards (Drums/Percussion) when he toured with Sun Trash. Crystal Antlers have recently signed with Touch & Go records to release their album Tentacles.

Facing a seated crowd at the Orpheum Theatre, It was a tough going for the Crystal Antlers. Their psychedelic tribal stomp had difficulty crossing the icy expanse of the Orpheum. In the Echo or at the Prospector, their set would have translated better. I need to see them on their own terms. I still applaud Cold War Kids for bringing a local act and supporting Long Beach.

Cold War Kids






I was skeptical about Cold War Kids playing the austere Orpheum theatre but I quickly remembered how they transformed the Wiltern theatre into your living room. In order to establish this intimate setting, the Cold War Kids used very sparse lighting at the beginning of their set for a reworked version of "We Used To Vacation".

The dim lighting continued matched the shadowy mood of "God, Make Up Your Mind" with Nathan Willett (Vocals/Guitars) howling in the darkness. A dramatic shift in intensity ensued when after the first few notes of "I've Seen Enough". The crowd was now on their feet locked in with rhythm of the song. "Dreams Old Men Dream" is one of my favorite tunes from their new cd with its hissing snare drum beat and bluesy reverb soaked guitars.

The underlying tension in "Rubidoux" was palpable as it was difficult not to spot the audience member in the balcony losing his mind dancing along uncontrollably. In another strategic setlist choice, the unhinged vibe of "Something Is Not Right With Me" still kept the audience moving and kept everyone out of their seats. "Mexican Dogs" had Matt Maust (Bass) colliding into various band members with a caged animal intensity.

A tempo shift occurred during the encore with the Cold War Kids dipping into their back catalog for "Sermons Vs. The Gospel" and "Heavy Boots". "Saint John" still remains a vital punctuation mark to cap their set. I think I will be heading down to San Diego on 4/29 to catch them with Death Cab for Cutie. It should also be noted that the Cold War Kids will be on Jimmy Fallon's show on April 4th performing "I've Seen Enough".

Cold War Kids setlist at the Orpheum Theatre (3/27/09)
"We Used To Vacation"
"On The Night My Love Broke Through"
"God, Make Up Your Mind"
"Avalanche In B"
"I've Seen Enough"
"Dreams Old Men Dream"
"Rubidoux"
"Something Is Not Right With Me"
"Every Man I Fall For"
"Coffee Spoon"
"Relief"
"Mexican Dogs"
"Hang Me Up To Dry"
"Audience Of One"
"Hospital Beds"
Encore:
"Sermons Vs. The Gospel"
"Heavy Boots"
"Against Privacy"
"Saint John"

Aushua at the Detroit Bar

Check out my photos of Aushua, Local Natives and Lemon Sun at the Detroit Bar over at OC Weekly.

Preview: Lunch with Josh Freese

Yes. It really did happen. Lunch with Josh Freese at the Cheesecake Factory. It was filmed, photos were taken and I recorded the audio from the "lunch date". More to come after I digest the chicken and shrimp jambalaya.

Great Northern at the Roxy Theatre

Great Northern's album Trading Twilight for Daylight was one of my favorite local releases of 2007. The album was a fine blend of cinematic songwriting and uplifting guitars.

Their new album due in late April, Remind Me Where The Light Is, has Great Northern shutting off the lights leaving them to explore their songs in the darkness. Their live show reflects their altered outlook.

The Brobecks


Another box office mix up prevented me from catching all of The Brobecks. I only managed to get a few pictures of them in action. I didn't hear enough to formulate a distinct opinion. They are playing the 3 of clubs in Hollywood on April 1st.

The Jakes





I did catch The Jakes before when they played with Peachcake at the Chain Reaction. The Jakes have all the pieces in place to make an impact. They won a competition to open for the Kings of Leon and landed a spot on the Bamboozle Left show this weekend at Verizon Wireless in Irvine.

The woozy codeine effects of "Cough Syrup" were strong enough that I remembered hearing and liking the song back at the Chain Reaction. Sameer Gadhia (Vocals) led the charge while Eric Cannata (Guitars) and Jacob Tilley (Guitars) fueled their music with a Fender and Gibson guitar assault. The Jakes have an EP Shake My Hand available on itunes and amazon.com.

Lemon Sun




It has been awhile since I last caught up withLemon Sun. I saw them with the Pigeon Detectives at Spaceland in September of 2008. Lemon Sun just released their album Run With The Faithless which does a fine job capturing the essence of their live show. It seems like they have undergone a few line up changes since I last saw them, but they were just as tight sonically as I remembered.

The hard charging "Three Words" opened their set as Lemon Sun has added a full time keyboardist to round out their sound. The boozy feel of "Congratulate Our Thievery" did a fine job of inspiring a group of ladies in the front of the stage to dance along.

"Run With The Faithless" was a slash and burn overdriven tune that continued to stir the audience. Pulling out all the stops, Lemon Sun actually brought out a tap dancer to add an extra flavor of sound to one of their top tapping tunes. Lemon Sun will be hitting Spaceland on April 15th for a Club NME night before embarking on a short tour with the Rosewood Thieves.

Great Northern






Great Northern have long been a favorite band to review here on Amateur Chemist, dating as far back as January 2007 when they played Little Radio. I am fortunate to have heard their new album Remind Me Where The Light Is and can easily state that the album blew me away. I thought it was going to be difficult to follow up their fantastic debut album, but Great Northern came back with a vengenance and revealed some of their darker side.

Rachel Stolte (Vocals/Guitars) has exchanged her keyboard for a guitar to added another sonic layer to the thick cinema noir songs. Solon Bixler (Guitars) has reconfigured his guitar setup and has some pedal effects on a keyboard stand to easily tweak his sound on the fly.

The curtain at the Roxy quickly lifted and the noisy notes of "Story"
started fill the club. I didn't have my earplugs but I quickly discerned that it was a lot louder compared to prior Great Northern shows. The ringing guitars of "Houses" had Great Northern picking up steam before the swooning keyboards kick the song up a notch.

"Home" was reconfigured significantly to fit into the darker aesthetic of their new sound. "Warning" was another highlight of the evening and could very well be their next single. Great Northern will be heading off for a tour of the U.S. with the Dears and Eulogies which will hit the Casbah in San Diego on May 22nd and the Echoplex on May 23rd.