Grand Duchy at the Detroit Bar

How can you pass up seeing Black Francis at the Detroit Bar? Black Francis was recently at the Detroit Bar in August of 2008 touring behind his latest solo album Svn Fngrs.






Grand Duchy is Black Francis's latest venture along with his wife Violet Clark (Bass/Vocals) that takes a dip back into some '80s nostalgia flavored sounds. Petit Fours is their new album released on Cooking Vinyl that clocks in at a brisk 37 minutes.

How do you go about recreating an '80s sounds? Three microKorg keyboards and an assortment of Steinburger and Hohner headless basses will help you channel your inner Devo. It also doesn't hurt to cover The Cure's "A Strange Day" either.

Opening the evening with the rambling "Come On Over To My House", Black Francis added his trademark vocals as he strummed his Fender Telecaster. Violet would later take over a good majority of the vocals duties for a few songs to which an audience member quipped "Does hubby sing?". Violet chuckled and said, "Yes, he will be singing again in a few songs".

Grand Duchy really started to hit their stride during the ending their set when they played "Fort Wayne" and had two basses rumbling for "Break The Angels". They wound down the evening with "Black Suit", "Volcano!" and "Long Song" without returning for an encore. Black Francis did end "Long Song" with a miniature storm of feedback and in the midst of the noise I detected the riff of "Crazy Train" (Corrected by Albert from Heard Mentality) which would have made Beavis and Butthead proud.

Of course, I would love to see The Pixies tour again but you have to admire Black Francis for still hitting the small clubs when he could potentially be selling out large theaters. The exchange of smiles between him and his wife throughout the evening was a good sign that he is focused on Grand Duchy.

Upcoming shows at the Detroit Bar

I had a busy weekend shooting Grand Duchy, Keane and The Shins but wanted to give you a quick update. In case you haven't noticed, The Detroit Bar recently switched over to Ticketmaster.

Detroit Bar has a slew of awesome shows coming up like Helmet on May 14th, We Are Scientists on May 31st and Dinosaur Jr. on June 20.

Dinosaur Jr. at the Detroit Bar? Bring two sets of earplugs for that one.

Chemical Reactions

A slew of new releases continue to bombard the music fan. Bands need to release albums in order to have an excuse to tour, so I imagine the average cycle between albums for bands will generally shorten.

It also won't be uncommon to see some bands do 2 or 3 tours supporting one album. I honestly can't remember seeing this many great bands on tour at once. It only looks to get worse as bands realize the only way to make money these days is tour or to be Josh Freese.

Gliss

Devotion Implosion obliterates any notion of a sophomore slump for my favorite Los Angeles based trio, Gliss. The recording of this album was meticulous, as the sounds and tones are well-crafted. "29 Acts Of Love" immediately attacks you with a noise burst before intoxicating you with its groovy bass and shattered glass guitars.

I wasn't familiar with any of the new material when I caught them at Spaceland in February, but immediately recognized most of the songs when I listened to the cd. This very rarely happens. Gliss will be playing the Roxy on June 5th.

Great Northern

Another band avoiding the sophomore slump would be Great Northern. Remind Me Where The Light Is is extremely strong from start to finish. This album begs to be licensed to a movie soundtrack or various commercials. While Solon Bixler (Guitars/Vocals) doesn't sing on as many songs as I would have liked, he upped the ante in the sound department and conjured some intricate textures for the album.

Even though there is less of Solon, having more of Rachel Stolte (Vocals) is not necessarily a complaint as she really stretches out her vocals and becomes more of the focal point of the band. The recommended song for you to check out would be "Warning" with its lonely drumbeat and haunting piano riff that builds until it explodes into a climatic chorus. Great Northern will be hitting up the Echoplex with The Dears and Eulogies on May 23. I previously saw Great Northern rock the Roxy back in March.

Metric

If you want to talk about singing for the fences, I say look to Metric. I haven't seen Metric since October of 2007 when they played the Download Festival in San Francisco. I remember when I wrote that review that I heard the song "Stadium Love" and couldn't find it in their catalog.

Fantasies fulfills the promise of "Stadium Love" and I won't be surprised when Metric starts rocking stadiums with their batch of synthesizer fueled anthems. It should also be noted that Metric (along with Josh Freese) have wisely employed Topspin to distribute their album. Metric will be playing the Wiltern on June 8th.

Mini-Mansions

Another band that recently caught my eye was the emergence of Mini-Mansions which features the musical talents of Michael Shuman from Queens of the Stone Age and Wires On Fire. I was impressed when I saw them open for Autolux at the Detroit Bar.

Self-described as "Dark Comedy" music, I picked up more of a Replacements mixed with psychedelic vibe. We all know Michael shreds on the bass, but it is nice to see him step out and display some of his other musical skills. I will keep you posted on any upcoming shows.

Yann Tiersen and Asobi Seksu at the El Rey Theatre

I honestly went to this show specifically to see Asobi Seksu. It seems like only a few weeks ago, I caught Asobi Seksu at the Troubadour when they blew me away with their lush layers of fuzz from their gorgeous new album Hush. The evening continued to blossom when I decided to stick around for Yann Tiersen.

Asobi Seksu






Even though I just saw Asobi Seksu, I couldn't pass up another opportunity to see them again. A steady drumbeat of "Sing Tomorrow's Praise" kicked off their set with Yuki Chikudate (Vocals/Synthesizers) weaving twinkling keyboard lines into the ethereal guitars of James Hanna. The sound mix at the El Rey sounded pristine as every note blended together.

Billy Pavone (Bass) crushed his bass for the fuzzy notes of "Strawberries" backed by the intricate guitar picking pattern by James. "Thursday" was another barnburner from Citrus that had me staring at James's interesting chord progressions on his guitar.

Asobi Seksu kept the energy level high throughout most of the set but did turn it down (relatively) for their self proclaimed "Slow Jam" when they did the sparkling "Blind Little Rain". It was also nice to hear "Layers" live as most of the crowd was getting into their set.

The final clincher was that of "Red Sea" which fully sold the audience with its immense waves of sound and feedback as the strobe lights flickered in time with the noise. Yuki would punctuate their performance by throttling the drum kit for a rousing ovation from crowd.

I stopped by the merchandise booth and picked up a cd of their acoustic performances at Olympic Studios that I highly recommend. Make sure to check out their live performance on KCRW.

Yann Tiersen






I won't pretend to have infinite knowledge on Yann Tiersen but I did hear he did the soundtrack to Amelie that I have yet to watch. Since I tend to be a little gear biased, things were moving in the right direction when I saw a Moog Voyager being setup along with a Hiwatt Custom Tape Echo attached to it. My eyes and ears widened when I saw two large pedal boards being setup.

The interesting thing to note was it didn't seem like the typical El Rey Theatre crowd. A lot of people were scurried by security in between the black lines of tape to keep the aisles clear which indicated they hadn't been to the venue before. It also seemed that they were unprepared by the vast noisy textured songs that Yann proceeded to render.

Armed with a Fender Jaguar, Yann dialed up some large heaps of delay and fuzz for an intoxicating set. Since I didn't know what to expect, I was enjoying myself but most of the audience seemed have a quizzical look on their face. After perusing through some of his recorded material, things made sense. I don't think the crowd was expecting a rock show.

Yann effortlessly switched from guitar to violin for a solo instrumental that had literally had members of the audience throw their undergarments on stage. Was I at a Poison show? It was hilarious to see the band continue to play as they were visibly cracking up on stage. It reaffirmed my stance that all bands deserve a chance to be seen because you might be pleasantly surprised. Yann will be heading back to Europe for another tour as well as stopping by the ATP festival being curated by the Breeders.

The Black Lips at the Detroit Bar

Check out my photos of The Black Lips at the Detroit Bar over at OC Weekly.

Ladytron and The Faint at the Henry Fonda Theater

After blitzing the Grove of Anaheim, The Faint and Ladytron drove up the 5 to stop by the Henry Fonda Theater for a two night stand. I somehow thought Ladytron was going to headline on this particular night but was mistaken once I saw the posted set times.

Unfortunately, I encountered a photopass mix up and missed Crocodiles. It would have been interesting to see how well they were received given their confrontational performance at the Grove of Anaheim. I hopefully will catch them again when they play the Troubadour on June 6th.

Ladytron







It would have been interesting to see Ladytron close out the evening and possibly add a few more songs into their set but I was still glad I got to see them two nights in a row. Given that they were in the second slot, Ladytron stuck to the same setlist as the night before and opened with "Black Cat" that bled into "Runaway".

I was secretly hoping they could mix it up with "Evil" or "Playgirl" but still was excited when they unveiled "True Mathematics" and the dually illuminated disco balls during "Discotraxx". Mira Aroyo (Vocals/Synthesizers) took the microphone off the stand and danced around a little for "Fighting In Built Up Arenas" to the crowd's delight. It did seem like the crowd appreciated Ladytron even more compared to the previous night.

With the addition of the Moog Voyager in their setup, It should also be noted the live mixes of the songs are different compared the prior tours. Even though I was hearing the same setlist again, the songs still seemed fresh as I tried to scan for audible inclusions of the Moog.

The strobe lights for this particular show also seem to have been accelerated as it was even more difficult to capture good images of the band. It does support the notion that bands bring their "A+" game to shows in Los Angeles. Ladytron has the good fortune of crossing the sea to open up a handful of dates for Depeche Mode before possibly returning to the studio to record their follow up. European vacation anyone?

Ladytron setlist at the Henry Fonda Theater (4/26/09)
"Black Cat"
"Runaway"
"High Rise"
"Ghosts"
"Seventeen"
"I'm Not Scared"
"True Mathematics"
"Season Of Illusions"
"Soft Power"
"Discotraxx"
"International Dateline"
"Fighting In Built Up Arenas"
"Tomorrow"
"Destroy Everything You Touch"

The Faint






With a slight nod to "Your Retro Career Melted", The Faint melted faces and careers alike with another knock out performance at the Henry Fonda Theater. Even though I missed Todd Fink's goggles and lab coat attire, Todd had a military coat on as he lead the soldiers of The Faint through another blazing set.

It is difficult to believe that the core line-up of The Faint have been around for ten plus years. The hard hitting songs kept suffocating the audience from the biting bass of "Dropkick The Punks" to the distorted vocals of "Your Retro Career Melted". The Faint flipped back and forth between their new album Fasciinatiion and older material.

Along with the seizure inducing strobe lights, a large projection screen flashed an assortment of twisted images matching the aural aesthetic of their songs. "Forever Growing Centipedes" was especially trippy with images of centipedes and skewed computer generated graphics.

Some of the other highlights from their set included "Desperate Guys", "Paranoiattack" and "Southern Belles in London Sing". The Henry Fonda was really shaking by the time they got to the encore and "Glass Danse" was its usual red hot blazing self. I also like The Faint's sense of humor by ending their set with "I Disappear". Given that this is their third tour of duty across the states, I think The Faint will probably take a well deserved break to recharge their synthesizers before embarking on their next record.

The Faint setlist at the Henry Fonda Theater (4/26/09)
"Mirror Error"
"Agenda Suicide"
"Dropkick The Punks"
"Your Retro Career Melted"
"The Conductor"
"Psycho"
"In Concert"
"Take Me To The Hospital"
"Machine In The Ghost"
"Desperate Guys"
"Get Seduced"
"Forever Growing Centipedes"
"Southern Belles In London Sing"
"Worked Up So Sexual"
"Paranoiattack"
Encore:
"The Geeks Were Right"
"Glass Danse"
"I Disappear"

The Faint and Ladytron at the Grove of Anaheim

The idea of pairing up The Faint and Ladytron for a co-headliner tour was genius. It also happened to be a feast of synthesizers as I spotted various Korg, Nord, Novation, Moog and Roland keyboards gracing the stage. It was only fair that I hit at least two of the three Southern California appearances.

Crocodiles





Deemed as a band to watch by Stereogum, I was interested in finding out what Crocodiles had to offer. If you couldn't tell by the pictures, a handful of red lights barely illuminated the dual sunshade wearing twosome.

In keeping with their lo-fi visual aesthetic, Crocodiles made a lot of noise for a duo by triggering a drum machine and Charles Rowland (Guitars) proceeded to unleash a wave of fuzzy feedback that washed over the quizzical synthesizer loving audience. Was it a good fit to put them on the bill? Maybe not. I heard the catcalls from the audience when I was in the photo pit during their first 3 songs.

In defense of Crocodiles though, I think they were going for the confrontational performance to evoke a response from their audience. Brandon Welchez (Vocals) even quipped near the end of their performance that, "they would be backstage if you want to beat us up". I didn't mind the avalanche of fuzz, but I think they will go over much better when they play the Troubadour with Holy F**k on June 6th.


Ladytron






Ladytron continues to tour in support of their highly infectious album Velocifero. I last caught up with Ladytron in June of 2008 when they played the Henry Fonda Theater with Datarock. I never get tired of seeing Ladytron live as they bring back lots of good memories when I saw them open up a bunch of shows in England for Nine Inch Nails.

When I spotted a Moog Voyager in front of Reuben Wu (Synthesizers), I was a little surprised since he was primarily using a Korg MS2000 and Korg MS-20. Would this change the sound of Ladytron? The answer is yes. The synth bass lines were heavier and darker giving the edgy songs an extra kick. Helen Marnie (Vocals/Synthesizers) and Mira Aroyo (Vocals/Synthesizers) both sounded flawless as they opened with "Black Cat" and "Runaway".

"I'm Not Scared" was extremely heavy on the Moog keyboards with its heavy bass intro. Ladytron made the most of their set time by packing in as many songs as possible without any banter besides the occasional thanks. "Tomorrow" immediately struck me as my favorite song from Velocifero and it sounded even better live. It seemed like they had only been playing for seconds when they ended their set with "Destroy Everything You Touch". I was glad I was going to catch them the next night at the Henry Fonda.

The Faint





It was one of the top synthesizer shows of the year when I saw The Faint at the Henry Fonda Theater back in August of 2008. The Faint turned in another performance that made me think they blow minds on a nightly basis. As good as the recorded material sounds, The Faint need to be seen live in order to immerse yourself in the sea of synthesized beats.

The combination of the blinding strobes with the fuzzed guitars and vocoded vocals elevate the songs to new levels. It also doesn't hurt when a sea of a hundred people simultaneously gyrate in time with the music. I did spot a few cool pedals on stage during the Faint which didn't surprise me. I long have extolled the virtues of Death By Audio pedals and wasn't surprised when I saw a Death By Audio Supersonic Fuzz Gun pedal.

"Mirror Error" punted off their electric set that didn't relent during their whole performance. The ominous build up of "Agenda Suicide" later exploded into the crowd chanting the chorus "Like A Cast Shadow". It was impressive to see the Grove of Anaheim completely sold-out and singing along. It was triumphant showing from the usually apathetic Orange County audience.

I will elaborate more on their other songs played in my Henry Fonda review but they closed the set with a triple headed hydra of "The Geeks Were Right", "Glass Danse" and "I Disappear". The Faint would be hard pressed to change up this closing trio as it obliterated the crowd and left them wanting more. I was immediately lamenting the fact I couldn't make it on Monday to catch all three shows.