Refused and The Hives at the Warfield

Refused
 

The Hives
 

The deluge of awesome concerts surrounding Coachella was immense. Luckily, I sent avid music fan and photographer Todd Nakamine up to San Francisco to capture the destruction of Refused and The Hives at the Warfield. Refused simply destroyed the Warfield and will likely repeat the feat at Coachella.

Refused Setlist at the Warfield (04/18/12)
01 Worms of the Senses/Faculties of the Skull
02 The Refused Party Program
03 Liberation Frequency
04 Rather Be Dead
05 Coup d'etat
06 Summerholidays vs Punkroutine
07 The Deadly Rhythm
08 Hook, Line and Sinker
09 Everlasting
10 Refused Are Fucking Dead
11 The Slayer
12 The Shape of Punk to Come
13 New Noise
14 Tannhauser/Derive

The Hives at the Glass House

Check out my photos of The Hives at the Glass House over at Stereogum.

Coachella Sunday 2012

Check out my photos from Sunday at Coachella over at OC Weekly.

Coachella Saturday 2012

Check out my photos from Saturday at Coachella over at OC Weekly.

Coachella Friday 2012

Check out my photos from Friday at Coachella over at OC Weekly.

Radiohead at the Santa Barbara Bowl

Check out my photos of Radiohead at the Santa Barbara Bowl over at Stereogum

Arctic Monkeys at the Glass House

Check out my photos of Arctic Monkeys at the Glass House over at Stereogum.

The Naked and Famous Vinyl Giveaway

The Naked and Famous rocked KROQ Acoustic Christmas Night 2 above back in December and recently kicked off a round of dates below. To celebrate these tour dates, I am giving away a sweet vinyl picture disc below. Email your name and favorite song from the band to amchemistcontest(at)gmail.com to enter to win. The contest closes on April 24th.

www.thenakedandfamous.com

www.facebook.com/tnafofficial

www.twitter.com/tnaf 

North American tour dates:

Apr 10 - Mercy Lounge - Nashville, TN

Apr 12 - Gargoyle Club - St. Louis, MO

Apr 13 - Turner Hall Ballroom - Milwaukee, WI

Apr 14 - Majestic Theatre - Madison, WI

Apr 15 - Vic Theatre - Chicago, IL

Apr 17 - Midland by AMC - Kansas City, MO

Apr 18 - Ogden Theatre - Denver, CO

Apr 19 - The Depot - Salt Lake City, UT

Apr 21 - Warfield Theatre - San Francisco, CA

Apr 23 - Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR

Apr 24 - Showbox SoDo - Seattle, WA

Apr 25 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC, Canada

Apr 26 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC, Canada

Sleigh Bells at the Fox Theater In Pomona

Check out my photo slide show of Sleigh Bells at the Fox Theater in Pomona over at OC Weekly.

My review is also at OC Weekly.

Crosses at the Satellite

Back in January, I was fortunate enough to catch the debut of Crosses at the Glass House. Crosses is a collaboration between Chino Moreno of the Deftones, Shaun Lopez of Far and Chuck Doom. They have released two EPs of material that incorporate dark synthesizers, haunting guitar melodies and sinewy bass grooves. The Satellite was a packed house for their warm up show prior to their dates out in Chile for Lollapalooza.

After shooting White Rabbits at the El Rey Theater, I barely squeezed into the Satellite as the opening chords of "†hholyghs†" started to reverberate inside the club. The slow build up of the song which melts into a huge chorus with ringing power chords makes it one of my favorite songs and starts off the set with a sharp intensity.

While Crosses receives a lot of attention due to Moreno being in the band, it is hard to discount the other members of the band. Chuck Doom is fantastic on the bass hammering out the blistering notes of "†his Is A †rick". The crowd was going crazy the whole time reaching over the stage to touch Chino or holding up their phones to record the proceedings.

The slow tempo of "Bermuda Locke†" was hypnotic with its interjected synthesizer swells and pulsating drums floating beneath Moreno's vocals. Shaun Lopez was a busy man for "Fron†ier" working behind his laptop, lap steel guitar, keyboards and guitars adding different shades of sound to the dense mix.

Chuck Doom once again shined on the bass during "†Elepa†hy" that had everyone's head bobbing along to the twisted beat. "Prurien†" was a slick mix of electronic drums meshing with catchy samples. Synthesizers and quiet guitar harmonics dominated during "1987" as the dueling drummers of Crosses found a moment to catch their breath.

"Op†ion" builds slowly with chugging metallic guitars before exploding into a dreamy chorus. Crosses have a solid grasp of song dynamics and each song is well sculpted. Crosses definitely seemed more rehearsed and stronger live compared to their debut show. Showing their appreciation for '80s synthesizer music, they deftly covered "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazzarus.

Crosses closed out the show with "The Years" which is featured on the Batman: Arkham City Soundtrack. It was a fitting closer as Moreno would wave to the crowd while singing the lyrics "as the years go bye". The folks in Chile better be prepared for a set of explosive performances by Crosses. I hope they tour again soon.

White Rabbits at the El Rey Theater

Check out my photos of White Rabbits at the El Rey Theater over at Stereogum.

Nada Surf at the Fonda Theater

Check out my photos of Nada Surf at the Fonda Theater over at Stereogum.

Radiohead at the Jobing.com Arena

Check out my photos of Radiohead at the Jobing.com Arena over at Stereogum.

The Joy Formidable, A Place To Bury Strangers, Big Black Delta at the Mayan Theater

The Joy Formidable
 
A Place To Bury Strangers
Check out my photos of The Joy Formidable, A Place To Bury Strangers and Big Black Delta at the Mayan Theater over at Stereogum.

New Multitudes at the Mayan Theater

Check out my photos of New Multitudes at the Mayan Theater over at Stereogum.

Lagwagon at the House of Blues Anaheim

Check out my photos of Lagwagon at the House of Blues Anaheim over at OC Weekly.

Zola Jesus at the Natural History Museum

Check out my photos of Zola Jesus at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles over at Stereogum.

The Kooks at the Fox Theater in Pomona

The Kooks have long held my attention since their debut at Spaceland back in 2006. Six years later, The Kooks are touring behind their third album Junk of the Heart and selling out much larger venues playing to more fanatical fans. A tremendous line of patrons snaked around the Fox Theater in Pomona eager to secure a spot on the rail.


A row of risers dominated the front of the stage as a deafening roar of female screams cascaded around the theater upon the dimming of the lights. Stuttering drums careened into the pattern of "Is It Me?" as lead singer Luke Pritchard energetically engaged the crowd by jumping onto the risers. "Always Where I Need To Be" had the crowd bouncing and singing along kicking things into a higher gear.


Hugh Harris peeled off the sizzling guitar riff for "Down To The Market" flawlessly and I was impressed with his overdriven guitar tones. Switching to acoustic guitars, "Rosie" was propulsive with its cyclical guitar riff. Older songs had a large impact on the audience as the sing along for "She Moves In Her Own Way" was massive. The Kooks seemed to have tweaked some of the songs for live purposes as "Sway" was as electric as a downed power line.


"Runaway" had an undulating electronic beat beneath the two pronged acoustic guitar attack as Harris would later tweak his guitar pedals for some squeals of feedback. Slashing guitars mimicked lightning strikes for "Stormy Weather" as Peter Denton rumbled away on his Fender bass. Another live modification was the increased tempo of "If Only" as it seemed that Pritchard was almost rapping the lyrics.


Pritchard would display his acoustic guitar skills for "Seaside" as he performed the song by himself on top of the risers. Harris would momentarily set aside his guitar for a turn on the piano for "How'd You Like That". A snappy bass line and the plinking piano melody of "Mr. Nice Guy" reminded me of something The Smiths would have performed.


Floating notes from a mellotron were keyed by Harris for "Shine On" as the crowd still sang along at a high volume. "Do You Wanna" closed out the main set as the cheers for the encore never wavered. "Junk of The Heart" and "Naive" brought the proverbial house down as the Kooks have grown by leaps and bounds since their first stateside tour stop at Spaceland nearly six years ago. Surprised Coachella didn't add them to the bill.

Yawn
 
Milo Greene
 
In the support department, Yawn hailing from Chicago entertained the crowd with a hybrid Animal Collective, Yeasayer, and Vampire Weekend kaleidoscopic electronics.  After a well received residency at the Satellite, Milo Greene easily won over the crowd with an energizing performance with multiple members taking a turn on vocals and switching instruments to keep their music fresh.

Archers of Loaf at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Archers of Loaf at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Sleigh Bells at the Mayan Theater

Check out my photos of Sleigh Bells at the Mayan Theater over at Stereogum.

Craig Finn at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Craig Finn at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Ryan Adams at the Walt Disney Concert Hall (2/17/12)

With a devout love for such metal bands varying from Ratt to Celtic Frost, Ryan Adams and I would have got along well back in high school. We could discussed Morbid Tales and argued whether Warren DeMartini or George Lynch was the better guitarist over a game of Dungeons and Dragons. Adams's latest album Ashes and Fire on his label PAXAM Records sounds nothing like his favorite metal bands but sounds exactly like Ryan Adams.

 I was fortunate to catch Ryan Adams at his tour opener at the Balboa Theater in San Diego and his amazing intimate KCRW session, so I basically knew what to expect in terms of song selection. Understanding that the auditory experience of attending a concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall is the best in the city, I had this concert circled on my calendar for quite awhile.

Strolling onstage with his black leather jacket and grabbing one of his Harmony Buck Owens acoustic guitars, Adams lightly strummed the opening chords of "Oh My Sweet Carolina" and immediately grasped the entire audience within seconds in the palm of his hand. The acoustics of the venue worked well to Adams's advantage as they hung to every spoken word and guitar note. Even when Adams was tuning his guitar, there was a hushed silence amongst the crowd.

While the songs are stellar, the stories Adams infuses before the song makes them that much more enjoyable as his shows morph into almost a storyteller atmosphere as he talked about making a drinking game out of one of his songs "Dirty Rain" by taking a drink every time he sings the word "rain". One of my favorite songs "My Winding Wheel" was phenomenal in its open tuning in which before he played it Adams plucked out a harmonic and mentioned that it was more like George Lynch.

"Invisible Riverside" conjured images of driving down Sunset Blvd just like Adams jokingly told the audience before diving into the song. The hits just kept coming as he worked through "Firecracker", "English Girls Approximately", and dedicated "Chains of Love" to his "boo". It was delightful to hear Adams masterfully tickle the ivories for "New York, New York" and his hilarious improv/ode to his cat "Mr. Cat". I think it is fair to conclude that Adams wins the award for the most cursing on the Walt Disney Concert stage.

Adams strategically stacked his setlist and his cover of "Wonderwall" perfectly blended in with his other material as he managed to add some extra shades of wistfulness to the song. I was hoping for a heavy metal cover and my wishes were granted when he took on "Holy Diver"' by Dio pausing in the middle of the song to mention that "this is the part when Warren Demartini would walk on the stage" during the solo portion of the song.

After leaving the stage to a standing ovation, Kiss "Lick It Up" proceeded to be the exit music for the show. Adams's wife Mandy Moore later would tweet that "Holy Diver" was playing on the radio when they were driving home. The stars were definitely aligned on this particular night and I'm sure Ronnie James Dio would throw up his trademark devil horns in salute.

Setlist for Ryan Adams (2/17/12)

"Oh My Sweet Carolina"
"Ashes & Fire"
"If I'm A Stranger"
"Dirty Rain"
"My Winding Wheel"
"Sweet Lil Gal (23rd/1st)"
"Invisible Riverside"
"Everybody Knows"
"Firecracker"
"Let It Ride"
"Please Do Not Let Me Go"
"English Girls Approximately"
"Chains Of Love"
"Two"
"Lucky Now"
"Mr. Cat"
"New York, New York"
"Happy Song"
"Wonderwall"
"16 Days"
"Come Pick Me Up"
"Holy Diver" 

Motley Crue at the Joint

Check out my review of Motley Crue at the Joint over at OC Weekly.

Van Halen at the Forum

Check out my review of Van Halen at the Forum over at OC Weekly.

Crosses at the Glass House

Check out my photos of Crosses at the Glass House over at OC Weekly.

Wilco at the Wiltern

Check out my photos of Wilco at the Wiltern over at Stereogum.

Wilco at the Hollywood Palladium

Check out my photos of Wilco at the Hollywood Palladium over at OC Weekly.

Anthrax at the House of Blues Anaheim

Check out my photos of Anthrax at House of Blues Anaheim over at OC Weekly.

Angels and Airwaves at the House of Blues Anaheim

Check out my photos of Angels and Airwaves at the House of Blues Anaheim over at OC Weekly

NAMM at the Anaheim Convention Center

Check out my photos of NAMM at the Anaheim Convention Center over at OC Weekly.

Zakk Wylde Roast at the Grove of Anaheim

Check out my photos of the Zakk Wylde Roast at the Grove of Anaheim over at OC Weekly.

A brief review of NAMM and the Roast are also over at OC Weekly.

Wu Tang Clan at the Grove of Anaheim

Check out my photos of Wu Tang Clan at the Grove of Anaheim over at OC Weekly.

Tool at the Mandalay Bay Events Center

Check out my photos of Tool at the Mandalay Bay Events Center over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.

M83 at Club Nokia Night 2

Check out my photos of M83 and Big Black Delta at Club Nokia over at OC Weekly.

M83 at Club Nokia

Check out my photos of M83 and Big Black Delta at Club Nokia over at Stereogum.

Incoming: White Rabbits new album "Milk Famous"

Having last ventured upon White Rabbits when they opened for Interpol back in October 2010 (picture above is from their Greek Theatre performance), the Britt Daniel endorsed collective have a new album Milk Famous due out on March 6th with an stop off at the El Rey Theatre on March 28th.

Stereogum posted their new track "Heavy Metal" here.

Here are the tour dates:
March 6: Philadelphia, PA / Union Transfer *
March 7: Washington D.C. / Black Cat *
March 8: Charlottesville, VA / Jefferson Theater ^
March 9: Raleigh, NC / Lincoln Theatre ^
March 11: Atlanta, GA / Variety Playhouse ^
March 12: Birmingham, AL / The Bottletree ^
March 13: New Orleans, LA / One Eyed Jacks ^
March 14: Houston, TX / Fitzgeralds ^
March 19: Denver, CO / Bluebird Theater
March 20: Salt Lake City, UT / Urban Lounge
March 22: Portland, OR / Doug Fir Lounge
March 23: Vancouver, BC / Biltmore Cabaret
March 24: Seattle, WA / Crocodile Cafe
March 26: San Francisco, CA / The Independent
March 28: Los Angeles, CA / El Rey Theatre
March 29: San Diego, CA / The Casbah
March 30: Phoenix, AZ / Crescent Ballroom
March 31: Tucson, AZ / Club Congress
April 3: Lawrence, KS / Jackpot Music Hall
April 4: Columbia, MO / The Blue Note
April 5: St. Louis, MO / Plush
April 6: Madison, WI / High Noon Saloon
April 7: Minneapolis, MN / Triple Rock Social Club
April 8: Chicago, IL / Metro
April 12: New York, NY / Webster Hall
April 13: Northampton, MA / Pearl Street Downtown
April 14: Boston, MA / Paradise Rock Club
 * with Tennis ^ with The War On Drugs

Lab Report 2011: The Year in Review

2011 was a very difficult year for me to say the least. When I took my medical hiatus in February of 2011, I honestly didn't know if I would come back. Fortunately, I was able to return and it has helped in the healing process. Some milestones occurred this year in that I celebrated my fifth anniversary of the site and surpassed one thousand posts.

Previous years in review: 2008, 2009, 2010.

Total number of concerts in 2011: 110 (Out of 293 eligible days).

Number of days on medical hiatus: 72 days.

Average of a concert every 2.6 days.

Total number of photos/reviews for Amateur Chemist: 15

Total number of concert reviews to OC Weekly: 40

Total number of photo slideshows to OC Weekly: 31

Total number of contributions to Stereogum: 49

Total number of photos in print at the Guardian: 1

Total number of contributions to Brooklyn Vegan: 1

I would like to thank you for still reading and sticking with me.  Looking forward to making 2012 a better year.

Strung Out at the Observatory

Check out my photos of Strung Out at the Observatory over at OC Weekly.