Month: October 2016

The Killers 10/1/16

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(a) setlist

Sam’s Town:

    1. Sam’s Town
    2. Enterlude
    3. When You Were Young
    4. Bling (Confession of a King)
    5. For Reasons Unknown
    6. Read My Mind
    7. Uncle Jonny
    8. Bones
    9. My. List
    10. This River Is Wild
    11. Why Do I Keep Counting?
    12. Exitlude

Encore:

    1. Mr. Brightside
    2. The Way It Was
    3. Spaceman
    4. Human
    5. Shadowplay (Joy Division cover)
    6. Somebody Told Me
    7. A Dustland Fairytale
    8. Runaways
    9. All These Things That I’ve Done

(b) highlights

  • just being able to attend this show at all was one for the books. The entire Sam’s Town Extravaganza weekend was a privilege in every sense.
  • I fully expected the band to come out and play the exact same setlist as the previous night so it was nothing short of a gift that they changed things up and even played  a longer set. Bonus points for playing acoustic “Human” for the VIP on the night I didn’t have VIP. Avoided that mess, praise! (Just kidding. But not really.)
  • it was nice to be able to actually watch “Sam’s Town” without sobbing through it like the previous night – I don’t think I’ll ever get over those confetti cannons and curtain-projection scene. That is a Moment with a capital M in every way.
  • for the first time in a long time, I got to spend a good portion of the show in front of David Brent Keuning, aka the dude in the band who accidentally became the most underrated? Like when the hell did that I happen, I don’t understand this fandom. Dave is everything and we should all be lucky he graces us with his guitar solos every night.
  • sometimes Ronnie is incredible and wonderful, and sometimes Ronnie is incredible and wonderful. This night he was incredible and wonderful, if you know what I mean.
  • it’s always a GREAT night when you get to hear “The Way It Was” – why the band briefly stopped playing that song live, I will never understand, but bless it for returning.
  • got to spend pretty much the whole show with my girl Rikki, who I almost always get separated from once shows start. She worships DBK and it was amazing getting to watch the show, in a sense, through her eyes. Long live Dave and long live Rikki.
  • Brandon was exceptionally emotional during “A Dustland Fairytale” – this always seems to happen at Vegas shows and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why.
  • right at the encore, Mark uncharacteristically walked toward center stage and raised both fists in the air before walking off. It felt like everyone in the venue cheered extra loud when he did that and it made me so happy.
  • the band closing with “All These Things That I’ve Done” brought me back to Hot Fuss days when they used to end every show with it. I got soul but I’m a soldier, baby.

(c) lowlights

  • please god anyone on earth, Bueller, anyone anyone please let me know who I have to speak to in the band/management/anyone to get these dudes to please stop playing “Shadowplay,” I will pay out of pocket, I will do everyone’s laundry for a month, please, throw me a lifeline.
  • (note: I love Joy Division and really like “Shadowplay” but it’s been nine years. Nine. Okay, end mini-rant that I know I’m not at all alone in, The Killers are perfect and it’s fine.)

(d) overall thoughts

Getting to see Night 2 of this Sam’s Town Extravaganza is one of those experiences that I’ll look back on in 5 weeks, 5 months, 5 years and say, Wait, was that real? Did we actually see that? Damn, we saw that. We had general admission tickets, sat in line, chatted the afternoon away, floated on clouds from the night before, and let the night take hold. Turns out it was quite the adventure.

Through luck, charm, grace, and opportunity, my friend and I got super sick spots during the show and rode the Sam’s Town wave from 2006 and beyond. The people around us were Victims from literally all around the world and it was pretty cool getting to know most them and letting the goddamn-American-as-hell confetti rain down on us from above. Sam’s Town was just as pitch-perfect and exhausting as the previous night and the band felt slightly more loose playing it. Everyone lost it during “Sam’s Town,” “When You Were Young,” “Bling,” “Bones,” and “This River Is Wild,” and very few moved during “Uncle Jonny,” “My List,” and “Why Do I Keep Counting?” but what can you do? In the words of Brandon Flowers, I had my dancing shoes on and Sam’s Town was a real rattlesnake from beginning to end.

I was so delirious that by the time Ronnie started drumming the intro to “The Way It Was,” I thought it was actually “From Here On Out,” and nearly passed out in blind rage. Luckily, good ole Dave took it away with that slick and reality-lifting guitar intro and we all survived. (I actually don’t hate “From Here On Out,” but do we really need to hear it again? No.) Brandon gave an intro after “Human” that really led me to believe the band was FINALLY going to play “Sweet Talk” and I nearly died. But no. It was just “Shadowplay.” Heavy sigh. Getting to hear “A Dustland Fairytale,” which the band skipped over the night before, was a real treat in every sense. If your heart isn’t bursting at the “and the decades disappear like sinking ships, but we persevere, God gives us hope, but we still fear what we don’t know,” then you’re lying. “All These Things That I’ve Done” felt more triumphant than ever, truly a marked moment of accomplishment and experience after the night wound down. You can hear these songs again and again – and I have – but I promise you they both feel like greeting old friends you haven’t seen in awhile and new, clean breaths of fresh air. Every show is familiar, but every show is different. Every feeling is real and every memory sticks to your brain like putty. You can’t easily forget about these guys.

Bottom line: Despite what the naysayers may have said 10 years ago, or what people might even say now about a band like The Killers, you can’t deny that there is heart, passion, and an unforgettable quality to the music, the band, and the experience. I treasure every note, every song (yes, even “Shadowplay”…), every moment, and every show because I – like the many before me and the many after me – love this band and their music more than words could allow. If that’s the only thing I could take away from something like the Sam’s Town Extravaganza, then I think I still won.

The Killers 9/30/16

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(a) setlist

VIP Pre-Show:

  1. Smile Like You Mean It (acoustic)
  2. Change Your Mind (acoustic)

Sam’s Town:

    1. Sam’s Town
    2. Enterlude
    3. When You Were Young
    4. Bling (Confession of a King)
    5. For Reasons Unknown
    6. Read My Mind
    7. Uncle Jonny
    8. Bones
    9. My. List
    10. This River Is Wild
    11. Why Do I Keep Counting?
    12. Exitlude

Encore 1:

    1. Under The Gun
    2. Spaceman
    3. Human
    4. Somebody Told Me
    5. Runaways
    6. All These Things That I’ve Done

Encore 2:

    1. Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
    2. Mr. Brightside

(b) highlights

  • Damnnnn, people who regularly do VIP are living the life and I feel lucky as HELL for managing to do the VIP experience for this show because it was worth every penny.
  • Sam’s Town. All of it. The album, yes, but the song too. The hotel, the casino, everything it stands for and everything it gave me. There was no way I was going to miss it turning 10 years old. I saw The Killers the day it came out, so it only felt right to see it live all again a decade later.
  • getting to see the whole band together again. While I respect the hell out of Mark Stoermer and genuinely enjoy his solo work, it’s been hard to see The Killers without him. Having everyone together again made the weekend that much more special – it felt like a reunion in more ways than one.
  • it felt pretty damn cool to stay in a hotel so rich in Killers lore, walk around and hear the band everywhere (even deep cuts like “Goodnight Travel Well,” “Move Away” and “Everything Will Be Alright”), see their name and faces on everything from advertisements in McDonald’s and poker chips, to TV screens in buffets and bars. I wish every show could feel like such a circus and experience.
  • the small touches and finer details that brought everything together – handing out carnations before the show, the stage setup looking exactly the same as it did in 2006, the merchandise being reminiscent of merch sold during the Sam’s Town tour – it killed me.
  • the opening of the show with the projection screen, curtain, and everything turning into “Sam’s Town” – nothing beats those moments leading up to the band appearing behind the curtain. The music, the lights, the images of the desert and old Vegas – I get chills thinking about it. It was my favorite part of the Sam’s Town tour years ago and it was so perfect in every way at this extravaganza.
  • getting to be with all my friends and see all the people I’ve met and become friends with over the last decade. It’s amazing how we all come from all over and keep up over the years, how we’ve changed, how we’ve stayed exactly the same. It’s nice when new fans come along for later albums, but there really is something special about being with people who remember what it was like. To be with the people who were actually there. Sometimes I hold onto these distant memories of being a teenager and seeing these shows…it’s incredible to share these moments again with all those who defended Sam’s Town from the naysayers when it came out. To see that all those people still care about the album brings me an unspeakable joy.

(c) lowlights

  • every single Killers show is wry with idiotic security, disorganization, and annoying af people, but none of it ever matters by the time the show starts. The lowlights were far and few between luckily, but, ultimately, CID Entertainment can go f*ck themselves.

(d) overall thoughts

I still remember October 3, 2006 like it was yesterday. I was a couple months short of turning 16, had seen The Killers live toward the end of their Hot Fuss tour and felt tortured the entire summer of 2006 just waiting for their second album’s release. I lived in LA and the band was set to perform a short set of 6 or so songs on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and follow up the evening with a signing at the Virgin Megastore on Hollywood and Highland. What a time to be alive. The band played “When You Were Young,” “Bones,” “Sam’s Town” and a few other classics and then signed cool posters for everyone, including me and my friends. Later in the week, the band played a string of shows in LA, San Diego, San Francisco, etc. and those series of shows are ones I will never forget as long as I live. So, news leaked of a 10-year anniversary for Sam’s Town in Vegas actually at the Sam’s Town hotel? Hell yeah, we were all going.

My friends and I got super lucky and managed to get the VIP experience for Night 1 of the Sam’s Town Extravaganza, and man, that was an experience. The hotel set up a cool, small stage out by the pool, sold Killers-themed drinks and fun finger foods, gave out poker card-themed VIP laminates, big horn sheep stamps, flowers, and a bunch of other Killers’ stuff. Aside from getting early access into the venue, the coolest part of the VIP experience was getting to see the band play two acoustic songs out on that stage. While “Smile Like You Mean It” and “Change Your Mind” are by no means my favorite Killers songs, the performance felt so so special and sweet. It was amazing to see the whole band together again and the intimacy of the setting warmed my heart so much. Dave and Mark felt very present, Ronnie was in the sound, and Brandon was his semi-awkward, semi-comfortable self. We all sang the keyboard parts aloud because why not? Who knows if I’ll ever get to witness something like that again.

As for the main show itself, there’s nothing quite like Sam’s Town for me. Somehow, that album became so representative of underappreciation, fighting for the underdog, and always wanting to be something better. I’ve written extensively about Sam’s Town and its significance in the past, so I won’t bore anyone with that – but basically the one take-away from that album that I keep with me always is the idea that “Sam’s Town” can be anywhere and mean anything for anyone. It’s not really about a hotel and casino off Boulder Highway, but an idea of home – wherever or whatever that may be. So, for me, hearing Sam’s Town is like going home. As I said, watching that projection against the screen that falls as the band comes out and “Sam’s Town” begins is nothing short of magic. It was EXACTLY just as it was 10 years ago – the movie, the screen, the lights, the keyboard, the piano, the sign, the flags, the “Welcome” sign, the crow, the skeleton – everything. By the time the lights went down and everything started, I was straight up sobbing. It’s not every day someone sets up a scene to look exactly the same as one you remember so vividly 10 years earlier. It had also been about 8 or 9 years since I heard the opening track of Sam’s Town live, so I was out of my mind with emotion and excitement.

One of the standout moments of the night came from hearing “Bling (Confession of a King)” – a song that’s been in my top 3 favorite Killers songs since its release. I remember during the original Sam’s Town tour how emotional that song always made me and how I always sort of associated it with the pain I was going through at the time. During this show at the casino, it amazed me how different I felt as a person this time hearing it. “We’re gonna make it out of the fire, higher and higher, we’re gonna take it down to the wire” – the words that once invoked such pain now brought me joy and freedom. I made it out of that fire. The feeling was a bit similar to hearing Brandon sing “Will I live to have some children?” during “Why Do I Keep Counting?” at the end of the Sam’s Town portion of the set. Yes, he will live to have some children, he just didn’t know that in 2006. It’s funny to think that Brandon wrote all those words at the age of 25 – the same age I am now, writing about the experience of this anniversary show. It’s funny how things like that work out.

It was incredible to watch and hear the album in full – specifically tracks like “Uncle Jonny,” “My List,” “This River Is Wild,” and “Why Do I Keep Counting?” – and realize not only how strong every song is together, but really acknowledge the narrative and story that album tells. The Killers never outright called it a concept album, but it pretty distinctly has a beginning, middle, and end, so it felt like taking a wild ride through an adventurous life that was previously unlived. You feel different by the end, and you feel like you experienced something with all the people around you whether they knew it or not.

By the time the second half of the set rolled around, we were all exhausted but elated. Hearing “Under The Gun” and the parade of usual singles was a whirlwind. Brandon seemed at the top of his game, Mark never looked more energetic, Dave appeared fully awake in each and every moment, and Ronnie, well, we all know that dude is perfect and can do no wrong. All the lights and sounds and sights and friends made for the perfect homecoming; just like the band, we all seemed to have grown so much without changing too much at all. Even though years pass, times change, people transform and grow, we all eventually become the best version of ourselves when the lights go down. Because when the curtain falls, the band is there, and the music is right, we all go home. We go to our own Sam’s Town.

Bottom line: Sam’s Town isn’t just a perfect album because of the parts that make up its whole, but because it represents a time and a place and a feeling and a group of people who’ve found solace in its wisdom and comfort. This night of the Sam’s Town Extravaganza will forever be a special and unforgettable experience for me because it brought me together with life-long friends, touched me in ways beyond musical enlightenment, and gave me a home that I can always go back to as long as I just click “play.” Thank you Sam’s Town, and thanks to the four men that put it together.

Brian Wilson 9/24/16

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(a) setlist

Set 1:

    1. Our Prayer
    2. Heroes and Villains
    3. California Girls
    4. Dance, Dance, Dance
    5. I Get Around
    6. Shut Down
    7. Little Deuce Coupe
    8. In My Room
    9. Surfer Girl
    10. Don’t Worry Baby
    11. Salt Lake City
    12. Wake The World
    13. Add Some Music to Your Day
    14. California Saga: California
    15. Darlin’
    16. Sail Away
    17. Wild Honey
    18. Sail On, Sailor

Pet Sounds set:

    1. Wouldn’t It Be Nice
    2. You Still Believe In Me
    3. That’s Not Me
    4. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
    5. I’m Waiting for the Day
    6. Let’s Go Away for Awhile
    7. Sloop John B
    8. God Only Knows
    9. I Know There’s An Answer
    10. Here Today
    11. I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times
    12. Pet Sounds
    13. Caroline, No

Encore:

    1. Good Vibrations
    2. Help Me, Rhonda
    3. Barbara Ann
    4. Surfin’ USA
    5. Fun, Fun, Fun
    6. Love and Mercy

(b) highlights

  • BRIAN. GODDAMN. WILSON.
  • I can’t even emotionally talk about the setlist, I mean look at the setlist, LOOK AT IT, ARE YOU LOOKING??? Pet Sounds. Those “opening” tracks.” The classics…I can’t even believe I witnessed what I actually witnessed.
  • I don’t think people understand how much I love the Beach Boys and how incredible it was to see Brian Goddamn Wilson and Al Jardine live performing Pet Sounds in its entirety.
  • The following quotes are some of my most favorite things I’ve ever heard at a show:
    • “Did anyone come to the show tonight to hear bad vibrations? What about weird vibrations? No! It’s about Good Vibrations! Hit it, boys!”
    • “Hi, I’m Brian Wilson and this is the first song I ever wrote.” *starts “Surfer Girl”*
    • “This next one is the greatest song I ever wrote.” *starts “God Only Knows”*
    • “Can everyone sing ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’? This is my favorite part of the show.”
  • Every single minute of this show is something I’ll remember until the day I die and I feel privileged as hell to say I was even there at all.

(c) lowlights

  • this is barely a lowlight and more speaks to reality, but it was a bit rough to see how much Brian Wilson has aged over the years. I suppose any of us should be lucky that this true GENIUS of a man is still with us, but he has officially reached full Grandpa Status and you know what? That’s actually okay. Not a lowlight. Just a fact.
  • the lighting, ughhhh. Al Jardine wearing all white + harsh lighting + sitting in tier 3 = not the best photos of all time.

(d) overall thoughts

One of my earliest memories in existence involves The Beach Boys. Music is such a powerful thing – that’s obvious – but it really speaks to me as a person that I honest-to-God remember being two years old, sitting in the backseat of my dad’s car and hearing “Fun, Fun, Fun” playing on the radio.I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and lived there the first 18 years of my life before leaving California for college…so I suppose it’s not that surprising to hear that I’m a fan of the Beach Boys. I’m one of those fans that – yeah, of course I love The Beatles, I am human, after all – however, if I had to choose between The Beach Boys and The Beatles…I’m going to go with the former. I know. I’m a huge Anglophile and could never doubt the lasting effect that Paul, John, George, and Ringo have had on not only music but culture. But also, if I’m being honest, I understand and attach myself to the clear genius that is Brian, Carl, Dennis, Al, and Mike and I will defend them until the day I die. (Fun fact: After hearing “Good Vibrations,” John Lennon and Paul McCartney went back to the studio, scrapped nearly the entire album they had recorded at the time, and knew they had to start over because of how incredible that one song was. Then they wrote Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band…you’re welcome, world.)

But I’m getting away from Brian Wilson. This is all about him. Tickets for this show went on sale just a few short weeks after the stupidly and emotionally devastating death of David Bowie. And I feel awful saying this, but I knew I couldn’t miss this. I was lucky enough to see “The Beach Boys” (aka just Mike Love and a bunch of dudes including John Stamos as a badass drummer) a few summers ago, but I’ve never had the opportunity to see Brian Wilson perform – let alone see him perform the entirety of Pet Sounds with Al Jardine. I didn’t know what to expect other than pure, unadultered genius, and holy crap did I get that and then some.

You know you’re a musical genius and a one-in-a-million human being when you can open your 50th Anniversary show for an album that you wrote when you were 23 (!!!!) with an hour and a half of hits, b-sides, and deep cuts and the entire audience pretty much knows every word without even hinting at that 50th anniversary album. What. Like. Brian Goddamn Wilson. The emotional night started off heavy and never let up for the next three hours. We had the pain of “Heroes and Villains” and “In My Room,” among others, while absorbing all the classic fun of “Dance, Dance, Dance,” “I Get Around,” and Little Deuce Coupe.” Unbelievable. Sure, I went to this show alone and was definitely in the 2% minority of young people below the age of 35 in the crowd, but I’m sure I looked even weirder pretty much crying during every song. The New York crowd absolutely enjoyed themselves in every way, but I’m not sure non-California-born people could appreciate the perfection that was “California Girl.” And with God as my witness, “Don’t Worry Baby” is probably my most favorite song of all-time. Ever. Like EVER. And to see Brian Wilson perform it?? With Al Jardine? Truly ungoddamnbelievable.

By the time we got to Pet Sounds, the music had literally taken over the room. It’s as if all those hits had a mind of their own. Each track felt bigger than the one before it, and filled every inch of the Beacon Theatre. The show almost should’ve taken place outside just so each note could float above and beyond the people before it. You almost forgot that Brian Wilson was the mind behind those songs because they even felt bigger than him, bigger than all of us. What an incredible musician must you be for your work to transcend time, space, people, and emotion to just exist as an ideal?? The harmonics of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “Don’t Talk,” and “Sloop John B” alone is enough for The Beach Boys to stand the test of time, but then you have “God Only Knows” – a song that John Lennon once called “the greatest song ever written” – and it’s unbelievable that something like that exists.

I could go on for days and nights and all of time talking about those songs, but I won’t. Aside from the music itself, some things must be noted. Yeah, Brian Wilson didn’t quite sound like his best self because he’s an old grandpa and um, has also been through some things in his life (re: every bio on Wilson and the Beach Boys ever written), but it’s okay. Al Jardine still sounded pretty damn good and is still a solid guitar player, but shiiiiiittttt, his son Matt Jardine was NEXT LEVEL. Brian and Al had a pretty extensive backing band of about a dozen dudes including Al’s son Matt, who has essentially taken on the super high harmonies that Brian used to handle. He sounded unbelievably and truly just like Wilson used to; he brought so many subtle vocal moments and harmonies to life, and I loved it so much. Musically, every note felt and sounded exactly like putting Pet Sounds on vinyl in gigantic room, closing your eyes, and swimming. And what else could I possibly ask for? You don’t need anything once you have those songs because, just as they did 50 years ago, or about 20 years ago just for me, those songs mean everything.

 

Bottom line: Brian Wilson is a musical treasure, genius, and historically significant man in our culture whether music fans know it or not. Getting to hear so many of those classic and perfect songs – let alone Pet Sounds alone – isn’t something I’ll ever forget. The closest emotional live experience I’ve had to this show is seeing Paul McCartney live – and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Acts like The Beach Boys and The Beatles are legends because someone who’s half the age of their music can so easily connect it decades down the line. I am living proof that this music has and will continue to stand the test of time, so I can’t freaking wait to see who else will fall in love with it in the years to come.

St. Lucia 9/21/16

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(a) setlist

    1. Paper Heart
    2. Before The Dive
    3. Do You Remember?
    4. Dancing On Glass
    5. Closer Than This
    6. Winds Of Change
    7. We Got It Wrong
    8. Home
    9. All Eyes On You
    10. September
    11. When The Night
    12. Love Somebody
    13. Africa (Toto cover)
    14. Elevate

(b) highlights

  • this was my first time seeing St. Lucia! I hadn’t even planned on attending this show, but a friend had free tickets and knew I was having a rough week. I have awesome friends, I know.
  • the osmosis of living in the world and hanging around people who love and play music constantly made me realize that I knew way more about St. Lucia than I initially realized. I feel like this band has fallen out of the sky in the last year and I’ve never gone out of my way to listen to them, but I knew at least a third of the songs they played that night at Terminal 5. Isn’t that sort of amazing?
  • St. Lucia’s lighting designer needs a SIGNIFICANT raise, like holy crap. I’m struggling to remember the last time I went to a show and constantly found myself thinking, “Damn, these lights are great. They just look so cool. God, these lights.”
  • there are no words to talk about the role that Africa’s “Toto” has played in the lives of my friends and I, but God, we were laughing so hard at that cover. In the best way possible. Amazing cover choice and such a fun track.
  • the crowd shockingly and overwhelming consisted of people in their mid-to-late twenties – it was awesome to be at a show with an age-appropriate crowd for once. No nonsense, no bullshit, everyone was into it throughout and no one was annoying. What a gift.

(c) lowlights

  • I have a personal vendetta against modern rock songs that include saxophones and excessive brass. St. Lucia had maybe two of those. That’s two too many, St. Lucia.

(d) overall thoughts

I don’t always like going to shows for bands I’ve only casually listened to in the past, but for this St. Lucia show, I was looking for something new. I had heard from friends and read in multiple places that these guys and gal were fun and dance-y, and who doesn’t want a fan and dance-y weeknight? I, of course, had heard their catchy as hell track “Dancing On Glass” throughout 2016, as well as the memorable “Love Somebody” and “Closer Than This,” but remained pretty ignorant to the rest of their discography. Which I quickly realized was sort of crazy. By the end of the night, it occurred to me around 10 of the tracks they played could’ve been singles. What the hell other band right now can say that??

I think the best thing about St. Lucia – aside from the obvious weight of having actual songs that are genuinely great – is that they come across as fully formed and actualized. Their stage set-up alone is so automatically representative of their aesthetic that it’s damn-near refreshing. Although it seems obvious, I find that most bands these days don’t have a connective thread between their sound, stage design, lighting design, clothes, etc. and…that’s what bands should be. I mean…right? This is exactly why few things make me more suicidal than another denim-and-leather-clad Brooklyn band with a dumb name trying so hard to be The Strokes. Because, what the hell are those bands even trying to say? What is their purpose? Even after watching an entire set from 90% of those bands, I never know who they are. We were barely three songs into St. Lucia’s set and I felt like I completely understood Jean-Philip Grobler and everyone else onstage.

Tribal patterns, tropical infusion, neon and pastel colors, bubble-gum indie pop with memorable as hell hooks. That’s what St. Lucia said to me all night. Phenomenal lighting, dynamic vocals, and catchy tracks – definitely a band that must play well in any festival setting. I look forward to seeing and hearing more of these guys, and only hope other people recognize why St. Lucia is special.

 

Bottom line: St. Lucia was fun as hell – with catchy songs, incredible stage and lighting design, and one of the most fully actualized musical identities I’ve seen in awhile – they’re definitely a band you don’t want to miss.

Bear Ceuse 9/10/16

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(a) setlist

I don’t know! And it doesn’t even matter. Local bands who come out and jam the night away don’t need setlists. The band played for about an hour and they rocked.

(b) highlights

  • seeing my awesome coworker Cameron – who happens to be the frontman of Bear Ceuse – be a badass singer, excellent guitarist, and general fun frontman; and I say this pretty objectively speaking…he was awesome.
  • I freaking love Mercury Lounge – one of the best venues in New York City without a doubt. It always reminds me of all the bands I’ve seen there before, especially The Cribs, and I can’t help but think about how The Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs got their start there in the early 2000’s. Love it.
  • despite having never heard any of the songs before, I was so into Bear Ceuse’s rock ‘n’ roll vibe in the vein of Big Talk, slight alt-country hint a la Snakearm, and Everclear-esque vocals. The music was both familiar and fresh all at once.
  • a super sweet and heart-warming cover of Gene Wilder’s “Pure Imagination” in light of his then-recent death was unexpected and charming.

(c) lowlights

  • the venue was hot af; broken air-conditioners in an Indian summer are not that great.

(d) overall thoughts

I don’t see a ton of local bands in NYC, which I’m sure comes across as a gigantic and embarrassing loss of opportunity, but oh well. I was happy that the chance to see Bear Ceuse popped up. I was in need of a show – I was getting that twitch of having not seen a live show in awhile (over a month!!! what!), so I jumped at this. The lead singer and songwriter of Bear Ceuse, Cameron Matthews, is actually my coworker and a freaking cool ass dude. He super downplays his talent and Bear Ceuse is cool as hell.

As I mentioned, Bear Ceuse is unique because they sound a bit like a bunch of different bands, but also sound like no one else. With a traditional set-up of four dudes on drums, bass, and two guitars, they felt like a slice of rock ‘n’ roll without being too punk. Cameron mentioned that the second song was “a country one,” which gave away a bit more about how the band views themselves than the type of band they actually are. I’ve seen a couple of acts the last two years or so that really utilized that gritty and fun crossover of alt-country and funky rock ‘n’ roll (including Halloween Town and Romance Fantasy), and I’ve decided that I really dig it. A couple of songs in the set absolutely gave way to a late-90’s post-grunge feel close to Everclear or even Soundgarden sometimes, but the refreshing playfulness to the performance made the experience fun, to say the least.

 

Bottom line: Bear Ceuse is cool as shit and seems to be bursting with musical ideas; I look forward to listening to more of their work to find more connective threads in the their songs that appear to be brush with fun and unique influences.