Tag: taylor milne

Big Talk 7/21/15

Posted on Posted in Los AngelesTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

(a) setlist

  1. I’ve Been Sentimental Lately
  2. Neon’s Not Enough Light

(b) highlights

  • yoooooo, the babes killed it on live TV!!!
  • the dresses, the make-up, the hair, wow wow wow
  • Jimmy Kimmel is kind of hilarious and super cool talking to the audience during breaks
  • just being there! I got tickets super last minute (thx RVJ)
  • I’ve seen the Killers several times on Kimmel, but always outside, never actually in the studio so it was cool being in there

(c) lowlights

  • they should’ve played like 8 more songs, or 50 more, either one, whatever

(d) overall thoughts

TV performances can be annoying, or super cool – this was definitely the latter. Big Talk dressed in drag, Jimmy Kimmel was low-key hilarious, this was a solid freaking way to spend my vacation. Getting to be in the studio and watch both the aired and unaired performance was awesome. Love everything about this whole band and project and music, the end.

Bottom Line: Ronnie Vannucci is better than you.

I’ve Been Sentimental Lately:

Neon’s Not Enough Light:

Big Talk 7/20/15

Posted on Posted in Los AngelesTagged , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

(a) setlist

  1. What Happened to Delisa?
  2. La Rue D’Awakening
  3. White Dove
  4. Getaways
  5. Hold That Line
  6. Animal Husband
  7. The Void
  8. Cocktail Party
  9. What The Night Can Do
  10. I’ve Been Sentimental Lately
  11. Living In Pictures
  12. Replica
  13. Anything That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers cover)
  14. Another Satellite
  15. Neon’s Not Enough Light

(b) highlights

  • the band kiiillllllled it – probably my favorite show of the second album tour
  • RVJ, does that even need to be said at this point, I wonder
  • the Troubadour just has an awesome set up – killer sound, great lighting, solid stage set-up
  • the crowd was so much better than the night before – people were actually moving and dancing to songs that had only just come out that day
  • lines like, “Oh, the mic is hot. This band is hot.” ” we’re Big Talk and we’re from Malaysia!” “Old Pinkie (the guitar) is out of tune.”
  • I took probably my favorite photos at a show ever! mostly due to the Troubadour’s lighting and set-up, thx Troubs.

(c) lowlights

  • really really really wish I could’ve heard “Katzenjammer” live just once

(d) overall thoughts

This show felt like the perfect set-up for the band to shine. Ronnie was totally “on” all night, the audience was receptive, and every song just felt like so much fun. It made me so happy that it finally felt like people were getting what the Big Talk schtick is.

The Troubadour is freaking cool and every show there feels special. The stage juts out a bit like a diamond and there’s a beautiful balcony that overlooks the space. The production level was higher than previous shows, which – along with other factors – really highlighted the performance aspect of the band. While San Diego felt like a jam-band session, this gig was all about performance. Whether that was with in-between song jokes or really letting the new songs breathe, this felt like a show. Ronnie Vannucci basically needs his own comedy hour at this point, and everyone else at Big Talk plays their role well. A part of me wishes Big Talk would do a full tour, even just 10 cities or so, just so they can really get into a rhythm and mix up the setlist; it’s in variety and different circumstances that Ronnie most shines, I believe.

After the show, I talked with other Big Talk and Killers’ fans, which was cool, and chatted again with Ronnie and Taylor – basically the best dudes of all time. Full stop. Period. I will fight anyone who disagrees that Big Talk isn’t awesome and definitely hurt anyone who says anything against those dudes, but oh wait, no one can say anything bad about them or has because they’re wonderful, the end.

Bottom Line: I love Big Talk, I love Ronnie, I love Taylor, I love all of them, I love Big Talk and Straight In No Kissin’, and I just can’t help it.

Big Talk 7/19/15

Posted on Posted in San DiegoTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

(a) setlist

  1. What Happened to Delisa?
  2. La Rue D’Awakening
  3. White Dove
  4. Getaways
  5. Hold That Line
  6. Animal Husband
  7. The Void
  8. Cocktail Party
  9. What The Night Can Do
  10. I’ve Been Sentimental Lately
  11. Living In Pictures
  12. Replica
  13. Anything That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers cover)
  14. Another Satellite
  15. Neon’s Not Enough Light

(b) highlights

  • RVJ, duh
  • that setlist!!! finally got to hear some older Big Talk songs I missed on the first go-around
  • getting to chat with the guys; there is no sweeter person on Earth than Taylor Milne, I swear to God
  • the Casbah is basically a bar – so tiny and so intimate; I get Bunkhouse vibes from it

(c) lowlights

  • there was an asshole drunk heckler yelling during, before, and after songs who I actually had to yell at – who even does that?? at a small intimate show?? go home.
  • the crowd was subdued – why why why why do you pay to go to a concert to not move, why why, I will NEVER understand this

(d) overall thoughts

I was super lucky to even be at this show. My brother was getting married later in the week, so I got to fly back home to LA and took a quick train down to San Diego to see Big Talk. The show was stupidly intimate and small – it was pouring outside and I swore you could hear the rain pattering outside in between songs. The stage was barely a foot off the ground, so you were RIGHT there during the performance. It was freaking cool.

Last time around seeing Big Talk, they played the entirety of their new album Straight In No Kissin’ with one old song, so I was pretty psyched to hear classic tracks like “Getaways” and “Replica,” among others. The newer Big Talk album still hadn’t been released at this point (it came out the next day!), but I still strangely felt so familiar with all the new music. A mix of Tom Petty, perhaps even the Beach Boys, and the usual Big Talk sound combined to make that good ole fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. Ronnie’s voice worked perfectly with those tunes and it was clear that all the guys played well together; wordless head nods and seamless transitions gave off a solid jam-band vibe to the show.

The crowd was objectively sub-par and I think the band was kinda down about it, but it was no bother. Everyone killed it, I had a great time, and even got to chat a bit with the guys. Ronnie vaguely prepared me for a coming surprise for their Jimmy Kimmel performance later in the week, and Taylor chatted a bit about the setlist and songs he liked. Couldn’t ask for nicer dudes and more enjoyable tunes.

 

Bottom Line: Big Talk are freaking awesome and I will literally murder you if you interrupt Ronnie Vannucci Jr. while he’s speaking on stage, bye.

Note: I took roughly a million photos, didn’t edit any of them, none of them are perfect, but I put them up because they were my experience and that’s cool. You’re welcome.

Big Talk 5/26/15

Posted on Posted in Las VegasTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

(a) setlist

    1. Hold That Line
    2. Animal Husband
    3. What Happened to Delisa?
    4. La Rue D’Awakening
    5. Cocktail Party
    6. I’ve Been Sentimental Lately
    7. What The Night Can Do
    8. All My Luvin’
    9. White Dove
    10. The Void
    11. Another Satellite
    12. Neon’s Not Enough Light

(b) highlights

  • seeing Ronnie Vannucci play in Las Vegas is just as awesome as it sounds
  • the in-between song banter never fails to entertain: “there’s a lot of hot ladies in here tonight….onstage.”
  • the Hawaiian shirt game was very strong
  • chatting before the show was next-level amazing; Ronnie is great, Taylor is so so sweet, Brooks is so cool

(c) lowlights

  • the show started late and I had to catch a flight immediately after, so that was stressful

(d) overall thoughts

Caught a quick flight to Vegas from LA to see Big Talk again, and hot damn, was it a good time. It was hot as hell, but waiting outside was so worth it when Ronnie brought out water and snacks to the line (my heart), and definitely worth it to hang out in the courtyard pseudo-desert-garden area of the Bunkhouse Saloon. The show definitely felt like a hometown show in a lot of ways even though Ronnie hasn’t lived in Vegas for awhile, if only for all that Killers-in-Vegas history.

The setlist was exactly the same as the night before, which might sound like a bad thing, but it honestly wasn’t. Again, we didn’t have an album at this point. We pretty much had one single and that was it, so to hear all those songs again and really grasp the garage-band-y vibe of it gave more context. “I’ve Been Sentimental Lately,” “All My Luvin’,” and “What The Night Can Do” were immediate stand-outs aside from the lead single “What Happened to Delisa?” and I still dig those songs a lot to this day. The newer songs fit right in with the debut album in my opinion, even though Ronnie mentioned a couple of times that he disliked the older songs. If I had to guess, I think that opinion is mostly informed by the first album’s production; RJV was adamant about Straight In No Kissin’ having a less slick and more gritty sound to it, and the band certainly accomplished that in more ways than one. The crowd dug a lot of it and I felt very lucky to have witnessed that show.

Bottom Line: The Bunkhouse Saloon was the perfect environment for Big Talk to perform their newest album in Vegas; gritty songs with pop-y melodies fit best in dingey cowboy bars on a hot desert night.

Big Talk 5/25/15

Posted on Posted in Los AngelesTagged , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

(a) setlist

    1. Hold That Line
    2. Animal Husband
    3. What Happened to Delisa?
    4. La Rue D’Awakening
    5. Cocktail Party
    6. I’ve Been Sentimental Lately
    7. What The Night Can Do
    8. All My Luvin’
    9. White Dove
    10. The Void
    11. Another Satellite
    12. Neon’s Not Enough Light

(b) highlights

  • I don’t even know where to begin….the whole fucking day. the entire day was a highlight. all of it.
  • meeting Ronnie Vannucci and Taylor Milne before the show started, and making jokes and laughing with them for like 20 minutes – a dream
  • the entire show from beginning to end, the end
  • after the show ended, the band stuck around to chat with everyone and gave me and my friend who waited all day big bear hugs, what a perfect day

(c) lowlights

  • n o t h i n g

(d) overall thoughts

 

So. Instead of writing a novel no one wants to read, I guess I’ll sum up this day and show with this: do you ever just have these out-of-body experiences where everything falls together so, so well that you have to believe that it’s all a dream? Like, an actual dream that involves you eventually waking up? That was this day. From beginning to end.

I flew out to California for a friend’s wedding, so catching this show right before the festivities began was like fate. To every human who remotely knows me knows that I love The Killers to death and Ronnie Vannucci is one of my favorite people ever. I never got to see Ronnie’s side project Big Talk during their first album tour in 2011, but I’d loved the music immediately.

Magically, Ronnie and his Big Talk bro Taylor Milne came out to chat with a few of us in line. Many memorable quotes were said and good times were had by all, but I’ll keep those close to the chest. Ultimately, Big Talk performed almost entirely new songs (what a ballsy freaking move that is, right?) for their first performance in over four years and it freaking rocked. What else is there to say? Their new album hadn’t even been released yet and they presented it with style, grace, and announced it would be called Straight In No Kissin’. Ronnie used a guitar pick with a picture of his dog Archie wearing a jetpack on it. I mean, come on. What a band.

Bottom Line: The only thing better than hearing a bunch of solid as all hell tunes is knowing that the dudes playing it don’t really care what anyone thinks and just wanna have fun. Admirable and impressive, to say the least.