Super Sized Kasabian Guitar Hero

Check out these five footballers playing a supersized game of Guitar Hero by shooting soccer balls at sensors made from torn apart Guitar Hero controllers. 76% accuracy aint too shabby...

Glen Hansard Outside Fingerprints

Man...how come nobody told me Swell Season was playing at Fingerprints in the LBC? Or how come I didn't go get $1.25 fish tacos at the LBC Rubio's that day...either way it would have been sweet to be waiting in line and have him come out and sing to us. Glen rocks...

For more, check out I Am Fuel, You Are Friends

Miike Snow (and no Jack Penate) @ Spaceland

Yeah...kinda freaky huh? Thankfully the shy Miike Snow removed their masks about 2 songs in an performed a very powerful set to the packed (and mostly annoying) crowd at Spaceland. I love taking pictures at concerts too (see above picture) but come on...seriously...do you really need 15 shots in a row of one of the guys for every song they sing? Yeah I'm talking to you guy in the brown leather jacket. I'm starting to miss the days when security would shut you down for sneaking your camera in. With the cameraphone being so ubiquitous its clear that venues have pretty much given up on patrolling the trigger-happy crowds. I don't mind it in small doses but when it turns into more of a photography clinic than a concert, you got a problem. And I wouldn't be surprised if the band finds it a bit disrespectful that you are posing in front of the stage so your buddy can take a picture while the band is playing a fairly intimate song behind you.

As for the music, the guys of Miike Snow put on a very intense and amazing show. My only disappointment came at the end of the show when their last (15 min.) song turned Spaceland into a techno club. Sadly, with the delayed and thusly late start (10:45pm), I ended up having to leave before Jack Penate went on. I was actually looking forward to them more than Miike Snow but will have to just wait for the next tour. Come back soon Jack.

Miike Snow - Animal (mp3) - courtesy of Music for Kids Who Can't Read Good

Jack Penate - Tonight's Today (mp3) - courtesy of LazyComet

Nick Hornby reads 'Juliet, Naked'

I was fortunate enough to find out in time that my favorite author, Nick Hornby, was in town last night to read some excerpts from his new book, Juliet, Naked. The Cambridge-educated North Londoner, who's adapted screenplay An Education is in theaters this week, read a couple of chapters from the book, answered questions for about 30-40 minutes and finally signed books for the 300+ fans that showed up at the Skirball Center.

As the author opened his mouth to speak to the audience for the first time, my buddy and I both worried that his voice would not fit our idea of what Nick, or at least the narrator that we imagine in our heads as we read, would sound like. Thankfully Nick didn't disappoint us like I'm sure David Beckham did for most Americans the first time they heard him speak. (not exactly a soccer godlike voice). He spoke in a much deeper voice than I had imagined. I thought to myself, if someone asked me to describe it, I would have to go with either a codgy old dodger or a dodgy old codger. I'm not sure which is the correct version or if either are in fact actual sayings...nor do I know what they mean.

Juliet, Naked is about a 'reclusive 1980s rock star forced out of isolation when the re-release of his most famous album brings him into contact with some of his most passionate fans.' Much like High Fidelity and most of Hornby's works, music again plays a central role in the story (hence my appreciation for his writing). During the Q+A, Hornby spoke a bit about music. As most fans know, Nick is a huge Springsteen fan (recently took his young sons to see the Boss at Arsenal's stadium) but also loves the J. Geils Band. Oh yeah, he also said he loves the new Elvis Perkins.

After describing his usual daily schedule (which includes lots of procrastinating and lots of looking for music on the internet), he mentioned his love of music blogs and recommended one that I too have down as a favorite. I've followed the I Am Fuel, You Are Friends blog for a while now having shared a similar taste with its author (the blog is named after a PJ lyric) and am quite happy to know that my favorite author also read's Heather's posts.

More exciting music news (that I hadn't heard about) from Nick...he is currently writing lyrics to accompany some Ben Folds-penned music for a collaboration to be released in the near future. He's also doing some reggae-themed comedy thing for BBC apparently.

Check out Nick's NY Times 2008 Playlist

Elvis Perkins in Dearland - Shampoo (mp3)

Thom Yorke @ The Orpheum (Night 2 - 10/5/09)

Another great performance on Night 2 at the Orpheum...my notes:

• Crowd was way more into the show than last night...this was evident by the very long and raucous ovation given after the insanely amazing live version of Harrowdown Hill.
• Thom said that the ?????? Band was down about their time together being over...but also mentioned doing some more stuff together. Not sure if that meant shows or music.
• I'm not totally clear, but I think Judge, Jury & Executioner was written by the ?????? band...as opposed to a Thom penned song for RH. Interesting...
• Colin was in the crowd once again and I missed him once again. Damn bladder. Those who got to meet him briefly said he was the gentlemen that everyone says he is.
• Glad to hear Skirting the Surface live for my first time as it replaced Open the Floodgates tonight.
• I waited in the back alley with my girlfriend for Thom to come out but according to the security guard he snuck away in a black Prius. There was like 20 of us...how could we miss him!? Minutes later as we left we pulled up next to Flea and his wife (?) in his Tesla. Gotta love Thom and Flea keeping it real (green) with their hybrid/electric cars.

SETLIST:

01 The Eraser
02 Analyse
03 The Clock
04 Black Swan
05 Skip Divided
06 Atoms For Peace
07 And It Rained All Night
08 Harrowdown Hill
09 Cymbal Rush

Solo encore:
10 Lotus Flower (Moon Upon A Stick)

11 Skirting the Surface
12 Super Collider

Encore w/ band:
13 Paperbag Writer
14 Judge, Jury & Executioner
15 The Hollow Earth
16 Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses

Vampire Weekend to rock Visalia!

Sonicliving.com just let me know that Vampire Weekend will be doing a fairly odd tour of California in November (the greatest month out of all 12!). Closest LA shows are in the LBC and Lomita (which I just found out is near Torrance). Way random places...always makes for a good time. Check the list of venues below. No word on ticket info (or maybe there is). VP will surely be playing songs from their forthcoming LP...songs like Horchata! (mmm mmm mmm...I recommend Vodka and Horchata, a little something I call the 'White Mexican').

Vampire Weekend - Horchata (.mp3)

TOUR DATES:

• Nov 02 2009 - The Art Theater - Long Beach, CA
• Nov 05 2009 - Pappy and Harriet's - Pioneertown, CA
• Nov 07 2009 - Town Hall Theatre - Lafayette, CA
• Nov 08 2009 - Catalyst - Santa Cruz, CA
• Nov 09 2009 - The Cellar Door - Visalia, CA
• Nov 10 2009 - Downtown Brew - San Luis Obispo, CA
• Nov 12 2009 - Chencho's - Bakersfield, CA
• Nov 14 2009 - VFW Hall - Lomita, CA

?????? (aka Thom Yorke's side band) at The Orpheum - Night 1

Thom, Nigel, Flea, Mauro and Joey took the stage for Night 1 at the Orpheum tonight and played most of the same set as Friday at the Echoplex. The audience, which sat for the first quarter of the show until Thom reminded us that he wrote the Eraser to dance to, got all the greats from the album as well as a few news songs and the recent single release. Thom danced his ass off even more than usual as I believe that he and Flea are practicing for some sort of competitive dance-off :) It was awesome. I have never seen Flea perform before but he was clearly mad for Eraser and vice-versa. His monkey-dance bass playing is a perfect sidekick for Thom's freakout dancing. Judge, Jury and Executioner was a particular favorite among the new stuff that looks to be future RH material. Colin was in the crowd as were a number of PROFESSIONAL cameramen (as opposed to the 100s of amateur camera LCD's that popped up throughout the show).

SETLIST:

01 The Eraser
02 Analyse
03 The Clock
04 Black Swan
05 Skip Divided
06 Atoms For Peace
07 And It Rained All Night
08 Harrowdown Hill
09 Cymbal Rush

Solo encore:
10 Lotus Flower (Moon Upon A Stick)
11 Open The Floodgates
12 Super Collider

Encore w/ band:
13 Paperbag Writer
14 Judge, Jury & Executioner
15 The Hollow Earth
16 Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses

New Thom Yorke/Radiohead: Lotus Flowers, Skirting on the Surface + Open the Floodgates (live at the Echoplex)

Lotus Flowers by Thom Yorke (Live at Echoplex .mp3)

(ripped from video by echoparkrecords)

Skirting on the Surface by Thom Yorke (Live at Echoplex .mp3)

(ripped from video by jahmbo)

Open the Floodgates by Thom Yorke (Live at Echoplex .mp3)

(ripped from video by noPro3lem)

Judge, Jury & Executioner by Thom Yorke (Live at Echoplex .mp3)

(ripped from video by ??)

(pic by eatmeatnow)

Harrowdown Hill + Lotus Flowers at the Echoplex [video]

Thom Yorke Superband at Echoplex right now [Twitter-review]

The first twitpic of Thom, Flea and company at the Echoplex right now. Wish I was there but I'm also content being at home, following the excitement via twitter and text messages and watching the Dodgers come back in the 7th inning (better not strikeout Manny). The Echo/Echoplex is my favorite venue but I'll patiently wait for the Orpheum shows. Word on the twitter street is taht rick rubin, ellen page, daft punk, kim gordon from sonic youth, zack de la rocha and muse are in the house. This is my first major event that I'm using Twitter to follow (besides the last earthquake and the sonic boom in SoCal)...cool cuz its real time, bad cuz its mostly people just saying "I wish I was at Thom Yorke" I wish there was a BS filter so I can just get good twitpics, setlists, etc. Get on that Internets!

Sweet...Manny strikes out again. Good job buddy.

[UPDATE: Some audio...via twitter! Not bad...thanks random dude! Harrowdown Hill]

SETLIST:

1. The Eraser
2. Analyse
3. The Clock
4. Black Swan
5. Skip Divided
6. Atoms For Peace
7. And It Rained All Night
8. Harrodown Hill
9. Cymbal Rush

Encore #1 [Thom solo]

10 Open The Floodgates
11 Lotus Flower
12 Skirting On The Surface
13 Judge, Jury, Executioner

Encore #2 [with band]

14 Paperbag Writer
15 The Hollow Earth
16 Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses

Pearl Jam @ Gibson Ampitheater (LA Night 2 - 10/1/09)

Pearl Jam played the same kind of show they always do Thursday night...EPIC. I've gotten slack recently for loving the PJ...not sure why. Too old school? Too mainstream? I don't know but if you don't like Pearl Jam then you have never seen them live. Not only do they put on one of the most passionate performances you will see, the fans are usually diehard. PJ takes care of their fanclub by giving them the best seats in the house. That means I was surrounded by people that were singing and dancing to every song...and whether you know every song or not...its infectious. And I don't think anyone can beat Eddie Vedder as the leader of such a chorus. The man's voice and spirit are just amazing. I realize yet again that I want to be Eddie Vedder.

Set List: (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Severed Hand, Got Some, Do The Evolution, Dissident, Given To Fly, Johnny Guitar, Amongst The Waves, I Got Shit, Daughter, Jeremy, Unthought Known, Small Town, Driven To Tears, The Fixer, Rearviewmirror

1st encore: Just Breathe w/string quartet, The End w/string quartet, Lukin w/string quartet, Red Mosquito w/Ben Harper, Jazz Odyssey, Better Man/(Save It For Later)

2nd encore: Gonna See My Friend, I Believe In Miracles (Ramone, Ray), Once, Alive, Yellow Ledbetter/(Star Spangled Banner)

Pearl Jam is still Alive

Pearl Jam plays night 2 at the Gibson Amphitheater tonight and they ALWAYS put on a great show. Looking forward to getting some merch too as apparently this tour they are personalizing all the shirts for the local sports team. Last night was a dodgers theme and tonight is apparently Lakers. Bummed I missed out on the Seattle poster with my favorite 'father to 9 children by 8 women'/NBA player, the ReignMan Shawn Kemp. eBay is looking a bit pricey on this one. Darn.