Missed this month's ADEMLP

...unfortunately, but what are you gonna do? This is the list of bands, though:

• Grimes
• Poolside
• Band of Horses
• Kinky
• The Blueflowers
• Atoms for Peace
• Clairy Browne & the Banging Rackettes
• The Tragically Hip
• Shovels and Rope
• Wild Nothing
• Tom Tom Club
• Bob Dylan
• Woolfy
• Gabin
• Benjamin Gibbard
• Gary Clark Jr.
• Griffin House
• Lightning Love
• Volcano Choir
• ZZ Ward
• Sea Wolf
• Little Hurricane

August ADEMLP

I liked the songs this month. It was also good to be back. She did play a new song by the Wallflowers that sounded NOTHING like the old Wallflowers. Which she mentioned before she played it. Wasn't bad, but I definitely like the old stuff much better.

The band that played after was excellent. Maria Rose and the Swiss Kicks (crap! I meant to buy music and talk to them after!) were more rock than what Ann Delisi's had for closeout bands recently, which was nice. But they were still very varied. They had songs that were country crossover lean and songs that were R&B. I really don't know what to call them! Maria Rose dressed the eccentric part, though. She was also more active than the rest of the band...and more than recent bands have been. These guys were definitely easier to get into. Part of this may be that they're more up my alley. One of my fellow listeners, Norah, described her as having "powerful vocals."

Maria Rose and the Swiss Kicks playing at the August listening party

List of bands that Ann Delisi played this month:

• 7Horse
• Grizzly Bear
• The xx
• Django Django
• Bombay Bicycle Club
• Tame Impala
• Beth Orton
• Mumford and Sons
• Jai Paul
• Saint Etienne
• American Mars
• Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra
• Khalid Hanifi
• Electric Guest
• The Wallflowers
• Sean Rowe
• Ben Folds Five
• John Talabot
• The Lumineers
• David Byrne and St. Vincent

Germany (Munich) Concerts

Uh...little outdated, but I was not about to update this in Germany. I had too much to experience :) When I went to Munich, I actually ended up seeing two shows. It happened to be a pride festival. So of course they had music and I stuck around for a couple songs. I...don't remember much about it. They weren't great.

The other show I saw was a free, outdoor, classical music concert. I learned I need to go to more classic music concerts. That was really cool and the orchestra was really good. They also played songs that I knew which was interesting. They closed out with an arrangement of the Lord of the Rings music. When I have time, I'll add the

There's pictures of all of Munich on my skydrive. Some of them are of the concerts.

June ADEMLP

I have pictures again! Not really much to report about the pre-live band music this month. We were sitting kind of far away from the stage, though, because we didn't get there early enough, so I missed a few band names.

Unfortunately, there was some issue with Bear Lake playing this month, so they're supposed to play next month. Instead, we saw Billy Brandt, who is very country. Sudjee described his music as "country-fried steak" (that is likely misquoted. Sudjee, correct that, please).

They were all very talented. According to Brent, the band are all are professional musicians who play as The Basement as a side project, which I guess is where their name comes from. I think my favorite song that I heard was "Mexico," again, probably because it was less twangy. Overall, I think I liked Katie Grace better, although The Basement did do very well with their harmonies, a fact which was brought to my attention by Sudjee. And when they busted out the harmonica, they sounded a lot like some early 90s bands, for instance Gin Blossoms.

Billy Brandt and his band playing at this month's listening party

List of bands that Ann Delisi played this month:

• Ryan Shaw
• Black Box Revelation
• Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
• Graffiti6
• Amadou and Mariam
• Josh Pyke
• Selah Sue
• The Naked and Famous
• Theophilus London
• Civil Twilight
• Emily Wells
• Eric Hutchinson
• Tha Boogie
• Deep Sea Arcade
• Alejandro Escovedo
• Atlas Genius
• Alex Clare
• Jack White

Mayer Hawthorne

A few months back, I won tickets at an Ann Delisi's Essential Music Listening Party to this show. I'm really glad I did, too, because both Mayor Hawthorne and their opener, The Stepkids, were quite good.

First some general notes: The concert sold out. That was actually a bit of a surprise to me. I didn't realize Mayor Hawthorne was that well known. The Majestic Theatre is a pretty nice venue. It actually reminded me a bit of Showbox Market, only smaller.

The Stepkids had a cool light show. They were wearing all white with a screen set up behind them, and the light show made it look like they had splattered paint all over themselves and it kept changing. Again, sorry for the distinct lack of photos. My phone died before the show, so unfortunately, I can't show you what I'm talking about.

Fellow attendee Lauren B. from Chicago described their sound as "groovy and psychadelic." She also mentioned that they had something of a Lenny Kravitz vibe. I'd say I agree with both of those assessments.

Before Mayer Hawthorne came on, I asked another concert-goer, Kirk T., how he would describe Mayer's music. He said, "Seventies soul music from Philadelphia or Motown," which, based on what I had heard before the show, I would agree with. Some of the songs he played were a little more rock, but he definitely had a big doo-wop or swing type vibe going on. There were multiple songs where I wanted to snap along. I almost think the best way to describe his music is to say the band were all wearing suits, and that they dressed for the part. He also had on a bow-tie. I'd say he dressed a bit like Buddy Holly.

I think my favorite part might have been the bassist's LMFAO hair, though.

ADEMLP - May 2012

I'm kind of bummed my phone died before this show, because it means I had no camera. Which is mostly disappointing because we were on the balcony this month. It was the first time Ann Delisi hosted a listening party on the balcony, but hopefully, we'll be outside most of the summer. It was a lot of fun, and it was really nice to be outside. Plus, the food was excellent :)

The music was also really good. Unfortunately, I didn't quite catch the names of a few bands she played. I'm not sure if that was a result of being outside, or me just not paying close enough attention. Or something else. I don't really have a ton to say about most of them, except that Destroy This Place was a bit too punk for Essential Music. Also that it seems Fiona Apple and Neil Young have new albums.

I'd say my favorite bands were Of Monsters and Men, and Fiona Apple probably. The Generationals were also good. They reminded me a bit of Foster the People. My favorite band name that I heard was definitely Surgeons in Heat. They weren't bad, either. I feel like I was just in a good mood yesterday. I ended up "Yes"'ing a bunch of songs that I doubt I normally would have. That probably had something to do with the being outside and the sunshine.

Kate Monaghan was pretty good. She was fun to watch. The music was generally mellow; there were some songs that were less than others. I also felt like it fit well together, as in the words fit well with the music, and the different instruments' parts melded well. She did play a cover of Coldplay's "Yellow". It was kinda cool to hear someone else singing it, and it was cool to recognize a song, but otherwise I wouldn't say there was anything particularly stand-out about it. I'd probably see her again. She does have good music. And it actually really worked quite well in a small-ish outdoor venue.

One thing that surprised me a bit was the number of people that showed up to watch her play after Ann Delisi finished the discussion part of the party. Just as a side note.

One other side note: Over the past few weeks, and while looking up a lot of these bands, I keep coming across bandcamp, which is amazing for researching bands. It allows you to play any music that the artist has put up for their listeners and allows you to purchase the music directly from the artist, optionally paying more than the minimum for an album/song purchase as a donation to the artist. I looked into their fee structure, and it's really nice to the artist. It works out really well. If I ever make music, I'll definitely use it. I used it to research albums I don't have by a couple bands I know, and I researched Kate Monaghan on bandcamp before the listening party this month.

List of bands that Ann Delisi played this month:

• Mynabirds
• Neil Young and Crazy Horse
• Kate Monaghan
• Generationals
• Polica
• Volcano Choir
• Dirty Projectors
• Smoove and Turrell
• Destroy This Place
• Fiona Apple
• Of Monsters and Men
• Mayer Hawthorne
• Santigold
• Surgeons in Heat
• Slackwax
• Dr. John
• Animal Kingdom
• Patti Smith
• Passion Pit
• Best Coast
• (I missed this one)

I'll post the ones I missed after Ann Delisi lists them on her Facebook page. Actually, she's a little behind, so I don't know when they'll be up. I wanted to double check some of last month's names, too.

ADEMLP - April 2012

Apparently this was Ann Delisi's 22nd listening party. I didn't realize she has been doing this for nearly two years! It's only my sixth. She also had a guest co-host tonight, Brett Callwood, of the Metro Times. You can read his take on the listening party here.

There was some very interesting descriptions of the bands this week. Ben Howard's song was described by Mr. Callwood as music that would be great in a driving scene of a Hollywood film. Alabama Shakes was described as what you would hear if you "let a hobo loose in a studio." She also played Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. One of the attendees called them "Pink Floyd meets Johnny Cash," while another said she didn't like them because they sounded like "Hare Krishna pop...the airport acoustics made it sound good." I actually felt like there was a lot of Edward Sharpe type music tonight. We also heard The Temper Trap, Young Man, and School of Seven Bells, all of whom I would put in the same genre as Edward Sharpe.

Ann played a new Garbage song that was very different than their original stuff. I thought it had something of a Sublime/ska/reggae feel. She said this song made them seem "desperate for a radio hit," which I'm not sure I agree with, but I do like their old stuff better. My favorite two were Kimbra, who Mr. Callwood called "the most manufactured, pop, generic...", and History of Pan!c. I personally thought Kimbra didn't sound generic at all. I felt like that song kind of popped. It was well-punctuated, which I don't normally hear in pop music. I feel like generic pop is very bland usually. The History of Pan!c reminded me a bit of Lenka and a bit of the Submarines.

We were also treated to a 15-year-old local artist that Ann met at an earlier listening party, whose name was Leah Levine. I personally thought it was a little poppy, but still good. One of the other listeners said she needs to "keep working at it," which I second. I think she has a lot of potential but needs to grow into her own sound. It was excellent for a 15-year-old but doesn't quite stand on its own yet.

Mr. Callwood introduced us to a local death metal band called Writhing. Everyone was a little thrown off by that one. Ann made an executive decision to not play that one on the air, but as Mr. Callwood mentions in his blog, it led to an interesting discussion about the differences between the types of heavy metal music. I may have been the only one there besides our guest host that had an idea of the difference already, but it was still helpful to hear his description of the distinctions. And as much as I appreciate metal, I'd have to agree with Ann that metal probably doesn't belong on her show. Especially not death metal.

Doop and the Inside Outlaws closed out the night. They definitely have something of a distinct sound. When Ann played them I knew who it was, but I still feel like most of what I'd heard by them was very country and not something I'd normally listen to. But I definitely liked them better live. Some of what they played definitely made them harder to pigeonhole into the country genre. They actually played a few songs that reminded me a bit of Marc Cohn ("Walking in Memphis") or the Wallflowers ("One Headlight"). I also appreciated the plug for their guitarist's solo project and the sample we got of his music. Unfortunately, I didn't catch his name.

Doop and the Inside Outlaws performing at the Listening Party

They have a pedal steel guitar

List of bands that Ann Delisi played this month:

• Ben Howard
• School of Seven Bells
• Alabama Shakes
• Rio and the Rockabilly Revival
• Leah Levine (spelling?)
• The Temper Trap
• Young Man
• Doop and the Inside Outlaws
• Writhing
• Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
• Kimbra
• Garbage
• Jassepy Moses and the Vagytarians
• Heartbreak Dallas and the Unfaithfuls
• Spiritualized
• Justin Jones
• The History of Pan!c

Ingrid Michaelson!

I feel like I haven't seen a sold out show in a very long time, if ever. Royal Oak Music Theater was packed!

Unlike the last time I was at ROMT, the audience was actually nice to Pearl and the Beard. That may have had something to do with the fact that they were awesome! It also may have helped that they were very interactive. They had the audience clapping along with songs like "Sweetness," among others. Pearl and the Beard returned the favor, giving props to the audience, and to the venue. That's the first time I can remember anyone thanking the behind-the-scenes sound guys.

All of the members are talented enough to play and sing simultaneously, which for a three piece band is excellent because it allows for great harmonies. The vocals also had some abrupt tonal and volume changes which kept the songs from getting boring.

The cellist was a lot of fun to watch. She really got into her parts and it was especially neat to watch her because you don't often get to see strings players at pop concerts. That made "Black Hole of Calcutta" exciting because it was all cello. There was even a cello solo! And later, the percussionist busted out a kazoo! Kazoos are hilarious. And sweet.

Pearl and the Band performing at Royal Oak Music Theater

And one more for good measure

A lot of the other concertgoers really enjoyed them, too. According to Bernadette S, the main vocalist had a great voice that reminded her of Adele. She and her group of friends described Pearl and the Band as very different from other stuff that they had heard, and they mentioned that they'd definitely recommend them to their friends. They were also described as "Folk, but not," which, although not terribly descriptive, is accurate. Songs like "Hot Volcano" reminded me a lot of Murder by Death.

Then it was time for Ingrid Michaelson. The entire venue erupted in a cheer when she walked on stage. It was MUCH louder than I expected it to be. But it was warranted. I'm glad everyone got into the music. Actually, I'd really like to hear some of the sing-alongs, like for "Soldier" or "The Way I Am." The audience harmony for "Ribbons" sounded a little off at the time, but that may have sounded better from the stage.

Ingrid is hilarious, by the way. I felt like I was partly at a stand up comic show and partly at a concert. She told some great stories including one about her Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade experience. She also kept it interesting by moving/dancing around for songs when she wasn't playing an instrument.

And Ingrid's band gets props for taking a picture of us in the audience. That was kinda neat and definitely unexpected. I'm slightly disappointed that I missed her when she came to Seattle, but I'd love to see her perform again. I'll just need to keep in mind that her shows do sell out, so I need to plan ahead and get tickets in advance.

Ingrid performing at the Royal Oak Music Theater on the guitar

And with her band

I took a few videos of her, too, available here. It surprised me how involved the crowd got. They did a lot of singing. It was really good for "The Chain" because a huge part of that song is the harmonizing. Just a heads up, Skydrive is being weird right now. You might need to download them first to see them.

Odd Soul Tour

What an amazing show! The opener, Canon Blue, was even good enough that I bought an album. They were very energetic, but I wish they weren't so cramped by the instruments on stage.

The initial stage setup on Friday

I guess St. Andrews set up the stage for both bands at the beginning, but it meant Canon Blue didn't get a lot of room to move around. Which is really unfortunate, because it seemed like they would have been a lot more fun to watch if they had some more space.

They did make good use of the lights during their set. And they had some, in the words of Robby, "killer maracas." I noticed that they used a pre-recorded bass track, which was somewhat disappointing, but everyone was playing an instrument so I guess there's not much they could have done about that.

Canon Blue performing during the Odd Soul tour

Another picture of Canon Blue...this one without blue light washing it out

MuteMath was great as always. They managed to top themselves again. They entered by walking through the crowd with this awesome light thing. I'm not sure what it's called...or if it's called....

They made great use of the projector, too. I have various photos of crazy things they put up on it. They even used it as a live camera at various points during their set!

MuteMath is great because every one of their members is a very talented multi-instrumentalist. At one point, the bassist was playing a guitar with a bow. The singer was also pretty classy with his oxford shirt and tie. In which he did handstands on his piano and climbed up on top of his piano to jump off. The guitarist also managed to climb up there and jump off...without missing a beat...at one point.

MuteMath has so much energy! They played a 2+ hour long set! And it wasn't that they took lots of breaks for talking and stuff; they were playing and dancing through the whole thing. In fact, the singer came out on some sort of box to sing in the crowd at one point. Later he decided he wanted to crowd surf on an air mattress covered in lights. And then later, the drummer came out on the box to do a solo.

The encore may have been the best part of the set. The singer brought out his crazy axesynth and let the crowd play with it for a bit. Later, he just hopped off the stage and walked around a bit. During which, the canvas showed a bunch of folding panels that looked really cool.

I was actually really surprised and somewhat disappointed that they didn't play "Typical" before their encore, because I assumed the encore was just going to be "Reset." But they closed out the set with "Typical" and everyone sang along, and it was great.

MuteMath is definitely a band you have to go see before you die. Add it to your bucket list. DO IT NOW!

Also, I took SO MANY PICTURES during this show. View all of them here.

MuteMath performing during the Odd Soul Tour

Matthew Good Band

Sunday's show started really late. I expected the show to start an hour after doors, so at 8, but we were waiting around for an hour, so until 9, before the opener, Emily Greene, came on. I hope all shows at St. Andrew's don't end up being two hours late...that wouldn't bode well for Friday's show.

Speaking of St. Andrew's Hall, I did like the venue. It was the right size, and they had a really good beer list. I also enjoyed the logo at the back of the stage, although as Matthew Good mentioned, it was a little confusing: There was an X, which one could assume signifies the straight edge subculture, but the guy holding it had some sort of cigar/blunt hanging out of his mouth...

The best part of Emily Greene's set may have been the keyboard name, the "Sir Nigel Noteworthy II." Emily Greene's music wasn't actually that bad, but she made some weird faces. And in the words of another concertgoer, "extremely intense...eyes." I was informed that her faces were a side effect of her not using proper singing technique, which may be part of the reason I felt that she would have fit better in a coffee shop than on stage.

Emily Greene opening for Matthew Good at Saint Andrew's Hall

Matthew Good "Band" was really just Matthew Good. This guy was a little nuts. And he had been around a lot longer than I realized: Apparently some 20 years. I think he may have spent more time talking than actually playing. That's not to say he wasn't entertaining...his rants were pretty funny, and the music he did play was pretty good. He played a few songs I recognized, some of which I didn't realize were actually his, that I probably would have attributed to someone like Sam Roberts Band. His segues really made him seem like a drunkard though. He would do well as a busker; he's got all the right elements: A guitar, rants, and a somewhat sloppy image. Granted, that last part fits many musicians, but you know...

Matthew Good playing at Saint Andrew's Hall

Matthew Good photo courtesy of Robby Amin

ADEMLP - February 2012

My first concert of 2012 was the February ADEMLP...for which I was slightly late, so I missed the first 5 songs. I also had to sit near the back as a result of walking in late, so I wasn't able to hear most of the artists/songs.

There were a few stand-outs though. Carolina Chocolate Drops was really good. It was a little soul and had a good rhythm to it. I also really liked the rhythm for The Ettes. It was good to hear White Rabbits and Jack White's new single, too. Other songs I liked include Paul Weller and Miike Snow. I couldn't put my finger on why, though.

Kosheen was too techno for me, and Lissy Trullie too poppy, though I did like Brooke Fraser.

Katie Grace played this month. I actually really liked her music, which slightly surprised me because she is a country artist. It wasn't as twangy as I expected it to be, which was likely a big part of why I liked it. The same is true about other country music that I enjoy.

She also had a good sense of humor in her lyrics. I don't remember the story exactly, so I won't try to repeat it here. But there was one song that was pretty funny on its own, however, after she told us the back story, it was that much funnier. There was also another song regarding "her drinking habits" that was pretty entertaining.

As great as her music was, though, her stage presence was slightly lacking. I felt like her band could have been a bit more energetic, especially on the quicker songs.

Katie Grace playing at the Listening Party

List of bands that Ann Delisi played this month:

• Tennis
• Radiohead
• Punch Brothers
• JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound
• Ana Tijoux
• Andrew Bird
• Carolina Chocolate Drops
• Lissy Trullie
• Jack White
• Jill Barber
• Electric Guest
• Brooke Fraser
• Chuck Prophet
• Wayne Baker Boots
• Kosheen
• Paul Weller
• Miike Snow
• White Rabbits
• The Ettes
• Vacationer

Photos courtesy of Robby Amin

Upcoming concert aggregations

First post of 2012! (First concert of 2012 is still upcoming)

The list of concerts that bandsintown recommends me is available as an RSS feed here:

http://www.bandsintown.com/fan/rageboy04/calendar/rss

I have also created a public Google calendar that basically includes a list of the bandsintown concerts that I really want to see, plus any concerts that aren't included, for instance the ADEMLPs. That is available here:

https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=ud5pgrf96os4j4gkbbtd949gk0%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York

icals for both of these listings are available, and an RSS of the google calendar is also available. Contact me if you want either.

Both of these links are in the navbar for ease of access. This post is easily available via the "Upcoming" label.