We All Want Someone To Shout For

My introduction to the morning benders was at their opening gig for The Kooks at Terminal 5 back in 2008. At the time, I had no idea who they were. I was only there to enjoy an hour and a half of poppy British rock. Chris Chu and the rest of the morning benders left a lasting impression on me that made me leaving a bigger benders fan than a kooks fan by the end of the night.

I managed to catch the benders at market hotel a month ago, only to find out it was a last minute opening gig for surfer blood. The venue’s sound was horrible for them, and they were only allotted 4-5 songs, not including “Excuses”. I talked Chris Chu and Tim Or after the show, and they both sincerely apologized for not being able to play Excuses for me, telling me to come out to the mercury lounge show so that I could hear it. Unfortunately, the mercury lounge is 21 and over. I was disappointed because I figured it would be my only chance to hear the band. I tweeted at Chris begging him to add a 18 and over show, and he told me to sit tight. Two days later, and they added a 16+  show at The Music Hall Of Williamsburg. Thank you Chris!

Canadian band The Luyas opened the show with an interesting sound that bordered between St. Vincent vocals and Grizzly Bear instrumentation. Lead singer Jessie Stein was enthusiastic to be there, constantly showing her gratitude for being allowed to play. They were a very pleasant band to watch, I will keep my eye out for some of their stuff.

The second opener were Florida natives Holiday Shores. Their name fit their sound perfectly. They had sunny vocals over tropical instrumentation that had everyone in the ground smiling and grooving along. I was totally impressed by these guys, especially because two of their members were missing. They were able to get Twin Sister to help them out and fill in, and they fit in so well you would have though this was the real Holiday Shores. I was blown away by the set and will be trying to get my hands on everything this band has.

The morning benders set up really fast, wasting no time. They started their set with an epically dramatic version of “Stitches” that wowed everyone in attendance. This live version blew it out of the water. The Benders sounded smooth and controlled playing their instruments with precision. Next they went into “Promises” where the crowd began to move around and sing along, freeing up a bit. The crowd was a mix of young girls, guys a few years shy of buying drinks (myself included), and men in their 30-40s. It was a diverse crowd that said a lot about their accessibility to wide demographic.

They ran through all of their Big Echo songs aside from “Sleeping In”. They transformed “Cold War (Nice Clean Fight)” into a edgy dance number, an absolute delight for all. Chu showed his gratitude for all of us selling out the venue, saying it was an incredible feat. Chu assured us that out of all the cities they toured, NYC was unlike any other. He wanted to make sure the gig was special so they played their b-side “Go Grab A Stranger”. Chris said it was the first time they ever played it live. Every song from Big Echo was played to near perfection, with enough live interpretation added to make it more authentic. They surprised us all by playing a lovely version of  “Dammit Anna”, the only throwback to their Talking Through Tin Cans days. Everyone sang their hearts out on that one because something tells me it could be the last time we have a chance to sing songs from that era.

The crowd kept screaming for the band to play a dance song, so the band obliged with “All Day Daylight”. There was only one song left, and everyone in the venue knew what was coming. Chris Chu put down his guitar for “Excuses” and instead of taking center stage, he jumped into the crowd to sing the elegant lyrics of “Excuses” face to face with the fans. The crowd sang along with tremendous enthusiasm, giving everyone there goosebumps. It was a touching moment that couldn’t have been topped by any encore. Chu returned onstage to add an electrifying guitar solo that made the performance even more incredible.

Instead of leaving backstage, Chris jumped right into the crowd taking the time to say hello to everyone in attendance. When my turn came Chris gave me a hug, asking me how it compared to Market Hotel. I happily responded that it was an amazing show, and that they sounded great. What else could I say?

Setlist, Photos, and a video taken by someone else of “Go Grab A Stranger”, all posted after the jump:

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Last night I got my first pretty big press pass for a show. I have gotten some invites to free shows through my blog, but last night was the first “big” one. EMI hooked me up with a photo pass for Hot Chips show at Terminal 5 last night. The photo pass allowed me to take photos right near the stage for the first three songs. It was a surreal experience. No matter how I look at this blog, it is nuts that it has become something that allows me to take photos alongside photographers who are working for legit publications.

I came a little late for Gang Gang Dance but I saw enough of their set to get a good idea about how they sounded that night. I saw them open for Battles at a free summerstage show back in 2008, and was rather bored. However, this time they had a full band and sounded a lot better. They are supposed to release a new album this year. If any of the songs they played are on that new one, it should be good.

Hot Chip came out starting with a bang with a strong three song opener of “Hand Me Down Your Love, One Pure Thought, and Thieves In The Night. They slowed things down with “Brothers” before erupting with “One Life Stand” and “Over and Over”, both of which got the crowd dancing and singing-along.

This was my 2^nd time this year seeing Hot Chip, and it was just as fun as before. Each band member is full of energy dancing along to the music, having fun. The set closed with an amazing run of Boy From School, Take It In, We Have Love, and Hold On. The crowd was having a blast singing and dancing, without a care.

Hot Chip came out with a fun encore that started with their cover of Shakira’s “She Wolf”, which brought smiles from all the women in the crowd. They ran through a epic run of “I Feel Better” before finishing with the always timely “Ready For The Floor”. Everyone in the crowd completely lost it, letting loose on the floor.

The crowd was full of fans young and old. Drunk and high…maybe even rolling. The point was, everyone was there to have fun, singing and dancing their hearts out. I’d go see Hot Chip any day of the week.

Here is the set (I think it is right?):

Hand Me Down Your Love
One Pure Thought
Thieves in the Night
Brothers
One Life Stand
Over and Over
Alley Cats
And I Was a Boy From School
Take It In
We Have Love
Hold On
Encore:
She Wolf – Shakira Cover
I Feel Better
No Fit State
Ready for the Floor

Here are the photos I took last night. I am really proud with how well they came out:

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If only Binghamton University was as cool as Cornell. They get The Flaming Lips for their spring concert while we get….Andy Samberg. Don’t get me wrong, he is a funny dude, but he hardly compares to The Flaming.Fucking.Lips. Come on.

The opening band was Stardeath and White Dwarfs out of Oklahoma, just like The Flaming Lips. They sounded like a mix of The Lips & MGMT with heavy riffs over experimental psychedelic sounds.

The Flaming Lips have also carried around a reputation for putting on exceptional live shows, and last week’s show was no exception. Wayne Coyne started the show by going into his famous bubble and walked over the crowd. He came 15 feet away from me, and I  gotta tell you, it is like nothing else I have ever seen before. They played a set of mostly Embryonic tunes. It was an album that I wasn’t too crazy about, but I enjoyed the set anyway. When a band can rebound with songs like “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1″, “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”, “Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung”, you can’t really complain.

The show featured costume characters, big balloons, confetti, laser points, and a light show that people with Epilepsy should avoid at all costs. In other words, the show was more of an event than a concert. There was something cool going on at all times. It was quite an experience.

The show ended with a beautiful encore of “Do You Realize???” that had Wayne Coyne tearing up. He puts everything into every performance, and it truly shows. The Flaming Lips are a must see band, do not miss the opportunity to see these guys. It was 110% worth it.

Photos & video of “Do You Realize” (that I shot) all posted below:

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Last week River City Extension played at my college for free through BUMP (binghamton underground music presents) the student group who organizes free/cheap shows on campus. I recently joined them this year, and they have brought tons of good acts. Last week was no exception as River City Extension came along with two local bands from Binghatmon: Bees & Lily Tang. The show was a lot of fun. River City Extension played a set of folky rock mixed in with elemts of ska. It was a blast. Bees were a loud noise band whose songs sounded more like an earthquake than anything else. Lily Tang started the show with a enjoyable set of jangly guitar rock. I hope to catch them again because they had a really good sound that deserves some exposure. Hopefully they update their myspace or something!

Below I included photos and videos of all three bands. Check them out if you want:

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I’m about to drive into NYC for Hot Chip’s gig at Terminal 5 tonight. I figured I’d squeeze in this really fun remix of Caribou’s “Odessa” done by Junior Boys. It’s colorful & addicting.

Stream it below:

Odessa (Junior Boys Mix)bycityslang

The Dead Weather are already back with their 2nd album, titled Sea Of Cowards. It is set to come out on May 11th, only 9 months since their debut album Horehound was released. Damn they are a hard working band.

They gave Stereogum the privilege of streaming the records 2nd single “Gasoline”. Gasoline is a dark rocker that is blues influenced. Get absorbed in their sick riffs and sinister keyboards. Hear it over at Stereogum, or stream it below:

As a bonus, watch the video for “Die By The Drop”, the first single taken from Sea Of Cowards. It is a dirty sexy rocker. Love it:

As promised by The National, the New York Times is streaming High Violet right now. It is only available to listen to until April 27th. I’ve run through it a lot over the last few days, and can assure you the album is great. Probably a heavy contender for my album of the year. The Times wrote a nice piece on the National which is perfect to read while your blasting High Violet.

Pitchfork reports that the band is going to take over 13 E. 4th Street in Manhattan (right next to Other Music) during the album’s release week from May 11th-15th. The band is hosting five nights of event which they’re calling the High Violet Annex. You can be that I will be there for at least one of those nights. I love you NYC.

Stay tuned for more info.

I was at an interview in NYC today, didn’t have free time to get a post in until now. Earlier today a new M.I.A. song titled “Born Free” surfaced via Musick. It’s a mega-jam that certainly sounds like a Derek Miller (Sleighbells) produced song. That makes sense since Miller is one of the producers that M.I.A. worked with. No word if this is a song off of her new album, but that is probably the case. It will be released on her record label, Neet Recordings.

Blast this one loud and proud this weekend. Glad to have you back M.I.A. Stream it below:

Visit M.I.A. on myspace, facebook, or twitter.

Gorillaz made their late night TV debut last night on The Colbert Report. Colbert interviewed Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett (the artists behind Gorillaz), and then Gorillaz performed “Stylo” with Bobby Womack. It is almost odd seeing the band playing in person now after all those years of mystery. I’m coming around to it though.

I included clips of both below:

Stylo (W/ Bobby Womack)

I called All The Damn Kids a band to watch last week, and I firmly stand behind that statement. They are an exciting band from Sheffield who you should expect to hear more on frm me in the immediate future.

For now, check out their music video for “The Book Stops Here”. It is pretty much a nod to the legendary Albert Lamorisse short film Le Ballon Rouge. It is well shot, and the video certainly fits the mood of the song. Watch it below: