C.S. Lewis once said, "Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement." Since Lewis (in my humble opinion) is pretty much a genius, I'm going to assume he's right.
In order to stay on the road to achievement though, I feel it's important to recognize and own up to one's failures. And, therefore, I must admit that I have completely failed at my goal of featuring Sasquatch bands on Kharmonious in the weeks leading up to Sasquatch. The big event is just five days away, and I've yet to post one article about it.
While this is clearly a failure, I also have an achievement to note. I have recently landed a writing gig with Oregon Music News and have been assigned the task of covering Saturday, day one, of the festival. Needless to say, I'm pumped. Saturday is featuring two of the bands I'm most excited to see: Mumford & Sons and Vampire Weekend. The lineup also includes several Portland bands I'm excited to check out: Morning Teleportation, The Nurses (who I actually saw open for The Tallest Man on Earth last week), and Portugal. The Man.
Because I'm writing this post while in class and therefore don't have time to fully make up for my recent failures, I would like to present my top ten list of bands I'm excited to see at Sasquatch:
In case you haven't heard of it, Sasquatch is a pretty big deal. It's the annual three-day music festival held at the Gorge Amphitheater Memorial Day Weekend. This will be the first year I have the opportunity to attend, and, needless to say, I'm stoked.
As an outlet for all my post-Sasquatch excitement, I'm going to try my best to use the (much-neglected) blog to talk about Sasquatch bands I'm excited about. Between now and the big weekend, I'll feature artists that will be performing at Sasquatch and tell you why you should be excited about said artists.
There are a ton of bands, and plenty of them I've never heard. So, I also want to hear which Sasquatch bands other people are excited about. Who do I need to check out before I head up to George?
When I saw that O.A.R. and Eric Hutchinson were coming together to the Knitting Factory, I thought what a perfect match: both upbeat, energetic acts that borrow from a range of similar genres (rock, jazz, soul, funk). And it would be a great chance for Eric to make fans of some of the O.A.R. crowd. My only disappointment with the concert was that Eric was unaccompanied by a band. He switched between guitar and piano, playing most of his debut album Sounds Like This, however I must admit, it was difficult for me to get into some of the songs without percussion or bass or backup vocals. Stripped down, some of the songs like "You Don't Have to Believe Me" and "Rock & Roll" just weren't as catchy or energetic (if I'd had a tambourine with me, I'd have started playing). "OK, It's Alright With Me" and "Oh!" fared a little better under the acoustic conditions. Eric is without a doubt a talented musician and songwriter and having heard his music before, I enjoyed the performance but I couldn't help but feeling the crowd didn't get to hear all he has to offer.
The last time I saw O.A.R. was four years ago when they opened for Dave Matthews Band at the Gorge (also a good match). I know they'd been performing many years prior to that, but they still seemed a little inexperienced (at least compared to DMB) and they had to stop their song "Love and Memories" and start over. Rest assured, four years later they were one of the most polished, energetic and crowd-pleasing acts I've seen. Songs like "City on Down" and "Black Rock" sounded simultaneously familiar and impromptu - both virtues for a jam band. "That Was a Crazy Game of Poker" was phenomenal. Richard On's guitar solos and Chris Culos' ability to lay down a range of tempos and beats were most impressive to me. Marc Roberge's vocals soared and Benj Gershman's basswork was steady. And it wouldn't be fair of me not to mention Jerry DePizzo who got the loudest response from the crowd during every saxaphone solo. I would've liked to hear a couple more songs from their later albums (though I know I'm in the minority here), but since the concert had zero duds, I can't complain.
Sweeney Todd, like RENT and Chicago, has received the Hollywood treatment and been put on the silver screen to marginal success (in terms of box office sales and mixed reviews - although Chicago won Best Picture in 2002). These musicals were probably selected because of there edgy and mostly current themes, however, as any theatre-goer knows: they are best enjoyed live on stage. Having seen the film adaptation of Sweeney Todd (and having liked it), I did ask the ticket office how violent the stage performance was compared to the movie before bringing my wife*. The ticket associate assured me it was not violent or gory and let me assure you, it's not. In fact, if you wanted to see the musical, but were worried about seeing the movie because of it's (well-deserved) gruesome reputation, then a stage performance may be exactly what you're looking for. And I can highly recommend this production by NETworks Presentations.
What made this production unique was that all the actors sang and played an instrument at the same time - in fact, many played more than one instrument. The ten-ensemble cast was the orchestra and they played percussion, piano, violin, cello, bass, guitar, clarinet, flute, accordian, trumpet and tuba. They were all very adept musicians, in fact, my guess is that some of them were cast based on their ability to play an instrument (or two or three) over singing. However, the main roles of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett played by Merritt David Janes and Carrier Cimma were pheneomenal singers as well. "Epiphany" and "A Little Priest" were especially spectacular. And all of the classics: "Johanna", "Pretty Women" and "By the Sea" were remarkably performed.
Contrary to the inferior INB Performing Arts Center, my wife and I could understand almost every single lyric (which speaks well of the performers too). It's difficult to over-emphasize how incredible Merritt David Janes was as Sweeney Todd (we saw him in the 1st national tour of The Wedding Singer also) - some may scoff at this next comment, but his vocals surpassed Johnny Depp's ten fold. Sweeney Todd is without a doubt, a strangely dark and morally askew musical (kind of like the film No Country for Old Men) and therefore some people won't like it - it's about revenge, justice, judgement, innocence, but most importantly it has extraordinary music by Stephen Sondheim.
Here's "Johanna" (the reprise) from the film version of Sweeney Todd:
* in the past, I have been chastised for taking her to overly-violent films (e.g. Pan's Labyrinth, Kill Bill: Part 1, 28 Days Later, A History of Violence, the list goes on...): I was intent on not allowing it to happen again.
Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of seeing the lovely Ingrid Michaelson perform at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland. I had seen Ingrid once before in Spokane, when she opened for Joshua Radin. She was great then, so I had little doubt that I would be impressed by her again. When I saw her in Spokane, she was accompanied only by Allie Moss, who plays guitar and back-up vocals, and it was great to see her in Portland with a full band. It added some variety and a much fuller sound to the show.
Ingrid is definitely worth seeing live, as she is not only a great musician, but a great performer, playfully interacting with the audience and band. In addition to playing her popular songs from Girls & Boys and Be OK, Ingrid covered Radiohead's "Creep" and did a very cute rendition of "Mele Kalikimaka" in honor of the holidays. (Which reminds me, she and Sara Bareilles recorded a Christmas song for the Hotel Cafe's Christmas album called "Winter Song." You can buy it on iTunes--I just did, and it's really beautiful. I know it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, but this isn't the kind of Christmas song you'll get sick of hearing. There is a video of them recording the song on youtube). I was particularly impressed by the show closing song, a yet unreleased song called "Everybody" (at least I think that's what it was called), which will hopefully find it's way onto her next album.
The show was opened by two British men who were both very enjoyable in very different ways--David Ford and Newton Faulkner. David Ford (whose video I'll post below) sounds like a man who has had a lot of bad breakups (or at least one really bad one). His songs are mournful and angry and beautiful, and I like them a lot. He reminds me a bit of David Gray or James Blunt, and I don't think it's just because they're all British. The unique thing about Ford is that he uses a looping technique to record and replay various instruments and vocals. It is pretty amazing to watch him run around the stage as a one-man band. I'm not exactly sure how to explain it well (Andrew Bird does the same thing, if you've ever seen him live), so here's a video that shows exactly what he does:
Cool, huh? Ford ended his set with a beautiful number called, "Song for the Road" about being homesick and missing his wife in England when he's on tour. If anyone can help me out here, I'd really appreciate it--I know I've heard this song before somewhere, but for the life of me, can't figure out where. I've googled it, but I can't seem to find any answers. Maybe it's from a soundtrack? A commercial? I don't know, but here it is:
Oh, and I mentioned Newton Faulkner, who was also really impressive, but since this post is already unbearably long, I'll write more about him later.
Though not technically a "concert", I figured I'd give my two cents on this musical performance anyway. Before now, I would've thought that anyone who wasn't living under a rock had seen or at least heard The Phantom of the Opera (in the 2004 film adaptation or otherwise). I would've been wrong. Of the seven people I talked to about the show here in Spokane, only three were familiar with the story. That presented a rather large barrier for them in enjoying the show, because much of the sung dialogue was near incomprehensible. And since this is a musical, most everything is sung. Now I don't know if that was a technical issue with the sound equipment or poor acoustics due to the venue (though I've heard and understood shows I'm far less familiar with before), or if it was just a matter of poor articulation (though I find that somewhat difficult to swallow being these actors are professionals), but nevertheless - every person I talked to about the show, across four different performances, confirmed the lyrics were difficult to hear. And if you don't know the storyline or the lyrics like the back of your hand, you're in trouble (in that case, I'd recommend renting the movie first).
Unintelligible lyrics aside, the performances were good overall. Of course, they're not Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman or even Gerald Butler and Emmy Rossum (so don't expect that), but they are incredible performers in their own right. And the Phantom, played by Richard Todd Adams was especially vigorous and engaging in his performance. As expected, the sets and costumes were opulent and extravagant and well worth the price of admission (particularly those for the underground labyrinth and the masquerade). My selection of highlights for the show (in any of its iterations) are: "Angel of Music", "Masquerade" and "The Point of No Return". Perhaps, like Les Miserables, this is a show that anyone who likes musical theatre should see at least once.
I got to hear Raining Jane open last weekend for Sara Bareilles at the Knitting Factory. I thought they were great performers. I liked their sound (self described as "rock-folk"). And one of the members played a sitar (how freaking awesome is that)! So I downloaded their latest album Paper Nest on iTunes and have been listening to it since. My track recommendations are "Castles and Factories", "Desperate Sails", "Incline" and "Browntown" if you want to hear the sitar. A short, but fantastic album. They're an all-female band, which I must admit I was a bit smitten with them at first (one of the members even played a cello during a couple songs and confession time: I'm a huge sap for females playing stringed instruments) , but they're incredible, real musicians and not just a run-of-the-mill female pop group like All Saints or Spice Girls or Bananarama (nothing against the aforementioned groups). Have a listen for yourself!
I, too, had the pleasure of seeing the lovely miss Sara perform this past weekend in Spokane. I agree completely with all of Kyle's sentiments, and only wanted to add that Sara also performed a very fun little encore. I must say that I find the whole encore phenomenon just a little silly (why do we have to stand there clapping in the dark for five minutes when you know you are going to come out and sing some more anyway?). Nevertheless, Sara made it worthwhile.
Her first song was a cover of Counting Crows's "Sullivan Street," which is a lovely song as it is, but became even more delicate and emotional. She did both encore songs sans band, and on the first she played the ukulele (she said she had taken up the ukulele because she was inspired by her friend, Ingrid Michaelson). The second song was the last track on Little Voice, "Gravity." Though it's very hard for me to pick a favorite song on the album, "Gravity" is definitely near the top, and it was even more powerful live.
On my road trip to San Francisco this summer I got to spend the night in Eureka, California, the city where Sara Bareilles was born and raised. As a Spokanite, I realize I'm the pot calling the kettle black when I say Eureka wasn't very remarkable, but Sara Bareilles is remarkable - in fact, she's phenomenal and her live performance far surpassed anything on her CD (in this fan's humble opinion). For one, her voice was as flawless, passionate and controlled as it is on the best tracks from Little Voice. Songs like "Vegas" and "Come Round Soon" had more edge, "Love on the Rocks" had more energy and "City" (one of my personal favorites from the album and the concert) had more vigor, all with perfect-pitch. I also really appreciated the solo performance of "Fairytale" (with Sara on piano), reminding me that Sara doesn't need a band to make her sound good (but the band was fine, Javier on the lead guitar played some riffs that reminded me of John Mayer and for some reason there was an alien figurine on his amp). Sara also covered Feist's "I Feel It All" which was a fun break from the album.
Sara Bareilles is an amazing musician and if you haven't listened to the rest of Little Voice apart from "Love Song" and "Bottle It Up" (which are undeniably catchy), you owe it to yourself to - it is easily one of my favorite albums from 2007. She seemed down-to-earth and proclaimed herself as a feminist which means she rocks by my books.
Poor Rachael was sick with the flu the night of the show. Fortunately, she still took the stage and she still was amazing - it didn't hurt that Summer and I were about five feet away from her. She opened with "Be Be Your Love" on the piano, followed by "Letter Read" and performed all 4 songs from the pre-release for her new album Elephants... Teeth Sinking into Heart, which by the way, comes out tomorrow, October 7th (check back for my review). To me, it sounded like Rachael was a little under the weather the first song, but she cleared up really fast and sounded great by the time she stood up to play "Sidedish Friend" on the guitar (a bandmate even brought her a roll of toilet paper to blow her nose with). Her vocals sounded just as soulful and rich as they do on her recordings - her band consisted of a lead guitar, bass, cello, drums and special guest Kevin Devine (the opening act) on the guitar.
In my opinion, Rachael's music is practically written for small venues like Chop Suey in Seattle(occupancy about 250). Songs like "Meet Me by the Water" and "Reason Why", which are easily overpowered by freeway driving, filled the venue's intimate space perfectly. Rachael even sang part of her new song "Elephants" a cappella. "Letter Read" was probably the only song I thought sounded better recorded and only because of how well it's arranged on the CD. "Sunday Afternoon" was beautiful and my favorite song from the night. All the musicians, Rachael included, seemed incredibly modest and grateful to be performing to such an excited and energetic crowd.
*Editor's Note: this was written on 3/10/08 for a previous blog by Katie, "On Shuffle" but has been updated for Kharmonious and the Big Easy is now the Knitting Factory.
On Sunday night Joshua Radin, Ingrid Michaelson, and Alexa Wilkinson performed at The Big Easy in Spokane, and it was one of the best concerts I'd seen in quite awhile.
If you have the chance to see any of these three artists live, take it. Each artist is great in recorded form, but on stage they each brought their unique personalities, stories, and improvisations, which only enhanced their beautiful music. Alexa, who is still fairly unknown, was able to captivate a fairly large crowd with her amazing voice, cheeky lyrics, and abundant energy. Ingrid is a true performer, breaking between her own cleverly written songs to cover Radiohead's "Creep" and the theme song from Fresh Prince of Bel Aire. Between songs, Joshua would tell the stories behind their creation (often about a bad breakup he experienced about six months ago and still is dealing with), opening up new meaning in songs you thought you had all figured out.
Also, if you've ever been to The Big Easy before, you probably know that the crowd can be a bit rude and obnoxious at times. The combination of a bit older crowd and a slightly less packed house than normal made enjoying this concert easy. Especially when mellow artists play at the Big Easy, they can often be drowned out by the chatter of the crowd at the bar. At this show, that wasn't a problem at all. When one of the three artists spoke or sang, the audience hushed. How refreshing! The show's finale was a pair of duets between Joshua Radin and Ingrid Michaelson. The second of the two was "Sky," and I have included a clip of the performance below. Their voices are beautiful together, and if the little sample below isn't enough for you, you can download Sky, along with three other new releases from Joshua Radin's teaser album, Unclear Sky, on iTunes (more information on Joshua's site). He has said he expects to release a new, full-length album this summer.
Alexa will also be releasing a new album soon (this spring according to her website). Ingrid's music is popping up everywhere these days--from Old Navy commercials to Grey's Anatomy. Her second album, Girls and Boys, came out in 2007 and has been playing on repeat in my car since I purchased it two weeks ago from Target (check it out here).
If you only pick one song from each of these artists, these are my recommendations (though, by all means, I suggest getting much more than one): 1. Joshua Radin - "Today" (the version from First Between 3rd and 4th is my favorite, but We Were Here's version is good too) 2. Ingrid Michaelson - "The Hat" 3. Alexa Wilkinson - "Hitchcock in the Afternoon"
