06.21.2008 Stars

The last time I saw Stars, I actually convinced myself that I really didn't like them as much as I thought I did. Then again, the last time I saw them, the drunk moshers really ruined the mood of the show. Still, I was a little disappointed with the setlist last time as it didn't really change a whole lot in the last couple of years. I wasn't planning on going to this show, but after reading this post on A&C's forum, I reconsidered. I'm a sucker for "special" and "secret" (There was none). Looking back I probably should have been more skeptical as I haven't seen any other evidence to support the claims in that post.

I arrived just before Stars got on. They were checking the drums as I walked into the Malkin Bowl. I've never been there before, but apparently it's supposed to be 2/3 the size of the Hollywood Bowl in Cali. (Radiohead played there in 2003, I don't know why I'm mentioning this...) The Malkin Bowl is actually quite nice. It's surrounded by trees and is all lawn. It's like Deer Lake Park, but more intimate. I don't think I'd go there if it were raining.... but on a nice summer day, it's a great outdoor venue.

Torq seemed to be in a really good mood today as he was playing in his home city. He could literally walk home from Stanley Park. During one of the earlier songs, possibly Window Bird, Torq pointed out a bald eagle flying into the trees. It was nice to hear 'The Big Fight' mixed into the setlist, more for variety than actual demand (It's not one of my favourites, but it is the first time I've heard it in a couple years). It appears the new version of Going, Going Gone is here to stay as well. I think they seem to have added a new short couple-chord intro to that song as well if I'm not mistaken. Amy and Torq had a pretty funny exchange of words when Torq started to (sarcastically) put over the New Kids on the Block. He asked for cheers from the crowd. Amy described it as "disgusting" and demanded boos. Overall the band sounded great and was very enjoyable watch. The bitterness from the last time I saw them has been washed from my mouth. I didn't get as much setlist variety as I wanted, but I did get a show that was a lot better than the last time I saw them. I also got to hear "The Woods" live for the first time, been waiting for that since about 2005, hooray for persistence.

01) Intro
02) The Night Starts Here
03) Ageless Beauty
04) Soft Revolution
05) Window Bird
06) Your Ex-Lover is Dead
07) Ghost of Genoa
08) Bitches in Tokyo
09) Set Yourself on Fire
10) The Big Fight
11) Going, Going, Gone
12) What I'm Trying To Say
13) Elevator Love Letter
14) My Favourite Book
15) Midnight Coward
16) One More Night
17) Take Me To the Riot
18) In Our Bedroom After the War
==
19) Reunion
20) Calendar Girl
21) The Woods


$30/$36

Butch Walker Contest

update: 6/23/2008
Contest is closed because the concert has been postponed.

Bad news travels in twos.....

Having to postpone completing your record for personal reasons hurts about as much as having to postpone your tour... Yep, I'm gonna have to do my tour later yall... So sorry for anyone who bought plane tickets and made travel plans (I know a lot of you do this and I'm not happy either), but I have to do what's right. I promise, I will make it up to you with an amazing record and all tourdates rescheduled. Thanks for understanding, my friends...

Butch






To be honest, I've never heard of Butch Walker, before this little post, but I have heard of: Avril Lavigne, Sevendust, Gob, Pink, Pete Yorn, Fall Out Boy, Hot Hot Heat, All American Rejects and PUFFI AMI YUMI! Those are just some of the bands and artists he's worked with during his days as a record producer. Wikipedia also tells me that he's actually a really really good record producer as he won Rolling Stone's record producer of the year in 2005. hmm didn't know they had awards like that in Rolling Stone. Anyways, he's now doing the "Kanye West" transition from producer to solo artist. From what I've heard so far, he's a lot better than some of those other aforementioned artists.

He has an album coming out in September called Sycamore Meadows. Sycamore Meadows is the street he lived on when the house he was staying at burned down during the California Wildfires of 2007. He lost all his recorded masters in the fire. ouch.

Anyways, he's starting his "One Man Bad" tour in Vancouver on July 8th @ Richards on Richards. Jesse Malin opens up. I've got a pair of tickets to give away courtesy of his publicist at 'The Door'.

To enter simply shoot an email to: adayinthelifeofblog@gmail.com with 'Butch Walker' somewhere in subject field and you're name in the body. Winner will be chosen at random on Thursday, July 2, 6pm PST. Enter only once and you gotta be 19+ cuz it's at Richards. I still don't think anyone reads this blog, so if you're reading this right now, this is a really good chance for you to score free tickets.

05.23.2008 Ladytron/Datarock

Back when I was 19 or so, I worked at my University's bookstore filling out textbook orders. My supervisor had this cassette mixtape which played on a boombox to alleviate the boredom. The tape played on repeat for a good couple of weeks, permanently etching a few songs into my head. One of the songs on that mixtape was Ladytron's "Playgirl". And that's how a kid who, at the time, was pretty much only listening to metal and it's many variations at the time, discovered Ladytron.

I was going to check out openers Datarock, but complications in getting my ticket means another side story rather than another review:

Velocifero is currently one of my most listened to albums. I figure now is as good a time as any to see them live. So a few weeks before the show, I notice quite a few people on craigslist having problems unloading them. Being greedy, I decide to wait until the day before the show to buy a ticket for $10 below face. I would have picked it up that day, but I had another show to go to. I wasn't worried though, as the show wasn't sold out .... until I arrived at the venue. Suddenly market value for tickets isn't 'face - $10' anymore, it's now 'face + $15'. Being very stubborn, I decide, to wait until the midway through Datarock's set for the market value to go back down. It doesn't really (The scalpers apparently are stubborn as well as they don't normally lower their price until after the main act has started playing), but I did find someone who was willing to sell a ticket for yesterday's market value price. Score!!! (he would have gotten $10 from the scalpers, so Score!! for him as well)

Anyways I arrive while Datarock was finishing up their set. They seemed to be having fun on stage as was the crowd. other than that I couldn't really tell you much, aside from they all had red Datarock hoodies on.

Aside from the founding four members, Ladytron also had a touring drummer and bassist with them, which really added a punch to the sound. The first thing I noticed when Ladytron started playing was that it was loud, really bassy too. Perhaps the crowd was a little too excited to see them as a psuedo pit emerged a few minutes into their first song Black Car. After the song singer, Helen had to ask them to settle down, which they did, as the rest of the night was more dance party than mosh pit. They played mostly songs off Velocifero and maybe 1 or 2 songs off each previous album, mostly hits. I'm not really familiar the albums between Velocifero and 604, so I was pretty glad that they at least played a couple from Playgirl and Discotraxx off of 604. They played about 70 min encoring with 3 songs ending off with Destroy Everything You Know.

$37/$30