05/20/2011 Cake (Lewiston, NY @ Artpark)
By Eric | May 30, 2011 2:37 pm
A fun Friday night show at Artpark, and there probably isn’t a more perfect venue in which to see Cake. Especially when you’re close, like 5th row close. Tiff and I had aisle seats, just left of center, so we had a little more room. Actually, every one else that we personally knew at the show was in our row as well, which was a testament to how good the fan club tickets were (and how fast we bought them). Since this was billed as “An Evening With Cake”, much like the last time we’d seen them, there was no opener, and after the long Final Countdown-esque intro song, the band came out and played the rollicking opener… Sad Songs and Waltzes? No kidding. I thought that was pretty cool as an opening song, right into Italian Leather Sofa, neither of which I’d seen since the Cornell show in ’01. After shooting down someone yelling out for “The Distance” (two songs in? Sheesh.), the band continued on with a couple of my favorites in Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle, along with Wheels (no patriotic jumpsuits in the crowd however). McCrea mentioned that he mourned the loss of 3/4 time in popular music, and vowed the rest of the show would be in that time signature. It wasn’t, but the next song, “Mexico” certainly was! The longer first set was closed out with the new single and big crowd-participation number “Sick of You”. At one point during a John McCrea soliliquoy, he implored the crowd to be quiet, inferring that they weren’t interested in what he had to say. Overall, I thought his marked contempt (on multiple occasions) for those in the audience that weren’t paying attention was pretty humorous, as I too have always felt, “Why are you here, if not to pay attention to the band?”. After the brief intermission, the band abruptly launched into The Distance, before a Motorcade two-fer of Jolene and Pentagram. They gave away another tree (apple tree this time around) while the band played the instrumental “Thrills” (off the b-sides album). A rousing version of Sheep Go To Heaven closed out the second set. The encore consisted of the War Pigs cover, and then finally Short Skirt/Long Jacket. Another fun set by the band we’ve been lucky to see three times in the last three years in our area!
[flickr-gallery pagination=”0″ mode=”tag” tags=”2011-05-20″ tag_mode=”all”]
Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle
Set 1
Sad Songs and Waltzes
Italian Leather Sofa
Opera Singer
Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle
Long Time
Mustache Man (Wasted)
Shadow Stabbing
Wheels
Mexico
Bound Away
Guitar
Sick of You
Set 2
The Distance
Jolene
Pentagram
Love You Madly
Thrills (During the tree giveaway)
Sheep Go to Heaven
Never There
Encore:
War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
Short Skirt/Long Jacket
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 05/20/2011 Cake (Lewiston, NY @ Artpark)
Tags: 2011, Artpark, Cake, Lewiston
Cake! http://twitpic.com/50af8s
By Eric | May 20, 2011 8:40 pm
Cake! http://twitpic.com/50af8s
Topics: Blog | Comments Off on Cake! http://twitpic.com/50af8s
Tags: music, twitter
Dressing like a Sultan in my onion-head hat… CAK
By Eric | May 20, 2011 7:57 pm
Dressing like a Sultan in my onion-head hat… CAKE!!!! (@ Artpark w/ 13 others) http://4sq.com/jGsUyb
Topics: Blog | Comments Off on Dressing like a Sultan in my onion-head hat… CAK
Tags: music, twitter
In honor of Friday the 13th, it’s time to rock som
By Eric | May 13, 2011 8:27 am
In honor of Friday the 13th, it’s time to rock some 13 Ways To Bleed On Stage! @COLD_MUSIC
Topics: Blog | Comments Off on In honor of Friday the 13th, it’s time to rock som
Tags: music, twitter
05/07/2011 Stone Temple Pilots, Rose Hill Drive (Rochester, NY @ Main Street Armory)
By Eric | May 9, 2011 9:11 pm
It had been just about 10 years since I’d seen STP (Family Values 2001 in Buffalo), and when this show was announced, I think we all were of the impression that as long as the band was touring, we ought to go see them again before either Weiland falls off the wagon or they start the in-fighting and break up. I actually like the latest self-titled album that was released in 2010, so that served as a bit of motivation also. Karl, Kelley and I arrived towards the end of Rose Hill Drive’s set, and what little we heard sounded okay. I guess they’re a 70’s rock revival type band, in the vein of Led Zeppelin or the Who. We only caught three songs, but they were decent.
After the set change delay, it was time for STP. And the biggest question of all, how did they sound? Great! Weiland was in fine form, was hitting 99% of the notes, and the band was very tight. Dean DeLeo would expand on a solo here and there, and his brother Robert got some bass improvisation in there also. Karl brought up a great point, likening Weiland to Ozzy in that they can’t string a sentence together to save their life, but they can belt out their songs with no issues whatsoever. They opened with Crackerman, and didn’t stop with the back catalog for the next three songs! The whole show was back-catalog heavy, with only three tunes off the new album, and not a single song off of Shangri-La… (I thought at least Days of the Week, but nope!) Some deeper cuts than I’d seen in the previous three shows, including Still Remains (only ’01), Heaven & Hot Rods, and Silvergun Superman! Their well-known cover of Zeppelin’s Dancing Days was a nice surprise too, as was Trippin’ On A Hole… as the closer. It was just as notable a show for the omissions (anything off Shangri-La, Sour Girl, Creep, Big Bang Baby, etc.), but as more than a casual fan, I appreciated the other songs, rather than the stuff I can hear on the radio anytime. As this was the last show of this leg of the tour, the band brought out and thanked some of the crew and merch people after the hour and a half show was over. A fine showing by the STP camp, and I’m glad I got to see them again!
[flickr-gallery pagination=”0″ mode=”tag” tags=”2011-05-07″ tag_mode=”all”]
Crackerman
Still Remains
Trippin’ on a Hole
Setlist:
Crackerman
Wicked Garden
Vasoline
Heaven and Hot Rods
Between the Lines
Hickory Dichotomy
Still Remains
Big Empty
Dancing Days (Led Zeppelin cover)
Silvergun Superman
Plush
Interstate Love Song
Huckleberry Crumble
Down
Sex Type Thing
Encore:
Dead & Bloated
Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart
Topics: Concerts | 1 Comment »
Tags: 2011, Main Street Armory, rochester, Rose Hill Drive, Stone Temple Pilots
STP! http://twitpic.com/4utrz6
By Eric | May 7, 2011 9:45 pm
STP! http://twitpic.com/4utrz6
Topics: Blog | Comments Off on STP! http://twitpic.com/4utrz6
Tags: music, twitter
STP!! (@ Main Street Armory w/ 22 others) http://4
By Eric | May 7, 2011 8:29 pm
STP!! (@ Main Street Armory w/ 22 others) http://4sq.com/mqFf4W
Topics: Blog | Comments Off on STP!! (@ Main Street Armory w/ 22 others) http://4
Tags: music, twitter
05/04/2011 Psychostick, Blue Felix, Pollock, Tastes Like Burning, Zazz Blammyatazz (Buffalo, NY @ Broadway Joe’s)
By Eric | May 6, 2011 12:14 pm
I started off this Buffalo jaunt correctly by grabbing dinner at Jim’s Steak-Out across the street! Got into Joe’s just as “Zazz Blammyatazz” started. A three-piece that played some fun covers (as I think they’re all in “real” bands as well) and just had fun up there for a half-hour. Tastes Like Burning was up next, a Buffalo metal/core band that had a handful of kids there to see them. The screamo-breakdown stuff isn’t really my scene, so I wasn’t terribly into it. Next up was Pollock, a more straightforward alterna-rock band from Buffalo that played a solid set. The direct support was a band from Minnesota called Blue Felix, who are associated with DJ Sid Wilson of Slipknot fame. These guys have the visual part of the show down pat, with corpse paint, masks, and stage props that would have them fitting right in at a Rob Zombie gig. Musically they weren’t too bad, despite some technical problems at the beginning of their set. They’d be much better at a place with more room to move and more people to give them a little more feedback.
Finally it was fun time… PSYCHOSTICK time! The guys came out to the “Metal?” intro and right into “Do You Want A Taco?”. Frontman Rawrb was cracking jokes all night in between songs, and even though there were 100-150 people in the place, the band played as if it was 1500. Great crowd interaction, great sound, and lots of fun. Psychostick favorites like Sandwich, I Can Only Count To Four, ABCDEath, and the Jagermeister Love Song were mixed in among new classics like “Boobs” (how can that not be a hit?!), and a cool Push It mashup. Mashed up with Push It. (You got Static-X in my Salt-n-Pepa!). Naturally, the closer was BEER!, and then a one song encore consisting of The Hokey F’n Pokey, with the bass player coming down on the floor and doing the Hokey Pokey with us! A super fun set (albeit a late one), and totally worth the drive!
[flickr-gallery pagination=”0″ mode=”tag” tags=”2011-05-04″ tag_mode=”all”]
Setlist:
Do You Want A Taco?
Sandwich
Minimum Rage
ABCDEath
I Can Only Count To Four
Boobs
I Hate Doing Laundry
Largiloquent Dithyramb
Static Pepper (Push It mashup)
Two Ton Paperweight
Orgasm = Love
Caffeine
P Is The Best Letter
Tuff Luv
Jagermeister Love Song
In A Band To Get Chicks / Fake My Own Death and Go Platinum
BEER!
Hokey F’n Pokey
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 05/04/2011 Psychostick, Blue Felix, Pollock, Tastes Like Burning, Zazz Blammyatazz (Buffalo, NY @ Broadway Joe’s)
Tags: 2011, Blue Felix, Broadway Joe’s, Buffalo, Pollock, Psychostick, Tastes Like Burning, Zazz Blammyatazz
04/29/2011 Edwin McCain (Niagara Falls, NY @ Seneca Niagara Casino)
By Eric | May 6, 2011 11:15 am
Our second time seeing Edwin McCain in just over a month found Tiff and I at the Bear’s Den inside Seneca Niagara Casino. I got these tickets as a delayed birthday present for Tiff, if for no other reason than when one of her favorite artists comes around twice in a short span, we go! What an awesome room to see a show in! Just over 400 seats, great sightlines, great sound, and when you get tickets early enough to get 2nd row, you’re sitting even with the stage. Thankfully for us, since the room was so intimate, this was an acoustic show, as opposed to the plugged-in show we saw in Syracuse a month prior. Just like that show, they opened with Walk With You, but while we got a couple of the same songs after this, the order was much different. Interestingly, for a mostly up-tempo, positive show, someone in the crowd yelled out for White Crosses, which Edwin played, despite being one of the slowest and saddest songs in his catalog. Holy City brought it back up, and it got rollicking, dare I say, with One Thing Left To Do. A couple more standards followed before two encores, the last of which was a fun take on Radio Star. Another quality show from Edwin and his band, which we had excellent seats for!
[flickr-gallery pagination=”0″ mode=”tag” tags=”2011-04-29″ tag_mode=”all”]
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 04/29/2011 Edwin McCain (Niagara Falls, NY @ Seneca Niagara Casino)
Tags: 2011, Edwin McCain, Niagara Falls, Seneca Niagara Casino
PSYCHOSTICK! (@ Broadway Joe’s) http://4sq.com/iX2
By Eric | May 4, 2011 8:23 pm
PSYCHOSTICK! (@ Broadway Joe’s) http://4sq.com/iX21Qj
Topics: Blog | Comments Off on PSYCHOSTICK! (@ Broadway Joe’s) http://4sq.com/iX2
Tags: music, twitter