Silversun Pickups, Pipeline Cafe, 09.05.09

Silversun Pickups
Live @ Pipeline Cafe
09.05.2009



Had a bit of a busy week, so I'm finally getting to post this now.

Anyway, last Saturday, I saw Silversun Pickups at Pipeline Cafe.

Ridiculous. My ears are still recovering. They're ringing now, so that's good.

But it was awesome! And I got rail! In front of Nikki! The opening band was this band called Satellite Grey and they freaking rocked the joint. Local music, woot. I've got their first album "Mirror Transmission" and it is NICE. I hope to catch them live in concert sometime.

I didn't score a setlist, but that's alright. They opened with Growing Up is Getting Old, which was awesome. Nikki on bass! In front of me! She's so adorable. Then, I think it was Well Thought Out Twinkles...then The Royal We somewhere in there. They did do Kissing Families which was lovely. Yelling the lyrics back at Brian was pretty glorious. Speaking of Brian, he's pretty ridiculous live. They all are. But I think him even more so. Cause Joe is all bent over his keyboards, Nikki's all stoic, but cute. And Chris...well wait. Chris is mental on the drums too. Hair all going over the place. That guy is a beast. I swear on the last song (I think Common Reactor) he hit his cymbal (that was set way high) so hard, the stand swayed a bit. Chris is mental.




Brian gave a shout out to a local band called the Jump Offs, who he had seen at First Friday the day before the gig. That was pretty sweet. I've caught The Jump Offs twice (opening for Of Montreal and MGMT), and they're good. They're supposed to be releasing an album next month, I believe.

Back to SSPU---they also played Substitution, It's Nice to Know You Work Alone, Catch & Release, There's No Secrets This Year followed by The Royal We, Kissing Families (sweet!). There's a few more songs in there, but they closed the main set with Panic Switch and Lazy Eye. I recorded some of Lazy Eye just to capture how ridiculous it all was. Mainly Chris going mental on the drums because you can't really capture that in a still shot. Mostly for experience sake. The sound on that was pretty crappy. But ZOMG, Panic Switch and Lazy Eye. Lazy Eye. I died. I sort of regretted recording when Brian screams out "SUNSHINE". But I was right with him, haha. Amazing.



Lazy Eye - video taken by lucky015

He played Rusted Wheel as the first encore, which made me giggle as I mentioned that guy who wanted Brian to play that at the music hall. [Then there was some banter between him and Nikki. Earlier (I forget during which song), she would point at him to take over then he'd be like pointing back at her. And that would go on, haha. After the first encore, Brian starts talking, asking what Nikki had done during the day, commenting on her flower in her hair. Asked her why she was so sunburned. She said she and Joe had gone to Diamond Head and got a certificate. Then he went on a jokey little bit about how we need to support our local ABC Store (which is a touristy chain of stores in Waikiki...the joke being, if you throw a rock from one ABC Store, you'd hit the next one).

The next encore was...Creation Lake. Which, to my understanding, is not played much. So, it was quite lovely seeing Nikki take the mic. I was hoping for Melatonin, and kicked myself for not mentioning it when I saw them Friday. They closed everything out with Common Reactor, complete with Brian playing around with his pedals and effects, and Chris nearly knocking his cymbal stand over.



Creation Lake - video taken by lucky015


It was really exciting and really awesome. I only wish I had more time to acclimate myself with the songs better, but I knew enough...but I still really really loved the gig. Really solid. I have no ears. I think if I had one complaint...sometimes the vocals can get lost (especially Nikki's)...and the keyboard too. Sort of miniscule, because it didn't really matter in the end.

I made my way to the merch table to get a shirt. That was the plan anyway. Once there, I realized they were selling VINYL. 180 gram limited edition vinyl (of Carnavas and Swoon, don't know if Pikul was 180 gram. But it was there for vinyl). I spent $35 on vinyl for Carnavas and Swoon. I also ran into a guy I initially labeled as "Setlist dude." And he said he heard that the band might be signing autographs around the Will Call area. So I ended up wandering around there with a few of my friends. Just tagged around for a little while, though. Decided to leave. I mean, I had already met them the day before, and Brian had his arm around me (which was nice) and I got an autograph and pictures, and the rail...AND vinyl, so it was enough to call it a night.

I have a renewed faith that Hawaii will get good concerts. :) I'm still hoping for Interpol. :D

Anyway BAMP has some sweet shots up: --Here--

Oh and the acoustic sesh that SSPU did for Roadrunner Music Hall is also up: --Here--

-j

Band of Horses, Pipeline Cafe, 08.23.2009

Band of Horses @ Pipeline Cafe
(Matt Costa opening)
August 23, 2009

(Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/effinpeaz/sets/72157622017285813/)


I remember the first time I heard Band of Horses, and I remember who turned me on to them. It was 2 years ago, and a friend I knew off of Interpol Online (a forum I regularly post on) told me about them. It was just a normal MSN chat. I remember was downloading as I chatted with her. At one point, she pointed out how the drumming and general aesthetic on "Our Swords" was sort of similar to the effect on Interpol's "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down." It did have the same sort of floaty feeling...

I'm grateful to that introduction, because Band of Horses became one of my favorite bands that day (not because of that tidbit).

The sound: big. The emotion: real. I knew I wanted to see this band live. The likelihood of it seemed distant, though. I thought I would just see them whenever I make the move to the mainland.

Fast forward a year or two later after that introduction. Hello, Twitter. Hello BAMP Projects. Hello a tweet that says "Band of Horses, August 23rd, Pipeline Cafe. Get Stoked."

Cue me spazzing silently (I think) in my room in the early hours of the morning.

So, this past Sunday, I saw Band of Horses at Pipeline Cafe. And it was awesome. Matt Costa, who I haven't listened to much, admittedly, was the opener. He was very good and I was impressed. I mean, I knew he was good, and I think I'll listen to him more now. My brother's a big fan, so I'll nick some stuff off him, I suppose.

Anyway, Band of Horses. Goshdangawesome.

Ben sounds amazing live. And the band as a whole are solid. Even though they had some technical difficulties, they carried on like pros.

My favorite moments:

1. Them opening with "The First Song" with Ben on the lap steel guitar. I think I would've preferred "Is There a Ghost?" as an opener, but First Song was nice. I did get my wish 2 songs later, though. :D I really really wanted to hear 'Is There a Ghost?" live because it builds so awesome. And I wasn't disappointed. Definitely one of my favorite moments in the concert. Actually, that whole beginning four ("The First Song"/"The Great Salt Lake"/"Is There a Ghost?"/"Weed Party") was sweet.

2. Ben coming out to the crowd during Weed Party. I didn't expect that, but that was pretty cool.

3."No One's Gonna Love You" and "The Funeral". So. amazing. live. I got No One on video, but like a retard, I turned the camera, so the end looks like it's on its side. So, I don't know if I'll get it up to YouTube.

4. Islands on the Coast is very good live. Actually, pretty much everything they performed translates well live. Of course, it's way better because it IS live.

5. "Our Swords" is performed on two basses and the drums. Awesome.

6. Oh, and singing along to "La Dee DAAAH!" when applicable. :D


The guys looked like they were having a lot of fun on stage, enjoying themselves. I do hope they come back to Hawaii! They're definitely a band I'd catch a number of times. I went to the MGMT concert last month, and it was okay, but I don't think I'll do another one (we'll see). But BOH, it's a lock. Honestly, probably the best concert I've been to this year.

At least maybe next time, I'll actually act quick enough to get a picture with Ryan and Tyler if I ran into them again. Mental note to keep grabbing "Will Call" tickets, haha.

So, if you didn't get the jist, the concert was VERY GOOD. Roll on the Silversun Pickups. (I should be spam-listening to them in preparation, to get more accustomed than I am now---but it's hard to wean off the BOH).

Until next post, kiddies.