Photos by G.

Brandon Flowers

The Killers are on a break.  Brandon Flowers is sowing his wild oats by releasing a solo record called “Flamingo.”  The songs from the album made their New York debut on August 26, 2010 as he performed them live at a sold out show at the Highline Ballroom.  For those hoping for a radical departure from the sound of the Killers in the way that Gwen Stefani of No Doubt and Kele from Bloc Party did on their solo records, you might be disappointed.  I personally thought that any of the tracks performed could fit in on a Killers record, so perhaps that will please the legion of fans who are eagerly awaiting the release of “Flamingo.”  He played 8 new songs, a cover of Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes,” and 2 tracks by The Killers – “Losing Touch,” and an acoustic version of “When You Were Young.”  Aside from the fact that “When You Were Young” was the encore and final number, the audience just about lost their minds when he started singing the song.  A video of “When You Were Young,” “Bette Davis Eyes,” and “On The Floor” are all coming soon, but please be patient.  I am only one person with many amazing experiences to write about.  He took the stage at 9 pm and played for 45 minutes.  There was no opening act.  The screaming girls around me obviously loved every note, but I did overhear some audience members saying “his solo stuff sucks shit.”  You can decide for yourself when “Flamingo” is released next month.  One thing that is indisputable, Brandon Flowers is a total hottie!

See some more pictures of Brandon Flowers as well as the set list after the jump.

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Photos by G.

MGMT

MGMT is a great case study for a time when the music industry is seconds away from crashing and burning completely.  They made an extremely radio friendly debut record, which pretty much made every top 10 album list that year and soon after pictures of the band from Brooklyn became affixed to the walls of every teenage girl in the land.  The record companies found their new golden boys.  Then they jumped the shark by making a nearly hook-free sophomore record which features surf inspired psychedelic tracks, one of which clocks in at 12 minutes, thus sending hipsters and label executives who know nothing about music but only about the bottom line into a panic!  Their live premiere at the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York on August 18, 2010 continued their trend of challenging their listeners and freaking out the record company.  It was very clear the band wanted the 4,500 person crowd to pay attention to the music and not the individual players as MGMT performed a dream set list – almost entirely in the dark!  They were lit from behind with a backdrop that resembles their latest album cover. Since it was nearly impossible to see them, the visuals projected on the screens behind the band were as trippy as MGMT’s latest album.  All ticket prices were the same, no matter what section, so for once, having good versus crappy seats didn’t make one bit of difference.  That actually lucked out for me, because I was not pleased with my seat location. 

When “Congratulations,” came out earlier this year, I think I was so shocked by the dramatic diversion in the band’s musical direction that I didn’t comprehend it at first, but as I continued to listen to it, it quickly became my favorite album of 2010.  It was so amusing to me watching the audience not know how to react to songs, such as their epic “Siberian Breaks” a track that goes through multiple genre changes in its 12 minute length.  At first people were standing, and looking around the crowd for direction, the people decided to sit.  The crowd clapped as the song went into its next part, but they were obviously not clapping for the complexity of the music, they just thought a new song was about to begin.  So people stood again.  MGMT played nearly every song off both of their albums (except ”4th Dimensional Transition” off “Oracular Spectacular” and the instrumental “Lady Dada’s Nightmare” off “Congratulations.”)  The band even dug deep and played, “Destrokk,” a song off their hard to find first EP.  The flow of the show was also great as they mixed in hits with their spacey new tracks.  Aside from the lack of stage lighting, I thought the band sounded great and performed the best set list you could possibly dream of.  I’ve seen the band twice before and the extremely drunken crowds both times pushed, shoved and body slammed to the music.  Not exactly needed for this type of music, and perhaps MGMT is trying to shake those people from their fan base so they can continue making some of the most interesting music that is around today, without feeling compelled to make the sequel to their debut album. I met the band prior to the show and I’d like to thank them again for keeping music alive by keeping it real. Videos of “Congratulations” and “I Found a Whistle” are coming soon, so stay tuned!

Nothing to see here. MGMT.

View the set list after the jump.

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Photos by G.

Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer- Kiss!

Though I’ve never been the biggest fan of Kiss‘ music, I’ve always had great respect and appreciated the bits and pieces I’ve seen of their stage shows, their legions of devoted fans and the fact that they’ve been around since 1973 and are still going!  As I’ve been so blessed to see so many amazing artists perform, I owed it to myself to see the legendary Kiss.  They are worth all the accolades they receive as they are phenomenal live.  Jones Beach in New York is located literally on the water, so that by itself makes for a magical night and seeing the legendary Kiss on August 14, 2010 at this venue is definitely one for the books. 

They had a really great LED screen behind them projecting trippy visuals, a huge flashing KISS logo, fireworks, rising bits of the stage, and of course most importantly, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons decked out in their finest Kiss gear!  The audience was a very eclectic mix of people and I saw so many kids (literally 5 years old and less) with their parents in Kiss makeup!  Pictures of that are coming soon, so stay tuned. Some people say Rock and Roll is dead.  Judging from the crowd at the Kiss show, I’d say Rock and Roll is very much alive, it’s just morbidly obese.  Coming soon, I’ll be posting a video I took of my favorite Kiss song “Deuce” so stay tuned for that.  The band played all the songs a casual fan such as myself would want to hear such as “Beth,” “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “Lick It Up,” and “Detroit Rock City.”  Paul Stanley invited many crowd sing-a-longs, Gene Simmons stuck out his enormously large tongue many times, Eric Singer performed a drum solo while he was over 50 feet high in the air and Tommy Thayer did a guitar solo with his guitar behind his head.  What more could you ask for?

See more pictures of Kiss as well as the setlist after the jump.

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Photos by G.

Martina Sorbara of Dragonette

On August 13, 2010, Canadian electro-pop band Dragonette played a sold out show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom.  The band took the stage around 11:30 PM after sets by Shy Child and The Young Empires (who I absolutely loved).  More on both bands coming soon.  Dragonette was really great.  They had a nifty light show for the crowd and lead singer Martina Sorbara danced around the stage and played guitar on some of their more rockin’ numbers.  Their music is a nice mix of electronic and pop/rock and I loved every second of it.  The crowd was loving it too as every song turned into a sing-a-long with most of the crowd throwing their hands in the air.  I met the band after the show and they were all beyond nice.  More on that encounter coming soon.  They played a nice mix of songs from their albums “Galore” and “Fixin to Thrill.”  One of my favorite moments was when Martina told the crowd how she once did guest vocals at a show at the Bowery Ballroom and afterwards drank as much of the band’s vodka as she could get her hands on.  Needless to say, she ended up on the floor puking her guts out as audience members walked by her lifeless body and commenting “great job tonight.”  A video of “We Rule The World” is coming soon, so stay tuned for that as well.  See a few more pictures as well as the set list after the jump.

Dragonette

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Photos by G.

Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun

On August 9, 2010, Australian band Empire of the Sun played their second ever show in New York at Terminal 5.  Almost everything about the evening was just a bit off.  The night started off for me with a strange encounter with lead singer and sole original member Luke Steele.  Once the show began, we were “treated” to an hour long DJ set where the bass was so heavy, it was nearly impossible to hear the music.  Also, when a DJ opens for a band in a standing room only venue for a sold out show, it’s nearly impossible to dance and watching a DJ mix records is hardly exciting.  The audience seemed confused by a scantily clad woman, wearing a white wig and a mask who sat on a chair on stage reading a pamphlet for the enitre hour and didn’t move.  Empire of the Sun came out finally at 10:15 (zoinks!) and as usual at shows, the photographer pit in front of the first row is occupied for the first 3 songs.  Many of the photographers were standing on a riser thus blocking the view of the people in the front row and a shoving match ensued.  It nearly ended in a fist fight with people being ejected from the venue but it was narrowly avoided.  The spectacle made the first part of the show a very uncomfortable experience.  Coupled with the fact that Terminal 5′s notoriously horrible sound system was in full effect tonight, at times, it was impossible to tell what song was being played.

On the up side, Empire of the Sun was great. They had awesome visuals, great costumes, cool lighting and dancers that were straight out of an LSD trip.  They played their entire debut album “Walking on the Sun,” (except for “Country”) as well as a few new songs.  Luke Steele played guitar and keyboards, danced around the stage a little bit, and had some over the top costumes.  The show was a very lean hour long, which is pretty disappointing considering most shows in the Great Depression of 2010 consist of 3 acts so you really get the most bang for your buck even if you don’t end up enjoying all of them.  The general consensus in the front row was “it was a great show BUT….”  With that kind of word of mouth, it’s uncertain if we’ll ever get to see Empire of the Sun perform in the United States again, since their debut performances in the States are based off their 2 year old album.  The future is uncertain for this band, but as I said previously, I left the show with a smile on my face.  If you don’t know Empire of the Sun’s music, I definitely recommend their album “Walking on a Dream,” as it sounds like familiar songs from the New Wave era of the 80s, yet they are all originals.

See more pictures (including the Swordfish Hotkiss Nights dancers) as well as the set list after the jump.

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Photos by G.

Robyn

I saw Robyn live performing an intimate gig last week and while I enjoyed it, I just kept thinking “what is all the hype about?”  She sang, she danced, she had good lighting, but I was not that impressed.  Flash forward a week in time when Robyn headlined the All Hearts Tour with the Far East Movement, Dan Black and Kelis.  It was like she took all the energy from the previous show and multiplied it by 1000, added a sea of sweatty gay men and the result was one of the most fun shows since I saw Kylie Minogue last year.  Her energy was infectious as she danced her ass off during every song.  The crowd at Webster Hall erupted in cheers for her entire set and the floors were shaking from people dancing.  Her hair was entirely blonde for this performance, whereas last week, one side of her head was dyed blue and even the songs she performed last week had a much stronger energy tonight and I have to say the show was a lot of fun.  She performed tracks such as “Fembot,” “Dancing on my Own,” “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do,” and “Be Mine.”  At one point in the show, she whipped out a banana and ate it while dancing.  I hope she didn’t get a stomach ache.

See more pictures as well as the set list (to the best of my memory), after the jump.

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Photos by G.

Kelis!

Not many people can pull off the above outfit, but singer Kelis sure can!  As part of the All Hearts Tour featuring the Far East Movement, Dan Black and Robyn, Kelis played second to last and according2g, she might have stolen the show.  She performed for a little less than an hour and she played the songs in a non-stop megamix that took us on a journey that included old hits such as “Milkshake” and “Millionaire” to “Acapella,” one of her latest singles.  She also threw in snippets of classics such as Terence Trent D’arby’s “Sign Your Name,” Madonna’s “Holiday,” and “Baby I Got Your Money” by Ol’ Dirty Bastard.  She danced her ass off during each song and the crowd was so into every second of her performance, Webster Hall was literally shaking! For the Prince freax reading, DJ Rashida was on stage during Kelis’ set, spinning and getting the crowd pumped.  I wasn’t expecting to like the show as much as I did, but I have to hand it to Kelis, she really worked it!

Kelis

See more pictures of Kelis as well as the set list after the jump.

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