Author Archive
Photos: Sunn O))) @ Sonar
Categorizing Sunn O))) as drone/doom metal is only really appropriate when the duo are at the peak of their Earth-tribute mode. This was very much in evidence last night at Sonar, where at least half the band’s 90-minute set was more like avant-garde noise played really, really loud. Sunn O))) can be a bit inscrutable, but their live show is a beast of glacial proportions: fog so thick one can barely see fellow audience members, much less the performers on stage; hellish red light outlining black-robed band members; and, of course, so much sound that it is a physical presence in the room.
More photos after the jump and at the full gallery.
Photos: The Sounds @ 9:30 Club
The Sounds frontwoman Maja Ivarsson doesn’t need the hot pants and high heels that are her trademark schtick: she’s a dynamic, engaging performer regardless of what she’s wearing. The energy that she brought to the 9:30 Club last night more than made up for a few vocal misfires.
Quote of the night: “Oh my god, don’t you just want to have sex with them?” from an enthusiastic female fan to a 9:30 Club staff member.
More photos after the jump and at the full gallery.
Photos: Yo La Tengo @ 9:30 Club
Jon Fischer will be recapping last night’s Yo La Tengo show at the 9:30 Club. In the meantime, check out some photos from the evening after the jump and at the full gallery.
Salome, Batillus and Hull Kick Off September Tour Tonight
That’s three pretty kick-ass doom metal bands, all in one place. We’ve spilled a fair amount of digital ink about NoVA’s Salome (pictured above); today they start their first-ever proper tour, a few weeks after releasing the big news that they have been signed to the excellent experimental metal label Profound Lore (also home to bands like Alcest, Nadja, Krallice etc). When I spoke to the band a month or so ago, they said they were planning to take a break from live shows after this tour and begin recording their next album.
Salome are fantastic but Hull and Batillus are nothing to sneeze at either. You can download the latter’s EP for free and see for yourself, or just catch all three bands live – they’ll be in Baltimore tomorrow night at Talking Head, and then at College Park’s Marblehaus (3738 Marlbrough Way, College Park, MD) on Saturday night.
Full tour dates after the jump.
Read More “Salome, Batillus and Hull Kick Off September Tour Tonight” »
Virgin FreeFest: Full Photo Gallery
By now, this might be ancient history in Internet time; but after the jump, check out a quick preview of the 200+ photos in the full gallery. Plus, I’ve penned my thoughts on each of the festival acts in two sentences or less. Keep in mind that in my effort to cover every band, I didn’t see a single full set. And there are just some bands about which I have absolutely nothing to say.
Virgin Mobile FreeFest: “You Can’t Complain When It’s Free”
When that is the most common thing one hears said about a concert, it would seem to indicate that something was left to be desired. It was a stroke of PR genius to make this year’s version of the Virgin Festival completely free, after it became clear that the lineup was not going to live up to the standard set by previous years. So while there was a lot to complain about on Sunday, from the bizarre decision to turn pavilion seating into a free-for-all to the fact that, well, Blink-182 were the headliners, hey – it was free. And in this case, concertgoers got much more than what they paid for.
Public Enemy (pictured above, Flavor Flav) drew by far the biggest crowd to the festival’s secondary stage, and delivered a set worthy of the distinction. I enjoyed a few other sets here and there, particularly over on that second stage (St. Vincent, Girl Talk, The National were all fun), but really, Public Enemy alone would have made the whole thing, um, worth the price of admission.
The full set of photos is forthcoming, but check out a few teasers after the jump.
Read More “Virgin Mobile FreeFest: “You Can’t Complain When It’s Free”” »
Photos: The Flaming Lips @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
Seeing The Flaming Lips live is an experience rather unlike anything else, and these photos speak for themselves. Be sure to check out Jason Cherkis’ interview with Lips frontman Wayne Coyne for more on the band and their forthcoming new album, Embryonic.
Lots of photos after the jump and at the full gallery.
Read More “Photos: The Flaming Lips @ Merriweather Post Pavilion” »
Photos: Avant Fairfax II
The lessened novelty, the rain and the timing – before local students have gotten back into the swing of things – all conspired such that this past weekend’s second iteration of Avant Fairfax wasn’t quite as well-attended as the first. But that didn’t stop eight bands (and one filmmaker) from putting on an entertaining spectacle in an unfinished second story of a nameless commercial building in downtown Fairfax.
Some personal highlights:
- Janel and Anthony’s set was my favorite, a cello/guitar duo that bounced between experimental noise and beautiful, pastoral melody.
- Max Ochs (pictured above) performed a Turkish song, confessing that he doesn’t know a word of Turkish. His lyrics were a “trans-phoneticism” (his term) instead of a translation – he basically took the original Turkish vocals and turned them into their closest English analogue by sound alone.
- Gondola played a single long jam with gobs of head-nodding riffs, psychedelic wailing and no dynamics whatsoever. They’ve got the Earthless-style heavy psych-rock thing down to a T.
More thoughts and photos after the jump, and see the full gallery here.
Avant Fairfax Returns Tomorrow
April’s inaugural Avant Fairfax festival was such a success that the organizers immediately turned around and starting working on the next installment. The second iteration of the festival is now upon us, and will feature a diverse lineup of eight performers (from the folk stylings of Max Ochs to the psych-rock of Dark Sea Dream and Gondola) as well as a short film.
It’s scheduled for 5pm-1am tomorrow, August 22, 2009; here’s hoping for tighter timing, as the original fest went overtime and forced headliners Cheer-Accident to cut their set short. The venue this time around is the ” . ” (Point in Space) Gallery in Fairfax City [3940 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030]. Suggested donation $5.
Check out the lineup after the jump or visit Avant Fairfax at Myspace.
Photo: John Stanton of Kuschty Rye-Ergot, from the first fest.
Photos: The Pretenders @ Warner Theatre
Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders hit the Warner Theatre last Friday evening, supported by the odd combination of manic Juliette Lewis and soporific Cat Power (whose set was excellent, but she did not allow any photography so you won’t see anything from it here).
More photos at the full gallery and after the jump.
