“You happy? It’s really a trip putting this set list together, as you can imagine, seven records, right? The past, the future… You know? So we kinda want your help at this point; this is the time traveling section of this set… We’re going backwards because we can’t go forward… So here’s the dilemma and here’s the choice we want you to make… Do we go back old world and do “Dead Disco” right? That whole thing, right? Or do we go Fantasies… butterflies, optimism, and do “Give Me Sympathy”? It’s tricky, it’s tricky… So let’s vote…” Emily Haines of Metric, giving the audience a chance to vote for the next song late in their set at the Hollywood Palladium on Wednesday night. Going by the audience reaction, it was pretty close, but Emily heard a larger reaction for “Give Me Sympathy”. However, once they finished that fan favorite song, she said “fuck it” and they played “Dead Disco” as well. It was really a fantastic evening of music with Metric and Zoé taking their co-headlining tour across the U.S., along with special guest July Talk supporting. Going by that set list, Metric went in deep with their latest album, Art of Doubt (one of my favorite albums of 2018), while Zoé celebrated their Grammy win for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Music Album for Aztlán. The massive tour is running through May, with some festival appearances to follow. It will definitely go down as one of my favorite shows of 2019.
Peter Hook & The Light Performing New Order’s “Low-Life” and “Brotherhood” (with Moby) at The Fonda Theatre | Hollywood, California | 11/22/2014 (Concert Review + Photos)
“And that’s how you play The Perfect Kiss!” An emphatic Peter Hook, currently touring as Peter Hook & The Light (formerly of Joy Division and New Order) – rock and roll’s greatest bass player – is apparently a skilled mind reader as well, as he pulled that quote right out of my head to shout back through his microphone after playing the best rendition of the classic song that I’d ever heard. Hooky and his band are in 2014 touring New Order’s third and fourth albums (Low-Life and Brotherhood, respectively) in their entirety, having done the same in 2013 with the first two (Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies). As an added bonus with each of these outings, they open for themselves as Slaves of Venues with dedicated Joy Division sets, which collectively makes for quite a substantive and lengthy set of shows each night. At The Fonda Theatre in Hollywood Saturday night, the dedicated fans in attendance were also treated to a surprise guest appearance on stage for the encore, with none other than Moby coming out to perform vocals for the first two songs of that set to close out the evening. All and all, with a show kicking off around 9:30 PM and going until 12:30 AM, it was three solid hours of celebration for fans of Joy Division and New Order. It was certainly one of those special shows were the venue, artist, and fans all clicked perfectly to make for a very memorable experience and a blazing hot and awesome show by a legendary artist and performer, who in my opinion is the heart and soul of New Order keeping the most authentic live performance of their music alive for old and new fans.
Sound City Players at Hollywood Palladium | Hollywood, California | 1/31/2013 (Concert Review)
Last night Dave Grohl brought together some of his music icons from his newly released Sound City documentary on stage as part of his Sound City Players concert at the Hollywood Palladium. The concert followed the Hollywood premiere of his film, just down the street earlier in the evening, and the legacy lived on with an epic show played before fans and VIPs in the upper levels of the packed venue. It was nothing short of one of the most creative celebrations of rock music I’ve seen, with Stevie Nicks fronting the Foo Fighters-based group closing the night out with the powerful Fleetwood Mac hit, “Gold Dust Woman” (a track from one of the best albums of all time, Rumors, which itself is celebrating its 35th anniversary this week with a series of special reissues). What an amazing concert, and one that will be long remembered by those in attendance at the show, which ran nearly three and a half hours. [Read more…]
No Doubt at Jimmy Kimmel Live! Block Party | Hollywood, California | 1/8/2013 (Concert Review)
No Doubt served as the special musical guest for Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, as part of a special episode debuting the new 11:35 PM time slot. In addition to performing two songs for the benefit of the television audience, the band put on a good number of additional performances for this concert with eight songs in total, which was awesome for the fans in attendance who either got free tickets through 1iota or won them from the World Famous KROQ. Having just seen the band about a month ago as part of their seven-night residency at The Gibson Amphitheatre, it was awesome to catch them again so soon, and again opening with the title track to their latest album, Push and Shove. During the high energy mini-concert, the band made some news by announcing that they will be doing a world tour starting this Summer. As with the Gibson gig, the members of the Anaheim band (Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Adrian Young, Stephen Bradley, and Gabriel McNair) seemed to be having the time of their lives on stage, and were dressed to the nines in their own stylish versions of tuxedos. Brilliant show and awesome crowd.
Information Society at King King | Hollywood, California | 7/3/2012 (Concert Review)
Late last night and into this morning at King King in Hollywood, Information Society played a special one off gig in the U.S.; the only scheduled show here for 2012 and their first live performance since 2009. The band leaves for Brazil this morning to play a number of concerts there this month, and those who make those shows will likely be as thrilled to see the band as the fans here in the Los Angeles area. It was a fantastic show and the group sounded as great as they ever have, and it was a thrill to see them perform. It was a great crowd of dedicated music fans and the band obviously had a ton of fun playing in this intimate venue. Epic night. [Read more…]
Coldplay at Jimmy Kimmel Live! Block Party | Hollywood, California | 2/9/2012 (Concert Review)
Following last night’s Coldplay iHeartRadio benefit concert at Club Nokia, I was lucky enough to share a pair of tickets with another Coldplay fan who won them from The World Famous KROQ for a special Jimmy Kimmel Live! outdoor mini-concert / block party (or “bloq” party) behind the El Capitan Theater, where the regular show is shot in studio. Some of the songs performed at this concert will be broadcast on a special post Academy Award special of the JKL! show, following the Oscars telecast. This concert was originally scheduled for February 7, 2012, and rescheduled for tonight, February 9th.