Archive for the 'concert' Category

Cloud Cult Live at Legends

Published by
billy
at December 14, 2007 in cloud cult, concert, indie, live, mp3 and music. 3 Comments

This past Saturday I had the unbelieveable priviledge to see Cloud Cult play their very first show in Indiana.  Not only that, but the show was free at The Legends of Notre Dame.  To say that the show was anything less than phenomenal would be a lie.  Cloud Cult stands as one of the most underrated bands of the last decade.  Their live set is something to behold and left me simply feeling that “this band is unbelievable.”

The show they played at Legends was a lengthy set spiraling through their most recent release, The Meaning of 8 (iTunes), while they included some older tracks and a new song from their upcoming album to be released in mid 2008.  The band itself is comprised of seven people, two of whom are artists who paint gorgeous murals throughout the entire set.  At the end of the show the artwork is auction off so that the band can “buy enough gas to get home” in their environmentally friendly bio-diesel bus.  In addition to saving the world with their bus they also sell all of their own merchandise through front man Craig Minowa’s label, Earthology Records, which uses only recycled materials and puts all of their profits toward environmental charities.  {Al Gore, this band + you = superheroes}

The energy on stage throughout their set from their opener, Hope, to the show stopping encore of Chain Reaction {with literally half of the fans singing along to ’suck up, suck up, and take your medicine’} was infectious.  I left the show after shaking hands with the band behind their merch table, and scoring a great t-shirt, knowing that if at all possible I will see Cloud Cult play again.

mp3 : Cloud Cult - Hope
mp3 : Cloud Cult - Chain Reaction
mp3 : Cloud Cult - Take Your Medicine

If ever there was an American counter to the brilliance of Canada’s Arcade Fire, this is that band.  In case you’re wondering their new track, which I have no idea what it is called, was intensely beautiful.  Their upcoming album sounds promising and will easily be on of my most anticipated albums of 2008.

Shows
January 17: Indianapolis, IN - Radio Radio
January 18: Chicago, IL - Schubas
February: Norway
March 10: Kansas City - Davey’s Uptown Rambler
March 11: Oklahoma City
March 12: Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
March 13-15: Austin, TX - SXSW
March 16: Little Rock, AK - Revolution Music Room
March 17: St. Louis, MO

+ twf hype elbows site myspace amazon itunes

OK GO Live at Butler University

Published by
josh
at October 30, 2007 in concert, live, mp3, ok go and rock. 0 Comments

I saw OK GO play the other night at Butler and it was completely worth it.
Using a friends student discount, the night only cost 9.00.

They had a screen set up behind them which they utilized amazingly. Every song either had a guy in the wallpaper costume dancing behind them, things blowing up in reverse (these two were not the music videos. It was almost like they took a scene of a music video and instead played that one scene the whole time), or just some stop motion mannequins changing clothes. Every third song or so they would then switch to the cameras that they had mounted on all their equipment around the stage. All in all, I can’t think of a better way to use a screen behind the band.

They played almost all of of the songs off of Oh No and, in the middle of the performance, grabbed acoustic guitars and a small bell set and moved to the small stage, in front of the main stage. They told us that they wanted to play the whole concert there but pointed out that none of the lights were set up for that stage. So they invited the crowd to join them and handed out flash lights to the audience so they could play an amazing, acoustic version of A Million Ways. That song alone would be worth the 9.00 ticket.

Quick overview of awesome: Damian climbed up to the first balcony on the metal bars used to mount lights on the side of the stage and bent it when he jumped off. He also ran threw about 15 rows, standing on the arm rests. The show was really high energy and amazingly fun. If you have the option to go see them in concert, it is highly recommended by me. The band also had 2 choreographed jumps, where they all jumped at the moment the music stopped and landed at the same time to begin playing again. It was beautiful.

I wish that I had recorded them playing A Million Ways acoustic, but alass, I didn’t. So I’ll leave you with the album version, which is still very good and may be my favorite Ok Go song.

mp3 : Ok Go - A Million Ways

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