1-29-2006 7:55 pm
David: Mmmmm...Cake....
Last week I got the chance to go and see one of my favorite bands, Cake, at The Uptown Theatre in Kansas City.
I'd seen them once before, at 96.5 The Buzz's Beachball I event, but they were playing second fiddle to Weezer that day, and the set seemed way too short. (By comparison Weezer's subdued set seemd waaaaay too long.)
This time, however, was much better. It all kicked off with a bit from comedian Eugene Mirman who is hilarious. Check his website out and watch some of the videos.
Eugene was followed on stage by a group known as Gogol Brodello. I've never been in such conflict about a group before. I hated the sounds, but loved the energy and inventiveness of these guys. At one point the lead singer placed a fire bucket over the mic and started banging away. Another moment saw a couple of girls on stage screaming their highest pitches into the mic. Strange, awful, fun, and annoying all at the same time.
Next up was the incredibly lame duo of Tegan and Sara. If you've heard their immensely overplayed single "Walking With a Ghost" you'll hopefully agree with me. For those that haven't heard it, it's basicly a 15 to 20 second hook repeated ad nauseum. Literally. I have to pull over an vomit when it comes on my radio. They regalled the crowd with more sappy songs about being in love and breaking up and some other crap. It sounded like I'd opened a bag of Rock and forgotten it in a cabinet for a few months, stumbling across it later and finding that it was now chewy and not crunchy. Then there were the between song conversations between the two sisters (twins, even!) that sounded like something you'd hear on the SNL NPR parody "Delicious Dish". I never want to be put through this kind of torture again.
Finally, Cake took the stage. Their performance was flawless. John McCrea has some fun with the crowd and delivers his lyrics and strums the acoustic from time to time. The rest of the band also play their parts, and play them well. The real star of the show for me, is, however, trumpeter Vince DiFiore. This dude switches instruments about as often as you turn to look at him. His hands leave the keyboard and half a second latter he's hitting the upper octave of the trumpet's capability, stopping only to pick up other percussion type instruments that I don't have the names for. If you play an instrument, you know how hard it can be to switch up like that, and he pulls it off flawlessly, never missing a cue, never hitting a sour note.
The group played a lot of their singles, a few early songs, and peppered in some of their albums' lesser known numbers before darting off stage around midnight. I was sure that there was no hope for an encore, as 12:01am begins the start of a new tax day, but yelled along with the rest of the crowd and a couple of minutes later, the group wandered back out on stage. We were thanked for our enthusiasm, and then Cake launched into a sped up version of "The Distance". After that the show ended and we (sleepily) drove home.
Last week I got the chance to go and see one of my favorite bands, Cake, at The Uptown Theatre in Kansas City.
I'd seen them once before, at 96.5 The Buzz's Beachball I event, but they were playing second fiddle to Weezer that day, and the set seemed way too short. (By comparison Weezer's subdued set seemd waaaaay too long.)
This time, however, was much better. It all kicked off with a bit from comedian Eugene Mirman who is hilarious. Check his website out and watch some of the videos.
Eugene was followed on stage by a group known as Gogol Brodello. I've never been in such conflict about a group before. I hated the sounds, but loved the energy and inventiveness of these guys. At one point the lead singer placed a fire bucket over the mic and started banging away. Another moment saw a couple of girls on stage screaming their highest pitches into the mic. Strange, awful, fun, and annoying all at the same time.
Next up was the incredibly lame duo of Tegan and Sara. If you've heard their immensely overplayed single "Walking With a Ghost" you'll hopefully agree with me. For those that haven't heard it, it's basicly a 15 to 20 second hook repeated ad nauseum. Literally. I have to pull over an vomit when it comes on my radio. They regalled the crowd with more sappy songs about being in love and breaking up and some other crap. It sounded like I'd opened a bag of Rock and forgotten it in a cabinet for a few months, stumbling across it later and finding that it was now chewy and not crunchy. Then there were the between song conversations between the two sisters (twins, even!) that sounded like something you'd hear on the SNL NPR parody "Delicious Dish". I never want to be put through this kind of torture again.
Finally, Cake took the stage. Their performance was flawless. John McCrea has some fun with the crowd and delivers his lyrics and strums the acoustic from time to time. The rest of the band also play their parts, and play them well. The real star of the show for me, is, however, trumpeter Vince DiFiore. This dude switches instruments about as often as you turn to look at him. His hands leave the keyboard and half a second latter he's hitting the upper octave of the trumpet's capability, stopping only to pick up other percussion type instruments that I don't have the names for. If you play an instrument, you know how hard it can be to switch up like that, and he pulls it off flawlessly, never missing a cue, never hitting a sour note.
The group played a lot of their singles, a few early songs, and peppered in some of their albums' lesser known numbers before darting off stage around midnight. I was sure that there was no hope for an encore, as 12:01am begins the start of a new tax day, but yelled along with the rest of the crowd and a couple of minutes later, the group wandered back out on stage. We were thanked for our enthusiasm, and then Cake launched into a sped up version of "The Distance". After that the show ended and we (sleepily) drove home.
1-27-2006 3:39 am
David: Wins Against Conservative Fools
1
This was Ethangsmith's final wish while with us here on VENT and I intend to honor it.
Mood: Disappointed
1
This was Ethangsmith's final wish while with us here on VENT and I intend to honor it.
Mood: Disappointed
1-27-2006 12:09 am
David: Yo, Readers!
A quick mention of the upcoming Curious George movie by fuzmeister prompted an interesting exchange between ethangsmith and myself. In case you missed it, check it out here.
Mood: Sleepy (More of a condition, really)
Music: A lot of Radiohead, lately
Browsing: Making of Clerks 2
A quick mention of the upcoming Curious George movie by fuzmeister prompted an interesting exchange between ethangsmith and myself. In case you missed it, check it out here.
Mood: Sleepy (More of a condition, really)
Music: A lot of Radiohead, lately
Browsing: Making of Clerks 2
1-24-2006 10:31 pm
David: Steve Jobs: Disney Member of the Board
I shudder to think of the reprocussions this could have in regards to things I personally care about.
As far as the computer animation goes, well, the novelty has kind of worn off, hasn't it? I "oooooo'd" and "ahhhhh'd" along with everybody else when I saw the hair on John Goodman's character in "Monster's Inc." and was impressed by the lighting effect in Toy Story 2, but other than that, I'm sick of seeing every animated feature come out of a computer. I'm not saying it doesn't take talent, I've set my axe to that wheel a time or two myself.
I'd just like to see more focus on creating original, intricate, hand-drawn animation. When done well, it never ceases to amaze.
And so help me, if this leads to Apple/Disney merchandising tie-ins down the road I'll be forced to buy an abacus.
I shudder to think of the reprocussions this could have in regards to things I personally care about.
As far as the computer animation goes, well, the novelty has kind of worn off, hasn't it? I "oooooo'd" and "ahhhhh'd" along with everybody else when I saw the hair on John Goodman's character in "Monster's Inc." and was impressed by the lighting effect in Toy Story 2, but other than that, I'm sick of seeing every animated feature come out of a computer. I'm not saying it doesn't take talent, I've set my axe to that wheel a time or two myself.
I'd just like to see more focus on creating original, intricate, hand-drawn animation. When done well, it never ceases to amaze.
And so help me, if this leads to Apple/Disney merchandising tie-ins down the road I'll be forced to buy an abacus.
1-17-2006 2:21 am
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