Well, I’ve gotten back into the swing of show-going in a big way as of late, a trend I hope to continue… things look good on that front as I just moved to SF (like 3 min walk to the Fillmore.. yes! also 5 min walk from work to Mezzanine… DOUBLE YES).
Anyway. Long post ahoy! If I were better about posting these things when they happened this would not subsequently have to happen. (Further disclaimer: I was forced to use the word awesome a lot in this update.)
Awesome shows I went to last week:
Vitalic (Feb 20th, Mezzanine)
AMAZING. I definitely had high expectations for this one and he delivered in every way. If he is coming to… a theater near you, and you at all like dancing/dance music, you better go! The show was packed and everyone was really into it. As the saying goes, he’s a killer on the dance floor. Also I made a few attempts to dance on the stage at this show, all of which were quickly thwarted by security. COME ONNN!
Also I was just reminded of this awesome video.
Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band (Feb 24th, Fox Theater), Deerhoof (opening)
I didn’t have a clue what to expect of this show when my friends invited me last minute, but it turned out to be a really interesting show at wonderful theater (my first time to the Fox). The show itself was weird and spectacular and touching and fun. I’ve never really given much consideration to Yoko herself as an artist, but thanks to this show my perception of her has really changed for the better. I think she is amazing as an artist and a cultural force, and I have to say it is just cool in itself to see a 68 year old asian woman who is a freakin rock star, haha.
The “Plastic Ono Band” was totally awesome too. Sean Lennon on guitar, bass, keys, some vocals (he is a pretty rad dude in his own right… he and his girlfriend have a new band now called The Ghost of a Sabre-Toothed Tiger… I say again, rad!). Cornelius on the guitar and Tenori-On (which I blogged about before but apparently the post vanished… anyway, you can bet I squee’d). Yuka Honda of Cibo Matto [wo]manning the electronic station. There were several other neat musicians I didn’t recognize. The best one was this awesome guy with long dreadlocks who apparently plays literally over a thousand instruments… crazy! He played like 3-4 different weird instruments, none of which I recognized, each on a different song.
The show also featured SF locals and indie weird favorites Deerhoof as the opening act, who I’ve seen… four? five? times now? Haha. Good to see they are moving up in the world. Also they had a special Japanese guest performer named Pikachu come out and drum for them on one song. Just thought you might like to know that.
And at the end everyone joined in a rousing round of “Give Peace a Chance”.
!!! (Feb 27th, Mezzanine)
This was my fourth time seeing our awesome friends, !!!. (For those not in the loop, the band’s name is said with any sound repeated three times, but the most common and accepted one is “chk chk chk”) And it was the best one yet. The crowds in NorCal always go extra nuts for !!! (they’re from Sacramento/SF) and it was one of the most wound-up crowds ever, even for the Mezzanine (which never disappoints). I don’t know what it is (other than magic). There was also a lot of crowd-surfing going on, a lot of which was the most inept crowd surfing ever, haha. It was usually over in a matter of seconds, frequently ending with just the surfer’s feet poking up and dangling above, the head nowhere to be seen.
It was also a big night for me getting hit in the face with projectiles (anyone who has known me for a long time knows about my problem with.. apparently having a head that magnetically attracts flying objects, and being tall makes for an easy target). The “best” moment was when the black lady singer of the band threw an almost-empty beer cup wildly and, surprise, it hit me in the face.
Despite this, the show rocked my face off. In the good way. My friend MC Cool and I agreed that they are pretty much everything one can ask for in a band or a show. They also said they are approaching their 10 year mark as a band, which I find awesome!! Keep up the good work, !!!. Let’s see you guys again real soon, eh?
REMIXMUSIX 