http://whatevernevermind.buzznet.com/user/journal/ en-us http://whatevernevermind.buzznet.com/user/journal/3512061/ As anyone that follows me on Twitter or Facebook can attest, I go out a lot. And by "a lot," I mean "I probably see 3-5 shows per week—every week." If I had to venture a guess, I've probably seen at least 200 shows this year, especially if you factor in South By Southwest. Now that bands are taking a break from the road and there aren't as many shows to go see, I'm ready to talk about the 10 best I saw this year. To be totally honest, this is pretty much off the top of my head, with a little help from someone who was at nearly every show I was. I need to keep better track of the shows I see. Most of the time I just dump the ticket stub in my stub drawer. —Brad Barrish, Buzznet head of artist and label relations, whatevernevermind

10. Ratatat at The Henry Fonda Theatre on 09/09/08
I think I've finally figured out how to get an L.A. audience to take their hands out of the pockets and move a little. Play music that makes people want to move. The most memorable shows are the ones where I look around and think, "Now, this is how it's supposed to be!" There wasn't a dry shirt in the house after this show. Ratatat is unique in that their songs don't have lyrics and it's a guitarist, a bassist and a keyboardist on stage. I definitely moved more at this show than any other. Ratatat never put on a boring show.



9. Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheatre on 10/25/08
I've been going to The Bridge School Benefit for six years now and it's always one of the highlights of my year. Aside from being an important charity, there's something very different about this show. Maybe it has something to do with being at Shoreline, but more than anything it's the kids and families that The Bridge School helps. Of course seeing Neil Young is always amazing too. Every year Neil and Peggy Young put on a special show where incredible artists and bands play acoustic. I've seen everyone from Brian Wilson to The Foo Fighters to Tenacious D to James Taylor to Jerry Lee Lewis. This year's lineup wasn't as interesting as I would have liked, but Band Of Horses, Cat Power and Wilco all played impressive sets. Even with a less-than-stellar lineup, Bridge is always one of the best all-around experiences.



8. The Cure at The Troubadour on 12/13/08
For nearly three hours, I watched The Cure play music from their entire career. It was definitely one of the best shows I'd ever seen. I have to confess to not being the biggest Cure fan in the world, but i couldn't help but enjoy it. Why fight it, right? I think any one of the lucky few that got to see this would agree that the last third of the show was probably the best. The encores were the highlight for me. Seeing the band play "Why Can't I Be You," "Boys Don't Cry," "10:15 Saturday Night" and closing out with "Killing An Arab" was amazing. Perhaps the second best thing was watching Robert Smith interact and converse with the likes of Davey Havoc, Jared Leto and others after the show. I even heard someone from MySpace called it the best Secret Show they ever did.



7. Kid Cudi at Cinespace on 09/30/08
Hip-hop usually can't keep my attention in a live setting. Perhaps I just go to the wrong shows. I wasn't really expecting a lot from Kid Cudi, but I stayed around until nearly 1am to see him play. As far a hype goes, there's tons of it around this kid and his mixtape is at the top of the heap as far as I'm concerned. He mixes rock rhythms and wicked synths with smart rhymes and incredible MC skills that bring some much-needed freshness to hip-hop music. He was a little sick for this show, but that didn't stop him and the crowd from going completely nuts. If you didn't hear about him this year, you will definitely hear about him next year.



6. Deerhunter at The El Rey Theatre on 11/25/08
I'm not a Bradford Cox fanatic, but you wouldn't know it by looking at my top albums and shows of the year. His bands appear 3 times. When Deerhunter played The El Rey, I loaded up the culmination of all my appreciation and brought it to the show. I parked myself right behind the soundboard and watched and listened to one of the most talented artists in indie rock play an intense set. Noisy guitar rock has always been my comfort music and this was a show at which I felt completely at home.



5. The Walkmen at The Troubadour on 08/22/08
It had been four years since The Walkmen put out a good record. I didn't see them at all when they were touring on A Hundred Miles Off. Boy, was that a fitting title. But, I digress. They made it all up to me and then some with their latest album, You & Me (one of the best albums of 2008). The first shows they played were small clubs and this Troubadour show was one of those shows where I heard myself say "wow" outloud a few times. I can't put my finger on why I am so fond of this band. Maybe it's the raw emotion that Hamilton [Leithauser, vocals/guitar] puts into his performance or the loud, crunching guitars. All I know is that The Walkmen would do well to stick with the formula they used on this album.



4. Portishead at The Mayan Theatre on 04/24/08
There are many perks to what I do for a living, and being invited to see Portishead do a rehearsal show before their Coachella appearance is one such perk. The last time I saw Portishead play was at The Roseland Ballroom in the '90s, after the release of Dummy. They had just released Third, which is one of the best albums released this year, and the Coachella show was to be the first and only show in the US. There was no stage production and the band was totally dressed down, but there was nothing but brilliance coming out of the speakers. Laid back or not, Portishead put on a really special show for their die-hard fans. I remember leaning over to someone four songs into the show and saying, "we're witnessing something really special and this will be one for the books."



3. Blitzen Trapper and Fleet Foxes at The Troubadour on 03/01/08
I knew this was going to be a special show before I actually got to the venue. While I intended on only seeing Blitzen Trapper, I had heard some rumblings about Fleet Foxes and was excited to see them as well. To say they blew me away would be an understatement. Keep in mind, this was months before they would become indie press darlings and be in the top 5 of everyone's top albums of the year. They were just starting out and only had an EP, which I purchased after they played. I missed some of their other LA appearances throughout the year, but this one has stood out for more than a few reasons.



2. Travis at The Troubadour on 11/11/08
In 2000, I got my hands on The Man Who and proceeded to see Travis play every show that they played in LA over the next few years, including their first US show ever, at The Troubadour. Many years later, they decided to play The Troubadour again and I was there once again. I like their newer material alright, but seeing them play songs from Good Feeling, The Man Who and The Invisible Band was incredible. I even jumped around in sync with the rest of the audience to "Why Does It Always Rain On Me." Andy [Bell, guitarist] climbed the rafters and Fran [Healy, lead vocals, guitar] played with shingles. There wasn't a person at that show that wasn't having fun.



1. Radiohead at The Hollywood Bowl on 08/24/08
There is only one other live band that can come close, but not with the same consistency. If for some odd reason you have never seen Radiohead play live, you need to add it to your things-I-should-do-before-I-die list. Even if you don't like their music, in which case you're no friend of mine, you will walk away with a new appreciation for the band. They never phone it in. They play their hearts out like no one on Earth and the stage production is always just as unique as their music. When someone asks me what the best live show is, I always answer with Radiohead. It's just a matter of which one I pick. This year, it was their Hollywood Bowl show.



]]> deerhunter fleet foxes kid cudi neil young portishead radiohead ratatat the cure the walkmen travis Buzznet whatevernevermind 2008-12-24T11:11:00Z http://whatevernevermind.buzznet.com/user/journal/1994441/

After some breakfast, I made it over to the Filter stage a little after noon. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't get in somewhere. Security guards are too easy to fool. Seriously, I can't tell you how many times I've just waltzed up to the front of a line and walked in somewhere. If you get stopped, you're with the band, you're with the sponsor, you're passing out flyers and you have to grab them from her, pointing at someone who you don't know. Give it a try. It rarely fails. The trick is to fly solo. If you have someone else with you, it really puts a damper on things. I digress. I sailed by the door guy because the stage wasn't open yet. The Filter folks had been there for hours. A big thanks to Alan S., Alan M, Penny, Pat and all of the other fine folks at Filter. They put on another fine party this year and I still think it's one of the best venues for the daytime parties. BBBM even graced the party with his presence after he finished playing his 400th hand of BlackBerry Poker. Here I was thinking he was working a lot, but when I finally looked over his shoulder, he was playing poker.

We left Filter and went over to the Village Voice party to get some food and watch an exclusive performance from ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. Best band name ever. Also one of the best shows of the week. Pat from Filter was telling me that they were trying to get the band to close the Filter party, but Village Voice Media wouldn't let them play another party, which I thought was funny. Pat did not.

We rolled over to the Paste/Stereogum party in a pedicab. It was brutally hot outside and going from La Zona Rosa to the opposite end of town would have melted us for sure. It was brutally hot inside the party as well. I did get to meet all of the Stereogum people, which was cool. We checked out The Whigs for a while, grabbed some shaved ice across the street, sat on the curb in the shade and went back to our hotels for some rest.

The evening shaped up pretty well. We had dinner with some AOL folks across the river and then headed out for the evening. Here's how the day and evening shaped up:

12:00 Born Ruffians
12:45 Shout Out Louds
1:30 Los Campesinos!
2:15 The Pigeon Detectives
4:00 ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
5:00 The Whigs
9:30 Does It Offend You, Yeah?
10:00 Grand Archives
11:00 Kelley Stoltz
12:00 Foy Vance
1:00 Joseph Arthur

That brings the grand total to 43 bands in 3 days and 4 nights, which beats last year's record. Yay, me.

I've got a funny story for you... I'm walking back from Joseph Arthur to the hotel. I dash across a crosswalk before a light changes and literally almost collide with Perez because I was texting someone.

I'm sleepy. BBBM will be covering for me tomorrow. He totally owes me for that R.E.M. mess-up anyway. Goodnight Austin.]]> 2008 concert filter magazine music sxsw Buzznet whatevernevermind 2008-03-15T02:06:00Z http://whatevernevermind.buzznet.com/user/journal/1988571/
Republic Tigers

Thursday was the beginning of Filter's SXSW stage at the Cedar Street Courtyard. I decided to park it there for the day, which proved to be an easy way to see a bunch of great bands without leaving. I even had donuts and BBQ, all before noon! And just as noon rolled around, Two Sheds took the stage and totally impressed me. There weren't a lot of people around, but they put on a really great show and I'll be keeping my eye out for more of them.

Republic Tigers also put on a great show. I'd heard of them, but had never seen them before. The place started filling up pretty well by the time Everest took the stage. If you haven't seen them, or haven't heard of them, you owe it to yourself to do so immediately. Full disclosure: Their manager is my roommate and Joel, their guitarist, is a close personal friend of mine. Not that any of that matters when they play. They'll be one of the big break-out acts of the year for sure.

I saw maybe a couple of songs from Low vs Diamond and think they're pretty good. Be Your Own Pet was amazing. They're so loud and fast and kind of obnoxious, but really entertaining.  (Don't miss Buzznet's recent video interview with the band.) I saw a few songs from Robyn, but apparently she was having trouble with her sound and I wasn't all that interested in what she was doing anyhow. I hadn't eaten since the donuts and BBQ before noon, so I left to get food and go back to the hotel to get a little work done.

I'm at SXSW under the guise of work. I feel pretty guilty calling this stuff work though. Most of the time. The Big Bad Boss Man, the nickname I've given my real boss, finally graced Austin with his presence. My style of working means going to shows I want to see and seeing people I want to see at those shows. BBBM doesn't roll like that. He likes to go to the label showcases to see bands neither one of us really want to see just to meet up with the label folks and make it look like we're there to see their bands. Who are we kidding? I saw no one. You know what else he likes to do? Tell me the morning after, that while we were watching bands we didn't want to be watching, R.E.M. was taping a show that we had access to. The evening didn't end up being exactly what I wanted to be doing but I did end up seeing 14 more bands today, bringing the running total to 32 bands in 2 days and 3 nights. Not bad. Here's how the evening shaped up:

12:00 Two Sheds
1:00 Republic Tigers
1:45 Everest
2:30 Low vs Diamond
4:00 Be Your Own Pet
5:00 Robyn
7:30 Jacob Golden
8:00 Portugal. The Man
9:00 Howlin' Rain
9:30 Enter Shikari
10:30 Black Tide
10:45 Money Mark
11:45 Augustana
12:45 Old 97's

Friday morning it's back to the Filter Stage, gonna hit the Village Voice Media party and probably the Levi's/Fader Fort as well. And BBBM won't be invited. It's time to rest the dogs and the eyes.

HEY ... don't forget that Buzznet and Filter Magazine are giving away a 10 CD Prize Package until March 25. You can ENTER HERE.

Why go to Austin when you've got Buzznet? Keep checking back here for SXSW pics, videos, reports and more as we get our fill of bands on the brink.

]]> 2008 augustana be your own pet black tide concert enter shikari filter magazine music rem sxsw two sheds Buzznet whatevernevermind 2008-03-14T00:58:00Z http://whatevernevermind.buzznet.com/user/journal/1983331/

[/cut]Yesterday I saw twelve hours of mostly great music. All in all, I'd say it was a nice start to breaking last year's record of 47 bands in five days. The highlight was definitely seeing The Parlor Mob. It's a horrible band name, but my god, they were other-wordly. And there really wasn't anyone there! [cut=Here's how it went along with simple reviews...] My friend Jeff Miller from Thrillist made us leave Buffalo Billiards before The Ting Tings even took the stage to see his band. He said he wouldn't let us down and he didn't. No one had ever heard of them, but we all went along. If you like Led Zeppelin, you'll love these guys. Seriously. Does It Offend You, Yeah? were also pretty amazing. I arrived at the Levi's/Fader Fort just as the band was getting started and it didn't take long before I was up in the front. Definitely a band you'll want to keep your eyes out for. They're out of the UK.

Here's a full recap of my day:

1:00 Chris Bathgate @ Emo's Annex - Amazing
1:30 Modey Lemon @ Emo's Annex - Awesome
2:00 Curumin @ Emo's Annex - Yeah!
2:40 Frightened Rabbit @ Emo's Annex - Really awesome
3:15 Let's Go To War @ Emo's Inside - Eh
3:45 The Mae Shi @ Emo's Outside - Suck city
4:00 The Death Set @ Emo's Inside - Cool, but noisy
6:00 Does It Offend You, Yeah? @ Levi's/The Fader Fort - Stellar!
6:45 YACHT @ Levi's/The Fader Fort - Are you f---ing kidding me?! Awful.
8:45 Tusla @ Elysian - Punk, eh
9:00 Freezepop @ Prague - Just cuz my friend manages them, doesn't make it good
10:00 Lightspeed Champion @ Antone's - Good, but got old
10:30 Times New Viking @ La Zona Rosa - Bah
12:00 The Parlor Mob @ Cedar Door - WOW!!
12:00 The Ting Tings @ Buffalo Billiards – Saw one song and it was boring
1:00 The Duke Spirit @ Buffalo Billiards - Damn good

Tomorrow I'll be hanging out at the Filter stage for most of the day. Buzznet is sponsoring and there'll be great music, as only Filter knows how to do. Now it's time to get a little sleep.

HEY ... don't forget that Buzznet and Filter Magazine are giving away a 10 CD Prize Package until March 25. You can ENTER HERE.

Why go to Austin when you've got Buzznet? Keep checking back here for SXSW pics, videos, reports and more as we get our fill of bands on the brink.
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]]> buzznet filter magazine sxsw sxsw 2008 austin the duke spirit the ting tings Buzznet whatevernevermind 2008-03-13T01:14:00Z http://whatevernevermind.buzznet.com/user/journal/1978241/

[/cut]I haven't decided if seeing My Morning Jacket play for three hours was a good way to start off the South by Southwest week in Austin, TX, or a recipe for disappointment when I go to the next few dozen shows. Of course it was a good thing. No, it was an incredible thing. [Cut = Read more...] Seeing MMJ at The Parish on Tuesday was a treat in and of itself, but they played as though it was their big chance to prove themselves to a room full of people who didn't know who they were. At least 5 people standing around me really didn't know MMJ were. But they do now.



Jim James and company were at their absolute best. I don't think anyone was expecting them to put on the kind of show they did last night. Clearly inspired by being in their "second home" of Austin Town, playing a venue they hadn't seen the inside of for years, the band fed at the energy trough of The Parish. Every bit of happiness, drunkeness, and rowdiness was transformed by their music into its purest form. And it wasn't long before rock 'n roll took hold, intoxicating every single person in the room.



It will certainly prove to be the best show I'll see this week. I don't have to see anything else to know that. I will, but it won't live up to the bar that MMJ set last night. A MASSIVE thank you is in order for my friend Catherine Geaunuracos, who was kind enough to invite me to the IFC party. And she ended up staying until the very end!

Why go to Austin when you've got Buzznet? Keep checking back here for SXSW pics, videos, reports and more as we get our fill of bands on the brink.

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]]> music my morning jacket parish show sxsw sxsw 2008 Buzznet whatevernevermind 2008-03-12T15:20:00Z http://whatevernevermind.buzznet.com/user/journal/1835351/ ]]> concert los angeles music qik tokio hotel Buzznet whatevernevermind 2008-02-16T00:50:00Z