kailuastyle
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When I first heard The Shins' music on the Garden State Soundtrack, it didn't think twice about this band. I didn't think twice until I heard the song "Sea Legs," on Radioio's Edge channel on iTunes. It almost instantly reminded me of Beck's newest album The Information. I think that partiular album is the only one of Beck's that I ever enjoyed. Don't get me wrong, I like many of his older songs, but that album was just more appealing to me. With this in mind, I thought I would give The Shins a chance and listen to samples of their other songs. I loved everything I listened to off that album. I bought their album Wincing The Night Away as soon as I could. Driving to work this morning, I thought I bought yet another great album that I can listen to all the way through. Don't you just love it when you find those albums?
I finally get a chance to post something! Anywho, a couple weekends ago I went with my roommate to the Decemberists concert in Tucson, AZ. Now before I go on, I'm going to warn you that I wasn't a big fan of the band before I went, and unfortunately I am still not a big fan.
I mainly went to the concert because I have family in Tucson that I wanted to see and I figured "what the hell, I might end up liking the band." The theater that the concert was in was pretty awesome, like one of those old theaters you'd see a fun play in. Everything was awesome until the opening band came on, Lavender Diamond. They looked like a bunch of hippies, not that I mind hippies, but I knew the music wasn't going to be all that great and turns out...it wasn't. The lead singer was actually pretty funny in an annoying playfully stupid way. I think she would've made a better comedienne than a singer because she sang about as good as me and I'm not that great. Most of the 5 songs she sang contained high notes that she could barely reach and all the songs were really repetitive, but overall they're not a band you can hate.
After Lavender Diamond's short set, there was about 45 minutes of waiting before the Decemberists came on. The lead singer had his funny little spiel telling us to look at our atmosphere and the architecture and then to enjoy the show. As I mentioned earlier, I'm still not a fan of the Decemberists and here's why: 1. Most of the music has a mindlessly-happy sounding beat. I want music to make me think and to stimulate me. 2. Because of that mindless-happy beat, all the songs sound the same. 3. I can't understand most of what the singer is singing which caused me to zone out since I couldn't zone in on anything.
They played for an hour and I started falling asleep by the end of that hour. They started off with faster paced songs and then played a few slow and soothing songs (I could seriously fall asleep to their music and that's not a bad thing). When they came back for an encore, that's when the show became a bit more interesting. The lead singer didn't really interact with the audience until the end of the show which was something that I wasn't really used to. During one of the songs he finally put down his guitar and grabbed an audience member's cell phone and stared at it for a while (I'm assuming he was dialing someone). He then started singing into the phone which I thought was extremely amusing because it was a song about guys hating girls or girls hating guys (something like that). The singer then grabbed a giant frog hat from someone in the audience and wore it for a few minutes before returning it to it's owner; also amusing. After the 30 minute encore, the show was finally over. Through the last 45 minutes of the show all I could think about was how I would've rather been working on my grad project than standing there listening to music I didn't like.
I do have to say that even though I think the music is crap, I was very impressed with how talented the entire band was. The lead singer switched guitars for almost every song and all of the other band members played at least 3 other instuments. There were also instruments that I haven't seen or heard in years like the hurdry-gurdy. Overall, they're a talented band, but their songs lack oomph and there wasn't any interaction with the audience until the encore making this concert very lame.
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I like seeing bands that almost everybody likes, but that I don't like, get trash-talked. I like it way more than seeing bands that most people don't like, but that I like, getting trash-talked. So thanks for doing the former. Down with Decemberists.
The perfect album to listen to during this time of year for me has always been VAST's first album or any of their albums really. And it was perfect timing that I got to see them just a week ago live. I must say that it was one of the best concerts I've ever been too. I swear I was in euphoria when they played the song "Touch". If you haven't heard it, then go listen to it....really, close your eyes and listen to the lyrics. It's so beautiful that it almost makes you want to cry. Anyone who has ever been in love and I mean, deeply in love, will understand that song. Most of VAST's songs are to complex with many different layers of sound that all seem to flow together and such a beautiful way. My lack of eloquence hinders me from best descibing how their songs make me feel. I tried my best.
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Finding an album that you love from start to finish is like finding a twenty in the pocket of an old pair of jeans. Wincing the Night Away is great, but Oh, Inverted World still gives me goosebumps with every listen.
Thanks for tuning in to radioioEDGE Kailuastyle! (and for the mention ; ) Glad you're finding music you didn't even expect to like on the channel. It's fun to rediscover bands that you'd written off or forgotten about. It happens to me all the time--and yes, the feeling is just like greeninkstains described. Although I'm happy to even find one dollar in my pocket! -Sean