The Front Bottoms | The Constellation Room in Santa Ana | 06.15.13

This isn't really going to be a review as much as a big old fangirling squeefest. We had been looking forward to this show for about a year, since the first time we discovered The Front Bottoms opening for Motion City Soundtrack, and it truly lived up to (or surpassed) every expectation.

For the past year or so I have probably listened to The Front Bottoms' self-titled album more than anything else, to a staggering degree. At times I even felt bad about neglecting the new cds of my favorite bands in favor of that one. One of my favorite memories of last summer was sitting in the parking lot of the Block with Bigs on 4th of July, watching fireworks and both of us singing along to it. I haven't connected to an album like that in a very long time, and I love every single song on it. So, I kept watching their facebook, tumblr, twitter, and Instagram, impatiently waiting for them to come back around so we could see them again. A couple of months ago a new album was announced, and among the new tour dates was a stop right here at the Constellation Room! It would be an understatement to say that I flipped out. This was even better than I could have hoped - a teeny, tiny venue in Orange County! Who could ask for anything more?

As the day of the concert approached, I started to get nervous. It hadn't sold out, which was discouraging, because as I said, it is a very small room. I started to imagine that there would be 10 of us there and B and I would be the only ones who knew any of their songs, and felt awful at the idea. Finally, the day of the show, it was announced as sold out. Thank goodness!

Frustratingly, I lost the tickets (I never get actual tickets anymore, and they arrived in a plain white envelope exactly the same size as the tickets, so they must have been tossed out with the junk mail) but I was able to get them to hold new tickets for us at will call. When we went up to the window, the kids in front of us were BEGGING for tickets in spite of the sold out status. "Is there ANYTHING we can do to get in?" the little hipster girl pleaded. We raised our eyebrows at each other, wondering what she meant by that, but then she yelped in excitement when her friend pointed out that their names were right there on the guest list! Apparently they had emailed the Front Bottoms and asked if they could get in earlier that day. Later I saw them say hello to the lead singer of one of the opening bands, so I guess they had some kind of hook ups. Anyway, we finally got in and made our way as close as we could to the stage. I wasn't about to stand in the back for this show! I was goin old school on this one, and was very curious as to how things would play out. 

As I had expected, we were the oldest ones there, so I was slightly uncomfortable at first, but no one was even giving us a second glance so I relaxed. The first of the two openers was called Our Native Language, and consisted of three very young looking kids, nervously playing songs with lyrics farrrrr beyond their age or experience ("Someone's been listening to too much Tom Waits," Brandon whispered after the third mention of drinking whiskey to forget troubles with his "gal"). The female backup singer/tambourinist/guitarist/trumpeter attempted to toot her horn onehandedly several times, and by the grimace and smirk on the lead singer's face, it would appear that they need a bit more practice. She took it all in stride, though, self deprecatingly giggling at herself and admirably powering through when her guitar strap broke in the middle of one songs. The guy behind me was deeeeply (but politely) in love with her ("Wow, she is very attractive. She is extremely charming. She is making me feel dizzy.") and I could see why. 

Next up was a band from San Diego called Weatherbox. Many in the audience seemed to know them, and they were pretty enjoyable. They looked like a 90s pop rock band, but sang some really intense lyrics (example: Yours is the only cancer I accept/ Because it's you in my lungs/ and I cough you up for days). I thought the guitarist looked like Ryan Gosling with Jordan Catalano's hair, so of course he gave me some good eye candy to pass the time. However, you could tell everyone was getting a bit impatient, knowing that The Front Bottoms would be on soon.

Finally! The boys took the stage and everyone went berserk. I had hoped people would be enthusiastic, but I honestly didn't expect the mayhem that ensued. Everyone pushed forward and from the side, a pit emerging immediately, turning the room into a jumping, dancing, screaming, crowd surfing, stage diving, twisting mess. I was in heaven. My fears of no one knowing who they were quickly subsided when I realized that every single person in the crowd was singing along to every single word of every single song, even the ones from the new album that had just come out a couple weeks prior. It was complete bliss, and the boys seemed pretty overwhelmed at the response. They were even more confident than they were the first time we saw them, this time joined onstage by two really great musicians handling bass, electric guitar, horns, and keys. These guys were the perfect road addition to the duo, complementing them perfectly but not upstaging the two stars at all. 

Lead singer Brian Sella looked every bit the seasoned front man, attacking his acoustic guitar energetically and singing every song with a huge smile on his face. Brandon commented afterwards that he seemed to close his eyes a lot, though, which I didn't notice at all because I SWEAR he made eye contact with me at least twice. Um, I mean, he seemed really focused to me! Although I had difficulty seeing tiny powerhouse drummer Matt Uychich from my spot in the roiling crowd, every time I caught a glimpse of him he was basically just a blur, just the way I expected him to be. The boys seemed quite proud of their new staging, including a lovely banner and one of those crazy air dancer guys. They really are moving up in the world!

Because we attend a lot of concerts, we have repeatedly encountered what I consider the worst possible concert-goers: the ones who sit/stand there and just chat loudly with each other the whole time, completely uninterested in the magic that is happening right in front of them. This show brought me back to a happier place where the fans are actually there for the music and the experience. Not one person in that room cared about anything but the band. We were all singing and dancing and smiling at each other, strangers becoming a community based on a shared passion. I miss going to shows like that, so this was a really special and much-needed experience. 

By the end of the night, they had played every song from the new album and a bunch from the first, leaving us exhausted but satisfied. The tiniest twinge of disappointment I felt from them not playing my favorite song was completely overshadowed by the pure happiness from seeing them live again and in such a wonderful way. 

Someone posted a video of them performing the last song, their current single, Twin Sized Mattress

From what I have been reading as they work their way through the rest of the tour, it's been like this every night. That thrills me to no end, and I am so excited that they are having so much success. They really do deserve it.

The Neighbourhood | The Observatory in Santa Ana | 05.24.13

Allow me to rant for a bit about this trend lately that venues seem to be falling into: not abiding by the door times. It makes no sense to me that they would rather have people standing outside for an hour than buying overpriced drinks and merch. If a band is late or having technical problems, too bad. Keep the curtain closed and let us in. Tonight was an absolute clusterfuck the likes of which we have never seen. Doors at 7, show at 8, dinner res at 7:30. So why was there a non moving line all the way out to Harbor at 7:20? We didn't get in till almost 8. I understand that we are old and easily annoyed and not rock n roll in the least, but this just seems like an idiotic business practice. However, I did end up drinking two vodka cranberries rather than my usual iced tea before the main act even took the stage because I was stressed and annoyed, so good for them? (The stress came from forgetting my phone - who does that??)

On to the show. They must be finished with their remodel of balcony area because were were led up there by the same host who recognizes us every time. Honestly we couldn't notice much difference except maybe carpeting and new lighting. When we were finally seated (and told we would be sharing a table because they had a full house) some shlubby guy wandered onstage over to the little setup down left and started messing with his laptop, I guess mixing songs? Is this what qualifies as an opener these days? No offense to DJs, but I sincerely hoped not and thankfully a real band appeared right around the same time as our food.

This was Lovelife, who were so thrilled to be in California, all the way from the UK (a million miles, they said) but they pronounced the city name differently every time. Santa Rana, Santaria, Santera, Santer Ama - come on. You're not so cool that you cannot take two seconds to learn the name. It was fairly obvious why they would be selected as tour mates The Neighbourhood: group of cute young boys singing songs about heartbreak and regret. At least that is what I gathered from the bit I could understand - as B said, the lead singer sounded like he had a mouth full the whole time. That is a big difference between this band and the one we came to see. My favorite thing about The Neighbourhood is that the lead singer seriously spits fire. More on that later. The biggest problem was that we had to attempt to eat in the dark during this opener because of the late entrance. Really frustrating, and on top of that they seemed to have removed all traces of bacon from the menu, including B's favorite, the Nebula burger. Hopefully that is a temporary thing.

Right after they wrapped up, shlubby came back to his laptop and our host informed us they had some cancellations (aka people changed their minds about dinner after getting in at 8pm) so we wouldn't have to share the table. I did a quick facebook check and noticed The Observatory was giving away a pair of tix to the show, and said the headliners would be on at 9:45. Again wtf? Doors supposedly at 7 and the main act going on at almost 10? Why  should we be sitting here for an hour between acts? Nonsense. At around 9:40 some guy came onstage with a hand held camera to get some crowd shots and all the kids got excited while I sat there wearing my best Grumpy Cat frown.

Finally the lovely boys of The Neighbourhood took the stage, and it was pandemonium. We have a bit of a soft spot for this band, because we happened to see them open for Paul Banks and then Metric a few days later. Immediately we proclaimed these kids had the perfect formula to hit it big - adorable, interesting, extremely talented, with catchy songs that are easy to at least hum along to. About a month later KROQ started playing them and soon they were popping up everywhere. So, it made us kind of proud to hear all these little girls chanting and freaking out at the mere sight of them. Some girls were even holding up signs! Signs!

They filmed a "video" for their big hit, Sweater Weather at the show

Brandon expressed a tiny bit of concern when we noticed lead singer Jesse Rutherford was wearing some kind of pleather skirt over his black, emo ensemble, but I assured him that this kid is pretty quirky so I don't think it's some kind of new-found fame-driven affectation. As previously mentioned, we were pretty blown away by these guys the first two times we saw them - most specifically the crisp, clear vocals and lightning fast lyrics. On that front, we were slightly disappointed in this show, but we decided that it was the fault of the sound mix and not the band itself who was definitely giving its all the whole time. The previous times were in the tiny Constellation Room and then the Fox Theater, so it's kind of pathetic that the heretofore awesome sounding Observatory seems to be going downhill. We had hoped the muddy mix we experienced during the Built to Spill was a fluke, but unfortunately it appears to be a trend. In spite of the fact that the vocals weren't as sharp as they had been during our previous experiences, however, we were not let down by the performance.

These boys are incredibly tight and well put together for being so young and relatively new. At times I just stared at the hysterical crowd, fist pumping, dancing, screaming the lyrics, and just basically losing their minds over this band. For me, that kind of fan reaction always bolsters my enjoyment, and this was no exception. I get a little overwhelmed every time I go to a show and think about the fact that all of these people (and in this case, many VERY young people) are choosing to be out among others and enjoying loud music rather than sitting in their rooms messing around on the Internet or playing video games. It lights up my heart that in the age of Bieber and Miley, there are still young people making great music and others appreciating it like this. Sure, it helps that these are cute young boys who could get away with singing shlocky pop. Thankfully, however, their music really is thoughtful, complex, and layered.

The band seems genuinely excited and humbled by their sudden success, even relating an anecdote about how after they played a few shows in The Constellation room, the owner suggested they play the big room. They balked, saying they didn't think that would work out, but were talked into doing it. The show sold out within a couple of hours. Very cool for them. 

Yo La Tengo | Music Box at the Fonda | 05.09.13

Brandon has been a fan for a very long time, but for some reason they never really grabbed me. I have nothing against them - they just don't really do it for me the way they do for him. When I started searching around to find out who was opening, I discovered that there was no opener, but instead the band would be playing two distinct sets: acoustic first, short intermission, then electric. I thought it was odd that this wasn't really advertised anywhere and I only figured it out by checking the venue's Twitter feed and then good old setlist.fm to see what they had played at recent gigs. Brandon, however, wasn't surprised by this unique setup, as the band is prone to these types of stunts. Apparently, during a previous tour, they had a wheel onstage that they would spin and would then do whatever it landed on - including acting out a scene from Seinfeld. Well, alrighty then! On to the show.

Yo La Tengo generally have two disparate sounds: dream poppy at times, but then jangly discordant at others. So, this split set actually made a lot of sense and gave us a taste of this duality in a much more overt manner. They started out nice and smooth, with lush arrangements of their already dreamy songs. Sometimes when we are at a show for one of Brandon's bands, I find myself sort of zoning out and feeling disconnected, kind of wondering how many songs are left. This time, however, I was really getting into the sound and didn't even care that I didn't know the songs. They were just washing over me in a cozy, almost hypnotizing manner, and I caught myself just leaning back and smiling contentedly after every song.

In fact, I was surprised and slightly disappointed when the acoustic set was done, because I was having such a lovely time. Brandon said he almost felt like we were all sitting around a campfire and they were just playing an intimate show for friends. He described it as having a sort of innocent feel, almost like some sort of farewell show. The beautiful cutout trees that made up the set really lent itself to this atmosphere. After a short intermission during which they moved things around a bit, they returned for the electronic portion of the show. 

Brandon felt that in spite of the fact that their many years together as a band showed in the lines on their faces, it was belied by their youthful exuberance, each member of the trio jumping back and forth between instruments, whaling away on keyboards and drums alike. 

He said that there wasn't much difference between this performance and the one other time he has seen them, some 20 years ago. 

This also brings up an interesting shift in Brandon's lifestyle - how strange is it that counting this show he has only seen Yo La Tengo, a band he lists as one of his top 10 faves, twice.

Again, he was slightly confused at the omission of many fan favorites, but they did not fail to impress and entertain.

Built to Spill | The Observatory in Santa Ana | 05.02.13

Another night at our friendly neighborhood venue, The Observatory. We have seen Built to Spill a couple of times , including an incredible show last year during which they played one of their albums in its entirety at the Troubadour, so we were happy to see them again, especially so close to home. Brandon has been a fan for many years, and one of their songs that he introduced to me, Car, is one of my all time favorite songs. So, of course we snapped up the tix when we saw that they would be so close to home.

The week leading up to the show I started checking out setlist.fm, which is my way when we are going to see a band with which I am not as familiar as Brandon is, just so I can know what to anticipate. Slowly I came to the sinking realization that they haven't played Car once all year. This sort of put a damper on my enthusiasm, but I buoyed myself with the memory that they always put on a great show, so even though I would probably be missing out on my fave song, it would still be an enjoyable evening.

They sat us downstairs at a booth again, which is so comfortable but doesn't make for the best views. We are hoping they come up with some sort of compromise, because it would seem like the people who come earliest and spend the most money should get some sort of better view than the people who wander in and stand in front of the booths. [This is also why the pics for this show suck so badly - we couldn't get a good view to save our lives.]

Opener Junior Rocket Scientist fell under the category of "passable but nothing special to us," which unfortunately has become the norm at the Observatory. With the one shining exception of The Neighbourhood, we haven't really been dazzled by any openers there. 

As expected, Built to Spill put on a great show. This is one of those bands that even without being familiar with their entire catalog, I can completely immerse myself and rock out with them. This is owing almost entirely to the workhorse-like nature of lead singer Doug Martsch. The guy is in his 40s and is starting to show a bit of wear and tear, but honestly I feel like it has just enriched his voice with an even more impressive depth. He throws his whole self - body and soul - into every single song. See how is face is blurred below? That's because he NEVER stopped moving long enough to get a clear shot.

I was riveted as usual, and by the time we got to the rollicking encore that included a faithful rendition of Don't Fear the Reaper (it could probably have used a bit more cowbell from the lead singer of Junior Rocket Scientist who joined them for the song, but I am not complaining) I am pretty sure everyone in the room was spent and satiated. This was especially true for one woman from the booth next to us who was basically putting on some sort of performance art with her "dancing" all over the place. She was flailing, whacking into people, and generally causing a bit of a scene, but thankfully wasn't all that disruptive. Everyone around her just kind of gave her some space and smiled at her, shaking their heads.

The only negative was that the once impressive sound quality of the venue was way below our now high expectations. Everything was a bit muddy and rough, which isn't what we have experienced with this band previously. It wasn't bad enough to ruin the evening or anything, but it was noticeable. Brandon did feel that the set list was a bit odd, with some of their more familiar songs skipped in favor of some obscure, esoteric ones. This is not necessarily a bad thing, just surprising to him.

Overall it was an extremely entertaining night. No Car, though. Dang.