The Only Music Blog: May 2015

Thursday, May 14, 2015

FESTIVAL REVIEW: Shaky Knees Fest's Top 9 Acts

During 'Festival Revealing Week' back in January, one weekend immediately identified as a 'can't miss' experience was Shaky Knees Music Fest. The Atlanta festival put out the strongest lineup of their three year existence. This included worthy headliners The Strokes and Avett Brothers, as well as personal favorites Frank Turner and the legendary Noel Gallagher.

Full Lineup:

So after tickets and a reasonable hotel were purchased, it was just a quick 7 hour drive up to Atlanta for a very worthwhile lineup. Here's who I ended up seeing on the weekend (and in order): Jukebox the Ghost, the Kooks, TV on the Radio, the Strokes, Portugal the Man, Flogging Molly, Neutral Milk Hotel, Milky Chance, Noel Gallagher and the High Flying Birds, Avett Brothers, Frank Turner, The Mowgli's, Best Coast, Dr. Dog, Old Crow Medicine Show and Tame Impala.

And here were the top 9 sets:

9. Dr. Dog

These guys have received much praise from The Only Music Blog in 2015, earning the winning position in the Winter Concert Season standings. Their placement on this list is not at all suggesting they gave a poor performance, it's just a testament to the strength of the Shaky Knees lineup. The Philly rockers played a solid hour in the hot Sunday sun, highlighted by opener 'Old Black Hole' and favorites 'Lonesome' and 'Heart it Races' to finish.

8. Portugal. the Man, Live in Heaven

As good as Friday was at the festival, it somehow wasn't enough to satisfy. Following the Strokes, we headed over to the Masquerade for a late show performance on their 'Heaven Stage.' Portugal wasn't even on the bill for the festival, but they had no trouble selling out this intimate venue.

The Lords of Portland took full advantage of the indoor stage, utilizing some mesmerizing lasers and smoke machines. The band members remained cloaked in hooded jackets for most of the evening, and played a different setlist from past Portugal experiences. It was a fun show but somewhat difficult to appreciate after an epic Friday headliner.

7. The Kooks

An argument can be made that British bands dominated this festival, and the Kooks are just the first of three on this list. Their Friday afternoon slot was the first major set of the weekend. It featured catchy new tunes like 'Around Town and Bad Habit,' as well as the classics in 'Naive' and 'She Moves in Her Own Way.' These guys should definitely be more popular.

6. Flogging Molly

No matter what time slot Flogging Molly is given, they seem to act like a headliner. The Irish band turned Saturday afternoon into a rocking dance party, complete with moshpits and circles of running festival attendees. Lead singer Dave King threw cans of Guiness into the crowd, and played all you would expect from the ever touring Flogging Molly experience. He also announced plans for the group to head back to the studio following their performance and put together some new music.

5. Old Crow Medicine Show

The showmanship and talent of Old Crow Medicine Show are difficult to top. They feature 7 members who all sing and rotate instruments. They also have the current Folk Record of the year in Remedy, as well as the most well known song of any bands discography on the weekend with 'Wagon Wheel.' All these things added up to a very comfortable and enjoyable Sunday evening slot.

4. Frank Turner, Live from Hell

Frank Turner is one of the hardest working guys in music. He's accounted for over 1,600 shows since 2007 so of course he had to play 2 Atlanta shows on the weekend. His first was a sold out gig on the Hell Stage of the Masquerade. Following both Noel Gallagher and the Avetts on Saturday night, it made for one of the greatest single days of live music in a long time.

Frank showed his usual passion for a 90 minute set that invoked plenty of singing, jumping and moshpits. Frank even displayed some impressive stage diving and crowd surfing skills. The setlist included Frank favorites like the storied 'I knew Prufrock Before he Got Famous,' and about 3 new songs. His lead single 'Get Better' is a sure sign that his new album Positive Songs for Negative People is not a record to be missed.

3. Noel Gallagher and the High Flying Birds

While most of the Saturday evening crowd elected to see fellow sub headliner Wilco, I was perfectly content in seeing an absolute legend in Noel Gallagher. Noel is obviously best known for his work in Oasis, and he satisfied the Oasis faithful with playing 5 of their songs.

He also mixed in work from both of his solo albums, which are both very solid. In total, he played 75 minutes in which he was very much just 'classic Noel.' He called out some fans, made jokes, played his tunes, and thankfully ended with a brilliant rendition of 'Don't Look Back in Anger.' It's tough to beat that.

2. Avett Brothers

The Only Music Blog and The Avetts have been far from strangers this year. I caught their back to back gigs in Orlando last month, and both received high reviews. The Avetts seemed like the perfect headliner for this Shaky Knees crowd, and festival organizers rewarded them with a full two hours, good for the longest set of the weekend.

The mighty Avetts took full advantage, cramming 24 songs into this time slot. They played all their biggest hits as well as crowd favorites. It was definitely the biggest and best sing a long of the weekend, and perhaps the year for that matter.

1. The Strokes

While Avetts had the best sing a long crowd, the best overall fans to be in attendance with belonged to the Friday headliner. The Strokes came out with Reptilia and the crowd was certainly ready for it, jumping and screaming from the start. This was just the beginning of a fantastic set list put together by Julian Casablancas and company.

I've seen the Strokes once before (GovBall last summer), but this performance blew that show away. The energy from the crowd was incredible, and the band fueled off this. Set highlight was a rousing encore that included 'Is This It?' and 'New York City Cops.'

Strokes Setlist:

Overall, no real disappointments on the weekend. Shaky Knees lived up to the hype and I'm glad I was able to experience a new festival. I'll definitely be on the lookout for it again next spring. So thanks for putting on a great festival Shaky Knees, and thanks for keeping those EDM artists away too!

Concert Review: Young the Giant a Bit Too Consistent

So while we're on the subject of Spring Concerts on College Campuses, (I just reviewed New Politics at FSC) let's take a look at USF's 'BullStock.' The annual spring festival featured a frequent visitor to Tampa in Young the Giant. (Most likely since their expected Spring Tampa gig was cancelled with Coastline Festival)

Now Young the Giant has received more face time on The Only Music Blog than nearly anyone else. I've reviewed their sophomore album in Mind Over Matter, and reviewed their shows at Jannus, Hammerstein Ballroom, HOB Chicago, and Next Big Thing last year. In total, I've seen them 9 times now, 6 of which have been in support of Mind Over Matter.

So I figured it's always a good show, so why not check it out again. I drive over to The Sundome parking lot and caught the end of American Authors before Young the Giant hit the stage.

Now I was expecting a similar set from Young the Giant from past shows. However, I was also hoping for some things to be a bit different. After all, they've been touring in support of Mind Over Matter for over a year, so I figured the setlist would have to change. Unfortunately, it displayed little to zero change.

The Irvine alt-rockers played nearly the same exact set from their 2014 gigs. Now don't get me wrong, it's all good music, but for me it's gotten a bit old and even boring. Even as a write this I'm so surprised as I never thought I could tire of this band and their live shows. However, the predictable setlist doesn't do anything for me when I know what's coming next. If a fan seeing repeat shows is bored, then the band must be super bored of playing that same set night after night.

I would have preferred maybe some other material from the groups first album, or perhaps a new tune or something different? I think one thing that makes the best bands so great is their ability to mix up the set and play a different gig every night (see Arcade Fire, Avett Brothers, and Foo Fighters here). It seems Young the Giant just aren't ready to get into that yet.

Sameer still sounded good, and with the predictable set came all the hits you would expect. They also performed a cover of R. Kelly's 'Remix to Ignition,' which I haven't seen live since spring of 2012. Other than that though, no real standouts. Usually I give the consistent Young the Giant 3 stars for their shows. I gotta dock them half a star here.

Concert Rating: 2.5 Stars

SETLIST:

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Concert Review: NEW POLITICS from Florida Southern

Thanks to a well timed notification from Songkick, I received word that New Politics were playing the Spring Concert for Florida Southern College, located right up the road in Lakeland. Now New Politics built up a big reputation quickly in the eyes of The Only Music Blog, due to a great show at Irving Plaza last November. They even followed that up by winning Next Big Thing in December.

So 2 great shows were enough to get me to pretend I was a FSC student and drive over to Lakeland. The three piece group from Denmark took the stage directly after fellow punk rockers - We the Kings. The crowd was decent and a few hundred students seemed to know the music.

The show consisted of everything you would expect from New Politics. They played majority of their second album, entitled A Bad Girl in Harlem, which is nothing to complain about. They also mixed in the same covers of 'Sabotage,' and 'Smells Like Teen Spirit,' like they have at other performances. Lead singer David Boyd was his usual gymnast self, showing off his acrobatic abilities on stage.

Overall though, things weren't as exciting as the past two shows since the crowd was not as into it. It's too bad that this could not have been promoted more to the Tampa or Orlando markets, as it could have brought the energy up a bit.

Boyd still departed into the crowd for a few tunes and classically stood on the crowd for fan favorite 'Fall Into These Arms' before actually falling backwards into the accepting arms of yours truly. Yes, I helped get him back up on the arms of the crowd to carry him back to stage.

Between going into the crowd, and playing 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,' 'Kings and Queens,' 'Tonight, You're Perfect,' and 'Harlem,' they definitely satisfied everyone seeing them for the first time. I guess I'm just more demanding and was looking for more. Still a good show though and I'm glad I traveled up there. Looking forward to new material from these guys!

Concert Rating: 3 Stars

SETLIST:

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Concert Review: FRANK TURNER, Live from Underbelly

Let me begin by saying that Frank Turner is one of my absolute favorites. The guy is one of the hardest working musicians out there, and I personally love just about everything he puts out, so he can't do too much wrong in my opinion. Basically, you should probably expect a biased review here.

My love for Frank and his backing band, 'The Sleeping Souls' took me up to Jacksonville on a Thursday night for a small gig at a club called the Underbelly. Now Jacksonville is a boring 4 hour drive from Tampa, and the greeting we received there was nothing pleasant. We wandered around downtown for about an hour looking for a bar, before retreating to the always consistent 'Car Bar', (our actual car in the parking garage) to get some pre-gaming in.

Luckily, the club was nicer than the reputation we had for the city, and all negative thoughts were quickly erased once Frank hit the stage. The folk-punk singer started the show off a bit differently by opening with usual closer '4 Simple Words.' This gave the crowd an early chance to bounce around and test out their voices for the evening.

The energy of the crowd here was better than any Frank show I've seen in the past. The entire center of the floor became a mosh-pit, and I found myself quickly towards the front of the floor, right with all the other big Frank Turner fans.

Now I'm sure everyone thinks this about the fans of their favorite bands, but I truly believe Frank Turner fans are some of the best out there. As Frank frequently mentions: despite your musical abilities, 'Everyone can raise a glass and sing.' His following has completely bought into this philosophy. They sing his songs loudly and very proudly. Frank seems to love the sing a long method, as he encourages everyone to both sing and dance with him.

The crowd reacted well to Frank all night as he sweated his way through a full set hitting all of his best material. The singer songwriter has released 5 albums, and he even played a few new songs from an upcoming 6th album. From the first sound of things, it seems promising.

Frank's encore featured two of his oldest songs, with 'The Ballad of Me and My Friends' and 'I Knew Prufrock Before he Got Famous.' This gave way to Frank's own anthem in 'I Still Believe.' By the end of that passionate rock tune, I was completely drenched in sweat and cheering loudly with the rest of the Underbelly.

Overall impressions: there are not many artists I would make the drive to Jacksonville to see, but Frank Turner is definitely one of them. The guys passion and drive is second to none. At his going touring rate, he'll be back in Florida before the end of the year. Look this guy up and go see him. One of the best guys out there. Thanks Frank!

Concert Rating: 4 Stars

SETLIST:

1. Four Simple Words
2. The Road
3. Glory Hallelujah
4. Reasons Not to be an Idiot
5. Get Better
6. If Ever I Stray
7. Out of Breath
8. The Way I Tend to Be
9. Plea
10. My Kingdom for a Horse
11. Wessex Boy
12. Photosynthesis
13. Silent Key
14. Plain Sailing Weather
15. Peggy Sang the Blues
16. Try This at Home
17. The Next Storm
18. Recovery
19. Long Live the Queen

Encore:
20. The Ballad of Me and My Friends
21. I Knew Prufrock Before he Got Famous
22. I Still Believe

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

FESTIVAL REVIEW: Gasparilla Music Fest

Alright, so it’s been quite some time..... I got away from the blog for a bit, but a recent trip to Music City (Nashville) has inspired me to get back on it. So it’s time for some rapid music blog catch up. Let’s go back to the first week of March to start.

Kicking off the official ‘Spring Concert Season’ was the respectful Gasparilla Music Fest, taking place in Downtown Tampa. This was probably year 4 for GMF, and they’ve built a solid following attracting approximately 10,000 attendees over 2 days. I have some great memories from GMF including a great set by Dawes, and the chance to meet Toby of Dr. Dog. (Full story here) I also reviewed their 2014 festival in its entirety here.

This year Gasparilla was in the spotlight a bit more than usual because they recruited Modest Mouse to be the Saturday headliner. This was the first concert of the year for the legendary indie band, and it was an even bigger deal since they were debuting plenty of songs from their first album in nearly 8 years.

The result was a packed and sold out Curtis Hixon Park for their Saturday headlining performance. The guys sounded great, playing new tunes but also highlighting all you would expect from their discography. Of course “Float On” was the most well received tune, but equal praise should be given to new lead single “Lampshades on Fire.” 97x promoted this new tune well and I think it’s one of the best singles I’ve heard in 2015.

So Modest Mouse was an appropriate and enjoyable headliner. I must say the guys don’t move around too much on stage. But I guess the quality of music makes up for their lack of so-called energy.

Also playing on Saturday was electronic rock duo Dale Earnheart Jr. Jr. These guys had super high energy and even came into the crowd at one point, getting everyone to bounce around and dance. (This worked for my friends and myself especially since we came straight to this set from silent disco.) But they sounded great and I’ll definitely be looking for them on their next tour. With just the two member setup they reminded me most of our beloved Cherub. (reviewed here and here)

I also give nods to DeLand, Fl folk-rockers Roadkill Ghost Choir and veterans Gaslight Anthem who filled the gaps on Saturday. Overall it was a day of 4 solid bands and a few quick trips over to the Hub between sets.

SUNDAY:

We were back at in Sunday for an afternoon set with a favorite of mine in Trampled By Turtles. I reviewed a full set by these guys last fall when I caught a show in a great venue in Madison, Wisconsin. (Full review here)

The Duluth rockers pretty much played a shortened version of that performance in the hot Florida afternoon sun. I was just as impressed seeing them for a second time. The group essential features 7 string players, highlighted by a sensational violinist. They passionately played for their full 90 minutes showing ferocity at times but also slowing the ability to slow things down and win over the crowd.

Trampled by Turtles set the stage well for Sunday headliner Gogol Bordello, who

delivered one of the most surprising acts of the festival. I had no real idea of what to expect with this group. They're labelled a gypsy punk rock band, and I've heard they've received comparisons to Edward Share, Flogging Molly and even Weird Al. After their 90 minute performance I would have to agree.

The strange New York rockers provided definitely the most energetic and visually appealing set of the weekend. It was mesmerizing to watch the stage, as the large band constantly had different members running from the back to the front while performing. Front man Eugene Hutz had a very thick accent and so much life on stage. He jumped and swung an opened bottle of wine around his head several times throughout the performance.

After seeing a mellow Modest Mouse the night prior, this set really stood out. Highlight was top song "Start Wearing Purple" that had many festival attendees in the Sunday evening crowd stripping and holding up their purple attire. Overall, I think the proper genre for this band is 'pirate rock.'

So the energetic Gogol Bordello concluded another successful Gasparilla Music Fest. This weekend just keeps getting better. For next year, they already have announced plans to move the festival back a weekend. This seems like it only can help as it now will line up with South by Southwest for bands to stop in Tampa on the way out to Austin. Can't wait.