Top concerts - 2008

2008 turned out to be another awesome year for me in terms of concerts that I was fortunate enough to attend. Though they were all a pleasure to be in person for, these are five that made the biggest impression on me in no particular order.

Treasure Island Music Festival - September 21st, Treasure Island

Imagine having 14 bands playing in back to back to back slots, 35-55 minutes each, with names like Okkervil River, Tegan and Sara, Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, John Vanderslice and the Rancetours. Imagine walking between two stages across an island with the San Francisco skyline in the background with no gap between the performances. Imagine this happening on a beautiful fall day with beer available for purchase. Yes, this did indeed happen and was as fun as you could possibly imagine. Here are a handful of bands that I enjoyed seeing:

John Vanderslice

The last time time I had seen him performing on his own, he was leading off the night for Neko Case at Bimbo's 365. He only had a drummer, his guitar and some sort of gadget for playing everything else. This time he had a full band, though he mentioned that he was worried about one of his band-mates being there as he had come in on a delayed flight that morning. But all was well and they put on a nice set, moving through many of his "Emerald City" tracks. His nearly-late band-mate added a nice violin as he crooned through his politically-charged melodies.

Port O'Brien

Many of the bands that I had not heard before, such as Dr. Dog, The Dodos, etc weren't as fun for me and most of it I attributed to not knowing their songs. Port O'Brien could have been in the same category, but I ended up enjoying them immediately, which is a great sign for liking a band. The two-part harmony produced by the lead members was easy on the ears and I enjoyed the expressive nature of their lyrics. I'll be looking forward to more from them.

Okkervil River

This was probably the band I looked forward to seeing the most and they didn't disappoint. Frontman Will Sheff playfully led his band through parts of the Stage Names and Stand Ins. We were impressed by one of the lead guitarists, a female who was responsible for many of these songs' familiar riffs for the afternoon. I really enjoyed the very limited time they had to perform and will keeping an eye on i-calendar for a full show.

Vampire Weekend

If I had to pick the best performance of the day, I think it would be these preppy Ivy-Leaguers that you would swear were out of place as they took the stage. In between songs, their lead singer politely said "thanks" in his collared shirt and khaki pants. Chris made the comment that it almost seemed like they were performing at an after school event for their parents. This says nothing about the way they played though as they drove tightly through each song on their debut album. There has definitely been a buzz around them this year, as there was on Treasure Island that day, and well deserved. These guys are for real.

Tegan and Sara

As darkness was suddenly settling in, these teenage-looking twins lit up the island with a terrific set, primarily pulling songs from The Con. Interjecting laid back humor in between frenetic, heart felt numbers, they showed a big stage presence that was exciting to take in. After a long day of rocking, they were very much worth waiting for.

Memorable Numbers: White Dove, The Tower, Kookaburra (John Vanderslice) Lost Coastlines, Unless its Kicks, Girl in Port, Starry Stairs (Okkervil River) Oxford Comma, Cape Cod Kassawassa, M79 (Vampire Weekend), Soil Soil, Dark Come Soon, The Con, Nineteen (Tegan and Sara)

Great Lyric:

the sky was filled with vaporized dust, raining,
White on White
Like streamers of dirty confetti
White on White
The Chrysler building disappeared

Kookaburra - John Vanderslice

R.E.M., The National, Modest Mouse - June 1st, Greek Theater, Berkeley

Going into the concert, my two main reasons for being there were The National and Modest Mouse, which turned out to be a lot of money to be shelling out for a couple of Indie bands. R.E.M has a few familiar songs from the 90's that I like, I had heard they sound great live and it's been said that they were one of the original "Indie bands" that were able to make it big. That was enough for me to give them a shot.

The National played a bunch of their songs from Alligator and Boxer, enough to make an enjoyable set. As for Modest Mouse, I'm most familiar with The Moon and Antartica, which they didn't seem to play anything from, so they were fun, but could have been a lot better for me. Both bands didn't seem as exciting as they should have been though, with the outdoor Greek Theater barely populated and people strolling in and out for refreshments. Also, The sound system didn't seem to be set at full tilt for them. They deserved much better than to be treated like lame cover bands.

As for R.E.M, they made up for this by blowing me away. They put out a great mix of familiar favorites with chunks from their new album and stuff I hadn't heard before. Michael Stipe played well to the crowd and his voice was in great form. In the background, they added a colorfully dazzling light and video effects, which complemented their music very nicely. I think what I was most impressed with though, was the musicianship of the band, which shouldn't be too surprising given the amount of time they had performed together and the success they've enjoyed. The guitarists that flanked Stipe were not only great players, but also had sweet voices that harmonized well with him. When listening to a CD, I some times wonder how much of the production is hiding the quality of the musicians. There didn't seem to be any smoke and mirrors around these guys, which was evident when they moved to a more acoustic set up for a few of their new songs. These guys could really rock.

Memorable Numbers: Mr. November, Fake Empire, Racing Like a Pro (The National), Orange Crush, Losing My Religion, Stand, Daysleeper (R.E.M.)

Great Lyric:

I'm Mr. November, I won't fuck us over.

Mr. November - The National

Jackie Greene, April 10th, The Fillmore

It was only a few years ago that I was able to watch this musical prodigy from Sacramento perform for free on numerous occasions to a growing audience. On Memorial Day weekend of 2006, I finally contributed money to his efforts, which felt very strange, but it was well worth it as he put on an amazing two hour show at Nicassio Ranch while I munched on a BBQ lunch on a late spring afternoon. It was a concert that would have easily sat at the top of my list for that year (had I decided to compile one), but he upped the ante even higher at the Filmore in 2008. Two horn players enhanced the already strong band that surrounded him at Nicassio and the performance was punctuated with the last few numbers getting a hand from the Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh. Yet he was still the same old Jackie Greene, with or without

the endorsement, dazzling his audience with his instrumental genius, a booming voice and hauntingly poignant lyrics

.

Memorable Numbers: Like a Ball & Chain, Don't Let The Devil Take Your Mind, Prayer For Spanish Harlem, Uphill Mountain, Honey I Been Thinking About You, Never Satisfied, So Hard To Find My Way, Mexican Girl, Sugar Magnolia

Great Lyric:

now i don't really care about your hot-blooded sister
i'm sure theres a man for to love her and miss her
i didn't mean nothing, i just happened to kiss her
but honey i was thinking about you

Honey I Been Thinking About You

The Decemberists, November 25th, The Warfield

I had a chance to catch this wonderful band for the third time at The Warfield and while they were just as charming as the other two times, we were blessed with our best seats, being in the first row of the balcony, towards the middle of the theater. I had a chance to see their front man Colin Meloy at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz earlier in the year, which was a treat in itself, but didn't compare to seeing him with his full band. They're all extremely talented and he seems to have more energy and fun playing with them. Part of the fun was when they engaged with the Warfield audience, leading us in a "Yes We Can" - "Yes We Did" call-and-response in the middle of "The Perfect Crime" (they actually played for Obama at a rally in Portland this year). There was also a great scene when Colin asked the audience on the floor to put their arms around their neighbors, which they did, and he remarked how no one ever does this for him, except in San Francisco. Back to the performance (lest I forget), they came with a great set, picking a lot of my favorite songs from their collection of albums. The first time I saw them, my friend Dan remarked how "tight" they were as players and I thought of this as they dazzled me with their high degree of professional play.

Memorable Numbers: Here I Dreamt I was an Architect, July July, Valencia, The Perfect Crime, On The Bus Mall, Mariner's Revenge, Valerie Plame, Sons & Daughters, The

Engine Driver

Great Lyric:

and here in spain I am a spaniard
I will be buried with my marionettes
Countess and courtesan
Have fallen 'neath my tender hand
When their husbands were not around
But you, my soiled teenage girlfriend
Or are you furrowed like a lioness
And we are vagabonds
We travel without seatbelts on
We live this close to death

Here I Dreamt I was an Architect

Grainy camera phone shot of The Decemberists from the Warfield balcony


Frightened Rabbit, November 1, Bottom of the Hill

This was my fourth visit of 2008 to The Bottom of the Hill (Mountain Goats, Laura Veirs and Boat were visits one, two and three). This has given me great appreciation for the Potrero Hill /Goat Hill area, which has some very cool little bars, restaurants and shops if you're willing to give your calves a work out and put your emergency breaks to a true test. This time I made a second pre-concert stop at Goat Hill Pizza, downing a slice of pie, some minestrone soup and a pint of Anchor Steam beer while taking part in some people watching at their window side seating. I highly recommend a stop there.

All of this fun aside, Frightened Rabbit was probably one of the most highly coveted concerts for me having enjoyed their Midnight Organ Fight album that they released this year. What's funny is that they weren't even the head liner for the night (Spinto Band was), so I was able to hear them earlier in evening than I thought I would. The band was a little rough around the edges as you would expect from one just starting to tour, but it was very enjoyable to hear them play through their break through album. Front man Scott Hutchinson sang his beautifully morose lyrics with heart felt conviction. He harmonized well with his brother Grant who played behind him on drums and there was a lot of guitar and keyboard switching being done with his other two band-mates. I'm hoping that their 2008 success is the start of something special from these gents from Scotland.

One of the cooler moments of the night was when I was catching the first few songs of the headlining Spinto Band. Directly to my left, sipping a beer and bobbing his head was Scott Hutchinson himself, the same guy whose Scottish-accented voice I had heard more than any other that past month, continually running Midnight Organ Fight from my ipod. Sweet.

Memorable Numbers: Modern Leper, Head Rolls Off, My Backwards Walk, Keep Yourself Warm, I Feel Better

Great Lyric:

i'm working on drawing a straight line
and i'll draw until i get one right
it's bold and dark girl, can't you see

i done drawn a line between you and me

My Backwards Walk


Honorable Mentions

One of the highlights of my trip to Ireland was a Musical Pub Crawl starting from the Gogarty Bar in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. It was great fun to get a history lesson on traditional Irish folk music and hear some samples. The two gentlemen that led the crawl were as delighted to entertain as we were to be entertained.

Brandi Carlile was one of my rolls of the dice this year as I was more sure about the venue of the Rio Theater than the performer herself. I was treated to a fun night as her band played through a set that alternated nicely from country to indie rock. I was also surrounded by young women, so I had absolutely nothing to complain about as I left the theater.

Another grainy shot from floor level of Brandi Carlile in the Rio Theater