Blog — Page 274 of 282

Hot Water Music just released their new album, Exister, and recently spent a couple nights in So-Cal to warm up the new songs before they head out to Europe this . Scene Point Blank caught their show in Pomona with Touche Amore where they demonstrated that they have no intentions of slowing down.

I walked into The Glasshouse just in time to catch So-Cal natives, Joyce Manor. One thing's for sure, no matter where they play--basements, living rooms, or venues--they get the crowd going. Next up were Touche Amore. They ripped through their set with immense intensity. Having so many fans there only fueled the flames. The band debuted a new song to the So-Cal crowd while even throwing in stuff from their La Dispute split. It was a warm welcome and it was clear they had a foot in attracting a younger audience that likely have never heard a Hot Water Music album before. This reviewer can only hope those Touche Amore fans stuck around to appreciate the power of Hot Water Music.

Hot Water Music  stepped out and opened up with their ten year old, "Remedy." The passion was still there. If there's one thing Hot Water Music have going for their live show, it's that they have a grizzly bear rocking his heart out on stage. Chuck Ragan still stomps around the stage like an excited kid who just unwrapped a Tickle-Me-Elmo on Christmas morning. Ragan retained control as they went into their new album opener, "Mainline." As much as I like the studio recording, seeing it live was a whole new ball game--adding a whole new level of force to the track.

The band jumped back and forth between older tracks from A Flight and a Crash and newer songs like "State of Grace" and the rhythmic title-track, "Exister." It's always a joy when Jason Black gets his moments to take the reins. "Exister" was another new song that translated really well live. The older crowd that had taken over the dance floor were ecstatic when they jumped back to No Division's classic, "Rooftops."

One of my only gripes about their performance was they only played one track from The New What Next--"Giver." As they reached the end of their set they broke out fan favorites, "Wayfarer" and "Turnstile." It was clear the crowd had been hoping and waiting for the moment to yell out, "I must always remember: there's no point to surrender," and they did not take it for granted.

Fans wait for Hot Water Music to come back out and satisfy their thirst for more. Their arrive back on stage and begin playing the anthemic, "It's Hard to Know," to remind everyone to "live your heart and never follow," before ending the night with Forever and Counting's. "Manual."

Hot Water Music can still give a better performance than many of the younger punk bands going today. If you haven't had a chance to see their show, I urge you to. The dueling dynamic of Ragan and Wollard is enough to shake the walls, while Jason Black and Rebelo's rhythmic chemistry is something you won't find anywhere else.

There are a few cultural constants we all come to understand depending on where we come from, and growing up in Vermont is no exception. Amongst other things, many develop an unnatural appreciation for not having to smell cow shit. More common, however, is the universal love for Ben and Jerry's ice cream, a company with a classic story of two men with a common drive coming together and making a shitton of money. Equally universal to Vermont culture is the shared love of every single one of the major band that have come out of the state. By this, of course, I refer to the absolute above-all without-a-doubt second best jam band in the world, Phish. And when these two forces come together, their combined power can draw in nearly every person in Vermont.

All fifteen of them.

It turns out there is a world record for the largest cowbell ensemble. The Guiness Book of World Records currently lists this number as 640, which, despite all evidence otherwise, is apparently less than the population of Vermont. After what was surely the world's oddest conversation, Ben and Jerry's and Phish drummer Jon Fishman came together on 14 April and decided that, together, they could rally enough people to break this world record. Also something about raising money for flood relief. Whatever. That didn't matter. What did matter was that there was a mass gathering that involved a large part of my natural culture, and I had to be a part of it.

Knowing full well the risks, I set off to join my fellow percussive bretheren in an afternoon of song, camraderie, and inevitable ear drum damage. When I arrived, Ben and Jerry's were issuing cowbells to everyone who had previously signed up to be in attendance--and by some counts, that was upwards of 1,300 people, more than enough to secure a record-breaking performance. I got in line to receive my cowbell along with the rest of the folks who had compulsive punctuality issues. Unfortunately, we ran into a big problem.

Thankfully, I had come prepared with my own, sufficient percussive device. Others, however, had not been so lucky. They were stuck with a collection of second-rate instruments. But I could tell they were rallying together to get past this setback: they weren't going to let insufficient hardware get in the way of having a rocking, cowbelling time, no matter what. Empowered by their persistance, I stuck around, mingled with the folk, and enjoyed the beautiful Vermont afternoon while the stage was being set up. And slowly but surely, the stage came to erection, the band sauntered on, and in an instant, a cacophonous din of cowbells were raised skyward, of which no two managed to ring at the same time.

Not pictured: the dense, pot-fueled haze that had settled over the crowd.

The ramshackle band, led by Fishman on the cowbell, burst into a riotous set of cowbell-intesive tunes, eliciting many a clang of appreciation. The band started out with a cover of The Chambers Brothers' classic "Time Has Come Today", an incredibly popular and well known tune for everyone born half a century ago. The performance was preceeded by a warning from Fishman that the song "slowed down" in the middle, and he urged the crowd to follow him at this point while he banged the cowbell slowly. They responded with a generous, frantic ringing of their cowbells in something resembling assent and happily banged their cowbells along with Fishman, who nobly struggled to keep the tempo from being overrun by zealous cowbellers with all of the precision of a middle school percussion section. When the song reached its infamous and labourious decrescendo, the crowd had a difficult time keeping pace with Fishman, who kept pushing the tempo slower and slower; the strain could be heard in the crowd's reluctance to slow down, as strikes became less precise and more akin to general clusters of noise.

The band followed up that crowd-pleasing number with their tribute to Will Farrell and Christopher Walken, both of whom (for some reason) had declined to be in attendence that day. The song, a rendition of Blue Öyster Cult's classic "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", definitely got the crowd enthusiastic. In fact, if the crowd had been any more enthusiastic, the band would've had to give up for sheer inability to play that fast. Fishman also couldn't help but get into character a little bit for this song.

Much to the regret of everyone involved.

Having run out of songs that actually had cowbell in them, the band rounded off their performance with a couple of songs that had cowbell forcefully inserted into them. They ended the main set with Bachman Turner Overdrive's "Takin' Care of Business" , a hard-rocking common time jam that no single person seemed to be able to hit the correct beats on. Finally, a version of the ever-popular tune "Hang on Sloopy" by The McCoys followed for an encore, pleasing absolutely everyone who still cared about popular music from 1965. Cowbells clamoured and rang in a sonorous display of gratitude as the band ended, leaving the crowd to linger and bang their cowbells for several hours afterwards, as noted by everyone in the city who was trying to sleep later that evening.

All things considered, it was a pretty wonderful event. Something like 1,600 people showed up to play in total, smashing the previous world record, and more importantly, the day's events gave testament to the combined power of Ben and Jerry's and Fishman preying on Vermonters' sense of shared culture.

Oh yeah, and a lot money was raised for Hurricane Irene relief in Vermont, which had suffered massive flooding and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage statewide from the storm in late 2011. Phish's Waterwheel Foundation, which had organized the event, actually has raised several million dollars itself to contribute. So, there's that, too. Sometimes I do like living in a small state where we do have a very definite sense of community. It's the only way something like this could've possibly worked out.

The only thing that could make this feel more like Vermont would be maple syrup in the mosh pit.

Once again, fun. are on the road and Scene Point Blank was there to catch another great show. The band's playing the clubs in support of their sophomore record, Some Nights. If you ask me, this band's well ready for the auditoriums. Each performance I see is bigger and better than the last, and they're reaching a wider audience than just the usual "scene" crowd.

The lights dropped and fun. began to walk out to the beat of "One Foot" off their new album. It was not the kind of song I would have expected to open a show. Especially when the album features and intro. However, it translated well and really got the crowd going. Next, the band went into Aim & Ignite's last single, "Walking the Dog." The night was off to a great start. The band continues on to slower track, "All Alone" and the head-bobbing "Why Am I the One?" before jumping into "All The Pretty Girls" and pulse-racing, "It Gets Better."

In between tracks, the band would jump into their usual hilarious banter. Stories from Jack Antonoff about Nate Ruess' unconventional family get togethers or how pianist, Andrew Dost, was usually the one to segue into a song with his own jokes was enough to bring about laughter from the crowd. With their backing band behind stage, the 3 continue the tradition of playing the intimate track, "The Gambler" on their own. Unexpectedly, the trio hold the stage on their own with an acoustic version of "Be Calm." Being a fan of "acoustic" music and this being my favorite fun. track, I was thrilled and captivated.

The rest of the band walks back out and Nate addresses the crowd to repeat after him as he goes into the opening melody of "At Least I'm Not as Sad." While the crowd was loud, it didn't compare to when they played their hit single, "We Are Young." With the lights bright, I gaxe across the audience and I can see just how big this band has gotten, and they deserve it. They close out their set with "Some Nights," my personal favorite off the new album. Ruess still opted to use the auto-tune live in the bridge which still makes me cringe, but I have no trouble getting over it.

Fun. walk off the stage and the crowd takes no time in calling them back. They answer back with the slow, choral, track, "All Alright." They close the night with Aim & Ignite's closer, "Take Your Time." The crowd gives their last breaths as loud as they can before it's over and dance until they're about to fall to the floor. The show ends and fun. say good night and the audience floods out of the room.

I had the pleasure of attending the 5th annual Musink Fest in Costa Mesa, CA--a festival blending live music and an appreciation for tattoo art--hosted by LA Ink star, Kat Von D. It would be my first time attending the So-Cal fest, and I was excited for the experience. They get two thumbs up from me on parking alone--charging a mere 5 bucks. I entered the gate with just enough time to gather in the sights before Gainesville's,  Against Me!, took the stage. Most of the festivities took place between two buildings. One with an abundance of tattoo booths and the other for the performance. Between the two buildings you could watch skaters flipping tricks on a small skatepark setup.

One thing that always gets on my good side, is when everything follows a strict schedule. Against Me! were to take the stage at 7:30, and they walked out right on time. The band opened with their latest title track, "White Crosses." While the crowd was excited--it wasn't until they jumped into classics like "Pints of Guinness Make You Strong" and "Cliche Guevara" that the room lost it. The crowd's voices carried to the front of the room while the crowd's hands carried people (in one instance, a person with a skateboard). Due to the strict schedule, the band did away with banter and breaks--never taking a moment for themselves to even take a swig of a cool beverage. At times you could catch someone pouring water down Weinberg's mouth in the middle of playing. They managed to sneak in some newer tracks from the sixth studio album they've just begun recording. They closed the set with--in my opinion, one of the best show closers any band has to offer--"We Laugh At Danger (And Break All the Rules)." Just when you think the audience is tired out, you find yourself having trouble trying to keep your balance. It was a great set both the fans and the band enjoyed--judging from the smiles they were giving off.

While the fest's closer, Alkaine Trio, were setting up, I was able to walk around the show room. A nice highlight that sets this festival apart from others. In the adjacent building, it's a whole nother atmosphere. One filled with focused artists at work. It's a pretty awesome being around so many talented artists from all over the world. Some of the tattoo booths have different things to offer. Some had artwork for sale while others had tools or clothing. The rest were there to do what they do best.

The clock was ticking and after cooling off, I was ready to heat up again with Alkaline Trio. The band had been touring through California playing all of their sophomore album, Maybe I'll Catch Fire. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case tonight. The band opened with "Cringe" from their debut album, Goddammit. They didn't completely ignore the album though, they dedicated "She Took Him to the Lake" to Dear & Departed's, Dan Smith, while "Madam Me" went out to Social Distorion--who pushed the band into playing the festival in the first place. They also filled the set with track's from 2003's, Good Mourning, like "Continental," "Emma." and "This Could Be Love" before walking off the stage. They came back to close the night out with oldies, "Bleeder" and "97."

I don't particularly like festivals, but this one was a completely different experience. It's definitely a show I'd like to attend again. Fortunately, weather isn't much of an issue as it's primarily indoors, and it's not really crowded. Food and drink prices are still high but no more than you'll find at any other festival. Lastly, they consistently get good bands to play. I had a good time and I hope to have another.

Cursive recently began touring in support of their 7th studio album, I Am Gemini. I had the privilege of catching their show in Pomona, CA where they played a great set mixed with old and new tracks to please every fan in attendance.

With the crowd waiting in anticipation, the lights dropped and a number of cameras stationed throughout the venue began to roll. After a quick acknowledgement of the crowd from frontman, Tim Kasher, Cursive took the stage and went straight into one of their new tracks, "Drunken Birds." It translated well into a live setting with a better mix than on the album. They then took it back to Happy Hollow's, "Big Bang" before jumping into The Ugly Organ's, "Sierra." I've yet to hear "Sierra's" cello replaced with horns--as the band does with The Ugly Organ's songs when played live--and it was an interesting new take on the track.

The audience was pumped and ready to see where they'd take the set next. Cursive revert back to their new release and begin one of my favorites, "The Cat and Mouse." The band continues to blister through tracks. They touch back to 2000's Domestica with, "A Red So Deep," and the fans couldn't have been more thrilled. It's not until they're almost half way through the set that they take a moment to slow things down with "We're Going to Hell," from their previous record, Mama, I'm Swollen. They finish the track and Kasher finally takes a moment to breath and thank the crowd for coming out both literally and by playing the fan favorite, "The Martyr."

Many tracks from Mama, I'm Swollen were much more dance inducing than most of Cursive's albums, and it's evident when they jump into the record's single, "I Couldn't Love You," and I catch a glimpse of a couple pairs twisting around to the music. They play another fan-favorite, "The Recluse." There's something a little different about it. Maybe it was the key it was in or the tempo, but it definitely had more of dream-like feel to it. The band finishes their set with "From the Hips." Kasher announces they're gonna step backstage, "take a few shots," and then head back out to play some more.

Cursive walk back out and jump right into the energetic, "Dorothy at Forty," and the audience joins in on the "MO-OREs" in the choruses. After playing "Sink to The Beat" from their Burst & Bloom EP and an intense performance of "Art is Hard," they end the night with I Am Gemini's opener, "This House Alive." The show ends and the fans begin to head out. What's to become of the footage, I don't know? I sure wouldn't mind reliving the night through a DVD release of the show. Only time will tell.