Allo Darlin' @ Jewelbox Theatre, Seattle, October 29, 2010

Allo Darlin's debut is one of my favourite albums of the year.  It's perfect indiepop and there isn't a bad song on the album.  Elizabeth Morris sings in a lovely Australian accent (bonus points) and plays a ukelele which makes it a bit different and it makes me happy every time I listen to it (which has very frequently since I got a copy).  When they announced the Seattle show for a Friday night, I couldn't resist the opportunity to head across the border and see them live.  First off, I booked the ticket online and was very pleasantly surprised to buy it through Brown Paper Ticketing - a fair trade ticketing company.  Bear in mind that I buy lots of tickets and I reckon that about 25% of the fees go to Ticketmaster (which in my mind about an evil a corporation as they come), so when Brown Paper Tickets offered me the option to select which charity a proceed of the sales went to, I was pretty shocked.  Bands/Promoters/Booking Agents ... there is another way.  But I digress,  Allo' Darlin were terrific fun live.  There's a wonderful energy to their songs and the enthusiasm of the band is infectious ... they were having a great time and so was the crowd.  Allo Darlin' don't use a booking agent and do all of their booking themselves - apparently the head of their record company took out a new credit card so they could afford the short U.S tour that brought them to Seattle.  If there's any justice in the musical world, it'll prove to be a very wise investment.  Allo' Darlin are fantastic and were a stunning way to end a pretty amazing month of live music for me.

Real Estate @ The Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver, October 26, 2010

I like Real Estate alot.  Their selftitled debut is really terrific and was one of my favourite albums of 2009.  They don't do anything different or fancy, but with a standard drummer, two guitars and bass they make really terrific music.  I was pretty happy to finally get a chance to see them and they I wasn't let down.  I loved their set.

Mumford & Sons @ The Vogue Theatre, Vancouver, October 23, 2010

In late 2008, Woxy started playing Mumford & Sons.  I fell in love at first listen.  I remember being hugely disappointed that they had to cancel a SXSW Lounge Act on the station but they recorded a live session for Drunk Country a few months later which made up for it.  When their album finally came out, it didn't live up to my expectations but I still really liked it and was rather excited when I eventually got a chance to see them live at Sasquatch (about a year and a half later).  They were very good and were, to my surprise, very popular.  Apparently over 500 tickets were sold in the first 5 minutes of them going on sale at the Vogue.  The Vogue was completely sold out for the show and it seemed like most people attending had undergone some sort of weird conversion to the cult of Mumford & Sons.  I almost expected to see Beatles-esque fainting in the aisles, such was the passion? enthusiasm? of the crowd.  To their credit, though, the band were absolutely lovely and seemed genuinely amazed at the reception they received.  They put on a terrific show and I came away a bigger fan.

Foals @ Blank Club, San Jose, 19 October & @ Venue, Vancouver, 22 October, 2010

Two of my favourite bands - Frightened Rabbit and The National - released albums in 2010 which are really great.  Surprisingly, neither will be my favourite album of the year - that (honour?) goes to Total Life Forever by Foals.  It. Is. Outstanding.  To get the opportunity to see Foals once was great but twice in one week?  Awesome.  They're crazy good live.  They sound fantastic and their lead singer, Yannis, is, well ... mad.  In San Jose, he jumped up on the bar at the back of the room a couple of times.  I like him even more for having a go at one of the 'Security' at Venue who jumped up on stage trying to (maim? dismember?) a stage invader.  For the encore, it seemed that half of the crowd joined the band on stage for a fitting end to a wild and very entertaining night.

Esben and The Witch @ Blank Club, San Jose, 19 October & @ Venue, Vancouver, 22 October, 2010

 

When I booked my trip to San Francisco, it seemed too good an opportunity to not stay and see Foals in San Jose as well.  I got lucky because the support band were Esben and The Witch and they are quite fantastic.  I think their set in San Jose was a bit better - they had sound troubles in Vancouver - but I'm being picky ... they're pretty great and I'm looking forward to their album being released in early 2011.

Treasure Island Music Festival, San Francisco, October 17, 2010

 

Having bailed early on the Saturday, my mantra for Sunday was 'I will stick around until The National play'.  This was repeated frequently when I got absolutely drenched walking to get the shuttle bus.  The rain wasn't too bad, it wasn't windy (yay) and it finally let up in the early afternoon.  I didn't mind it that much, though, because Sunday turned out to be a pretty great day of music.  First up were The Mumlers, a local San Fran band, who I'd never heard of but who turned out to be pretty good.  Next up were Ra Ra Riot who I've seen a few times and who are always solid live.  Papercuts were next and they are in my humble opinion highly underrated.  Their album 'You Can't Go Back' is one of my all time favourites and their set was terrific.  An absolute highlight of the weekend.    Superchunk were next and although their tour got alot of blog love recently, it was the first time I'd really heard of them and ... I don't think I missed out.  I was next faced with a dilemna - watch She & Him to get a good spot for Broken Social Scene and the National or go check out Surfer Blood on the other stage.  I stayed for She & Him ... he (M Ward) is okay but she (Zooey Deschanel) - well, I'll be polite and say I'm not even a fan of her as an actress.  But it worked out because I got right up front for Broken Social Scene who were solid as usual and then for The National who I love.  I ended up sticking around for Belle & Sebastian - front row spots are not easy to give up - and actually really enjoyed their set.  All in all, a pretty great day of music.