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.