The time has come. Yelle was in the top 5 best concerts I have ever been to.
Kap10Kurt was the first opening act. They played a great show packed with energy and no one could stand still for it. It was great to get really pumped before Yelle.
Next was Funeral Party. They were great too, just a little too much screaming to be opening for Yelle. I liked their energy, they got the crowd jumping.
Finally, finally Yelle came on and opened with Tristesse/Joie. I haven't heard that much screaming in so long. She continued with most of her hits like "Mal Poli", "Jogging", and "Ce Jeu". "Dans Ta Vraie Vie" was one of my favorite performances that night. The girl wouldn't stop moving! The encore was the best, it was a rock version of "Je Veux Te Voir" and it couldnt have been better.
I got a bunch of amazing pictures and ok videos. Tepr and Grand Marnier did a fantastic job as well, they really make an amazing trio.
Two more great photos:
My friend Christie came with me and we had an amazing time. I definately think the concert got her into Yelle.
Two videos, but they are very shaky because I couldnt even stand up straight.
Ok, concert time. My camera is a piece of shit, and I was maybe 8th row back, so the videos are not the best quality (sound is actually pretty good though). First opening act was Girl In A Coma, who I have loved forever and did an amazing job. They sang mostly new stuff (and none of my 2 favorites, "Sybil Vane Was Ill" or "Road To Home") and it was so fast paced.
Best picture I got with my shit camera.
Next up was City and Color, which was a man named Dallas singing acoustic songs. I thought he did a great job, but the order of the opening bands was completely off. Girl In A Coma got the crowd HYPED, and then he gets on and puts everyone to sleep.
here he is:
Now on to the main attraction. Tegan and Sara came out and were fantastic. They told funny stories, sang new songs, sang their best songs, and just gave a thoroughly enjoyable concert experience. Pictures came out very, VERY bad so, I will just show you how great it was.
Umbrella covered by Tegan and Sara, really? Fantastic.
for more videos go here: http://www.youtube.com/user/alorsvraiment
The presenter wasn't kidding. My friend and I got to Central park at about 2:00, and there were 200+ people in front of us. I assumed I wouldn't even be getting into the venue (not realizing how big it was). I squeezed my way to about 5th row, and waited for the show to start.
I'm gonna have a lot to write about. Mz Streamz
About 6 teenage girls came running out on stage and started dancing while DJ Blaqstarr was spinning. I thought they were just a dance team, but then 2 girls grabbed a mic and started performing.
I only had videos of them dancing to a backing track of their song. I thought I recorded "Tear It Up", a really good Bmore club track featuring DJ Sega, but apparently I didn't. They killed it, and I am looking for more of their songs, and can't really find any. I read somewhere that they filmed a video recently and have a mixtape coming out soon.
Blaqstarr came on and played some of the best baltimore club music I have ever heard. I always love Blaqstarr mixes and the entire crowd was going crazy for "Hands Up, Thumbs Down". He sampled some M.I.A. and Bonde Do Role (possibly a new song?). Kid Cudi came on as a special guest, and he was alright. I wasn't too into him, but I did manage to get a picture with him. I'll be checking out his songs later this week to see what I think. This is also around the time I may or may not have passed out for a second from the heat, so I had to make my way to the back of Summerstage so I could cool down (which is why I have no good pictures from this event).
Hands down favorite DJ. The fact is he is extremely talented, good looking, brings the best unknown music acts into the spotlight, and dated M.I.A. for a while. He played a bunch of my favorites (his Golddiger Mix and Stronger Mix) and he sample The Gossip, which was a nice suprise. He played for about an hour and a half (splitting the stage with A Trak, who was pretty damn good too) and it was great. Check out maddecent.com to see all of Diplo's mixes, acts, up and coming artists, etc.
This is what everyone was waiting for. She walked right by me going backstage, but had her headphones in. When she came on, all of Summerstage exploded. She started with "You'll Find A Way (Switch remix)" and went on to sing "LES Artistes", "Starstruck", "Anne", "Unstoppable", and a few others. She ended with "Creator" and it was really good. She was really interactive with the first few rows (and I was extremely jealous of them). Her backup dancers were PERFECT. I was too far to get good video, but I recorded some live audio. More will come later.
Last night was Chris Garneau live at Joe's Pub in NYC. We got there and all the tables were already reserved, so we had to stand in the back.
Around 7:00 Olafur Arnalds came on. He finished his first song at 7:15. There were no words. I am all about beautiful music, but 15 minutes of a piano and some instruments as ONE song, I could have done without that. After 45 minutes (I think he played 4 songs.) he left and Chris got on the stage. He started off with a new very sad song that he played on an accordion-esque instrument. It was very good.
He ended up playing a very short set because another band was scheduled to perform basically RIGHT after him. Some songs included "Relief", "Baby's Romance" and "In the Afternoon", one of his new songs. He had a cover section too and did "Crazy" and "Walking After Midnight" by Patsy Cline.
After the show, my friend and I stuck around to meet him. I got a picture with him, told him how beautiful he sang, got a t-shirt, and was on my way. This was a great concert night.
(we were far away so I have no good pictures of him. Please view this video of him made by balancing the camera on my friend's head):
After getting directions to "the ferry" from my TomTom, I drove for about 2 hours to "Staten Island". The reason they are in quotes is because TomTom (which I am getting rid of ASAP) gave me directions to where the ferry lets off... in NYC. The whole reason I was taking the ferry is because I cannot drive in the city, it is too frustrating. So after about an hour of being lost in the city (oh, did I mention TomTom doesn't work in the city? The buildings throw off the signal) we found a parking garage and ended up spending about 20 bucks, while the ferry would have been free. My two friends and I spent about 2 hours wandering the city, getting some prime purchases at Canal Street, and then headed over to the Highline Ballroom. We got in and were required to buy some food (10 dollar minimum, how nice of them) so we sat and waited. Chris Pureka was the opening act.
She was pretty good (the lighting was so bad on her though, all of my pictures were too blurry) although I can never fully appreciate an opening band, since I get too impatient waiting for the main act. Her one song "You Don't Know Me" was pretty good. At least that is what I think it was called. Check her out.
www.myspace.com/chrispureka
Jay Brannan! He came on and told a bunch of jokes, stories, and sang a little of Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This". He was extremely entertaining. One story had to do with all of 7th Ave filled with trannies that fought each other. He "swore to god" it was true, an entire block full of trannies stopping traffic, yelling "Hold my bag, hold my bag!". A video of that will be coming shortly.
He played all of my favorites, minus "Body's a Temple". "Soda Shop" was probably the highlight, since it is his most known song. The whole crowd was extremely receptive and he seemed like he had a great time. He also played "Housewife", "At First Sight" (including him asking the audience to play percussion for him. It sort of worked), and "Straight Outta Compton" (as requested by my friend). For some of the songs, he had a cello player and a violinist, which he hadn't done before.
We stayed after and waited near the huge line (not in it of course) to meet him. We were the last people he saw, and he didn't seem too happy to have that many people talk to him. Regardless, he gave us all hugs, thanked us for coming, and chatted for a minute or two. He was very nice, so I was happy about that.
Check out the video for "Soda Shop" that I filmed. He started off with a different song, and goes "I tricked you guys!", so I got most of the song:
Next week is concert week, so I should probably blog about that.
Jay Brannan (7/16/08 at Highline Ballroom in NYC)
I first saw him in John Cameron Mitchells "Shortbus" playing Ceth. I usually don't like too much acoustic music, but he is definately a wonderful singer. His lyrics are real, and he has something many people do not: talent. Not to mention he is easy on the eyes.
I am in love with this man. He is by far the saddest person I have ever heard. He is an openly gay singer who barely gets above a whisper on each song. I am so excited for this concert, the videos I have seen of him live are fantastic. Not to mention he speaks french which gives him a lot of points in my book. Chris Garneau - Relief
Santogold (7/20/08 Central Park in NYC)
This is more my usual pace. Every blog in the internetz has talked about Santogold, so I am pretty late in the game. I first saw her at M.I.A.'s show in Philly last december, and she blew the crowd away. I have never seen an artist mix so many elements together. Her cd "Santogold" has about 9 different genres of music on it. Her voice is real clashy and her beats will make you either want to dance A LOT or relax A LOT. Her concert is free, and she is playing with DIPLO, another of my favorites. Elle est un fille pour mon coeur. Yes yes yes.
Pictures of the concerts will be uploaded the day after each of them. (as long as I am not dead, drunk, dizzy, working, lost, lazy, or any combination of those)
Dislcaimer: Unless specified, I do not own any of the pictures or mp3s on this blog. All mp3's are for previewing purpose, and should be deleted after 24 hours. You can buy music at amazon.com or itunes.
Leave me some comments, give me your opinions.
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