White Rabbits

This is just one post in my wrap up of the year 2010. If you would like to read the rest, click here to the main post.

There were a lot of great shows in 2010 that I was fortunate enough to see for free. I love my job. I didn't review a lot of shows as I would have liked but here are some that stuck out in my mind.

White Rabbits
I <3 the White Rabbits. When they rolled into town, I was on it. I even paid $15 to see them. I wrote in my ACL post "for those that know what a cheapskate I am know what a big deal that is." And man, they didn't disappoint. I prepared myself for the show by listening to their two albums ad nauseam at work. I also showed up before the show started, waited in line, and stood right in front of the stage just for this band. Again, none of these characteristics are me. Even though I'm press, there are just some bands that bring out my inner fangirl. This is one of them.

Unfortunately, I got some annoying news right before they took the stage but I was distracted by the percussion awesomeness not to care.

Thrice, Kevin Devine, Bad Veins, The Dig
Summer shows in Texas are fucking brutal and this was no exception. I was sweating so much that I could feel it dripping down my back. Yuck. Poor Chantel, who took the photos, was stuck in the front with a crowd of people around her for the entire show.

It was a random line up but it worked. I watched Thrice from the side of the venue away from the crowd and it was surreal to see this sea of sweaty dude bros pumping their fists in unison and yelling out the lyrics. Those moments make shows unforgettable.

Carney and Athlete
Another summer show but this was inside Stubb's. Think that made a difference from the Texas heat? Hell no. Again, I was sweating and with the combination of the sultry tunes from Carney and the charisma from Athlete's frontman Joel Pott, good god. Babies were probably made that night.

New Politics
I stumbled onto this band during SXSW right before Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump was set to play. I arrived early so I could ensure that I would be able to get a good spot for viewing. Nothing is more annoying that trying to see a band from behind a person taller than you or drunk high-pitched hyenas. That's a story for another day.

When I walked in the Dirty Dog bar, New Politics was on stage. The music was fun. Honestly, there wasn't anything too special. Got some pop punk elements to it and catchy "yeah yeah" to sing along to. But the minute the lead singer started break dancing, I was sold. More bands need to incorporate break dancing in their sets. Just saying.

Fun Fun Fun Fest
This is what I tweeted about this festival on the old Twitter:
.@funfunfunfest is the one festival to bring out every journalist's inner fanboy/girl. I've never seen so many of them geek out in my life.
Decscendents, Bad Religion, The Bronx... I was such a fangirl that weekend and so was everyone else. It was awesome.

This had to have been my favorite tweet of mine:
As I look at the red-colored press from Gwar's spray, I'm glad Karissa was in the pit & not me. The things we do for you. Haha. So True.

The Secret Handshake
I felt bad for The Secret Handshake when I found out they had to cancel their tour because of low ticket sales. That's disappointing. It disappoints me that if a band hasn't had their ass kissed by Pitchfork or whatever music blog hipsters consider tastemakers that month, no one gives a shit. Whatever happened to liking music just because it's good fun music?

Anyway, off my soapbox... SPEAK opened for this band for my November show and I was really impressed by them. The Secret Handshake is fun, bottom line. Don't believe me? Here's a video.

Down with Webster, Friday Night Boys, The Bigger Lights, and Cute is What We Aimed For

I won free tickets for this show from Do512.com. Yay. I was a fan of Cute is What We Aimed for and I'll admit it was because I thought the name was witty. I don't know if you could call me a fan though because I didn't listen to them on a regular basis. I had the album but I honestly think I heard it once. Again, that name is adorable.

Anyway, the show was interesting. I loved the first band Down with Webster. The second two bands, not so much. The lead singer of Cute is What We Aimed For though... Wow, what a charmer. I was trying my hardest not to swoon, but I just couldn't resist.

Good in the Sack

I had a flashback at the show from the days I spent in the Backroom, reeking of cigarette smoke (smoking was allowed in venues then), and hanging out with all my friends from the Austin Punk Rock website. Seeing everyone in the crowd again singing along to Good in the Sack's silly little lyrics about wishing to know how to fight and having friends with benefits made me feel like that 23-year-old newbie "blogger" all over again.

The Steps, Love at 20, Bright Light Social Hour
This show was great. Three local bands all bringing some different to the line up. Hearing The Steps' guitarist Sam Thompson perform those guitar riffs impressed me. And he's like 19. Wow. These youngins' are coming out of the wombs with talent these days.

Love at 20 always brings a good show which comes as no surprised with all that determination Mike Groener has in that mind of his.

And Bright Light Social Hour was the reason that brought me to that show. It was their last show before they camped in a studio to record their debut full-length. I wanted to see what the big deal was.

Ever see a Cheech and Chong movie? Those '70s and '80s cult films where those two idiots would get high and hilarity would ensue? If life was a Cheech and Chong movie, the Bright Light Social Hour would be that band playing on stage in the bar setting up the scene. I thought for sure that those two clowns would stumble into Emo's at any minute to entertain me. That funky bass, Jack's moustache, and catchy lyrics... woo, that's a show.

Wakey!Wakey!

Unfortunetely, this show wasn't my favorite in the least, but that wasn't Wakey!Wakey!'s fault. It was completely the crowd. The show was inside the Mohawk so it was crowded. That's not a bad thing. Standing in front of a drunk couple who insisted on whistling and yelling as loud as they could because they just looooove Wakey!Wakey! was. I was so annoyed by the end of the night that I wanted to walk out and leave. It was only a keyboard, a violin and vocals so it was very chill show. I understand you're so moved by the music that you feel the need to express yourself, but geez people, yelling? That's unnecessary. Especially inside the venue. Ugh. But the show was memorable.

Glassjaw

Glassjaw was epic. But I'm sure you've realized by now that "epic" is such a regular fixture in my vocabulary. I say episodes of Glee were epic. I say eating a sandwich is epic. But Glassjaw actually lived up to definition "of heroic or impressive proportions."

I wrote a brief review about the show that never got published. Mainly because it was a hot mess, but here are some highlights:

Its been around seven years since Glassjaw performed in Texas, let alone in Austin. With this date not only being the last show they're playing for awhile, it was also the only U.S. date they had booked this year. So it was no surprise that this show sold out immediately when the tickets became available in late December.

Arriving at Emo's at 8:30 p.m., there was a line wrapped around the corner but it moved rather quickly. Glassjaw was the only band on the bill so the crowd had about an hour to get as close to the front as possible or hang out in the venue until the guys took the stage.

The show itself was an hour and 30 minutes of some favorite songs including “Tip Your Bartender,” “Siberian Kiss” and “Ape Dos Mil” as well as some newer tracks from the upcoming album (release date hasn't been officially announced yet.). Vocalist Daryl Palumbo was drowned out by the tightly packed fans who sang along to his every word. Even with one guitar player missing from the original line up, the band still sounded just as fierce and aggressive as the Glassjaw fans love.

After the last song “Babe,” the band said their thank yous and walked off stage. Unfortunately, the small hope in the air was quickly deflated when the band didn't come back for an encore. However, the overall consensus from the fans that night was that this Glassjaw performance was exactly what they have been missing.

Pretty much everyone who reads this blog is a music fan like me (unless you're my family... Hi Mom!) so you should know by now that the ACL line up has been announced. Woohoo right? That depends on who you ask...

Now I've been to ACL before and frankly, I wasn't all that impressed. Huge crowds. Uncomfortable weather (so glad I wasn't part of the dillo dirt extravaganza last year). Expensive EVERYTHING. Bad.idea.all.around. However, when I read the upcoming line up, I couldn't help but be a little excited.

Not only do I recognized some of these names for a change, I've seen some of these bands live and LIKED them. What does that mean? Am I turning into a blogging hipster? Have I found the error of my uncool journalistic ways and turned to the elitist dark side? I do own a pair of skinny jeans. Good god. I blame Ian and Ajay for this. What makes this worse is that I might actually want to put up with the large crowd, expensive food and awful weather, just to see some of these bands live. What is happening to me?

If I start finding a way to make it all about me when I'm plugging a band with no substance and disregarding the AP stylebook, please strip away my press badge and called me a "blogger." *shudders*

So who are these people that are responsible for my erratic behavior? Let's see...

Broken Bells - Frankly, I want to see this band because of all the buzz they caused on Twitter during SXSW. People climbed fences and waited in line for hours just to see this band perform. What is the big deal besides the two people who make up this band?

Cage the Elephant - I saw them back in December but only caught a little bit of the set (as I was interviewing another band), but from what I remember, I was somewhat impressed.

Lissie - Ian loves this girl. He talks about her a lot. I finally heard some of her stuff, especially her Lady Gaga cover. She won me over. I want to experience her amazing voice live.

M.I.A - Dude, it's M.I.A. I'm just sad that I won't witness her performing around stage while nine months pregnant on the edge of popping out a baby at any moment.

Muse - I don't care what people say or that it doesn't make me cool (because we all know I'm really not). I freaking love Muse.

Portugal. The Man - I saw them the same night I saw The Dig opened for them and some of the songs were pretty awesome. I think I would have enjoyed the rest of the songs if I was as high as the rest of the crowd that night though.

SPEAK - Um yeah, this doesn't need an explanation.

Spoon - After I wrote that lengthy review on this band for Accent, I'm somewhat a walking talking Spoon wikipedia page who's heard the entire discography way more than I wanted to.

Switchfoot - Wow, hello 2003. Nice to see you again.

The Eagles - Ok, I know everyone is calling them a dad band, but hello, our dads, especially mine, raised me on this band. I want to watch them as a tribute to my childhood and have something music-related I can talk to my dad about. And if they play "Desperado," I'm seriously gonna cry. Now loosen up your tight jeans so the blood will flow freely and you'll stop being so uptight.

The Soft Pack - Andy Langer mentioned this band in a tweet once and his recommendations are usually concurrent with my taste. This band is just good. I really want to see them live.

The Sword - My bro is usually the metal guy and again, Ian kept talking about this band so I decided to see them for myself during Fun Fun Fun Fest and have won me over ever since.

The Temper Trap - I have the album on my iPod which means I like it as I have a whole filtering process when it comes to loading music on my iPod. Did I mention I'm a little bit weird? Anyway, the album is pretty decent which means the live show will either be really awesome or really bad. Either way, I would like to find out for myself.

The Verve Pipe - Am I the only one out there that remembers "The Freshman?" I seriously only remember that song because it came out when I was a freshman in high school and I really thought that made me cool. See? This nerdiness has been around for ages.

Vampire Weekend - I'd admit it. Vampire Weekend is a guilty pleasure. Sarah had a guilty pleasure? What? The same girl that proudly admits she likes High School Musicial and Glee? This band is just sometimes too adorable for me. I know, that's pretty bold to say, however, I wouldn't mind bobbing my head with the rest of the crowd who doesn't give a shit.

White Rabbits - Man, every since I saw this band live, I can't get enough of both of their albums. Such amazing stuff. So amazing that I actually paid the $15 cover to see them live a while back. And for those that know what a cheapskate I am know what a big deal that is. I want to see this amazement again.

Balmorhea, Band of Heathens, Band of Horses, Devendra Banhart and the Grogs, Local Natives, Lucero, Manchester Orchestra, The Black Keys, The Constellations, The Morning Benders, The Mountain Goats, The National, The xx, Yeasayer - These are what I like to call blogger bands or also "hyped bands" so that means I want to see why these bands have recieved said hyped.