Voxtrot,The Little Ones @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (10/14/07)

Sunday night, Voxtrot brought Texas to Williamsburg and what a wonderful and energetic show it was. Doesn't seem a little surgery prevents Ramesh or the band from putting on a freakin' fantasticsuperstellar, show not that I doubted them for one nanosecond, get better Ramesh! The Little Ones also put on a great set, with their sunny LA smiles and addictive melodies and shaking maracas. Both The Little Ones and Voxtrot will be playing CMJ showcases (Voxtrot is playing at BV's Bowery Ballroom show tonight and at 4PM they're playing a free all ages show with Jack Penate at Fontana's!), so make sure you check them out this week and for those who don't live in NY no worries, both bands will most likely be touring in a city near you, just check out their websites listed in links below. The setlist for Voxtrot's set is right after the photos and you can also view all of the photos from this show here.

Setlist:

Introduction
Kid Gloves
Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives
Your Biggest Fan
Ghost
Soft & Warm
Firecracker
Raised By Wolves
New Song
Brother In Conflict
The Start of Something

Download + Purchase:

Ghost | Voxtrot
Lovers Who Uncover | The Little Ones

Links:

» Voxtrot's Official Site
» Voxtrot's Official MySpace
» The Little Ones' Official Site
» The Little Ones' Official MySpace

~anne

PS. We will have a new kind of post that is a sort of follow-up to select show posts. They'll be titled Series: followed by the band name, date and location of the show. (this is what I'm talking about when I said 'special' Beirut post in the pass it on box) These are posts that will only have black and white and one day color photos that are taken by film cameras (not digital pretending to be b/w).

These may be posted as late as a month after the show has happened, since it takes time to process film, develop prints individually, scanned, uploaded, etc. I've been taking photos of shows with 35mm for awhile now, and I guess it's time to share some of them. Since I'm talking about it on this post, you've probably already figured out the second Series post is Voxtrot, but in case, it's a late night where you are, now you know.

Voxtrot @ The Proletariat, Houston (06/30/07)

Live reviews, shmive reviews...do I really have to describe how painstakingly amazing a Voxtrot show is? Though it wasn't a surprise to me since I've seen both bands live before, I do have to mention to you, oh fellow reader, how Brazos and Tacks, The Boy Disaster were the best opening bands I've seen for a long while...they are from Austin after all. Some photos, some links, some words below...

» More photos from the show.

Voxtrot's setlist:

Introduction
Kid Gloves
Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives
Your Biggest Fan
Soft & Warm
Raised By Wolves
Brother In Conflict
The Start of Something
Missing Pieces

Songs I wish were on the setlist, just pure 2AM blogger wishful thinking/fun:

Ghost
Steven
Every Day
Real Life Version
Blood Red Blood
Wrecking Force
Four Long Days
Dirty Version
This Is Not My Bloody War

To everyone who was rushed (rudely) out of the venue and didn't get a chance to buy their new merch, please order it online here at the Voxtrot store. More tour dates will be added, that means you Europe and select US cities. For now there is Pitchfork Festival & Siren Fest and two remaining dates for the Wrecking Force to road-trip to.

Word of advice: To the people who live in Austin or near it, you should all go to Belaire's CD release party at Emo's on July 6th, it's a foolproof fun show to attend. If this motivates you in any way, Jason Chronis and Matt Simon from Voxtrot are in the band!

Links:
» Voxtrot's Official Site
» Voxtrot's Official MySpace
» Order Voxtrot Merch
» Voxtrot on NPR
» Voxtrot + Sparrow House "Take-away Show" videos by La Blogothèque
» Brazos's Official MySpace
» Tacks, The Boy Disaster's Official MySpace
» Belaire's Official MySpace

~anne

Bright Eyes @ UT Bass Concert Hall, Austin (05/13/07)

Last night decked out in white attire, Conor Oberst and his troupe played at UT's Bass Concert Hall, even the piano was white! The setlist would satisfy any devoted Bright Eyes fan, including songs from his beautiful new album, Cassadaga and older albums such as Lifted, Fevers And Mirrors, Digital Ash In A Digital Urn and I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning.

The acoustics of the Bass Concert Hall was amazing and the 11-member band filled up the grandiose venue wonderfully. This Spring tour has Conor gracing venues that are more use to the sound of chamber orchestras and music appealing to your mom and dad. Of course I would've preferred a more intimate and familiar venue, but this show opened my eyes or rather ears to how music can still be enjoyed while sitting. My friends and I were more on the edges of our seats, clapping our hands and cheering our throats sore anyways. I guess some things never change no matter how big or small a venue is.

The neat visual display was from a projector all done while the songs were played on stage. Interpreting the songs with various photos moved from one side to the other, colorful marbles blurred and focused again, colored water drops nudged and blotted on the screen and more. Conor kept saying your name and I can't remember it for the life of me, but you were wonderful.

It's so lovely that they're bringing a string section with them on this tour, since a lot of Cassadaga's beauty rests on the string players. (Oh Nate Walcott, you and your string arrangements, Cassadaga wouldn't be the same without your work!) For the violinist that gets to play solo on the stage though, you are amazing. I mean I thought "Four Winds" was absolutely terrific on the album, wait till you hear it live, my stomach literally dropped! They also played full band versions, on the songs from I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. The only thing I could've requested was the presence of lovely Mister M. Ward and oh much closer seats! Well we did get a nice bird's eye view, since we were sitting from the first balcony.

When I saw Bright Eyes on their Digital Ash In A Digital Urn Tour at Stubb's(Austin), Conor was zipped up in a black hoodie and stayed mostly in one spot for the whole set. He seemed so comfortable on stage last night and would stage banter a bit and move from one side to the other. Again the setlist was wonderful generously dipping into four of his albums. I think the surprise of the night was "The Calendar Hung Itself", you could hear the sudden roar of the audience clapping and screaming when they recognized the song within the first few seconds. "False Advertisement" drew a similar extreme welcoming response. The night ended perfectly with a beautiful full band version of "Lua".

Setlist:

Clairaudients (Killed Or Be Killed)
Hot Knives
Middleman
First Day Of My Life
Four Winds
No One Would Riot For Less
False Advertising
The Calendar Hung Itself
Brakeman
Soul Singer In A Session Band
Lime Tree
I Believe In Symmetry
Gold Mine Gutted
Lua

Stream + Download + Purchase:

Lime Tree| Bright Eyes


Upcoming Tour Dates:

05-14 New Orleans, LA - Republic
05-16 Tampa, FL - Carol Morsani Hall at Tampa Bay PAC
05-17 Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
05-18 Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre
05-19 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
05-20 Columbus, OH, - Wexner Center
05-21 Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
05-22 Toronto, ONT - Massey Hall
05-24 Boston, MA - WANG Center
05-25 New York, NY - Town Hall

Links:

>>> Bright Eyes' Official Site (with details on rest of tour)
<<< Cassadaga's Mini Site: two free downloads!
>>> Purchase Cassadaga

~anne

Voxtrot @ KTRU benefit, Houston (04/28/07)

Last night, Voxtrot played a free show for the KTRU benefit at Houston's Rice Village Urban Outfitters. This is the second engagement of Free YR Radio's efforts to raise awareness and funds for noncommercial radio stations. The next benefit is for Seattle's KEXP with The Long Winters to play on May 1st. For more information on the next ten benefits, click here.

A line started growing outside Urban Outfitters an hour and a half prior to the 7:30 door time. I was impressed with how they had an actual stage for the band to play on, I originally thought it might just be in the center of the store and a free-for-all chaotic event. Though it's still a bit strange to be around clothes racks and dance to live music.

The set included a well-rounded range of new songs off their upcoming album and material from their old EPs. The setlist as best I remember included, "Raised By Wolves", "Kid Gloves", "Ghost", "Soft & Warm", "The Start Of Something", "Brother In Conflict", "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives" and "Your Biggest Fan". Their new album is self-titled and will drop in stores on May 22nd, you can pre-order it at Insound here(Type in voxtrot to get 15% off). Urban Outfitters was filled up all the way with listeners, in fact during the set there was this guy who was crowd-surfing to Voxtrot. It was absolutely a fun show, everyone was dancing, clapping and singing along to the songs. For more photos from the show go here. For Houstonians, Voxtrot is coming back on June 30th at an all ages show at The Proletariat with fellow Austin band Tacks, The Boy Disaster.

Stream + Download + Purchase:

Kid Gloves| Voxtrot

Links:

>>> Free YR Radio's Official Site
<<< KTRU's Official Site
>>> Voxtrot's Official Site
<<< Pre-order Voxtrot's debut album
>>> Purchase Voxtrot's EPs
<<< More photos from Voxtrot's set

Our Related Links:

>>> Anticipate: Free YR Radio
<<< Singled Out: Kid Gloves by Voxtrot
>>> Anticipate: Voxtrot's Upcoming Summer Tour

~anne

Explosions in the Sky w/Eluvium @ Numbers, Houston, 03/07/07

Last night was the Explosions in the Sky show with Eluvium opening and it was glorious. This was my third time seeing Explosions play and every time they put all of their energy into making the music come alive on stage, it is breath-taking. They're so focused on the music and don't break the atmosphere by talking onstage especially in between the songs. They keep strumming while playing with the pedals in between songs making a lovely connected set.

I underestimated people and thought I could get a good spot if I arrived at the venue an hour before doors opened, but when I got there, there had to be at least 100 people already lined up sitting, talking to each other from the door to the parking lot. As a photographer I was in a rough spot, there were three tall and I mean tall guys in front of me, but as a show goer, I enjoyed the show immensely. So all the photos I took have peoples' heads in them and blurry faces, I'm really really sorry, after all this is half a photography blog!

Which means if you're going to see them arrive maybe an hour and a half or two hours early if you can! Plus, I love getting there early so I can hear bands warm up from outside the venue, it's just a neat feeling for some reason, I heard "Welcome, Ghosts" while I was waiting outside of Numbers it was at that moment that it really sunk in that I was going to see Explosions in mere minutes!

Eluvium the opening band, which is also on Explosion's label Temporary Residence Ltd. will be touring with Explosions for the rest of the tour. I feel his set didn't settle too well with the audience. A lot of people acted as if it was background music talking on their cell phone, texting, playing solitaire on their PDA?!, talking to their friends really loudly...all while someone is onstage playing music for them, just makes me mad just thinking about it.

Matthew Cooper of Eluvium stayed on the right side of the stage and I think that threw people off since about 75% of the audience standing in the left and middle part couldn't see where the music was coming from. I picked up a copy of his new album Copia and it is amazing and beautiful music...if only the audience knew what they missed!

From the moment Explosions played their first notes to the end of the set the audience was in rapture. I'm not exactly sure of the setlist and order, but they did play "Catastrophe and the Cure", which is possibly my favorite song off their new album. They did have an electric Yamaha keyboard out for the songs with piano parts and also Munaf (guitarist) plays a single drum that's placed in the front of the stage; it was one of the coolest parts of the shows to see him drum so energetically. They also played of course "First Breath After Coma", "Yasmin The Light" and "The Only Moment We Were Alone". They probably played one or two more new songs off their new album, All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone, but I don't want to name any songs unless I'm sure.

In "The Only Moment We Were Alone" there was one part where the crowd started clapping along with the drums, I always loved things like that, crowd participation makes you realize that everyone around you in that very room has something in common with you, the love for the same band. I remember after "Yasmin The Light", someone said, "That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen," referring to a certain part in that song where Michael James (bassist) and Mark Smith (guitarist) just shred their instruments in sync as if there were no tomorrow. I have to give it to Numbers for their amazing lighting, beautiful, beautiful sound and air conditioning/fans to clear out the smoke! Thank you so much!

Explosions also have new merch on board for this tour including the most beautiful tee shirt designs you've ever seen. What's available are I think a total of five tee shirt designs all printed on American Apparel, all of their four albums, a tote bag and two LPs! Try and buy merch before the show so you can get the size that you want!

There isn't much to say except this: if you want a truly, good show please do yourself a favor and go see Explosions in the Sky. If you do, it will be the best show you'll see this year.

For tour dates and where to buy tickets, click here and check back often if your city/country isn't on there just yet! For more photos you can go here, but I have to say they are not my best.

Download {7 days} + Purchase:

{We use yousendits, which we usually replace with sendspace files that won't expire, but for the song we're uploading by Explosions In The Sky we will only have it available for the 7 days. Please buy the album, you'll only be giving yourself the best album of 2007 and that doesn't sound too bad right?}

Catastrophe and the Cure | Explosions In The Sky

Prelude For Time Feelers | Eluvium


Links:

>>> Explosions In The Sky's Official Site
<<< Tour dates and where to buy tickets
>>> Explosions In The Sky's Unofficial MySpace
>>> Purchase All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
>>> Eluvium's Official Site
<<< Eluvium's Unofficial MySpace
<<< Purchase Copia

~anne

Voxtrot along with Magic Bullets and Yellow Fever 11.04.06

Now don't lie, but I know there are those of you out there, including me, who just can't wait to get the supporting artists off the stage and get the main event going. I finally saw Voxtrot over the weekend after missing them twice this year. Tagging along was another Austin band, Yellow Fever, and a San Francisco {hometown} band, Magic Bullets. I've never heard of both so I did what any music fan would do and check out their songs online.

I wasn't impressed.

So came show time, Yellow Fever opened first and suprised me with their poppy beats and quirky but catchy short lyrics. A couple of songs into their set, I caught myself groovin and shakin.

Donald - Yellow Fever

Download more songs

Up next was San Francisco's own, Magic Bullets. The front man came out with a pair of maracas, I had a feeling it was going to be another dance party. The lead singer started dancing all over the stage and the crowd just couldn't help but dance along. The rhythmic keyboards hip shaking beats were just too contagious. I think of this band as a San Francisco version of The Hives, with the '80s like pop beats.

Lay Low - Magic Bullets

Download more songs


Last but not least was Voxtrot, no explanation needed for this. The moment they hit the stage, I knew it was time to let go of everything and just ride the music. From my favorite, "Raised by Wolves", to the new song, "Your Biggest Fan,"it was downright a burn the dancefloor party. It was everything I expected it to be. I haven't been to a show since early May, and this show took a toll on me. I'm still suffering from P.G.S.S, {post groovin and shakin too much syndrome}. I fell asleep in Physics lecture for the first time today, and I love that class.

Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, and Wives - Voxtrot

Voxtrot Website

Buy Your Biggest Fan E.P

As for my photographs, they're mainly of Ramesh, because all the light was focused on him and the other band members were so dark that it was suicide photographing them. I decided to shoot in black and white because the lighting on stage was so poor, it was pointless trying to capture a single colour. I seriously need a better flash, stock flash just won't cut it, so I have to rely on bad stage lighting and my fstop only goes up to 2.9. And sorry for the bad angles, live photography isn't really my thing, and even though I was first in line and got a good spot, I lost it because Voxtrot's merch guy and I had to find Jared so I can get his new EP.

A Couple more photos from the show

All in all, it was an awesome dance party and I hope there's good lighting at The Fillmore when Chan Marshall performs in two weeks, and I have a feeling she won't be moving around too much like these guys.


-Charlie

Jenny Lewis w/ Okkervil River @ Numbers, Houston, 10/22/06

Oh Jenny Lewis and Will Sheff, you guys are the greatest. Last night was definitely one of the best shows I've been to. The opening band, Oakley Hall was mediocore and didn't really catch my attention. Their style was all over the place from psychedelic, rock, country to what the?

Anyways, after a confusing listen to Oakley Hall, we waited around for Okkervil River to set up. I'm not too familiar with Okkervil River's material, but they were so amazing live. Somehow I thought Will Sheff and the rest of the band would just be kind of mellow-y and staying in one place the whole set, but was I wrong! Will Sheff was jumping around at the most climatic parts of songs and you could see drummer, Travis Nelson was smiling and having a great time; he'd randomly throw and catch his drumsticks. Most drummers that I see live look as if they're angry or just so focused they don't even bother to look into the audience. I loved Will and bassist, Patrick Pestorius's bantering about reminders of exploding science projects and dads. I love how Brian Cassidy has such a manly-outdoorsy look, and how that clashed with the tiny mandolin he has plays."For Real", "Westfall" and relatively new song, "The President's Dead" along with several others. I have a feeling that their set was somehow shorter than the opening band or maybe, it's because they played so amazingly, time just flew by.



Jenny Lewis started with her live version of "Run Devil Run", which she actually wrote so she wouldn't feel embarassed while testing mics onstage. It grew into a slew of songs of "Big Guns", "You Are What You Love", "Happy", "Melt Your Heart", "Born Secular", "The Charging Sky", "Rise Up With Fists!!!"and also several new songs like "Jack Killed Mom", "Acid Tongue", "Fernando", "Carpetbaggers" and a cool a cappella with the Watson twins, "I Met Him On a Sunday". I didn't write down what order, but there they are. In the middle of the set, the Watson Twins and Jenny Lewis left the stage for change of clothes. While the audience was guessing where she went, the rest of the band played an intro to the next song on the list, while Johnathan Rice introduced everyone on stage, finishing off introducing Jenny Lewis and the Watson twins.
They walked onstage with the Watson twins in matching copper shiny minidresses and Jenny donned in a gold minidress. This "Act II" of the set was a much more upbeat companion to the first slower-paced beginning. Jenny would sometimes dance with the Watson twins and they would be dancing synchronized and everyone was having fun onstage. She also introduced a lot of the new songs during this half.

During the ending of what was percieved as the last song, Jenny first left and then the other members of the band left one by one, until there was only drummer Jason Boesel (Rilo Kiley) was remaining drumming like a madman. Then he left too and the stage was so bare. The audience screamed, clapped, whistled, and did anything for Jenny to come back and play more songs. For probably two minutes, it was an ongoing restless requests for more. Till, each of the band members finally coming back onstage. They were surprised coming out and even more when someone threw a bra with a telephone number written on it, "Thanks for the...bra," Jenny commented. She then proceeded to play a new song called "Jack Killed Mom" and several others ending with the Traveling Wilburys cover "Handle With Care".

What a night!

{There are more photos on my flickr.}

Look for your city:
>>> Okkervil River tours Europe next!
<<< rest of Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins tour


Downloads for you:
>>> For Real | Okkervil River
<<< Melt Your Heart | Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins


Purchase the cds:
>>> Okkervil River shop
<<< Jenny Lewis with the Watson twins shop

~anne


postscript.
I met Arielle who reads cameracrowd at this show, how crazy and cool. It was so nice meeting you and I hope to see you and possibly other people who might just read this at other shows!

Hello out there! | ACL Day One

Hello, cameracrowd is definitely still alive&well! Maybe a little under the weather with postage, but here comes the big wave of how ACL was. It is although a little belated and old news in the world of blogging, but since we're here and all, why not? It has been a week since Austin City Limits for me and I still am in the stage of peeling...yes I got sunburned, but I'm okay.

Also a little warning to readers: I used a 35mm point and shoot camera. So I am sorry for the terribleness of the photographs. I was afraid they would take up my nice digital Canon. Many apologies again!

Day One:
David Ford | Ghandia | The Dears | Guster | Stars** |Cat Power** | Ray LaMontange**

I'm going to skip a few bands I saw and jump in talking about seeing Stars, who played a beautiful set, even in Austin's unmerciful heat. Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan, the two main singers of Stars, both have matching airy voices and Torquil is incredibly energetic and passionate during the preformance. I only knew a few songs off of Set Yourself On Fire, but enjoyed their whole set. The violin was hooked up to a Vox amp and resonated beautifully in the air. Torquil had a bit of a minor heatstroke, with his white buttonup shirt being soaked through and through, but he rejoined the band after a few minutes. Torquil also has such an expressive way of singing and just being so wrapped up in the set. Really makes me happy to see my fellow Canadians making such great music and being able to cross over the borders to share a breath of fresh air in music.

I rushed over to where Cat Power was going to play with Amanda. Chan Marshall snuck in onstage while her accompanying Memphis Rhythm Band was playing; she was caught up in Gnarls Barkley's set. I've heard and read so many past show reviews about her stage fright and then now about her renewed confidence and sense of fun onstage. I was pretty excited and half-relieved that Chan Marshall was in shape for a nicely lengthened set. It was my first time to see Cat Power and I am in love with the music that Chan Marshall creates.



She sang a lot of songs off her latest album, The Greatest, which was very very cool with the backup gospel-like singers and a small orchestra of violins and jazz instruments. She also played "Cross Bone Style", "I Don't Blame You", and a cover of "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" which is available on her Covers record. She also sang a casual cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy".

She danced to her songs and had gestures accompanying the storyline of the songs. Usually when I like a band/artist, it's because I'm infected with this energetic, pumped-up feeling during their set. To Cat Power, Chan Marshall casted this feeling of contentment and appreciation. The crowd responded back with enthusiastic clapping, whistles, smiles, laughs and even happy-crying.

We went to Ray LaMontagne after giving up on getting food from the long and treacherous lines leading to the small booths. The only song I really knew was "Jolene", but the set was nice to listen to. There were some major Ray LaMontagne fans there, screaming, singing alone and interpretive-dancing like there was no tomorrow. Somehow in my mind I didn't think Ray LaMontagne's set would draw so many people. We were close, but as I looked behind me...just a sea of people out there. This sea of people image will deja vu itself through the rest of ACL. He seemed a little modest and alone out there, with only himself and his guitar onstage. We also saw Jake Gyllenhaal and some of his friends to the side of the stage where VIPs usually are. It was neat to see him enjoying Ray LaMontagne's music and clapping to the songs.


A little sample of what I heard that day:

Reunion| Stars
Living Proof| Cat Power
Jolene| Ray LaMontagne


I will try and keep up posting! I know these posts aren't the most informational, but rather more a collection of thoughts and feelings that went through my "soul" these sets. ACL set an anchor for me this year, something to keep/hold me in place and remind me how good music is and just life in general. Now that I am a senior in high school and on the mountainous beginning of college applications and all that lovely workload of my classes and the newspaper staff I'm part of in school. Anyways! Look forward to reading about explosions in the sky and the new pornographers in the coming days!

~anne

a few weeks ago...

I went to see Peter and the Wolf at an artsy house-turned venue called Super Happy Fun Land. His band's lineup changes in every city and ranges from only the lone Red Hunter himself to an almost circus-like 14+.

PatW's music might set off the freak-folk flag for most, but just like any artist pigeon-holed into any genre it's not like it's intentional. It just is. I guess you can imagine something similar along the lines of Devendra Banhart, CocoRosie or Akron/Family, but then that doesn't even sound right.

After the band, Listen Listen was finished; we thought why isn't anyone setting up?

The answer was they didn't need to.

It was Red Hunter, his guitar, a mike, and an amp. Just him standing with a guitar that has been wrapped around with tape, go figure. He looked like a pirate with his pants that seemed to have a tough time with scissors and for awhile everyone thought, "is this it? Well this is going to really really awkward or really really amazing," It wasn't neither of those two; it was honestly eye, ear, jaw-opening experince I've ever had.

I'd like to think he's our modern-day troubadour. The most honest form of music-making and the proof will hit you as soon as you hear his voice that will stay with you your whole life filling your head with his stories.
He'll stay with you.

How could something so simple be so good? I was sitting back on the theater-style seats and just enjoying myself hearing him tell us stories in an almost conversational way. It was almost as if it was a house-party and we were all friends and just having a hell of a time. He's so comfortable playing and talking to the audience.

After awhile he invited members from the audience and the other bands that played that night to play their makeshift instrument of choice to keep the beat. One guy had one of those plastic kiddie chairs and another played with a beer bottle. It was improv like I've never seen before. I've got his self-titled album and his Experiments in Junk. The former has been busy spinning circles in my stereo ever since.

On this long-winding tour, there will be secret shows and at the most unusual locations. He's already played on an island and all the people had to arrive by canoes. Abandoned buses, graveyards and unused underpasses and will leave his Toyota Corolla in the garage for awhile and travel by sailboat on the Intracoastal Waterway that runs along the east coast for the last leg of his tour.

The rest of his tour is at the PatW MySpace you should go see him or at least listen to "Strange Eyes". If you do get to experience PatW send him our love.

Tune in&purchase:

...from S/T

Peter and the Wolf-The Owl
Peter and the Wolf-Silent Movies
Peter and the Wolf-Strange Machines

~Anne

Tilly and the Wall making Houston a better place

I've never been to such a fun and energetic show! Tilly and the Wall aka Tillies decorated the stage with plastic flamingos and palm trees, leis and had balloons bounce up and down throughout the venue. There was a bag of confetti passed around during a song and everybody took some and threw it up in the air.

Also this was one of the hardest shows I've tried to take photos of. There was just so much movement and the light was really soft and dim. So most of my photos were blurry. I guess I'm just against using flash, especially night shots or someplace where it's dark. Flash washes out a lot of the color and makes photos flat. What I needed really was a softer flash, something like a softbox or actually you can make those out of the plastic milk jugs. But I was using my Canon Powershot S2 IS and it just has a built in flash, which you can't bounce or adjust really. Also there just a lot of really tall guys just blocked the whole front and center.

Tillies actually played a lot of their old material from their 2004 album, Wild Like Children. Such as songs "Bessa", "Fell Down the Stairs" and "Nights of the Living Dead" were absolute crowd favorites and everybody knew the words to them.

I loved how Jamie Williams tap-danced; she was just so graceful and still energetic at the same time. There was also this one part where Jamie, Neely and Kianna danced all sychronized!

I would asolutely recommend this show to anyone and get to know some of the songs before you see them. Singing along is always a fun part of a show.

They played with David Dondero and Now It's Overhead. Both pretty good, but Tillies just took over like wildfire.

Head over to Team Love's website and pop up the mix tape; turn off the crossfader, bottom right if it's on by default and listen to some Tillies.

Also head over to my flickr for more photos of this show&others.

Tour Dates:
07-01 Austin, TX - Emo's
07-03 Phoenix, AZ - Modified
07-04 La Jolla, CA - Che Cafe
07-06 West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour
07-07 Pomona, CA - The Glass House
07-08 San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord
07-10 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
07-11 Seattle, WA - The Paradox
07-14 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
07-15 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
07-16 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
07-17 St. Louis, MO -Creepy Crawl

~Anne

Major Ownage At The Dancefloor

...Arctic Monkeys w/We Are Scientists @ Houston, TX

I went to Warehouse Live last night to catch We Are Scientists and Arctic Monkeys whipping up a frenzy on the dancefloor. I swear we were pretty much going cult-crazy for both bands! Houston was their last stop of the tour for Texas before tackling the east coast.

We Are Scientists opened and ripped open the can of dance-i-liciousness for the night with songs off debut album, With Love And Squalor, "This Scene Is Dead", "Cash Cow", "The Great Escape" and of course their first single, "Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt".

Keith Murray, WAS's lead singer/guitarist was energetic throughout the set and was all over the stage while donning those ever-present smirks of his. WAS updates their fans with a tour diary, pictures and videos of their travels with an imeem account. Fans can post their own photos and interact in the forums!

Alex Turner, the lead singer/guitarist from Arctic Monkeys guested during a WAS song, sort of funny he popped his collar. It took awhile to set up for the AM, but when they did come out I think it was absolute chaos! They opened with "Riot Van" and it was just fantastic. Their setlist included, "I bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor", "Dancing Shoes", "Still Take You Home", "Fake Tales of San Francisco", "Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But..." and also a song,"Cigarette Smoker Fiona" from EP, Who the Fuck Are the Arctic Monkeys.

Both bands had vinyls out on the merch table for sale along with the regular merch items, shirts and pins. WAS had the full vinyl version of their debut album and AM had a 7" featuring "When the Sun Goes Down" and b-side "Settle For a Draw". Shirts for both bands were $20 a piece, with the exception of AM's skinny version for women selling like hotcakes even at $25 each.

For more photos from the show head over to cameracrowd's fotix!

Rest of the tour dates for the this killer team of two...

06-10 Atlanta, GA - Roxy
06-11 Norfolk, VA - Norva
06-12 Baltimore, MD - Sonar
06-14 New York, NY - Roseland
06-15 Boston, MA - Avalon
06-16 Montreal, Quebec - Le Medley
06-17 Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus

Tune in&purchase:

...from With Love And Squalor

We Are Scientists-It's A Hit
We Are Scientists-Worth the Wait

...from Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Arctic Monkeys-Riot Van

-Anne Lai