Coliseum is a foot stomping punk rock juggernaut/band from Louisville, Kentucky. They stormed through Los Angeles last week and put on a veritable rock & roll clinic. A "how to guide" for those about to rock. Pity, the venue was all but empty. For the few fortunate souls in attendance, it was plain to see that we were watching magic (er...black magic) unfold onstage.
The band, a power trio if there ever was one, played a shit ton of material off their new album, Sister Faith. This was great news for me seeing as how I fucking love this record. I discovered Coliseum with their 2007 release No Salvation, a blistering slice of metallic hardcore that shredded first and asked questions later. The band has gotten more loose and dare I say, groovier with each subsequent album that's followed. Sister Faith picks up where their previous record, House With a Curse, left off. It conjures dark and brooding vibes while sounding snappy and boasting some ass shaking tunes as well. The sparse crowd inside The Satellite stood in a trance while Coliseum delivered their punk rock sermon from the stage.
How those three dudes made so much noise is beyond me. Even with ear plugs, the band was loud. I mean LOUD. The ocean blue lights and swelling tide of noisy beatdowns coming from the PA resembled a perfect storm of rock fury onstage. Coliseum's rhythm section is so on point it's ridiculous. The bass and drums lock into place like a locomotive while frontman/guitarist Ryan Patterson stood howling in the navy blue shadows onstage. His brief statements in between songs, thanking everyone in attendance for their support and the satisfying authenticity of the DIY scene the band hails from, was a totally welcome change of pace from the egocentric rock star attitudes that exist within the music industry today. "Black Magic Punks," "Love Under Will," and "Bad Will" all slayed live, but "Late Night Trains" was my absolute highlight of the night. These songs are so solid and so catchy they almost scream out for recognition. Why this band isn't touring with Queens of The Stone Age boggles my mind. They seriously deserve it.
The crappy iPhone video I shot doesn't do Coliseum justice. That, and it's super distorted from being right up in front. Anyways, here's a live version of "Late Night Trains," off Sister Faith that should get your toes tapping in no time. Remember to check this band out when they roll through your neck of the woods ASAP.
After a five year drought, I saw Interpol play two shows in two months.
Their free record release gig in Hollywood this past September was pretty awesome. Sure, their new album kind of sucks (erase kind of) but some of the new material actually sounds better live. Either way, watching Interpol rock out for an hour in a parking lot, near the front of the tiny ass stage was so badass...their real concert at the Greek just couldn't match the experience.
We caught the last few songs from the opening band White Rabbits. They weren't horrible, just not my cup of tea I suppose. Our seats were closer than my last Interpol show at the Greek (where I froze my balls off in the cheap seats), but still too far for me to get any decent photos or video =/
The band's setlist was pretty rad. They blended some of their non-horrible new songs pretty seamlessly with favorite cuts off Antics (C'mere, Slow Hands, Not Even Jail, Narc, Take You On a Cruise, Evil) and a few Turn on the Bright Lights classics (PDA, Say Hello to Angels). The only song they played off Our Love to Admire was "Rest My Chemistry" which was kind of odd. I know a lot of fans stand divided over that record (I don't really love it all that much myself) but its far superior to the new album and I guess they had to cut something from somewhere. Their encore was all SICK:
Untitled
NYC
Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down
Obstacle 1
Yeah, all Bright Lights era jams had the audience queefing pretty hard. I personally lost my shit when they played "NYC." I mean, just watch (courtesy some jerk with a waaaay better seat than me)
It's strange that this show was marred by three separate "incidents," where three different male fans rushed the stage and tried to get at Paul Banks while he was singing/playing mid song and almost NO FOOTAGE has popped up online. First some guy jumps onstage and actually tries to kiss Paul on the cheek or something before being hauled away. Another fellow climbs up and is tackled mid-air by security as he lunges at Paul. The last and most freakish outburst came during the "Stella Was a Diver..." near the end of the night when some maniac rushed Paul and knocked his mic stand down, broke free from security and had to be wrestled off stage with Daniel playing guitar on the side looking confused as fuck. It's funny that the band did not miss a beat, never stopped playing and didn't even really talk about what had happened either. I guess it's common place for dudes trying to molest Interpol these days or what?!
Check out the only footage I can find of Paul's insane 3rd admirer here:
dude tries to get frisky around the 2:20 mark
So yeah, Interpol's Greek show was great. Paul's voice sounded stronger than ever (unlike how nasal he sounds on the new record...haters gonna hate?) and yeah, Carlos D looked cool dressed up like a Hitler youth with his bass hung all low but these two shows proved that the band can carry on just fine without him. Sadly, as cool as the Greek concert was, I don't think anything will beat their earlier gig...unless they play in my apartment or something.
This may come as a surprise, but I'm also a fan of NON-EXTREME METAL. Like...regular music. Strange huh? Well yeah, although most of my time is spent listening to growls, blast beats and ungodly time changes I honestly enjoy all kinds of music. Montreal's Arcade Fire are not only one of my favorite "normal" bands, but one of my favorite acts period. I first stumbled upon them on accident. About five years ago I had downloaded At The Drive-In's In Casino Out off SoulSeek and some careless/unorganized user included Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" in the album file. One second I'm listening to angular post-punk and the next, its Arcade Fire...majestic and catchy as fuck. I was hooked and immediately downloaded their debut album Funeral and the rest is history.
So now Arcade Fire are huge. They've always been indie media darlings as far as I've known, but now they're like # 1 album in the country, touring w/ U2, "saviors of rock music" ultra hype huge. I've seen them slay thousands at Coachella. I've watched them in the freezing cold at the Hollywood Bowl. Tonight, they were playing one of two shows at the far more intimate Shrine Auditorium (inb4 6,000 seats is still big). They were playing a smaller, indoor venue and promoting their awesome new album The Suburbs. Needless to say I was stoked. So of course I started fighting a nasty cold the day of the show. Figures.
The sold out show was filled to the brim with dirty hipsters, yuppies, grandma & grandpa Woodstock veterans and all around goofy fuckers like myself. HOT chicks though. Despite the differences in the audiences' demographics, we all came together in rocking out once our favorite Canadians took the stage. They opened with "Ready to Start" off their new album and began the kickass-ery that lasted the entire night. Sure, there was some moments of muddled sound, Win's guitar's stopped working mid way through their set and he flat out forgot some lyrics toward the end, but really people, Arcade Fire tore the joint up. They played a healthy does of new material ("Sprawl II," "Modern Man," "Rococo," "We Used to Wait,") and old tracks off Funeral ("Laika", "Haiti," "Rebellion Lies") with a few Neon Bible cuts thrown in as well ("No Cars Go," "Intervention,").
This easily one of my favorite Arcade Fire songs. It's like some ancient tribal Ewok jam and I fucking love it. If the Storm Troopers had been blasting this out the side of their Imperial Walkers, they would have subdued Endor a whole lot quicker is all I'm saying.
This is another old Funeral track only it was recorded by some lucky bastard with a better seat than me. I remember the first time I saw this video on MTV2 and it kicked my ass. Notice how the chick singing in the other video is playing drums here? Yeah, they're all pretty much multi-instrumentalists. Seven (sometimes eight or nine) dudes/dudettes onstage...like a talented Slipknot, or an Amish Wu-Tang Clan.
So yeah. Arcade Fire put on a damn good show and I heard night two was even better. My personal highlight of the evening was Win talking shit about the Lakers before drowning out the boos and groans by launching into "Power Out." Good stuff man.
* side note. I saw a few minor celebrities walking around after the concert ended (the asian doctor on Grey's Anatomy/naked chick in Sideways, Hyde from That '70s Show, and the retarded guy from The Office)...too bad I didn't give two shits about any of them. Funny because I met Danzig at the Shrine when I was a teenager during some comic book/porn fest before I even cared about The Misfits.
