Tag Archives: the fillmore

Setlist.fm: A Great Site for Live Gig Whores, Like Me

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TechCrunch (by way of @epicurianzealot) turned me onto this great new Wiki-like site that serves as a repository for tracking live performance set lists of musical artists, called Setlist.fm. With festival season upon us, this is a site I will definitely be referencing to track the frequency of songs played by more well known artists. Setlist.fm also includes an audio and video playback feature as well as lyrics.

Plus they make it easy to integrate the set lists into your social media accounts, as seen below. Seen here are the set lists for the two Grizzly Bear shows at The Fillmore last month. I was always curious to know how similar or different those two performances were. And if they pulled out my favorite cover of Yes‘ “Owner of a Lonely Heart“ on the second night. Thankfully, they did not.

Grizzly Bear, “Owner of A Lonely Heart” (Yes cover)

Grizzly Bear Setlist The Fillmore, San Francisco 2009

Grizzly Bear Setlist The Fillmore, San Francisco 2009

7×7 Mag Reports on San Francisco’s All Ages Music Venue Battle

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San Francisco’s 7×7 Magazine has now stepped into the mix to shed some light on our city’s battle to keep our cherished all ages music venues alive – such as Bottom of the Hill, Slim’s, The Fillmore and Cafe du Nord.

Stay involved and on top of the latest developments on this issue by joining one of the groups on Twitter or Facebook.

Grizzly Bear + Here We Go Magic at The Fillmore

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gb1

“Ready, Able”

I can’t emote enough about Grizzly Bear.  I truly believe they are one of the seminal bands of our time and will inspire a generation of musicians to come.  And they’re so young! But oh so talented.  Each of them playing a multitude of instruments and contributing vocally to their beautiful, ethereal harmonies.  The sound they create is simply symphonic. Their instrumental and vocal arrangements are so beautiful, well-crafted and of such far grander proportions I have a hard time lumping them into the category of ‘indie rock.’

As much as I love Grizzly Bear, as was just as excited to see Here We Go Magic. On the album, Luke Temple’s voice is on par with that of Ed Droste.  In person, there’s absolutely no comparison.  Mr. Droste wins hands down. I was actually quite disappointed with Here We Go Magic.  Their album is great, it just didn’t translate live for me.

So with that, I’ll leave you with a video I captured from the show. It wasn’t until later did I learn that you’re not supposed to do that. I didn’t know!  I don’t get to The Fillmore much.  I usually stick to the smaller venues and shoot video no problem. It just seems a shame to let it go to waste.  So I put it here with the pinky promise that – cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye -I will never ever shoot video at The Fillmore again.

DeVotchka @ The Fillmore

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devotchka

Going from Fruit Bats to Devotchka the next night was a complete 180 for me musically.  And it honestly took me a little while to make that transition from dive bar mode to circus carnival, complete with a string section, horn section and Cirque du Soleil-level acrobats and contortionists.  I haven’t seen a show like that since…well, never.  Do they actually travel with this ensemble?  I confirmed with their publicist that yes indeed they do. They put on a very impressive show, I must say.  Not only are they talented musicians but amazing performers as well.

Listen to “How it Ends“:

How It Ends

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judahmonet

After months of giving Monet the cold shoulder, my little caveman emerged for a brief and intense love fest last week that will surely keep her hooked and immune to his inevitable snubs for many more months to come.

Listen to DeVotchka’s ‘How it Ends‘:

Catch DeVotchka at San Francisco’s The Fillmore January 30 and 31.

Let the Shows Begin

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beach-house1

Me with Victoria Legrand of Beach House at The Fillmore - 01.21.09

 

Probably the most common question I am asked about my music addiction is exactly how many concerts I see every year.  There’s an interesting fascination around that number.  And it’s always a guy who’s asking the question.  Apparently it’s a very important statistic to track in the male dominated world of music. That or it’s some sort of test.

Admittedly, I do see a lot of shows. But I’ve never tracked the exact number.  I would probably scare myself if I did. However, if forced to give one for 2008 I would guess around 50+ easily, NOT including festivals or SXSW.  I’m assuming those don’t count because they are not really full shows, more like showcases.  But I could be wrong.  Are there written rules to this?  I don’t know.

Regardless to say, I’ve been asked enough times to start putting some conscious effort into this.  For 2009, I have resolved to have a concrete answer to this plaguing question.  Plus, it seems to fit well with my OCMD state of mind.  To fulfill this promise I have launched a new page on this site – Shows.  There you will find every show that I’ve been to this year and each one that I’m planning to attend.  It will be a living, breathing entity.  Feel free to ping me with your recommendations as well!

Oh, and I’ll make sure to share my crappy concert photos with you along with way. Like this one from The Walkmen and Beach House this week at The Fillmore.

Onward.