Week of Okkervil River, The Men, and Neil Young

     As a tried and true concert addict I tend to plan concert road trips on my days off. My days off are Mondays and Tuesdays. So the past three Mondays I have been going on trips to shows and now I'm going to tell you about it. This week I will be reviewing Okkervil River, The Men, and Neil Young live in concert. This concert recap blog begins now.

Okkervil River 04/07/14 The Slowdown

     I really didn't know that much about Okkervil River before going to this show. I had never seen them live, and I had only heard The Silver Gymnasium. As awesome as that album is I wanted to know more about them. So I spent the week leading up to the show listening to all of their music. Little did I know that even with as many shows as I have seen, this show will go down as one of the best I've ever seen.

Here is Okkervil River playing Black live.

     The show was at a smaller venue and the crowd was completely full up with die hard fans, that should have been my first clue. The second clue was that the opener was an in your face, loud, punk band. They were very good, but ask yourself why would a folk band have a punk band open for them, because they rock hard that's why. Around 9:30 the band came out blasting, opening up with It Was My Season and On a Balcony from The Silver Gymnasium. They played music off all of their albums, like a greatest hits show. The energy in the band and in the crowd is something I haven't seen since a Mute Math live show. They play loud, they all play multiple instruments, and tell jokes like real rock stars. At one point during the show someone shouted out a request, and the singer flat out denied saying, "we can't play that song anymore, at least not until murder isn't a big deal. Like hey that guy was murdered who cares." From the very first song I was in complete awe of their performance, hardly able to believe what I was seeing. This is a band that creates die hard fans with every show they play, I have been converted.

The Men 04/14/14 First Avenue 7th Street Entrance

     I was first informed about The Men through a music site of mine consequenceofsound. Every time they released an album, (which happened to be every year), it would get a perfect or near perfect score. So I had to check it out, and it was awesome. They may be a small band playing small clubs for now, but they are going to explode it's just a matter of time. When a band puts out an amazing album every year and plays great live shows eventually people are going to catch on. Not to sound like a hipster but I enjoy being on the up and up. 

Here's The Men playing Open Your Heart Live.

     7th Entry at First Avenue is the grimy underbelly of rock and roll, like witnessing Led Zeppelin or The Rolling Stones while they were still on drugs. It's a tiny little bar that mostly features up and coming bands, but a lot of the bands that play here blow up. The Men's show may have only lasted a little over an hour and 13 songs, but it was more than enough. These guitar heavy giants don't mess around, they have three guitarists and they all seemingly play lead weaving their lines through each other. They even trade off vocals almost every other song. This is the definition of a band working as a cohesive unit. They all play amazing together or it all falls apart. This is one of the most blasting in your face shows I have ever seen. The speakers on the mics weren't working very well but it was so good it didn't even matter. After the show I talked with the drummer and one of the lead singer/guitarists and might have convinced them to bring The Men to Des Moines.

Neil Young 04/21/14 Chicago Theater

     Now when it comes to stupid ideas and music shows for me that is a very long list, and I can safely say that this is not even close to the worst one. With all that said this was a very dumb music trip, yes lets drive all the way to Chicago on a Monday to see the legendary Neil Young live, so we did. This was a very expensive trip and if had to do it again I still would. Another I didn't know going into this was that it was a solo show. I don't have a problem with Neil Young solo, some of his best folk stuff is solo. I really wanted to see him jam out on some electric numbers with a band. I guess I really need to see him with Crazy Horse.

Here is Neil Young performing Hey Hey, My My, (Out of the Blue).

     The Chicago Theater is probably the most beautiful venue I have ever been to in my life. So it was very fitting to see a living legend in a place so nice it felt like I wasn't rich enough to be there. Neil Young's solo show is very simple but elegant affair as you would expect. It's just a preset stage with a tons of instruments waiting to be played, and throughout the show he played them all. He even told stories about some of them, like the guitar he got from Hank Williams Senior or The Piano he wrote after the gold rush on. He played a set chalked full of greatest hits, deep cuts, and covers of other great folk musicians. 

Here is Neil Young performing Old Man live.

     There was no opener so he played two full sets which included a 15 minute intermission. Neil isn't exactly and outspoken person. He speaks to you like your sitting right next to him in a rocking chair. It didn't matter what he said throughout the night, the fans ate up every word. Actually that was something I wasn't expecting, the fans of a folk show being obnoxious, who's heard of that. They yelled at him the entire show, saying they love him, how awesome he was, or to request songs. They just wouldn't stop. It was was louder and way more annoying than I expected. I'm pretty sure that they would have screamed and cheered for anything he said. Neil more than made up for that, he plays and sings beautifully, on piano, banjo, mandolin, organ, guitar, and acapella. The only thing I would have added to the experience was a bed for every ticket holder after the show. The music was so beautiful and soothing that after the show you were left in an absolutely zen place.    

Week Of Chevelle and Kaiser Chiefs.

     After much procrastinating and many delays here it is my 50th blog post. I haven't had a blog post in over a week so I will stick to the point. One of these two albums is in my best of the year list and the other is not, listen to find out witch is witch. Here is my review of Chevelle's La Gargola and Kaiser Cheifs's Education, Education, Education, and War.

Chevelle- La Gargola

Here is my review of Chevelle La Gargola.

Recommended Songs: Ouija Board, An Island, Take Out The Gunman, and Under The Knife.

4.5/5 Stars

Kaiser Chiefs- Education, Education, Education, and War

Here is my review of Kaiser Chiefs Education, Education, Education, and War.

Recommended Songs: The Factory Gates, Misery Company, Ruffians On Parade, and My Life.

3/5 Stars

Week of Reel Big Fish

     Sometimes after seeing a show you come to the realization that once is enough.Your glad you saw it but for some reason or another you don't think you need to go again. Then there are the bands where once is never enough. Reel Big Fish is one of those bands. They love Des Moines and come back about once a year, I will be there every time. This week I will be reviewing Reel Big Fish live in concert.

     When I say this is a band to see over and over again, I speak from experience. I have seen this band so many times that I have lost count. If you saw them live you would understand. Being a ska fan is like being a part of a secret cult. We have our own clothes, colors, dance and every time we see another ska fan out in the real world we complement their shirt or give them the you know what's up nod. All it takes to convert someone to ska is to take them to a show. They have hands down the most fun shows ever. I took a metal head friend of mine to an Reel Big Fish show the last time they were in Des Moines and he was converted. Where else can you say that you were in a conga line with a polar bear. To describe ska music in general I like to say that it's emo lyrics with punk guitar and bass, and happy sounding horns thrown in over top. The emo lyrics part is mostly just Reel Big Fish.

     Another great thing about a Reel Big Fish shows is the other bands they bring along. Ska was only popular for a short while in the 90's so most of the current ska bands touring are bands reliving their hayday. They left the ska world when the money stopped and now are back with new lineups or reunion tours. Reel Big Fish is one of the few that stayed together since then. That kinda makes them the kings of the ska world, and every other ska band wants to come along with them. So all of the best ska bands tour with Reel Big Fish. This time around they brought Beebs and her Money Makers, and Suburban Legends. Both are relatively new for ska bands but are very good and both have toured with RBF before. The Rabbit Reel Big Fish's drummer started the show with a quick set of his new album and then, Beebs and Her Money Makers came on right after. The lead singer is one of the few women singers of ska. She represents it well with her own style and a tail. They played for half and hour and 8 songs including a cover of What is Love. They were the best first opener I have ever seen at a ska show. The set featured a robot, a dancing, hotdog, and two members of Reel Big Fish, Aaron Barret, (RBF Singer), on vocal and The Rabbit, (RBF Drummer), as the hotdog.

     Next up was Suburban Legends. This band embodies the spirit of live ska to a t. They have so much energy on stage it's ridiculous. That and their love for Disney songs make for quite and interesting live experience. It's almost like they watched the Lion King, did a line of coke and then hit the stage. Their stage antics are something you just have to see to understand. They never stop moving, jumping and flinging themselves into the crowd constantly. The trombone and trumpet players have choreographed fights when they aren't playing. After three songs including a the Ducktales theme song the guitarist took over vocals for a few covers. Including Randy Newman's You've Got a Friend in me, Alan Menkin's Kiss the Girl, and Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline, all before giving the mic back to the singer. During the song Hey DJ they started Des Moines very first disco mosh pit, only at a ska show does that happen. They ended up playing three Disney songs in their 12 song set before launching into Hive Fives and Queen's We Are The Champions to end the show.

     Reel Big Fish took the stage a little after nine making a grand entrance before diving into Everything Sucks. As soon as they played the first few chords I jumped right into the mosh pit, I just can't help myself. Reel Big Fish always have fun banter and antics but it's never the same, even if the set list is. However since the release of Candy Coated Fury they have been majorly changing up their set list, and playing songs I havn't heard in years like 241, The Bad Guy, and Slow Down. As for the antics it was a lot of Aaron Barret being his loveable asshole self asking for margaritas and then yelling at the people who brought them. Even making fun of his own drummer's sensitive ginger songs. He is as witty and assholish as ever, even without Scotty to bounce banter off of. Reel Big Fish will never grow up or mature and thank god for that.

Here is a fan made music video for I Know You Too Well to Like you Anymore.

     They packed the early part of the set full of fan favorites like Trendy, The Setup, and You Guts,(I Hate 'Em), as well as some new songs off of Candy Coated Fury. Aaron spoke up to the fans saying, "fine I guess we will play something you know," before starting up Sell Out. After Sell Out he played Slow Down and then a fast improvised version of slow down as a joke. Then they played My Life from Aaron's side project Forces of Evil. Concluding the main set they played I Know You Too Well To Like You Anymore, She Has a Girl Friend Now, I Dare You to Break My Heart, Good Thing, and the many versions of Beer. They used to do this bit during SR but that bit left with Scotty. Now they sing about their favorite alcoholic beverage going through song versions of everything from red wine, tequila, Jimmy Buffet's Margarita Ville, and finally diving into Beer. Halfway through the song switching to The Offspring's Self Esteem. They claimed it was the exact same song, finished beer, and then left the stage.

Here is Beer live.

     To start the encore they played Where Have You Been? Which is one of the few songs by them that doesn't feature horns. Following that they played the new song Hiding in my Headphones, and In The Pit. During In The Pit they switching to Sublime's Garden Grove, of course claiming it was the exact same song. Aaron gave his final humorous speech,  the band blasting into Take On Me to end the show. You may not think ska is for you, but don't judge it before you try it. Reel Big Fish come through Des Moines once a year. So the next time they play Des Moines come to show and join the cult of ska. One of us, One of us!