There's so very much to write about today, but I'll pick this as a starting point:
There's the setlist from Fun.'s portion of the concert last night. Also, I'll say right off the top that Nate Ruess, Fun.'s lead singer (and former lead singer of The Format) has an AMAZING voice. I knew going into the show, or thought I knew that Some Nights had traces of auto-tune on it, but after seeing them live last night, from what was literally a foot from where he was, I can honestly say that he needs no studio trickery whatsoever.
The other somewhat odd thing that struck me last night: you could very much tell that the tour was booked well in advance of the runaway success of Some Nights, because I saw them in a venue that was roughly twice the size of my living room, and I have a feeling that the next time through, they'll be playing the Main Lounge on campus in Iowa City, if not the Ballroom. They are very clearly on their way up the ladder of success, and it won't be long before gigs that intimate are a distant memory for this band.
Musically, they were tight too. It was cool to be able to hear their songs and recognize them in slightly stripped down form for the live show, because, as a fan, it showed me where they used the studio to their advantage for musical embellishments. The set was compact, focused, and sprinkled with all of the songs the crowd came to hear. Granted, when you've only got two albums worth of material, that's an easier feat to accomplish, but still. I was also impressed that the college kids (who could well have been bandwagon hoppers) knew all of the lyrics to the first record (2009's Aim & Ignite) as well as all the new stuff.
Got to go in when the family members did, to boot (Nate was born in Iowa City), so we got the prime location closest to the stage.
Sleeper Agent, the band that opened for Fun. was pretty awesome too. In fact, I heard that a great number of the people trying to get tickets to this very sold out show on Craigslist were rabid Sleeper Agent fans. The band is based out of Bowling Green, Kentucky, and put forth a solid mixture of classic chord progressions and punky energy. While a great number of their songs seemed to be written in the key of A, they all managed to have their own feel and their own sense of drive. If I had to pick a calling card for the band, however, it would be the presence of dual lead singers, one male, one female, who passed the vocals back and forth at least once in every song. It made for a really cool dynamic. Solid songs, though, overall. Sleeper Agent is definitely a band I will keep an eye on as they go. Hearing their songs made me want to know what they will do for their next record, which feels like it might be a giant leap forward for them. Interestingly enough, their first record was only $5 at the gig, and the whole band signed it, so that was cool.
Okay, now it's on to the rest of today's music news...
The story that would have been my lead bit of news on any other day but a post concert day is this: Counting Crows (one of my favorite bands of all time) released their first studio record in 4 years today! It's an album of covers called Underwater Sunshine... or what we did on our summer vacation. Long title, I know. Haven't had a chance to listen all the way through yet, of course, but I checked out a track on the way home from work, and they definitely sound better on a stereo (even on a car stereo) than they did when I streamed a few of the tracks over the internet the other day.
Picked up Boys & Girls by Alabama Shakes tonight as well. They've gotten so much hype in the last few months, on NPR in particular, that I was sucked in. Their vocalist, Brittany Howard, has drawn some well deserved comparisons to Janis Joplin.
I'll be able to write more on this once I've listened through to both their record and the new Crows disc.
The only other thing I need to touch on tonight is that the cables I picked up yesterday at Guitar Center were exactly what I needed to connect the guitar trainer to my recording gear. I figured that out this morning before work, and though it took me a second to figure out how to access the auxiliary features of my recording gear, I got that squared away quickly enough. Having that out of the way frees me up to really make excellent use of that piece of equipment that has been crying out for years for me to make use of it.
Good stuff all the way around!
There's the setlist from Fun.'s portion of the concert last night. Also, I'll say right off the top that Nate Ruess, Fun.'s lead singer (and former lead singer of The Format) has an AMAZING voice. I knew going into the show, or thought I knew that Some Nights had traces of auto-tune on it, but after seeing them live last night, from what was literally a foot from where he was, I can honestly say that he needs no studio trickery whatsoever.
The other somewhat odd thing that struck me last night: you could very much tell that the tour was booked well in advance of the runaway success of Some Nights, because I saw them in a venue that was roughly twice the size of my living room, and I have a feeling that the next time through, they'll be playing the Main Lounge on campus in Iowa City, if not the Ballroom. They are very clearly on their way up the ladder of success, and it won't be long before gigs that intimate are a distant memory for this band.
Musically, they were tight too. It was cool to be able to hear their songs and recognize them in slightly stripped down form for the live show, because, as a fan, it showed me where they used the studio to their advantage for musical embellishments. The set was compact, focused, and sprinkled with all of the songs the crowd came to hear. Granted, when you've only got two albums worth of material, that's an easier feat to accomplish, but still. I was also impressed that the college kids (who could well have been bandwagon hoppers) knew all of the lyrics to the first record (2009's Aim & Ignite) as well as all the new stuff.
Got to go in when the family members did, to boot (Nate was born in Iowa City), so we got the prime location closest to the stage.
Sleeper Agent, the band that opened for Fun. was pretty awesome too. In fact, I heard that a great number of the people trying to get tickets to this very sold out show on Craigslist were rabid Sleeper Agent fans. The band is based out of Bowling Green, Kentucky, and put forth a solid mixture of classic chord progressions and punky energy. While a great number of their songs seemed to be written in the key of A, they all managed to have their own feel and their own sense of drive. If I had to pick a calling card for the band, however, it would be the presence of dual lead singers, one male, one female, who passed the vocals back and forth at least once in every song. It made for a really cool dynamic. Solid songs, though, overall. Sleeper Agent is definitely a band I will keep an eye on as they go. Hearing their songs made me want to know what they will do for their next record, which feels like it might be a giant leap forward for them. Interestingly enough, their first record was only $5 at the gig, and the whole band signed it, so that was cool.
Okay, now it's on to the rest of today's music news...
The story that would have been my lead bit of news on any other day but a post concert day is this: Counting Crows (one of my favorite bands of all time) released their first studio record in 4 years today! It's an album of covers called Underwater Sunshine... or what we did on our summer vacation. Long title, I know. Haven't had a chance to listen all the way through yet, of course, but I checked out a track on the way home from work, and they definitely sound better on a stereo (even on a car stereo) than they did when I streamed a few of the tracks over the internet the other day.
Picked up Boys & Girls by Alabama Shakes tonight as well. They've gotten so much hype in the last few months, on NPR in particular, that I was sucked in. Their vocalist, Brittany Howard, has drawn some well deserved comparisons to Janis Joplin.
I'll be able to write more on this once I've listened through to both their record and the new Crows disc.
The only other thing I need to touch on tonight is that the cables I picked up yesterday at Guitar Center were exactly what I needed to connect the guitar trainer to my recording gear. I figured that out this morning before work, and though it took me a second to figure out how to access the auxiliary features of my recording gear, I got that squared away quickly enough. Having that out of the way frees me up to really make excellent use of that piece of equipment that has been crying out for years for me to make use of it.
Good stuff all the way around!
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