September (2006) Gig Madness

By Nickee V. de Leon
Asianjournal.com

SO I went overboard with gigs last month. What can I say? I’m an incurable addict. That and the fact that these gigs were worth every buck. (Except maybe the nerve-wrecking front acts that I would care to mention later in this review.) Anyway, sit back, relax and read on.

Nouvelle Vague with The Submarines, September 8, Henry Fonda Theater
For a supposed whim, I would have to say that I was severely entertained by this gig. Seeing Nouvelle Vague with the Submarines at the Fonda was perhaps one of the most fun, spontaneous things I’ve done in a long time.

Even as an opening act, The Submarines were already a highlight of the evening. After hearing them perform “Peace and Hate” in KEXP, I knew right then that they were special. Of course, the pre-arranged synthesized tunes and the ubiquitous Mac laptop were quite the overkill, but the music is dreamy, light and Trembling Blue Stars-ish. Kudos to that.

Nouvelle Vague was artful and tongue-in-cheek with their novelty music, amusing act and unique instruments. The music takes you to that state, somewhere between nostalgic childhood memories and traditional French sensibilities.

I also found it amusing that they could effortlessly swap songs and performances. “Heart of Glass” had male vocals in the album, while Phoebe Killdeer did her own rendition with a more bluesy sounding interpretation. Phoebe Killdeer’s sexy, sultry voice and Melanie Pain’s all-too-frenchie ala Frenté vocal chords were both a perfect combination and a wild, contrasting alternation.

Other songs included in the setlist were “Dancing With Myself,” “Love will Tear Us Apart,” “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” and Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough” as the perfect encore performance to cap the evening.

Nouvelle Vague may be vague in terms of having their own original music, but their unique interpretation of covers makes them an A Bande on my list.

Totally 80’s with Psychedelic Furs, Human League and ABC, September 23, Hollywood Bowl

Been scoping this gig for months, but never really planned on seeing it.

For fifteen bucks a tix at the day of the concert itself, I’m glad I did go. I came in late though and missed out on ABC’s performance, but still caught Psychedelic Furs in the middle part of “Heaven,”and the latter half of their setlist. Richard Butler sang off-key the entire time, but I didn’t really mind.

The songs reminded me so much of my warm, fuzzy childhood days, of “Pretty in Pink,” of Amanda Jones and Keith Nelson sitting on that same stage in “Some Kind of Wonderful” while Watts cried her eyes out from the bleachers (although there wasn’t a single Furs song in the soundtrack).

Human League stole the show with their outrageous ala “Matrix” outfits and more careful rendition of popular hits as “Human,” “Fascination,” and “Electric Dreams.”

For an 80’s reunion of bands (almost) long forgotten, the gig was indeed, a refreshing reminder.

I would have to say though that I couldn’t help but be appalled by the sight of Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s in an ugly pink tutu, making a fool of herself (What’s up with that anyway?).

Snow Patrol with Augustana and Martha Wainwright, September 27, The Wiltern
Having two front acts is totally unnecessary. Especially if both of them are equally underwhelming.

Snow Patrol was definitely worth the wait,(and a long one at that, after they postponed the L.A. show for months). Sure, they sold out by giving “Chasing Cars” to Grey’s Anatomy as the carrier track for last season’s finalé, but hey, we all need to make a living sometime.

Even the lighting effects of the show were reminiscent of Coldplay’s Twisted Logic Tour in 2005, but Snow Patrol made up for it by giving us an overwhelmingly flawless live performance. Gary Lightbody (vocals) had a cleaner look, sans the big hair and scruffy-looking outfit . He was charming and congenial the entire evening. SP’s setlist was just one great song after the other. The experience was an osmosis of impeccable instrumentation and vigorous vocals of feel-good, lyrical songs.

Sonic Youth with 16 Bitch Pile Up and The Skaters, September 28, The Wiltern

The front act(s) in this show just made it in my book as by far the worst opening performance(s) ever. There is a fine line between really bad music and pure, unadulterated, annoying noise. 16 Bitch Pile Up’s irritating racket fits the latter while The Skaters’ “apocalyptic pandemonium” would fall on the former category. They were both, for the lack of a more appropriate adjective…ear-splittingly horrible.

Watching this gig was yet another whim. I came to the show with no expectations whatsoever. Admittedly, I’m not a fan of Sonic Youth and my knowledge of their music is very limited. I know that probably seems pretentious, but I only hear good words about them from music enthusiasts, so I figured, maybe they’re worth seeing after all the hype.

As a band who has existed for more than two decades, Sonic Youth is definitely well-established and sure-footed. The music, which is mostly unorthodox guitar tunings, is consistent and authoritative. Vocals, instrumentation, even the stage design are signature expressions of this remarkably unconventional group.

 

A ‘Love Haight’ Relationship

By Nickee V. de Leon
AJPress

It seemed like a lifetime ago since I last visited Haight-Ashbury (also known as The Haight) in San Francisco.

I took the MUNI 71 from Powell to get to Haight-Ashbury and saw a side of the district that I’ve never seen before. The usually bustling bohemian community was deathly quiet, perhaps, because it was a weekday.

Nevertheless, it didn’t deter me from taking my obligatory stroll around the neighborhood. The Haight’s colorful cluster of shops and restaurants is therapeutic eye candy. Smoke shops, coffee places, fashion and book stores line this most historical avenue.

My favorite stop is the Amoeba Music store. Living in Los Angeles has made me a rummaging patron of Amoeba Music in Sunset and Vine in Hollywood. I also had the opportunity to explore the store in Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. For some reason, the store in Haight-Ashbury seemed more compelling. Perhaps its the history behind The Haight that has sparked my unconditional love for and sporadic pilgrimage to this mecca of hippie culture.

SFgate.com describes The Haight as an area that “evokes images of the long-gone ’60s hippie culture… Fragments of that flower-power, incense-burning, acid-dropping, tie-dye-wearing, peace-and-love-vibing era can be purchased at smoke shops and Eastern-influenced outlets bearing names like Dreams of Kathmandu, Pipe Dreams and The Love of Ganesha. But save for a few hippie relics, the Haight today is a whole new scene. Exclusive boutiques, high-end vintage-clothing shops, second-hand stores, Internet cafés and hip restaurants have all settled in, making the Haight one of San Francisco’s commercial centers.”

A history of Haight
Haight Street may have derived its name from Henry Haight, the manager of Page, Bacon and Co. It was Henry Haight who founded and provided the land for the Protestant Orphanage, says sfmuseum.org.

Haight-Ashbury was a name derived from the intersection of Haight and Ashbury Streets. “The neighborhood is bounded by Stanyan Street and Golden Gate Park on the west, Oak Street and the Golden Gate Park Panhandle on the north, Baker Street and Buena Vista Park to the East, and Frederick and Ashbury Heights and Cole Valley neighborhoods to the South,”says wikipedia.org

What used to be a vast area of isolated farms and sand dunes quickly became an area of affluence. The completion of the Haight cable car In 1883 brought a connection between the west end of Golden Gate park and the central Market Street line together with the rest of the city. “The cable car, land grading and building techniques of the 1890s and early 20th century reinvented the Haight-Ashbury as a residential upper-middle class homeowners’ district. It was one of the few neighborhoods spared form the fires that followed the catastrophic San Francisco earthquake of 1906.”

The Depression of the 30’s and World War II took its toll and transformed The Haight into a virtual ghost town. The crowded and declining neighborhood was quickly abandoned by those who still had enough money to burn. They opted to migrate to smaller suburban homes in the bay area instead. World War II brought a shortage in housing and turned large-single family Victorians into apartments to serve as shelters for war workers coming back from the piers. Others were converted into boarding homes for profit. Many buildings and units were left vacant and were rented out because of the middle-class migration to suburbia.

Cheap rooms and vacant properties in the district brought droves of hippies during the 60’s. The hippie subculture rooted itself firmly in The Haight, of which it became known up to the present day.

The sixties, drugs and rock & roll
By the mid-60’s,the proliferation of the use of marijuana, LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs made Haight a center of illegal drug culture and rock and roll lifestyles. 1967 was an important year for Haight. It brought psychedelic rock performers and groups to the neighborhood including Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead.

“In 1967, The San Francisco Bay area was the epicenter of a cultural and political upheaval that challenged the very meaning of America. California had long been the American location, in myth and history, where the bold and the hopeful migrated to realize ultimate visions, the place where the American dream hit its last edge,” wrote Mikal Gilmore in Rolling Stone’s 40th anniversary issue special on the Summer of Love.

The Summer of Love (1967)
In “The Legacy of ‘67,” another article in Rolling Stone Magazine’s 40th anniversary issue, Sean Wilentz wrote “The Age of Aquarius is dawning in 1967 – but so is another, very different age… The year brought important breakthroughs in what historian Theodore Roszak later described as ‘the making of a counter culture’…the long suppressed tradition of Walt Whitman–washed over American culture.”

1967, in a nutshell, was a year of revolution — a definitive era of change that “split America in two,” according to Wilentz. Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon were prominent figures in this tumultuous period in American history.

“By the time the fabled Summer of Love hit San Francisco 40 years ago, the party was already over in the Haight-Ashbury. Yet the mythology of that summer has never disappeared. The San Francisco hippie, dancing in Golden Gate Park with long hair flowing, has become as much of an enduring American archetype as the gunfighters and cowboys who roamed the Wild West, ” wrote Joel Selvin of the SF Chronicle in his article “The Summer of Love – 1967: The stuff that myths are made of.”

“The rise of ’60’s counterculture has had a significant impact on our culture today. The Summer of Love resonates in strip mall yoga classes, pop music, visual art, fashion, attitudes toward drugs, the personal computer revolution, and the current mad dash toward the greening of America. While some of the counterculture’s dreams came true, others particularly the movement’s idealistic politics, evaporated like the sweet-smelling pot smoke that saturated the air that summer,” Selvin further wrote.

To the unsuspecting tourist, The Haight may seem nothing more than a place of novelty — a respite for runaway teenagers, druggies and hippies and a treasure trove of all things unnecessary. But underneath its colorful and seemingly commercialized facade lies the undeniable the fact that it was once the birthplace of radical ideas, the active variable in a brew of constants — one that has deeply influenced and defined America’s cultural landscape.

Perhaps one day, when I take a leisurely stroll in Golden Gate Park and find a group of hippies swaying to the beat of their own drum, I just might join in.

 

The Madhatter, Live in Montreux

Jammin’ with Jamiroquai at the 2003 Montreux Festival
By Nickee V. de Leon
Asianjournal.com

He is notorious for (literally and perhaps, figuratively) wearing many hats. Described in the DVD as the fleet-footed lead vocals of Jamiroquai , Jay Kay is one of the most recognized acts of a generation.

A band with a most unusual name, a portmanteau of “jam session” and iroquai” (based on the Iroquis, a native American tribe), Jamiroquai has been in existence for a decade and a half, with 24 million albums, 6 multi-platinum albums, a Grammy award, the Ivor Novello and five MTV awards to boot. The group is definitely more than just an English jazz/funk/soul band.

According to wikipedia.org, Jamiroquai “was initially the most prominent component in the London-based acid jazz movement in the ’90’s, playing alongside groups as Incognito, the Brand New Heavies, Galliano and Corduroy. Subsequent albums have explored other musical directions such as, but not limited to, pop, rock and electronica. The band has sold well over one million records in the United States alone.”

Jamiroquai is Jay Kay (vocals), Rob Harris (guitars), Nick Fyffe (bass), Sola Akingbola (percussion), Matt Johnson (keyboards), Derrick McKenzie (drums), Hazel Fernandes (backing vocals) and Lauraine McIntosh (backing vocals).

“The band, as virtuosic as they are intuitive, leave fans and detractors alike with their jaws on the floor on a nightly basis. Together they make an unstoppable force of nature, with an undisputed reputation for edge of the seat performances. It’s a reputation built on playing to five million people in 38 countries on four world tours, and is as cherished by Kay and company as every album sale, magazine cover, award and number one record,” says the DVD about the indomitable eight-man(and woman) group.

Jamiroquai is known for its ever-changing and ever-evolving performances. “Sometimes it’s a triumphal celebration of hits, a goodtime party with plenty to sing and dance about. Sometimes it’s a breathtaking voyage off the beaten track, with early album tracks and live favorites deconstructed, reinvented and turned into extended remixes on the spot.”

Switzerland’s best-known music festival, The Montreux Jazz Festival is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lac Léman. The first Montreux Jazz Festival was held at Montreux Casino in 1967, lasting for three days and featuring almost exclusive jazz artists.

What started out as a pure jazz festival has evolved into a celebration of nearly every imaginable music style. Jazz, however, remains an identifying element in the concept. Currently, the Montreux Festival lasts about two weeks, attracting an audience of more than 200,000.

Wearing an Indian-inspired hat and a white track suit, Jay Kay kicks off the performance with “Use the Force” a high-energy track embellished with melodious guitar riffs and bossa nova accompaniments. The song plays on soulful funk with expanded use of guitar riffs to create the groove. The DVD describes this effort as “riding in on an electro-funk snarl.”

“Canned Heat” is a percussionist’s dream track, combining crisp bass guitars with the soothing beat of bongo drums. Jay Kay’s unique vocals complement the impeccable funky-sounding instruments, turning it into a hip-shaking, fast-paced, “canned heat in my heels” tune. The song is boldly expanded from its original version.

The DVD describes this effort as “broken down into fundamental grooves and rebuilt from the ground up as taut, futuristic cruisers, complete with sleazy rock diversions, low-slung bass shimmies and extra strut.”

By popular demand, “Cosmic Girl” quickly stole the limelight, with the audience’ working up the beat as the song unfolds.

However, Jay Kay’s creativity starts kicking in at the onset of “Blow Your Mind,” “High Times” and “Travelling Without Moving.” Here, Jay Kay works up his influences from the likes of Miles Davis and James Brown and does spontaneous changes and redirections.

For Jamiroquai, the record is a mere skeleton that awaits a different breath each time to become flesh and blood. One that can be made even more robust, taken to new heights with every performance, as the audience waits with bated breath for genius improvisations and expansions.

And if these were not enough, the DVD also comes with a bonus track of the 1995 version of Space Cowboy, recorded on July 12, 1995 at the Montreux convention center.

Indeed, Jamiroquai has surpassed the cookie-cutter culture that most of their contemporaries most likely suffered during the onset of acid jazz. It has become, perhaps, one of the genuine international icons of its genre.

 

A Big Feat for the Little Ones

By Nickee de Leon-Huld
Asianjournal.com

Their name may seem trivial, but their reputation is hardly minute.

Five-piece group The Little Ones is currently on tour around the United States and Europe with Paris , Southampton, London and Manchester as some of their destinations this May. The Little Ones will also be playing at the Sasquatch Music Festival in Seattle this July, along with The Cure, REM, The Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie and Flight of the Conchords.

With their summery-sounding, handclap-and tambourine-peppered music, The Little Ones – Edward Nolan Reyes (vocals and guitars), Brian Reyes (keyboards and bass), Ian Moreno (guitars and percussion), Lee LaDouceur (keyboards and bass) and David Esau (drums) – have been compared to the likes of The Beach Boys, The Zombies and The Kinks.

In an exclusive interview with the Asian Journal, frontman Edward Reyes shared some of his thoughts about their music and how it feels like to be associated with these bands.

“It’s great, it’s good company. I know that that’s the kind of music we wanna be making…” he quipped. Edward admitted that they truly respect the way The Beach Boys, The Beatles and The Kinks wrote their songs.

“I really think [our music is] actually uplifting and social [such that] a lot of people have a good time. We are an indie rock band with music that’s for everybody.” He believes that The Little Ones’ undeniable connection with the audience makes the band stand out.

The first steps
Edward worked for a college radio station during his so-called formative years in Los Angeles. There he met Ian, and the two formed a band called Sunday’s Best, which ran for six years. After that, Ian and Edward decided to take a break and concentrated on writing their music. They started bringing friends in for jam sessions. Edward also brought in his brother Brian to play keyboards and bass and David to play the drums.

Edward said that the “journey out of the land of white noise” is The Little Ones’ effort to create something different.

According to the band’s website, their nights were spent holed up in “Uncle Lee’s” studio, just creating and playing songs. They even adopted a “just write and don’t tell anyone” policy for more than a year just to get their muse working. It was during these nights that The Little Ones came up with a new barometer—Uncle Lee’s Rule of Feet.

“The rule stated that a song was deemed appropriate, if, and only if; each of the Little Ones’ feet could shuffle.” This philosophy gave birth to enlightenment and soon enough, The Little Ones became confident of what they produced and took the next step—recording.

David Newton of the Mighty Lemon Drops was instrumental in bringing the Little Ones’ music to the airwaves. The band met him through a mutual friend. Their rollercoaster sessions in Newton’s Burbank studio produced a showcase of songs with “subtle textures, rhythmic pulses and sharp melodies.”

A previous stint with Astralwerk Records afforded the band a first EP release, Sing Song, on the spring of 2006. They eventually landed a worldwide deal with Astralwerks in the US and Heavenly Recordings in the UK and Europe.

In October 2007, an announcement was made on their official website, confirming that Morning Tide, their full debut album, was slated for an international release in April 2008. However, the group broke ties with Astralwerks and the release, to date, has not been made. November 2007 marked the debut of their music video Ordinary Song on MySpace.

Terry Tales and Fallen Gates
Edward described their current tour album, Terry Tales and Fallen Gates, as a collection of songs about their take on life. He also said that some of the tracks are old songs from sessions off their first EP that were still thematically-relevant to their new album.

Their new single, Boracay, one of the tracks that Pinoys will surely relate to, was inspired by the few trips that Edward made to the island. He found something lyrical about the island’s tropical vibe and decided to write about it. For him, the idea of a song describing a vacation in a remote tropical paradise in the Philippines seemed more uncommon.

In the first episode of The Little Ones’ podcast, Edward further described Boracay as a song with “a percussive nature, tons of fun, a virtual paradise with white sand and blue waters and a good place for margaritas.” The use of steel drums in the track also gave it a tropical flavor.

Playing with the giants
The Little Ones were also fortunate to have played alongside popular English bands, Kaiser Chiefs and We Are Scientists.

“Playing with the Kaiser Chiefs was amazing. We were able to open for their tour in the US and [that’s how] we became close to them. They also [invited us] to tour with them in the United Kingdom. It was the best experience ever, playing infront of 10,000 people every night,” Edward recounted.

Support from ‘kababayans’
The Little Ones started their US tour on April 5th this year. Edward cited their gig at the Mercury Lounge in New York as one of the most memorable experiences they had so far.

Edward shared his encounters with Pinoy fans in their tour. “You’d be surprised, like here in Minneapolis, last time we played, I met a couple of Filipinos that we’re living here, and also in the UK as well. Filipinos are everywhere,” he said.

Thoughts on being Pinoy
AJ asked Edward what part of being Filipino he liked the most . He said that the one thing he loves the most about being Filipino is the family aspect. He understands Tagalog but confessed that he still isn’t very good with conversing in Tagalog. “I love the culture and I enjoy going to the Philippines, visiting. I think that it’s a unique culture that’s slowly becoming [popular] in the US,” he quipped.

Indeed, more and more people are shuffling their feet to join the The Little Ones in their journey out of the land of white noise to the world of indie rock fame.

 

Bowled Over

REM with The National and Modest Mouse at the Hollywood Bowl
By Nickee de Leon-Huld
AJ Press

After a series of disappointing albums, REM is back to reclaim lost glory and be one of America’s great rock bands. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame awardee.

REM is currently playing alongside Modest Mouse and The National for the 2008 North America Tour of their new album Accelerate.The one-night-only gig in Los Angeles was held on Thursday, May 29 at the Hollywood Bowl.

The show, originally slated at 7pm, began a half hour early — a move that proved to be detrimental for the two front acts. High expectations were subdued by sparse attendance. However, for the determined few who came in early to see Modest Mouse and The National perform, the effort might well be worth it.

Brooklyn-based The National kicked off the evening with “morose and self-deprecating” tunes that were complemented by Matt Berninger’s signature haunting baritone. Abel, Mr. November and my personal favorite, Mistaken for Strangers, were some of the songs included in the band’s setlist.

A modest performance
Performing on a sun-streaked stage that left little room for ambient effects, Modest Mouse dutifully performed their line-up for the evening which included Satin in a Coffin, Dance Hall, Dashboard, Fire It Up, Truckers Atlas, King Rat, Doin’ The Cockroach, Float On, Paper Thin Walls, The Good Times are Killing Me and The View.

However, Modest Mouse’s hot and cold mixture of Euro pop and electronic Appalachian bluegrass and frontman Isaac Brock’s whiny renditions were lukewarm compared to the hype that they got for this gig. For those who were hoping to catch remnants of The Smiths from former wunderkind Johnny Marr, it was, at the very least, an exercise in careful listening.

REMarkable
In Spin Magazine’s April 2008 issue, Buck narrated that while REM was at Bono’s house in Dublin, U2’s frontman raised a toast and said “Really [you’re] the only other ones who know what this is like. It’s like there’s eight of us in the world.”

But despite this recognition of indomitable greatness, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills went, as Buck put it in their Spin Magazine interview, “from being the greatest band on earth to being old, miserable has-beens to people going ‘You Know What? They’re actually pretty good.”

Accelerate is REM’s “noisy deliverance,” wrote Michael Azerrad for Spin.

Glitches and stitches
The last time REM played at the Hollywood Bowl was in 2003. Michael Stipe was reportedly “bumrushed” by “Tony Clifton” while performing Man on the Moon onstage. The ruckus left the frontman with a nasty scar on his leg. Stipe joked that he will always bring a part of the Hollywood Bowl with him wherever he goes.

Luck didn’t seem to be on their side either during Thursday’s show. Technical problems were encountered during the first set, bringing jeers from the anxious crowd. Stipe’s trademark vocals were hardly audible. He had to ask the audience twice if they could hear him and got a resounding “No!”

Apparently, the Bowl was giving them slapback, Stipe explained. The glitch was eventually remedied towards the middle part of the show.

Good thing Stipe’s enigmatic personality shone through. Looking dapper in a tailored suit, Stipe was sharp and glamorous and blended with the immodest Hollywood crowd. His reminiscent thoughts on living in Santa Monica and writing Electrolite (from New Adventures in Hi-Fi) pacified the crowd and the drawback was soon forgotten.

REM’s well-balanced setlist was a merger of tracks from different albums — Horse to Water and Man-sized Wreath from Accelerate, Pretty Persuasion from Reckoning and Ignoreland from Automatic for the People to name a few. The crowd got their fix of REM’s staples like Drive, Losing My Religion, The One I Love and Man on the Moon.

Stipe did not hold back on the socio-political agenda. He encouraged everyone to visit Amnesty International and Environment America’s booths after the show and to exercise their right to vote. He openly supported Barack Obama for the presidency, a gesture that got mixed reactions from the audience.

Yet, after all that’s said and done (and a series of blah albums notwithstanding), there is no denying that REM is still REM. The guys still have it in them to put up a good show. Hopefully, this re-emergence will keep them delivered.

 

A Pound of Cure

Photo by Nickee de Leon-Huld

By Nickee de Leon-Huld
AJPress

In an era where most of their contemporaries have become tepid has-beens or are doing reunion tours in the hopes of reviving their old sound in the mainstream consciousness, The Cure — Robert Smith (vocals and guitars), Porl Thompson (guitars), Simon Gallup (bass guitar) and Jason Cooper (drums)– have transcended the proverbial mold and have elevated themselves as one of the most formidable bands of their time. With their 13th album (Freakshow) in the offing for a September 13 release (and a track sampler every 13th of each month in iTunes preceding their album’s release), The Cure definitely has it made.

It’s been a month since The Cure played at the Hollywood Bowl. You would just have to forgive my delayed post-concert review. I had to muster the courage to write something even slightly substantial. I’m not even fit to untie his sandals (if Robert Smith had one, anyway).

I am truly remorseful that I was never a die-hard, true-blooded Cure fan. I never collected their albums, never paid painstaking attention to their ever-evolving music. I ‘m just like the rest of millions who took in the popular tunes, the songs that earned Robert Smith and his band a share of their own cult following.

It’s not too late to do some catching up. Despite my glaring deficiency, I would have to say that of all the concerts that I’ve been to (and I’ve been to a lot), this is definitely, hands-down, the best gig I have ever experienced. Robert Smith and The Cure’s level of artistic integrity and musical versatility completely blew my mind away on Saturday, May 31 when the goth-inspired band played like the devil in a jampacked venue.

The moment the stage lights went on, I just had that gut feeling, that unexplainable vibe that Robert Smith and his crew were there for some serious business. Some may perceive the extended setlist to be overtly self-indulgent, but to me, it was an act of pure love. An ardent love for performing and for their fans, a love which led to a three-hour epic with 35 songs and 4 encores.

With a sheepish grin and only a handful of words said during their enduring three-hour performance, Frontman Robert Smith exudes the kind of quiet and bashful dignity that most rock stars of his stature lack. His signature unwashed, mussed up do, pale make-up and eyeliner maybe iconic, but it is undoubtedly a mere persona, a representation of the more public side of Robert Smith as goth king.

His trademark locks and make-up, along with his his preternatural passion for making music may have remained unchanged, but reading through Curephiles’ blogs and concert reviews revealed that the frontman actually seemed, in the words of Ben Wener of the Orange County Register, “electrified and renewed.”

Steve Batlin of Spinner.com wrote “Smith’s status as a master pop craftsman is equally undeniable. If ‘Perfect Boy and ‘The Only One’ are true indications of this new album, which Smith has said will focus more on the upbeat, then fans can look forward to a glorious addition to that pop catalogue.”

And speaking about being more upbeat, it was actually surprising how generous the band was with the staples — Lovesong, Friday I’m Inlove, In Between Days, Pictures of You, Just Like Heaven, Let’s Go to Bed, Close to Me, A Letter to Elise and Lullaby. Not to say that they held back on the more obscure tracks — a segment solely devoted to songs from Seventeen Seconds, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Hot, Hot,Hot, and a guitar-centric Never Enough to name a few.

The four encores — If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, The Kiss (first encore); At Night, M, Play for Today, A Forest (second encore); The Lovecats, Let’s Go to Bed, Freakshow, Close to Me and Why Can’t It Be You (third encore); Boys Don’t Cry (fourth encore)– definitely made up for all the screaming varicose veins that I got from standing too long.

The Cure concluded their US tour with a performance at New York’s Radio City Music Hall last June 21. (AJ)

 

A Hardcore Legacy

By Nickee de Leon-Huld
AJPress

My fascination with the Mabuhay Gardens started serendipitously. We were watching the Dead Kennedys’ final performance at the Fab Mab (a moniker that Dirk Dirksen coined for the Mabuhay Gardens)in 1986 on DVD–the year when club officially closed its doors. My piqued curiosity led me to several websites, the Fab Mab’s Myspace account and inevitably, to Tambre Bryant.

The Mabuhay Gardens was a Filipino restaurant and club owned by Ness Aquino. The restaurant first opened on March 22, 1972 on 443 Broadway, on the Broadway strip of North Beach in San Francisco, according to the Fab Mab’s Myspace site.

So how did the Mabuhay Gardens transform from an ordinary joint to San Francisco’s most-sought after enclave of punk, new wave, metal and rock bands? Ness Aquino collaborated with Dirk Dirksen in 1976 to book punk and new wave bands at the club. The Mabuhay Gardens soon became one of the most prominent music venues in the Bay Area.

From 1972-1976, the restaurant was the venue for the Amapola cabaret shows — a nightly affair that featured many Filipino celebrities including Eddie Mesa, Bobby Gonzales and Norma Balagtas.

In an interview with Tambre Bryant, a metal band promoter in the SF area who booked gigs at the Mabuhay Gardens from 1983-1986, she related how the Amapola Cabaret Shows sparked the Fab Mab’s fame.

“In 1977, Amapola produced, starred and directed her own weekly local television show (Amapola Sings) in Channel 20, KEMO-TV selling her own advertising to finance the project. After two years, the television station picked up Amapola’s show and she was able to focus on production. The show was reformatted and became Amapola Presents Show and Hollywood’s Dirk B.G. Dirksen took over the full production, writing and directing [of] each weekly episode. Ness Aquino of Mabuhay Gardens was brought in to co-host with Amapola, and the “Straight People”, a group of international actors, were the shows regular guests. Soon other celebrities graced the show: Debbie Harry, La Verne Cumming, Gerri Granger, Bobby Gonzales, Eddie Mesa, Jennifer Miro of the punk band The Nuns, David de Alba, local Bay Area bands like Bolinas, local dance companies like Bagong Diwa, and Amy and the Sounds of the Tonga Room, Fairmont Hotel to name a few. The show also featured news journalist Cocoa Walther as regular columnist and reviewer. Amapola Presents Show was then syndicated and shown as far as Sacramento and San Diego. Its first airing in Los Angeles was linked with Amapola’s first one woman concert at the Scottish Rite Auditorium,” Tambre said.

“Dirk Dirksen was the man who made it all happen,” she added, relating that “Dirk’s greatest contribution was being the glue that kept it together.” From 1979 to 1982, Dirk wrote and directed “The Amapola Presents Show.”

Dirksen was described as an “abrasive persona (which was largely a performance) who had a unique style as emcee, deliberately baiting and trading insults with audience and band members, which had the effect of raising the energy of audience and performers alike,” in wikipedia.org. His hosting was a central part of the atmosphere of the Mabuhay.

Myspace.com further stated that “virtually every early Bay Area punk, new wave, metal and rock band performed there at one time or another, and it was an important touring stop for bands from beyond the San Francisco Bay Area.” The Dead Kennedys, Flipper, Romeo Void, Black Flag, The Dictators, The Nuns, The Offs, The Mutants, The Avengers, The Damned, DEVO, Iggy Pop, The Ramones, DOA, Blondie, The Screamers, Minutemen, DRI, Redd Kross, JFA, Blind Illusion, Anvil Chorus, Megadeth, Metallica, EXODUS, Death Angel, Villain, Ulysses Siren, and WarningSF were some of the regulars who played at the Fab Mab. Even actors Whoopie Goldberg and Robin Williams became ubiquitous at the club.

1983 marked the metal age for the Fab Mab, with Tambre Bryant bringing in the likes of Megadeth into the scene. Tambre Bryant is now the proud owner of Relentless Metal Records and manages metal bands as Heathen, WarningSF, Ulysses Siren, KAOS, Hatchet, Defiance, Forbidden, Agent Steel, Villain, Killingsworth and Angelwitch.

“In 1983 I promoted and managed metal bands. My company’s name was L & L Productions, which I started with my boyfriend at the time, Michael Oliver. I had a hard time finding venues that would allow metal music. I remember walking into this punk club with my 4-year-old in tow, thinking if they did punk they would let metal bands play. I met Ness Aquino and gave him my pitch about doing metal shows at the Mab. He gave me some off nights to start and I built up the shows and eventually I ended up becoming business partners with Ness. I remember getting a call to book Dave Mustaine of Metallica’s new band Megadeth, so I booked Megadeth with two other bands Toxic Shock and Drayfus Pyke. Funny thing is, I misspelled Megadeth on the flyers, [as] “Megadeath.” I still have the original flyer. It was the first Megadeth show. People say their first show was at Ruthies Inn February 1984. I booked them at the Mab November 1983, ” Tambre recounted.

“I have been told I drove punk out of the club and turned the Mab into a premiere metal club. I think at that time punk was losing it’s popularity and the Pope of Punk Dirk Dirksen had left the club by then. The Mab still had an array of other music and strange acts as well. That street was crazy. I have a million stories and memories. I remember the punks and the metalheads fighting. Then I noticed some just crossed over. Punks hung out at the Mab to watch the metal shows. I don’t think they wanted to give up their hang out. At the time I didn’t really know what I was doing or what was really going on, I was just doing it cause I loved the music,” she further narrated.

A lingering illness has made Ness Aquino unavailable for an interview. Dirk Dirksen, also known as the “Pope of Punk,” died in his sleep in 2006. He was 69 years old. Tambre described Ness & Dirk as “men ahead of their time. I am not sure if they knew what they were creating at the time, but they will sure go down in history for it. Their relationship was filled with both good times and hard times as it was a constant battle to keep the Mabuhay going,” she recalled.

AJ asked Tambre to describe the Fab Mab experience. “I feel so grateful to have been a part of the Mab’s history. It was intense and exciting and you never knew what was going to happen every night in every room, including the ladies bathroom which was a major hangout. It was the epitome of sex, drugs, and rock & roll. I remember the cops trying to bust the club for having minors in the club, the cops would come through the front door as the minors would jump out the back door. The cops would walk through the club and leave through the back door as the minors came back in through the front door. I then came up with curfew shows that ran 6pm-9pm and then a whole other show would happen 10pm to 2am,” Tambre said.

According to SFmutants.com, after the Fab Mab shut down in 1986 and became a yuppie nightclub called “The Velvet Lounge” in 2006. The club booked a few punk shows in 2003 with the intent to promote them as “Fab Mab” shows. Dirksen, who owned the trademark, was quick to deny them this privilege. On April 8, 2006, Dirksen emceed a “Fab Mab Reunion” at the Fillmore instead of the Mabuhay Gardens.

Asked how The Fab Mab fared with the equally popular CBGB club in New York, Tambre replied that “the same thing was going on in both clubs at the same time. One on the west coast the other on the east coast. They have been compared in many ways and a lot of the same bands played both venues.”

“CBGB (Country, Blue Grass, and Blues) was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and punk-influenced bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the Patti Smith Group, Mink Deville, The Dead Boys, The Dictators, The Fleshtones, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, Blondie, Talking Heads and something 5,” says wikipedia.org.

Because of The Fab Mab’s legendary and historical contribution to the music scene in the Bay Area, Mayor Newsom declared October 12 as Mabuhay Gardens Day in 2007. Tambre was elated that the Fab Mab was bestowed this honor. “I was blown away. I was told the Mayor wanted to give me a proclamation for bringing back a piece of San Francisco’s history, when I brought back live punk and metal music to the Mab in 2007. I then asked that the Mayor declare a Mabuhay Gardens day. It was when I truly got to know all the characters of the punk era as I booked some of the old punk bands that played there in the 70’s for Dirk, before my time at the Mab, along with some of the same old metal bands I booked at the Mab in the 80’s. It was a real blast from the past. It was like senior citizen’s night except everyone was dressed the same as in the day. I became very close to some of the famous punk singers and players and am glad I took that opportunity and flew with it.”

“[That was]until the young club owners, [who] obviously didn’t realize what was happening, decided they made more money doing the disco DJ thing, thus reducing the famous Mabuhay Gardens back to another meaningless dance club,” she lamented.

However, because of Ness Aquino’s deteriorating health, Tambre decided to collaborate with Kathy Peck of the HEAR (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers) Foundation, a non-profit volunteer organization “dedicated to raising awareness of the real dangers of repeated exposure to excessive noise levels from music which can lead to permanent, and sometimes debilitating, hearing loss and tinnitus. Damage from loud sound can occur from playing music, attending concerts, dance clubs, raves, using stereo earphones, playing amplified systems too loudly, or other noisy activities. We’re here for musicians, DJs, sound engineers, music fans (especially teens) and anyone needing help with their hearing,” according to Hearnet.com.

The collaboration was brought about by Tambre’s dream of bringing back live music to the Mabuhay Gardens. “I was in touch with Ness and the Aquino family through the process of bringing back the live music to the Mab. I saw what condition Ness was in and the conditions he was living in. I decided to do a benefit for Ness. I started to book it when I got in touch with my old friend Kathy Peck of the HEAR foundation. Kathy asked to be involved and then took the ball and ran with it. We got KUSF to help sponsor and the benefit became a two-day punk and metal extravaganza. Ness and a few members of his family honored us with their presence and it was truly one special night for all that was present,” she shared.

Tambre is inviting and encouraging the FilAm community to contribute any photos, stories, tickets, flyers etc. to the Mabuhay Gardens Myspace website: www.myspace.com/mabuhaygardens. She is hoping to gather as much memorabilia as she can so that the Mabuhay Gardens’ legacy will live on.

 

A Sonic Cocoon

Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl
By Nickee de Leon-Huld
AJPress

You would be from another planet (except maybe, Planet Telex) if you’ve never heard of Radiohead and their omnipresent signature track called Creep (released in 1992) from their Pablo Honey album .

“Creep was initially unsuccessful, but the song became a worldwide hit when reissued a year later, and the band was almost branded as a one-hit wonder,” says wikipedia.org.

I’ve been a fan of the English alternative rock band ever since I started listening to Pablo Honey (1993) and The Bends (1995). Radiohead instantly became one of my most favorite bands during my formative years in college and would later become a seminal influence on my musical preferences. To put it simply, Radiohead just might be what The Beatles was to my dad and his contemporaries.

Eccentric? Yes. Brilliant? Definitely. Radiohead is Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm, guitar, piano, electronics), Jonny Greenwood (bass guitar, synthesizers), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar, keyboards), Ed O’Brien (guitars, backup vocals) and Phil Selway (drums and percussion).

Thom Yorke’s trademark “psycho bunny dance” is quite endearing (and though awkward-looking, is actually very rhythmic). His performances are just not as peculiar and charming without it. You might even find yourself swaying to his resonating falsetto in the same autistic fashion.

Jonny Greenwood “embodies the band’s commitment to complexity as the frenetic multi-instrumentalist who leaps from guitars to drums to keyboards to various effects,” says Luis Sinco of the Los Angeles Times.

Yorke and Greenwood’s collective quirkiness and musical sensibilities might just be tantamount to Beethoven’s genius — an observation that was further fortified by Sinco in his article where he said that an almost palpable “electric drone” filled the air — “an atonal, abstract and ideal sonic prologue that invoked contemporary classical music, just as the curtain of long tubes encircling the band’s equipment suggested the church majesty of a pipe organ. But the fuzzy sound also had an edge, hinting at guitar freakouts to come. ”

“The band’s heart and soul is Yorke, whose voice at times resembled the cries of a wounded animal. For nonbelievers, it might have sounded like an endless stream of whining, but those who felt an emotional connection with Yorke were moved not by his insightful lyrics but his wordless vocalizing, which can be just as effective,” wrote Craig Rosen of Hollywoodreporter.com.

There is no better metaphor to describe the bowl during that balmy, Sunday night — an ethereal cocoon that wrapped the audience in sensory overload and nourished their fix for Radiohead’s music. The stage palpitated with layers and layers of vibrant red, yellow and blue lights which were translated into their abstract and stratified sonic equivalent. From a vicarious perspective, the experience just might prove to be as sensorial and transcendent as popping ecstasy.

And who wouldn’t think it metamorphic? The evening’s setlist was a cocktail of generous samplings from Radiohead’s ever-evolving handiwork — 15 Step, There There, Morning Bell, All I Need, Pyramid Song, Nude, Arpeggi/Weird Fishes, The Glooming, The National Anthem, Wolf at the Door, Faust Arp, Exit Music (For a Film), Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Idioteque, Climbing Up the Walls, Bodysnatchers and How to Disappear Completely.

Of course, every transition carries with it the possibility of having glitches. “Street Spirit,” the fourth song on their first encore, became the unofficial blunder of the evening. “Bollocks! Should I carry on with it?” blurted Yorke, bringing more rhapsodic reactions from the already ecstatic crowd.

My personal nirvana nearly came into fruition upon hearing the melodic beginnings of “Everything in Its Right Place,” during Radiohead’s second encore. My levitation would’ve peaked if it weren’t for the strident squeals of pubescent girls sitting on our cramped row that sent me crashing back to reality.

Still, there was no better way to punctuate this year’s summer concert experience. After all, Radiohead’s fans are just as entitled to brandish their own idiosyncrasies.

The second night would’ve made my encounter with Radiohead more sublime with The Bends, Planet Telex, Fake Plastic Trees and Karma Police included in the setlist. For die-hards like me, going to a Radiohead concert should be as repetitive as “waking up sucking a lemon.” Suckers, aren’t we all.

 

Some Illustrations

Samples of illustrations for books, ads and storyboards.
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More Comp Ads

Concepts, compres and some published ads as an art director in McCann-Erickson.