iamserio.us

I know I know, what a stupid pun. Wait, you don’t get it? Probably because I haven’t told you yet, anonymous ‘netizen.

I got a job working part-time for Suicide Squeeze Records this week. I actually had my first day on the job today. It’s not much but I’m still super excited.

Basically, my job is simple: help the two people (!!!) who run the label with tech stuff. You know. E-mail, web related tasks, banner ads, networking. That sort of stuff. In the three hours I was there today I set up a new e-mail address on their domain and got it working in Thunderbird, secured their wireless connection, and networked their iBook with their PCs. I also spent a good chunk of time talking to them about music and artists and what concerts I’m looking forward to etc.

The best part of the job is all the free shit they give me. Ok I’m kidding, but they did give me a lot of free stuff (a bunch of CDs and a shirt). Actually, the best part of this job is that I’ll get to go to a lot of concerts for free and it will be really easy for me to get permission to tape.

If you didn’t know, the label’s 10th anniversary is coming up and they’re having a three day celebration at Neumo’s at the end of the month. Even better, my birthday is right smack in the middle of the dates. And even better than that, check out the lineup:

If I can tape all of these bands (plus whoever the “Super Surprise Secret Special Guest” is), I’ll be so stoked. Hell, the fact that I’ll be able to see all of these bands in three nights is awesome, plus my brother will be in town for those dates so he can come with (if he wants I guess).

All in all, I’m super excited about this job. I don’t think the label really has the income to have another person on board full-time, but maybe that will change in the future. I just hope I can keep working there for a while and prove that I’m actually worth a damn to someone.

I love that this band has such an affinity for hip-hop. So much so that they bring hip-hop artists on tour with them as their only supporting acts. I also love that the artists they brought to Seattle were actually talented rappers.

Last night Islands ripped through Seattle and brought rappers Cadence Weapon and Busdriver with them. Not really a packed house which might be because not many people realize the link between Islands and The Unicorns or maybe people are just stupid. It’s a toss-up really.

From a taper’s perspective, the show was a good one. I didn’t have any kind of permission from the band to tape but I decided to just bring my open rig and hope for the best. The band hadn’t disallowed taping so venue security didn’t stop me from bringing in my gear and once I was all set up, Islands’ sound guy came up and talked to me and was very nice (he even poked fun at my less than stellar mics… ouch). I’m glad I used the open rig because it let me tape all three acts and I didn’t have to stand still for three hours straight.

Without further ado, I give you all three sets from last night in order of appearance:

Cadence Weapon – 2006-05-10 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: cw2006-05-10.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: cw2006-05-10sample.mp3

Busdriver – 2006-05-10 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: busdriver2006-05-10.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: busdriver2006-05-10sample.mp3

Islands – 2006-05-10 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: islands2006-05-10.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: islands2006-05-10sample.mp3

I’ve always been a fan of TV On The Radio, but never had a chance to see them live. Last night I had a chance to rectify that so I did. The show was sort of annoying because they opened the doors at 8:00 and the first (and only opening) band went on at 10:00. I figured since the venue opened at 8:00 that there would be at least two opening bands to see, but Rachel and I just ended up sitting around the venue for an hour and a half while we watched people drink and waited. Bleh.

The recording turned out nice for a stealth job. No glitches that I’ve found so far and a good sound field. It’s a little low since I didn’t amplify it at all in Audition, but Foobar’s ReplayGain takes care of that for the most part. Enjoy.

TV On The Radio – 2006-05-05 The Showbox – Seattle, WA
Download: tvotr2006-05-05.at943.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: tvotr2006-05-05sample.mp3

EDIT: Someone who saw the setlist made two corrections to my original setlist. Tracks 9 and 10 are Wolf Like Me and Let The Devil In instead of the original songs I had listed (so make sure you re-tag with the correct names in the updated info file). I guessed based on the titles from the album leak but apparently some of the titles aren’t correct. Thanks to Jerry for the corrections.

This band has been slept on so hard it’s ridiculous. They put on such a great show and their music is so powerful and full of energy that it amazes me that they don’t sell out clubs every time they play. Also, Benjamin Weikel is far and away the most entertaining drummer to watch play. He’s like a muppet playing drums. Mouth hanging open in a huge smile. Eyes all huge and wide. You can tell he’s genuinely excited to be playing the songs.

Crystal Skulls – 2006-04-28 The Paradox Theater – Seattle, WA
Download: cs2006-04-28.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: cs2006-04-28sample.mp3

The Helio Sequence – 2006-04-28 The Paradox Theater – Seattle, WA
Download: hs2006-04-28.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: hs2006-04-28sample.mp3”

Silversun Pickups – 2006-04-28 The Paradox Theater – Seattle, WA
Download: ssp2006-04-28.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: ssp2006-04-28sample.mp3

Second night in a row taping The Paramount, but this time on the main floor instead of the balcony. The real danger of taping from the main floor is making sure you don’t get caught under the huge overhang of the balcony. There is probably about 30 feet of space from the lip of the stage to the edge of the overhang which kinda sucks if the show is sold out… I imagine the sound is super muddy back there when it bounces all over the place.

So anyhow, Massive Attack played The Paramount last night and I was there, the lonely stealth taper. I like going to shows by myself because if I feel like leaving early I can do that without feeling bad for anyone else, but it sucks because you don’t have anyone to talk to. All you do is stand around and stare at a few hundred douche bags and overhear their inane blathering. You desperately want to have your own inane blather-fest, but you have no one with which to do that. Le sigh.

Regardless, the show was really good. I wouldn’t have gone if a buddy of mine hadn’t asked me to go and tape it for him, but I’m glad that I did. I can’t say I’m a real huge follower of the band but I’ve heard most of their stuff over the years at least once. I was curious to see how they would do a live show given that the genre they pretty much invented (trip hop) is based on samples and synths. To counter my skepticism, the band produced two live drum kits, a bassist, an electric guitarist, and a keyboard player. The sound was huge and impressive. It sounded just like the albums but it didn’t feel like you were listening to karaoke. And without further ado, I give you Massive Attack live in Seattle

Massive Attack – 2006-04-26 The Paramount Theatre – Seattle, WA
Download: ma2006-04-26.at943.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: ma2006-04-26sample.mp3

I think there’s a reason I’d never been to The Paramount before. I was always put off by the hugeness of it… it never made sense to me that a rock show should occur in a place with chairs.

Last night, Yeah Yeah Yeahs played The Paramount and I was there. Well, I was in the balcony. Sitting in a chair. Like I was watching tv or something. It was comfortable since I was taping… I could just sit there and watch while I recorded instead of stand up and get a sore neck. I don’t know, it was just kind of weird to see a rock act from a hundred feet away sitting in a padded chair.

As for the performance, it was good. I’d never seen Yeah Yeah Yeahs before for various reasons and even though the venue wasn’t my favorite place to see them, it was a pretty fucking good performance. Go see them if you get the chance.

P.S. Thanks to Jerry for the extra two tickets. I already had my ticket that a friend bought for me, but two friends of mine who really wanted to go didn’t have any. They were most appreciative so you rock.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – 2006-04-25 The Paramount Theatre – Seattle, WA
Download: yyy2006-04-25.at943.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: yyy2006-04-25sample.mp3

Edit: Sorry for the talking in the beginning of Dudley. My buddy Woody was asking me a question about the light projection on stage and he forgot I was recording.

I don’t usually follow artists’ tours outside of my own city but I got motivated and decided to trek to Bellingham to see Mates Of State play for the second time this week. It was a fun trip for me and the ladyfriend as she got to see an old high school friend and I visited a friend who goes to WSU and played Street Fighter with him for a bit.

The Mates played in what is officially dubbed “Bakerview Auditorium” but really it’s a community church center called “Christ The King”. For being a huge room with a modest sound system, the recording turned out pretty good. It’s always nice to record at unusual places like that because the venue staff is usually really helpful with getting mics set up and such (I was offered a spot behind the board to set up my mics). Nobody ever hassles you for taping at venues like these, so it’s nice.

I also ran video because I knew I’d be able to. I’ve never mixed separate audio and video sources together so we’ll see how well I’m able to accomplish authoring my own DVD. If it turns out nice enough, I’ll post the DVD on my site for a limited-time download (or maybe a torrent, not sure)

In the meantime, here is the set from the show. If there’s any demand I’ll post Viva Voce’s opening set as well.

Mates Of State – 2006-04-22 Bakerview Auditorium – Bellingham, WA
Download: mos2006-04-22.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: mos2006-04-22sample.mp3

Went to see The Books at the UW Husky Student Union Building on Friday and all I can say is “Fucking wow”. They were so amazing. So so amazingly impressive and good and everything you would expect from them based on their albums.

I recorded their set (with permission from Nick Zammuto) but he requested that I keep it for personal use and not put it on the Internet. Given that I am a man of my word, I won’t post the recording on my site. I will, however, share the opening band’s set.

P:ANO is a four piece sit-down act consisting of drums, accordian, bass saxaphone, and ukulele. Very mellow, low-key stuff with vocals to accompany in a similar manner. I have a thing with bands that use accordians… it always reminds me of pirate music. Not a good or bad thing, just the way it is.

P:ANO – 2006-04-21 UW HUB – Seattle, WA
Download: p-ano2006-04-21.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: p-ano2006-04-21sample.mp3

Quite a night of family duos. Openers Smoosh (who are sisters) and Viva Voce (who are married) set the stage last night for Mates Of State who remain the most adorable rock band in the history of whatever.

Their label, Barsuk, had a whole film crew at the show so you can imagine my surprise when venue security told me that audio recording was fine. Not only that, but a rep from the label approached me and got my contact information so that he could get a copy of my recording. I’m on my way to big things, folks. You heard it here first.

Anyway, here is Mates Of State’s set.

Mates Of State – 2006-04-20 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: mos2006-04-20.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: mos2006-04-20sample.mp3

Well this was a first. Last night, for the first time ever, I ran into another taper at a show. Unfortunately for him, though, his JB3 batteries weren’t charged enough to be able to tape the set so he tore down once this was evident. It’s probably for the best since he showed up to the show pretty drunk and was having a fair amount of difficulty setting up his mics. He was a nice guy and I helped him out as best I could, though there were a few times I feared that he was going to drop his mics to the floor and ruin his gear… he was pretty drunk.

As far as the Quasi show, there isn’t much to say that hasn’t been said about those two. They’re such an amazing band. Sam Coomes has developed a great sense of the stage and Janet Weiss’ drumming is some of the best you’ll hear regardless of gender. Openers were The Can’t See and Ex-Girl. I recorded both sets and if there is any sort of demand, I can post those as well.

For the time being, here is Quasi’s set.

Quasi 2006-04-15 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: quasi2006 -04-15.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: quasi2006-04-15sample.mp3