Sunday, March 29, 2009
Glasvegas Take Atlanta, America
Anyone who knows me, or has read my blog in the past 6 months, knows that I am crazy about Glasvegas. You may remember me posting about them here or here or here or here or here. Again, Glasvegas are from Glasgow, Scotland (Glasgow + Las Vegas = Glasvegas) and are currently my favorite band in the world. Or as my brother in law would say it – “they are my favorite band in the world - flat out”.
Last week we went down to Atlanta to see them at The Loft. The Loft is a pretty cool split level venue, where three separate bars are stacked on top of one another, allowing three distinct bands to play simultaneously – while we were there for Glasvegas, Josh Ritter and Gomez were also playing – it would be great if you could buy a split ticket, because I would pay to see all three of them. Anyway, The Loft is very small and intimate, allowing you to be within eye contact with whomever is on stage from anywhere in the place. Awesome.
The Atlanta show was only the third show of the tour – they have played NYC several times, opening for Echo & the Bunnymen for their epic Ocean Rain gigs at Radio City Music Hall, but this is only their third “solo” show as a headliner in the US. Glasvegas had just come off their triumphant performance at the prestigious and all important SXSW gigs, where they were voted the best live performance of the entire festival. Pretty hefty accolades all around. I’ve watched them on YouTube a million times (and seen their power live), but never been witness to them in person – needless to say I was pretty excited.
After half paying attention to opener Ida Maria (more on them later) we made our way up to the front of the stage. The lights went black, and the familiar sounds of the “Where The Streets Have No Name”-ish organ filled the space. Lights flashed all around, and the crowd lit up as Glasvegas walked on stage – all in black, James Allen wearing his now trademark Wayfarers, as cool as cool gets.
The opening chords of “Geraldine” tore through the space, and off we went, with the roar of a jet plane we collectively took off. With beauty and ferocity they ripped through most of their one and only debut, in a
set list that went:
Geraldine
Lonesome Swan
It’s My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry
Polmont On My Mind
F U It’s Over
SAD Light
Ice Cream Van
Flowers And Football Tops
Go Square Go
Encore:
Please Come Back Home
Daddy’s Gone
The entire set was fantastic, a few highlights: SAD Light, which James took his guitar off and sang with abandon, veins bulging out of his neck, Boss-style; album throwaway Ice Cream Van became transformed live into a U2-sized epic, full of huge crescendos and whisper-to-a-scream theatrics; Flowers and Football Tops was exactly the stadium worthy anthem I expected it to be; the rush of singing with the crowd on Go Square Go; the swell of tears welling up in my eyes as James and Rab alone under blue lights for encore Please Come Back Home; and finally the cathartic wave of closer Daddy’s Gone. So, so many highlights for a set of only 11 songs.
For a band with only one album and EP, this was a heroic set – nearly every song would serve as an excellent encore. The performances from the band were incendiary from the moment they took the stage. Rab (lead guitar) and Paul (bass) were like two bulls in a ring, stomping towards each other, heads down, guitar necks swinging. Drummer Caroline stands up the entire show, pounding the toms with the force of a sledgehammer, while James fronts the whole thing like a true frontman, all Cash meets Strummer meets Springsteen meets Bono intensity. This band means it - every note, every word is delivered like their lives depend on it.
When the set ended James shook the hand of every guy and kissed every girl in the front row. It was a sincere gesture from a band that truly appreciated the support of its fans. Shortly after the set ended, we met Caroline at the merchandise table, who posed for a picture and couldn’t be nicer to us, thanking us for coming multiple times. We wound up outside, hanging out with a bunch of very, very cool Scottish and English people who had flown to America to see Glasvegas in a small venue, as in the UK they couldn’t see them anywhere under an 8,000 person arena. After waiting for a time, the lead singer of Ida Maria came out, and the pair of Scottish guys rushed after her, asking if she would pose for a picture. She snarled at them, turned up her nose and walked off. Wow, OK, I’m going to say it outright – Ida Maria sucks.
Suddenly Paul (the bass player) popped out the side door, so cool in his Beatle-boots and Elvis-pompadour. He was so friendly and wound up standing out on the sidewalk and talking to us for over an hour. I mentioned to him that I thought James looks like Ian McCulloch from Echo & The Bunnymen, and he told me that he had never thought of that, but that seeing the Bunnymen at SXSW was the highlight of his SXSW experience. So awesome.
A while later Rab came out, a big, hulking Scotsmen. Again, so friendly and disarmingly nice. But James was the best – so effortlessly charismatic. He came down and hung out with all of us, thanking us sincerely for coming, telling me he’s going away to write demos later in the year, talking about how odd it is to see an audience of Americans singing Daddy’s Gone in unison. After hanging out for a while, the tour manager came over to give him the hook, dragging him away. Before leaving he gave each of us a hug, kissed my wife’s cheek, and off he went into the night. It was one of the best concert experiences I’ve ever had. I loved this band before, but now I feel like I know them, like I am even more connected to the music. They have my eternal loyalty. Enjoy the live vids, as you can hear me singing my head off in the background of them! Buy the record, you won’t be sorry.
PS - they are on Jimmy Fallon tomorrow, Monday the 30th. Check them out.
Last week we went down to Atlanta to see them at The Loft. The Loft is a pretty cool split level venue, where three separate bars are stacked on top of one another, allowing three distinct bands to play simultaneously – while we were there for Glasvegas, Josh Ritter and Gomez were also playing – it would be great if you could buy a split ticket, because I would pay to see all three of them. Anyway, The Loft is very small and intimate, allowing you to be within eye contact with whomever is on stage from anywhere in the place. Awesome.
The Atlanta show was only the third show of the tour – they have played NYC several times, opening for Echo & the Bunnymen for their epic Ocean Rain gigs at Radio City Music Hall, but this is only their third “solo” show as a headliner in the US. Glasvegas had just come off their triumphant performance at the prestigious and all important SXSW gigs, where they were voted the best live performance of the entire festival. Pretty hefty accolades all around. I’ve watched them on YouTube a million times (and seen their power live), but never been witness to them in person – needless to say I was pretty excited.
After half paying attention to opener Ida Maria (more on them later) we made our way up to the front of the stage. The lights went black, and the familiar sounds of the “Where The Streets Have No Name”-ish organ filled the space. Lights flashed all around, and the crowd lit up as Glasvegas walked on stage – all in black, James Allen wearing his now trademark Wayfarers, as cool as cool gets.
The opening chords of “Geraldine” tore through the space, and off we went, with the roar of a jet plane we collectively took off. With beauty and ferocity they ripped through most of their one and only debut, in a
set list that went:Geraldine
Lonesome Swan
It’s My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry
Polmont On My Mind
F U It’s Over
SAD Light
Ice Cream Van
Flowers And Football Tops
Go Square Go
Encore:
Please Come Back Home
Daddy’s Gone
The entire set was fantastic, a few highlights: SAD Light, which James took his guitar off and sang with abandon, veins bulging out of his neck, Boss-style; album throwaway Ice Cream Van became transformed live into a U2-sized epic, full of huge crescendos and whisper-to-a-scream theatrics; Flowers and Football Tops was exactly the stadium worthy anthem I expected it to be; the rush of singing with the crowd on Go Square Go; the swell of tears welling up in my eyes as James and Rab alone under blue lights for encore Please Come Back Home; and finally the cathartic wave of closer Daddy’s Gone. So, so many highlights for a set of only 11 songs.
For a band with only one album and EP, this was a heroic set – nearly every song would serve as an excellent encore. The performances from the band were incendiary from the moment they took the stage. Rab (lead guitar) and Paul (bass) were like two bulls in a ring, stomping towards each other, heads down, guitar necks swinging. Drummer Caroline stands up the entire show, pounding the toms with the force of a sledgehammer, while James fronts the whole thing like a true frontman, all Cash meets Strummer meets Springsteen meets Bono intensity. This band means it - every note, every word is delivered like their lives depend on it.
When the set ended James shook the hand of every guy and kissed every girl in the front row. It was a sincere gesture from a band that truly appreciated the support of its fans. Shortly after the set ended, we met Caroline at the merchandise table, who posed for a picture and couldn’t be nicer to us, thanking us for coming multiple times. We wound up outside, hanging out with a bunch of very, very cool Scottish and English people who had flown to America to see Glasvegas in a small venue, as in the UK they couldn’t see them anywhere under an 8,000 person arena. After waiting for a time, the lead singer of Ida Maria came out, and the pair of Scottish guys rushed after her, asking if she would pose for a picture. She snarled at them, turned up her nose and walked off. Wow, OK, I’m going to say it outright – Ida Maria sucks.
Suddenly Paul (the bass player) popped out the side door, so cool in his Beatle-boots and Elvis-pompadour. He was so friendly and wound up standing out on the sidewalk and talking to us for over an hour. I mentioned to him that I thought James looks like Ian McCulloch from Echo & The Bunnymen, and he told me that he had never thought of that, but that seeing the Bunnymen at SXSW was the highlight of his SXSW experience. So awesome.
A while later Rab came out, a big, hulking Scotsmen. Again, so friendly and disarmingly nice. But James was the best – so effortlessly charismatic. He came down and hung out with all of us, thanking us sincerely for coming, telling me he’s going away to write demos later in the year, talking about how odd it is to see an audience of Americans singing Daddy’s Gone in unison. After hanging out for a while, the tour manager came over to give him the hook, dragging him away. Before leaving he gave each of us a hug, kissed my wife’s cheek, and off he went into the night. It was one of the best concert experiences I’ve ever had. I loved this band before, but now I feel like I know them, like I am even more connected to the music. They have my eternal loyalty. Enjoy the live vids, as you can hear me singing my head off in the background of them! Buy the record, you won’t be sorry.
PS - they are on Jimmy Fallon tomorrow, Monday the 30th. Check them out.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The Project Lodge - Good Art For Good People
One of the best independent gallery's in Madison, WI is The Project Lodge. As the title suggests, this is a good gallery operated by good people. My friend Melanie Kehoss and I had a show there last year, and the space was wonderful. Check it out when you have the chance.
Vandiver Gallery Artist Lecture Monday
Next Monday at 5:00 there will be an artist lecture by myself, Jo Carol Mitchell-Rogers, Nathan Cox, and many others. The lecture will be held in the Vandiver Gallery, (in the library) at Anderson University. Come one come all!
UPDATED: Satisfaction Town Exhibition/SGC Chicago
The Satisfaction Town multi-media exhibition is taking place this weekend in Chicago, in conjunction with SGC (Southern Graphics Conference). I have a video piece (Intervention) in the show, as do many of my past friends and colleagues. Here's the breakdown:
Satisfaction Town Location: Columbia College, Conaway Center, 1104 South Wabash Ave, ground floor Date: Friday, March 27 Time: 5 - 8 pm
Satisfaction Town consists of the new breed of printmakers, artists, musicians, performers, poets, activists, and makers. We plan to create an interactive collaborative print environment with a parade of dimensional and flat prints. Traditionally in museum and gallery settings, art is put on a pedestal or framed under glass, removing it from the audience. Our approach for Satisfaction Town will be interactive. We will bring the art directly to the viewer, to distance the work from this hierarchical standard. We will create an active live print space with collaborative teams handing off prints to each other and to audience members.
Featuring: Midwest Pressed (Tim Dooley/Aaron Wilson), Howling Print Studio (Dennis McNett), Peripheral Media Projects, Actual Size Artworks (Gail Simpson/Aristotle Georgiades), Satan's Camaro (Lenore Thomas/Justin Strom), The Amazing Hancock Brothers, Derrick Buisch (202c), Vitamin DD girl on girl collaboration (Jess Wilson, Erin Lee Jones, Tara Mathison, Kassie Teng and Jenny San Martin), The Scavengers (Jason Ruhl/Amy Newell), Fresh Hot Press, Mess Hall Press, Bikini Press International, Bastards of Print Society VS. Dirty Printmakers of America (organized by: Jon Goebel, Brandon Gardner, Meghan O”Connor, Nick Alley), Reptile Worship, beskoniste', Marwin Begaye, Curtis Jones, Nick Alley, Dusty Herbig, Erin O'Connor, Michael Rae/Joseph Velasquez, Joe Leroux, Imin Yeh, David Raine, Amze Emmons, David Teng Olsen, Emerson Stone III, Tim Speaker, Tyanna Buie, Mike McMann, Chris daCRe™, Mark Hosford, Jonas Angelet, Morgan Sims, Steven Hixon, Amanda Knowles, Tom Jones, Keith Lemley, Matt Bindert, Chinn Wang, Justin Maes, Alex Pena, Lloyd W. Patterson Jr. and selected prints by The Frans Masereel Centrum Belgium.
Lots more information can be found here and here. Wish I could be there for it, but I hear that it's going great. I would love to see what my piece looked like projected on the side of a warehouse - that would be amazing. I just could not get away right now....ugh.
UPDATE: HERE IS A LINK TO PICS FROM THE EVENT.
Satisfaction Town Location: Columbia College, Conaway Center, 1104 South Wabash Ave, ground floor Date: Friday, March 27 Time: 5 - 8 pm
Satisfaction Town consists of the new breed of printmakers, artists, musicians, performers, poets, activists, and makers. We plan to create an interactive collaborative print environment with a parade of dimensional and flat prints. Traditionally in museum and gallery settings, art is put on a pedestal or framed under glass, removing it from the audience. Our approach for Satisfaction Town will be interactive. We will bring the art directly to the viewer, to distance the work from this hierarchical standard. We will create an active live print space with collaborative teams handing off prints to each other and to audience members.
Featuring: Midwest Pressed (Tim Dooley/Aaron Wilson), Howling Print Studio (Dennis McNett), Peripheral Media Projects, Actual Size Artworks (Gail Simpson/Aristotle Georgiades), Satan's Camaro (Lenore Thomas/Justin Strom), The Amazing Hancock Brothers, Derrick Buisch (202c), Vitamin DD girl on girl collaboration (Jess Wilson, Erin Lee Jones, Tara Mathison, Kassie Teng and Jenny San Martin), The Scavengers (Jason Ruhl/Amy Newell), Fresh Hot Press, Mess Hall Press, Bikini Press International, Bastards of Print Society VS. Dirty Printmakers of America (organized by: Jon Goebel, Brandon Gardner, Meghan O”Connor, Nick Alley), Reptile Worship, beskoniste', Marwin Begaye, Curtis Jones, Nick Alley, Dusty Herbig, Erin O'Connor, Michael Rae/Joseph Velasquez, Joe Leroux, Imin Yeh, David Raine, Amze Emmons, David Teng Olsen, Emerson Stone III, Tim Speaker, Tyanna Buie, Mike McMann, Chris daCRe™, Mark Hosford, Jonas Angelet, Morgan Sims, Steven Hixon, Amanda Knowles, Tom Jones, Keith Lemley, Matt Bindert, Chinn Wang, Justin Maes, Alex Pena, Lloyd W. Patterson Jr. and selected prints by The Frans Masereel Centrum Belgium.
Lots more information can be found here and here. Wish I could be there for it, but I hear that it's going great. I would love to see what my piece looked like projected on the side of a warehouse - that would be amazing. I just could not get away right now....ugh.
UPDATE: HERE IS A LINK TO PICS FROM THE EVENT.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Jacques Auriac: Genius
Saw this stuff over at the awesome Grain Edit and was totally knocked out. Head over there and check it out here.
Where The Wild Things Are Trailer Is WONDERFUL
When I was young, my favorite book in the whole world was Where The Wild Things Are. Now they made a movie, which at first freaked me out, but once I saw the name Spike Jonze and watched the soundtrack featuring Arcade Fire, I am nothing but excited. Seriously, watch it, it looks amazing.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Card Observer Is A Wealth of Informaton
The site Card Observer is so inspirational for designers - there are dozens of the most interesting and beautiful business card/identity designs to peruse. Check them out here.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Pepsi Rebrand: Not So Much
Pepsi recently spent 1.2 billion dollars to have a complete rebrand. However, there was a critical and consumer backlash against the redo, and Pepsi have decided to take not just a step backward, but a huge step back - they now are using their "retro" logo. The whole thing is kind of sad. Anyway, here it is. Take a look at their site for more information.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Detroit's Beautiful Decline
As many of you already know, I'm crazy about Detroit. Time Magazine just featured a photo essay about Detroit by two French artists. Check out the small gallery here, it's beautiful. Even more on their website here. From the Marchand & Meffre website concerning the Ruins of Detroit project:
At the beginning of the 20th Century, the city of Detroit
developed rapidly thanks to the automobile industry.
Until the 50's, its population rose to almost 2 million people.
Detroit was the 4th most important city in the United States.
It was the dazzling symbol of the American Dream City with its monumental skyscrapers and fancy neighborhoods.
Increasing of segregation and deindustrialization caused violent riots in 1967. The white middle-class exodus from the city accelerated and the suburbs grew. Firms and factories began to close or move to lower-wage states. Slowly, but inexorably downtown high-rise buildings emptied.
Since the 50's, "Motor City" lost more than half of its population.
Nowadays, its splendid decaying monuments are, no less than the Pyramids of Egypt, the Coliseum of Rome, or the Acropolis in Athens, remnants of the passing of a great civilization.
developed rapidly thanks to the automobile industry.
Until the 50's, its population rose to almost 2 million people.
Detroit was the 4th most important city in the United States.
It was the dazzling symbol of the American Dream City with its monumental skyscrapers and fancy neighborhoods.
Increasing of segregation and deindustrialization caused violent riots in 1967. The white middle-class exodus from the city accelerated and the suburbs grew. Firms and factories began to close or move to lower-wage states. Slowly, but inexorably downtown high-rise buildings emptied.
Since the 50's, "Motor City" lost more than half of its population.
Nowadays, its splendid decaying monuments are, no less than the Pyramids of Egypt, the Coliseum of Rome, or the Acropolis in Athens, remnants of the passing of a great civilization.
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