Show Review: METZ and more at The Echo (by Jake Cotler)

 

DAYUM.  That is how I will start this recant of the Metz show that I caught at The Echo in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.  

I wanted to see if the post-CMJ-hype was legit.  Since Echo Park is kind of a hike for me I brought my geologist friend as a failsafe plan...because having a geologist around will always lighten the mood.  As it turned out, I did not need him. 

We arrived in the middle of the Batwings Catwings set.  The room was semi-full, semi-enthused.  The lead singer reminded me of Tia Carrere in Wayne’s World.  Wayne’s chick who sings in the band…if you don’t know, you are probably way young, so stream that on a I-Pad and learn something.  

They were pretty tight.  Home-girl had edge.  She screamed hard, and bounced around with affect.  I give it a punk-rock salute.  The geologist dug it too, and he’s an OG punker.  He said “she’s hot,” which meant he dug it.

            So then Metz came on, and the music-blog reading-crowd came out of the woodwork, or rather, in from the smoking porch where they just butted their American Spirits.  Anyways, holy-yell-a-lot, Metz was legit.  

We had speculated earlier in the night on whether or not there would be a mosh-pit.  I assumed given the geographical location that there might be a rocking back and forth from one leg to another-pit, but I was wrong.  Metz handles biznass.   

            The drummer was ridiculously good.  I mean, dude was loud, dude was, BANG BANG BANG, and dude was sick.  It was a strong musical backbone, made your head shake.  Then on top of that you’ve got quick-ass guitar blended with quick-ass bass, and a lead singer who is sweating buckets and screaming his face off, jumping on the drums and like I said, dayum! 

It was a twenty-five, thirty minute set, quick and raging, like the tunes.  I figured if they played any longer the singer might have passed out.  Which is to say, I dug every minute of it.    

Show review by Jake Cotler via @jaminthevan

Pacific Festival Review

Labor Day weekend - a few SUPERGOOD supporters attended Pacific Festival 2012: The Dunes, featuring Mayer Hawthorne, Poolside, Bag Raiders, Capital Cities and many more to vibe out at the Newport Beach Marina.   Zach Siegel-Eisman of Before The Bigs brings us his coverage below....

Arriving shortly after 2pm, we snagged media passes and briefly saw Tijuana Panthers rock out before moving onto the Identity Village, which was a dance party on the sand that DJ Metric was getting started.   I don't remember much of DJ Metric's set as we snuck into the VIP area and, after getting as many free drinks before security told us to leave, we were on to the next act.  (Note to self - get VIP pass next year)

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Stream and download DJ Metric's latest sound cloud mix below.

After Metric, we rushed to the other end of the festival grounds to catch up-and-coming indie/alternative pop band Wildcat! Wildcat!.  However when we got there, we found that the acts from the Camm Stage were running behind schedule so we went to the Main stage to see American Royalty.

Los Angeles alternative electronic indie rock band American Royalty has been bubbling on the scene for a hot minute, as Filter Magazine has used the lead singer to DJ many of their parties and the band just finished a residency at The Echo earlier this year.  Their mp3's do not give their live music justice as they straight up jam out with various sounds that are easy to get down and dance to.   I didn't leave their set remembering any of their songs but left feeling satisfied with how they organically blended on stage, with the lead singer switching from keyboard to guitar and all three members of the band singing and injecting emotion into their songs.

My favorite song because of it's more electronic mixed with rock appeal is "Lately". Stream that below.

Catching up to Camm Stage - we indulged in the last three songs from Wildcat! Wildcat!. 
I love how they have two vocalists, the most interesting instrumentals and great stage attitude.  They continue to remind me of MGMT before MGMT went mainstream.  They were one of my favorites during the day - stream and download "Mr. Quiche" and "The Chief".

We meandered by Fool's Gold's set a couple times and I enjoyed the chill alternative beach pop vibes.   After checking out their songs afterwards, the song I most remember enjoying from the festival was "Surprise Hotel", which has such soothing chill instrumentals. Watch the video for it below.

Next I saw Mr. Little Jeans perform. This was the only disappointment of the day.   The Swedish artist performs mostly slow pop songs that generally don't get people dancing and leave you aching for something more upbeat.  After hearing two songs including her hit "Runaway", I left to grab a bite to eat. Watch the video to "Runaway" below.

Returning to Camm Stage we found the daytime disco vibes of Tropicool DJing. Although there was only about 25-50 people in the area, people were still dancing or bobbing their head while finding a place in the shade to lay down. Stream Tropicool's latest mix below.

Since Poolside began before Capital Cities, we opted to catch  the greatest daytime disco act jam out. On record, Poolside is composed of the duo of Filip Nikolic and Jeffrey Paradise.  In a live setting the band is a four piece with Nikolic on lead vocals and bass and Paradise on electronics, and the duo is joined by drummer and percussionist Jason Pipkin and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gold.

My first introduction to Poolside was at last year's Pacific Festival, in which they DJed before Fred Falke on one of the smaller stages. This year Poolside performed with their full band on the main stage and I couldn't have been happier. Witnessing them as a full band just enhanced the whole experience by creating this groovy dance vibe that anybody can enjoy. They were one of the three best acts I saw at Pacific Festival and can't wait to see them perform next! Since I love all the music from Poolside, here's 9 tracks to stream and mostly download from them. Sit back and relax.

We dipped on Poolside's set early so we could catch the last couple songs from Capital Cities, one of our favorite genre-blending dual vocal bands ever. While I didn't get to catch "Kangaroo Court," we did hear "Safe and Sound" and had the pleasure of hearing a horn solo too.  Everybody was dancing and singing along and they were one of my favorites of the day with their electro pop rock dance vibes. Stream "Safe and Sound" below.

In between destinations - we briefly caught Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.  Hearing them live was great. Although it was brief, I enjoyed everything I heard and recommend catching them live as they sound a little more natural and than listening to their song releases. Watch their latest video, "Simple Girl" below.

We arrived to Bag Raiders set and immediately noticed it was overcrowded with cigarette-smoking bros and couples that were complaining about a music festival on a beach!  I was still pumped to see their DJ set but completely turned off by the Newport Beach locals, who all smoked cigarette's and were distracted by their phones or significant other to enjoy the music.   They need to wake up and hear these beats.   Stream the latest mix from Bag Raiders below.

Post Bag Raiders we caught several songs from Steed Lord. Before Pacific Festival, I thought Steed Lord was a couple DJs who created electro house vibes and didn't know it was Steed Lord until after the festival. Upon hearing this synth pop trio (which won my award for best dressed), I've become a huge fan! Steed Lord consists of two DJs (Demo and Mega) and one beautiful lead vocalist (Cali, pictured above). Their blend of electro pop instrumentals with vocals from Cali is spectacular. If you like Empire of the Sun but want a female vocalist, Steed Lord has that kind of vibe but less rock and more dance. Listen to "B4 U Walk Out Of My Life (Steed Lord Diva Edit)" and "Hear Me Now" below.

After Steed Lord, we then caught Sneaky Sound System. I thought Steed Lord was amazing and then once I heard Sneaky Sound System, I knew I redefined what amazing meant! While Steed Lord has a great vibe, Sneaky Sound System was even better; very catchy and easy to sing along to. My favorite was "We Love" which will be on commercials and anywhere else it can get placed if it hasn't already. Watch "We Love" below.

From the catchy performance of Sneaky Sound System it was time from the neo-soul crooning of headliner Mayer Hawthorne and The County. He has such a clean-cut act with the band choreographed dancing and a great set-up with the lighting experience as well. Mayer Hawthorne has this cool personality that reminds me of Justin Timberlake when he does on-air interviews. Overall Mayer Hawthorne didn't disappoint but if you are going to see him, go with somebody you want to hook up with as he has some sweet baby-making vibes that would be a perfect fit if you're on a date. Watch the video to my favorite song below.

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The above review was from Zach S-E of BeforeBigs.com. Follow @BeforeBigs and instagram for more photos from Pacific Festival.

They Are The Legendary Roots Crew...

Saturday night's Roots concert at House of Blues was exactly what I needed - a smack in the face from a veteran band.

While festival season brought out many great acts, including The Roots themselves, I felt it rarely elicited straight magic from those veteran touring artists when they hit the massive stage. The metaphorical torch of rocking the crowd felt like it had been passed to the groundswell of rising talent that go bananas when they see capacities they previously thought unattainable - the way Childish Gambino did at Bonnaroo or The Stone Foxes did at Outside Lands Festival. Well, this Saturday, The Roots reclaimed the throne as the best live show in town...any town.

The fearsome Fallon house band executed Roots classics, a few new joints and a healthy mix of covers to an over capacity crowd at the Sunset Strip's The House of Blues. Entering around 9:45, I caught a handful of tracks off of "How I Got Over" - including the end of the title track and "Fire" (normally accompanied by John Legend) on ground level where you could barely find place to stand. Apparently I missed Thought @ Work - but Thought's buttery poetic verses over the new material clearly announced he was on his illa-fifth adrenaline.

If there was any question whether they were ready - their drop of the now infamous "Hear I Come" let you know America's favorite house band from Philly via NYC had indeed come. The eruption from the floor (and the sheer volume of people) resulted in my retreat to the balcony - which proved brilliant. The view from up top showcased a crowd packed so close it was like they were trying to get a better smell of the Roots' sweat.

Focusing on a lot of Things Fall Apart and Do You Want More?!? material for a good section of the show - from sexy bass on The Next Movement and beautiful melodies on Step Into The Realm and You Got Me to the always smooth Proceed and an amaze-balls version of Mellow My Man - it felt like it was a Roots show from a decade earlier. The bass was often so in the pocket, if you shut your eyes, you may have even thought that Hubbard was still slapping licks....except that Tuba Gooding Jr. wasn't in the band back then and his bass drone was an undeniable highlight.

Doing 360 degree rotations and two stepping all over stage, Tuba really rocked the crowd with showmanship. Him and Captain Kirk Douglas traded stage theatrics to really entertain the packed house (as well as themselves).

They may have been the most emphatic performers on stage - although they got a challenge from Childish Gambino who made a surprise appearance during an interlude after the Mellow My Man jam. Gambino played three songs with his own band, which, at times, included ?uestlove on percussion. He came out to 'Freaks and Geeks' - one of his most bragadocious but nonetheless dope releases, but he closed with "Bonfire" the overnight heater that had seen its real introduction at a Paris show and on Hot 97 just earlier that week. The actor better known as Donald Glover certainly made the most of his appearance only raising my expectations for his next show and his hopefully coming soon album on Glassnote.

Bonfire by Childish Gambino

Gambino quickly relented the mic to the master, Mr. Trotter, or Black Thought, who shortly after the interlude orchestrated a series of amazing rock covers - from "Sweet Child O Mine" to Gil Scott Heron's "The Bottle." The Roots continued their stage show - with Kamaal, James Poyser and the new bassist all joining the choreographed dances - and by shows end - even Frankie Knuckles was in the dancing mix.

Myself nor the rest of the crowd wanted the show to to be over. Attendees endured to the bitter end and then hung around stage hoping to get just a second more and then to get whatever drum sticks or other items The Roots were willing to hand out (?uestlove gave away the head on one of his drums). Some even retreated to The Foundation Room where Poyser, Knuckles, Tuba Gooding Jr. and Gambino could all be found mingling with concert goers. Everyone left satisfied because it was easily the best concert House of Blues has hosted all year...