June 11, 2013: Of Monsters and Men

Concert Details:

Bands: Of Monsters and Men, Haim
Location: Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

1. Dirty Paws
2. From Finner
3. Slow and Steady
4. Mountain Sound
5. Your Bones
6. Love Love Love
7. King and Lionheart
8. Beneath My Bed
9. Lakehouse
10. Little Talks
11. Six Weeks

Encore:

   12. Numb Bears

   13. Skeletons (Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover)

   14. Yellow Light

Of Monsters and Men is an Icelandic based folk band based who sings in English and whose popularity has grown in the same vain with The Lumineers and Mumford and Sons, although Of Monsters and Men is not as popular, but they are supremely more talented and at least compared with The Lumineers are much better live band.  I think a large part of what makes them the better band is Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, the female singer.  My love for them might be partly biased by her, as I am a huge fan of the dynamic of dueling male and female singers, but the harmony of the voices of the her and the other lead singer, Ragnar Þórhallsson, is nothing short of perfect.

The band opened quietly with the opening of Dirty Paws behind a screen (although I was to the side so I could see behind it) and as the song peaked about a minute in, the screen dropped and the crowd roared.

They put on a dynamic set, running through their only album so far and throwing in a Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover, possibly to extend their set.  There are two problems with a band this new playing a venue this big as the headliner: first, they may not have enough songs to really be able to run through a long enough show to sustain, and second they may not be ready to be able to handle a crowd this big.  Of Monsters and Men were able to deal with both of their problems by putting on a thoroughly dynamic and excitable show.

 Never once did the show let up and their dynamically energetic playing was able to carry them through the whole show and leave us wishing they had more songs to play.

At the end of the show the band released confetti and then a rain of foam (seen below) ending the show in a hail of joy and sending us on the way in a wonderful haze.  They are a band that I intend to see again if I get the chance, and I think they are the type of band that will hopefully grow and as they add more and more music to their arsenal hopefully they will add more and more to their show.

May 25, 2013: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Concert Details:

Bands: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Location: Beacon Theater, New York, NY

1. So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star (The Byrds cover)
2. Love is a Long Road
3. Listen to Her Heart
4. Baby, Please Don't Go (Big Joe Williams)
5. The Damage You've Done
6. Takin' My Time
7. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone (Paul Revere and the the Raiders cover)
8.  A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)
9. Saving Grace
10. I'd Like to Love YOu Baby (J.J. Cale cover)
11. Tweeter and the Monkey Man (Traveling Wilburys cover)
12. Rebels
13. Two Gunslingers
14. Wildflowers
15. Image of Me (Wayne Kemp cover)
16. Friend of the Devil (Grateful Dead cover)
17. Melinda
18. I Should Have Known It
19. Refugee
20. Runnin' Down a Dream

Encore:

   21. You Wreck Me

   22. American Girl

How does one exactly describe Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  Maybe only one word is needed, magnificent.  But the words splendid, enticing, charismatic and energetic could be attached to Tom Petty or any member of his legendary band, especially Mike Campbell, the lead guitarist.

This show was unlike most Tom Petty shows that anyone has seen, perhaps unlike any other Tom Petty show anyone has seen, well outside of the few performed just before and just after.  This show was part of a 5 night stand at the Beacon Theater on Upper Eastside of Manhattan billed as a group of rarities shows, promising that the band would play deep cuts instead of just the singles that one might expect form Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at a festival or on a standard tour such as Free 'Fallin, I Won't Back Down, Last Dance with Marry Jane, and on and on with what can be expected of such an illustrious and long career spanning five decades.  That isn't to say they didn't play some of the hits including Listen to Her Heart, Refugee, Runnin' Down a Dream,  and American Girl.

The focus of the show was clearly the deep cuts, with my personal favorite of the night being Two Gunslingers.  Each song played was wonderful and every moment of the show was fantastic.  As someone who has seen Tom Petty live before, this was such a fantastic show, one of the best performances I have ever seen anywhere, and I wish I could have gone to every show at the Beacon Theater, all of which unsurprisingly sold out almost instantly.

The true highlight of the show although, was not the deep cuts or the singles, but the covers.  The band covered The Byrds, Wayne Kemp, J.J. Kale and even Tom Petty's own supergroup, the Traveling Wilbury's, all to the delight of the crowd.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are just one artist who have not lost a single step over a long career, and continue to perform at an elite level way above everyone else, and someone I will go see over and over again given the chance.

May 18, 2013: Joshua Radin

Concert Details:

Bands: Joshua Radin, My Name is You
Location: The Hamilton, Washington, DC

Every single time i got o The Hamilton I end up loving the opening act and buying their CD and talking to them after their performance.  My Name is You was no exception.  Not only were they the opener, they were also at least part of the back up band for Joshua Radin.

Since that show I have listened to My Name is You probably on average of at least one song a day and I definitely look forward to seeing them again.

As with all singer songwriters I've seen, especially those I've seen at The Hamilton, Joshua Radin put on a phenomenal show.  I took way to long to write this so the specific memories are failing me, but I'll hit on some of the highlights.  Similar to many of the artists I've seen this year Joshua Radin got much of his fame by getting his music out through a TV show, in this case Scrubs.  I personally only know of Joshua Radin because of Scrubs, but have since purchased his albums and like each of them very much.

Unlike most of the singer-songwriters I've seen this year, instead of just playing by himself on stage, he had a decent size backup band, which in this case was comprised of the opening band.

The smallness of the venue also lent itself to one of the most fun parts of the show.   Radin and the guy from My Name Is You stood back from the microphones to sing one song unplugged and un-miced.

Overall, it was a fun show, and I don't regret choosing this one over the other two I could have gone to, well mostly don't regret it.  Either of those could have been equally fun, but that's a chance I take.  Either way, I'll be seeing both of those artists as well as Joshua Radin again within the next month, this time though, he is the opener.