en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal The Last.fm journal for kalsonberry. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2013/05/21/5tvgss_relient_k_concert_review!_-_may_19,_2013 Tue, 21 May 2013 05:16:49 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2013/05/21/5tvgss_relient_k_concert_review!_-_may_19,_2013 Sun 19 May – Relient K, Hellogoodbye, William Beckett, Mike Mains & The Branches

Relient K is my favorite band that I hadn’t yet seen in concert, so it was definitely cool to see them live! I took the subway down to the House of Blues and met my friend at the entrance. We found a good spot by the stairs on the right on the ground floor, and spent most of the concert there, until Relient K came on and everybody moved forward a bit.

The first band to play was Mike Mains & The Branches. Musically they sound pretty similar to Relient K, and I thought they did a pretty good job of getting the crowd involved. I think they were the band with the song “Everything Is Gonna Be Alright”, which is pretty catchy. I also really like their song that goes “and all I ever wanted to be was in your stereo”. I might actually argue that they were the best of the three opening bands.

Next, William Beckett, the singer of the band The Academy Is…, had a solo performance (although he had a computer for playing background guitar and drums). His music was alright, although it seemed more acoustic and not very similar to The Academy Is…’s stuff. He played a bit of “Jumpin’ Jumpin’” by Destiny’s Child, and he had a funny story to go along with playing the first line of “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt. I thought it was actually pretty funny, but my friend found it annoying. :P

I should mention that there was a really tall guy in the front and center of the audience who was rocking out especially to the opening bands. It was really obvious to the rest of the crowd and pretty funny. I also thought it was cool that Matt Thiessen came out and sang a song or two with each of the opening bands.

I was pretty excited to see Hellogoodbye, but overall their performance kind of weirded me out. I thought they were bigger than they actually are, but it didn’t seem like anyone at the concert came just to see them. My music history with Hellogoodbye is that I really liked “Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn” and “Touchdown Turnaround” when I was first getting into music, and I enjoyed hearing “Here (In Your Arms)” on the radio. However, they stuck to their newer stuff for the concert, and other than kind of recognizing “Oh, It Is Love”, I thought it was just ok. During their set they kept making references to bubbles and blowing bubbles, which would have been funnier if I could see the relevance of it. There was also a guy in the audience who kept telling the band to get naked…I couldn’t tell if he was a really big fan of the band or just drunk. It was cool to sing and dance along to “Here (In Your Arms)” which they played last, but even that song sounded kind of weird and not like the version of the song I’m used to hearing. I will always think that “Touchdown Turnaround” is a super catchy and infectious song by them, but I found their performance a bit of a letdown.

Next up finally was Relient K!! :D

Setlist:
Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been
High of ‘75
Mood Rings
In Love With the ‘80s (Pink Tux To The Prom)
Don’t Blink
Flare
Candlelight
The Lining Is Silver
Boomerang
[(William Beckett performed “About A Girl”)]
Motorcycle Drive-by (Third Eye Blind cover)
Forget and Not Slow Down
Sahara
Collapsible Lung
If I Could Take You Home
Pressing On
Sadie Hawkins Dance
Savannah

Encore:
Which to Bury; Us Or the Hatchet?
Holy, Holy, Holy
Be My Escape

Relient K put on a great show! “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been” was great to hear (although I would have preferred to hear it a bit later in the show), and “High of ‘75” is one of my favorites off mmhmm. ‘And I’m sunny with a high of 75, since you took my heavy heart and made it light!’ “Mood Rings” was one of the highlights of the show, I enjoyed drumming out to the chorus and it’s a really funny song. I’ve really been enjoying their new song “Don’t Blink” so it was great to hear that one – I really like the lyric ‘I’ve been terrified of life for way too long!’. I like doing motions to the lyrics of songs, so for “Candlelight” I did the ‘turns those heads around’ thing, and I bowed during the ‘bow to the clapping’ line of “Sadie Hawkins Dance”. :P I think it’s pretty cool that someone proposed to “Candlelight” at the previous night’s concert, and they got a shoutout during this concert. “The Lining Is Silver” is my favorite song off The Birds and The Beesides – ‘Isn’t it nice to know that the lining is silver? Isn’t it nice to know that we’re golden?’ is such a clever lyric!
William Beckett came out and played a song called “About A Girl”. I didn’t know it, but apparently it’s one of The Academy Is…’s more popular songs. Then they did a cover of “Motorcycle Drive-by” by Third Eye Blind – my friend enjoyed this one, although I would have preferred if they played their Justin Bieber cover, haha.
“Forget and Not Slow Down” brought things back to form, and was another highlight for me. It really is the grownup version of “Pressing On”, which is why it kind of amused me that they played “Pressing On” later in their set. ‘I’d rather forget and not slow down, than gather regret for the things I can’t change now!’ “Sahara” is one of the rockiest songs they’ve done, and I think it deserves more credit. “Pressing On” was one of my first favorite songs by them and was another highlight, and of course “Sadie Hawkins Dance” is a classic: “The Sadie Hawkins dance, in my khaki pants, there’s nothing better, oh oh oh!” Although the “oh oh oh” is out of my singing range. :P “Savannah” was a solid one to close out the set.
It was pretty nifty when Thiessen switched from guitar to piano during “Which To Bury; Us Or The Hatchet?”. And I thought it was pretty cool how their sound shifted to a Christian worship sound during “Holy, Holy, Holy” with the Doxology. And of course, “Be My Escape” was the perfect way to end it with everyone in the crowd singing along: “Oh-oh, gotta get out of here, I’m stuck inside this rut that I fell into by escape, oh-oh, gotta get out of here, and I’m begging you, I’m begging you, I’m begging you to be my escape!”

While I definitely thought this concert was awesome, they were a couple things that prevented it from being my favorite concert. I think the biggest factor is that they don’t play anything off of ‘Five Score and Seven Years Ago’ anymore, which is too bad because that album has a lot of my favorites. Also, it’s too bad that only Matt Thiessen and Matt Hoopes of the original band performed. But, I still thought it was great! Thanks for reading!]]> http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2013/05/11/5tl52z_paramore_concert_review_-_may_9,_2013 Sat, 11 May 2013 08:11:06 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2013/05/11/5tl52z_paramore_concert_review_-_may_9,_2013 Thu 9 May – Paramore, Kitten

This was a great concert! While never quite one of my favorites, Paramore is a band that has been a part of my life for the past 6-7 years, so it was definitely cool to see them live.

After eating dinner at McDonald’s and getting a bit lost, my friend and I got to the Chicago Theatre at around 7:50 (the show was supposed to start at 8). The Chicago Theatre was an unusual choice for this kind of show – it’s definitely a formal theater with seats for everyone and very nice architecture. At first my friend and I were sitting in the way back, and I was scared that we would have to sit during Paramore’s performance since everyone was sitting during the opener. However, my friend and I moved up to the lower part of the balcony (on the left side of the stage) when Paramore came on, and it turns out that everyone stood for the performance which was good. This was definitely the biggest concert I’ve been to where people were going to see a single band (I think the capacity was in the 3000s) – I’ve been to Warped, but that’s when a lot of people go to see a lot of different bands. Overall, I was really happy with the crowd at the show – I thought it was really cool that standing next to us was a girl and her mom who were both really into Paramore, but then the dad who was with him didn’t look all that excited about it. :P

Anyway, the show:

The opener was a band called Kitten. On the surface, they seem pretty similar to Paramore: female singer while the rest of the band members are guys, and similar musical sound. The singer brought a lot of energy to the stage, but their music just seemed so-so.

Paramore setlist: (* = I knew the song)
(opening ukulele song)
Misery Business*
For A Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic
Decode*
Now*
Renegade
Pressure*
Ain’t It Fun*
The Only Exception*
Let The Flames Begin
Fast In My Car*
Ignorance*
Looking Up
Whoa
Anklebiters*
That’s What You Get*
Still Into You*

Encore:
Proof
Brick By Boring Brick*

Paramore definitely put on a great performance – Hayley seems like a really nice person, and the band as a whole brings a lot of energy to the stage. The first song was Hayley singing with a ukulele. “Misery Business” was great of course, although I don’t really like it when bands play their biggest song first. I think “Misery Business” should have been saved for last! “Now” was definitely one of my favorites of the night – that song has really grown on me, and it was awesome to sing along especially to the “If there’s a future, we want it Now-ah-ah-ah-ao-ah-ah-ah!” part. “Pressure” was a good song to hear from their first album, although I think it was during this song that I realized Hayley’s female vocals don’t really fit my singing range, haha. It was also around this song that one of the guitarists did a backflip/jump over another guitarist, which was really cool. DEFINITELY one of my favorite concert moments ever was singing along to “Ain’t It Fun”. Hayley introduced this song as being their favorite off their new album, and told us that she needed us to be her choir for this song. The gospel choir part fits this song so well, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being my favorite Paramore song to date. “Don’t go crying to your mother, ‘cause you’re on your own in the real world!”

“The Only Exception” was another highlight, and I got a recording of this song on my phone. Everyone was waving their cell phones in the air for this one, and singing along to all the words. “I’ve got a tight grip on reality but I can’t let go of what’s in front of me here!” “Fast In My Car” was pretty good as well, I remember air drumming along to this song (as well as a couple others). Hayley introduced “Ignorance” with something like “Ignorance is bliss…except not really, it’s just being ignorant”. This is another of my favorites by them so I’m definitely glad they played it. “Whoa” is when the concert lost a bit of energy, in my opinion – one thing that bands can’t do is try to talk to us while the drummer is rocking out. It seemed like a good song, but they seemed to play an extended version of it, and Hayley kept trying to talk to us about it but we couldn’t hear what she was saying. :P

“Anklebiters” was another highlight, it’s one of my favorites off their new album, and they also invited some audience members onto the stage for this one. I also didn’t realize that the message of this song is to be yourself and not pay attention to anklebiters, which is pretty cool. They ended their pre-encore setlist with “That’s What You Get” and “Still Into You”, two of their more well-known songs which are both fun to sing along to. “That’s what you get when you let your heart win!” “I should be over all the butterflies, but I’m into you, I’m into you!” In the encore, they played “Proof” which I haven’t really listened to yet but it’s not bad, and they closed with “Brick By Boring Brick”. It was fun to sing along to “Bada ba bada ba bada bada daba bada ba ba”!

I thought their setlist choices were great, they picked the right songs to play from their new album. Although I think they played more of my favorites by them towards the beginning of their set. I’m still thinking about how awesome “Ain’t It Fun” was…people on the subway ride back were singing that one too! Thanks for the awesome show guys!]]> http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2013/04/04/5sj6hn_new_politics_concert_review_-_apr._3,_2013 Thu, 4 Apr 2013 23:33:18 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2013/04/04/5sj6hn_new_politics_concert_review_-_apr._3,_2013 Wed 3 Apr – New Politics at JBTV

Kind of crazy, but I did actually go to a concert two days in a row this week! Q87.7, Chicago’s alternative station, apparently brings bands quite often to their underground lounge to perform a set, and about 100 people can fit into their studio lounge for their performance. To get into the audience, you have to “like” the event post on the Do312 website, and they select 50 people (assuming the 50 people bring a friend) to be put in the audience (it’s free)! New Politics posted something about it on their Facebook page, and so I entered and found out the day before the show that I won tickets. Apparently Q87.7 has brought some pretty big bands to the Underground Lounge (Imagine Dragons, Of Monsters and Men, etc.), so I’ll have to stay on the lookout!

My friend and I came to the event not really knowing what to expect. When we got to the address, at first we were just standing in the foyer of the building chatting with a few other people that were there…but then the rest of the people came and we headed up to the 4th floor where the lounge is. The lounge is pretty nice – it has tables, bathrooms, free pretzel chips, and posters of a lot of bands that have played in the Underground Lounge before.

I’ve known about New Politics for a couple years – they were recommended to me by Last.fm as a similar artist to Cage The Elephant. I really like “Yeah Yeah Yeah” and “Dignity” off their first album, and their new single “Harlem” which has been getting some radio airplay is also pretty good. Since this was a studio recording I thought the band might have to be a bit tamer, but I was definitely wrong! Their setlist was only supposed to be 6 songs, but they had some technical issues with the recording, so they actually played about 10 songs. Here it is:

Give Me Hope
We Are The Radio
Dignity
[David breakdancing]
Perfect
Perfect [again]
Harlem
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Give Me Hope [again]
We Are The Radio [again]
Just Like Me

New Politics definitely brought a lot of energy to their concert! David (the lead singer) was dancing around the stage, pretending Soren’s guitar was a gun, and jumping on the drums. He also breakdanced in the middle of the crowd, and came into the crowd to sing a few of the songs. Soren also threw his guitar in the air a few times, which kind of scared me but at least he caught it every time. :P In the middle of their set, they sang happy birthday to someone in the crowd, and also talked a bit about their background (they’re Danish but I think they went to international schools there, and they all seem pretty fluent at English!). I also really like how David deals with cameras/videos – he basically picks them up and sings into them so you get a really personal video! Although one time someone’s phone stopped recording while he was singing into it, and we could all see that it wasn’t recording….haha.

Musically, “Dignity” is probably my favorite song by them so I was glad to hear that one. I really like their new song “Perfect”, and it was cool that they had to play it twice because we knew the song a bit better the second time. It was fun to sing along to “Whooooaaa! Whooooaaa! Whoooaaa—oooaaaa-ooooaaa!” The song sounds like one that could make them really famous, so I’m glad that I have it recorded. “Harlem” was fun of course, as was “Yeah Yeah Yeah”. ‘Yeah yeah yeah, what you doin’ to me? Yeah yeah yeah, what you want from me?’ “Just Like Me”, another new song, sounded pretty good as well.

Overall, seeing a band at the Underground Lounge is definitely a cool experience! I’ll be keeping on the lookout for more concerts, although I have make sure not to get too crazy as the quarter is about to start getting busy. :P Thanks for reading!]]> http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2013/04/04/5sj658_the_rocket_summer_concert_review_-_apr._2,_2013 Thu, 4 Apr 2013 23:18:55 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2013/04/04/5sj658_the_rocket_summer_concert_review_-_apr._2,_2013 Tue 2 Apr – The Rocket Summer, Joe Brooks, Royal Teeth, Tidewater

Great concert tonight! I had to go to this one myself and I also had a bit of a headache/was tired, but it was worth it. While I didn’t love “Life Will Write The Words” and “Of Men and Angels” as much as “Do You Feel” and “Hello Good Friend”, The Rocket Summer is still one of my favorite bands and is a band that has been with me for the past 6-7 years. I did see TRS open for Forever The Sickest Kids a few years ago, but it was definitely great to see him headline!

The show started pretty early at 5:45, but I didn’t get there until about 7:15 since I got out of class at 5 and had dinner before heading down. The Subterranean is probably the smallest venue/bar I’ve been to for a concert, but it’s set up pretty well to provide intimate concerts. The stage is on the second floor so you can look directly down on it from the third floor, and the spiral staircase that the performers enter on is pretty cool. The show was pretty packed at the front but it wasn’t sold out, so there seemed to be a lot of space at the back. I spent most of the concert on the right side of the stage towards the front.

Joe Brooks was playing when I got there. He seemed pretty good and I like his accent.

Here’s the setlist, to the best of my ability:
(intro song)
So Much Love
Of Men and Angels
Do You Feel
Save
Circa’ 46 (?)
All I Have
(drum solo)
Around The Clock
Roses [acoustic in the crowd]
Brat Pack
200,000
Revival
Walls

Encore:
(dance party song)
Never Knew
Cross My Heart
Hills and Valleys
So, In This Hour…

Bryce is definitely an amazing performer and musician. It’s awesome how he’s able to switch from guitar to piano to drums so easily! He immediately switched over from guitar on “So Much Love” (which is a classic) to play the piano melody in “Of Men and Angels”. “Save” was a highlight, as was “All I Have”: ‘Our hearts will spill, over you, over me, over this.’ I also loved singing along to ‘I am not into the idea of living without you, and I, I am not into the idea of being without you!” Bryce came out and sang ‘Roses’ in the middle of the crowd, and of course “Brat Pack” was my first favorite song by them: ‘This ain’t where it’s at, my friends will second that!’
Musically, the best part of the concert for me was the ending of the first set. “200,000” is my favorite song off the new album, and I loved holding up 1, 2, and 4 fingers when those lyrics were sang in the chorus. Confetti also rained down when the last chorus was played, which was a nice touch. “Revival” is another highlight from the new album. The “oh oh”s are epic, and the lyrics are very inspiring as well: ‘Let the revival rattle me and open my eyes, open my eyes, it’s so good…’. The lyrics to “Walls” are also very inspiring – the original meaning of the song is about breaking someone out of depression, but I think the lyrics can also be applied to breaking down the barriers between different kinds of people.

In the encore, Bryce took a few requests from the audience. It was great to hear “Never Knew”, another one of my early favorites by him. During “Cross My Heart” there were a couple guys behind me singing very loudly to the lyrics – it didn’t sound amazing, but it definitely added to the passion at the concert! “Hills and Valleys” is another good one, and I still haven’t given “So, In This Hour…” a chance, but it is a nice closer.

Definitely worth it! Thanks for reading!]]> http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2013/03/07/5rnbft_imagine_dragons_acoustic_review_-_mar._5,_2013 Thu, 7 Mar 2013 06:42:33 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2013/03/07/5rnbft_imagine_dragons_acoustic_review_-_mar._5,_2013 Tue 5 Mar – Imagine Dragons (Acoustic)

Yesterday I went to see Imagine Dragons at their free acoustic show at a Best Buy in Chicago. They did perform two full concerts in Chicago as well, but I did not realize that tickets would sell out that quickly! Imagine Dragons has probably been my favorite band of the past year, so I was glad that I was able to find a friend to go with to their acoustic set.

I took the subway down, met up with my friend at the subway stop, and walked in the snow to the Best Buy. The show was originally planned for 6pm, but they moved it to 5pm because of the weather. Fortunately I called the Best Buy beforehand to confirm, and so we got there just a few minutes before Imagine Dragons came on stage. I saw Yellowcard give a free acoustic performance at a record store a few months ago, so I have that to compare this concert to. The setup at this concert was definitely better – they had a stage set up, and then there were about 30 people sitting and 15 people standing behind them so everyone could see really clearly.

The four members of the band came on stage – 3 of them had guitars (Dan Reynolds [the really tall singer], Wayne Sermon [the long-haired guy], and Ben Mckee), and the fourth guy Dan Platzman was the drummer and violist. Actually I think they’re all very tall…anyway, they played their two most famous songs – “It’s Time” and “Radioactive”. Nothing much to say other than that both songs are awesome, and I’m glad that I got to sing along and now have both of them on video! For “Radioactive” they also added a nice acoustic outro at the end of the song, which was really neat.
The other thing is that they also took questions from the audience between the two songs and afterwards. The question I asked was: “How did you guys meet each other?” Wayne responded that he met some of them at Berklee College of Music, and he met Dan Reynolds a bit later and apparently it was “love at first sight”. :P Some of the other questions people asked were: “When are you touring Australia?” and “When can we expect a new album?”. Another person asked about the meaning behind the lyrics for “Radioactive” (they responded that it’s post-apocalyptic which is pretty cool), and there were a couple questions about their musical influences, and who they would want to collaborate with. Overall, they seem to be pretty regular guys who happen to make super awesome music.

After that they had a signing of their album, but I already have their album on iTunes and I listen to it a lot on Spotify, so we headed out after that. Overall I was really glad I went, but their acoustic set wasn’t quite a replacement for an actual concert (I have to hear “On Top Of The World” live at some point, among other songs!), so I will have to catch one of those as well!]]> http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2013/01/03/5pncjm_music_year_in_review_-_2012 Thu, 3 Jan 2013 08:25:48 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2013/01/03/5pncjm_music_year_in_review_-_2012 2012 has probably been my favorite year in music so far, and it’s going to take a lot for it to be topped! I went to a record 8 concerts this year (twice the number that I’ve been to any other year), and in addition to all the new releases from some of my favorite bands, I am extremely happy with all of the alternative/indie bands that have found their way into mainstream music. Yay!

Concerts I Went To:

The All-American Rejects, April 9, 2012:
Opener: A Rocket To The Moon
Review:
http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/04/10/5eyob4_the_all-american_rejects_concert_review_-_4912

Snow Patrol, April 21, 2012:
Opener: Ed Sheeran
Review: http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/04/23/5fq1t8_snow_patrol_concert_review!_-_apr._21,_2012

Dillo Day, May 26, 2012:
Saw: Cold War Kids, Reel Big Fish

Warped Tour, Aug. 4, 2012:
Went to See: Yellowcard, Taking Back Sunday, New Found Glory, Lostprophets, Twin Atlantic, Polar Bear Club
Also Saw: Memphis May Fire, blessthefall, We The Kings, Senses Fail, Miss May I, All Time Low, Man Overboard, Pierce The Veil
Review: http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/08/12/5kmhft_warped_tour_2012_review_-_aug._4,_2012

Owl City, Oct. 6, 2012:
Opener: Matthew Koma
Review: http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/10/07/5mrvtu_owl_city_concert_review_-_oct._6,_2012

Young the Giant, Oct. 12, 2012:
Review: http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/10/13/5myn2v_young_the_giant_concert_review_-_oct._12,_2012

Yellowcard, Nov. 24, 2012:
Free acoustic performance
Review: http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/11/25/5ofl8w_yellowcard_acoustic_review_-_nov._24,_2012

AWOLNATION and Anberlin, Dec. 1, 2012:
Openers: Morning Parade, Atlas Genius, Youngblood Hawke
Review: http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/12/03/5oojh2_anberlin_and_awolnation!_-_dec._1,_2012


Top 10 Albums:

10. The Fray – Scars and Stories
The new album by The Fray is solid – “Heartbeat” and “The Fighter” are great openers, and I really like the more upbeat, less melancholy direction they went with “Turn Me On”. I thought the lyrics for “Run For Your Life” were really strong and it should have been a much bigger single. I also like “I Can Barely Say”. Unfortunately I feel like this album has been a bit forgotten compared to their first two albums. I’ll always love The Fray, but now when I scroll to the F section in my playlist they have to compete with Foster The People and fun., both of which are extremely catchy!

9. fun. – Some Nights
I wouldn’t quite consider fun. one of my favorite bands, but it’s been fun following along with them as they have become really big, as I’ve been a fan since The Format days. It’s pretty funny that I heard “We Are Young” being performed live in June 2011 when no one knew what it was, and then it became the #1 song in the US for a while. “Carry On” is a really great track, “Some Nights” is really catchy, and “Why Am I The One” and “All Alone” are pretty good too.

8. Walk the Moon – Walk The Moon
In some ways I think Walk The Moon is kind of boy band-ish, but their music is a lot better than any boy band. My favorite tracks are the rockier ones such as “Tightrope” and “Lisa Baby”, but “Anna Sun”, “Quesadilla”, and “Shiver Shiver” are also really catchy. Their lyrics are a little…personal (“your shoulder in my mouth?!”), but this band pulls it off really well. “Tightrope” is probably my favorite music video of the year too!

7. AWOLNATION – Megalithic Symphony
This album actually came out in 2011, but I didn’t listen to it until 2012 so I decided to include it. “Sail” is okay but the song that really got me into them is “Kill Your Heroes”. “I say you kill your heroes and fly, fly, baby don’t cry, no need to worry cuz everybody will die!” The album as a whole flows pretty well, but my favorites are “Burn It Down” (if you like the Linkin Park song this one is a lot better), “Soul Wars”, and “Not Your Fault”. “Not Your Fault” didn’t really grow on me until everyone was singing along to it in concert (which was pretty crazy!), and “All I Need” is also a really nice slower song by them.

6. Motion City Soundtrack – Go
This album by MCS is a little softer than their previous releases, but it’s definitely still good. I love the line “Everyone will die, and everyone will lose, so what you gonna do with the moments you have before it’s you?”. I like the dark subject matter in “Happy Anniversary”, and the opening guitar riff on “Bad Idea” drew me in on the first listen. I also like the catchiness of “Circuits and Wires”, “True Romance”, and “The Coma Kid”, but the best track is the introspective “Timelines”.

5. Snow Patrol – Fallen Empires
I love Snow Patrol. Ever since their song “Run” first gave me chills in middle school, they’ve been one of my favorite bands, and seeing them in concert in April was incredible! Their new album definitely has some standout tracks: I love the line “In the end, there’s nothing more to life than love is there?”, and I also really like the ballads “This Isn’t Everything You Are” and “New York”. “Called Out In The Dark” is the most danceable track on the album, and “Berlin” is very beautiful despite having no lyrics. My favorite track on the album is “Fallen Empires” for its unique instrumentation/drum beats and the way that the music gradually builds. The thing this album is missing is a rock-out track that draws me into the album every time, and unfortunately I haven’t come back to this album too much later in the year.

4. Owl City – The Midsummer Station
A lot of people complained about this album – I have no idea why! I was able to get into almost every song pretty easily. “Dreams and Disasters” is a great opener, and “Shooting Star” is one of my favorites. “Brighter than a shooting star, so shine no matter where you are!” “Cause what you got is go-o-o-o-o-o-o-old!” is a really catchy line, and “Dementia” is an awesome rockier track featuring Mark Hoppus from blink-182. “I’m Coming After You” is a great stalker song (:P), “Speed of Love” is probably my favorite track, and of course everyone has heard “Good Time”. “Silhouette” is one of their best slower songs. Overall, I'm glad that this album prevents people from writing Owl City off as a one-hit wonder!

3. Anberlin – Vital
Anberlin has solidified themselves as my third favorite band (after Jimmy Eat World and Yellowcard), and part of it definitely has to do with this album. As far as loudness, Anberlin’s music is definitely pretty noisy, but it’s still pretty melodic and not so loud that it hurts my ears after listening to it for a while. Although in concert it pretty much just sounds like noise. :P
“Self-Starter” is one of my favorite tracks of the year, and “Little Tyrants”, “Someone Anyone”, and “Desires” are also amazing rockier tracks. “Other Side” might be their best slower song – I really like the opening and the conclusion of the song. “Intentions” and “Type Three” are pretty good too. A couple of the songs on the end of the album have yet to grow on me, but overall this album is great!

2. Yellowcard – Southern Air
Yellowcard has been one of my favorite bands for the past ten years (has it really been that long since “Ocean Avenue” came out?!), and I had the opportunity to see them twice this year and get autographs from them. Southern Air is another amazing release by them, and if I were to recommend an album after Ocean Avenue it would be this one. “Awakening” and “Surface of the Sun” are awesome openers, and “Always Summer” has a very summery feel with a great violin solo. “Here I Am Alive” is probably the album’s most approachable song, while still maintaining a distinctive Yellowcard feel. “Telescope” is a pretty good song although the acoustic version is even better, and “Ten” is a very sad song about a miscarriage. “Southern Air” is a great closing track, and I can definitely relate to it even though I’m not from the South.

1. Imagine Dragons – Night Visions
I first discovered Imagine Dragons in June of this year when I was looking around for new bands. I thought “It’s Time” was pretty good, but the song that completely blew me away was “On Top Of The World”. It is very very catchy, the clapping is awesome, the band members singing in unison is awesome, etc…my Last.fm charts agree with me: my second most played song of the year is “It’s Time” with 96 plays, and my most played song of the year is “On Top Of The World” with 163 plays! I was definitely excited when their full-length album was released in September. “Radioactive” is a super great song (especially the first 20 seconds), and I love the line that goes “I’m breathing in the chemicals…….ah!” “Tiptoe” is a great track, along “Demons” which is also pretty easy to play on the piano. I love “Amsterdam”, and “Bleeding Out”. “Underdog” is my current favorite and is a more light-hearted song. “Cha-Ching (Till We Grow Older)” is a pretty sweet bonus track too. This album is overall amazing because every song has its own feel to it – “Radioactive”, “Demons”, and “Bleeding Out” are the more intense ones, “On Top Of The World” and “Underdog” are catchy beyond belief, and “It’s Time”, “Amsterdam”, and “Every Night” are the more melodic ones. Anyway, in case you can’t tell yet, I really really like this album and highly recommend it. :P


(Honorable Mentions)

The Rocket Summer – Life Will Write The Words
The Rocket Summer is probably in my top 10 favorite bands, but a good portion of their new album just didn’t really strike a chord with me. There are some good tracks though, such as “200,000”, “Underrated”, and “Soldiers”.

The Killers – Battle Born
I liked “Flesh and Bone” and “Here With Me”, but overall this album isn’t as exciting as their older stuff.

Phillip Phillips – The World From The Side Of The Moon
I don’t watch American Idol, but his music is pretty good. “Home”, “Gone, Gone, Gone”, and “Get Up Get Down” are worth checking out!

Lifehouse – Almeria
This album only came out a couple weeks ago, so far it seems alright. The standout tracks are “Between The Raindrops” (feat. Natasha Bedingfield), “Nobody Listen”, and “Right Back Home”. My favorite album by them is still Who We Are though.

Of Monsters and Men – My Head Is An Animal
Another great band to breakout this year – I really like “Little Talks”, “Dirty Paws”, and “Mountain Sound”. None of the other tracks have stood out to me yet, but I’ll listen to it more.


(Disappointments)
The All-American Rejects – Kids In The Street
Say Anything – Anarchy, My Dear
Hoobastank – Fight or Flight
Bloc Party – Four
Boys Like Girls – Crazy World

Other Notable Releases:
Eve 6 – Curtain, Lost & Found, Moon
Grouplove – Tongue Tied, Colours
M83 – Midnight City
Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
James Newton Howard – The Hunger Games Soundtrack
Passion Pit – Take A Walk, I’m Not Alright
Muse – Survival, Panic Station
Mumford & Sons – I Will Wait
The Lumineers – Ho Hey
The Gaslight Anthem – 45
Alex Clare – Up All Night
Macklemore – Thrift Shop
Green Day – Let Yourself Go
Gotye – Eyes Wide Open
Silversun Pickups – The Pit
Atlas Genius – Trojans
Youngblood Hawke – We Come Running
Matt & Kim – Let’s Go
Jukebox The Ghost – Somebody
The Black Keys – Little Black Submarines
OneRepublic – Feel Again


Top 50 Artists (last 12 months):
1 Yellowcard 1,150
2 Jimmy Eat World 864
3 Anberlin 825
4 Snow Patrol 728
5 Owl City 673
6 Imagine Dragons 611
7 Motion City Soundtrack 564
8 Switchfoot 430
9 Say Anything 407
10 blink-182 400
11 SafetySuit 397
12 Relient K 396
13 Angels & Airwaves 348
14 Brand New 322
15 The Rocket Summer 313
16 Foster the People 300
17 The Fray 293
18 Coldplay 279
19 The All-American Rejects 275
20 Death Cab for Cutie 234
20 fun. 234
22 Mae 222
23 Cartel 219
23 Mat Kearney 219
25 AWOLNATION 213
26 The Killers 210
27 Lifehouse 201
28 Hoobastank 184
29 Goo Goo Dolls 173
30 Dashboard Confessional 165
31 Cold War Kids 161
32 Taking Back Sunday 159
33 Weezer 157
34 Eve 6 149
35 Jack's Mannequin 147
36 Cage the Elephant 144
37 Paramore 135
38 Young the Giant 132
39 Fall Out Boy 127
40 New Found Glory 126
40 The Starting Line 126
42 Foo Fighters 123
43 Hanson 120
44 Green Day 108
45 Walk the Moon 107
46 Guster 103
47 Augustana 102
47 Jukebox the Ghost 102
49 Rise Against 95
50 Muse 93

Looking Forward To:
OneRepublic
Cartel
Blink-182
Foster The People
Probably more…

Thanks for reading!]]> http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/12/03/5oojh2_anberlin_and_awolnation!_-_dec._1,_2012 Mon, 3 Dec 2012 04:01:46 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/12/03/5oojh2_anberlin_and_awolnation!_-_dec._1,_2012 Sat 1 Dec – The Night We Stole Christmas

Wow! That was probably the craziest concert I’ve ever been to. Anberlin has been one of my favorite bands ever since “Paperthin Hymn” came out about six years ago. AWOLNATION is one of the best discoveries of this year, and Youngblood Hawke, Atlas Genius, and Morning Parade are three up-and-coming bands that are pretty awesome.

I went with two friends to the concert, although they decided not to come until Anberlin so I saw the first three acts by myself. I saw most of it from about the fifth row right behind the huge speaker on the right, so it was a good view! As a college student I could see that there were people there that were older than us, but also a good number of high schoolers – a pretty cool mix people that are all into good music! Q87 (the radio station) came out and made some announcements between sets (like a free Tegan and Sara concert! Unfortunately I’ll be out of town then), and they also threw out free stuff including a number of candy canes that I grabbed. I think it was my first time grabbing some of the things they throw at concerts. :p Anyway, on to the show:

Got to the venue at about 6:20, but there was a really long line around the block getting into the venue, so I probably got into the concert at around 6:45. It was a packed concert! Fortunately I was still in time to catch most of Youngblood Hawke’s set. Their band has six people including a girl playing the tambourine which was pretty cool. I definitely enjoyed hearing “We Come Running”: “Soon they’re gonna hear the sound, the sound, the sound, when we come running!” I also enjoyed hearing “Trojans” by Atlas Genius and “Headlights” by Morning Parade. All three of the openers sounded pretty good, and I’ll have to check out some more of their stuff.

Anberlin:
Little Tyrants
Paperthin Hymn
Self-Starter
Impossible
Godspeed
Other Side
The Feel Good Drag
Someone Anyone

Met up with my friends and I was able to get back to the same good spot for Anberlin! Their style of alternative rock is a little bit noisier than the other bands so it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but to me it was pretty awesome. “Little Tyrants” wasn’t quite the best opener, but things definitely got going for “Paperthin Hymn”. That was the song that introduced a lot of people to Anberlin and had a really good crowd response. “Who’s gonna call on Sunday morning, who’s gonna drive you home?” While Anberlin’s music sounds pretty melodic on CDs, it pretty much sounds like crazy noise in concert which is totally awesome. If I could choose some of my favorite moments of my life so far, them playing “Self-Starter” and “The Feel Good Drag” would be on that list because it just got so loud during those points. “Was this over before, before it ever began?! Your kiss, your calls, your crutch, like the devils got your hand!” Although reliving those moments too much would be bad on my hearing, haha. “Impossible” and “Godspeed” were great to hear, and I think “Other Side” sounds better live than on the CD. The distorted guitar sounds in “Other Side” are much more epic in concert, and I love how that song slowly builds. “Someone Anyone” was a good ender too: “someone, someone tell me what we’re fighting for, anyone, anyone, anyone can start a war!” I would have maybe switched out “Little Tyrants” for another older one (“Time & Confusion” and “Never Take Friendship Personal” are two of my favorites), but other than that I was really happy with their setlist. Thanks for the awesome time, Anberlin!!

AWOLNATION: I don’t know all of their songs so here are the ones I know. I think they played about twelve songs total. I know they didn’t play “People” because I would have recognized that one
Megalithic Symphony
Guilty Filthy Soul
Not Your Fault
Kill Your Heroes
Soul Wars
All I Need
Sail
Burn It Down

AWOLNATION was nuts, and Dylan Bruno is a really good entertainer. The intro song which has everyone shouting “Awolnation!” is a great opener. “Sail” might be their most famous song, but my favorite crowd moment was seeing everyone around me sing “It’s not your fault, it’s not your fault!” “Kill Your Heroes” is my favorite song by them so it was amazing hearing that one. “Never let your fear decide your fate!” I had never listened to “All I Need” before, but it was a nice change of pace and is actually a great song. Everyone had their arms around each other for this one, even people that didn’t know each other. In the songs after “All I Need” there was a bunch of crowdsurfing – I saw one guy crowdsurfing around us three times! “Burn It Down” sounded a little strange in concert but it’s still one of my favorites by them, and I also somehow found myself in the mosh pit during this song. :p

It was awesome!! The mango slurpee afterwards was good too. Thanks for reading!]]> http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/11/25/5ofl8w_yellowcard_acoustic_review_-_nov._24,_2012 Sun, 25 Nov 2012 07:25:05 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/11/25/5ofl8w_yellowcard_acoustic_review_-_nov._24,_2012 Hey! So today I went to Yellowcard’s free acoustic performance and signing at Reckless Records in Chicago. Yellowcard is one of my favorite bands, but I just saw them at Warped a few months ago and I’m going to another concert next week, so I wasn’t planning to see them this time around. But when they announced the free acoustic performance I decided it was worth going to, and overall I’m glad that I did!

The performance was at a record store, so there was a small stage at the back of the store with the audience standing around it. People were also standing in the aisles next to where the records were. My friend and I were two of those people since we were running kind of late. It was hard to see anything towards the back, but I was standing in the middle so at least I got a pretty good view of Ryan Key. Overall, the size of the audience was surprisingly small – I’d say there were 40 to 50 people there for the performance, and then another 10 to 15 people who were kind of there since they were at the store.

The performance itself was pretty short, as they only played two songs: “Always Summer” and “Here I Am Alive”. “Always Summer” was alright…Ryan still had an amazing voice, but I thought the electric version of the song I heard at Warped was more exciting. I thought they did a better job with “Here I Am Alive” – the acoustic version sounds really good, and they got a pretty good response from the crowd singing the “here I am alive” part.

For the signing, they gave everyone a free poster of their new album, and I also brought a poster that I have from one of their previous tours. It was nice that they all signed our posters, but it would have been nice if they all greeted us…I don’t think Ryan or LP even looked up while they were autographing, as they were talking about the Florida State football game or something. Based on today, I’d say that Sean (the violinist) is the most friendly and outgoing of the group.

Overall, I can’t say I got the same thrill at today’s performance as I did at their previous concerts, but it was cool to meet them and now I have a couple of signed posters on my wall! :)]]> http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/10/13/5myn2v_young_the_giant_concert_review_-_oct._12,_2012 Sat, 13 Oct 2012 05:14:37 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/10/13/5myn2v_young_the_giant_concert_review_-_oct._12,_2012 Fri 12 Oct – A&O Fall Blowout

I went to my school’s fall concert tonight to see Young the Giant! They’re a band that I’ve definitely enjoyed listening to the past couple of years, so I was pretty happy when I found out they were coming.

Had Indian food beforehand, and then took the bus to the concert with a couple friends. We found a pretty good spot to stand (or sit during breaks) on the right side of the stage towards the back.

Here’s my attempt at their setlist. I don’t know all of their songs, but this should be pretty close:

I Got
Guns Out
(new song)
Cough Syrup
Apartment
Teachers (new song)
Islands (?)
Ignition (R. Kelly cover)
My Body

The band has 5 members: the lead singer, 2 guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer. Overall, they put on a pretty good live show! The lead singer is very enthusiastic – he dances around the stage and also gets really into shaking the tambourine. “I Got” was a pretty good opener with a cool guitar riff, and I also really like the drum rhythm in “Guns Out”. Both of the new songs sounded pretty good. “Cough Syrup” got the crowd going and was definitely a highlight: ‘Life’s too short to even care at all, whoa-oh-ooh-oh’, as well as “Apartment”. I think the song he played after “Teachers” was “Islands” – it was definitely a slower one, and it didn’t sound that great. Just some combination of the guitars and the loud singing didn’t work too well. I didn’t know the R. Kelly cover but it was pretty good, and also got a great crowd response too. I was definitely glad to hear “My Body”! I feel like it didn’t sound quite as good as on the album and some lyrics were missed, although a lot of the sound quality might have had to do with the venue as well. Nevertheless, it’s definitely my favorite song by them and I was happy I got to hear it. “My body tells me no, but I won’t quit, ‘cause I want more, ‘cause I want more!” :D

Young The Giant then got a signed basketball from members of our basketball team. After that was the rapper Nas – we stayed for the first four songs but left after that since none of us were really enjoying it. I’m not really into rap, and he kept telling the crowd “let’s go back to 1994”….uhh, when most of the people in the crowd were 2-3 years old? But overall, I was glad I went to the concert!]]> http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/10/07/5mrvtu_owl_city_concert_review_-_oct._6,_2012 Sun, 7 Oct 2012 23:17:40 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/kalsonberry/journal/2012/10/07/5mrvtu_owl_city_concert_review_-_oct._6,_2012 Sat 6 Oct – Owl City, Matthew Koma

Wow, it’s been a long day! I had tutoring in the afternoon and then I played Settlers of Catan late in the evening. But I wanted to recap the Owl City concert I went to tonight (note: last night by the time I finished this review) because it was awesome, and I’m very very glad I went.

This was the first concert I ever went to by myself. My regular concert buddies aren’t that into Owl City, and I was hoping to go with a friend but she wasn’t able to make it back from an errand in time. I’d say the biggest drawback of going to a concert alone is the time when the bands aren’t actually playing – it’s kind of awkward to not have anyone to talk to while waiting (I mostly texted during the breaks), and it also would be nice to have someone to share the concert experience with. But other than that, the band’s performance will be the same whether you go alone or with a friend. I still prefer to go to concerts with a friend, but now I know that I can still go to concerts alone and have a “good time”!

I found a spot in the Vic Theatre just at the top of the stairs, where there was a great view of the whole stage. After waiting for a while, the opener Matthew Koma played a number of songs. His music was fine, it was pretty similar to Owl City’s but a little more guitar-focused. He had 3 people on stage – himself (the guitar player), a keyboard player, and a drummer. His song “One” stood out to me the most.

Here’s my attempt at a setlist for Owl City, with some help from setlist.fm:
Dreams and Disasters
Tip Of The Iceberg (?)
Speed Of Love
Meteor Shower
Dementia
Cave In (shortened)
The Real World
Metropolis
Deer In The Headlights
Seahorses (instrumental)
Angels
I’m Coming After You
Umbrella Beach (shortened) ?
Shooting Star
Fireflies
Silhouette
Hello Seattle (shortened)
Hey Anna
Kamikaze
Early Birdie
Take It All Away
(Drum Solo)

Encore:
Good Time
Gold

I thought the performance might just be Adam Young himself, but he actually has two other guitarists, a drummer, and a “lady friend” on the keyboard/synthesizer as his backup band. I think the coolest thing about seeing Owl City live, in addition to his performance, is that the light show goes along really well with his lyrics. During “I’m Coming After You” he had red and blue sirens going off, and during “Fireflies” he had shimmering green lights to represent fireflies. He also used cool lighting effects to make himself look like a silhouette in “Silhouette”, and had golden lights on during his last song “Gold”.

“Dreams And Disasters” was a great way to open the show with the band coming onto the stage. Musically, the high point of the concert was “Speed Of Love”, “Meteor Shower”, and “Dementia” in a row. Those are 3 of my favorite Owl City songs – I love the synthesizer in “Speed Of Love”, and I love the lyrics to “Meteor Shower”: ‘I am not my own, for I have been made new, please don’t let me go, I desperately need you.’ And “Dementia” is one of his best rockier songs: ‘Dementia, you’re driving me crazy’!

I was not a fan of him playing shortened versions of his songs though, for “Cave In” and especially for “Hello Seattle”. “Hello Seattle” is probably my favorite Owl City song, but the shortened version was just a piano intro (which was really good) and playing the chorus once. It’s sort of hard to get into the shortened version of a song…I think it would be better if he played one complete song rather than two shortened songs.

“Deer In The Headlights” was another of my favorite songs of the evening. The story behind the song is of Adam trying to introduce himself to a pretty girl, and his lyrics really came through in his hand motions during the song. :p I also should mention that it was refreshing hearing no swear words come out of Adam’s mouth. I don’t care that much about swearing, but it is pretty overused at most concerts. The “Seahorses” instrumental was nice, and I really liked how it transitioned to the ‘Wake me if you’re out there!’ part of “Angels”. As I mentioned the lighting effects during “I’m Coming After You” were really cool, and “Shooting Star” was another highlight. ‘When the sun goes down and the lights burn out then it’s time for you to shine, brighter than shooting star, so shine no matter where you are!’.

Another thing I’ll definitely remember from the concert is the enormous scream that came out when he started playing “Fireflies”. Despite the success of “Good Time”, “Fireflies” is definitely still his signature song, and it was great to see everyone sing along to all the words. “Silhouette” is a really nice slower song by him, and it was cool to hear “Kamikaze” although I would have preferred “Galaxies” or “Alligator Sky”. I was also surprised he didn’t play “Vanilla Twilight” or “The Saltwater Room”. After “Take It All Away”, he had a cool drum solo before the encore.

“Good Time” definitely got the crowd moving again, with the lady friend singing Carly Rae Jepsen’s part. It’s a pretty catchy song and I’m glad that it’s been a big hit. He ended with the song “Gold”, which is a really sweet song and had a pretty good crowd response as well. Overall, I’m really glad I made the decision to go to this concert! :D]]>