kry716's Last.fm Journal

Guess the Set List

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:00:07 +0000

Sun 28 Oct – Vegoose At Night Concert Series featuring STS9

First of all...had a great time in Vegas this past weekend. Not a huge fan of the city itself and can't really see myself wanting to go there for a vacation or anything, but the musical experience for the whole weekend was pretty special. It's too much for me to even write about right now, but just wanted to share one small portion:

Sunday afternoon we were lounging around at Vegoose and decided that we'd all pick 10 songs we thought Sound Tribe Sector 9 would play that night at their late night concert. $5 buy in, winner take all (because it was Vegas).

Brian's List:
Evasive/Kamuy
Unquestionable Supremacy of Nature
Rent
The Rabble
Grow
Inspire Strikes Back
Glogli
Hubble
Orbital
Arigato

Chris's List:
Evasive/Kamuy
The Rabble
Music, Us
Open E
Velez Improv
From Now On
Orbital
Dance
Arigato
Water Song

My List:
Blu Mood
Rent
Evasive/Kamuy
The Rabble
Unquestionable Supremacy of Nature
Mischief of a Sleepwalker
You Don't Say
Hubble
Really Wut?
Orbital

Actual Set List:
Be Nice [Nobody]
Bigs [Nobody]
Tokyo [Nobody]
Inspire Strikes Back [Brian]
Move My Peeps [Nobody]
Evasive/Kamuy [Everybody]
Rent [Brian, Kevin]

The Rabble [Everybody]
Grow [Brian]
Glogli [Brian]
Mischief of a Sleepwalker [Kevin]
Unquestionable Supremacy of Nature [Brian, Kevin]
Arigato [Brian, Chris]

Tap-In [Nobody]

So Brian got 8 out of 10 right which is fucking impressive. I finished with 5 and Chris with 3 (the show would have been really sick if they played more of his).

Anyway, I'm not sure how many other sts9 nerds out there do this kind of crap, but safe to say this probably will not be the last time we do it. It should be fun on night 4 of the NYE run, since we'll already have 45-50 songs eliminated.

Re:Generation Photo

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 23:30:36 +0000

I was finally able to get access to the pictures that Chris took at Re:Generation. I pulled out some of the good ones and they can be viewed here.

However, I'd like to also post a link here to a full-sized version of the panoramic shot contained in the above album. Anyone that was there can probably attest to how accurately this captures the scenery and vibe of the weekend. Hell, if you did enough drugs that weekend, the visual continuity gaps may even be accurate.

Anyways, please check it out at my site [1.0 MB].

Enjoy.

Re:Generation Festival - July 6th - 8th, 2007: Deerfields, NC

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 00:07:22 +0000

Now that I've had a week to let the experience of Re:Generation sink in, I think it's a good time to quickly re-cap what turned out to be a fantastic weekend (not that there was ever any doubt about how great it was going to be). I would have loved to be able to provide some photos to go with the words, but I have to wait for Chris to get them loaded onto our hard drive...

The Setting
Deerfields is a private, family-owned plot of land [appx 940 acres] in southwestern North Carolina, at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. There are only two trails into the park, each wide enough for only one vehicle at a time. Once inside, you're able to take in the offerings of Mother Earth: The green, the fresh air, the absence of all ambient buzzing that represents all of our stresses, two small lakes all blanketed by the patches of apple orchards that are no longer churning out profitable fruit, but beautiful nonetheless.

There are only a handful of man made structures that permanently rest on the grounds: A couple of mid-sized cabins, a small stage on the smaller of two lakes and the main stage on the edges of the larger lake. For this weekend, there were also several hundred tents thrown up by Re:Gen inhabitants. Hard to say where the "best" spot was as it was going to be perfect no matter where you set up. We found a plateau of land just several hundred yards from the main stage, up above the rest of the campers, which was surprisingly desolate. Two hours after riding in on the first bus allowed into the grounds, we were set up with one large tent for sleeping, one pop-up tent for sitting under, and two tiki torches to keep the bugs away (okay, okay...it was for ambiance and looks). From our tiny city-state, we were able to listen to any performance if we were too busy recuperating from the show we had just seen.

The Activities
On Friday and Saturday, our options were limited: listen to the live music, listen to the cds you brought, or explore the land. We didn't bring any activities (read: cards, beer) to keep us busy during the idle hours, but that was okay. There were two constants that complemented all other activities of the weekend. 1) Smoking a bowl or thinking about smoking the next bowl. There probably were not more than two waking hours the entire weekend where we did not indulge. That being said, we surely were not the exception to the rule in those regards. 2) People watching. Always a good hobby at a tribe gathering, but especially great this weekend due to the prolonged exposure.

On Sunday, there were organized activities such as meditation, mountain biking, etc, but seeing as we were some of the first people out of the park on Sunday morning, the closest I got to those things was sitting behind some people making signs to advertise said activities.

The Music
Sound Tribe Sector 9 killed it. What else needs to be said. A 12 AM - 3:30 AM show complete with an unexpected fireworks display and a double encore is not to be fucked with. Simple as that. I don't mean to devalue the quality of their performance by devoting so few words to it but it was a great performance, and a great sound tribe show needs to be seen rather than read about. (Very quickly though, two things I thought were really exceptional. First, the lead-in to "Rent" was out of this world and one of the best little jams I have had the honor of experiencing. Second, I am surely not the only one to have caught the quick little homage to DJ Shadow's "Midnight in a Perfect World" during "Twilight." If you did miss it, it's around the 4:30 mark of the song).

Really, the most enjoyable moments for me were Saturday afternoon on the small lake stage listening to Grogus and Telepath. The intimate, hillside setting for taking in their music was a really pleasant surprise. That setting was also home to a late night/early morning Benevento/Russo Duo performance on Friday. Natalie Walker performed there during the afternoon, though we took in her sounds from the comforts of the tent.

Dubconscious was very good, Lyrics Born was ...eh...I like dude, but he demands a lot of energy/feedback from his crowd and during the marathon that was Re:Generation, the crowd really didn't have it in them to provide that. Glitch Mob was another tent show for us, so I don't know how that went.

Out of them all, previously-unknown, homegrown Telepath was probably my favorite.

It should also be noted that the first group of entrants to the festival were treated with an STS9 sound check, which really turned into a small set including an extremely, awesomely mellow version of Boards of Canada's ROY G BIV.

All said, it was a tremendous experience had by all and truly provided a setting that allowed oneself to regenerate. I have left a great deal of details out, but that was the core of what I wanted to capture...Pictures coming soon, I hope!

Reef the Lost Cause, Psalm One, Brother Ali: May 12, 2007: Atlanta, GA: The Drunken Unicorn.

Sun, 13 May 2007 14:53:05 +0000

My favorite shows tend to be the ones where I am more excited about seeing one of the opening acts that I am about the headliner. For example, going to see RJD2 open for Sound Tribe Sector 9. (At the time of that show, that was the case, though I would have to choose seeing STS9 over RJD2 were I given the choice again today). Or seeing Brother Ali open for Atmosphere. So, while I am happy that Ali now has a following big enough to support headlining a tour, it probably wasn't my favorite show of his that I have seen. This is not meant to disrespect Reef the Lost Cause or Psalm One, but they're like that left fielder in AA baseball who is batting .300 with a lot of doubles to the gap in right center. With more time in the game, their continued solid - though not yet eye-popping - performance could lead to opportunities in the Bigs. And if that happens, by simply utilizing the more numerous resources afforded to them at the next level, the doubles become home runs. Did you follow that? My guess is absolutely not.

In simpler terms: Brother Ali is really really good. Great, even. I respect and admire immensely his ability to create lyrics that are both deeply personal and highly relatable. Furthermore, his talent to do so in such a conversational manner - never does it sound like Ali had to rearrange the order of words to make them fit into the flow of his song - makes his music as enjoyable and rewarding to listen to as almost anyone else I can think of. Oh, and he has a great ear for beats, with ANT more than happy to provide hoards of them for him to rhyme over.

Psalm One and Reef are not at that level yet. Very few are.

A3C 2007

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 20:05:15 +0000

While I wasn't involved with promotion/support for the event this year, I still had my 3-day pass from Dumpsterdive and put it to good use, making it out for all three nights to see what ATF and their sponsors (a LOT of sponsors this year, which is a good indication that this production is heading in the right direction) could throw out there this year.

I can't say that there was a whole lot that stood out on the first couple of nights (not that it wasn't good, just nothing remarkable). On opening night, I was really there to see true-schooler, rapper/producer extraordinaire, Insight. More particularly, I was hoping to catch some live renditions of any Soloplexus or ShinSight Trio songs. Alas, there were none. Though Insight did simultaneously rap and draw a picture, which is something I hadn't ever seen before.

First time seeing The Smile Rays live and they were somewhere in between "pretty dope" and "eh, maybe a little gimmicky." Probably some combination of both. The cute little white girl with an unsuspectingly soulful voice shares the stage with her husband, who serves as DJ, and third-wheel black guy who raps his ass off. What's it like on tour for them? Do they have to get separate hotel rooms? Do they even get hotel rooms? Do they even tour? Probably not.

Anyways.

Sol.iLLaquists Of Sound closed night one in usual, high-energy form. Well, except for Tanya. Not a lot of excitement with her. She's more of a listener. I just saw Sol.Illa last month when they were here with fellow Floridians, X:144 & SPS, so there wasn't a whole lot different this time around.

Oh, also. Last.fm user nerdykarim, who has got to be the most ardent supporter of Atlanta's hip-hop scene, was brought up on stage for a brief moment by DRES tha Beatnick so that all could recognize his dedication. Bravo, Karim.

Night two included performances by Asamov, who now, thanks to some copyright infringement issues, go by The Alias Brothers (or The AB's for short). They brought the heat for the second year in a row. With The Smile Rays (Jacksonville), The AB's (Jacksonville), X:144 & SPS (Orlando) and Sol.Illaquists of Sound (Orlando), Central/North Florida has a pretty bright future. Also performing on night two was The Strange Fruit Project out of Waco, TX. The Healing was one of last year's pleasant surprises and these four gentleman didn't disappoint on stage either. I didn't stick around for Psyche Origami, who was closing night two, but I did see Wyztyk walking around in a neon green/purple-accented pimp suit, so I am sure their performance was nothing short of spectacular.

Night three was by far the most enjoyable of the three for me. The word "historic" was bounced around inside my head a couple times while I soaked it all in. While that may be slight hyperbole, it was still extremely satisfying to be there. And not just because Souls of Mischief were there. Honestly, while I was anticipating seeing them, I was almost worried that it would be a half-hearted, half-assed showing that stumbled along until the very end, when they would do "93 til Infinity" and everyone would crap their pants and rap along. I actually didn't even stay to see them do that song, so I can't tell ya if that's what happened or not. But the first half of their set was actually pretty decent i.e. they performed classic material as opposed to their more recent efforts that I don't think anyone ever checked out (Trilogy, I'm looking at you.

No, what I was really there to see was a guy like Black Milk make his first trip to Atlanta to showcase his burgeoning talent. And to see 9th Wonder stop by and do a jam-packed DJ set. And to see Collective Efforts (backed by Pink Velveteen) make the crowd move. It was a good night to be a hip-hop fan in Atlanta. The heads showed up en masse (as masse as an indie show can get) and brought a lot of energy to the Loft, which is all you can ask for.

A3C is building and growing each year, so I can only expect better for year number four.

STS9 2006/2007 NYE Run Pictures.

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 19:59:38 +0000

Tonight is the first night of Sound Tribe Sector 9's three night run in Atlanta. The annual gathering of friends, great music, drugs and alcohol that makes everyone so happy to be a part of it all. If you're lucky enough to live around Atlanta, that is. Or pseudo-hippie enough to follow the group around everywhere.

Anyway, I'll be uploading some photos from the shows as they are going on, and you can check them out at my t-mobile pictures page. I'm not expecting anything special to happen, but it's a good excuse to actually use some of these features that my phone offers and share a sliver of the experience of an sts9 show to those not fortunate enough to be there (or to those who like to re-live actually being there).

So, enjoy.

Show Review: Cadillac Jones & Infradig: October 28, 2006: Atlanta, GA: The Five Spot

Sun, 5 Nov 2006 21:45:48 +0000

I have already written about (and hopefully introduced some of you to) Cadillac Jones before. I can't remember if I reviewed the previous three shows of theirs that I went to, but this was number four - all in the last year.

...But if ya ain't heard...

The band produces some really dope music - a heavily funk-influenced jazz-hop (I just made that up?) - that is even more fully appreciated live. And maybe this is because I have been listening to such an inordinate amount of STS9 lately, but this last live performance - the way their songs were allowed to flow freely in any direction they chose, yet always ending up coming back to where they started - really reminded me of STS9. I can't remember any 10+ minute jams from Cadillac Jones in any of their previous performances, but they had a few during this one. "Hottub" is one I can actually remember. The rest, well, there was a lot of drinking and J passing going on in our little back corner of The Five Spot. (Aside: While I don't think I've written a review for The Five Spot yet, and am too lazy to do one now, it's a great - my favroite - bar in Little 5 Points. It isn't the most amazing place to see a performance, due to lack of size and the tables and chairs on what would be the main floor, but it gets the job done). CJ actually played two pretty long sets, but we were only able to stay for about 1 1/2 before the drinking, smoking and previous events of that long day caught up with us and forced us to roll out.

However, we were also able to check out the openers, Infradig, and I am very glad we did. DOPE ASS BAND. Check out their myspace page @ myspace.com/infradigmusic. Some of their influences as listed on said page:

Prefuse 73, DJ Shadow, RJD2, Kruder & Dorfmiester, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Radiohead, M83, Herbie Hancock.

Yeah, not too bad there.

These guys rocked it pretty hard, also reminding me of STS9 quite a bit. Their keyboardist was especially exciting and fun to watch as he just continutally mashed the keys as rapily as possible. I wish I could give a better description of what I saw but 1) it was my first time seeing them so I was trying to figure them out for myself and 2) yeah, the weed. But just check out that myspace page. And you just might have a new cool band to check out.

A Lasting Image from Red Rocks

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 18:46:43 +0000

Taken from the slide show, which can be seen in its entirety here. (Worth checking out).

Show Review: Sound Tribe Sector 9: September 20th, 2006: Knoxville, TN: Bijou Theater

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 13:43:13 +0000

The bijou theater is not a large place - about 700 seats. If you're going to a semi-popular show there, buy your tickets early, because it will be sold out. With about 200 people needing a ticket and approximately 4 people having an extra, lots of people were left to stand outside or go home or go find a bar while Sound Tribe Sector 9 rocked the 100+ year old Bijou Theater. Fortunately, I got my ticket a week before and was able to get in. My friend, however, didn't have a ticket and didn't get one. So after a 3 hour drive up to Knoxville, he hung out around the city for a few hours and I went into the show (the plan was to sell my ticket if he couldn't find one, but the way the will call worked there is that they ripped your ticket right as you got it, so you couldn't go back outside and sell it, which is probably why there were so few tickets available).

The Bijou is a great venue, with the exception having permanant seats on the main floor. That decreases capacity and makes it hard to navigate through the crowd. Other than that, it's pretty cool and the sound was great. It's like a scaled down version of Atlanta's Tabernacle.

Out of the STS9 shows I've been to now, this one probably ranks 3rd out of 3, only because the other two were 1) during their New Year's run and 2) at Red Rocks. And I was by myself. The good thing about being by myself was that I was able to take some good video and some pictures.

Photos
Inside the cozy Bijou, which offers a few private boxes for the first that are able to get up there:

The band:

Video
Here they are playing DANCE, which is a song that features lots of tempo change and some crowd participation.

F. Word

For the encore, they came out and dropped Really Wut?. Sick.

EDIT: I forgot to mention one other cool thing. During the set break (after Sub-ID came on, but before STS9 took the stage again), they played a few tracks from the new Jay Dee aka J Dilla album. And their selection of those tracks was impecable:
E=Mc2
Over The Breaks
One Won't Do

Unfortunately, I don't think that the majority of STS9 heads come from a hip-hop background, so while I jammed out and was like "OMG Dilla RIP," everyone else was not paying attention. Whatevz...

Show Review: Jurassic 5 & Sound Tribe Sector 9: September 9th, 2006: Morrison, CO: Red Rocks Amphitheater

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 18:35:40 +0000

It's been about ten days since my return from Colorado (my first trip there) to see Sound Tribe Sector 9 blow away Red Rocks. There isn't a ton to say about their actual performance, since I have written about them before, other than 1) it was very, very good, as every single STS9 show is bound to be 2) Red Rocks provides and idyllic setting for a conert 3) the weather cooperated 4) everyone in our group had an amazing time and 5) they put Shuggie Otis (!!!) on the house speakers after the show as everyone was filing out. This is the second time that Shuggie has appeared in my life unexpectedly (I suppose every time he appears is rather unexpected). The other time was at Northside Tavern (a local Atlanta blues/dive bar) as my friends and I (the same friends I went to this show with, actually) were having one of the greatest times ever had. I peered over the bar and there's Shuggie, via his album cover, staring me back in the face. Amazing.

Alright, so STS9's set list included a few of my favorites (a seemless blend from Evasive Maneuvers to Kamuy, Be Nice, Music, Us, Aimlessley, and a beautiful encore of Somesing followed by Breathe In). They also played a new song for the first time (You Don't Say), and H.B. Walks to School, which they had not played in seven years. It was a good couple sets, but if I'm going to be honest with myself (and not just say it was 10/10 to justify the time/effort/money spent on traveling a couple thousand miles to see a show), I'd put their set selection at about a 6 or 7. Not to say the show was a 6 or 7, just that out of my 20 favorite STS9 songs on any given day, they only played a few. It was not on the level of, say, the previous night's show in Boulder (see set list) or their show in Urbana, IL, which is absolutely insane (set list).

We had a great time before the show as well. First of all, the drive to the Amphitheater is really awesome. We didn't really have directions, we just headed toward the mountains and ended up on the steep, windy mountainside roads that eventually got us to our intended destination. Once there, we were able to set up our tailgate game and party with all the other people. One interesting note was that, after our long trip out there, we ended up parking next to a group of guys from the exact same county in Georgia that we live in. There were a lot of GA heads there, apparently.

So, that's that for STS9. I'm traveling to Knoxville, TN tomorrow to see them again, and maybe they can blow my mind a little more.

However, a quick note on Jurassic 5, who did a long opening set for STS9. It's cool nowadays to hate on J5 and pretend you or nobody you knew every liked the dudes. That they were always boring, corny and generally forgettable. Their newer material might not be that great (actually, I wouldn't know because I haven't even listened to the new album), but their EP and Quality Control are still solid albums to me. Regardless of any of that, these guys are very good performers. They do a very professional and well-done show. They did several years ago when I saw them in Atlanta, and they did it again at Red Rocks. My favorite part had to be when all five of them (uh, Cut Chemist wasn't there...is he even in the group anymore?) got on their own MPC and collectively made a beat from the ground up.

Photos:

Red Rocks Amphitheater

The gorgeous, winding drive up to the Rocks...

A view of the stage from the parking lot

Walking to the seats

J5 on the MPCs

STS9

That's about it...unfortunately, there are no good pics to show how packed out it was...about 9,100 people. We were only about 1/2 way up in the stands.

Can't wait til tomorrow night!