Giant Drag 5/16/09 - Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA.

Again, sorry for the lack of posting - hopefully, this one will make up for it.

Last week's Giant Drag performance was a special one for a couple of reasons - one, it was one the band's first shows in almost 2 years; and two, it celebrated the return of it's original "half," Micah Calabrese.

I first heard of Giant Drag sometime in 2005 when listening to the now-departed Indie 103.1. "This Isn't It" was playing at the time, and I instantly found the song to be pretty catchy. Continuing to listen in hopes that the DJ would announce the title/band's name, I found out the song was indeed by Giant Drag. However, I promptly forgot about what I had just heard, and it wasn't until a few months later while browsing for cds at Second Spin, I spied the band's Lemona EP on display in the racks. Remembering what I had heard awhile back, I bought it, and their later full length release Hearts and Unicorns, and have been listening ever since.

Admittedly, I seem to have had the worst luck trying to record Giant Drag. No, really - it's ridiculous. My first attempt was when they were touring with and opened for Pretty Girls Make Graves' final tour at the El Rey in June 2006 - the culprit? A dead battery. A second attempt was made a little while later when they did a "secret" show at the Silverlake Lounge - the culprit again was, yep you guessed it, another dead battery. (this is why I almost always try to check my batteries before I leave for a show)

The 3rd and final time was at the LACMA Art Walk afterparty (held at the H.D. Buttercup furniture showroom in Culver City, which is actually part of the old Helms Bakery, really cool place) Open bar and hors d'oeuvres and a huge stage set up in one of the showrooms. Everything seemed to be going pretty well so far recording-wise, until I started to feel extremely light-headed and about to collapse, and had to run to the bathroom - thus ending up missing the last two and a half songs of the set. I blamed it on a lethal combination of cupcakes and vodka - lesson learned, baked goods and alcohol sometimes don't mix.

Interestingly enough, this was one of the (very few?) shows that featured frontwoman Annie Hardy with a full backing band (post-Micah leaving.

So, after a long absence, along came this reunion show. Setlist featured a good amount of material from Hearts and Unicorns, plus a representative showing from Lemona and a yet-to-be-released EP. A couple of new tunes were showcased - "Don't Come Around" (which sounded somewhat Queens Of The Stone Age-like) and "Mess With My Face." In the covers department, "Wicked Game" (b-side to Hearts and Unicorns) and a surprising Bob Marley cover "Sun Is Shining" were performed.

Admittedly, I've always found the Troubadour difficult to record in - myself and other tapers seem to agree that the sound in there isn't the greatest. I thought the sound was better that I've recalled in the past, but listening back I'm not sure - there was some level fluctuation during the show, and Annie's vocals seem buried in the beginning. As always, your mileage may vary.

1.) "Stuff To Live For" Video Introduction FLAC MP3
2.) This Isn't It FLAC MP3
3.) Mini-"improv" FLAC MP3
4.) YFLMD FLAC MP3
5.) Don't Come Around (debut) FLAC MP3
6.) Tired Yet FLAC MP3
7.) Swan Song FLAC MP3
8.) My Dick Sux FLAC MP3
9.) Stuff To Live For FLAC MP3
10.) Sun Is Shining (Bob Marley cover) FLAC MP3
11.) Mess With My Face (debut) FLAC MP3
12.) White Baby FLAC MP3
13.) Wicked Game (Chris Isaak cover) FLAC MP3
14.) Interlude/"Encore Break" FLAC MP3
15.) E: Cordial Invitation FLAC MP3
16.) E: "Second Interlude" FLAC MP3
17.) E: Kevin Is Gay FLAC MP3
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The Ditty Bops 4/26/09 - McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA. (7:00 PM show)

(Photo by Eric Meacham)

The early show played before this one. Setlist isn't really much different, although the "ugly art auction" was done in two parts and there was more unique banter in this one, including praise for Los Angele's wildly popular Kogi BBQ trucks. Yay.

Levels adjusted after the 1st song.

For this show, right-click and save-as.

1.)When's She Comin' Home FLAC MP3
2.)Ain't No Good FLAC MP3
3.)Somebody's Gone FLAC MP3
4.)Seventh Ray FLAC MP3
5.)The Pretty Girl Got Away (tentative title) FLAC MP3
6.)Indigo Eyes (tentative title) FLAC MP3
7.)Take My Hand Monchichi FLAC MP3
8.)Because We Do FLAC MP3
9.)King Of The Sea FLAC MP3
10.)Dancing In The Moon FLAC MP3
11.)Heaven Isn't For The Angels FLAC MP3
12.)Sugar and Spice FLAC MP3
13.)"Amanda's Ugly Art Auction" FLAC MP3
14.)Still In Love (tentative title) FLAC MP3
15.)Heart On My Sleeve (tentative title) FLAC MP3
16.)Gotta Get Out Of Here (tentative title) FLAC MP3
17.)Growing Upside Down FLAC MP3
18.)Skinny Bones -> Feel From The Outside In (slight tease) FLAC MP3
20.)The Next Best Thing FLAC MP3
21.)Dreamy Doll (tentative title) FLAC MP3
22.)I'm Blue (tentative title) FLAC MP3
23.)"Amanda's Ugly Art Auction Part II" FLAC MP3
24.)Shout, Sister, Shout (The Boswell Sisters cover) FLAC MP3
25.)Summer Rains FLAC MP3
26.)E: Pink Motor Helmet FLAC MP3
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The Ditty Bops 4/26/09 - McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA. (9:00 PM show)

(Photo by Eric Meacham)

The Ditty Bops have made a significant impact on my recording career - these are the musicians I've seen and recorded the most in all the years I've been doing this. I've seen them in many different venues and play many different types of shows all this time. It was the first time I had seen them in awhile (June 2008), so I was definitely curious to see what they'd been up to.

However, before that, a bit of background. I first heard of The Ditty Bops in 2004, when they were opening for The Dresden Dolls on their current tour at the time. I checked out their website beforehand, and after asking whether they were worth seeing/recording (a fellow taper had sung their praises so to speak), I decided since I was going to be there for the Dolls anyway, why not run "tape." I've been hooked ever since, having seen them almost forty times in the past 4 1/2 years.

Having never seen just Amanda and Abby do a full acoustic show (well, I think the closest was this Santa Barbara show from 2006 - I apologize for the poor sound quality, it was unplugged, outdoors, and windy), this evening's performances (there was an early show that will be posted in the future) seemed like a great opportunity. Well - okay, the show was good. However, during and after the night was over, some nagging issues came to light.

The show(s) were touted a release party for their latest album, the "Songs For Steve" EP, a tribute to their fallen friend Steve. Recorded in their living room, it featured a very mellow vibe, and upon listening have had mixed feelings about it. Conceding to the night's theme, the setlist featured songs from the new release, along with the a number of new tunes that may be featured on an upcoming full-length. With the unrecorded tunes, I had the same sort of mixed impression - their past music has had a sort of quirkiness to it, and it seems they are moving away from that, and more towards a James Taylor or current Norah Jones sort of feel (who's last album I felt very ambivalent about as well) Another telling factor was that only one song from the pre-"Summer Rains" era was featured on the setlist - "Growing Upside Down," from "Moon Over The Freeway." However, owing to the amount of time they've spent covering The Boswell Sisters in past shows, another different tune of the group's showed up - "Shout, Sister, Shout"

A part of me can't help but wonder if this type of show wouldn't have worked better a few years ago, in the era of the "self-titled" and "Moon Over The Freeway" albums - the reasoning being that it doesn't seem (with what information available) that the songs from those albums were played much acoustically. The Ditty Bops have always wavered a fine line between mellow and exuberant, but this show definitely veered heavily toward the "mellow" side (either that, or I was really tired from being in Palm Springs all day the day before)

Regardless, this recording (and the yet-posted one from earlier in the evening) both came out very well, the best I've pulled from McCabe's so far. There was heavy applause between songs, which I've tried to tame as best as I can.

Another note, the titles for the "newest" songs are not official - because I was not able to get a setlist, I just made my best guess at what they may be called. If I hear anything different, they will be updated.

For more recordings of The Ditty Bops, go here

To download, right click and save as.

1.)When's She Comin' Home FLAC MP3
2.)Ain't No Good FLAC MP3
3.)Somebody's Gone FLAC MP3
4.)Seventh Ray FLAC MP3
5.)The Pretty Girl Got Away (tentative title) FLAC MP3
6.)Indigo Eyes (tentative title) FLAC MP3
7.)Take My Hand Monchichi FLAC MP3
8.)Because We Do FLAC MP3
9.)King Of The Sea FLAC MP3
10.)Dancing In The Moon FLAC MP3
11.)Heaven Isn't For The Angels FLAC MP3
12.)Sugar and Spice FLAC MP3
13.)"Amanda's Ugly Art Auction" (auction/skit) FLAC MP3
14.)Still In Love (tentative title) FLAC MP3
15.)Heart On My Sleeve (tentative title) FLAC MP3
16.)Gotta Get Out Of Here (tentative title) FLAC MP3
17.)Growing Upside Down FLAC MP3
18.)Skinny Bones FLAC MP3
19.)The Next Best Thing FLAC MP3
20.)Dreamy Doll (tentative title) FLAC MP3
21.)Where Are You Now FLAC MP3
22.)I'm Blue (tentative title) FLAC MP3
23.)Summer Rains FLAC MP3
24.)Shout, Sister, Shout (The Boswell Sisters cover) FLAC MP3
25.)E: Pink Motor Helmet FLAC MP3
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Jesca Hoop 4/29/09 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

(Photo by Jeff Koga)

Tonight's show marked Jesca Hoop's final night of her April residency, and the final show in L.A. before she moves to Manchester, U.K. It was quite the extravaganza, featuring several people Jesca has performed with in town over the years, and a longer-than-usual set.

A good mix of older material from Kismet and newer songs from the next album were showcased. It was definitely interesting hearing "Hunting My Dress" and "Tulip" with a full band in contrast to the more stripped-down versions played at previous shows. She closed with an seemingly haunting version of "Love and Love Again" (well, given the theme of the show at hand), and with the audience not giving up and wanting more, for an encore did the solo a cappella "Storm."

As an ode to Jesca's friendship and history of performing with The Ditty Bops, Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald joined her on stage for two songs, "Baby Boy" and a Boswell Sisters cover "Crazy People." The former was a staple that Jesca and The Ditty Bops performed a cappella at each others shows in the past. Both were good, but it would have been also nice to hear the other standards they did "Big Fish" and/or "Fix-It Man," but I'm not complaining.

However, Jesca may not be gone for long. Live Nation and Last.fm show that she will be back in town on July 22nd to open for Elbow at The Wiltern.

To download, right click and save as:

1.) KCRW Intro FLAC MP3
2.) Summertime FLAC MP3
3.) My Boo FLAC MP3
4.) Intelligentactile 101 FLAC MP3
5.) Seed Of Wonder FLAC MP3
6.) Baby Boy FLAC MP3
7.) Whispering Light FLAC MP3
8.) Hunting My Dress FLAC MP3
9.) 4 Dreams FLAC MP3
10.) Money FLAC MP3
11.) Crazy People FLAC MP3
12.) Enemy FLAC MP3
13.) Tulip FLAC MP3
14.) The Kingdom FLAC MP3
15.) Angel Mom FLAC MP3
16.) Love and Love Again FLAC MP3
17.) E: Storm FLAC MP3
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Announcement

Sorry for the lack of posting lately - life has gotten very busy, and it doesn't leave me a lot of time to work on and post shows. I'll try to get to and post what I can, but I hope things will pick up after the 1st week of June.