Archive for the ‘concert’ tag

David Bazan and his handsome bearded band

I moseyed on down to Tucson on Monday evening to see David Bazan. My last trip to Tucson was to see him, at the same venue, for a solo tour. However this time Bazan would be bringing a full band and I couldn’t have been more excited.
The opener was Say Hi, or Say Hi to Your Mom as they use to be called, I’m not a huge fan but they put on a great show. A lot of their music is backed by electronic synths and beats, which they didn’t use. It was all bass, guitar and drums, and sounded great. There were a couple slower songs that had the crowd singing along but the majority of their set was, by indie rock standards, pretty hard. I would have liked to see more synthesizers in their live show, but I did get to hear a lot of material from earlier albums I didn’t have.
Near the end of their set the frontman Eric Elbogen thanked the crowd and said to get ready for Bazan and his bearded band. He then looked over at Bazan, who was near the front listening with everyone else, and remarked on how handsome the band was and to be prepared for it.

Say Hi finished their set, Bazan and another guitarist took the stage… and then no one left the stage. The joke became obvious; Bazan’s band was basically Elbogen’s band. Sometimes you don’t realize how small a tour is until you see something like this. It really does makes sense to just use the same players for both acts. In the end Pedro the Lion was always Bazan and Say Hi has always really just been Elbogen, so why hire two sets of backing players? That’s just more people to have to fit in the van. The Solar Culture Club is not a large place, and its stage isn’t exactly huge, so five people on stage is a feat in of itself. Bazan’s guitarist was hilariously jeered for looking exactly like Jerry Garcia and the band played the new and old Bazan tunes very well. It was just a little funny to realize how frugal and indie the tour was.

Bazan played almost all of his new record, a few off of his solo EP and a couple Pedro tunes. There were no Headphones songs, which was a bummer. However the way the crowd erupted to the first new notes of “Magazine” off of Control made the whole evening worth it. I never got to see Pedro The Lion, and hopefully I’ll have more than a few more chances to see Bazan solo, but hearing a song like that with a full band was amazing.

I’d have grainy and mostly terrible cell phone video of the show but my damn iPhone wouldn’t jailbreak. I really had to use some will power to resist going out and buying a Flip Mino HD or similar camera for the show. The video that comes off my older iPhone isn’t great, that’s why you can’t officially shoot video with it, but it’s better than nothing.

Built to Spill has a new disc out, this post’s soundtrack is off of it. Go pick it up, it’s a fantastic release.

House Show

The David Bazan house show was great! A friend and I were the second to last guests to arrive at the house but David was running late so it wasn’t any big deal. He walked in a little while later and quickly took out a guitar and started playing. Just like that, someone’s living room became a venue.
There were 40 tickets sold and during conversation it seemed like a good many of the people were really from Tucson. Not very surprising, there is definitely a crowd there that is into indie music. I saw Bazan in Tucson last year even. He played just about every track from his upcoming album, a few Pedro the Lion tunes and one Headphones song. All in all it was a fun way to see a great singer song writer. A very cozy setting, it just felt like something that doesn’t happen everyday.
Between songs there were a lot of questions, ranging from why he was doing a house tour to if he still reads the bible. He said he was doing the house tour because his label didn’t want him to tour so close to the release of an album. He didn’t even hesitate to tell us that this was a way to keep up with rent and health insurance. No one minded, at $20 a ticket people still felt that this tour was something special. He also brought some of his recent DVDs to sell, it was all completely on the honor system. The proceeds from other shows still in the bag to make change with. When one person asked if he’d even take PayPal, totally on the person’s honor, David didn’t have any problem with it.
As for how often he reads the bible, he said that he has been reading it to his four year old daughter lately. He admitted that while some stories are easy, others are harder because he wants to somehow get across his doubts. Explaining to a child that a certain story to her mom is nothing but truth, and to him just a good story, is difficult. So he tries to stick to parables and such.
David Bazan lost his faith some time ago, if you listen to his music that isn’t so hard to realize. It’s amazing to me to see someone like that. For Bazan it’s undeniable that there is truth to Christianity, but he just can’t wrap his head around it. The songs were he expresses his doubts and highlights the troubling parts of spirituality have always been good for me when I have my doubts. Not because they make me doubt more, but because they remind me it’s healthy to doubt. Even if I were to lose my faith it’s obvious that it wouldn’t completely leave me. It definitely still lingers for Bazan.

Here’s a video from the show. (Facebook and RSS readers will have to follow the “original post” link below)

The release date for my project at work got pushed back. I’m not really so sure if that is a good or bad thing, but I do have more time to work on it. Things have been going well on it for the last couple weeks now, I’m excited to get it done.

Progress

Last week I volunteered my new place for a dinner party of sorts. Not a real dinner party, because that makes me feel retarded, but a night where there are friends, dinner and hanging out. I hadn’t really had a group of people over yet, so I was excited to show off my little flat. All though after inviting 6+ people, I realized that I was a bit unprepared. You see, when I moved to Arizona I owned a single plate and bowl. That might sound pathetic but I didn’t really want anything other then that. I had collected other household items over the past two years, and have definitely spent money on necessities in the last month. However I still didn’t own service for eight… I didn’t have chairs for eight or glasses or forks or even something to serve salad with. So I made a couple trips to IKEA and all was well. I could have gotten away with plastic plates and cutlery but I’ve decided to embrace owning useless household possessions. It was a fun night with a nice meal, RockBand and a sarcastic board game called Munchkin. Now that my place is successfully broken in, I look forward to entertaining now and then.

I’m glad to report that I have finally made some headway on the documentary I’m cutting. I am up to my nose in interview subclips, but I’ve really been able to get a firm grasp on the story so far. My boss seems to be trying to put his foot down a little bit and doesn’t want anyone in the office to take vacation time until the end of the spring. I have plans at the end of May so we’ll see what happens. The film should be done by then, and I all ready have a few other offers for work. I would like to continue with this company, and they seem interested in keeping me… though I am glad my contract is open ended.

Lately I’ve had the undeniable urge to just buy a plane ticket and head to Boise. Most of the time its just a need to see my family and some old friends… but now and again its a one way ticket that I want to buy. Things are good here, but I really do think there is something about leaving everything behind and starting over that is always appealing. Even when things are great… even when I have work and friends and a great living situation. Some problems still just make you want to abandon everything… its a scary thought. I’m glad I know I could never bring myself to do it.
A simple weekend in Boise though? I do need one and soon! :D

I get to see David Bazan on Saturday. He is playing house shows all across the US, and I couldn’t be more excited. I’ll post some pictures and maybe a little video this weekend.

« Older Entries