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.

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David Bazan and his handsome bearded band

Speaking of health insurance, check out this clip from the Rachel Maddow show over on MSNBC. If you’re reading this via RSS or on Facebook you’ll need to follow the link below to the original post.

In my opinion there is currently no debate between the right and left on healthcare. One side wants to act like everything is perfect and the other wants to actually fix the problem. If you oppose the current healthcare plan (which is still very fluid) please educate yourself about the way other countries handle this and please don’t just accept our current norm as a solution.

David Bazan is releasing a new album next month and it’s absolutely amazing. The lyrics are thoughtful and at time heartbreaking, the music is inspired and well produced. It is at times a bit over produced, this is definitely the Achilles’ Heel sort of sound. After hearing nothing but acoustic Bazan, for what seems like years, it’s a welcome change to my ears. You can stream the whole album with a pre-order, I can’t recommend it more.

I got to see (500) Days of Summer recently. I’m too pretentious (yeah, do the math on that) to call it the best movie I’ve seen all year… but I did really, really enjoy the shit out of it. Go see it.

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Curse your branches.

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.

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House Show

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.

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Progress

I got to see David Bazan in Tucson on friday. I was sorta on the fence about going to the show until a few weeks ago, but I am so glad I went. It was amazing. Me and two guys made the drive down to Solar Culture in Tucson and while I wish David had been in Phoenix, the venue was worth the drive. The place is an art gallery by day and at night it has concerts on a little stage, which makes for a intimate and unique atmosphere. The acoustics were good, which can be rough at smaller places, but it was just the overall feeling of the place that really made it work. The show was only $10, and the guy at the door was just taking cash with a small money box for change, which is better then an ass hole bouncer or some huge commercial ticketing system. After getting in we looked around and saw that most people had bought in their own drinks, which the venue is totally cool with. So we went to a gas station and got a six pack and enjoyed a few cheap beers with the show. A concert sans the ~$8 beer? What’s not to love? The first act was some local guy, who was awful but after him was J Tillman. I had never heard of him, but he was really quite good. His sound is sorta Iron and Wine -esque and his voice is just off the charts. I’d definitely check him out if you’re like me and had never heard of him.
Then David Bazan took the stage, and I immediately noticed something a bit different about him. Earlier in the night I had seen a balding, bearded man making a phone call near the front of the venue. I thought to myself, “Is that David? Nah, he was shorter then I am, there is no way.” Its funny how you can sometimes idolize people in odd ways. David Bazan has always struck me as a hulking beast of a man, with a lumber jack beard and a straight face, he just seemed like Paul Bunyan with a guitar.
So to set the record straight, David Bazan is an excellent singer/songwriter, a hulking, beast of a man… who is also like 5’6”.
He played a wide variety of songs, from his solo stuff to old Pedro The Lion tunes. He also played a bit of Headphones and apologized for not playing “Natural Disaster” because he didn’t know the synth part very well. He did play “Bad Things To Such Good People” which was amazing. He played the first riff while getting himself set between songs and I (and most of the people around me) yelled in excitement. It’s a dark and complicated song, but hearing it live was great. Also I couldn’t help thinking about Luke playing it in the back yard of the Juanita House with the rest of us trying to sing along, good times.

I saw I’m Not There last night, it’s a movie about Bob Dylan where Bob Dylan is played by five different actors. Each story line follows a different time in his life or aspect of his character. While it’s not the most cohesive movie I’ve seen in recent memory it was really fun to watch. Dylan is portrayed as an old soul who is running from his past by an eleven year old african american boy. As a conflicted husband and father by Heath Ledger, a spiritual person and preacher by Christian Bale. A young poet who speaks his mind by Ben Whishaw, an old hermit by Richard Gere and finally as a jaded and misunderstood rock star by none other then Cate Blanchett. It’s a really fun watch, if you can catch it, I highly recommend seeing it.

Keep it chill, I’ll do my best too do the same.
Dave Hildreth

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Two minutes and forty seven seconds.