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.

davidloveslife.com is a place to check up on David Hildreth. You're currently reading via RSS, for the full effect follow this link:

David Bazan and his handsome bearded band

Speaking of The EDGE I shot a commercial for them and a local bar last friday. Shooting in an open bar with few lights and a small crew was challenging. We got all the footage we needed and then had a few beers, so all in all it was a good night. I’ll post the spot when I get it done later this week. It’s all handheld… and unfortunately it was my hand, so I get to spend more then a few hours doing some motion stabilization :|

I’ve started into my last leg of classes. I walked into Visual Effects I on wednesday and got syllabuses for the next 30 weeks. The teacher I’ve got from here on out is a great guy and really knows his stuff. I’m not really sure what I’m going to do in February but as long as I pay attention I’ll have a good shot at a roto job in LA. It’s a path that about a dozen recent graduates have taken…
But then again, why the hell would I want to goto LA?

I dunno, I’ve got a while to figure that out… I think,
David

davidloveslife.com is a place to check up on David Hildreth. You're currently reading via RSS, for the full effect follow this link:

Hootenanny!

I went and saw The Visitor last saturday. It’s definitely the best movie I’ve seen so far this year. It’s about an older guy who’s life has gotten pretty plain. He is sent to New York for a conference and goes to the apartment he’s kept there for decades only to find an immigrant couple living there. He ends up befriending the man who teaches him how to play the Djembe. After a misunderstanding in the subway the man is arrested and since he isn’t a legal citizen put in an INS detention center. The man’s mother comes to New York and builds a relationship with the older man while they try to fight the man’s deportation. It’s playing in Scottsdale and I’m sure will be at The Flicks at some point, it’s a must see. Also, I swear that Steve Nash was sitting behind me in the theatre, even though the person I went with didn’t believe me :p

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin came to town on friday. I almost didn’t go to the show but I’m glad I did. I’m pretty sure that if the show wasn’t all ages the band wouldn’t have gotten in… they all looked straight out of high school. The set list was a combination of their first two albums and their encore was “I am Warm and Powerful” probably my favorite. If you haven’t heard em, check em out, they are a good time.

I saw this about a week ago and found it really interesting, not to mention that I love the way the interview was shot. (FYI: As always the linked video won’t show if you’re reading this on Facebook)

Summer is almost here and Tempe is once again quiet. ASU is now out for the summer and while that means that the streets are no longer gridlocked, it does mean that it’s not going to be in the 90s for much longer. It also means that I won’t get to see some good friends for a couple months. I’ve almost forgot what it’s like to have a summer vacation. I’ve moved past that I guess, although sometimes I think it would be nice… that is until I lookup my graduation date.

Take it easy, you know I will
David

davidloveslife.com is a place to check up on David Hildreth. You're currently reading via RSS, for the full effect follow this link:

The Grind

The screening for my latest weekend film festival was saturday. Only seven teams finished the challenge but the ones that made it were pretty good. We ended up getting third place, which I am happy with. We went a very simplistic route so I’m not sure we deserved a whole lot more then that. The films that beat us were good, the production value of one was pretty low but it was clever and that’s kinda how these things work.

I got to go see Stars on friday and they put on a great concert. The opening band was a local act named Back Ted N Ted. A friend had shown them to me a few months ago because he was in talks to produce a music video for them. The music ranges from some cool electronic rock to some weirder almost experimental stuff but you should definitely check em out. After seeing them rock out on stage I’m definitely going to try to get that video to actually happen. Our little group has now done a few videos but all have been hip hop or rap and I really want to direct a rock video.
Stars took the stage soon after and while I’ve been into Stars for quite a while I’m sad to say that I had no idea Amy Millan played guitar. The band uses two vocalists on most of their songs but I didn’t know that both also played other instruments. There was a session guitarist who played a lot of the guitar stuff and almost every solo, which I hate to see, but Amy definitely played her share and did some acoustic stuff. The other lead, Torquil Campbell, actually plays the trumpet parts in a few songs, the keyboard and the melodica. The band rocked the house for the next hour, took a break and then proceeded to play just about every song on their last two albums. The show was at The Brickhouse, which I had never been too because I’m lame, but it’s a nice little bar and was packed. I’ve been pretty proud about how Phoenix turns out for indie shows. The band could have easily filled one of the small venues in town, they seemed pretty surprised at the turnout and were sincerely appreciative. After a great set the two founding members of the band came back out for an encore and played “Barricade” which was awesome.

I went out with a new friend of mine last night. We met a few weekends back on the set of an ASU production I was helping out on. I honestly had no plan of action, I just knew I wanted to see her so we took a walk down Mill Ave and ended up at Tempe Beach Park (which is surprisingly nice). It was really low key but a lot of fun. I felt a little bad that I didn’t have some great idea of what to do, but we simply enjoyed each other’s company and that seemed to turn out for the best.

I leave you with the following two videos, they have nothing in common other then the fact that I like them both. During the week I often collect links that I think I’d like to reference in a post and usually don’t end up writing about them. However these are too good to not share.

A great promo for the Discovery Channel, the VFX were done by a cool production house called Method.

If you’re still on the fence about the whole Hillary vs Obama thing this should pretty much cement things for ya :D

Thanks to everyone who send me a note or a card, I’ve had a pretty good Birthday. Being 23 was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to being 24 :D
David Hildreth

davidloveslife.com is a place to check up on David Hildreth. You're currently reading via RSS, for the full effect follow this link:

Everything’s Coming Up Milhouse!

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

davidloveslife.com is a place to check up on David Hildreth. You're currently reading via RSS, for the full effect follow this link:

Two minutes and forty seven seconds.