Astronautalis with Rustangs and Crescent Banks at Thee Parkside, SF

View From the Front Row, 10/12/11

A few nights ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Astronautalis live at Thee Parkside with local SF rock bands Rustangs and Crescent Banks as the opening acts. The San Francisco date of Astronautalis' tour was nearly passed up due to no venue being down to book him, but a friend of mine hooked things up with Thee Parkside despite the short notice and I promptly promoted the crap out of it. I was worried that the turnout would be minimal due to the lack of time to properly get the word out about the event, but good news travels fast and there were a lot of excited Astronautalis fans up in Thee Parkside come showtime. A lot of different Bay area homies of mine rolled out to this one too, which made things extra fun.

Things started on a bit of an awkward note with the opening acts. Both Crescent Banks and Rustangs did their things, but it was hard to get anyone in the crowd to care about them as most folks in attendance were busy buzzing about Astronautalis to one another. I'd seen Crescent Banks play before opening for David Ramos and Tommy V. in Half Moon Bay, and they have a cool laid back style of indie rock that incorporates lots of horns and keyboards. They did a bunch of nice numbers, but the crowd reception wasn't nearly as good as the one at Old Princeton Landing, though I still showed'em some support from the front. Rustangs were considerably noisier and grimier than Crescent Banks, and seemed like a band that'd feel more comfortable opening for one of my friends' extra loud punk bands than any crazed indie rap type. They had a couple numbers that made me smile from the front as well, though without my ear plugs I doubt I'd have been able to hear by the end of their set!

Once the openers were done, the room started filling up with tons of eager people who had been hanging around the outskirts of the venue or near the back of the bar. I had heard many tales of Astronautalis' live show, but this was my first time witnessing it with my own eyes, and I must say that it lived up to all expectations. For starters, Astronautalis (or Andy, as he introduced himself) was quite the charismatic figure on stage. Even when he wasn't singing or rapping with his trademark intensity, there was a certain flair to his demeanor and the way that he addressed the crowd that was both friendly and sincere. Astronautalis had a band backing him up that consisted of a guitarist, a drummer, and a dude playing the sample/drum pads that happened to be Nobs of Brooklyn's praised hip hop duo Dez & Nobs. The band offered some awesome live spins on Astronautalis' songs that added new elements to the tracks while staying fairly close to the originals, and Astronautalis tackled each song with the ferocity or gentleness they deserved. He covered many songs from his new album "This is Our Science," including "The River, The Woods," "This is Our Science", "Measure the Globe" and "Midday Moon." Astronautalis also occasionally tossed improvised verses into the ends of his songs while the band played on, including a verse about Thee Parkside and attacking people's cellphones in the front row, which he referenced after an extra rowdy rendition of "Thomas Jefferson" caused a gal to drop her iPhone (it wasn't damaged). That freestyling was already pretty impressive, but heads were reeling in awe and disbelief when Astronautalis went into the freestyle segment of his set, where he took five extremely strange and obscure topics from the crowd and formed a song about them. This evening's topics included "Al Davis reincarnated as an iPhone 5," "Supernovas," "Ulysses by James Joyce" (my topic), "Talking Heads" and "Being a black woman living in San Francisco listening to house music" amongst others. What was amazing about this part of Astronautalis' performance is that he not only rapped about all of the topics with great flows on beat, but also that he formed entire verses with details about each topic in his head rather than just incorporating the words as most rappers do in these sorts of freestyle showcases. It must take a seriously wild imagination for a white guy from Florida to come up with that many lines about being a black woman living in San Francisco listening to house music on the spot. Near the end of his set, Astronautalis played two of my favorite songs from his new album, "Holy Water" and "Secrets on Our Lips," and while they were great the pinnacles of his set were elsewhere. "Dmitri Mendeleev" was one of the major highlights in the way that it skyrocketed with energy, with the beat building massively and the hook and verses getting the crowd extremely lively and enthusiastic. Another such highlight was one of Astronautalis' older numbers, "Trouble Hunters," which in my opinion was the greatest moment of the set. The anthemic quality of the song and hook was so strong that Astronautalis hopped off stage and cut the track for a moment, moving to the center of the crowd and laying down rules for the last minute of the song so that none of the short timid girls in his fanbase would get hurt. When the track came back on, he had the entire Parkside jumping up and down in mass and screaming along to the words. So memorable that the moment still echoes through my spirit, even after having seen a couple shows since then. Once Astronautalis' set was done, he was drenched in sweat with a satisfied look in his eyes, mirrored only by the jubilant look of the crowd.

Fantastic show, don't pass on the chance to see this guy live. A little footage of "Secrets on Our Lips" below though I was busy dancing for the most part. I saw an awful lot of people in the crowd filming this entire show on their cameras and phones... if you'd like to share some of it, I'd love to see it! Just put links in the comments section below.

Six 0s Make for a Positive Equation

The Lowdown, 10/9/11

Back in February of this year at a Busdriver and Dark Time Sunshine concert in Berkeley, I was offered this CD by a guy who I can only assume was Sixo (is that pronounced "Six-O" or "Six-Zero"?) himself. He initially offered to sell me the album for cheap, but I hesitated for several reasons and ended up turning him down on the offer. Aside from keeping myself on a very strict merch buying budget at shows, the cover and presentation of Sixo's "Fruits of Labor" sort of turned me off from it. Not that the art is bad persay, but something about the layout of the text and font on the cover made it look like some sorta half-assed mixtape to me. Plus, the name seemed a little too close to "Sixtoo" for my liking. In the end, Sixo just ended up giving me his album for free, and I've been procrastinating on writing about how dope it is on this blog ever since.

I should note that a lot of random CDs that artists hand to me at shows end up gathering dust in a neat little pile next to my stereo speakers (sorry guys!), but Sixo's album has been one that's stuck with me and that I've continued to bump ever so often since I've received it. For starters, it's worth noting that Sixo roped in quite a cast of talented MCs to participate on this project. Squint hard enough and you might see their names listed at the top of the album cover: Awol One, Existereo, Ceschi and 2Mex. All of these artists contribute verses worthy of their reputations on multiple songs over the course of "Fruits of Labor" while Sixo handles the music side of things. These collabo tracks are all dope, but a special hats off goes to the Ceschi songs, particularly "Snow Balls" which is a pitch perfect song that shows off both Ceschi's talents as a songwriter and Sixo's talents as a producer . And speaking of Sixo the producer, it'd be unfair to cover "Fruits of Labor" without mentioning that his beats are pretty damn great throughout. While the first half of the album showcases Sixo's music with MCing over it, the second half is largely instrumental and gives you a sense that Sixo could be getting along just fine without the rapper help. His beats are very grimy in a good way, and sound like they could have come straight from a carefully wound cassette tape. It reminded a bit of the production that Chicago's Green Llama's use on projects like Uncut Raw or City Slick, but it has it's own flavor to it. The only track that felt like a slight misstep to me was the one where Sixo's Texan rap crew Dialex Kemposed came on to rap, as I didn't like all of their verses (though Sixo's jangly beat was a saving grace).

Anyway, this album is surprisingly good, and you can purchase copies of it for under 10 dollars over at my favorite hip hop store in the whole wide world Access Hip Hop. I also hear that Sixo has a new album in the works, appropriately entitled "000000," which features the likes of Ceschi, Onry Ozzborn, Barfly, Myka 9, Existereo, Sole, Moka Only, etc. I will be purchasing this new one for sure and will announce more details about it when they become available. Until then, peep the track "Snow Balls" from "Fruits of Labor" below:

September 2K11 in Hip Hop Terms

The Lowdown, 10/1/11

September brought us some pretty incredible new hip hop releases... trying to narrow it down to only a couple of them on here was tricky. About a week later, and what've we got? Here are a few that floored me:

1) Astronautalis "This Is Our Science" (Fake Four Inc.)

Astronautalis' fourth full length album is as epic in sound as it is in scope, encompassing a diverse range of musical genres while tackling the human condition on the grandest scale imaginable. It's rare to hear music that truly aspires to be timeless these days, especially in a genre like hip hop, but one gets the impression that Astronautalis is reaching as far as his lengthy list of talents will allow him to achieve this transcendent goal. "This Is Our Science" is a short album that dares to take risks ten times its size, blurring the boundaries of indie rock, folk and hip hop to convey Astronautalis' thoughts and feelings in a genuine way. If I had to draw comparisons, I might say that this album is what Ceschi's "One Man Band Broke Up" would sound like on stadium rock steroids, but it's hardly a fair way to describe it given how original Astronautalis' delivery and production is. One moment he's screaming like a crazed preacher about being alive ("Holy Water") and the next he's cooing softly about the prospect of eternally making out behind vending machines ("Secrets on Our Lips"). There's a certain wisdom in Astronautalis' words and music that can only emerge from extensive touring and traveling the world, and the maturity of the final product is a wonder to behold. The beats provided by Picnic Tyme, Lazerbeak, Radical Face, Alias, and Rickulos amongst others all feel unified under Astronautalis' vision. Hardcore hip hop traditionalists may end up scowling over the unconventional approaches of this album, but fans of original music will likely rejoice. One of the finest Fake Four releases to date in my book, up there with Dark Time Sunshine's "Vessel" and Factor's "Lawson Graham." Watch the video for 'Contrails" (featuring Tegan Quinn of Tegan & Sara fame) below:




2) Qwazaar & Batsauce "Bat Meets Blaine" (Galapagos4)

OK, so let's say you aren't down with all this "transcendent art rap" mumbo jumbo and just want a straight hip hop album with sick rapping and banging beats? Look no further. It took me approximately one listen of "Bat Meets Blaine" to throw it in my top 5 best rap albums of 2011. It's just that damn good. Qwazaar is easily one of the most slept-on MCs in the universe, with a killer voice and a flow that runs circles around a lot of these overhyped rapper punks. I feel like part of the reason he's been so overlooked as a vocalist is because most of his projects are very experimental and see him challenging himself outside of his comfort zone. But "Bat Meets Blaine" finds Qwa right at home over some very solid traditional hip hop production, and he sacrifices none of his edgy rapping prowess in the process. Tracks like "Chop'Em Down" and "Never Weaker" see Qwazaar peeling wigs back with his ultra aggressive flow while songs like "I'm Gone" and "If It Seems Wrong" show off the versatility of Qwa's styles. Batsauce holds his own as a producer over the course of the album, delivering a sick collection of jazzy hip hop beats with bass lines that bump and drums that hit. The music carries a variety of distinct moods that allow Qwazaar to flex his styles from song to song, but the sound of the album still feels unified as a whole. Essential listening for hip hop heads, check out the video for 'I Know" below:




3) Knives & Gasoline "Love Songs for Crime Scenes" (Grimm Image)

The collaborative album between LA hip hop producer Deeskee and California punk rock vocalist Stacey Dee is a little different from what either musician has done in the past, but the resulting music is an amalgam of pop styles that's distinctly their own. Granted, the elements that define each artists' personality are there, with Deeskee's dark and brooding beats and Stacey's raspy punk vocals still in full effect. But the direction that this project takes is more poppy than one might expect from either of these two, with songs like "Off the Air" and "Trainwreck" sounding like future radio hits. The album also feels more personal than anything that Stacey or Deeskee have done in the past, and the collaboration seems like something that could only evolve through a natural bond between artists. The collection of tunes on "Love Songs for Crime Scenes" is pretty diverse in sound, and there's bound to be songs you love and songs you hate on it. Personally, "The Night is Young" tends to have me hitting rewind while "Mirror Girl" has me tempted to fast forward. But as a whole, Knives & Gasoline presents a very genuine and honest body of work with "Love Songs for Crime Scenes," and in that regard it truly succeeds. There's not a moment when it's not apparent that Stacey Dee and Deeskee are making music from the heart, and their mutual love for diverse musical genres results in some very bright moments. Watch the music video for "Off the Air" below, but listen to the whole album to find the song you really love on it.




Other dope releases from last month: The Stepkids "The Stepkids," Flash Bang Grenada "10 Haters," Boom Bip "Zig Zaj." Out of the larger releases, 9th Wonder's "Wonder Years" was surprisingly good as well. Haven't had a chance to fully listen to J-Live's "S.P.T.A" or City Slick's "The Money and His Fool" yet, but looking forward to it. E. Lit out.

Rogue Venom "Sick Sad World"

Expanding the Backpack, 9/28/11

At the time I was preparing this post, Rogue Venom's "Sick Sad World" album was being offered up for free off her Bandcamp page, but it looks like there's a price attached to it now. Still sharing it in this section since it was free and it's an album worth listening to, if not buying. Swim Team's resident femme fatal Rogue Venom can definitely spit, and offers up a certain aggression lacking in this generation's wave of woman rappers with "Sick Sad World." She played a major role in making Dr. Oop's excellent "Grateful Dread" album from last year so dope, and her beat selection on this new one is surprisingly strong, with lots of grimy boom bap provided by the likes of Ras G (who handles no less than 4 of the beats on here) and Elusive amongst others. The album's really more of an EP, clocking in at only 28 minutes in length, but pretty strong stuff here. Peep the tracklisting and stream the album in full below:

[Edit: aannnd as of 10/7/11, it appears to be available for free again, at least for a limited time!]

1. Intro (produced by Elusive)
2. Lightyear (produced by Ras G)
3. Out My Mind (produced by Budamunk)
4. Afterlife (produced by KG Boom)
5. Revenge (produced by 3AM)
6. Dopeflow (produced by Mar-Var Productions)
7. Sunday (produced by Milan Kishonti)
8. Cold Hear'd (produced by Milan Kishonti)
9. Sick Sad World (produced by KG Boom. Scratches by D-Styles)
10. Stuck (produced by Ras G)
11. Tell Lie Vision (produced by Ras G)
12. Puppeteer (Remix) (produced by Elusive)
13. Spaced Out (produced by Ras G)
14. This is It (produced by...?)
15. Outro (produced by Elusive)

Skyrider Hand For Hire

The Latest Greatest, 9/27/11

Well my word. Fresh off their brilliant production work on Sole's "Hello Cruel World" album, the Skyrider Band will be releasing a new project with folk singer Jim Wurster under the moniker Hired Hand. The leaked single "Rising River" sounds like what Blue Sky Black Death might do if they went for reinterpretations of Western folk instead of dream pop, which is not knock the originality of the sound here. This stuff sounds refreshing, and I can already tell that it's destined to get some serious late-night driving rotation from my end. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the Nick Cave fans I work with fell in love with this shit. Hired Hand's self-titled debut drops October 25th via the ever-reliable Fake Four Inc. You can sign me up for a copy outside the stable, next to the hangman noose blowing in the wind. Tracklisting and stream-able single below:

1. Queen of My Heart
2. Cold Wind
3. Rising River
4. Love Thirsty
5. Armageddon
6. For Changes Forever
7. Dark Skies
8. Suicide Soliloquy
9. There's a Reward

Hired Hand "Rising River" by Fake Four, Inc.

Ceschi, Paranoid Castle, Rickulos & Kaigen at Ear Peace Records

View From the Front Row, 9/25/11

Sometimes, the trickiest part about writing reviews of these shows is choosing the specific ones to highlight. Given the volume of shows that I attend on a regular basis, it's impossible to fit in a decent review of every one of them. So, what makes a show worthy of a write-up on this here barely read blogspot? I attended Low End Theory earlier this month and had fun rocking out to Flash Bang Grenada and Edit, I hit up Sims and Cecil Otter's latest concert in San Francisco and enjoyed their sets, and Hopie's all-female line-up release party in San Francisco was a surprisingly great time. But somehow, time restraints or other factors (read: laziness) led to those events never getting a write-up. I meant to do a review of an excellent L'Roneous, Brothers Amor, and Sean E Depp show at the new Berkeley record spot Ear Peace Records earlier this month, but somehow that too slipped through the cracks.

Well, another memorable event at Ear Peace has given me a second chance to do their free shows justice, and I'm certainly not passing on the opportunity to cover this one. The event in question was Ceschi's "We're History" tour stop in Berkeley CA, featuring the likes of Paranoid Castle, Rickulos and Kaigen. Some truly impressive talent and an amazing crowd of awesome hip hop heads made this free in-store one for the books.

Ear Peace Records is a tiny little music and art spot on the corner of Alcatraz and Adeline St. in Berkeley CA, run by some of the homies from Candlespit Collective and Understudies. The size of the shop is small enough to merit someone worrying over the size of a crowd overwhelming it, but intimate enough that nobody's about to complain. Since Ceschi is originally from Berkeley, a lot of his close friends were in attendance, which gave the whole atmosphere of the event a really friendly and familial vibe. Ear Peace's stage is a balcony elevated a fair distance above the crowd, but artists have generally found a means of bringing the mic down to ground level and rocking from the center of the main floor, which was the case at this show for the most part.

Japanese MC Kaigen was the first artist to perform in the line-up, and he rocked his set from the balcony in order to show-off his live Ableton laptop skills as well as his intricate verses. Bizarrely enough, I was chatting with Ceschi and some of the other homies shortly before Kaigen's set and brought his name up since I'd seen his album recently listed on Access Hip Hop, but was completely unaware that he was on tour and part of the show! Everybody gave me looks as if I was kidding when I brought him up and asked about him; easily one of the strangest coincidences of all my show-going experiences. Anyway, Kaigen definitely seemed to know what he was doing. His strange Anticon-ish flow and twisted Japanese verses have caught the attention of producers like Jel (who was in attendance at this gig, but didn't play), Thavius Beck, and Ras G. He put a great deal of energy into his verses and sounded different from your average foreign language rapper, which was a good thing. Nice opening act.

The next guy to play was Rickulos, who's part of Fake Four's sister label Circle Into Square and has produced songs for Astronautalis and Noah23 amongst others. Rickulos was apparently not feeling too hot after a rough show in Reno the night before, and was lugging around a big jug of water to keep his voice and sanity in check. Never the less, he put on a very entertaining set, alternating between strumming songs on his guitar and singing over beats played via laptop. He wisely chose to rock his tracks in the crowd rather than on the balcony, flailing around the audience in a weird drunken sort of way that was fun to watch . I wasn't too familiar with Rickulos' solo stuff but enjoyed it, and was reminded in some ways of Gregory Pepper's persona but with more of a serious undertone. Good stuff.

Paranoid Castle, a group consisting of Bay Area O.G Kirby Dominant and Canada's finest producer Factor, were up next to play. I'd seen Paranoid Castle's free release party in San Francisco a few nights before and was completely blown away by how fun it was... the memory's somewhat scattered, but let's just say it involved film crews, popped champagne bottles, crazy dancing girls and a random bulldog that at one point served as a stool. While this in-store performance didn't quite live up to that level of craziness, it was still a great time and showed the crowd how funny and underrated a rapper Mr. Kirby Dominant is. Paranoid Castle's new material off "Champagne Nightmares" takes on a whole new life in a live setting, with tracks like "The Mature Life" and "Feeling Inside" offering some really great interactions with people in the audience that get folks laughing left and right. Kirby's voice was pretty shot (and no wonder, after that SF release party), but he eventually exchanged the prop champagne bottle he was holding for a water bottle to recover enough of his throat to work through his set. He still killed every song over Factor's banging beats, and the crowd was clearly having a great time to his tunes. There was also some very funny interactions involving an enthusiastic gal from the crowd yelling "my pussy is not your therapist!" (referencing a line from a Paranoid Castle interlude), which had Kirby responding in various comedic and witty ways. Really fun and awesome set from these two.

The lights in Ear Peace Records were dimmed as Ceschi Ramos stepped up as the evening's headliner. I stand by my verdict that Ceschi is one of the best live shows that modern hip hop has to offer. Every set that I've seen from him has been a very special and unique concert experience, and it seems like he improves and sharpens his songs with each tour. The last time I saw Ceschi open for Awol One in San Francisco (one of my favorite shows of 2011, read here), he performed with his brother David Ramos and Max Heath as Anonymous Inc. This was a very different and special set of music in its own right, but there's a certain intimacy in seeing Ceschi perform on his own without a band or backup vocalist, and that brilliant closeness and connection with the crowd was in full effect at Ear Peace. Ceschi went from singing delicate folk-rap ballads over his guitar to speed-rapping with insane intensity over electro beats. The audience responded immediately without hesitation, moving from their seated positions around Ceschi's chair to a wild frenzied dance pit of people jumping up and down. Too many highlight moments to name. "Black and White and Red All Over" was impressive as always with its tightly knit verses and guitar chords, leaving more than a few people in the crowd looking mighty impressed. "No New York" was the best I've ever seen it performed, with many people in the crowd wailing along with the hook and Ceschi tackling one of his tour mates to the ground mid-song. "The Fall of Captain E.O" and "Calluses" provided a razor sharp display of Ceschi's rapping and lyrics that put anyone's doubts of his abilities as an MC to rest. Ceschi ended his set with a brilliant string of three accoustic numbers, starting with a somber guitar-based rendition of his verses from "Long Live the Great Short Lived" dedicated to a lost friend. He played "The Longest Song Ever" by request after much hesitation and nailed it super well, then ended things on a more funny note with his performance of "For My Disappointed Hip Hop Heroes." One amazing thing through all of this was just how responsive and in tune the crowd was with every one of Ceschi's numbers. People would start singing or clapping or yelling along to Ceschi's songs out of the blue, and it never felt out of place. It was the sound of Ceschi's friends and fans knowing his music, and showing a great appreciation for it. Truly excellent set and a great show, props to Ear Peace for holding it down when no other venue pulled through.

I leave you with a poorly lit snippet of Ceschi's performance in video format below. Here's "Long Live the Great Short Lived," done accoustic:

Knives & Gasoline, Avatar, Abnormal and Knomadic Souls at Old Princeton Landing, Half Moon Bay

View From the Front Row, 9/10/11

Last night, I rolled down to the Old Princeton Landing in Half Moon Bay to check out the second installment of Maleko's "Fresh" series, starring Knives & Gasoline, Avatar, Abnormal and supposedly Joe Dub. Unfortunately, Joe Dub ended up being a no-show, which was the one major disappointment of the evening. I'm a big fan of Joe's music and have never seen him live, so I'd be lying if I said that he wasn't one of the names on the line-up that prompted me to make the drive. Still, a bunch of other exciting talent was in full effect at Old Princeton Landing, and the spot was packed with a really awesome crowd of vibrant Bay Area folk, including plenty of friends and family of the performers.

Panik the Skinnyman and his group Knomadic Souls opened things up with a very brief set of about three or four songs. I wasn't familiar with their music and guess that they're part of Half Moon Bay's local scene, but their stuff sounded pretty good and got the rap part of the night off on the right foot. Panik's solo numbers were decent, but were overshadowed by the Knomadic Souls material, which had him and his MC partner chopping it up pretty fiercely with their flows. Could have done without the bare-chested flashing of the Knomadic Souls tattoo though! Major props go out to Panik the Skinnyman for giving the DJ so much love prior to his performance as well. He was grooving to the classic hip hop jams and bugging out every time a fresh old school beat came on.

Abnormal, a group consisting of Maleko, Administer Raj, and Space Ranger, were the next act to perform. They took the stage wearing matching workman uniforms with their MC names stenciled on the back, and struck a unified B-boy stance to flash their names to the crowd prior to getting busy. The visual aspect of their set didn't end there, as Maleko whipped out a pillow during his verse on their first song while referencing pillows in his lyrics. These three gents definitely fall on the intellectual side of the hip hop spectrum, so naturally their verses contained lots of abstract imagery and strange flows. They kicked quite a few acapellas to highlight their brainy lyrics, and took turns performing collaborative numbers with one another. It was good to see a full set from them, since I remember Maleko and Raj only having time to play a few short numbers at the end of the last "Fresh" event Unfair given the amount of work these guys have been putting in over the years. Glad they got some shine at this one.

Avatar was the next to rock the mic, and he put on a solid set of mostly new numbers with a couple of old jams thrown in for good measure. As far as the hip hop side of the evening goes, Avatar's set was the most impressive and intense of the bunch, with his speedy complex flows and energy standing out amongst the evening's MCs. I'd seen Avatar play not too long ago with his group Speak Easy at the "I <3 Neila" Benefit in LA, but this was my first time seeing him play solo since his tour with Xololanxinxo in 2009, and I must say his live show has really improved since then. Maybe it's just because the new material's sounding extra dope, but Avatar's set had a really nice flow to it that made the whole performance sound very cohesive. Out of the older numbers, he knocked it out the park with "Tear Jerker" and also covered his verse from "St. Patty's Day" off of Speak Easy's album, which is always a sure-fire winner in a live setting. Strong set from the homie, be on the look-out for Avatar's upcoming solo album cus' it's bound to be bangin'.

The group I was most curious to see live was the headliner Knives & Gasoline, an awesome post-rock project from the venerable LA hip hop producer Deeskee and adorable* punk rock singer Stacey Dee. I'm a fan of their album "Love Songs for Crime Scenes," but was uncertain how well it would translate to a live setting given the downtempo nature of a lot of the songs. Well, Knives & Gasoline's performance ended up being the highlight of the evening and was everything that a fan of the music that these two make could hope for. One thing that I liked about seeing this group live is that it gave Stacey Dee the opportunity to showcase her talents as a live performer, with Deeskee playing the silent mastermind behind the scenes on his laptop. I've seen Stacey's punk bands the Angry Amputees and Compton SF play before, and while they definitely have some searing live sets, no one member of the group stands out. With Knives & Gasoline, Stacey has the stage to herself, and she vibes off of Deeskee's instrumentation well while pulling some entertaining tricks of her own. There were lots of highlights in Knives & Gasoline's set, including an awesome rendition of their cover song "Cry Little Sister" that breathed new life into the song via Stacey's raspy vocals. "Trainwreck" got people dancing with its catchy horns and rhythms while "The Night is Young" left folks reeling in a state of bliss. Stacey had a ton of friends in attendance, and she got into the crowd for "Breadcrumbs" and addressed her singing to different people she knew with a smile. And speaking of friendship, it was fun to see Stacey and Deeskee bicker on stage in a way that only long-time friends can... Deeskee tossed a lime from his drink at Stacey at one point, and she picked up Maleko's pillow in response and turned to him in a menacing manner. No ensuing pillow fight. but I guarantee you the thought was there. Knives & Gasoline closed their set with an excellent rendition of "Stage Coach Road" that had Stacey Dee going all "Coyote Ugly" on the crowd. She got up on the bar counter and had the whole audience clapping their hands and stomping their feet in time to the Western tune. Great set from these two, check'em out if you get a chance!

A really fun and memorable show at the Old Princeton Landing, despite the lack of Joe Dub. Was great to meet Deeskee and catch up with some other folks, good times! Some video footage below:


Avatar kicking a new track of his:




Knives & Gasoline playing one of my favorite songs of theirs, "The Night is Young":




*inside joke. She *is* pretty dang adorable though!