The Joy Formidable 3/19 @ The Fine Line

The first rule of good journalism is to admit your biases. Actually, it's probably to avoid stories where your biases would come into play. Or maybe it's respect for the story? I have no idea. But thankfully, this isn't a lesson in journalism. My point is that it's hard for me to write an unbiased review of last night's the Joy Formidable show at the Fine Line in Minneapolis because they happen to be one of my favorites at the moment (and, if they keep it up, they're well on their way to making a permanent appearance on my favorites list).

Because I was smart and spend an exuberant amount of money on music related things, I purchased a "special ticket" and was able to have one of the coolest experiences of my life because of it. The "special ticket" allowed me to get in to watch part of the sound check... where the band invited people who were interested to come on stage!!!

 

J + Rhydian

After spending a few minutes living out my dream of being a rock star, we got to have a meet and greet with the band. They were absolutely charming and super nice to all their fans (even though I'm sure I freaked Ritzy out by telling her that she was even cuter in person... WHAT?! SHE IS!!!). I managed to get a picture the guy in front of me was nice enough to give to me signed AND I got a picture with the band.

 A new supergroup I christened "The Joey Formidable"

God, I'm clever.

All in all, one of the coolest experiences of my life thus far. Showtime came around and I managed to get front row, center... which, surprisingly, was in the middle of a group of pretty rad optometrists. Who knew your eye doctor liked such good music?! The first to take the stage was Exit Music from New York. They were good but nothing I was overly excited about. Their sound was a bit mellower than the other two acts so they seemed a little out of place.

Following them was A Place To Bury Strangers, who have the title of loudest band from New York (how they earned that title is a mystery to me) and holy queen of Shiva were they great. I'd never heard any of their music before but they brought the noise. It wasn't just noise of the sake of being loud, either. Their music was really melodic and actually had substance. I've never seen a band play until the bass player's strings broke but they did... Thoroughly impressed!

Next, the main act: The Joy Formidable bounced to the stage and quickly reminded me of why I was looking forward to seeing them again. These guys have so much energy that you can't help but get into. A special treat this time around was being close enough to pick out all of Ritzy's, their singer, facial expressions... She makes quite a lot of interesting ones!

What most impressed me was that they all looked like they were genuinely having fun up there. The chemistry between Rhydian and Ritzy was infectious and was especially apparent when Ritzy jumped on his back, still playing her guitar.

Oh, and did I mention that Ritzy continued her tradition of massacring the stage during Whirring, their final, climactic song during the encore, by not only tossing her guitar at the on stage gong but knocking over Matt's drumset at the very end. HOW BADASS IS SHE?! Super badass is the answer to that question.

Another highlight was hearing their new song, Silent Treatment, for the first time. It's a lot quieter than their other music but you can really hear the emotion as Ritzy sings. In fact, I thought she was going to cry a few times during it. It made me really excited for the new album to come out which, incidentally, they announced is finished. While they gave no indication of a release date, I'm hoping it will be soon as I already want to see them again, not even 24 hours later.

Next month, I have my whirlwind concert tour with the Ting Tings, First Aid Kit, Kathleen Edwards, Cults, the Head and the Heart, Howler, Dessa, and Lights. WHEW!!! It's going to be a long, but awesome, month! Stay tuned!

An Ode to the Superfan

In addition to being a celebration of one of my favorite desserts, pie, today is the 25th anniversary of the first show of one of the greatest things to ever happen to my life (and let's be real, to the world too!), No Doubt! I can't believe they've been around longer than I've been alive. I'd like to think that in some sort of blobby spiritual gob of ethereal Joey form, I was at the first show. Just kinda there, being a spirit, boppin' along...

I often get described as a No Doubt "superfan." Some mean this as a compliment but others have more sinister intent behind their words. To that second group of people I have this to say: So what if I'm really into a band?! It's my life!

... And yes, that ND reference was on purpose.

But really, superfans often get a bad rap for being so intensely invested in their music and I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. You see, a lot of people on the outside haven't ever had an experience like we have with music. For them, I feel bad. Worse, however, is those who haven't had an experience like we've had with anything.

To me, and so many others, No Doubt is about more than just the music. Yes, that's a huge part of it but there's more to the story. There's the experiences. Seeing a band you love live, along with hundreds, thousands, or even just a handful of other people who feel the same way, knowing all the words and singing along, and just plain letting go is something that my words will never be able to adequately capture.

No Doubt has been therapy to me and so many others. Just listening to Gwen sing about exactly what I'm feeling... It lets me know that someone out there gets what I'm going through and has lived through it. And not just lived through it, but has something to show for themselves. It give me hope that things will get better. I know many other people who've gone through similar experiences with No Doubt and with other bands. It doesn't matter who it is, really. It just matters to them that someone out there got it, got them, when they needed it most.

Most importantly, however, there's the PEOPLE. I've made so many connections with some of the coolest people out there through music. My good friend Carly and I first became friends because of No Doubt. A few years later, we were front row seeing them in Minnesota. There's Kenda, the sassy silversmith from North Carolina who I would have never met if it weren't for our mutual ND love. There's Merrijoy, my awesome Asian lady twin, who I randomly decided to follow on Twitter one day when she tweeted about Metric. And there's Alex and Amy and Kara and SO MANY OTHERS, too many to list, who I know because we share a love of the same bands. My life wouldn't be the same without the musicians that I love.

So you can call me, or anyone else who loves their music, crazy but I truly feel bad for you for not having the same experiences and meeting the awesome people I have. Yes, we sit in line for ridiculous amounts of time. We spend a ton of money on tickets and anything and everything with our bands' names on them. We get tattoos. We travel around the country and world to see them. We collect magazines and photos and treasures from shows.

But you know what? We enjoy every moment of it.

Not just enjoy it.

We have a fucking blast doing it.

Lana Del Rey on SNL 1/14/12 Review

For those of you who go to bed at 7:30 every night, you missed the buzz on the internet surrounding Lana Del Rey's US debut performance on Saturday Night Live. Thankfully, I'm a nice guy who shares links so you can click here to see what you missed.

Did you watch it?

Okay, good. We're all on the same page now.

Lana has been getting a lot of hype over the past few months on the internet and so expectations were REALLY high for this performance. The sentiment on the internet seems to be that she bombed... But you're reading my blog so you obviously want to know what I think, right? Right!

It definitely was NOT a good performance. I'll admit, I really enjoy the studio versions of her songs and am looking forward to her album coming out. However, she clearly wasn't ready for something as big as SNL. Her vocals were weak, she was obviously terrified, and she lacked stage presence. And by lacked stage presence, I mean she just kind of stood there and sang, occasionally flipping her hair or walking back and forth. She seemed to know that it didn't go great as she seemed visibly upset during the closing (This tugged at my heartstrings a bit and I wanted to give her a hug).

That being said, I definitely think a combination of nerves and, more so, inexperience were at play tonight. I mean, she looked like she was going to shit a cactus. Rightfully so because she hasn't been around that long... or at least hasn't been around and getting this kind of attention... and this performance was incredibly important. As she plays more live shows and gets more comfortable, she'll begin to develop stage presence and her vocals will (hopefully) get stronger.

So, Lana. If you're reading this (which I highly doubt), some advice: Keep doing your thing. Keep performing live and work on getting comfortable in front of crowds. You can come back from this if you work at it enough. You also have David Letterman and Ellen coming up in which to prove last night was just a fluke.

What do you think about Lana's performance? Do you think she'll make a come back?

My Lucky Day

Yesterday, I had nothing to do all day so I decided to take the opportunity to head out for some snowboarding, one of my favorite activities. It was a great day to hit Minnesota's equivalent of slopes and the (man made) snow was as great as fake snow can be. The temperature was around 50 so I only needed to wear a light jacket and was snug as a bug in a mug conveniently placed on a rug near a pug.

I haven't been snowboarding for very long. This will be my 4th year and my first year I only made it out once and only twice last year so I'm not particularly good at it but it's something I really enjoy and would like to get better at. One thing I've struggled with for a while is being able to turn toe side. Toe side turning is essential to be able to look like this much of a badass.

I spent some time on the bunny hill to work on toe side turning... and also because the lift operator was hot. And had a pleasant aroma that one could smell from a distance. Yeah, I'm shameless but he smelled a combination of manly and something I'd like to fuck.

Finally, after an hour of falling, frustration, and flan* I managed to stay balanced on my toe side and flip my board around... which resulted in me falling forward into the snow. This was, however, still a big step because I had, up until that point, not had much luck even veering in that direction.
*There wasn't any actual flan. Flan is mentioned only because of its F... and because I really like talking about flan.

I stayed on the bunny hill for a while longer working on turning and taking deep nostril inhales each time I got back on the chairlift. I managed to get to the point where I can somewhat switch back and forth between balancing toe side and heel side and I can direct myself in the toe side direction... though if it came to having to toe side turn suddenly, I'd probably pull a Sonny Bono and perish in an unfortunate tree accident.

In a lucky coincidence, I managed, during a break from my life as some sort of snow sprite to discover that the main chalet has a bar! And they serve wine! And then I saw a fox! Three things I love combined so perfectly it almost seemed too good to be true.

Following my snow adventures I returned home to find out I won a pair of tickets to Dr. Dog at First Avenue in February! It's part of my life strategy of entering as many contests as I possibly can. I figure this way I'm bound to win at least a couple of them and if it's something I end up not liking, I can sell it on eBay for CA$H M0N3Y.*
*I hate people who type like that, too.

Overall, it was a great day. I didn't let things that usually would've brought me down get in my way. Yes, it hurt slamming my ass into the hill repeatedly and face planting on the bunny hill. And yes, I wanted to rip that girl who was standing at the bottom of the chairlift unload texting and taking pictures of her boyfriend's throat out.* And yes, I was upset that my efforts to catch the previously mentioned fox resulted in it running away into the woods and a mandatory court date to discuss the restraining order in March. But I kept a positive attitude and kept working hard and in the end there was a positive outcome! So that's the take home message. Work hard. And don't chase foxes. They're well versed in the legal system.
*SERIOUSLY?! Did you eat paint chips or stupid candy when you were little?! You're going to get hit or at the very least piss off a bunch of people. This isn't the Olive Garden or a cheap motel. GO ELSEWHERE

Going back to snowboarding, I listened to some new music today while snowboarding and it got me to thinking of some of my favorite songs to snowboard to. So I half-assedly created this awesome playlist that you can try out next time you're racing down a hill covered the solid phase of a common molecule on a piece of fiberglass... Or not. It's your life. You've probably seen a few of these before but like I said, I half assed it.

1. Polish Girl- Neon Indian
2. Cradle- The Joy Formidable
3. Just A Girl- No Doubt
4. Dead Disco- Metric
5. Sun of a Gun- Oh Land
6. Marry the Night- Lady Gaga
7. Siberia- Lights
8. M83- Midnight City
9. Le Disko- Shiny Toy Guns
10. Dance With The Devil- The Sounds

So. What do you listen to when you snowboard? Or ski, if you're really white. Or whatever sport you play... Extreme pig wrestling? Pilatescross? I don't care. This is me trying to engage you. Throw me a frickin' bone.

Coachella 2012 Lineup

Coachella announced their line up for their two weekend festival this year. Despite rumors for months that No Doubt would be headlining, the dreams of myself and many other No Doubters are officially crushed as they will NOT be there. I also though that Metric could possibly make an appearance as they have a new album due out in April but alas, it's not happening.

For a look up the line up, you can head here.

Not going to lie, there's a few people that I want to see: Feist hasn't made a Minnesota appearance in a while, the last time Florence + the Machine was here tickets were CRAZY expensive, and the Head and the Heart are ALWAYS great live... but I don't think it'll be worth the money for just a few acts.

Now, I can just anxiously await the Lollapalooza and two mystery Minneapolis festival lineups. Hopefully they'll deliver.

What are everyone's thoughts on Coachella's line up? Are you going to go?

This must be it, welcome to the new year

I'm not a fan of making New Year resolutions for two reasons: The first is that I never keep them. Remember that year I resolved to stop swearing? Didn't last a fucking week. The second is related to the first and stems from me being a psychology nerd. Anyone who mentions to me that they're going on one of those d-words that is related to changes in your eating habits in an attempt to loose weight gets a stern lecture about how said d-words don't work and they really should be making lifestyle changes instead. I hate to hit you with the beating stick of reality but you're not going to be able to eat healthy for six months and then go back to eating the processed, sugar pumped, deep fried, greasy shit you did before and be able to keep the weight off. The psychological literature also suggests that people who attempt to diet will ultimately fail when placed in a cognitively taxing situation.

Wow, it sounds like I'm writing a research paper.

Obviously this applies to other areas of life besides just the d-word. This is why instead of making a New Year resolution, I'm making a NEW YEAR LIFE STYLE CHANGE.

Gwen is excited about lifestyle changes.

I realize I'm a bit late to the party but I really wanted to think this one over seeing as, unlike a resolution, this is going to be a permanent change, I wanted to make sure it was just right. Finally, while I was supposed to be meditating during yoga tonight (Whoops!) I thought of something absolutely perfect.

I do this thing where I'll meet someone, we'll be friends for a while, and then they'll mysteriously become really busy, not contact me on their own, and generally, you know, be a lousy friend. Instead of just moving on, I'll keep trying to be their friend. Well, no more! I'M FINALLY GROWING A PAIR.

 

When this happens, I'm going to tell them they're an asshole and send them a flaming bag of poop and then delete them from my life.

No, I'm totally kidding. What I am going to do, however, is stop making an effort with people who don't make one with me. So when one of these yayhoos makes an appearance in my life, instead of desperately clawing at them and showering them with baked goods, trying to make plans with them, and searching for amusing videos of little girls being headbutted in the ovaries by a raging sheep, I'm just going to stop contacting them.

That's not to say I'll IGNORE them. You have to REALLY send me into a raging whirlwind for me to ignore you. If we run into each other, I'll still be like, "OH HEY GURL HOW YOU BE?!" But I'm not going to go out of my way to see them. I'm not going to text them and be like, "Let's hang out!!!" And I'm definitely not going to spend my time looking for ovary hating sheep. If they really want me in their life, they'll put forth some effort. Friendships are a two way street and it's not healthy for one person to put in ALL of the effort. No one ends up happy that way. It took me a long time to realize this and I'm not saying the lifestyle change will be easy. But I think in the end, it'll ultimately be worthwhile.

On a lighter note, I'm starting to figure out my busy concert going schedule for the year. I love going to live shows but unfortunately this little thing called "college" sometimes get in the way. Oh, that and money. Boo. Here's a short selection of what I have planned so far:

Jan. 29th- Los Campesinos!

April 2nd- The Ting Tings
April 7th- First Aid Kit (possibly, assuming someone will go with me)
April 16th- Cults

Coachella?!?! (Dependent on funds and line up)

May 4th- Neon Indian

June 23rd-24th- This mystery festival that's supposedly happening in Minneapolis

July 20th-21st- First Avenue's festival

August 3rd-5th- Lollapalooza, dependent on funds and line up

Now, clearly there's a large gap in there and my calendar is not near as full as I'd like it to be. Hopefully I'll be making that change as the year really gets going and more artists start touring.

If you're excited about an upcoming show, let me know in a comment! And let me know how you're going to be changing your life this new year!

The Beginning of the End (of Times)

Greetings loyal blog readers and loveable randos!

We are less than 48 hours into 2012, or as the Mayans like to call it, APOCALYPALOOZA!!!! I rang in the New Year at Minnesota's own First Avenue with a friend who I've since before I was sperm.

A shot of the crowd dancing.

 Me attempting to look nice. Did it work?!

The crowd was wild, the drinks were strong, and everyone was having a great time. I was also pleasantly surprised at how responsible everyone seemed to be. I talked to more than a few designated drivers and the buses and taxis of Minneapolis were full. This almost led to us not getting home but thankfully, we met a nice guy at the bus stop who called a friend to come pick us all up and drop us off at home.

I wanted to take a moment to say thanks for reading. I happened to glance upon my blog stats today and I noticed that I have a ton of readers from countries that, well, I don't really know how/why they're reading my blog. I'm talking Russia, Austria, and Latvia. I understand all the US, Canada, and even England but some of these just baffle me.

Maybe it's because I'm actually really fucking famous. Yeah, that's what I'll choose to believe.

Anyway, happy New Year... wherever you're from! Look for (hopefully) more posts from me, especially related to music as I'm trying to do more music blogging and I hopefully will be going on at least one festival and tons of live shows. I'm also going to give album reviews a stab and see how that goes. Keep an eye out for what's to come!