Stay Positive (Part 1)

As promised, I'm back to the 2008 retrospective stuff. I've decided the best of/worst of approach is getting a little played out and might reflect too much of pessimistic perspective. So from here on in, I'm gonna view the cup half full. Maybe this is a resolution I'll carry out into the new year -- who knows. I am just going to list the tops for the remaining major categories. These will be in traditional countdown fashion, as you'll see:

Top 10 Shows of 2008

Honorable Mention: The Gaslight Anthem @ Roseland Ballroom 10/13/08

Granted this band was designated the opening slot for a four-band bill, it might be a little controversial to to place in the top ten. However, this just goes to show how much I believe in the Gaslight Anthem. I'll give them my honorable mention spot. Churning out a majority of The '59 Sound's Jersey Shore-inspired catalog in the allotted 40 minutes, this was a make-or-break show for me. The fact that I continually rave about them will tell you how well that went. People are still talking about Gaslight's recent performance on Conan, so I think 2009 will only keep the momentum going for one of my new favorite bands.

10) Fountains of Wayne @ The Highline Ballroom 2/8/08

The saddest thing to consider about this New Jersey power-pop quartet is that they will likely go down in the annals of history as one-hit wonders for "Stacey's Mom." But like comrades Nada Surf, this band has produced some of the best pop-rock for the better part of the decade, and has been critically received for every album that's been put out. When I saw these guys in February, it was my first time at the Highline Ballroom (one of the better venues in Manhattan), so I was blown away by the sheer intimacy of venue as well as the slew of upbeat 3 and half minute beauties that were churned out with ease. Can't wait to see these guys again.

9) The Killers @ The Highline Ballroom 7/29/08

Same venue, MUCH different band. I was skeptical about the validity of this secret show because it was mysteriously easy to get tickets. As everyone knows, this is an arena-sized band -- for them to play the 600 person capacity Highline Ballroom was a little bit of a head scratcher. But when they did eventually come on, they knocked it out of the park. Combining the usual suspects with b-sides, lesser known tracks, and new songs "Spaceman" and "Neon Tiger," this show restored my faith in the band I hadn't really been into since college.

8) Ryan Adams & The Cardinals @ The Apollo Theatre 10/31/08

I know, I know. For someone who's a little too obsessed with this guy, the eight spot might seem a little out of place. This just goes to show how brilliant 2008 was for me in terms of concert attendance. Don't get me wrong; this was yet another classic Ryan Adams Halloween show -- the fact that it was at the legendary Apollo Theater was worth the trip alone. Skewing mostly new material, Adams decided it was a good idea to avoid the very songs that helped to build his strong fan base. I don't know how well this strategy was received by those in attendance, but it worked for me. His clean attitude has surely led to spot-on singing/guitar playing.

7) The National @ Brooklyn Academy of Music 2/23/08

Another legendary venue, another soon-to-be legendary band. This marked the first show of the year I'd been to outside of Manhattan, and let's just say it was worth the borough crossover. Matt Berninger's morose baritone set the tone for a memorably bleak winter evening (in a good way). Playing most of the songs off of many critics' top 2007 pick (Boxer), as well as host of old material I was admittedly unfamiliar with, this show officially made me a believer. I'm looking forward to this band's follow-up, which will hopefully see an '09 release.

6) Mark Kozelek @ The Highline Ballroom 6/13/08

I think it's pretty apparent which New York venue wins MVP this year for me. I think this show takes the cake for most anticipated concert of the year. Ghosts of the Great Highway remains one of the best records of all time for me, and by June I was REALLY getting into the most recent Sun Kil Moon album, April. Not to mention Kozelek's solo stuff AND his catalog with former '90's band Red House Painters. So yeah, a lot to look forward to. Mark was dead on -- distributing equally from all of his projects with finger-picking ease. "Lost Verses" was hauntingly beautiful. Enough said.

5) My Morning Jacket @ Radio City Music Hall 6/20/08

Without a doubt, this show was the most important performance ever for Jim James and crew. I remember seeing My Morning Jacket just three short years ago a D.C.'s 930 club -- a show that didn't even sell out. Since then, a lot has changed. I was skeptical about the band's booking at such a large venue, but after seeing James tear down the house with a near 3-hour performance, I knew there was no turning back. Shortly after, the band was booked for an MSG New Year's show. If you've got no New Year's plans just yet and don't want to spend the absurd $100+ "all you can drink" bar fee, this is definitely a worthwhile alternative. Live album surely to follow.

4) TV On The Radio @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple 10/13/08

For TVOTR to clock in at number four, this just goes to show how stiff the competition was this year. Definitely the most interesting venue of the year. The Brooklyn Masonic Temple is exactly how it sounds -- the performance space resembled the appearance and size of an elementary school gymnasium. This being said, it was impossible to not like this show. The band played the perfect blend of old and new on an evening that featured a full horn section for the majority of the show. Considering the hype that surrounds this band, I have a feeling it will be a while before I see them at a temple again.

3) Neil Young & Wilco @ MSG 12/16/08

Not to cut corners here, but I just saw this show last week and went into great detail a couple posts ago. Just scroll down to read all about it.

2) Fleet Foxes @ The Grand Ballroom at The Manhattan Center 10/4/08

Don't be deceived by the venue's name; there's nothing colossal about this ballroom located above the Hammerstein Ballroom. And quite frankly this is what made this show so special to me. The Fleet Foxes are hands down the most exciting success story of 2008. To see them play at such a tiny standing room venue was absolutely mind-blowing. These guys are about as hyped as Vampire Weekend, but unlike their '08 amigos, they are legitimately worthy of all this praise. Sweet harmonizing, precocious arrangements, brilliant musicianship, and the best possible attitude for a hipster-approved band are only a few things that make this Northwest quintet the best thing ever. Bonus points for the legendary beards.

1) Sigur Rós @ The Museum of Modern Art 6/17/08

This show will go down as the most transcendent in my book. For this was just not aural ecstasy by one of the best bands in the world; those who were in attendance we treated to a visual art exhibit beforehand by fellow Icelandic countryman Olafur Eliasson. The free Grolsch beer didn't hurt in helping to set the tone. Definitely the best cultural experience of 2008 for me. Refering back to an earlier post, "throughout the course of the night, the guys brought out their standard surprises, which included a full horn section, a wind section, and singer Jónsi Birgisson's trademark falsetto vocals/bow guitar playing abilities." A life-changing combination which easily made this the best show of the year.

Aging Not So Gracefully

It's only fitting that the Killers' third release is titled Day & Age. It takes about two seconds to realize that this album is yet another tribute to the new wave movement that reigned when these guys were probably still in diapers. It doesn't take an expert to figure out that both the days and the ages are ones that took place in the late 70's or early 80's. Which to me, is rather disappointing. Hot Fuss, which was released in 2004, was creatively transient -- it had touches of the old interspersed with newer, fresher sounds. We got a host of singles that were more radio-friendly than the kind of stuff Interpol was coming out with, yet nothing was too overbearing. Sam's Town, despite having an excellent first single ("When You Were Young"), was mostly smoke and mirrors. An obsession with Bruce Springsteen didn't do this band's collective body good, and a fleeting presence on the charts only solidified this fact. Two years later, we get the third offering by the Killers, one that unfortunately duplicates many of the inconsistencies from album #2.

But before this one gets cast away into the suck bin, it should be noted that Day & Age has its moments. And if by chance you were to grade this record by its first three cuts, it would rank up there with their debut. The first song, ironically called "Losing Touch," is actually a step in the right direction for Brandon Flowers and crew. Despite the overblown horn section (no pun intended), the tune is actually quite infectious. The build-up is as brilliant as the chorus itself, and it segues nicely into the no-remix-necessary "Human" -- an admitted guilty pleasure. Flowers rhetorically philosophizes whether we are "human" or indeed "dancer" -- a question that gets answered pretty quickly once that beat kicks in. Bringing back the glitzy dance glamor of "Mr. Brightside," this one will complement its predecessor nicely once that Killers best-of collection inevitably hits stores in a few years. The most head-scratching element to this album is "Spacemen." But certainly not in a bad way. Far and away Day & Age's most solid cut, it's rather mind-boggling that this one wasn't selected as the album's primary single. Compromising the Killers of yesteryear with some of the more recent novelty neo-new wave they've been so infatuated with, "Spaceman" explemfies the kind of music Flowers should be composing at this point in his career. But unfortunately, the "Human"/"Spaceman" twin peaks are met the rest of the way with numerous valleys. "Joy Ride" is hardly smooth trip. Flowers and crew take us through all the bad parts of funkytown, which is punishing more so than anything else. The horn section makes its untriumphant return, forcing this reviewer to ponder whether or not these guys are pulling a fast one on us.

The rest of the album is somwhat lackluster. It's as if the band is too hellbent on preserving/redefining an image rather than making music that would otherwise come naturally to them. "The World We Live In" is another trip down memory lane, this time evoking the synthesizers and rolicking beat that comes to mind when you think of a Tears For Fears or Culture Club. "Neon Tiger," accordingly, is perfect soudtrack music for an 80's-style coke binge. Taking all of this into account, it's difficult to give tremendous praise to an album that's so top-heavy on novelty. This record sounds unmistakably decadent and out of place. As first shown Sam's Town, the Killers are still obsessed with a day and age that has been long gone for quite some time. It's time forge ahead, boys.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Killer Coverage

The Killers have released the album artwork for Day& Age, which comes out November 25th. In case you missed it, the band played SNL this past week, premiering "Human" and "Spaceman" to national audiences. This is going to be a great album, I assure you.

And by the way, I am indeed still alive. Just a little busier now. I'll try not to be as M.I.A. in the future, and try to keep this thing going as much as I can. Keep you eyes peeled for more frequent updates.

Human After All

As reported a few days ago, the new Killers single, "Human," hits radio this week and iTunes a week after. Well, if you can't wait until then or you are just cheap like me, click HERE to download a free copy of the song. Just to warn you, this is easily the most poppy/techno the band has ever been. Yes, more so than "Mr. Brightside". Can't quite put my finger on it, but I'd say this is a nice middleground for those polarized by the two distinct sounds of the band's first couple of releases. Personally, I'm digging it.

Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll

As I mentioned earlier this summer, I was really digging the new material that the Killers debuted that Highline Ballroom show I went to back in late July. The band's been throwing around some tentative release dates for the new album, Day & Age. Well, it's official -- the disc is coming out November 25th. The first single is "Human," which hits radio next week. The digital download comes out a week later. Sources that have had the opportunity to preview the album had nothing but good things to say, so this is a excellent sign. Surprisingly, there have been no early leaks of the song.

Living Up To The Fuss -- The Killers @ Highline Ballroom 7/29/08

I was a bit of a skeptic going into the Killers' Highline Ballroom performance last night. For one, tickets were unconventionally easy to obtain for a "secret show", and hadn't even sold out even days after they were made available....sketchy. Furthermore, I was a little underwhelmed by Sam's Town -- the band's follow-up to the admittedly brilliant breakout smash Hot Fuss. Let's just say the Killers hadn't exactly been a staple on my iPod since 2004. In any event, I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to see an arena-sized band play one of New York's most intimate and best-sounding venues. Going in, I was still unsure about what to expect. After a forgettable half-hour warm-up performance from fellow Vegas-based band Halloween Town, the Killers went on at just over 10 PM in front of a packed and screaming fanclub-filled house. From there on in, any reservations I had about this show were put to rest. Sell-outs or not, the Killers really know how to play up to a crowd -- whether it's 700 people or 17,000.

Considering how this was such a random one-off performance, it was only fitting that the guys opened up with an obscure cut off of Sam's Town -- the build-up track "For Reasons Unknown". Looking classy and clean cut as always in his three-piece suit, singer Brandon Flowers traversed the stage time and again while gesturing to the hungry crowd. From then on, it was mostly all well-known hits from the Killers' relatively small ouevre, with a few special surprises sprinkled in. The band played a rousing rendition of their first single "Somebody Told Me," which featured Mark Stoermer's signature thumping bass, and then proceeded into an incindiery cover of Joy Division's "Shadowplay". The night's surprises included the underappreciated Hot Fuss b-side "Under The Gun" and the premiere of two brand new hooky tracks called "Spaceman" and the "Neon Tiger". As far as content is concerned, it appears that these tunes are a return to form -- an early indicator that their as-of-yet titled 3rd album might catapult them back to multi-platinum status. Flowers showed off his piano-playing chops on stripped down versions of "Sam's Town," and "Smile Like You Mean It," while figuratively turning it up to eleven on the anthemic "When You Were Young" and "Jenny Was A Friend of Mine". The singer's showmanship was applauded, as he thanked everyone in attendance for "showing up on such short notice". Before the set ended, the Killers played a double-dose of their new-wavy mainstream singles, "Read My Mind" and "Mr. Brightside".

As the band left the stage, the audience's cheers became wildly deafening -- defying the thinkable noise capacity of the 700 in attendance. Without fail, the boys returned shortly to finish some business. The first song of the encore was the bombastic "The River Is Wild". The band then launched into the synth-heavy confessional pop song "Bones" -- which featured Flowers' infectious crooning chorus, "Don't you want to come with me? Don't you want to feel my bones?" The final song of the night was the customary "All These Things That I've Done," which had everyone in the room singing "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier". Before I even knew it, 80 minutes had passed and the night was over. Sure, in the past a couple of months I've seen artists play sets twice as long, but if a band packs in as much a concentrated punch as the Killers, there is simply no need. And you know what? After night like this, these guys earned some prime real estate back on the iPod -- Sam's Town and all.

Here's a video of last night's performance of "Spaceman". Much thanks to whoever posted this:

Somebody Told Me

Apparently, the Killers are playing an exclusive "fan club" show at the Highline Ballroom next Tuesday 7/29, that's no longer very exclusive. Tickets are now open up to the public HERE, and as of 3:20, they are surprisingly still on sale. After convenience charges, tickets come out to $47.50 apiece. This will sell out almost immediately.