Slippy Larue, of Columbia, Missouri came out to the Jazzhaus to open for Mouth, fusing synthesizers, keys, drums and guitar to blast the small venue with fantastic jams. The band's hypnotic trance tunes and stirring rhythms filled the Jazzhaus with energy. Slippy Larue demonstrates a kind of dedicated practice and brilliant music choreography that is hard to find anywhere. It was a perfect opening act for Mouth.
The only down side to the opener's performance was the crowd. There wasn't one. People showed up late to the bar and missed out on an epic performance, but the folks that had come early to appreciate the great music got a stunning set from the opener. Hopefully Slippy Larue will return and see a bigger crowd next time!
But aside from a slow start, the night went very well. Mouth came to the stage with some familiar, great songs, that have been tweaked, improved and over-hauled to give the crowd a set of exciting, intense songs that are definitely classic Mouth, but bigger and better than ever. Songs like Virtuality and Worm sounded like they had gotten a jolt of electricity in them, giving the familiar songs a new vibe.
Fortunately for Mouth, the crowd had finally come out in time for them, and the dance floor was packed, seats all filled and the bar was alive. The party didn't stop until after two encore songs, much to the delight of the grateful audience. Mouth knows how to treat their fans.
Now for Previews:
Tonight, Saturday, Cicada Rhythm is putting on a show at the Granada, just $5 for adrenaline-pumping electronic dance music. Lincoln, Nebraska's Somasphere is headlining with Sam Krause, and DJason. This should be a great show, probably packed, considering how low the price is and how fantastic the music will be!
Then, Tuesday, back at the Granada, The Faint will be playing their famous electronic pop rock for $15. If you're into that kinda thing, this'll probably be a pretty great show. It's always exciting when big acts come to town!
Showing posts with label Somasphere. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Somasphere. Show all posts
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Festy Fest is the best Saturday night
As the sun set on the second day of Festy Fest a fantastic lineup of bands came on both stages, providing continuous, rockin music all night. Lawrence's fourth annual Festy Fest music festival was the biggest yet, with great local bands and friends from other states came to play together for three days straight.
The open fields and forested path between stages were soft but comfortable after days of rain last week, with perfect weather all day Saturday for the outdoor festival. Despite the humidity a day earlier, there were no bugs, and a cool breeze to keep hot bodies from getting tired too early.
Mouth really got the crowd going on Stage 2 around 8:30 p.m. with funky, dance jams. The audience filled the tent with dancing bodies, and surrounded it with folks chillin on their blankets. The band had Evan Leitnaker adding extra percussion beats and rhythms to their own funky jam, making it a more intricate, exciting experience. The band finished a rockstar set just in time for the crowd to migrate back to Stage 1 for Mountain Sprout.
Unfortunately for Mountain Sprout, the sound technician working behind the scenes was messing up horribly. Despite the band's best efforts to put on a good show, playing many of their best songs with their signature wild energy, issues with the band's ability to hear themselves, and microphones cutting out made it difficult to get into the music. Fortunately it wasn't long before another awesome band would be playing on the second stage.
Sonic Sutra jammed with fierce passion on Stage 2, crowding the tent with pumped up music lovers getting groovy. The local minstrels played their hearts out to an audience that loves them, and made the night theirs for a while. Even so, the fans were eager to get back to Stage 1 in time for Split Lip Rayfield.
The punky bluegrass trio took the already-hyped crowd and blasted off with the energy. The band broke out some of their best hits, getting everyone cheering and dancing. Split Lip Rayfield always puts on a great show, and held the audience until the end of their set.
Soon after Split Lip was over, The Floozies got going on Stage 2. The Hill brothers rocked out, when their equipment was working, but once again sound guys were doing their worst. Right in the middle of great jams and funky dance tunes the synthesizer would suddenly go mute, as if the sound guy had simply unplugged the amps. Mark kept on with the drums for a time, to make up for the awkward silence, but there's nothing worse than an awesome song getting cut short.
Somasphere was up next with heavy, electronic drum and bass. The thumping, pumping beats make this band's shows a dance party. By this time of the night the audience was going full-throttle, and Somasphere rode with the energy, making the night feel endless.
Last, but not least Rocket Science came on, throwing down sick beats and rhythms for a dance party to get funky with. IDM, or Intelligent Dance Music is too clever and slick to resist getting down to. Everyone at the festival was still raging it throughout the set that started at 3:30 p.m.
Aside from the weak sound guys messing things up for some of the great bands' sets, Saturday night was an epic first taste of the festival season starting up.
Next week: Summer Camp Music Festival!
The open fields and forested path between stages were soft but comfortable after days of rain last week, with perfect weather all day Saturday for the outdoor festival. Despite the humidity a day earlier, there were no bugs, and a cool breeze to keep hot bodies from getting tired too early.
Mouth really got the crowd going on Stage 2 around 8:30 p.m. with funky, dance jams. The audience filled the tent with dancing bodies, and surrounded it with folks chillin on their blankets. The band had Evan Leitnaker adding extra percussion beats and rhythms to their own funky jam, making it a more intricate, exciting experience. The band finished a rockstar set just in time for the crowd to migrate back to Stage 1 for Mountain Sprout.
Unfortunately for Mountain Sprout, the sound technician working behind the scenes was messing up horribly. Despite the band's best efforts to put on a good show, playing many of their best songs with their signature wild energy, issues with the band's ability to hear themselves, and microphones cutting out made it difficult to get into the music. Fortunately it wasn't long before another awesome band would be playing on the second stage.
Sonic Sutra jammed with fierce passion on Stage 2, crowding the tent with pumped up music lovers getting groovy. The local minstrels played their hearts out to an audience that loves them, and made the night theirs for a while. Even so, the fans were eager to get back to Stage 1 in time for Split Lip Rayfield.
The punky bluegrass trio took the already-hyped crowd and blasted off with the energy. The band broke out some of their best hits, getting everyone cheering and dancing. Split Lip Rayfield always puts on a great show, and held the audience until the end of their set.
Soon after Split Lip was over, The Floozies got going on Stage 2. The Hill brothers rocked out, when their equipment was working, but once again sound guys were doing their worst. Right in the middle of great jams and funky dance tunes the synthesizer would suddenly go mute, as if the sound guy had simply unplugged the amps. Mark kept on with the drums for a time, to make up for the awkward silence, but there's nothing worse than an awesome song getting cut short.
Somasphere was up next with heavy, electronic drum and bass. The thumping, pumping beats make this band's shows a dance party. By this time of the night the audience was going full-throttle, and Somasphere rode with the energy, making the night feel endless.
Last, but not least Rocket Science came on, throwing down sick beats and rhythms for a dance party to get funky with. IDM, or Intelligent Dance Music is too clever and slick to resist getting down to. Everyone at the festival was still raging it throughout the set that started at 3:30 p.m.
Aside from the weak sound guys messing things up for some of the great bands' sets, Saturday night was an epic first taste of the festival season starting up.
Next week: Summer Camp Music Festival!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Top 10 reasons you have to go to Festy Fest
Friday, May 21st through Sunday, the 23rd, Lawrence will be having the biggest, best music festival since Wakarusa packed up and moved to Arkansas. (1.) While still a small, intimate gathering, Festy Fest is sure to be bigger than any of it's first three years. The land outside of town where this two-stage event is being held is big enough to comfortably fit the 1200 music-lovers. (2.) The festival will be held in a beautiful stretch of land, less than twenty minutes away from town, where music lovers can camp out, or easily drive home - but no drinking and driving! According to the festival's website, GTI Taxicab service is available out there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's easy to find a nice, flat spot of land to park and pitch your tent, but if you'd rather enjoy the comforts of home between day-long music events, it's not a long or complicated drive to make.
(3.) The line up for this years festival is far epic in size and strength. There are 16 bands playing at Festy Fest that always put on fantastic shows. This writer's favorites are as follows in the order they will play at Festy Fest:
Deadman Flats
Calamity Cubes
The Ben Miller Band
Irietions
Great American Taxi
Cosmopolitics
Brody Buster
Mouth
Mountain Sprout
Sonic Sutra
Split Lip Rayfield
The Floozies
Somasphere
Rocket Science
Tyler Gregory & the Blues Shuffle
Carrie Nation & the Speakeasy
(4.) These bands, with about 23 other bands will play simultaneously or in shifts, on Stage 1 and Stage 2, guaranteeing good music at all times. Most every band listed to play is well-known, this writer just hasn't had the opportunity to see them all, and can't speak from personal experience. Festy Fest's website has links to all of the bands' websites. (5.) The music ranges from bluegrass to electronic, from jazzy, funky jams to punk, psychedelic rock and more. There's something for everyone. (6.) Festy Fest supports local bands, all the bands playing are either Lawrence-originals or friends who are playing to support music for life.
(7.) The creators of Festy Fest are in the process of launching a new website called bandorbar.com, which will help bands and bars/venues line up gigs together. The idea is to make it easier for bands to find bars they want to perform in, that are looking for bands to play there (and vice versa). According to the Festy Fest website, membership is free to any band or bar/venue that signs up before the site's launch. Every band member or bar employee reading this should take a look!
(8.) Supporting this festival means supporting local music, Lawrence, and the music scene at its roots. (9.) Festy Fest may be more expensive this year than ever before, but that's because the lineup is so star-studded, the set-up is ideal, in terms of space, stages, and location, and this is all still MUCH cheaper, closer to home, and jam-packed with good music than any other music festival in the Midwest. According to the Festy Fest website, a full-event pass costs between $75-85, a Friday pass costs $30, Saturday costs $45, and Sunday costs $35. Anyone most interested in the bands playing on one particular day, or with limited funds, can still come out for one day of awesome music, for hours on end, and have a grand time. But the 3 day pass is definitely the best value, with the ridiculous lineup of fantastic bands set to play non-stop, each day, all weekend. You can buy your tickets online through pipelineticketing or at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire Street in Lawrence.
(10.) School is over. It's summer now. Time to start celebrating! And what else are you going to do that weekend? There are virtually no other good shows going on that weekend, because everyone will be at Festy Fest. You should be there too!
(3.) The line up for this years festival is far epic in size and strength. There are 16 bands playing at Festy Fest that always put on fantastic shows. This writer's favorites are as follows in the order they will play at Festy Fest:
Deadman Flats
Calamity Cubes
The Ben Miller Band
Irietions
Great American Taxi
Cosmopolitics
Brody Buster
Mouth
Mountain Sprout
Sonic Sutra
Split Lip Rayfield
The Floozies
Somasphere
Rocket Science
Tyler Gregory & the Blues Shuffle
Carrie Nation & the Speakeasy
(4.) These bands, with about 23 other bands will play simultaneously or in shifts, on Stage 1 and Stage 2, guaranteeing good music at all times. Most every band listed to play is well-known, this writer just hasn't had the opportunity to see them all, and can't speak from personal experience. Festy Fest's website has links to all of the bands' websites. (5.) The music ranges from bluegrass to electronic, from jazzy, funky jams to punk, psychedelic rock and more. There's something for everyone. (6.) Festy Fest supports local bands, all the bands playing are either Lawrence-originals or friends who are playing to support music for life.
(7.) The creators of Festy Fest are in the process of launching a new website called bandorbar.com, which will help bands and bars/venues line up gigs together. The idea is to make it easier for bands to find bars they want to perform in, that are looking for bands to play there (and vice versa). According to the Festy Fest website, membership is free to any band or bar/venue that signs up before the site's launch. Every band member or bar employee reading this should take a look!
(8.) Supporting this festival means supporting local music, Lawrence, and the music scene at its roots. (9.) Festy Fest may be more expensive this year than ever before, but that's because the lineup is so star-studded, the set-up is ideal, in terms of space, stages, and location, and this is all still MUCH cheaper, closer to home, and jam-packed with good music than any other music festival in the Midwest. According to the Festy Fest website, a full-event pass costs between $75-85, a Friday pass costs $30, Saturday costs $45, and Sunday costs $35. Anyone most interested in the bands playing on one particular day, or with limited funds, can still come out for one day of awesome music, for hours on end, and have a grand time. But the 3 day pass is definitely the best value, with the ridiculous lineup of fantastic bands set to play non-stop, each day, all weekend. You can buy your tickets online through pipelineticketing or at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire Street in Lawrence.
(10.) School is over. It's summer now. Time to start celebrating! And what else are you going to do that weekend? There are virtually no other good shows going on that weekend, because everyone will be at Festy Fest. You should be there too!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Somasphere shakes the Bottleneck open for Kitty D, and The Bootheel and Tyler Gregory rock out at the Replay, followed by classic Lawrence post-party
My title for this blog post was too long. The last word was going to be 'adventure!'
As if Friday night weren't wild and long enough, tonight would have to be near the edge of epic.
My adventures started when I got out of my apartment to visit my friend Spenser, then, before Brit's performance in The Vagina Monologues held at Hashinger Hall. She, Alex and I had a drink before she went on stage, which took the edge off being one of the only 6 guys in the room.
Then I went to The Bottleneck to see Somasphere. Sure enough, a ton of friends were at the show, and we had the front, right area of the dance-floor, and it was great fun. Somasphere works the bass, electric keyboard, and guitar to weave together a heavy, funky, flowing rhythm that no one can stand still to.
They REALLY remind me of Sound Tribe Sector 9 sometimes. Some of their grooves, a combination of heavy, hip-hop-y beats and jazzy melodies, are just like some of STS9's greatest hits. But you don't get the insane, rude, retarded crowds you get at STS9 shows.
I was already tipsy after the couple of beers I got, but when my friends got me a couple of shots, I was over the edge, and could hardly dance anymore.
Thankfully Spenser was down to hop to another bar, when Somasphere finished their set. They were actually the opening band for Kitty D, but I've never heard of Kitty D, and we left for the Replay before they came on.
At the Reply I saw a band inside the small, indoor part of the venue. I don't know if it was The Bootheel or Tyler Gregory playing, but they were great, and the crowd loved them, so it was easy to get into it, even though we arrived just in time for the last couple of songs.
Spenser and I met up with another gang of our friends from the same overall crew as the folks at the Bottleneck. Some of the girls were looking to stop by a party, and Spenser and I were going with the flow, and I had my first experience in a taxi in Lawrence. It was actually really cool.
The party we went to wasn't very good. But I got to run into another friend, Jake, who I had not seen in months. We went on back to the girl's house for a bit more of hanging out, and then Spenser and I finished with a little hang-out session back at his house again, before I walked back to my car.
At 4:05 in the morning I stood on Mass. Street near 9th, and looked up and down the sidewalk and street, and did not see another soul. I was all alone downtown. Right in the heart of the town. My town. Your town. Our town.
I stopped by Java Break for a cup of my favorite coffee-drink, a Snickers, cold, with no ice. And drove home to write these blogs.
Now I'm going to crash and sleep in tomorrow. I don't have work until Tuesday, thank god.
As if Friday night weren't wild and long enough, tonight would have to be near the edge of epic.
My adventures started when I got out of my apartment to visit my friend Spenser, then, before Brit's performance in The Vagina Monologues held at Hashinger Hall. She, Alex and I had a drink before she went on stage, which took the edge off being one of the only 6 guys in the room.
Then I went to The Bottleneck to see Somasphere. Sure enough, a ton of friends were at the show, and we had the front, right area of the dance-floor, and it was great fun. Somasphere works the bass, electric keyboard, and guitar to weave together a heavy, funky, flowing rhythm that no one can stand still to.
They REALLY remind me of Sound Tribe Sector 9 sometimes. Some of their grooves, a combination of heavy, hip-hop-y beats and jazzy melodies, are just like some of STS9's greatest hits. But you don't get the insane, rude, retarded crowds you get at STS9 shows.
I was already tipsy after the couple of beers I got, but when my friends got me a couple of shots, I was over the edge, and could hardly dance anymore.
Thankfully Spenser was down to hop to another bar, when Somasphere finished their set. They were actually the opening band for Kitty D, but I've never heard of Kitty D, and we left for the Replay before they came on.
At the Reply I saw a band inside the small, indoor part of the venue. I don't know if it was The Bootheel or Tyler Gregory playing, but they were great, and the crowd loved them, so it was easy to get into it, even though we arrived just in time for the last couple of songs.
Spenser and I met up with another gang of our friends from the same overall crew as the folks at the Bottleneck. Some of the girls were looking to stop by a party, and Spenser and I were going with the flow, and I had my first experience in a taxi in Lawrence. It was actually really cool.
The party we went to wasn't very good. But I got to run into another friend, Jake, who I had not seen in months. We went on back to the girl's house for a bit more of hanging out, and then Spenser and I finished with a little hang-out session back at his house again, before I walked back to my car.
At 4:05 in the morning I stood on Mass. Street near 9th, and looked up and down the sidewalk and street, and did not see another soul. I was all alone downtown. Right in the heart of the town. My town. Your town. Our town.
I stopped by Java Break for a cup of my favorite coffee-drink, a Snickers, cold, with no ice. And drove home to write these blogs.
Now I'm going to crash and sleep in tomorrow. I don't have work until Tuesday, thank god.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)