Flaming Lips to headline Pitchfork 2009

The Flaming Lips will be headlining the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago this summer. This is some exciting news, and will pretty much guarantee that I will be attending. When the news was announced last Friday, Pitchfork was also reporting that the Lips would be participating in their "Write the Night: Set Lists by Request" series, where fans have the chance to vote for a particular song they want to hear.

I was pumped to hear this news because, from what I've heard, the Flaming Lips tend to play a very similar set list at each performance. This announcement has been retracted, however, so the Lips' set list will be at the band's discretion.

The four bands that are taking part in the set list request series are: Built to Spill, The Jesus Lizard, Yo La Tengo, and Tortoise. These bands will all play Friday night, July 17.

I'm kind of bummed the Flaming Lips aren't doing the set list request because I think it's a really innovative concept. But I'm not going to complain too much. I'm sure they will put on a very enjoyable performance, as always.

It makes me wonder, though, what kind of a set would be played. Would it be a lot of fan favorites, or a lot of obscure tracks from early albums?

Click here for a list of bands playing at this year's Pitchfork. More will be announced soon.

2009 Lollapalooza Headliners

According to Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, Tool will be among the headliners of Lollapalooza 2009 in Chicago. Other headliners previously reported by the Tribune (none of this is official yet) include Beastie Boys, Jane's Addiction, Kings of Leon and Depeche Mode.

Back in February, Beastie Boys and Tool were two of the bands I predicted for the festival. I hope some more of my predictions join the bill.

These headliners don't excite me much. I'll go see the Beasties and Tool for curiosity-sake. And Kings of Leon put on a great show a couple years ago as a midlevel Lolla act. (But their new album is dissapointing, so I'm not all that pumped about seeing them.)

Overall, I have a fairly luke-warm feeling of this year's Lolla.

Alfonso Ponticelli & Swing Gitan @ Fizz

So the HotHouse (one of Chicago's coolest places/ ideas/ promoters) has been putting on some shows upstairs at Fizz. Since a friend suggested that I get on HotHouse's email list, I did so & found that the first email contained an invitation to see Alfonso Ponticelli & Swing Gitan. Reading the blurbs about the band, I thought to myself, "That sounds neat!" (This is hard-hitting music journalism here folks, try to keep up.) Comparisons to Django Reinhardt and a pretty cool self description, "It's a blend of the jubilant swing of early jazz with the feisty passion of gypsy music, plus a strong dose of guitar pyrotechnics and virtuosic improvisation" made me antsy to check these cats out.

Have you seen "Swing Kids" (pretty good flick if you're looking for a VHS to rent)? Its an early 90's movie about adolescents in Nazi Germany and their forbidden passion for jazz music. Django Reinhardt is basically the bees knees to these Nazis (rhyme time!) and for good reason.
Well, Alfonso Ponticelli plays his axe in a similar style but with a bit more international feel. Quick picking and jumpy tones really move the jazz along, but it's when the band harmonizes that the sound fills in. The Swing Gitan (I have no idea what a Gitan is) is composed of a fiddler, an accordionist, an upright bass and a rhythm guitarist. Each member of the band is incredibly talented and do their craft proud. As with most jazz shows (that I've attended) (read: 3), each was given several solos to showcase their mastery and none tripped up.

So, I've told you vaguely about their influences, the composition & talent of the band, and what movie you should watch the next time you want a night in. But what was the show like, you wonder. (Wonder!) Well, first off let me start with the venue. Fizz is a pretty alright bar, nothing to write home about though. The same goes for the upstairs, for the most part. Bar, stage, about 15 tables to sit at with some vaguely French posters and art on the walls. There is a nice little area for some dancing, if you happen upon a show with such effect on you. The tops about Fizz is the enclosed patio on the side of the building. Easily accessible via a doorway downstairs; there are comfortable couches, wooden tables and ashtrays pleasantly spaced about.

As for the theme or essence of the show, the ambiance if you'd prefer... it was engaging. Throughout each set, I bounced between two images; the first was picturing myself sitting at a bar sipping on Pernod and smoking a cigarette, in black & white. The second was dancing around a campfire under the open starts among a group of friends passing wine around, a typical gypsy scene. AP & the SQ have a very different sound than most hear on a regular basis, its refreshing and interesting. Basically I'll say this: If you take a gal to see Alfonso Ponticelli & Swing Gitan and she happens to be a cultural anthropologist... you better hope you don't have embarrassing underwear on.

The Return Of Phish, Hampton Coliseum, 3-6-09

For me at least, after last night, it feels like the universe has shifted back into place. Phish is back, folks.... And I couldn't be more excited. After living in a Phishless world for the past 5 years, the show is already being hailed as a massive sucess as a result of Phish's rigorous practice schedule. All the cobwebs and rust from the past five years of inactivity were shrugged off in an awesome display (Both sets can be heard in MP3 format at phishthoughts.com). Phish opened with "Fluffhead" a ridiculously complex and notoriously neglected fan favorite which never saw the light of day during the post-hiatus shows of '03-'04. Next up was "The Divided Sky", another one of Phish's more complicated opus'. You can hear the elation oozing from Trey Anastasio's voice as he sings the only verses of the song as if to say "God it's good to be back!!"

Other highlights from the 16 song first set were the jammed out "Chalkdust Torture" as well as tried and true jam vehicles "Stash" and "David Bowie". The second set began with a new song "Backwards Down The Number Line" and a funked out "Tweezer". From what I hear, the most standout point of the night was the false start to an absolutely insano "You Enjoy Myself", an inside joke among the band and fans harkening back to the notoriously famous flubbed version from the first post-hiatus show back in 2003.

A new chapter was opened last night for the band and Phisheads all over the world, including myself. As weird as it may seem to some, the whole reunion is very surreal to me. I grew up listening to Phish, so its one of those bands that is very near and dear to me and can conjure up something inside of me whenever I hear them.... So can't wait to hear what the rest of the run will sound like, and now the summer cannot come fast enough.

Hopefully I'll see everyone at Alpine Valley....

moe. at the Riviera, Feb. 28

This Saturday I went to see moe., an old favorite of mine, and for the most part, they reminded me of why I enjoy the band. They're a talented group of musicians that write pretty darn good songs. They have three songwriters that change things up enough to keep the music from becoming stale, and they have a nice mix of seriousness and fun. Sure, they occasionally drift into long, pointless jams, but sometimes the jams build into something great. And when they get it right, it can make for a great time at a concert.

Saturday's show, however, was lacking in terms of its setlist. With only a couple shows scheduled for this winter (I think Friday night and Saturday night in Chicago were possibly the only shows of the winter tour), I was expecting them to go all-out. But moe. played a lot of, which I would consider, second- or third- tier songs. I kept waiting for them to break out some huge rockers to get the sold-out crowd going, but they only did so once or twice. (I should say, though, I probably missed the first one or two songs because I had to wait in a line to get in.)

The second set opener, "Recreational Chemistry," was a monster, and probably the highlight of the show. Other than that, for the most part, they played songs that I would much rather listen to on CD. From their album Wormwood, which is packed with songs that kick ass live, moe. only played "Shoot First," one of the weaker tunes, in my opinion. They did close with "Rebubula," a really good song, but one I've heard basically every time I've seen moe. So I'm kind of over that one.

Despite the sub-par setlist, I had a really good time. And that's probably the most important part about going to a concert, right?

As a side note, I sat in the balcony for the first time at the Riv. This provided a really great view and was much bigger than I expected. I think I'll head up there for all future shows at this venue.

The Twilight Singers- "Powder Burns"

So I'd never heard of this band until last week....... I'm really not sure how that is.... Usually my ears perk up at the mention of a familiar name branching into a side project. When I hear about these types of things I can sort of instantly tell if this new union is something worth my time or if it's shite..... Case in point the recent assemblage of James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins), Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick), Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne), And Taylor Hanson (Hanson!) forming up to create Tinted Windows. At first it seems kind of unique and kinda cool sounding, I mean James Iha! Gotta be good, right? But then you hear it (I caught a clip of it on the radio the other night), and you sometimes find out otherwise.....

So when I heard the slow burner start of "There's Been An Accident" featured during one of the segments of the movie Choke last week, I googled it afterwards and came up with the name Greg Dulli. Greg Dulli was always "That guy from the Afghan Whigs" to me ever since I saw his name included in the notes of a Foo Fighters album years back. I always had a periphery of the Afghan Whigs... Saw a couple of videos back in the day of there's, but kinda forgot about them.....So I figured I would give it a shot.

So I buy this album and it turns out to be pretty good. There's definitely some cheesy aspects to some of it, such as the almost stripclubesque (?) "My Time (Has Come)", but the urgency of Dulli's voice pushes the songs along and makes the twist up nicely. The band's lineup apparently rotates with every album and subsequent tour. The members are made up of Dulli's friends from other bands ( I didn't know existed either..) such as Howlin' Maggie and Satchel. The result is an album full of big, sludgy melodies and deep hooks. When Dulli sings ".... slow down, lean in, call up that feeling..." on "Candy Cane Crawl", it gives you one of those emotional bends not totally unlike one of Elbow's best.

I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes less familiar stuff really is worth your while.

Now to find out who everyone else in the band is.

Kaiser Chiefs, "Off with their Heads"

I bought Kaiser Chiefs' latest album, "Off With Their Heads," a few months back, but didn't listen to it much at first. The songs were catchy and tight, but I didn't think they had much substance.

I recently gave this album another chance, and I've found myself listening to it quite a bit lately. The guitar riffs are catchy, and the keyboards provide nice filler. The lyrics kind of leave something to be desired, but overall, I think it's a pretty "fun" album.

The album is short -- 11 tracks, all under four minutes -- but I don't feel like it's incomplete. The songs don't waste any time or drag. Some of the tracks are pretty lousy ("Half the Truth" and the incredibly annoying "Addicted to Drugs," especially), and there are a couple out-of-place guest appearances (Lily Allen and some rapper named Sway DaSafo), but I think the first six tracks (especially "Like it too much" and "You Want History") are worth giving the album a listen.

I'm interested to hear Claptrapped's British band expert, Kolmin's opinion of this record. I don't know if I'll like this album a few months from now, or if I'll shake my head at the fact that I ever listened to it.

Ahh Crap

Well the news around town is that TicketMaster and Live Nation are merging to make Live Nation Entertainment. Yes that's right, the countries largest concert promoter and the worlds largest ticket-selling network are trying to make a deal.  Awesome, now when you get ripped off buying your ticket and the concert sucks because Live Nation couldn't plan a tea party, you can blame one company. YEAH for us!  Don't worry, I'm not still bitter about when Mick and I flew to Dallas just to see Radiohead and we waited in traffic outside the concert for 2 hours which resulted in missing the first few songs. No, it was just another Live Nation miracle.

So does this mean TicketMaster will take the increased power and money to lower the "convenience charges" on the tickets we buy? Well one can dream. Who knows, maybe this monopoly will empower bands to find another solution for putting on concerts. I believe ClapTrapped Ticketing and Concert Promotion Co. was just born.  Well real competitors like the very small ticketbiscuit.com to the larger tickets.com will certainly have their eye on this deal. The possible merger has received some attention in Washington, Senator Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat stated "We look forward to examining the details of this proposed acquisition to ensure that consumers are protected." Protect us please!

So I guess we shall see ClapTrappers...

Claptrapped T-Shirt Winner

Kolmin is the winner of the 'Claptrapped: Year In Review' T-shirt designed by Adam Kosecki.

You can check out his posts* here:

Depart From This

Resolute This

Congratulations Kolmin! Keep up the good work.

Claptrapped will continue to run the T-shirt contest for the month of February as well.

So keep posting.

Lollapalooza predictions/wishlist

With the lineups for Coachella and Bonnaroo music festivals announced, it's not too early to start thinking about who will be coming through Chicago for Lollapalooza. Here are some predictions (these are only guesses):

Beastie Boys
Beck
Andrew Bird
M. Ward
Fleet Foxes
Jack Johnson
Robert Randolph
Black Crowes
Les Claypool
Tool

What are some of your predictions, and who would you like to see at the 2009 festival?