Dragonforce

DragonForce, those English purveyors of power-super-uber-neoclassical-thrash-metal, are playing at The Pageant this Tuesday, September 19. They play fast. If you don’t know who Dragonforce is, this video clip should explain it all:

My Morning Jacket

My Morning Jacket will be playing at The Pageant on Monday, November 20. They put on an outstanding show at Mississippi Nights last November, so this show is not to be missed. The band will be releasing Okonokos, a , ahem, double live album, featuring 21 live tracks on two discs, on September 26th on ATO/RCA Records.

My Morning Jacket - Off the Record
My Morning Jacket - One Big Holiday (live at the Vogue Theater on 10/23/05)
My Morning Jacket - West End Girls (Pet Shop Boys cover)

Bishop Allen - August

Bishop Allen just released the latest in their monthly series of EP’s - August. From the horse’s mouth:

“This month’s EP took us a little longer than usual because, well, it’s a lot longer than usual: 13 songs—a whole show at the Middle East (just one block from Bishop Allen Drive), plus a bonus track from Pianos in New York City, where we’ve been playing a lot this year.

August features a coupla chestnuts from Charm School, all our favorite songs from this year’s EPs, plus two previously unreleased songs. We spent the month either getting ready for tour, devising new arrangements and all that, or out on the road, and we thought we’d share the experience with you.”

You can purchase August, along with all of their other relases from their website.

Bishop Allen - The Same Fire (live)
Bishop Allen - That Summer (live)
Bishop Allen - The Flood (live)

Wolfmother

Australia’s Wolfmother is playing at Mississippi Nights on Sunday, November 26. That band’s live shows are becoming near-legendary (despite my less-than-stellar assessment of their Coachella performance - based on one song, briefly, from the back of the tent; I am willing to give them another shot based on the opinions of friends whose opinions I respect highly). The band is most commonly compared to Sabbath or Zeppelin, but as long as you think of heavy metal, circa 1971, your expectations should be properly set.

Wolfmother - Woman

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Also, don’t forget that the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players are playing tonight at the Duck Room, while Muse is playing at the Pageant with The Like. Built to Spill is playing at Mississippi Nights on Sunday.

Muse - Knights of Cydonia
Built to Spill - Carry the Zero
Built to Spill - Goin’ Against Your Mind

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Extra Bonus:
DJ Sunderland - Supermassive Mandy (Muse vs. The Spinto Band)

Lot photos

Here are some photos from The Lot, which took place on Saturday, Aug. 26th at the Schlafly Tap Room. Thanks to everyone who made it out and helped make this year’s event such a success. All photos are by Jim Courrier, unless noted otherwise.

Tight Pants Sydrome

Tight Pants Syndrome/Photo: Me


Tight Pants Syndrome

Fertilizer Bomb

Fertilizer Bomb/Photo: Me

Fertilizer Bomb/Photo: Me


Marquise Knox

Marquise Knox

Murder City Players

Nyquill

Nyquill

Gentleman Auction House


Gentleman Auction House

Gentleman Auction House


Gentleman Auction House


Gentleman Auction House

Gentleman Auction House


Magnolia Summer


Magnolia Summer


Magnolia Summer

Magnolia Summer

Shame Club

Shame Club


Shame Club

The Scene and Setting:

Photo: Me

Photo: Me

Elf Power

Athens, Georgia’s Elf Power are playing at Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room this Friday, September 15. Formed more than 10 years ago, Elf Power may not necessarily one of the better known bands to emerge from the Elephant 6 collective of bands, but certainly is as good as and writes as melodic and catchy songs as anything put out by Of Motreal, Apples in Stereo, or Beulah. I have it on good word that they put on a great live show, too, in which they are known to throw in a healthy dose of covers - but don’t come in looking for a Gnarls Barkley or Prince cover (as you might hear at, say,an Of Montreal show) or some other ironic statement on pop culture; their 2002 covers-only album, Nothing’s Going to Happen, featured songs by punk, new wave, and psychadelic stalwarts such as Hüsker Dü, Bad Brains, The Buzzcocks, The Misfits, The Frogs, Gary Numan, Chris Knox, and Roky Erickson. Their eighth album, Back to the Web, was released by Rykodisc in April of this year.

Elf Power - Never Believe
Elf Power - An Old Familiar Scene
Elf Power - Evil Eye

RFT Music Awards Showcase

The RFT Music Awards showcase is going on today outside at the Loop and at many of the bars and clubs on the Loop. This year, the event features three national headliners: The Minus 5, Grant-Lee Phillips and Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche; plus an ass-ton of great local bands.

The Minus 5 - Goove Supply
The Minus 5 - Daggers Drawn
The Minus 5 - Dear My Inspiration

Here is the full-lineup:
Main Stage (Leland Avenue and Delmar Boulevard)
1 p.m.: Magnolia Summer
1:40 p.m.: Love Experts
2:45 p.m.: Glenn Kotche
3:45 p.m.: Grant-Lee Phillips
5 p.m.: The Minus 5
6:30 p.m.: Men, Women & Children

Market in the Loop (outdoor stage)
Noon: The Pubes
1:30 p.m.: The Vultures
3 p.m.: So Many Dynamos
4:30 p.m.: Thats My Daughter
6 p.m.: Superfun Yeah Yeah Rocketship
7:30 p.m.: the Schwag

Blueberry Hills Duck Room (6504 Delmar Boulevard; 314-727-4444)
6 p.m.: Caleb Engstrom
7 p.m.: Grant Essig
8 p.m.: Lapush
9 p.m.: Jonathan Cour
10 p.m.: Red Eyed Driver

Blueberry Hills Elvis Room (6504 Delmar Boulevard; 314-727-4444)
7 p.m.: DJ Trackstar
8 p.m.: Big Will/Da SLU Cru
9 p.m.: Earthworms
10 p.m.: Spaide R.I.P.P.E.R.
11 p.m.: Ruka Puff

Ciceros (6691 Delmar Boulevard; 314-862-0009)
6 p.m.: Bad Folk
7 p.m.: Casey Reid
8 p.m.: Skarekrau Radio
9 p.m.: the Bureau
10 p.m.: Madahoochi

Riddles (6307 Delmar Boulevard; 314-725-6985)
6 p.m.: Joe Stickley
7 p.m.: Bob Reuter & Thee Dirty South
8 p.m.: Berlin Whale
9 p.m.: Rats and People
10 p.m.: Tight Pants Syndrome
11 p.m.: Dirty 30s

609 (609 Eastgate Avenue; 314-721-9168)
6 p.m.: Soulard Blues Band
7 p.m.: Kim Massie
8 p.m.: LaMar Harris
9 p.m.: Bennie Smith
10 p.m.: Erin Bode

Delmar Lounge (6235 Delmar Boulevard; 314-725-6565)
7 p.m.: Dubtronix
8 p.m.: Dogtown Allstars
9 p.m.: James Will and the Engines of Creation
10 p.m.: Ghost In Light
11 p.m.: Sex Robots
Midnight: Bunnygrunt

Halo Bar (6161 Delmar Boulevard; 314-726-6161)
6 p.m.: Harkonin
7 p.m.: Est. 1974
8 p.m.: Corbeta Corbata
9 p.m.: Johnny O & the Jerks
10 p.m.: Gentleman Callers
11 p.m.: Trip Daddys
Midnight: 7 Shot Screamers

Pin-Up Bowl (6191 Delmar Boulevard; 314-727-5555)
8 p.m.: Mike Gow
9 p.m.: DJ Kid Delicious
10 p.m.: DJ Crucial
11 p.m.: DJ Needles

Enon

Enon is playing at the Creepy Crawl on Tuesday, September 12th, with Tokyo Police Club and Male Models. Enon are an odd bunch, playing noisy pop-songs that are heavy on samples and experimentation but, at the same time, manage to rock out and make you want to dance. They haven’t released an album since 2003’s Hocus Pocus, but their live shows aren’t to be missed.

Songs for you:
Enon - Knock That Door
Enon - Count Sheep
Enon - In This City
Tokyo Police Club - Citizens of Tomorrow
Tokyo Police Club - Nature of the Experiment

Get the Vote Out

The Riverfront Times has opened the polls for its annual “Best of St. Louis” issue. As luck would have it, there are entries for “Best Blog” and “Best Local Website”. If you are feeling generous, you could vote for me and this blog (Dividing By Zero Will Get You Nowhere, if you’re too lazy to look to the top of the screen). Place your vote here.

Recent Reviews

I’ve been to several shows over the past few weeks, without posting any reviews of them. So, without ado, here are my brief and occasionally shoddy reviews a few recent shows:

Frank Black, August 11 @ The Duck Room
The Frank Black show was a good, but not great show. It was just him and a guitar. Even if it was Jesus and a guitar up on stage (and this was pretty damn close), the dynamic would get old after about an hour.

He played four Pixies songs - Frank Black, not Jesus - and they were “Holiday Song”, “Monkey Gone to Heaven”, “Wave of Mutilation”, and “Where is my Mind?” He played a John Denver cover to open the show. He played “Los Angeles”. It was a sold out show. There’s not much more to say than that. I wouldn’t kick myself too hard for missing it, if you did.

Of Montreal & The Minders, August 14 @ Mississippi Nights
The last time I saw Of Montreal here in town, it was a sellout and just a great, great party. This time was good, but not as good, and I’m saying that even though the venue I saw them at earlier in the year (the Gargoyle) didn’t serve alcohol. The Minders were first, and they were great, without me even knowing any of their songs. I imagine that if I had known the songs, I would have enjoyed them as much, if not more than, as Of Montreal. As for their sound, I would describe them as your typical Elephant 6, 60’s influenced-pop crossed with the noise and feedback of Sonic Youth’s and Yo La Tengo’s melodic noisy passages. it worked very well. They even closed with a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Lucifer Sam” as a tribute to the recently deceased Syd Barrett.

Of Montreal’s set started with the band members marching onto stage waving battlefield-styled flags and wearing dresses. The band started out good, but it seemed like the mix was a little off. A couple instruments were monstrously loud, and you often couldn’t really hear Kevin Barnes’ vocals. The mix problems really pissed me off for the first 20 minutes or so. Then the beer kicked in and I didn’t care quite as much. Additionally, the volume level was painfully high. Imean, it was really, really loud. It hurt the overall experience because with a band like Of Montreal, who have a lot going on and the whose melodies tend to be the loudest parts of the songs, the mix got really distorted at the crescendoes of the songs. I would say the crowd generally picked up the energy level as the show went on. Also remember that it was on a Monday night.

They took a quick break before the encore, in which they played a great version of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” as they have been wont to do on this tour. If YouTube wasn’t being a bitch, I would post video of it. Overall, the show was great, but I liked Of Montreal’s perfomance better when I saw them last February.

Chuck Berry/The Haints, August 16 @ The Duck Room
Chuck Berry plays once a month at Blueberry Hill here in St. Louis. It sells out every month, too. I went in 2000 when I first moved to St. Louis and had a great time then. We decided it was time to go back and, six years later, Chuck still sounds great. He looks appreciably older, and his hands are a little slower on the fretboard, but his voice is as solid as ever and he is always the consummate showman. His son plays the second guitar in the band and his daughter sings on a few songs. She also plays a mean harmonica on several songs and just wails. On stage, Chuck also plays the doting father, stepping back for his son to take the spotlight on solos and prodding his daughter out of the corner and to the front of the crowd. It was a solid show.

When we walked in, The Haints were already playing. They were playing a americana/50’s rock meld that brought to mind Buddy Holly as much as it did Son Volt. The singer’s voice sounded familiar, but I was sure I had never heard The Haints before. It all fell into place when a friend informed me that The Haints were more commonly known as the Groovie Ghoulies. This was their country/acoustic side band. Having never seen the Groovie Ghoulies play live before, I didn’t recognize them. They were good, but I definitely prefer the Ghoulies.

Split Lip Rayfield, August 17 @ The Duck Room
SOLD OUT. I suck because I should have gotten tickets beforehand. Boo to me.

Decibully/The Headlights/Gentleman Auction House, August 29 @ the Hi-Pointe
There were several bands playing this night that I wanted to see. The night out was also to serve as a last hurrah at the soon-to-be-closed Hi-pointe for me and my friends.

We first showed up at the venue right as Gentleman Auction House was finishing, which was unfortunate, since they really were the band I was interested in seeeing. There had been a booking foul-up, and the ended up only playing for about 20 minutes. Bummer for me. Up next was some band that I believe was actually touring with Decibully. This unknown band was horrrible. The music was slightly mathy, but the guys voice was so bad… and it was mixed really high in the mix. We lasted about one song before we headed downstairs to the bar. It was the last week open for the venue, so we were happy to sit down at the main bar (the music is upstairs) and reminisce about the place.

After about 40 minutes, we headed back upstairs to see The Headlights, who are from Champaign, IL, and were great. The most obvious musical reference would be Grandaddy, with less fuzzy distortion. The songs were sung by both the dude guitar player and the chick keyboard player. The chick had a great, great, voice. Breathy like Bjork, but not quite. It fit with the music very well. They would go from keyboard-heavy ambient moments right into bright and poppy indie rock songs. The bass player also played keyboards and would occasionally whip out an acocrdian. I liked them.

Then was Decibully. It was three people from Decibully plus 3/4’s of The Headlights on stage. I really wanted to like them. Or, I should say, they really wanted us to like them, but it just wasn’t happening. They were always on the verge of playing just an awesome rocking-out part, but never did. It was frustrating. All the songs started sounding the same. It was like a showcase for how great the singer was — he clearly wanted to be Eric Bachmann or John Darnielle — but the problem was, his lyrics were nothing to write home about and the songs themselves didn’t draw you in, so you weren’t really left with much. It was a school night, so we left early.

Overall, it was an OK evening. I wouldn’t see Decibully again. I would show up early to see The Headlights if they were playing with someone else I knew. I might even see them on their own.