17th May2012

Upcomings shows I’m (hopefully) attending!

by nickwan

Hi all. Nick Wan here. Now that I’m free for the summer (barring starting my new job, moving out of my place and into a new one, and attending my friend’s wedding), the show season begins for me again. Below is a list of shows I’m most likely going to. All of them are highly recommended! I suggest tagging along with me. You can shoot me a line over on Twitter, or email me nick at 402productions dot com.

Plants and Animals @ Bottom of the Hill 5/18

They are touring in support of their latest release, The End of That. Last time they came around I didn’t have a chance to catch them, so tomorrow seems like a good night.

Dum Dum Girls @ The Blank Club 5/21

Recently billed for Maha Music Festival. Hoping their live show is awesome. It’s punky. It’s loud. I can only assume it’ll be a dance party.

The Avengers @ The New Parish 5/25

Just an all out punk show. I also love that venue.

Cr33P0cH @ Outer Planes Comics and Games 5/26

I normally hate chiptunes and 8-bit music, but Cr33P0cH’s CD release party in Santa Rosa has a few things going for it: 1) it’s in a comic book store that has never thrown a show before. Those are always fun. 2) Cr33P0cH is actually one of my good friends from back home, so I would love to be there to see him perform his stuff live for the first time. And 3) I’m actually opening for this show. If you’re in the North Bay, let me know!

Hugh Laurie @ Great America Music Hall 5/27

Dr. Gregory House and company won’t be seeing another season, but this does pave the way for Laurie to finally promote his music career (if that is what he wants to do for a few years). His blues style, sprinkled through House episodes, is actually fairly on point. I’m assuming this is a must-see show, as his west coast touring dates are far and few.

Mogwai @ Regency Ballroom 6/1

No explanation needed. And honestly, if you were one of the lucky ones to have seen Godspeed AND Explosions in the same week, Mogwai would most likely just be more icing on your post-rock cake this year.

 

 

27th Mar2012

Live Roll: of Montreal, Deerhoof, & Kishi Bashi @ The Fillmore 3/22

by nickwan

Photos courtesy of David Wajsfelner

Click a photo below to enlarge!

 

15th Mar2012

Selling Out? The Business of Music Promotions

by nickwan

I was invited to a show the other Saturday, the 2nd Annual DigiTour presented by Neuro and Posse Audio, and although it wasn’t necessarily a show I normally attend (nor would I review almost any act on that stage that night) it did shine a few shimmering lights on the side of music business that we at 402 are normally sheltered from. You see, we are mainly based upon a few errant beginnings from my music past — where it was really hard for me to get people to review my stuff due to my small name, small amount of shows played, tiny fish in a tinier pond sort of persona I was given. This site was supposed to be promotions of music acts that normally get little to no press — much less, advocating good music that isn’t hyped or talked up by some editing team that dictates what you listen to and read about. Needless to say, we don’t have much power here to flip a band from a no-name-nothing to a signed success, but that’s not the point I suppose. Promotion of music isn’t just magazines or publications, nor is it really online publications or social networking power. For me, it’s a holistic approach to what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. You tour, you come out with an album, you promote it and you get your friends to promote it, you do all you can to flush out new fans. It’s a classic tale with new technology. Your promotions are based around the hundreds of emails you send a day, or subtly becoming a forum regular on popular message boards while using your signature as a linking out point, or your witty and retweetable comments on your Twitter feed… whatever it is, the kids at the bottom of the totem pole seem to be doing alright for themselves. Shows are easier to book today than they were a few years ago. A band that could pull 20 people to a show on a weeknight was a big deal back in the late 90s — now, if you don’t have 40 or so people coming in, what the hell were you doing for the past few weeks? Promotions, promotions, promotions.

This show was all about promotion in two forms: lots of corporate money keeping all the acts happy and the fact that the lot of them had “OVER 2 BILLION YOUTUBE VIEWS”. Wow. You can swing that number however you like: whether one act got the majority of it, or it was spread evenly between everyone, or if a single dude clicked refresh a few hundred million times, the command of that many views means something today. It’s sort of like the Billboard of the old, or the Rolling Stone top albums and singles list of the older — the new version of a one-hit wonder is no longer about radio play but the view count on your most viral video.

The show itself was fairly poor, and I think there isn’t much more to be said other than that. Almost all of the acts with the exception of a few were not really live performers. The way the show was set up was also gimmicky, with a massive TV screen presenting the musical act’s YouTube videos alongside and in sync while the act was playing their song. As the troupe of The Key of Awesome said, “You don’t have to watch the TV while you’re here. You can look at us, too.” Funny, as that’s definitely what a live show should be.

The line up in terms of YouTube cred was fairly impressive: Nick Pitera sang, who is known for his ability to sing like a girl (quite literally, as his video for “A Whole New World” suggests). Dave Days attracted a handful of his channel subscribers — he (I guess) is known for making quirky videos directed towards the teen community. A handful of Ricky Ficarelli‘s friends seemed to be shared musicians for many of the acts that night — and this Ficarelli fellow seems to be the drummer version of a Justin Bieber character. During soundcheck, he was no slouch — definitely a shredder on the drums. And that’s actually something to be said about all of the acts this night: no one theoretically sucked. Everyone was amazing. The fat black guy who sang parody songs about food could belt it. Asher Monroe‘s vocal ability matched the swagger. The Key of Awesome (we’ll get to the nitty gritty about them in a bit) were on point. Alex Goot was also a fairly polished singer-songwriter product. Wellington, albeit Disney soundtrack rock music, all had musicians who could play their asses off in any context.

The driving force that has shoved all of this together is most likely what “selling out” means to me. I encounter bands all the time who talk about “selling out” or what it means to sell out. Mixed reviews suggest that this notion of selling out is always subjective and about as dumb as calling someone gay or retarded. It makes no sense and is a term used mainly to piss people off. But I feel that after seeing what a lot of backing can do, selling out is a real thing.

The show, and it’s handful of sponsors (the biggest being Neuro and Posse Audio it seems), was commanded by money. Oddly enough, no one gives a shit about viral videos outside of the internet. There were maybe 20 people at this show who came solely because of an act on stage. The others seemed to have either won passes some how or were invited. The target demographic was definitely teens and pre-teens, which basically doubles ticket sales since they usually bring a parent along. The New Parish, the Oakland venue the show was held, isn’t a no-name venue at all — Too Short, Ozomatli, Orgy, and Afroman are playing there in the upcoming months. On any other occasion, trying to swing a show that will attract only 20 kids who can’t purchase drinks at the bar would normally not even be booked. In this case, there wasn’t any indication of a loss of funds.

Which brings me to my thoughts on corporate backings of new bands. Usually, it’s for some sort of promotion — Disney rock is usually in order to find cheap teencentric music to play in their made-for-TV-movies; promising production costs and studio time being covered in exchange of flaunting Neuro energy drinks is also a way to gain a cultish following if all of the cult fans of a certain act begin drinking what was on a table of a viral video. One of the staff at The New Parish put it bluntly, this concert is completely fabricated. And who is to say that’s a bad thing? These kids want to make music their living. What’s a few dollars for a crappy tour going to do? Hurt their rep? They have no rep to begin with. The headlining band, Wellington, admitted they had only played two other shows before this night — and those two other shows were the two other shows of the DigiTour. Asher Monroe was asked to play one more song, a sort of encore — which any SUPPORTING act would die for normally — and he awkwardly declined. DECLINED? PLAYING MUSIC ON STAGE? IN FRONT OF POTENTIAL FANS? Needless to say, his set was not perfect — he missed coming into the verse by singing his own chorus for an extra progression. Monroe was one of the less prepared of the live acts, as he definitely has not played with a live band probably ever.

Most of the acts had little to no experience on stage. Dave Days, the lanky left handed pop punker, seemed to be one of the most comfortable on stage. His banter and presence was reminiscent of what a local show with high school bands felt like when I was growing up in that age. His “band”, a bassist and Ricky Ficarelli, was still rigged together by outside forces it seems. The bassist of Wellington, the long-haired, muscle-heavy guy named Troy, was also very energetic. Some of the cornier things, like melodically saying I can’t hear you or picking at his bass while holding it by the neck overhead as if every song was the last song of the night, were amiss for me. Other than these two and Nick Pitera, everyone else seemed uncomfortable — not energetic — abnormal to watch after seeing their viral videos.

As promotion goes, the world of advertising is definitely a crapshoot. Somethings work and somethings don’t. Some times, putting up a lot of money for an act can pay off — the amount of money invested into *NSync was probably a good idea in retrospect, whereas putting a ton of money into Dr. Dre‘s Detox is bordering on Guns ‘n’ Roses Chinese Democracy in terms of return investment. Where would these DigiTour kids fall? Most likely closer to a risk than a reward. I view it as this: trying to promote a hard working band by making videos for that band is just another way to promote a band. Trying to promote a well produced viral video by making a band for it is much harder to do. You can edit around a video — hard to edit around a real live band. Reverse engineering these YouTube wonders doesn’t seem like a very good strategy.

The worst part about this tour seems to be the talent director or scout for the tour. I mean, how hard was Gotye to get? In all honesty? He’s the hottest viral wonder out there right now and you aren’t cashing out to have him headline? What would be the problem of ditching the view count stats for actual bands and fans? Couldn’t you put together a show with bands who have been together for longer than a week, pay the same money, and have better returns?

In the end, the best advice for a band or artist with a viral video is something that is very well known in the music world: be a big fish in your small pond before becoming a small fish in a very large, vast, competitive, usually heartbreaking pond. Viral promotion, paired with corporate promotion, seems good on paper but can introduce you to horrible habits. A habit formed out of this show would be thinking that you will always have a safety net after a show is done. Then you board your million dollar tour bus provided to you for free and drive off to Tempe. That’s definitely not how it goes — you get a van, you get shit stolen, you learn how to change out your spark plugs, you sleep in positions most people aren’t comfortable sitting or laying in. Even before that, you flier your town, you play a ton of free shows, you make albums using stolen software and shitty microphones and you press them yourselves and hand them out to everyone in walking distance, you play shows at all the venues in your town until you finally see a kid or two without their arms crossed and jumping around. A viral video helps speed up this process, but you have to be smart about the speed in which it does this at. This isn’t to say that selling out, or being used by corporations to be the face of their product, is entirely horrible. As I mentioned, these kids on this tour are slayers in their own right — probably all guaranteed studio musicians in the very least. This experience might be once in a life time for a good amount of them. It’s just a bad idea to pretend to be something you aren’t. And many of these acts were just that — acts.

Photos courtesy of Annie Tsui

09th Feb2012

Live Reviews: Giraffage, Some Ember, and Shortcircles @ Noise Pop Up Shop (2/8)

by nickwan

Last night was my first Noise Pop 2012 show of this season. Although these aren’t necessarily the Noise Pop 2012 shows scheduled throughout the week of Noise Pop (2/21 – 2/26) this would be what some would call the pre-parties to the official Noise Pop week. With that being said, the amount and quality of events and shows going down at The Noise Pop Up Shop, on Page and Franklin, are immense. If last night was any indication of what is going to happen this month… the Bay is about to get insanely awesome.

The show last night featured some old faces in new places. Shortcircles (Matt Tammariello), a self-proclaimed bliss-hop artist, debuted his live show with the help from what he described as “my friends”. Those friends are none other than the members of James & Evander, who helped fill out the quartet of keys, strings, and some vocals here and there. Hard to really describe the live presence of what I witnessed as I strolled into the show, but it was something electric. A strong sense of shoegazing with the spine of drum and bass. The night was prefaced to me as “dream pop done right,” and rightfully so. For his first performance, it was pretty special and spot-on. On the sideboard, a guy was controlling a hefty amount of visuals that were projected behind the acts, making the feel of the Shop something really… familiar, in a sense. Part house show, part venue, part dance club, part bar. It was very appropriate that this show, containing such an array of new music, was in a place that was not easily definable in feel.

Latest tracks by shortcircles

In terms of Shortcircles’ weaknesses, I can only imagine throwing a visual artist into every live set is a must… so I’m hoping next time I cross Mr. Tammariello’s path, the visuals won’t be just some dude jamming visually in the corner, but something more tight. The music itself is very tight, well-groomed, rich in layers, and delicious. An accompanying visual array would do this act the most justice. Check out shortcircle’s SoundCloud page here.

Latest tracks by Some Ember

Some Ember was next up, featuring Dylan Travis from Man/Miracle. This group continued what Shortcircles started, featuring a heavy dose of electronic components met with a big presence of vocals, with some accenting features from guitars and an acoustic drum set. The drummer was my favorite part to watch during the set, as he was playing double duty between his sample drum pad and the drum kit. At times, the set sounded like a dance party possessed. At other times, the ethereal electric feeling took the feelings of smiling emotions into moods of self-reflection. The contrasts between this massive electronic sound and this minimalist, drone style creates for something you would see at a space-rock or shoegaze show. You can check out Some Ember’s SoundCloud page here.

Giraffage (Charlie Yin) ended the night with an extremely dreamy set. There isn’t much to say here, in terms of performance or showmanship. Yin’s command of his controller seemed surgical at times. Maybe what was lacking at this show was more people. I believe the place had about 50 people show up, spread between the front room, a back room, an upstairs room, a bar room, and a food room. If that place, especially the front room where all the acts were playing, had around 100 people I think the reception for Giraffage would have been exponentially better. The smaller turn out, plus the more dark sets from Some Ember and Shortcircles, had Giraffage’s more happy tunes falling on deaf ears. I’m usually not a fan of artists like Giraffage, but I believe his style was the sharpest out of all three acts. I mean, in reality… he is controlling everything with his fingers whereas the two other groups had multiple members as well as other instrumental components other than keys and Akai controllers, so he should sound the cleanest. But it was something more to it than that. Maybe it was the lack of an airy drone under his songs? Maybe it was more of a DJ vibe? Whatever the case, I’d like to see Giraffage again — hopefully with a more packed house. You can check out Giraffage’s Bandcamp page here.

10th Nov2011

Plastic Villains @ BAMM.tv 11/10/2011

by nickwan

 

The headliner tonight, and winner of the SFStation.com The Lineup voting contest, is Plastic Villains. Honestly, after seeing these guys live… it makes complete sense why.

Their album is pretty good, but it doesn’t do their live show justice at all. They all have a swagger about them. In fact, if you recall my other review on Outlaws & Preachers you’ see me talking about their bassist… HE’S IN THIS BAND. And he isn’t the shining star over everyone else, it’s a completely shared collective. Now that I see these guys in a live setting, I can definitely be assured that this isn’t just a collection of good musicians… this is truly a band. The layers, the gestures on stage, how tight every single song is… it’s all there. These guys are about to explode and no one knows it yet.

The live set does a lot of justice to some songs on the album that may have been looked over. The simplistic punk nature that the breathe into some songs doesn’t come across as fiery or lush as it does live. You can tell these guys grew up on the stage. They might not have grown up together, as they only have been playing shows since May, but they all have a presence that isn’t something you are just born with… unless you are. In which case, these guys have something very special about them. All rare performers who could all probably front their own projects. All five contribute extremely well with each other.

These guys are just hunting for a hook. If they find one hooky song in their catalog, they are set. I am completely surprised they aren’t signed to a smaller label yet. To all the label headhunters reading this blog, pay very close attention to this band. Shortlist them. Add their management, Salty Management, to your Rolodexes. Get your interns to add them on Facebook. Honestly, these guys are about to explode.

 

 

10th Nov2011

Seatraffic @ BAMM.tv 11/10/2011

by nickwan

Seatraffic, a two-piece slowcore group, is more of my flavor. If you have never listened to Headphones, Dave Bazan‘s project post-Pedro the Lion… this group would be like what Headphones would have been like if Bazan came out with another Headphones LP. Very intense, yet shoegaze-style toe-tapping.

The one thing that sets these guys apart is the vocalist, who throws on this really intense filtering of delay and reverb with some other digital nonsense on top of that. I don’t know if I would have preferred this sans dream-pop vocals. Then again, I could only imagine what sort of acoustic set these guys put on. If they are anywhere near as weird and dreamy as the songs they are laying down tonight, they might be a great opening band for someone like The Radio Dept.

On a side note, I think the other dude who was charging his laptop in the press room took my charger on accident. If not, someone doing some sort of house keeping did. Sad face for me.

 

10th Nov2011

Outlaws & Preachers @ BAMM.tv 11/10/2011

by nickwan

Outlaws & Preachers throws down a sort of funk/soul groove meets a rock/jam vibe. Vocally, it’s hip-hop. They might be a more punky The Roots or a more soulful, less aggressive Rage Against the Machine.

The stage show itself isn’t too wild. The frontman is the most mobile, which sort of makes sense as he has no instrument. However, the bassist seems to be the second most emotive, as he tries to sway back and forth. In fact, out of the five of them, the bassist seems to be the most interesting part of the group, as his intricate bass lines seem to fill out the barred chords and tit-for-tat vocal melodies. It seems that he is the most consistent out of the five on each song, with all other instruments focusing more on the genre they may be switching to and from…

Next time I hear these guys, I would really want to hear maybe something more like this last song they are jamming out right now. The first couple were interesting, showing their more intricate and poetic side, but their meat and potatoes are definitely in the harder, upbeat stuff in their catalog.

 

 

 

10th Nov2011

BAMM.tv Presents: The Lineup 11/10/2011

by nickwan

Yes, all. Nick Wan here, trying to throw down some live reporting on BAMM.tv‘s The Lineup. The press room is cozy, I’m waiting on my friend right now, and Chris from BAMM is currently jamming out some nifty one-liners for tonight’s introductions. Stay tuned all night for set reviews of Plastic Villains, Outlaws & Preachers, and Seatraffic!

Of course, my Twitter account will also be hot tonight, so give a follow if you want some updates that was too (note: if you follow me any longer than tonight, you might be bombarded with a 50/50 of music related stuff and my personal life. Sorry… or you’re welcome. Either or.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

03rd Nov2011

Deadmau5 Boston 10/14

by Bryan

 

Deadmau5 is to electronic music what marijuana is to real drugs.  This was the DJ that broke the sound barrier for me, revealing the variety in sound lacking in the rock genres I have come to love, from the grimy underworlds of dubstep, to the clean and orderly landscapes of trance; electro, broadly defined, had a brand new appeal to me and my punk-rock roots.  Deadmau5 was my introduction, and I don’t think I’m the only one to have felt his effect.  That said, I think there is a Deadmau5 ‘bubble’ at the moment.  Every teenager and their mom has some idea of who he is if not only for the ‘cool’ kid that started rocking one of his t-shirts as soon as the local Hot Topic jumped on the band wagon after only his 10th or 11th album dropped in 2010.  For the record Deadmau5 is good, I was very excited to see him perform, and I would happily see him again.  The show I saw, however, was not worth anywhere near the final $125 price tag it was able to sell out five nights in a row at Boston’s House of Blues.  Trendiness sucks.  However, it wasn’t the ticket price that was the worst part for me (after all it’s not like I was paying for anything), it was the crowd of ‘un-fully-listeners’ and ‘un-fully-dancers’.  It might have been just the night I was there (it wasn’t), but this show seemed like it was full of people that kinda sorta wanted to be there but more likely went because their friends were going, it’s the cool thing to do, but they kind of also would have rather just been getting drunk.  Most of them did that.  Between the few rave-rats that periodically and desperately checked if I had could help them out with some rolls, I mostly saw the type of people you’d catch at your favorite over-priced, mediocre half-club half-bar on a Saturday night.  It was the first place I saw people nearing physical confrontation at an electronic music show…

But about the set.  Deadmau5 performs as expected: the production is loud, full of stimulating light shows, and the songs are more or less the way they play on the album, aside from some rather minor remixing.  There were no surprises for me except the accompaniment of SOFI, the vocalist on “Sofi Needs a Ladder” and “One Trick Pony”.

 

 

 

 

09th Sep2011

Festival Recap: Bumbershoot, Monday 9/5/11

by Adam Finley

We’re back with the next installment of our Bumbershoot 2011 recap. Adam Finley was in the fray, fighting for photo pit space, eating funnel cakes, and avoiding the beer garden because he was on assignment and wouldn’t let Nick Wan down for anything. This is the second part of his journey.

Tweeting from inside the Press Room at a major festival was a giant check off the bucket list. It looked like what I imagine the CNN Correspondent room in Baghdad looks like– laptops and giant cameras everywhere, and it was intimidating for a newbie. I arrived early enough to soak it in, grab a nibble, and send this tweet before the music started.

@Nickwan you crazy for this one!

Opening the day was Motopony, a Seattle outfit that sounds a bit like Cold War Kids and has phenomenal energy. Singer Daniel Blue opened the set by saying “We’ve never played at noon on a Monday before” but based on his stage presence and pandering to the photo pit (jumping on the monitor just as my camera’s batteries died… argh why!?!?!) it’s easy to see why MTV has started to take notice of these guys.

I rushed from Motopony to Legendary Oaks, a jangly Americana band that has flirted with the big time since they began in 2008, thanks in part to lead singer Craig Schoen’s connections with Nada Surf, Jets To Brazil, and The Notwist.

Fly Moon Royalty was one of my favorite discoveries from this year’s Bumbershoot– a collaboration of dancers, singers, keyboardists, and rappers centered around producer/DJ Action Jackson and singer Adra Boo. They absolutely rocked the stage, ignoring the fact that it was just shy of 1:00 and insisting that the crowd dance. Not only did Fly Moon Royalty insist, they made the crowd dance with ear-catching electro-soul that I can’t wait to put on an end of summer mixtape.

Fact: while Fly Moon Royalty may take the crown for best new Seattle electro-soul act, COCO O. is the most adorable frontwoman in Danish electro-soul, hands down. She and her band, Quadron, took the stage for a satisfying set that sounded like Amy Winehouse (R.I.P.) covering minimalist Motown with the bass turned up to 11. It was perfectly rhythmic and sensual, and COCO O. killed the audience with her sparkly dress and hilarious commentary (“I can sightsee while I sing!” she bubbled, pointing at the Space Needle).

I had a decision to make: see Grand Hallway, a band I reviewed as one of my first assignments for 402, or catch a band I’d never heard of. I opted for Grand Hallway because I had a feeling their live show would wow me more this time around, and I was correct. The larger space and better engineering gave them a crisp, clean sound that filled the hillside. The gang started their set with fan favorites (“Blessed Be, Honey Bee” and “Seward Park”), immediately engaging the willing crowd.

However, I apparently made a mistake. For as solid as Grand Hallway was, the band that I skipped, Head Like A Kite, was where the party was at. Head Like A Kite defies description; it’s a tangled, chaotic, beautiful mess of Elvis suits, electronic Neil Young covers, a singer who looks like Steve Zahn, a panda with an electric razor, and a rapper. Oh, and Asya from Smoosh. I arrived too late to get into the photo pit, but was able to snap a few shots. Full review to come.

Unmistakable festival highlight and fan favorite YACHT took the stage next. Vocalist Claire Evans was in fine form, wearing what appeared to be a bleached burlap sack and engaging the audience with constant antics. Musical partner Jona Bechtolt was no slouch himself, flailing around the stage and obviously having a great time. This wasn’t lost on the crowd, which picked up on the intense energy of the thumping, shrieking live YACHT experience and danced the afternoon away.

I ended my day with a double feature of guitar mastery. First was Dennis Coffey, an old hat who had his first radio hit in 1958 and spent the 50+ years since playing on dozens of Motown hits, maintaining a strong solo career, and having his work sampled by everyone from LL Cool J to Rage Against the Machine. Coffey and band didn’t fit in with the youthful hipster bands at Bumbershoot, but within minutes he had drawn hundreds of people to watch him lay down some unbelievable guitar riffs.

Last, I caught Texas guitar institution Ian Moore with his backing band The Lossy Coils just as the sun was beginning to set over Bumbershoot 2011. Like Coffey, Moore was not a huge fan draw, but a few songs in and the hillside was littered with people drawn by the power of his guitar. I’ve never listened to Moore, but I will now make a point of giving his newest album El Sonido Nuevo a solid listen.

And that’s the beauty of festivals, especially Seattle festivals which feature a diversity of music that you won’t find in many other places. Crowds intermingle, genre lines are crossed and crossed again. An old woman watching Das Racist with the tiniest hint of a smile; the kid in the Wiz Khalifa shirt watching Dennis Coffey destroy the electric guitar; two little kids dancing to Jim Jones Revue; and lonely me rushing back and forth, trying to enjoy the music I love and document it the best I could. I hope to do it again soon. For now though, I gotta go write a couple live reviews and catch back up with life. I’m out.

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