KPRI Private Listener Concert: One eskimO

There were several reasons I wanted to see One eskimO this week when I heard they were performing. I've heard the band's single "Kandi" and it's pretty addictive. It kinda grew on me every time I heard it. I subscribe to the Lefsetz Letter, and there was some debate over the origin of the song's main sample, so that piqued my interest, too. I knew the band was performing at Coachella and this was their only other stop along the way, and it was at Sound Wave, the venue formerly known as Cane's, and I really wanted to check out the changes to the venue. Plus, I just love the private listener shows. KPRI gets great artists on the verge, I have several friends at the station, and the crowd seems to always have a mellow vibe, so there's no jockeying for position to see the band perform.

While the renovated Sound Wave can hold 800 people (830 we were told, if you count the balcony), because this was an off-the-record show, the label limited guests to 200, so there was plenty of rooom to roam.

When I arrived, I was happy to see my buddy Juan working security. He's worked at a bunch of venues around town over the years- House of Blues, The Ruby Room, what have you- so it's always nice to see a familiar face in unfamiliar territory. I asked him the lowdown and he was excited about working there, singing the praises of management. I wandered around and took some shots of the new place. I really dug the space. The side bar near the entrance has moved, the floor is more open, the stage is huge, and the sound and lighting look great. Probably the best change is that the windows are no longer covered, so the natural light as the sun set made the room feel warmer than before. The venue also now allows ins and outs, which is always nice.







Oz (KPRi 3-8pm)

Sometimes for private listener shows, a band will play four or five songs and call it a day, but One eskimO performed a full set of 11 songs. Naturally, I captured the set to share with you. One note, while I love LED lighting, my HD camera does not, so unfortunately it's not visually the most stunning video ever, but after this performance consider me a convert. Oz told me about the band's videos that accompany each song, and they're all available on their CD/DVD apparently, but you can watch them online at The WB, too, and they're gorgeous.







Here is the playlist with all but the first song they played (click the arrows to navigate through all 10 videos)



Oh, and about the debate over the origination of the "Kandi"...according to the Lefsetz Letter, it looks like One eskimO sampled this version of a song:



but the song was also recorded by Patsy Cline:



After some of his readers responded including Melanie Howard, turns out the song was written by her late husband Harlan Howard, and has been recorded by several musicians over the years.